View allAll Photos Tagged Inheritance
My Homer Laughlin china inherited from my grandmother. The linens and porcelain place card holders are vintage finds.
This vintage photo depicts the Panting Wolf Post Dedicated at the last potlatch held on Japonski Island near Sitka on December 23, 1904. The hosts of the potlatch, the Kaagwaantaan clan, affirmed their social status by dedicating five monumental wooden carvings. The Panting Wolf house post was raised up by pulleys and attached to the front of Jacob Yarkon's (Xeitxutch) World house.
=======================================================
Potlatches
Potlatches are among the most distinctive cultural expressions of the Native American peoples of the Northwest Pacific Coasts of the United States and Canada.
Practiced by communities as far north as the Ingalik of Central Alaska and as far south as the Makah of Washington State, they are perhaps best known among the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Nootka, Salish, and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples.
Potlatches are extravagant feasts where goods are given away or sometimes destroyed to enhance social prestige. The basic principle underlying the potlatch is reciprocity and balance as the host clan regales the clans from the opposite moiety with songs, dances, speeches, food, and gifts. Traditionally, they take place in very specific cultural contexts such as a memorial for a deceased relative, the rebuilding of a clan house, or the dedication of a totem pole.
Today, potlatches are also held for other reasons such as marking important anniversaries, graduations, and personal accomplishments. Among the Tlingit, however, the memorial potlatch (koo.éex’) remains the principal one.
As Sergei Kan points out, they are not just about representing the social order; they also constitute key cultural values and principles of honor and mutual support. By hosting elaborate potlatches, individuals and clans maintain and gain status and recogni-tion within the community. The potlatch is thus a complex and multi-layered communication system where participants express their relationships among themselves, with their ancestors, and with their future generations.
Although there is variation across communities, memorial potlatches are structured according to a standard protocol. They generally begin with the hosts welcoming the guests, and they quickly move into the mourning period where the hosts sing mourning songs.
To alleviate their hosts’ grief, the guest clans immediately respond by singing songs, holding up their clan at.óow, and making consolation speeches. The potlatch then shifts to a more celebra-tory and joyous mood with dancing, the distribution of individual “fire dishes” of food for the ancestors,and the serving of a traditional meal.
At this time, the hosts distribute food and small gifts and recognize individual guests with gifts of fruit baskets. Throughout this period the guests and family members give small amounts of money to members of the host clan with whom they have a special relationship. The hosts gather this money and announce each gift, and they then give new clan names to newborn children and individuals being adopted.
Near the end of the potlatch, the hosts publicly recognize everyone who helped and supported them in their time of grief with a gift of money and sometimes a special gift such as a blanket. After all the money and gifts have been distributed, the guests generally perform a closing dance to thank the hosts.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Tlingit people experienced profound social changes. U.S. citizenship, social justice, and Christianity were topics of popular debate. Some clan chiefs and housemasters became convinced that the time had come for their people to abandon their old traditions and customs.
In Sitka, the territorial capital of Alaska, 80 Christian Indians, many of them Presbyterians, formed an organization called the “New Covenant League” that eventually became the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood. The league was committed to ending such customs as plural marriages, inter-clan indemnity claims, uncle-nephew inheritance laws, and potlatching.
In 1902, several members approached Governor John G. Brady, a former Presbyterian missionary, and requested that he issue a proclamation that would “command all natives to changed and that if they did not they should be punished.”
Like other missionaries and government officials, Governor Brady considered the potlatch a practice that perpetuated prejudice, superstition, clan rivalry, and retarded progress.
He was committed to breaking up the offensive clan system and replacing it with the independent family unit, but he was not eager to impose legal sanctions.
Therefore, in a dramatic gesture, Brady decided to endorse one “last potlatch” at Sitka where Tlingit people from across southeast Alaska could gather and discuss their future. He appealed to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, to secure the necessary funds with the justification that the event would “result in a lasting good to the people them-selves and would save the United States many thou-sands of dollars in the way of criminal prosecution.”
One of the most prominent members of the New Covenant League was James Jackson (Anaaxoots), the head of the Kaagwaantaan clan. Other likely members were Augustus Bean (K’alyaan Eesh), Paddy Parker (Yaanaxnahoo), and Jacob Yarkon (Xeitxut’ch)—all high-ranking members of the Sitka Kaagwaantaan clan and part of the new vanguard of wealthy, educated Tlingit, who had been Brady’s allies and had served on the Indian Police Force.
Obligated to host a major potlatch, but not wanting to jeopardize their good relations with Brady, they endorsed his last potlatch idea and agreed to serve as hosts.
The “last potlatch” was held on December 23, 1904, and lasted four weeks. It officially began with the grand arrival at Japonski Island (just south of Sitka) of the Raven side guests in traditional dugout canoes flying American flags.
The Raven clans included the Deisheetaan of Angoon, the T’akdeintaan of Huna, and the Gaanaxteidí of Klukwan. The potlatch consisted of consecutive days of alternating feasts and dancing.
The Kaagwaantaan clan hosts honored their guests with great quantities of food. According to the Daily Alaskan (Dec. 29, 1904),“Every morning and afternoon there is a great feast and only one article is served …. At the feasts the man or woman who can eat the most is regarded as the special hero of the occasion and he receives an extra allowance of the good things it is within the power of the hosts to bestow.”
The Kaagwaantaan clan hosts affirmed their social status by dedicating five monumental wooden carvings. They dedicated the Multiplying Wolf screen and two house posts carved by Silver Jim (Kichxook) and installed them in James Jackson’s Wolf house. They installed two other Wolf posts carved by Rudolf Walton in Augustus Bean’s Eagle house. The Panting Wolf house post was raised up by pulleys and attached to the front of Jacob Yarkon’s World house.
They publicly validated all these objects with proper Tlingit protocol. For example, the Daily Alaskan (Jan. 13, 1905) reported that Chilkoot Jack received $270 in cash, 100 blankets, 10 large boxes of provi-sions, and 7 coal oil cans filled with candlefish oil.
Governor Brady had hoped that his “last potlatch” would help end clan factionalism and further his assimilationist agenda. Ironically, it seems to have had the opposite effect.
The Daily Alaskan (Dec. 29, 1904) observed that “one of the results of the potlatch has been to create enthusiasm among those Indians who still profess faith in the beliefs, superstitions, traditions and customs of the natives, as opposed to those who have forsaken them for the Christian faith.”
Many of the traditionalists used the potlatch to educate the younger generation: “the old Indians who never took kindly to the white man’s religion are happy, and they are using the opportunity to impress upon the younger members of the tribe what they regard as the necessity of maintaining their old customs and traditions.”
Although they were sympathetic to some of Brady’s goals, it is clear that the Kaagwaantaan clan leaders did not support the end of potlatching.
According to anthropologist Sergei Kan, unpublished records in Sitka’s Presbyterian archives indicate, for instance, that James Jackson continued to practice “the old customs” after 1904.
Indeed, the Tlingit people never fully abandoned potlatching. Many communities continued the practice in secret or masked it by combining it with American holidays and social events. These covert strategies seem to have placated Governor Brady since potlatching was never outlawed, as it was in Canada. Today memorial potlatching is enjoying a strong resurgence, and the CCTHITA maintains a calendar of these events.
www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/the-centennial-potlatch/
(Notes from University of Pennsylvania, Expedition Magazine Vol 47 No 2 Summer 2005)
Madeira diferente -
Many old houses are left to become derelict because of complicated inheritance laws eg. if 5 people inherit a property, it cannot be sold unless everyone agrees to the sale. Sounds simple but many Madeirans left the Island many years ago and if they cannot be found, it is a stalemate.
It is not Gold
Neither Fame,
Nor Money.
The real inheritance is those words of wisdom.
A notebook of my Dad’s hand written poems which is 44 years old. allah yer7amah o yesakneh fasei7 janateh.. You can almost smell him between the notebook's papers..
I inherited my love for the earth from my grandfather. He enjoyed seeing things grow and the wooded hillside below his home was covered with dogwood trees that he transplanted. I later moved a couple of small trees to our new home. They remind me of him.
This is the original Panting Wolf Post, which was edicated at the last potlatch held on Japonski Island near Sitka on December 23, 1904. Today it is on display indoors at the Sitka National Historical Park in Sitka, Alaska.
=======================================================
Potlatches
Potlatches are among the most distinctive cultural expressions of the Native American peoples of the Northwest Pacific Coasts of the United States and Canada.
Practiced by communities as far north as the Ingalik of Central Alaska and as far south as the Makah of Washington State, they are perhaps best known among the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Nootka, Salish, and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples.
Potlatches are extravagant feasts where goods are given away or sometimes destroyed to enhance social prestige. The basic principle underlying the potlatch is reciprocity and balance as the host clan regales the clans from the opposite moiety with songs, dances, speeches, food, and gifts. Traditionally, they take place in very specific cultural contexts such as a memorial for a deceased relative, the rebuilding of a clan house, or the dedication of a totem pole.
Today, potlatches are also held for other reasons such as marking important anniversaries, graduations, and personal accomplishments. Among the Tlingit, however, the memorial potlatch (koo.éex’) remains the principal one.
As Sergei Kan points out, they are not just about representing the social order; they also constitute key cultural values and principles of honor and mutual support. By hosting elaborate potlatches, individuals and clans maintain and gain status and recogni-tion within the community. The potlatch is thus a complex and multi-layered communication system where participants express their relationships among themselves, with their ancestors, and with their future generations.
Although there is variation across communities, memorial potlatches are structured according to a standard protocol. They generally begin with the hosts welcoming the guests, and they quickly move into the mourning period where the hosts sing mourning songs.
To alleviate their hosts’ grief, the guest clans immediately respond by singing songs, holding up their clan at.óow, and making consolation speeches. The potlatch then shifts to a more celebra-tory and joyous mood with dancing, the distribution of individual “fire dishes” of food for the ancestors,and the serving of a traditional meal.
At this time, the hosts distribute food and small gifts and recognize individual guests with gifts of fruit baskets. Throughout this period the guests and family members give small amounts of money to members of the host clan with whom they have a special relationship. The hosts gather this money and announce each gift, and they then give new clan names to newborn children and individuals being adopted.
Near the end of the potlatch, the hosts publicly recognize everyone who helped and supported them in their time of grief with a gift of money and sometimes a special gift such as a blanket. After all the money and gifts have been distributed, the guests generally perform a closing dance to thank the hosts.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Tlingit people experienced profound social changes. U.S. citizenship, social justice, and Christianity were topics of popular debate. Some clan chiefs and housemasters became convinced that the time had come for their people to abandon their old traditions and customs.
In Sitka, the territorial capital of Alaska, 80 Christian Indians, many of them Presbyterians, formed an organization called the “New Covenant League” that eventually became the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood. The league was committed to ending such customs as plural marriages, inter-clan indemnity claims, uncle-nephew inheritance laws, and potlatching.
In 1902, several members approached Governor John G. Brady, a former Presbyterian missionary, and requested that he issue a proclamation that would “command all natives to changed and that if they did not they should be punished.”
Like other missionaries and government officials, Governor Brady considered the potlatch a practice that perpetuated prejudice, superstition, clan rivalry, and retarded progress.
He was committed to breaking up the offensive clan system and replacing it with the independent family unit, but he was not eager to impose legal sanctions.
Therefore, in a dramatic gesture, Brady decided to endorse one “last potlatch” at Sitka where Tlingit people from across southeast Alaska could gather and discuss their future. He appealed to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, to secure the necessary funds with the justification that the event would “result in a lasting good to the people them-selves and would save the United States many thou-sands of dollars in the way of criminal prosecution.”
One of the most prominent members of the New Covenant League was James Jackson (Anaaxoots), the head of the Kaagwaantaan clan. Other likely members were Augustus Bean (K’alyaan Eesh), Paddy Parker (Yaanaxnahoo), and Jacob Yarkon (Xeitxut’ch)—all high-ranking members of the Sitka Kaagwaantaan clan and part of the new vanguard of wealthy, educated Tlingit, who had been Brady’s allies and had served on the Indian Police Force.
Obligated to host a major potlatch, but not wanting to jeopardize their good relations with Brady, they endorsed his last potlatch idea and agreed to serve as hosts.
The “last potlatch” was held on December 23, 1904, and lasted four weeks. It officially began with the grand arrival at Japonski Island (just south of Sitka) of the Raven side guests in traditional dugout canoes flying American flags.
The Raven clans included the Deisheetaan of Angoon, the T’akdeintaan of Huna, and the Gaanaxteidí of Klukwan. The potlatch consisted of consecutive days of alternating feasts and dancing.
The Kaagwaantaan clan hosts honored their guests with great quantities of food. According to the Daily Alaskan (Dec. 29, 1904),“Every morning and afternoon there is a great feast and only one article is served …. At the feasts the man or woman who can eat the most is regarded as the special hero of the occasion and he receives an extra allowance of the good things it is within the power of the hosts to bestow.”
The Kaagwaantaan clan hosts affirmed their social status by dedicating five monumental wooden carvings. They dedicated the Multiplying Wolf screen and two house posts carved by Silver Jim (Kichxook) and installed them in James Jackson’s Wolf house. They installed two other Wolf posts carved by Rudolf Walton in Augustus Bean’s Eagle house. The Panting Wolf house post was raised up by pulleys and attached to the front of Jacob Yarkon’s World house.
They publicly validated all these objects with proper Tlingit protocol. For example, the Daily Alaskan (Jan. 13, 1905) reported that Chilkoot Jack received $270 in cash, 100 blankets, 10 large boxes of provi-sions, and 7 coal oil cans filled with candlefish oil.
Governor Brady had hoped that his “last potlatch” would help end clan factionalism and further his assimilationist agenda. Ironically, it seems to have had the opposite effect.
The Daily Alaskan (Dec. 29, 1904) observed that “one of the results of the potlatch has been to create enthusiasm among those Indians who still profess faith in the beliefs, superstitions, traditions and customs of the natives, as opposed to those who have forsaken them for the Christian faith.”
Many of the traditionalists used the potlatch to educate the younger generation: “the old Indians who never took kindly to the white man’s religion are happy, and they are using the opportunity to impress upon the younger members of the tribe what they regard as the necessity of maintaining their old customs and traditions.”
Although they were sympathetic to some of Brady’s goals, it is clear that the Kaagwaantaan clan leaders did not support the end of potlatching.
According to anthropologist Sergei Kan, unpublished records in Sitka’s Presbyterian archives indicate, for instance, that James Jackson continued to practice “the old customs” after 1904.
Indeed, the Tlingit people never fully abandoned potlatching. Many communities continued the practice in secret or masked it by combining it with American holidays and social events. These covert strategies seem to have placated Governor Brady since potlatching was never outlawed, as it was in Canada. Today memorial potlatching is enjoying a strong resurgence, and the CCTHITA maintains a calendar of these events.
Ceremonial first post from my X1. A straight out of camera B&W in high contrast mode, from the day I received the camera. Shot handheld at 1/8—despite being a small camera with no viewfinder, the smooth release and gentle leaf shutter make the X1 a very steady camera.
Before returning from Germany after the war, my grandfather bought a Barnack-era Leica IIIc with a 1946 serial number, along with the expected f/3.5 5cm Elmar. He used it to capture the events of his life and the childhoods of his two children for the next few decades, on Kodachrome.
In the 70s he switched to a more modern and convenient rangefinder: the Canonet QL17.
A couple decades after that, when I showed an interest in photography, I inherited the Canonet as my first real camera, before moving on to my father's preferred OM-1 for the ~10 years before I went digital. It's worth noting that the OM was Olympus' very successful effort to create an SLR version of Leica's M3, right down to shared dimensions—Leitz even took legal action to prevent them from selling it under the originally intended name: M1. There are still some who say Olympus made a better and more true-to-spirit Leica SLR than Leica ever did.
Eventually, when I expressed an interest in Leica's history and lenses, 67 years after it was made, I inherited the IIIc from my father. Prior to receiving it, I wasn't even aware my grandfather had had it; I came to my interest in the company independently and coincidentally.
Since then, I've switched my main digital cameras to Fuji (X-Es of heavily Leica influenced design, but also the very Contaxy X-T1), acquired a small collection of vintage lenses, and have ended up using a 1968 50mm Summicron-R (bottom of photo) as my all-purpose go-to lens most of the time. The 1976 90mm Summicron-M (left) I refer to as simply the best lens I've ever used, because when conditions are right for it nothing else I've tried can touch its performance and rendering, and my theatre work happens to be one of the situations it excels at. Both 'Crons were designed by Walter Mandler. Both are serious performers stopped down but also perfectly useable wide open, though the 90 is in a class above the 50. Both are highly prized possessions.
Just visible at right edge is the f/4 135mm Elmar from 1961. Another Mandler design, but used much less often as I rarely need its 200mm-e field of view.
This year, after some pretty intense searching, I got a great price on a remarkably excellent condition f/2 5cm Summitar (uncapped in front of camera)... from 1946. I wasn't necessarily looking for one from the same year as my grandfather's camera, but it certainly added to it. This little lens... I honestly like it better than my decades newer Summicron-R. The Summitar isn't as easy to use, lacks the consistency of performance throughout aperture range, flares easily and dramatically (even by comparison to the notably flare-prone 'Cron), has an inconvenient 1m minimum focus distance, imparts unavoidably heavy retro character in any conditions that don't allow substantial stopping down, and so on... but the Summitar's rendering is more attractive, it conveys a greater sense of depth, and when clinically clean technical quality isn't needed its sharpness is actually perfectly adequate in the center even wide open, and stopping down brings it closer to a newer lens than you might expect. It is just an absolute jewel of a lens!
And now I've gotten a Leica X1, the "cheapest real digital Leica," often referred to as Leica's first attempt at making a camera in the spirit of a digital Barnack. Comparing these two Leicas from 64 years apart, the family resemblance is indeed there, in their similar dimensions, design intentions, and retractable lenses. The ten year old X1 is itself an antique in digital terms, but I wouldn't mind if my newer digitals had some of the performance characteristics of this wonderful little camera with its refreshing singularity of purpose.
So now here I am, 73 years after my grandfather purchased his Leica, pursuing my own photography with a singleminded passion, and following some paths that feel like a family tradition.
It's been three weeks now and I'm loving the experience of using the X1. It's slow. Sometimes painfully slow, like switching from a modern sports car to an old roadster you have to crank start. No video. No scene modes. No PASM dial. No dedicated exposure comp dial I won't use. No quick browsing through shots or fancy screen to encourage chimping. No phone connectivity. Just a nicely made, enjoyable to use, clunky, slow moving little pocketable stills camera that requires patience and pre-thought but delivers exceptional results with beautiful colors, uncannily accurate auto-white balance, and a quality of tonality my other cameras rarely match. I get that there will always be those who point to the prices, compare spec lists, and declare anyone who purchases a Leica a fool or a rich man looking for jewelry, but none of that matters if you can see what they offer, like it, and place a high priority on it. When I want a compact stills camera capable of the tonality and depth this one provides, talk of higher resolution, video, ultra-high iso, etc. for less money just couldn't matter less. This camera provides just what I was looking for, in a casual point and shoot style form factor that's very discreet as long as I keep my middle finger over the red dot. Rather than being show-offy, it's a camera that will attract far less attention than my substantially bigger and more serious looking Fujis.
(L1170024)
Chaotic Inheritance
The idea that we're all innocent at one point. Then we're taught to be rivals. We bring innocence to violence. We bring it upon ourselves and are taught to outdo each other. War. Catastrophe. Never ending chaos. Vanity. Why should we think it's too late to reverse what has been brought upon us?
-
Side note: Yes, I own rights to the pictures of the clouds, sky, stars, etc. I took them.
For anyone who is wondering, this is made up of about 15 images (mostly having to do with the clouds and sky). The little girl is my cousin, Hailey.
I used to admire the way the light caught this old perfume bottle in my grandparents home. This was perched on my Grandma Roger's window sill for as long as I remember and was one of the few items I took to remember her by. Happy Macro Monday.
The Rundāle Palace, Latvia.
What you're seeing here is a recreation of the original interior. The restoration cost over 8 million Euros, which, when you see the results, doesn't seem nearly enough to produce the splendors one encounters at every turn.
What's not clear to me is whether any of decoration is original and restored and how much is brand new. This always frustrates me because I'm hung up on the concept of authenticity. I'll just come right out and say I don't get the same satisfaction from replicas that I do from originals.
One way to resolve this conundrum is to say this is an authentic replica of an 18th century palace that was, as the text below explains, "demolished in 1812 during the Franco-Russian [Napoleonic] War," and then "demolished [again in 1919] by the men of the Bermondt-Avalov army," which was commanded by a Cossack warlord who decided to take over newly-independent Latvia instead of fighting the Bolsheviks.
Still, this begs the question of the meaning of such a place. A hot take is that it's an expression of Latvian nationalism. However, in the 18th century this region was ruled by Germans and then by Russians. Most ethnic Latvians were serfs. Perhaps the nationalist message is that the Latvians, once free from the rule of Baltic Germans, Czarist Russians, Nazis and the Soviets, had the wherewithal to recreate a palace once owned by an overlord and make it their own. To further make the point, the compound is now a major tourist attraction, so interiors once intended solely for the aristocracy, royalty and their hangers-on and servants are today filled to the brim with tourists like us.
Is is also a acknowledged center for the study of 18th-century interior design? The devil is in the details, and I haven't yet had time to delve into that.
If you're wondering why the point of view in these photos is from the top of the windows to the ceiling, it's because there were mobs of visitors that made it almost impossible to photograph whole walls, much less floors.
Here is the whole history of the construction of the palace from the palace's informative Web site. I recommend visiting it if for no other reason than to see the rooms devoid of visitors. Also, there's a section on the restoration.
The name of Rundāle comes from the German place-name Ruhenthal (Valley of Peace).
The Rundāle Palace built during the 16th century was located on the northern side of the pond. It can be seen in the design of F. B. Rastrelli as a small square field with towers in the corners.
Rundāle Manor was already created at the end of the 15th century. It belonged to the Grotthus family from 1505 to 1681 and the palace was mentioned in the list of Livonian castles in 1555.
Facade finishing components have been found in the territory of the palace – cast fragments and fragments of coats of arms carved in stone dating to the middle of the 17th century. In 1735 Ernst Johann von Biron bought the Rundāle property for 42 000 thalers.
The old palace was completely torn down, and the stones, bricks and even the mortar were used in the construction of the new palace.
Duke Ernst Johann died in 1772, and the palace was inherited by his widow Duchess Benigna Gottlieb; during her time orchards were formed around the palace. Duke Peter did not come to Rundāle often, he mostly resided in the smaller Vircava Palace near Jelgava.
In 1795 Duke Peter gave up his throne and the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was added to the Russian Empire. Catherine II gave Rundāle Manor as a present to Count Valerian Zubov who died in 1804.
During the distribution of inheritance Rundāle became the property of his brother Prince Platon Zubov, the last favourite of Catherine II.
During the time of Zubov the palace was refurnished, however the building itself remained untouched, only entrance porticos were added to the central building and several fireplaces were built inside.
The palace was demolished in 1812 during the Franco-Russian War – mirrors were smashed, silk wallpaper was torn down, the library given as a present from Catherine II was destroyed.
Prince Platon Zubov died in Rundāle Palace on 7 April 1822. His widow married Count Andrey Shuvalov, and Rundāle Manor belonged to this family until the agrarian reform of the Republic of Latvia in 1920.
The Shuvalovs rarely stayed in the palace, excluding the time period from 1864 to 1866 when Count Pyotr Shuvalov was the governor-general of the Baltic region and used Rundāle Palace as his official summer residence.
During this time unsuccessful renovation of the palace rooms was carried out, however during the 1880’s careful renovation of the interior design was performed. At the end of the 19th century part of the palace’s furniture and works of art was taken to Saint Petersburg.
During the time from 1915 to 1918 a German army commandant’s office and an infirmary was established in the palace. In 1919 the palace was demolished by the men of the Bermondt-Avalov army.
The palace was renovated in 1923 and some of its rooms were used as the primary school of Rundāle Parish. In 1924 Rundāle Palace was handed over to the Latvian Union of Disabled Veterans, but in 1933 it was taken over by the Board of Monuments which started the renovation of the building and the restoration of some of the rooms, and the western building was constructed for the needs of the primary school.
In 1938 the palace was handed over to the State Historical Museum that was planning to create a church art and decorative art museum there. The palace was also open to the public during World War II.
In 1945 a grain storage was formed in the halls of the palace, and the palace was closed to the public after that.
In 1963 some of the palace’s rooms were given to the Museum of Regional Studies and Art of Bauska, but in 1972 a permanent Rundāle Palace Museum was created and its main aim was to renew the whole ensemble of the palace by mainly orientating towards the condition of the palace during the second part of the 18th century.
The first restored rooms in the eastern building of the palace were opened to the public in 1981, gradually being followed by new interiors. Restoration of the palace was finished in 2014.
Construction history
Count Ernst Johann von Biron bought the Rundāle manor complex on 26 June 1735. In August of the same year the court architect of Russia Francesco Rastrelli came to Courland. From September until December agreements were being concluded with carpenters, masons, brickmakers, construction material suppliers, potters – stove makers.
The construction project was ready in January of 1736. The eight pages of the project are located in the graphic art collection “Albertina” in Vienna. It consists of a situation plan, two floor plans, a sketch of four facades and the altar of the palace church.
The first construction period from 1736 to 1740.
On 24 May 1736 the foundation-stone of the palace was set. Construction of the foundation was completed on 6 July, whereas on 13 October the central building was built to the level of the windowsill of the second floor. The construction of 12 brick-kilns and 12 brick storages was finished in June. 268 masons were working in the palace, but Rastrelli requested 500 men.
Construction was stopped on 1 November due to cold.
The construction works were restarted on 12 April 1737. On 28 May the central building was finished, and on 18 June covering was started to be placed on the side buildings, whereas the construction of the central building roof was finished at the end of June.
When the works were stopped on 10 October, one side building was roofed over, and the other one was covered with a temporary roof. The foundations of the stables were also ready. The bricklaying works were finished on 1 October 1737.
After Biron was elected Duke, he ordered to simplify the building. The finishing materials were produced by the master carpenters and woodcarver A. Kamaev of the Imperial Construction Bureau of Saint Petersburg, master potter I. Ushakov of the Neva brick factory with his team and painters I. Mizinov, I. Pilugin and I. Yevdokimov. Austrian potters were working in Vircava. The finishing materials were also being produced in Saint Petersburg.
In 1738 the volume of work in Rundāle decreased, as construction works of Jelgava Palace began. Some of the produced components were also taken to Jelgava. However, the works were moving forward – chimneys and room arches were being built, roofs were being finished.
From 14 June, when the construction of the main residence in Jelgava began, the construction works in Rundāle were moving at a slower pace. Master carpenter Eger had finished oak-wood panels for 33 rooms, as well as 13 oak-wood parquet floors. Ceilings boards were put up in the rooms, so that the plastering works could be started. In September the carpenters started working on the outside staircases. The construction of the gate tower was also started.
Entwurf von Rastrelli: die Nordfassade des Schlosses Rundāle mit dem Torturm
Rastrelli’s design, nothern facade of the palace with the gate tower.
In 1739 the interior plastering works were supposed to be carried out, but the Duke ordered to decrease the amount of plasterers and to simplify the work. Stucco formations were made only for the main staircase rooms and halls, the other rooms were left with smooth ceilings. Only ten craftsmen were working in Rundāle.
On 1 February after the order of Empress of Russia Anna Ioannovna all of the Saint Petersburg Construction Office masons were sent to Courland.
The components made for Rundāle, including carved doors, panels, parquet, Austrian potter stoves, plafonds painted on canvas and cast-iron facade decorations made by Bartolomeo Tarsia that can be seen in the Jelagava Palace facade, were transported to the main residence in Jelgava.
N. Vasilyev assisted Rastrelli in managing the construction works. Russian chamberlain Ernst Johann von Buttlar was in charge of finances and organisation and he was sending reports to Saint Petersburg regarding the work process.
In 1740 the woodcut altar of the palace church was transported to Jelgava. Supposedly the room decoration in the palace had been finished, but not all of the wall panels had been mounted and some of the stoves were also not set up, as a lot of the materials were in storage.
Work was stopped after the palace revolution of 20 November in Russia and the arrest and exile of Duke Ernst Johann. The prepared finishing materials and construction components were sent to Saint Petersburg, and some of the built-in components, such as doors, wall panels and parquet, were broken.
Overall more than a thousand different profession craftsmen and workers were employed in the construction works of the palace.
The second construction period from 1764 to 1770.
In 1762 Ernst Johann von Biron was granted mercy and returned to Courland in January of 1763.
In January of 1764 Johann Gottfried Seidel was appointed the court architect of the Duke, but in August Francesco Rastrelli returned to work for the Duke and was appointed to the position of main administrator of the Duke’s buildings.
During this time he arranged his construction designs and carried out general supervision of the Duke’s construction works.
The unfinished gate tower was torn down and the stable building construction was started. Latvian carpenters and woodworkers were sent from the Duke’s domain manors to Rundāle up until 1768. In 1765 woodworker Blanks, sculptor Zībenbrods, locksmith Šreibfogels, gold plating master Johans Endress, potter Šēfers, locksmith Horstmanis and coppersmith Mēmels were working in the palace.
In 1766 Severin Jensen from Denmark started working as the court architect. His style can be seen in the gateposts and in the stable buildings, which obtained a semicircular shape in contrast to Rastrelli’s rectangular design. A dating – 16 May 1766 – has been made in the keystone of the northern facade window.
In 1768 the gate was built and the forgings were placed.
The palace interior planning was changed slightly. By merging five smaller rooms the grand dining-room – the Grand Gallery – was created, whereas a dance hall known as the White Hall was created in the place of the palace church. Both front staircases, the Small Gallery, the lobby and galleries of the first floor were preserved from the original interiors of the first construction period.
The stucco decorative finishing of the interiors was carried out by the Berlin sculptor and stucco marble master Johann Michael Graff together with his team – his brother Josef and assistants Bauman and Lanz – from 1765 to 1768.
Sculpturesque decorations were made in twenty-seven rooms, but in two rooms of the Duke’s apartments and in the hall – synthetic marble panels. Works were started in the central building first.
The Marble Hall and the marble panel of the Gold Hall in which the dating has been engraved on the door lining, were finished in 1767. In July of 1768 Graff received payment for his final works – the White Hall, Oval Cabinet, Duchess’ Boudoir and vases for the 22 stair banisters.
The ceilings were painted by the Italian painters Francesco Martini and Carlo Zucchi from Saint Petersburg. They started working in August of 1766, but only the name of Martini is mentioned in documents starting with March of 1768. Francesco Martini received his last payment in March of 1769.
Ceilings of eight rooms, as well as the walls of two rooms were painted. One of the ceiling paintings got destroyed. The repainted wall paintings were later uncovered in the Grand Gallery and in the second study of the Duke.
The Duke came to Rundāle Palace in April of 1767 and stayed there until December with interruptions, although the finishing works were still in progress. The palace was also inhabited in 1768. The final works were carried out in 1770 when a fellow of J. M. Graff placed mirrors in the White Hall.
20.04.2018
Martoli is a small Himalayan hamlet now with barely ten families of migrant highlanders residing during warmer season...Once it had been a prosperous summer habitat on the Silk route touching the eastern valley below Nandadevi range in Kumaun Himalayas before Indo-Sino war took place in the Sixties...It used to accommodate a few thousands of highlanders when trade between India and Tibet was in full bloom....now only ruins and memories of grandeur lay there.....male members of even those few families are off to higher glacial zones leaving behind only mothers to toil and struggle to keep alive glory of the past and the rest...Still they never forget take care of an unknown visitor....never let elegance of smile to evaporate...never let kids to lose sparkles in their innocuous eyes....
A sign indeed still hangs of a great loss of inheritance !!!
‘Modiste Decorating a Hat’ (c.1895) by Edgar Degas is a new addition to the Walker Art Gallery. It came from a private collection in the UK, the previous owner offering it to the HMRC tax authority in lieu of Inheritance Tax. HMRC in turn allocated the painting to the Walker Art Gallery.
This little jewellery box belonged to my Nana. It must be at least 65 years old (my mam is 67 and remembered seeing it when she was a girl)
I have no girls so I'm passing it onto my niece.
A daytime addition to using the Canon7 - the 50mm lens is quite amazing with this film/developer combo.
Seeing this plant age so gracefully inspired me with its elegant lines, uprightness, and gesture indicating it had sung many happy songs in the sun. This will surely affect the next generation, gifts to its children, as its ancestors influenced this one. I have observed this kind of plant in the spring during which it has a structure that looks star-like from which flowers sprout. All its blossoms spring from stars.
“Everything
we think,
feel, and do
has an effect
on our ancestors
and all future generations
and reverberates
throughout
the universe.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh
“Your body is not yours alone.
It belongs to your ancestors,
your parents,
future generations,
and to society
and all other living beings.
All of them have come together
to bring about the presence
of this body.
Keeping your body healthy
is an expression of gratitude
to the whole cosmos.
If you are healthy
physically and mentally,
all of us will benefit.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh, “Moments of Mindfulness”
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
[Colossians 1:11-14 NLT]
5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:
1. Like it or not, we are ALL sinners: As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12 NLT)
2. The punishment for sin is death: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (Romans 5:12 NLT)
3. Jesus is our only hope: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NLT)
4. SALVATION is by GRACE through FAITH in JESUS: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT)
5. Accept Jesus and receive eternal life: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NLT) But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (1 John 5:11-12 NLT)
Read the Bible for yourself. Allow the Lord to speak to you through his Word. YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE!
The Royal Palace of Turin or Palazzo Reale, was the royal palace of the House of Savoy.
Turin has been the first capital of Italy from 1861 to 1865.
Kota Tua, Jakarta is an area of Dutch colonization inheritance which was well-known as Batavia in the 17th century. At Kota Tua area you can see old buildings with architecture style influenced by the Dutch or European architecture style, Chinese and even some of them with combination of Dutch and Chinese architecture.
Some of the old buildings at Kota Tua area occupied as museums by the governor of DKI Jakarta. Kota Tua is one of a very interesting place or area to visit when you travel to Jakarta since it’s a center of historical tourism object in Jakarta.
Taken @Batavia Cafe, in front of Fatahillah Museum
A passed down garden pot plant from my wife's grandmother's cousin. We have looked after it for nearly 50 years.
My Grandmother's Cake Recipe -it's been used many times as you can see.
still one of my favorites ...
Image Sources: australia-2637053 from Pixabay; robert-visual-diary-berlin-_4srssfb-OY-unsplash; rusty_tractor_02___front_side_by_fuguestock_d9nb9zy in Deviant Art; Woman from Mizzd-Stock on Deviant Art; rain_forest_crates_1_by_fuguestock_dagunmy's on Deviant Art; elven_mage_by_fuchsfee_stock_daddvdw; Nucly brushes;
St. Francis renounces his family and inheritance to follow Christ. Window of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Teutopolis, IL.
Fashion credits:
Inque repaint: Wrap, shoes and dress from FBR Orb by Superfrock
Queen B: Everything from FBR Love by Superfrock
AG Androgyny: Corset, patines and hose from Slipper; cardigan, socks and shoes from FBR Gp Necked, all by Superfrock
And every night someone moves all the clocks forward,
And the Sun seems to set always at the sunrise.
In My Abstinence I Turn To Nothing
720nm Digital Infrared,
September 2011
My great-great aunt (my mom's grandmother's sister, aka my grandmother's aunt -- I think I've got those right) founded the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, which is dedicated to nurturing and preserving the folk arts of Appalachia. One of the crafts that the Folk School teaches is carving, which this bird is an example of. This piece is not particularly old, but I did inherit it from my grandfather and it stands in for the legacy of the Folk School in my family.