Nearly forgotten but glorious art, envisionings and historical oddments from the back corners of the internet
And I thank whoever put the article about the premiere of La Belle Hélène on Wikipedia as that is where I found the full names of most of the actors.
I didn’t come across this rare book in an auction catalog. I found an article about it in an email from Public Domain Review here. The article has much fascinating information both about goldfish and the author and engraver. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/chinese-fishes/?utm_source=newsletter
prancing on air on the tip of a baby unicorn’s tail as she bounces up and down until she feels dizzy as somewhere in Mexico City in a fashion designer’s atelier . . . quinceanera season nearly and a set of ancient fashion dolls and their doll escorts in each frock . . . well not the same frocks but saved anyway . . . little once and summer afternoons whiled away crafting ball dresses out of crepe paper from mother’s piñata shop with tiaras made from sequins . . . just as much fun now but with no customers back then and able to do whatever you want, not just want the clients mothers say . . .
my spring series post for today over on my Substack. It includes this fun travel trailer miniature that I found a while back over on Etsy.
https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/dollhouses-and-other-miniature-worlds-221
whispering on air as somewhere in a far away jungle and a long forgotten airstrip the ghosts of airplanes past take to the air . . . few to see but maybe to hear . . . . soaring across the sea they are on the winds of hope . . . just listen long enough and you will hear them . . . a faint rustling that sounds like a zephyr blowing through the palms but with something else behind it . . .
my spring series post at the link over on my Substack if you’d like to see it. . .
It includes this
Flotilla, from the series Exodus. 2020. French. Hand cut and stacked paper. Zim & Zou, artists. zimandzou.fr. via thisiscolossal.com. @zimandzou on Instagram.
https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/dollhouses-and-other-miniature-worlds-ca6
Philipp Franz von Siebold was born in Würzburg in Bavaria (now part of Germany) in 1796 into a family of physicians. He became a physician himself. In 1822, he entered the service of the Dutch East Indies Army as chief medical officer stationed in Batavia. The next year the governor-general for Batavia sent him on an expedition to Japan so these are from life though how many years there were between when he went and when the drawings were done I am not sure. He traveled with apothecary Heinrich Bürger and the skilled painter C.H. de Villeneuve so presumably Villeneuve did the drawings. He traveled to Japan on at least one more occasion, the last time being in 1859.
Learn more about him here https://www.sieboldhuis.org/en/about/siebold/
I didn’t find this book by myself. I found a copy up for sale on the website of rare book seller Antiquariaat Schierenberg schierenberg.nl who were vendors at the rare book fair here last fall.
effervescing in air on the tip of a sunbeam rising at dawn as in the children’s zoo in a great city the two legged ones keep scrubbing everything while at the concession stand the helpers open up the packages of hot dog buns and the mother of the prairie dog family that lives next to the donkeys smiles and then frowns . . . one more day and then open . . . that fun but the little ones getting sick from the candy that the other little ones that ride in strollers toss in . . . but one can hope . . . a carrot stick here and there . . . hopefully more of those . . . no rest for the weary with a child who has a tummy ache all night but that the zoo keepers don’t think of . . .
My spring series post for today over on my Substack at the link. Enjoy!
https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/dollhouses-and-other-miniature-worlds-ca3
simpering on air on the toes of a diver as she reaches for the water as in the Meissen porcelain factory a bit of noise and then a dance . . . back in the archives it is where they keep all the old ones . . . Meissen has been around a very long time . . . porcelain ladies in crinolines and modern day ladies in leggings with escorts with motorcycle helmets on their heads . . . a bit of everything and all mixed up . . . the only way that’s fun, don’t you think . . . time’s a-wasting and the boring stuff . . . well that just has to go.
My spring series post for today over on my Substack at the link. Please keep scrolling to the end to see them all. Far more images than will work as email length because these were originally posted to my Facebook and yes people are still sending me links that I can’t help but use.
https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/dollhouses-and-other-miniature-worlds-c14
These must have been hand colored as the technology to do it by machine came along much later.
my new coming of age piece just published on my Substack. It is around 44 pages long in the writing and then there are around 14 pictures. I hope you like it!
https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/clarissa-veronica-beatrice-and-violet
