Category Archives: amusements

amusements, history

Ever More!

There’s a brilliant BBC News item from Boxing Day on the ravens at the Tower of London. They have released the latest recruit “Jubilee” who has spent the last 6 months being acclimatised. A second male bird named “Gripp”, after Charles Dickens’ pet raven, has also been released to prowl the Tower grounds along with “Jubilee”.


It is believed ravens have been living in the Tower of London since at least the time of King Charles II and legend maintains that if they ever leave the tower and the monarchy will crumble — although this may all be Victorian fiction. Allegedly too when Charles II received complaints that the ravens were interfering with the work of the Royal Observatory, he ordered the re-siting of the Observatory to Greenwich rather than remove the ravens.

About the only restraint on the ravens is that they have the flight feathers on one wing clipped to prevent them flying off (they can however fly short distances to perch) and, as I recall, they are caged overnight. Otherwise the ravens are free to roam the tower grounds and do much as they please.

And do the ravens have a good life! As Wikipedia notes, quoting Boria Sax:

The ravens are now treated almost like royalty. Like the Royals, the ravens live in a palace and are waited on by servants. They are kept at public expense, but in return they must show themselves to the public in settings of great splendour. So long as they abide by certain basic rules, neither Royals nor ravens have to do anything extraordinary. If the power in question is political and diplomatic, the Royals now have hardly more than the ravens. But the word “power” here can also mean the aura of glamour and mystery which at times envelops both ravens and monarchs.

This is rather exemplified by another brilliant quite in the BBC News piece from Chris Scaife, the Yeoman Warden Ravenmaster:

“Raven Jubilee is doing very well and has now been trained to come out of his cage and meet all the visitors … But it takes years for the birds to really get to know members of the raven team and for us to get to know them and their idiosyncratic ways.”

He added: “They are the most pampered birds in the country — and one of the most intelligent. They gang up on small children with crisps at the tower — but they don’t like cheese and onion — so they’ll open the packet and dip the crisps in water to get rid of the taste.”

And that’s despite they’re each fed around 8oz of meat a day plus fruit, cheese, eggs and bird biscuit.

What brilliant birds!

amusements

Auction Time Again …

It’s auction time again at our local auction house. As usual there is an interesting selection of items about which one has to ask “why?”.

A small oil of a carthorse with its driver in a ford, English School, probably late 19th century, on canvas, giltwood frame with ivy leaf border.
Is the horse holding the driver under to drown him, I wonder?

A collection of envelope seals, paper money …
I can find no reference t this new species the Envelope Seal.

A Japanese bone netsuke carved as a seated boy holding a cockerel, c1900.
Is it only my mind that would misinterpret this?

A pair of sterling shakers …
What is a sterling and how do you shake it?

Three old garden gnomes, in pottery and concrete, a glass fibre plaque of musical children, a shell architectural ornament, a terracotta pot …
All in the best possible taste, naturally.

An old hat box full of hats and a suitcase of lace curtains, two cushions …
I quite expected the suitcase to be full of suits!

An interesting collection of artefacts including a death mask in an oak case, a duty free pack of Players Navy Cut cigarettes, old table light, carved wooden items, manicure sets, old boxes, campaign mirror, and a set of Carl Zeiss Dekarem 10×50 binoculars
Words like “an interesting collection” always make my heart sink. Read “a collection of old toot we couldn’t think what to do with”.

A shelf containing a horn-handled carving set, a boomerang, brass candlesticks, four glass fish ornaments, miniature teapots, an old iron …

A bras [sic] bulkhead clock signed Hermle and a matching barometer
If you must mistype it, please do it properly and give us “A bras bulkhead cock”

A Carltonware Guinness advertising lamp base, as a penguin holding a placard inscribed Draught Guinness

A spectacular Capodimonte porcelain group of a Gypsy Encampment by Sandro Maggioni with grazing horse and covered wagon, dancing couple, fiddler, woman tending a fire and child with dog, with certificate dated May 1977

A Rowe Juke box. The vendor reports that this is in good working order, ask for a demonstration.

A vast quantity of miscellaneous goods including retro items, waste paper bins, wall clocks, magazine racks, prams, candlesticks, old tins, Scalextrics, prints, pictures, glassware, biscuit tins, an old chrome folding trolley, mirror, floor lamp
Yep, more old toot!

amusements

Let Them Dance

Christmas is coming, and it’s time to have some fun with the TV schedules.

This evening we made the mistake of catching a bit of Strictly Come Dancing, the appallingly horrible BBC TV show. Oh dear, even with the sound off it was verging on the vomit-worthy.

But we thought what a wonderful line-up the BBC could put together for a Strictly Christmas Extravaganza.

As it would be a one-off special we decided it should be just 8 couples; so 8 “slebs”, four of nominally each gender. We decided that for a real laugh they should be:

Ester Rantzen
Vanessa Feltz
Harriet Harman
Camila Batmanghelidjh		 Robbie Coltraine
Graham Norton
David Beckham
Tony Blair

So who would you choose to make right prats of themselves?

amusements, arts

Auction Amusements

Time for another sale at our local auction house. This time round it is a huge sale with over 1000 lots. And as usual it is a curious mix of some “wow!” stuff and the exceedingly strange.

Let’s start with the star of the show, Lot 600:

An important Chinese gilt bronze figure of Amitayus, the Buddha of Infinite Life, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, seated in shawl and dhoti with engraved floral borders, wearing elaborate diadem and other jewellery, retaining numerous inset coral, turquoise and lapiz cabochons, the exposed flesh retaining brown lacquer colouring, the eyebrows and hair coloured black, on double lotus petal base, 35.5cm high.

Note: this figure belongs to a select group made in the Imperial foundry, one of which was cast on the orders of the Kangxi emperor for his devoutly Buddhist grandmother’s birthday in 1686 and is illustrated in Cultural Relics of Tibetan Buddhism Collected in the Qing Palace, Hong Kong, 1992, pls 1-2. It is likely that the other examples were made for the many Tibetan Buddhist temples in Beijing.


Should you desire this magnificent piece you’ll need to arrange a mortgage before you even consider bidding.

So after that it has to be all down hill into the oddities …

A set of Guinness buttons on original card.
How do you sew buttons on Guinness?

3 silver-gilt jewels of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, early 20th century, in cases, each for Lodge 181 (Prince Victor Lodge, Isle of Wight), together with the order’s certificate for … and an old photograph of a tailor’s shop; also a German Iron Cross, Second World War 1939-45 War Medal and the 1939-45 Defence Medal, and the George V and Queen Mary medal by Elect Cocoa.

An original cartoon by Willie Rushton and a 1930s map of Berlin.
Does anyone else find this slightly surreal?

An interesting collection of 20 buttonhooks and other implements, some silver, mainly circa. 1900.

An extensive collection of old horse decorations mounted on leather, a collection of graded buckles mounted on leather, a carved furniture decoration, a fire trivet, a letter stamp, etc.

An old milk churn inscribed: ‘S. Jackman, Buckingham’, a Bakelite record player by Columbia, an old coat hanger in the form of a doll, a similar doll, a brush with a doll handle, a bed pan … an old trunk, purple glass vase, etc.

A large well presented light brown sawfish rostrum, 130cm.

A large early Victorian neo-gothic burr walnut chiming mantel clock, by Daniel Desbois, the signed painted arched dial with strike/silent indicator below the chapter ring, with gilt hands, quarter chiming on eight bells and hour striking and with pull-cord repeat, the back plate signed … the case with outset cluster columns with obelisk finials flanking the arched cresting, 24″ high.
They make it sound a mess, but from the photo (right) it’s actually rather nice in it’s way. You’d need an enormous mantelpiece to put it on though.

A pull-along papier mache French Bulldog with nodding head, glass eyes, opening mouth and barking when chain pulled, fitted with coir and red fabric collar, early 20th century.

A probably tribal or theatrical musket.

A pair of William IV neo rococo ormolu candlesticks, each with a heron by a foliate scroll stem on rocaille base, complete with nozzles.
Yes, they are a complete mess!

A wax profile of Catherine the Great, said to be by G Dupre after Wyon, under glass in Georgian ebonised frame.

A broken stained glass roundel, probably 16th century, of St John the Baptist.

The skull and horns of a bison mounted on a shield and stand.

Seventeen terracotta, wood and pottery garden pots, and contents, and a linen box of rope sisal construction.

Two unusual mirrors incorporating the grille from a Rover 75 motor car, and another, a tennis racquet mirror, also a ship’s wheel nutcracker, water flask, wooden tool box with tools and a leather document case.

Four fire extinguishers.

A large quantity of artist’s equipment: pads, paints, an easel, also decorative lamps, birds under glass domes, resin bird figures …

A pair of occasional reproduction tables, each with a galleried centre section and two hinged ends, on moulded tapering legs.
But what are they at the times they aren’t reproduction tables?

As with so much of it, you just have to ask “Why?”.

amusements

Just for a chuckle …

The ‘flu jab crap continues. Gradually feeling better but still very depressed and not doing much. Hmmph! We are not impressed.

But just to cheer everyone, including me, up a bit I thought we’d have another cartoon from the archives.