___________________
3 items, maximum 5 sentences and 5 pics (some with captions) for each . . .
___________________
Britain’s Giant Hillside Chalk Figures:
From as early as 1,000 BC right up to the 20th century, people have been carving into Southern England’s hillsides to create images by revealing the chalk underneath or by filling the carved trenches with crushed chalk. Today there are 57 identified, it is believed that in the past there were hundred with most lost through erosion and by being overgrown. Many are huge and need to be seen from a distance to be appreciated. Those that remain are maintained by local groups of volunteers who keep the overgrowth away and periodically renew the chalk where needed. A selection follows.
Source:
The Uffington White Horse in Berkshire county, believed to have been carved by Iron Age people in 1000 BC.
The Osmington White Horse is the only horse figure with a rider. It was carved in 1808 in honour of King George III, who was a regular visitor to nearby Weymouth
The Westbury White Horse, believed to have been carved to commemorate King Alfred's victory at the Battle of Ethandun in 878.
The Cerne Abbas Giant is a giant figure of a naked man with an erect phallus, wielding a primitive club in his right hand, and is located near the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, England. It’s origins are a mystery with the earliest recorded reference being in 1694. Having come to be associated with fertility, women who wanted to conceive would spend a night alone on the hillside, particularly within the confines of his giant phallus. Sleeping on the giant was also thought to be a good way to ensure a future wedding for unmarried women.
Near Fovant in southwest Wiltshire are a set of regimental badges cut into a chalk hill by soldiers garrisoned nearby and waiting to go to France during the First World War. Originally, twenty badges were craved, but only nine remain today.
___________________
Tatusya Tanaka and his miniature dioramas:
Tatsuya Tanaka has been creating miniature dioramas every day since 2011 and posting photographs of those dioramas on his calendar website. You can see the website by clicking on:
Tanaka combines everyday items with tiny figures to cause us to look at such figures in new ways, to smile at the whimsy and humour. As you can imagine, there are thousands of diaromas and photographs but I can only post 5. Here are some from October 2018 and a couple of other recent ones . . .
___________________
Toby Jugs:
A Toby Jug – also sometimes known as a Fillpot (or Philpot) – is a pottery jug in the form of a seated person, or the head of a recognizable person (often an English king). Started in the 1760s, it is thought to be a development of similar Delft jugs that were produced in the Netherlands. One theory as to the origin of the name is that it was inspired by the intoxicated, jovial character of Sir Toby Belch in Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night. Another is that it was named after a notorious 18th-century Yorkshire drinker, Henry Elwes, who was known as "Toby Fillpot" (or Philpot), who was mentioned in an old English drinking song The Brown Jug, the popular verses of which were first published in 1761. In the 1949 film 12 O’Clock High, a Toby Jug depicting Robin Hood is used as a signal in the Officer's Club, to discreetly warn aircrews that there will be a mission the following day, without revealing this to outsiders who might be visiting.
Gallery:
Toby Jug, made by Ralph Wood (the Younger), Burslem, ca. 1782-1795
German Sterling Silver Toby Jug, 1904
Royal Doulton Fidel Castro jug
Vintage Royal Doulton Old Charley Character Toby Jug
Dean Jagger with Toby Jug, 12 O’Clock High
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.