joyride

image copyright and by kindest permission of mimi williams

Mimi Williams lives and works in Olympia WA. She finds endless riches in her world there, both in its natural beauty and in the everyday stories of her neighbors - every and any neighbor, including the friend shown here in "Joyride."
"I created [Joyride] to capture the spirit of the freedom on the road together with a wistful yearning as the dog looks at the birds he would so love to chase," Williams says. This piece is a linoleum cut block print, as is all her work, and the strength and clarity of the medium lends itself very well to a vivid image and the equally vivid feelings it evokes. You can feel the wind in the dog's ears, and see the beady-eyed yearning as he scopes out those unmissable crows.
Williams' work can be found at her website, www.mimiwilliamsprintmaker.com; I found her first at her Etsy shop.

wordless wednesday

firecat

courtesy www.rijksmuseum.nl BK-16903-B

This cat half of a pair of gilded bronze firedogs is:
 - probably from 1770
 - probably by Philippe Caffieri the Younger
 - not the half that's a poodle
 - definitely beautiful
Firedogs help support the framework upon which the logs are piled in a fireplace.  What a clever, elegant move to make them in the shape of animals enjoying the heat and light.  That's typical for their time; 1770 would be during the ascendancy of Rococo, a playful, delicate and lyrical style.

wrapped in nightingales?

gift of W. T. Sesnon (M.55.6) www.lacma.org

Perhaps this textile wouldn't be so comfortable for a nap or for loungewear, as it contains metallic threads along its silk ones.  Even so, looking at this 17th-century Iranian textile brings soothing thoughts of perfumed gardens and birdsong, as if you could drape it around yourself and be transported there.  I believe this to be a variant of a pattern popular in its time, the "rose and nightingale" motif (gul-o-bul-bul), which symbolized the union of the lover and the beloved.  I know the birds look a lot like sun conures, but take a peek at this print from the Met for a gul-o-bul-bul motif that does essentially look a lot like this.  The Met also has an informative article about Iranian textiles of this period that I found interesting.

the cat boat / de poezenboot

Our friends MB Fountain (@MBFountain) tweeted the other day to say they were visiting De Poezenboot.  "Say hi for me," I tweeted back, totally envious.  It's been a while since I featured this very special cat sanctuary, which occupies a large houseboat in an Amsterdam canal. (There used to be two, but sadly the second seems to have been denied use by the municipality.  Oh dear; where's all the cat litter to be stored?)  Let's have another look:
De Poezenboot, English-language site
Their poster (which says "Help The Cat Boat, otherwise the cats die")
Catster recently featured a very fine article with lots of photos.
Some lucky soul got to play with the Boat cats for over an hour and filmed some of it.  There are lots of Poezenboot videos on YouTube.
The Cat Boat manages solely from charitable giving and proceeds from their shop.  Perhaps someone you know needs a cute Poezenboot tshirt?

"don't kiss the cat"

thanks british library flickr. PD

Don't Kiss the Cat.
It must be a terrifying revelation to those who kiss their cats, that has been made by Prof. Fiocci, the Italian chemist. He has found by experiment that when a cat licks its lips it spreads over them a saliva in which there are swarms of minute bacilli not free from danger to human beings. When he inoculated rabbits and guinea pigs with this noxious substance they died within twenty-four hours; and he has come to the conclusion that it is dangerous for anyone to indulge in the habit of kissing cats.

 -- This advice, which I plan to ignore, comes from Mattie Lee Wehrley's 1916 book Handy household hints and recipes. Louisville, Ky.: Breckel Press.

waiting for the master

found on pinterest, believed PD. on p f.50v-51r

This quiet and domestic vignette is found in the Book of Hours of Joanna of Castile (Libro d'Ore di Giovanna di Castiglia, 1486-1506 - here is the link to the digitised book at the British Library).  Also known as the "Hours of Joanna the Mad," the book contains a calendar, devotional texts, and prayers.  There are holy scenes from the life of Christ, but there are also pages and pages of open margins with scattered flowers, birds, and charming animals both everyday and fanciful.  It's a serene thing to behold, which makes it all the more poignant to me that Joanna's life was complicated and subject to politically motivated cruelties.

it's raining cats and dogs, and more visual treats

thanks british library flickr (pd)

Here's some creative treats I found on Vimeo:

 - I guess the French don't say "It's raining cats and dogs," but "It's raining ropes."  In this project for Eurostar, animator Claire Fauché mixes them up in a jaunty 30-second spot.  You'll remember how to say it in French now.

 - Absolute Radio invited listeners to share memories of dogs gone by.  Some of the resulting tales were too good to be true/or ignore, so Absolute Radio did the obvious thing and had a song made about it.  You can add your Fido to the Dead Dogs Memorial!

 - So many dog breeds, but to them, it's all one world.  A Dog's World.

 - A very short documentary piece very full of heart: the pets of the Amazon's Awa tribe.

happy father's day 2016

found on pinterest, believed PD

It's much easier to find things on pets' moms than pets' dads, but I think this charming 1915 portrait of "Everett Tubbs Grimes and Dog" by Matteo Sandona does quite all right.

Happy Father's Day, 

wherever and however that applies!

a dog, circa 1800

yale center for british art, paul mellon collection. PD

British naturalist and illustrator James Sowerby (1757-1822; check out his goofy and adorable walruses) might have been using this paper for some other notes or doodles, but what he ended up with was one enthusiastic wire-haired dog.  Sowerby was known for the spirit of scientific inquiry he brought to his illustrations, but here he's simply illustrating the momentary joy of a friend.

a travelogue cat 1899

thanks british library flickr (PD)

This little black kitty is a bit of a mystery.  He's found on page 22 of "Espana Negra," a travelogue by the Belgian poet Emile Verhaeren which Dario de Regoyos translated into Spanish and published in 1899, "with illustrations by the author."  So that's Emile Verhaeren?  Then why are de Regoyos' initials on this piece?  Verhaeren was one of the founding individuals behind the French Symbolist literary movement, not a visual artist.  So I think I know the answer - translator = author. Does it seem random he'd be translating and illustrating a work by a Belgian?  Not so much when you learn that he studied in Brussels and was active in modern art movements there.
Want to see the actual book?  You can see it here!

the uk bureaucats

Longtime friend of the Museum, Everycat (@WhickyWhuudler) sent me to an excellent post from the UK's National Archives:
The bureaucats at the heart of government
 There you will learn about such vermin-removal public specialists as Peter the Great (also known as Peter II), whose slim pay packet was meant to keep him recompensed but not so comfortable that he would grow lazy. (Can anyone out there relate?)  You can also see a list of the Chief Mousers to the Cabinet Office since 1924 here at Wikipedia.
 

wordless wednesday

the pet museum: cameo - lucy is our relative!

all photos copyright and kindest courtesy of rene l

Today's feature is Lucy.  In these photos taken a couple of days ago, Lucy is very happy indeed because her people have come home safe and sound from the wedding weekend.  She belongs to Rene and Mike (the curatorial sister- and brother-in-law), and word is she's quite a cuddle buddy.

She LOOKS cuddly!

possibly a roman cat?

thanks discardingimages.com

This tubby fellow with Patton Oswalt lips is found in a French illustrated manuscript dated 1454: Jean Mansel, "La Fleur des histoires ou les hystores rommaines abregies." This seems to be a book about the history of Roman princes, and I've no idea whether this guy's presence in the margin of folio 257r has any relation to the subject. Would you like to see the entire page he's on? I think I have it linked here.

chauncey gardner, a goat of note

i took this.  lafayette cemetery #1.

I'm still full of joyful thoughts about my New Orleans trip.  Clearly a few days doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of everything you can experience in one of the world's great cities. so I went looking for stories to help me understand what I missed.  The Big Easy did not disappoint.
Let me point you to the story of Chauncey Gardner, the goat that showed up in music videos, as a festival mascot, and not least as the inspiration behind an urban brush-removal company.
Chauncey passed on in February 2015 at the age of 11.  His obituary points out that he was a solid presence in the arts and culture of New Orleans; during the days after Hurricane Katrina, the Village Voice shared his adventures - he'd left the area riding shotgun in his people's car.  Then, as the city started taking itself back, Chauncey was the inspiration for a weed-eating team of unusual landscapers: Y'Herd Me Property Maintenance.  Excellent story about that is here.
A one-of-a-kind town needs a one-of-a-kind hero.  I can't wait to go back to NOLA.

three little pigs

thanks the-athenaeum.org (PD)

Here's another lovely set of George Morland guinea pigs, making short work of a cabbage leaf.

"a cat-less age"

I wish I knew what cats had ever done to L. Hay Meredith to bring about this tart trio of anti-feline stanzas. . . 

A CAT-LESS AGE
There are no cats; they’ve all gone down
To wail upon another shore;
There are no cats, this happy town
Will never see their presence more.

There are no cats. O happy land
From which old maids recoil and shrink;
Where boot-jacks ever are unknown
To ward off any missing link.

There are no cats, O blessed clime
Where children reign in joy supreme;
Where mothers live and mothers love
And life is one long, pleasant dream.

- from Meredith, L. Hay. (1912). Today and yesterday: a book of poems. Chicago, Ill.: Brock & Rankin. 55.  

worded wednesday

I was away for a few days to see family married in New Orleans.  Here's some photos I took that will show you a more intimate side of this most unusual and lovely city.  I hope to return!

Above: sticker found on Magazine Street.

Characteristic ironwork found in Lafayette Cemetery #1.  See the little friend?

Found on the sidewalk on a side street of the French Quarter.

These feral kitties - there's four in the photo, look at the upper left - are looked after, I gather, by the lady at the Riverwalk tourist and tour info kiosk.  They aren't used to being petted, but they will let you touch their backs with a finger.

An apartment window in the French Quarter.

two gentlemen (?) of verona

photo credit yale university art gallery.  (PD)

Here's the great American illustrator Edwin Austin Abbey with his take on Shakespeare:
"Launce and His Dog - Act IV, Scene IV, Two Gentlemen of Verona," a pen and ink work from 1891. I find his spindly, descriptive lines and attention to funny characterization typical of his time, and done with a nimble feel.  What a great face on that dog!

So what about a dog in Act IV Scene IV?  I went looking (I have not memorized Shakespeare, and I bet you haven't either).  Here's how the scene starts.

SCENE IV.
Enter LAUNCE, with his his Dog.

LAUNCE
When a man's servant shall play the cur with him,
look you, it goes hard: one that I brought up of a
puppy; one that I saved from drowning, when three or
four of his blind brothers and sisters went to it.
I have taught him, even as one would say precisely,
'thus I would teach a dog.' I was sent to deliver
him as a present to Mistress Silvia from my master;
and I came no sooner into the dining-chamber but he
steps me to her trencher and steals her capon's leg:
O, 'tis a foul thing when a cur cannot keep himself
in all companies!. . . 

The dog is called "Crab."  And here is a wacky take on this scene.