Author: sarahbguestperry

On a voyage to see how much mileage I can get from the creative ability and eye for images that my family thought was useless. On line art curator, fiction writer and now blogger. Historian's daughter. Follow me . . .even I have no idea where I'm going next.

Cows in summer. American. Thomas Bigelow Craig, painter. Living from 1849 to 1924, sometimes he painted sheep, too. Studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

The Watering Place. 1891. American. Oil on canvas. Thomas Bigelow Craig, painter (1849-1924). Signed and dated THOS. B. CRAIG 1891 on the lower left. Titled, inscribed, and dated Painted by Nature by THOS. B. CRAIG.1891 on the reverse. Image  © 1999 – 2020 SKINNER, INC,  Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via https://live.skinnerinc.com/lots/view/4-5ZWQ7Z/thomas-bigelow-craig-american-1849-1924


Cattle on a country road. Undated, by 1924. American. Oil on canvas. Thomas Bigelow Craig, painter (1849-1924). Signed Thos. B. Craig on the lower left. Image © CHRISTIE’S 2022, Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Fair use license. via https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4559006

Cattle grazing in a river landscape. 1893. American. Oil on canvas. Thomas Bigelow Craig, painter (1849-1924). Signed and dated Thos. B. Craig 1893 on the lower left. Image © CHRISTIE’S 2022, Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. Fair use license. via https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-4341488

Bowls decorated with seahorses. One in aluminum and the other in Waterford Crystal but all fun.

Hydrangea. Scalloped bowl modeled after flower petals atop three sea horses. Grey. Sand-cast aluminum decorated with a blend of enamel infused with crushed mother of pearl. Julia Knight, maker. Image © 1996-2022, Amazon.com, Inc. Fair use license. via https://www.amazon.com/Julia-Knight-Pedestal-10-Inch-Hydrangea/dp/B00CQRXBVK?th=1

Seahorse motif centerpiece. Irish. Crystal. Waterford Crystal, maker. Image © 2022 Blarney Woollen Mills. Fair use license. via https://www.blarney.com/irish-shop/waterford-crystal-bowl-seahorse/

A prettied up world it is fun to admire. Maybe it looked like that, maybe it didn’t. Not sure it really matters. American Symbolist artist Pinckney Marcius-Simons. Living from 1867 to 1909, he was born in the United States but mostly lived in Europe. Studied at the Vaugirard College in Paris.


Parsifal and the Knights of the Holy Grail. Undated, by 1909 American, Pinckney Marcius-Simons, artist (1867-19i09), Oil on canvas. Signed MARCIUS-SIMONS on the lower right, artist identified on a label from the Pennsylvania Museum of Art affixed to the back of the frame. Image ©  Skinner Auction Galleries. Fair use license. via https://live.skinnerinc.com/lots/view/4-5ZWH5B/pinckney-marcius-simons-american-1867-1909

The Spiritual Light. Undated, by 1909 American, Pinckney Marcius-Simons, artist (1867-19i09), Oil on canvas. Imaged by Heritage Auctions HA.com. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age, via https://www.artsy.net/artwork/attributed-to-pinckney-marcius-simons-the-spiritual-light

Towering Cathedral. Undated, by 1909 American, Pinckney Marcius-Simons, artist (1867-19i09), Oil on canvas. Imaged by Heritage Auctions HA.com. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age, via http://gratzgallery.com/inventory/index.php?page=out&id=307

A mere bagatelle for the mantelpiece. 19th century garnitures. Gilt, silver bronze and other fun things.

“Persian” mantel clock garniture with two matching two-light candelabra. The clock with a three and a half inch dial with enamel cartouche numerals, the bell striking movement with Brocot suspension and stamped to the backplate HD. The case supported by metamorphic dragons on a shaped marble plinth with gilt base. ca. 1855. French. Gilt and silvered bronze. Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume, designer. Auguste-Maximillian Delafontaine, maker. Image © 2021 Sotheby’s. Fair use license. via https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/style-london-furniture-clocks-silver-ceramics/a-gilt-and-silvered-bronze-persian-mantel-clock






Three piece garniture comprised of a central clock and a pair of flanking vases, all veneered in lapis lazuli with gilt bronze mounts. The clock with a central circular drum case holding the movement, fronted by the dial with enamel roundel showing the time in Roman and Arabic numerals. The clock with a hanging pendulum below and with clockworks set within a case flanked by two columns on each side. Two Greek sphinx figures with female heads and the wings of a bird are placed atop the lintel, set in line with the columns and facing outwards. The clock is surmounted by a lidded urn with flowers and fruit. The flanking vases with similar decorations and featuring twin intertwined serpent handles. Neoclassical, made in the late 19th century with the lapis lazuli veneer added later. French. Image © 2022 Mayfair Gallery Limited. Fair use license. via https://www.mayfairgallery.com/gilt-bronze-and-lapis-lazuli-three-piece-clock-garniture

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Garniture with a central mantel clock and pair of flanking candlesticks. Ormolu with the malachite veneer added later. The mantel clock features a shaped malachite base raised by two ormolu toupie feet and two scrolled acanthus leaf feet. The base supports, via a waisted plinth, the circular white enamel clock dial which is inscribed with Arabic numeral hours indices. The dial is contained within an ormolu bezel and is set within the malachite case. The clock case is flanked by twin malachite and ormolu quiver and arrow elements and is surmounted by a malachite urn-form finial draped with ormolu foliate garlands. The candlesticks are similarly decorated, each raised on a conforming malachite and ormolu base and terminating in a single candleholder. Late 19th c,. Neoclassical French. The enamel dial is signed Ovington Brothers Co. / New York / Made in France for the retailer that originally sold the set. Image © 2022 Mayfair Gallery Limited. Fair use license. via https://www.mayfairgallery.com/antique-french-malachite-ormolu-three-piece-clock-set

An envisioning . . . 1950 and an apartment next to the railway line outside Munich.

Oh to be here.

January in Bavaria. The drafts so bad all the hot tea in the world barely warms anyone up.

But home. Years in Africa bouncing around country to country wherever the foreign office says. The Pacific after with the same effect. A treat. One’s home country and own language. Funny. So many dialects heard but the other never forgotten.

Husband napping and the children coming later. Daughter to make the sauerbraten. English, her family is, with the others still in Italy. One country they all were once but spread out all over now like bees swarming out of a hive. The wars and everything rearranged. Places needing to be gotten out of and going wherever they will give you a visa even if it’s hotter than a Finnish sauna in mid-winter or so cold only a polar bear could smile.

But journals at the end of the bookcase shelf to help remember it all with. Photo after photo with the best at the end. First husband and honeymooning at his grandfather’s estate in Poland. Being a bride and a walk down the lane . . .umbrellas but no rain that day. . . no . . .sun and country air and a joy in being together . . . mind gone in the first war and it never came back but no way to know that then . . . a blessing . .

Image: Archduke Karl of Austria and Hungary and Archduchess Zita taking a walk. Ca. 1911. Collections of the Library of Congress. http://www.LOC.gov. https://www.emperorcharles.org/blog/2018/10/7/blessed-karl-a-humble-king

Images of a Russia that isn’t coming back painted by Fedor (Fyodor) Slavyansky. Living from 1817 to 1876, he studied with artist Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov. 

On the Balcony, 1857. Self portrait of the artist with his family. Russian. Fedor Slavyansky, painter (1817-1876). In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 70 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slavyansky-Family_portrait.jpg

Venetsianov’s Study. (Copy of Tyranov’s painting). ca. 1830s-1840s. Russian. Oil on canvas. Fedor Slavyansky, painter (1817-1876). Collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 70 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slavyansky-Venetsianov_Cabinet.jpg

In the rooms of A. Semenov. (Estate of Otradnoye?). 1840s. Russian. Oil on canvas. Fedor Slavyansky, painter (1817-1876). Collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 70 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slavyansky_-_V_komnatah_u_A.A.Semenskogo_v_Tverskoy_gubernii.jpg

Family portrait. 1852 Russian. Oil on canvas. Fedor Slavyansky, painter (1817-1876). Collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 70 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Family_portrait_by_F.Slavyanskiy_(1852,_GTG).jpg

Home on a quiet afternoon. Dutch mothers and their children painted by Bernard Pothast. Living from 1882 to 1966, he was a genre painter whose favorite subjects was the peasant family.

A happy family. Undated, by 1966. Dutch. Oil on canvas. Bernard Pothast, artist (1882-1966) Signed BPothast on the lower right. © Estate of the artist. Image © Bonhams 2001-2022. Fair use license. via https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24742/lot/65/

The First Lesson. Undated, by 1966. Dutch. Oil on canvas. Bernard Pothast, artist (1882-1966) Signed Pothast on the lower right. Signed Pothast on the stretcher and titled on the plaque. © Estate of the artist. Image © Uno Langmann. Fair use license. via https://www.langmann.com/20159-pothast-product-page?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=62717ab5fcb8e17875ed89f2&ss_email_id=627703e0ec85a23b7ca1

Blowing Bubbles. Undated, by 1966. Dutch. Oil on canvas. Signed on the lower right. Image © Burlington, London and the British Antique Dealers Association. Fair use license. via https://www.bada.org/object/blowing-bubbles-bernard-pothast

19th century birds painted by Danish artist Niels Peter Rasmussen. Living from 1847 to 1918, he also painted portraits and flowers.

Pigeon. February 3, 1907. Danish. oil on canvas. Niels Peter Rasmussen, painter (1847-1918). Date and monogram Søndag (Sunday) 3. Febr. 1907 “NPR” on the upper left. Image source bruun-rasmussen.dk. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 100 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niels_Peter_Rasmussen_-Due-_1907.png



 Gravand liggende i græsset.. July 12, 1906. Danish. Oil on cardboard. Niels Peter Rasmussen, painter (1847-1918). Inscribed with a monogram, location and date NPR” Viborg 12 Juli 1906 on the lower right. Image source bruun-rasmussen.dk. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 100 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niels_Peter_Rasmussen_-Gravand_liggende_i_gr%C3%A6sset-_1906.png

Skægmejse siddende på en kvist. May 20m 1916. Danish. Oil on cardboard. Niels Peter Rasmussen, painter (1847-1918). Inscribed with a monogram and the date on the bottom left: “NPR” 20 Mai 1916. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 100 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niels_Peter_Rasmussen_-_Sk%C3%A6gmejse_siddende_p%C3%A5_en_kvist.png

Tre gråspurve venter på edderkoppen. December, 1902. Oil on canvas. . Niels Peter Rasmussen, painter (1847-1918). Monogram and date bottom right: “NPR” Decb 1902. Image source bruun-rasmussen.dk. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 100 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Niels_Peter_Rasmussen_-Tre_gr%C3%A5spurve_venter_p%C3%A5_edderkoppen-_1902.png

Plates that illustrate the harmony and contrast of colors. From M. E. Chevreul’s work “The laws of contrast of colour and their application to the arts of painting, decoration of buildings, mosaic work, tapestry and carpet weaving, calico printing, dress, paper staining, printing, military clothing, illumination, landscape, and flower gardening.” Published in 1861 in London and New York by Routledge, Warne and Routledge, an English translation of the French.

Colours with white. Plate VIII, page 51, view 88 of M. E. Chevreul’s work The laws of contrast of colour with the plates engraved and printed in colors by Edmund Evans. Collections of and digitalized by the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/lawsofcontrastof00chev/page/n88/mode/1up

Plate XIII showing the modifications which black designs undergo upon different colored grounds. Page 120, image 120 of M. E. Chevreul’s work The laws of contrast of colour with the plates engraved and printed in colors by Edmund Evans. Collections of and digitalized by the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/lawsofcontrastof00chev/page/120/mode/1up
In reference to colours for paper-hangings and borders. Plate XIV, page 123, image 170 of M. E. Chevreul’s work The laws of contrast of colour with the plates engraved and printed in colors by Edmund Evans. Collections of and digitalized by the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/lawsofcontrastof00chev/page/n170/mode/1up

Designs for the borders of paper-hangings. Plate XV, Page 124, view 174 of M. E. Chevreul’s work The laws of contrast of colour with the plates engraved and printed in colors by Edmund Evans. Collections of and digitalized by the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/lawsofcontrastof00chev/page/n174/mode/1up

Ornaments for borders. Plate XVI, page 130, view 182 of M. E. Chevreul’s work The laws of contrast of colour with the plates engraved and printed in colors by Edmund Evans. Collections of and digitalized by the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/lawsofcontrastof00chev/page/n182/mode/1up

Example of the effect of two colours, red and green. Plate XVII, Page 131, view 186 of M. E. Chevreul’s work The laws of contrast of colour with the plates engraved and printed in colors by Edmund Evans. Collections of and digitalized by the Getty Research Institute. In the public domain due to age. via https://archive.org/details/lawsofcontrastof00chev/page/n186/mode/1up

A place to be in your dreams. Marianne Stokes, artist. Living from 1855 to 1927, she was born in Austria but moved to England after marrying landscape painter  Adrian Scott Stokes.

Angels Entertaining the Holy Child. 1893. Austrian/English. Oil on canvas. Marianne Stokes, artist (1855-1927). Image source: Christies. In the public domain in the Unites States because the artist died over 80 years ago. via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Stokes#/media/File:Marianne_Stokes_-Angels_Entertaining_the_Holy_Child(1893).jpg

The Queen and the Page. 1896. Austrian/English. Oil on canvas. Marianne Stokes, artist (1855-1927). Artwork in the public domain due to age. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marianne_Stokes_-The_Queen_and_the_Page(1896).jpg

Marianne Stokes. 1855-1927. Mélisande. 1895. Austrian/English. Marianne Stokes, artist (1855-1927). Collections of the Cologne Wallraf Richartz Museum. Fair use license due to age. via https://www.flickr.com/photos/mazanto/28471920340