Category Archives: amusements

amusements, music

Oddity of the Week: Pear Music

Trois Morceaux en forme de poire
(three pieces in the shape of a pear)
A set of six (not three) piano pieces for four hands by Erik Satie, dating from 1903. Among Satie’s other works are Chases nues a droite et a gauche (sans lunettes) (things seen to right and left, without spectacles); and Embryons dessèchès (desiccated embryos). His scores contain instructions to the player such as ‘light as an egg’ and ‘with much sickness’.
His sister Olga commented: My brother was always difficult to understand. He doesn’t seem to have been quite normal.
From: Ian Crofton; Brewer’s Cabinet of Curiosities

amusements

Oddity of the Week: Insurance

People insure some unlikely things.
Egon Ronay, the restaurant critic, insured his palate for £250,000 in 1993, arguing that without this asset he would be like a sculptor shorn of his hands.
While playing cricket for Australia between 1985 and 1994, fats bowler Merv Hughes took out an estimated $370,000 policy on his trademark walrus moustache, which, combined with his 6’4″ physique and outstanding playing ability, made him one of the most recognized cricketers in the world.


And in 2003 Basil Brush apparently insured his tail for £1M.
Boom! Boom!

amusements

More Auction Oddities

Yet another collection of the strange and surreal from the catalogue of our local auction house. As always it is not just the wonderful variety of old toot that people sell, but the eccentric collections put together to make a lot. Enjoy this selection!

3 sweet jars full of matchboxes from around the world, and a small quantity of costume jewellery comprising 3 glitzy necklaces
A good quantity of interesting items incl. children’s toys and dolls incl. Bayko building set, cased Hotwheels Ferrari, tinplate model car with Dunlop tyres, a quantity of boxed playing cards, draughts and chess set, 1950s doll, a cased Polaroid Powerzoom camera and a Ricoh L20 camera, 3 old walking canes and a golf club, pewter chamberstick and snuffer, a small quantity of wooden items incl. fans, stands, etc., Beatrix Potter figure of Mrs Tiggywinkle and other small decorative items and pin trays, a quantity of carved items, a black and white picture of Concorde, etc.
Two decorative barbed hunting spears with metal engraved heads
Two Royal Doulton character jugs, ‘Sairie Gamp’ and ‘Simon Cellarer’, a quantity of novelty teapots incl. one in the form of a dresser and another as a desk with typewriter, a model phrenology head and a palmistry hand, a small quantity of model townhouses, an old zither, and a quantity of sheet music, etc.
A pair of mounted antlers c.1900, on a good mahogany acorn-leaf base
Two lady’s handbags, C. Valentini and Jacques Vert, a gentleman’s black shoulder bag, a handbag modelled in glass, a small quantity of blue and white plates decorated with country scenes, a few CDs and DVDs. a boxed Mesaco muse horn, two old photographs of World War II planes, a quantity of LPs incl. Boney M, a set of framed cigarette cards of planes, and a lady’s boxed watch

A pair of mounted antlers and a pair of mounted horns
A box of interesting items incl. four dolls, a kangaroo toy, an old peg doll in box, silver-plated fruit bowls, a quantity of cigarette cases and compacts, African wooden carvings, Panama hat, etc.
A Victorian taxidermy specimen of a four-legged duckling and another small bird in grassy case


A collection of decorative arms comprising a pair of tribal pistols, a Japanese sword, a chain mace, a throwing stick, also a native spear and an arrow, an Indian walking stick and two foils
A set of 25 antique glass eyes in fitted case

An Italian Fascist square printed scarf, in white against a black ground, with Mussolini’s Ethiopian speech dated 2nd October XIII (1935), and dominos in a box
A pith helmet, a fencing mask, and a policewoman’s hat
A good quantity of wall masks from across the world, including Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, etc., and others in the form of cats, a witch head, ideal for Halloween and a papier-mâché figure of a man.
A quantity of table lamps, ceiling lights, etc., walking sticks, box of framing nails, door handles, statue of Buddha, German vase, lava lamp, sports bags, etc.
A quantity of skis including Techno-pro and Monocoque, and a quantity of golf clubs including American Durablock, and a zimmer frame.
Yes, it was the zimmer frame with the skis that finally finished me off!