For #InternationalRabbitDay 🐰:
William Jacob Hays Sr. (USA, 1830-1875)
Rabbits, 1859
oil on paper, H: 8 x W: 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
For #WorldHoneyBeeDay 🍯🐝:
Beehive with Blackberry Branches (Cheese Stand)
Minton & Co., design registered 1862
glazed earthenware (majolica)
(Photographed at the Majolica Mania exhibition the Walters Art Museum in 2022.)
WHY DOES IT LOOK SO MUCH LIKE BREAD
Crab netsuke Japan, 19th century, signed "Jugyoku") hornbill ivory, H 1/2 × W 1 3/8 × D 1 1/4 in. (1.2 × 3.5 × 3.2 cm) The Walters Art Museum 71.851
For #NationalCatfishDay on #MetalMonday :
Iriyama Yoshitomo (Japan, active c.1700-1750) Tsuba with Catfish and Eel, c.1700-1750 copper, gold, silver; 3.25 in. (8.3 cm) Walters Art Museum 1.361
"Both catfish and eel are associated with summer."
Born #OTD: Peter Carl Fabergé (Russian, 30 May 1846 – 24 Sep 1920)
Mouse, c.1908-14
House of Fabergé (Manufacturer); Peter Carl Fabergé (Artist)
smoky quartz, diamonds, gold, rubies
1 5/16 x 1 9/16 x 2 3/8 in. (3.4 x 4 x 6 cm)
For #SaveTheRhinoDay 🦏:
Rhinoceros, c.1900
House of Fabergé / Peter Carl Fabergé (Russian, 1846-1920)
spotted red jasper, H 2 3/8 × W 4 5/8 × D 1 5/8 in. (6.1 × 11.8 × 4.2 cm)
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1900, by purchase [from the factory]
"Represented is the Indian rhinoceros, an animal found east of the Caspian Sea. Fabergé did not establish a hardstone studio until 1908, so this piece must have been produced outside the firm, perhaps in Karl Woerffel's lapidary (gem and precious stone) works in St. Petersburg or at the Haus Stern factory in Idar-Oberstein, Germany."
For #NarionalDolphinDay 🐬:
#Dolphin Pendant, c.1600 (#Baroque)
Netherlandish (?) artist
gold, enamel, emeralds, pearls, H: 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm)
“This wonderfully flamboyant design is close to the model on the title page of the second part of Hans Collaert's stunning series of pendant designs published in Antwerp in 1582: ‘Virtuosic Designs for Golden Ornaments.’ In the engraving, it is the god Apollo riding a sea monster, but the similarities remain strong.”
#WatercolorWednesday:
A Ram
India, Mughal, c.1625-50
Opaque watercolor on paper
The Walters Art Museum
“The fourth Mughal Emperor, Jahangir (r. 1605-27) initiated the South Asian practice of painting animal portraits. This ram portrait was created under the reign of his successor, Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58). The clearly beloved animal is decorated with orange makeup on its ankles, hooves, and forehead, a necklace around its chest, and wooly caps on its back.”
Wait today is both #NationalPuppyDay AND #CuddlyKittenDay !? Well then…
John Henry Dolph (American,1835-1903)
Good Friends (Puppy and Kitten), c. 1875-1900
oil on canvas, H 12 x W 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm)
The Walters Art Museum 37.1992
https://art.thewalters.org/detail/1028/good-friends-puppy-and-kitten/
Happy #InternationalDayOfTheSeal ! 🦭
Sea Lion Effigy Stirrup Vessel
Moche, Peru, 50-800 CE (Early Intermediate-Middle Horizon)
Earthenware (Blackware), H: 6 1/4 x W: 9 1/2 x D: 6 1/4 in. (15.9 x 24.1 x 15.9 cm)
The Walters Art Museum 48.2842 https://art.thewalters.org/detail/79387/seal-effigy-stirrup-vessel/
“This vessel shows a swimming sea lion, an animal commonly found on islands in the Pacific Ocean close to Peru. Apart from being an important source of food for Andean people, sea lions commonly swallow beach pebbles, which they later vomit up. These stones were considered to have powerful medicinal qualities, and could be ground to make herbal remedies in ancient Peru.”
🆔 South American Sea Lion (Otaria byronia)
For both #WorldFrogDay + #WorldSparrowDay today, here are two ivory nestukes on display together at the The Walters Art Museum:
1. Skull and Toad
Ohara Mitsuhiro, Edo, early-mid 19th c.
2. Stylized Fukurasusume ("fat sparrow")
after Masanao of Kyoto, Edo, early 19th c.
For #MonkeyDay:
19th-century majolica monkeys! From the 2022 Majolica Mania exhibition at The Walters Art Museum:
1. Monkey Teapot, Mintons Ltd., designed c. 1873, this example 1894 2. Monkey Inkstand, Minton & Co., design registered 1872 3. Monkey Garden Seat, Minton & Co., designed c. 1855, this example 1867 4. Vases (Frog, Monkey, Tortoise), Worcester Royal Porcelain Co., c. 1876, attributed to James Hadley (British, 1837–1903), designer
Happy #WorldAnteaterDay!
From House of Fabergé menagerie, here is a diamond-eyed jasper anteater figure purchased by The Walters Art Museum founder Henry Walters on a trip to St. Petersburg in 1900. Now in the museum’s permanent collection.
Anteater
House of Fabergé (Russian, est. 1842) (Manufacturer)
Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920)
c. 1900
jasper, diamonds
"This tiny diamond-eyed anteater was purchased by Henry Walters, founder of the Walters Art Museum, on a trip to St. Petersburg in 1900. The House of Fabergé began making hardstone animals in the 1890s and they proved popular with their elite clients. Queen Alexandra (wife of the British King Edward VIl) built a large collection, and production peaked in the years immediately before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
Objects such as this anteater were inspired by Japanese netsuke. Carl Fabergé owned over 500 of these. He married this admiration of Asian art with the rich Russian tradition of hardstone carving. The anteater is unusual among Fabergé's menagerie, although examples in bloodstone and quartz are also known.”
#WoodpeckerWednesday:
Pair of Woodpeckers
Derby, c.1760-65
Soft-paste porcelain
The Walters Art Museum 48.821, 48.822
“Animals…such as these woodpeckers were produced by many English ceramic factories. Like their Meissen prototypes, they were often used to decorate dining tables during the fruit and dessert courses.”
For #WorldElephantDay 🐘:
Dancing Ganesha sculptures at The Walters Art Museum:
1. India (Bihar), 1st half 11th c., stone (Muscovite biotite schist)
2. India (Uttar Pradesh), 9th-10th c., sandstone
3. Nepal, 15th-16th c., gilded copper alloy
It’s also #WorldChimpanzeeDay today!
Chimpanzee House of Fabergé Russia (St. Petersburg), c. 1900 Agate, gilded silver, diamond Acquired by Henry Walters, 1900 On display at The Walters Art Museum's Across Asia: Arts of Asia and the Islamic World exhibition
#TwoForTuesday for #InsectWeek: Japanese praying mantises!
1. Ohara Koson (1877-1945) Praying Mantis and Full Moon, c. 1920s woodblock print, ink & color on paper The Trout Gallery of Dickinson College
2. Murata Seimin (1761-1837) Brush Rest in the Shape of a Praying Mantis, c. 1800 metalwork sculpture, copper alloy The Walters Art Museum