Tag Archives: sculpture

Photo Of The Day From London: Ornate Sculptured Cherub Lamp Post

Waiting for the light to change at the pedestrian crosswalk, ever-present camera in hand, I took this picture of a lamp post across from Trafalgar Square in London. What wonderful detail used to be routinely applied to everyday objects!

This charming sculptured cherub item was created by William Sugg and Company who operated from 1837 to 1969 and their website shows a fascinating range of items that they produced and is well worth perusing for an understanding of how lovely London was in the late 1800s.

If you scan to the bottom of the page that I have linked above, you will see a drawing that indicates the appearance upon installation 129 years ago. The original glass globes were particularly pretty, in my opinion. But the lovely base is still there for the observant pedestrian in London to enjoy.

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Photo Of The Day: Gloriously Gruesome

Today’s photo was taken in London and shows a few of the many pieces of ferocious-looking animal statuary on the exterior facade of the Natural History Museum in Kensington.

Ferocious ornamentation atop the Natural History Museum in London, England

Dragonish in Devonport, New Zealand

For the price of a ferry ticket, visitors to Auckland on New Zealand’s north island can leave the bustling metropolitan area behind and be walking around on the quaint streets of a bayside village within 15-20 minutes. The charming suburb of Devonport is visible from the dockside precinct of the city, but the look and feel of the area gives the illusion that you have gone back in time by several decades.

Devonport Ferry Terminal with Auckland, New Zealand in the background

This tiny community has an eclectic mix of architectural styles that include Federation cottages from the 1800s and an Art Deco theatre on the main street.

Federation cottages from the 1800s in Devonport near Auckland, New Zealand

Art Deco theatre on the main street of Devonport near Auckland, New Zealand

But our real ‘find of the day’ was a work of mosaic art sitting half-way up a steep hill on a tiny green park. This ‘find’ overlooks the township and the harbour below. In the first photo below, you can just make out a man’s head in this view from the back. And those children on the left were running downhill quite quickly, trying to keep their balance on the steep angle.

Dragon passed by children running downhill in Devonport near Auckland, New Zealand

Dragon bench of mosaic tiles in Devonport near Auckland, New Zealand

Detail on backside of mosaic-art dragon bench in Devonport near Auckland, New Zealand

And so you can get a feel for the size and scale of this piece, here’s what a 6 foot tall man looks like sitting on it.

Man sitting on dragon bench in part overlooking Devonport near Auckland, New Zealand

Devonport — a charming side trip from Auckland and it is well worth a full day or overnight visit.

Picture Of The Day: What Is This Person?

Is it an allusion to a medieval woman with one of those pointed hats and trailing veil that they wore during those times? Is it an alien with a pointy head? Or is it simply some kind of tribal artwork?

The statue below was spotted in the cobblestone square ringed by shops that lies directly opposite the massive fortified chateau (castle) in Fougeres in northern France. It stood over 6 feet tall and, unfortunately, the shop that was selling it was closed for the day. I guess they trusted that no one would just carry it away overnight.

Curious wooden sculpture in a square in Fougeres in northern France.

Posted on 21 June 2011

Germany From Side To Side In One Day

It’s been a BEAR of a day, folks — seriously!

We left our apartment outside Dresden this morning, tried to get on the motorway to start heading southeast, couldn’t get on because the entry ramps were closed for construction, and we started our long day of driving by backtracking until we found an ramp that allowed us onto the motorway.

What should have taken us 7 hours to drive over to Strasbourg, just across the border in France, took almost ten solid hours of driving with two short stops for meals that took less than 20 minutes each time. Know why it took so long? Road construction from East to West all the way across Germany. AARRGGHH!!!

We are beyond tired right now, so don’t expect to see a steady stream of new posts until we get settled into our next 2 week stop in the Pyrenees. I am rather backed up on posts and sending photos to my agencies — so I’ll try to plow through some of the backlog then.

Until then, enjoy this shot of one of the many versions of Berlin’s ‘Buddy Bears’ that you see all over that wonderful city. This particular one was over 2 metres tall, had a rather happy face, and was spectacularly colourful!

Bright red Berlin Bear -- one example of many variations around the city

When The Sun Comes Out In Edinburgh…

When the sun comes out in Edinburgh, Scotland — a rush is on for any available seat outside to soak up the rays as you eat your cafe lunch. At least that’s what we witnessed yesterday at the National Gallery of Modern Art. And as we drove through the park-side areas along Queen Street on the way to and from the museum’s two massive buildings, we could see that the paths were filled with women pushing strollers, children were playing on the grass, and people were sitting atop benches and low stone walls everywhere as they ate their lunch in warmth for a nice change.

Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, Scotland

Architectural details: exterior steps of Dean Gallery

Afternoon light in the museum cafe - Photo by Mark Harmes

Each of the museums, one formerly an elegant boarding school and one a former orphanage housed in a rather impressive building, had vast rooms with high ceilings that were perfect for displaying the art in the collections. I was unable to take photos inside due to the rules of each museum, but I quite enjoyed the massive metal sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi as you entered the gates of the Dean Gallery.

Large sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi at Dean Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland

Marching Through History in Amsterdam

How small they were, those suits of armor. How diminutive were the heroes that defended the realm and bore that metallic outer layer upon their arms and chests. Marching, marching — doing what was expected of them.

Suits of Armor

Suit of Armor

I was surprised when I stood quite close to several of the exhibits and realized that the men who wore those metal suits were, in many cases, quite a bit smaller of frame and shorter of stature than most contemporary 20th or 21st century women. And these tiny men fought quite furious battles on land and sea to conquer lands or defend their homes. They were certainly smaller than I am and I’m not a very big person at 5 and 1/2 feet tall.

Perhaps it was the gloomy palette of the winter day outside and the icy-gusty rain, but between the paintings and exhibits of military life or the life aboard a sailing ship in both the Rijksmuseum yesterday afternoon and the Amsterdam Historisch Museum today, I experienced a strong sense of sadness for those lives that may have had intense boredom or bodily discomfort layered into their daily existence. I actually shuddered at one particularly vivid picture of two ships, side by side, engaged in a fiery, bloody battle. None of it seemed remotely stirring or the least bit grand or glamorous.

Exterior of the Rijksmuseum

Our afternoon at the Rijksmuseum was quite pleasant in spite of the mid-winter crowds and it was marvelous to revisit the work of Rembrandt after two decades, see his evolution as a painter, and compare the work of his contemporaries.

Corbel known as The Milkmaid

Wooden statue from 15th century

1960s-70s Kitchen

For me personally, the most enjoyable parts of our visit to the Amsterdam Historisch Museum were the fine wooden carvings that were displayed on the exterior of buildings during the 15th through 17th centuries and the exhibits on daily life in Amsterdam. There were cross sections of model houses that showed how the citizens of this city lived in various eras and set-ups of entire period rooms.

Some of the exhibits were both difficult to view and eerily fascinating at the same time. We had walked through room after room, era after era until we reached the top floor of this large museum and we came upon an entire series of displays that illustrated what life was like for Amsterdam citizens during the 5 year long German occupation of World War II. It was compelling viewing and I have included a few photos below of propaganda posters that can be enlarged if you click on them.

Picture of Judenstrasse during German occupation

German Propaganda Posters

This is a particularly comprehensive one-city-only historical museum that is housed in a splendidly large building. The exhibits are quite easy to understand, even if you don’t speak a word of Dutch! In fact, almost all of the museum has both Dutch and English captioning. A visit to this museum is a highly recommended way to spend several hours in Amsterdam.