19th cent., [Five relics related to George Washington], Collection of J. S. Reigart
Relics include:
“Acorn made of a piece of Christ’s Church, Philadelphia 1695. Gen. Washington attended this Church”; “Acorn made of the Historic Oak, ‘The Washington Oak’ at Mount Vernon/under this tree Washington used to read”; a “Piece of the Original Stoop of the Home of Washington, Mount Vernon”; and “Natural Acorns from off the famous Washington Oak at Mt. Vernon…”
Happy #WorldTurtleDay! Here are a few turtles from our collections.
The first turtle made of wood is an inrō - a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects that was suspended from a sash worn around the waist. Traditional Japanese robes did not have pockets, so objects were often carried this way in a variety of different vessels. The inrō was particularly suitable for carrying anything small; this object measures only 11 x 71 centimetres.
Also below is a blue figure of a tortoise from 8th century China, and a terracotta vessel in the form of a turtle from late 3rd century-early 2nd century BC North India.
Sometimes we find things in our collections that we simply *must* share with you immediately. This bowl from, featuring some little fish amongst waterweeds, is one of those things.
Made from porcelain with blue underglazing, this bowl comes from the Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty in China, c. 1723–1735.
We’re highlighting traditional Palestinian garb this week, with illustrations from Palestinian Costumeby the esteemed scholar of Palestinian costume, textiles, and embroidery, Shelagh Weir.Published by British Museum Publications of London in 1989, the book is the product of over twenty years of field research conducted by Weir as curator of Middle East Ethnography for the Museum of Mankind(British Museum). Weir pays special attention to the way costume acts as a sort of social language and pairs this linguistic reading of dress with an analysis of Palestinian wedding songs. It was designed by award-winning book designer Roger Davies and printed in Milan, Italy by Amilcare Pizzi, S.p.A.
Amilcare Pizzi (1891-1974) was an Italian footballer, typographer, and publisher who used his first paycheck from A.C. Milan to purchase a printing press in 1914. In 1933, Amilcare Pizzi became the first company in Italy to employ offset printing. Their factories were completely razed by Allied bombing in 1943, but Pizzi rebuilt and established an international reputation for fine art printing, working for institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery, and the British Museum. The company’s own imprint, Silvana Editorale, publishes primarily exhibition catalogs and fine art monographs.
View photo captions (taken from the publication and edited for length) for more information about the images.
Memorial Ring from the 1700s with secret compartment (closed view). This 18th century gold mourning ring is set with an enamel skull design which opens on a hinge mechanism.
I really really like late 18th century waistcoats. Especially the 1790′s ones with the little lapels and straight waistlines, so here’s a photoset of some of my favourite ones. (And here’s a link to my pinterest board with more of them.)
Gerhard Emmoser, Celestial globe with clockwork, 1579. Partially gilded silver, gilded brass (case); brass, steel (movement). Germany.
Exhibition: Making Marvels: Science and Splendor at the Courts of Europe. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, November 25, 2019–March 1, 2020
Between 1550 and 1750, nearly every royal family in Europe assembled vast collections of exquisite and entertaining objects. Public spending and the display of precious metals were expressions of power, and possessing artistic and technological innovations conveyed status. In fact, advancements in art, science, and technology were often prominently showcased in elaborate court entertainments that were characteristic of the period.
One of the most striking spaces in the Mansion, the dining room is part of the original house, built in 1734. Over the years, the room underwent a series of renovations. While Washington was away commanding the Continental Army in 1775, it was updated under the supervision of his cousin Lund Washington. In 1785 striking verdigris-green paint was added. Washington believed the color to be “grateful to the eye" and less likely than other colors to fade; an overcoat of glaze further intensified the color.
In 1775 Washington decided to install an elaborately decorated plaster ceiling and add plaster ornaments above the fireplace. He hired an expert plasterer, identified simply as the “Stucco Man,“ who spent five months completing the hand-tooled ceiling. A renovation in 2001 uncovered some of his original pencil drawings on the ceiling laying out the design.
A selection of eighteenth-century Georgian mourning jewelry. Descriptions in the captions or under the cut.
1] 18 karat gold finished in black enamel. Inscribed with “Bryan Benson Esq: ob: 14 Oct: 1758 aet: 84”
2] Gold square pin with pearl border, inset with an enamel skeleton.
3] Oval brooch with a painted panel depicting a mourning man, standing next to weeping willows and leaning on a podium topped by an urn. The podium reads “I mourn the loss of two dear relations.”
4] Gold pin with pearl border, inset with ‘lover’s lips’ design.
5] Gold ring, enameled in black, with a raised gold inscription “Martha Greswold, Obit Dec 8 1755 AE 59.”
6] Gold ring with hair fashioned into a sheaf of wheat on a mother-of-pearl background. The band is black enameled and inscribed with “John bridge OB:3 Oct 1779 AE:53”
7] Ring with a painted panel of a woman in mourning seated near a tomb and two doves. The panel is surrounded by blue enamel, bordered by pearls.
8] A white enamel ring with an urn—made with the deceased’s hair—on a circular bezel. The band is inscribed “J.C OB April 7 1768 17 Days”
9] Gold ring with black enameling, engraved with “R Dunn ob 28 Jan 1731, aet 46”
10] Memorial pendant with a painted scene featuring a mourning women near an urn and weeping willows. Above her is a cherub holding a banner which reads “Affection Weeps Heaven Rejoices.” The painted scene is surrounded by a black enamel border with a sun design. On the back is a ribbon and bow design, over a blue background, with the dedication “LC ob 2 Feb 1794 aet 77.”
Steel Buttons/ Coup de Bouton- Satire 5454 Steel Buttons, published by W Humphrey 29 April 1777 Making Fun Of The Rich and Over Dressed~
A man (left) and woman (right), dressed in the height of the fashion, meet one another, walking in a park indicated by two trees. Rays of light spread from the large buttons on the man’s coat and strike the face of the lady, who falls back dazzled, lifting her arms as if to ward off the blaze. The buttons appear to be of cut-steel or silver with incised lines and a beaded edge, He wears a sword and carries a tasselled cane under his left arm. His shoes have large Artois buckles. The lady wears the enormous pyramid of hair decorated with curls then fashionable, on its summit ribbons, feathers, etc., which appears to be a hat. She holds a fan and wears a nosegay. Her dress has the tight waist, and inflated draperies over a comparatively narrow petticoat supported by a ‘cork rump’, Reproduced, Paston, Pl. xxvi. 29 April 1777
When archaeologists uncovered four ancient ring-shaped fortresses in Denmark in the 1930s, the find profoundly changed the way they thought about the Vikings that built them. Rather than mindless marauders, Vikings in the Middle Ages must have been a complex, technologically advanced people to build these fortifications. Now, Danish archaeologists have described a fifth ring fortress—the first such discovery in more than 60 years—revealing even more about these architecturally gifted warriors.
The new fortress, called Borgring, was found principally using an aerial, laser-based surveillance method called LIDAR, which returns an extremely high-resolution 3D ground map. It’s located on the Danish island Zealand, south of Copenhagen. The stronghold is a perfect circle with an outer diameter of 144 meters, and has four main gates crisscrossed by wood-paved roads. Read more.
Jane Austen read widely in the classics of her day, including the famous, Shakespeare and Milton, and the forgotten. Here are some of the popular books she probably read. The year given is the date of publication, not when Jane read those books. An asterisk denotes known favorites. Remember Jane lived from 1775-1817 and published between 1811-1817. Links are to free online editions.
![ca. 1876, [U.S. Centennial commemorative George Washington silk ribbon], Thomas Stevens Company via](https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8atgqPmBC1rstnezo1_1280.jpg "ca. 1876, [U.S. Centennial commemorative George Washington silk ribbon], Thomas Stevens Company via")
![[Model 1895 U.S. Army Officers’ Hat], Armstrong Uniforms, Chicagovia Heritage Auctions](https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8aoviEzsm1rstnezo1_1280.jpg "[Model 1895 U.S. Army Officers’ Hat], Armstrong Uniforms, Chicagovia Heritage Auctions")
![19th cent., [large painted drum with American eagle motif, for the Randolph light infantry] via Heri](https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8apbyFBIk1rstnezo1_1280.jpg "19th cent., [large painted drum with American eagle motif, for the Randolph light infantry] via Heri")
![19th cent., [Five relics related to George Washington], Collection of J. S. Reigart Relics include:](https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8aolwbWtu1rstnezo1_1280.jpg "19th cent., [Five relics related to George Washington], Collection of J. S. Reigart Relics include:")
