Saturday, March 31, 2012

Cast Iron Carpenter Burining Building




This striking piece was found online at James D. Julia Auctioneers.   It is described as "An original Carpenter Burring Building".  Standing 17 inches high, the building is made of wood and has a cast iron facade.   When the rope is pulled, the fireman ascends the ladder up to the second floor where he can save the frantic maiden.  It looks to me like the woman can be removed from the balcony.  Perhaps her arms go around the fireman's outstretched hand.  This particular model sold for $31,000 in auction.  


The photos below are from a couple different sites. You can see that there is an additional figure in the version below: another fireman with a rubber hose attached to a hydrant. 















Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Make your own Christian Series Picture Model



This entry is a follow up to the preceding post on African explorers.


This piece of vintage ephemera can be found on the The Art of African Exploration Page of the Smithsonian Institute Libraries.   


African explorers and adventurers captured the imagination of the Victorian public.  Missionary and explorer David Livingstone  was particularly well known, and he was popular enough to inspire this cut out scene which is blandly and oddly named No. 1 of  "The Christian" Series of Picture Models.  (I'm not sure why quotes were used where they are).

I am compelled by the words printed on the upper right corner: "When Cut Out, this Sheet makes a Charming Model Scene". So blog readers, if you want to create a charming model scene, I urge you to print this out,  grab a scissor and get to work!




Sunday, March 25, 2012

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?



The next time you're in Ujiji be sure to visit the David Livingstone Museum.

It tells the famous tale of Stanley meeting Livingstone,  the British explorer thought to be missing, for whom he was sent out to search. For the story see the excerpt from Eyewitness to History  below, and for a more detailed version, check out Eyewitness' site. 

From Eyewitness to History:


In 1864 British explorer David Livingstone mounted an expedition through the central portion of the African continent with the objective of discovering the source of the Nile River. As months stretched into years, little was heard from the him. Rumors spread that Livingstone was being held captive or was lost or dead. Newspapers headlined the question "Where is Livingstone?" while the public clamored for information on the whereabouts of their national hero. By 1871, the ruckus had crossed to the shores of America and inspired George Bennett, publisher of the New York Herald, to commission newspaper reporter Henry Stanley to find Livingstone.

Henry Stanley was a remarkable man. Orphaned at an early age he spent his formative years in a workhouse in Wales, crossed the Atlantic at age 15 as a crewman of a merchant ship and jumped ship in New Orleans. Befriended by a local merchant, he took the man's name - Henry Stanley - as his own and went on to fight in the Civil War before working his way into a career in journalism.  Leading an expedition of approximately 200 men, Stanley headed into the interior from the eastern shore of Africa on March 21, 1871. After nearly eight months he found Livingstone in Ujiji, a small village on the shore of Lake Tanganyika on November 10, 1871.


Leading an expedition of approximately 200 men, Stanley headed into the interior from the eastern shore of Africa on March 21, 1871. After nearly eight months he found Livingstone in Ujiji, a small village on the shore of Lake Tanganyika on November 10, 1871.





I find this to be a fascinating subject, and I am presently reading an engaging book on the mid-Victorian era exploration of Africa. The book is Explorers of the Nile by Tim Jeal.  Described as brilliant and scholarly by the New York Times, the book presents the story with fresh information based on newly discovered documents. 





I am told that an excellent film about Burton's and Speke's travels in Africa is Mountains of The Moon (1990).  I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard that its become something of a cult film. 










John Hanning Speke is credited with discovering the source of the Nile, Lake Victoria (actually there are a few feeder rivers that flow into Victoria, so some consider the actual sources to be these small rivers that start in  in Rwanda or Burundi).   Speke's claim was disputed by Richard Burton, with whom he was travelling, and who was too ill to join on the part of the trip where the discovery was made.  Jeal's book casts Burton (I think appropriately so) as being very much a fame seeker who spent a lot of time disparaging Speke and his claim  (although there is now evidence that Burton privately believed the claim was in fact correct).  At the time of Speke's death, the matter was still disputed, however he was eventually proved right by Henry Morton Stanley in 1875.

You will see on the map above that the Nile has two branches - the White and the Blue, that join near Khartoum (Sudan).   Lake Victoria is considered to be source of the White Nile.  The source of the Blue Nile is Lake Tana in Ethiopia.


Finding the source of this river may not seem like a big deal today but at the time it was a huge unknown. It mattered greatly to the civilizations like the Egyptians who depended on its life giving waters.  For years they feared the river would suddenly run dry.  Locating and understanding the source would have put an end to their worries.  For  the Europeans, the motive was more about discovery and adventure  (and later about territory and profits). 


Some of the explorers of Africa




Henry Morton Stanley (who was born John Rowlands) who was sent out to find Livingstone. He is said to have uttered "Dr. Livingstone I presume"  He also confirmed John Hanning Speke's opinion of the Nile's source.


Dr. David Livingstone, missionary and explorer.



Captain Richard Burton - known for his explorations in Africa and Asia.  He and Speke had a falling out after Speke claimed (correctly as it was eventually proven) to have discovered the source of the Nile.  Speke, and not Burton, was invited by the Royal Geographic Society to return to Africa in 1860 to lead another expedition to the Nile's source.  One leaves Jeal's book with the clear sense that Burton selfishly manipulated the truth, and fabricated stories, to disparage Speke, particularly after Speke's premature death, when he could not defend himself. 



John Hanning Speke. He found the source of the Nile but died before his claim could be proven to be correct.  On the night before he was to publicly debate Burton about the source of the Nile (about which there was considerable controversy) in Bath, England, Speke was killed in a hunting accident.  It seems that his shotgun was accidentally discharged when he was attempting to climb over a fence. 


Captain James Augustus Grant.  He accompanied Speke on his second expedition to Africa in 1860.  Speke had planned to take his own brother, but after writing to him and not having heard back, he learned of Edward Speke's unfortunate death in India where he was serving as a soldier.  Grant proved to be a good and reliable expedition companion. 



The Bakers - Man and wife (who he bought in a slave auction) team



Samuel Baker fell in love with and bought Florence in a white slave auction (in the Balkans) and took her with him to Africa, where she proved to be a worthy and for he most part, sturdy companion.  However, at one point the 19 year old woman was so sick that a grieving Baker had his men dig her grave.  Fortunately she recovered, and upon their return to England, they quickly had a fast, secret wedding, so he could present her as his wife, which he did at a Royal Geographic Society, where he formally introduced her.  Victorian society (and his young daughters who recently lost their mother, Baker's first wife) would have disapproved had they know the couple travellied together unmarried.  Both the public and the RGS were taken with Baker and  Florence and he was soon knighted. 


Lady Florence Baker



Maps and Time Lines:




1766 Map




Princeton University has an excellent exhibition that can be seen on line where you can see maps, photos and a timeline:


Mapping African Exploration, 1541-1880





On a related topic, readers may like to check out a previous post on British Campaign Furniture.










Friday, March 23, 2012

Cool Fishbowls




Fishbowls have suddenly gotten cool. The above glass volcanic looking scebe is from design company Aruliden.  






And these condo fishbows by Umbra can be stacked too. For classy fish.















http://www.aruliden.com/

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Physeter Macrocephalus



Amazing animal. Beautiful image.





Two books I recommend on the topic of whales and whaling:





The Whale by Phillip Hoare










For cool whaling dioramas see these previous posts:








Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sherlock in 1/6





Here's an impressive model made by Craig Calvert of Australia.  The model is a result of two of his interests  - Sherlock Holmes, and 1/6th scale figures. In case anyone isn't familiar with 1/6, it's the scale of Barbie dolls and the old G.I. Joe dolls (for reference, most doll houses are in the smaller 1/12th scale).  Check out Craig's site, and also see the Work In Progress page if you want to see how the model was built.  Great job Craig.

















Some readers may know that Mr. Holmes was an injector of cocaine (a seven percent solution). Watson strongly discouraged its use, but Holmes needed it as protection from boredom, when there were no active cases.  











Saturday, March 10, 2012

Two views of my apartment model




I came across these two pictures recently - the model is of my Greenwich Village apartment (used in this blog's banner).


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Awesome Puzzle










I recently met a collector of vintage magic devices - and of many other objects.  He showed me this puzzle, which I photographed with my crappy phone camera (I miss my Android phone). The puzzle/trick was was sold as just that, and subsequently used to promote products.  In this case, the products of the  K.M. Supply Company of Kansas City, Missouri.  This particular device is made from wood and metal. 

There are two marbles in the case and the challenge is to separate them - more specifically, it is to get each marble into the holes on either side of the puzzle.  Very hard to do, unless you know the secret - which I believe I gave away in the title of the posting.  The solution is to spin the box - twirl it so to speak.  This forces the marbles easily into their respective holes.  I searched the web and found that it is called a centrifugal puzzle.  My friend said the originals were made by companies such as Adams, and Franco, both toy companies. 




The object is to get these two marbles:




 into small holes on either side of the box:




The solution: to spin (twirl) the box in either direction.  This will force the marbles into the holes.







I found some more recent examples here (where you can also see a good explanation of the puzzle).    This is where I found these:


Homemade model




Moses' Cradle by Skor-Mor.


All Uphill by Thinkfun.