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I was shooting an assignment for class yesterday and was using daisies as a prop. When I was finished I snapped a couple shots of the daisies just for fun. Such a little happy flower.
This Renault Trafic taxi side entrance is just too high for Northern Ireland PSV regulations. Our side steps help give the correct measurements for DOE testing.
This rufous-sided towhee has been hanging around down at the creek...along with his mate, which is the same colors only paler. Their orange-red eyes are kind of different looking...it's just not me tweeking the saturation.
Photo Taken In Missouri, USA
IMG_5536_RSTowhee
Mausoleum im Berggarten Hannover
Königin Friederike von Hannover (1778-1841)
König Ernst August von Hannover (1771-1851)
(dedicated to alaska12 / Patricia, who wanted a front side view. :-) )
Walking back to my car at the supermarket and I was sort of digging the lighting so I had to take a few snaps. Real photoshoot coming soon! This shot really makes me want to change up the color/finish of the faces to something fun.
The Postcard
A postcard that was published by the Cynicus Publishing Co. Ltd. of Tayport, Fife.
The card was posted in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland using a ½d. stamp on Saturday the 12th. May 1906 to:
Mrs. Cowley,
Preston Road,
Brighton,
Sussex.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Thanks so much for the
letter - it was very charming.
Well, I hope to visit you on
the 19th!
The fine weather has come
so I'm perfectly happy - I'm
looking forward to seeing
you at home - soon!
I hope you will appreciate
this P.C. - Con & I think it
is divine.
Walter."
Cynicus
Martin Anderson, better known by his pseudonym Cynicus, was a Scottish artist, political cartoonist, postcard illustrator, and publisher.
Martin Anderson - The Early Years
Martin Anderson was born in Leuchars, Fife, in 1854. After his mother, Margaret Martin, separated from his father, she moved with her children to Cambuslang, Glasgow.
Anderson studied at Glasgow School of Art under Robert Greenlees, in Ingram Street Glasgow. On leaving he worked as a designer at a calico printer.
Martin Anderson's Career
When he was 19, Martin founded The St. Mungo Art Club in Glasgow, intending it to be an alternative to the grander Glasgow Art Club.
In 1877 he began to provide small illustrations for serial stories in the short-running "News of the Week". In 1878 his painting "The Music Lesson" was accepted for the Royal Scottish Academy's annual exhibition.
In 1879, at the age of 24, he decided to move to London, ("To study art proper" he explained in an 1894 interview in The Sketch).
In 1880 he was invited to join John Leng and Co., (the publisher of titles such as the Dundee Advertiser, the Evening Telegraph, Peoples Journal, and Peoples Friend), as its staff artist. Accepting the position, Andersen became the first such artist to be employed by any daily newspaper in Britain (until then daily newspapers were not illustrated). He moved to Broughty Ferry near Dundee.
In 1881, as a freelance artist, he began contributing cartoons and illustrations to the comic weekly "The Quiz", an imitation of the magazine "Punch". For his illustrations in The Quiz he used the pseudonym "Bob", but in November 1887 he adopted a second pseudonym, that of "Cynicus", and began to move away "from the safe and trivial to the dangerous and powerful realm of politics".
A series of cartoons entitled The Satires of Cynicus appeared in The Quiz in 1888. In 1890 he decided to publish a collected edition of his more controversial subjects. The Quiz cartoons were redrawn in a larger size and hand coloured. They were published in six monthly parts, each part containing two full-page cartoons. However, they did not sell well.
In 1891 he moved back to London in an attempt to get his work noticed, taking a shop in Drury Lane, with the sign "Cynicus Publishing Company" over its door and with prints of his cartoons displayed in its windows. The Satires of Cynicus began to attract public attention and increasing sales. The edition was limited to 1,000 copies, and by the end of 1891 it was almost out of print.
In 1891 he began contributing work to the "Pall Mall Budget", as well as to "The Idler" and "Ariel or the London Puck", yet another rival to Punch.
A second book, entitled "The Humours of Cynicus", again containing many reworked The Quiz cartoons, was part-work published starting in September 1891.
The complete 1,000-copy edition of the complete volume sold for 25 shillings, with a 100-edition deluxe version priced at 2 guineas. In 1892 he began work on another collection, "Symbols and Metaphors". It was also issued in parts, like its predecessors. A cheaper edition of The Satires of Cynicus was published in June 1892, and there were also later reprints of it.
Postcards
In the late 1890's a new market for Martin's products was quickly emerging - that of picture postcards. In 1898 Anderson began working for Blum & Degan where he designed court-sized postcards. In 1902, after the Post Office allowed divided back postcards, picture postcards became very popular and also began to be widely collected.
In 1902 Anderson decided to form his own company. The "Cynicus Publishing Company" was incorporated and began publishing colour postcards by the second half of 1902. Initially, the company did exceedingly well. However, by 1908 the mass-market popularity of postcards began to decline and the company suffered from dwindling profitability.
In 1911 the North of Scotland Bank forced the company to liquidate its assets. Its stocks of prints and original artwork were sold by the bank for a fraction of their true value and without any thought for their proper market: they were sold in a second-hand furniture saleroom rather than to art dealers in Edinburgh and London.
In 1912, after the collapse of the Cynicus Publishing Company, Anderson set up the "Cynicus Art Publishing Company" based in Leeds (the home of several postcard publishers), and began reissuing his old postcards and designing new ones. About 100 different postcards are known to have been printed by the Leeds company until 1914.
Cynicus and the Great War
The outbreak of war put an end to the seaside postcard market in Britain, and Cynicus Art Publishing Company was forced to close. In 1915 Anderson moved to Edinburgh, leasing a basement shop in York Place.
The printing plates for his postcards were sent from Leeds – but for uncertain reasons, and without the knowledge of Andersen, they were sold for scrap.
In 1915 he created an allegorical anti-war poster entitled "War!" In a pyramidal composition, a crowned Mammon sits on a throne, tossing away the Nation's wealth to an ecstatic crowd clutching sacks marked "War Profits"; a semi-naked Lust caresses him, famine and disease sit at her feet; Justice and Parliament stand bound and gagged; the Lamp of Truth is extinguished by censorship; the Church encourages the slaughter. In the foreground, a bloody river carries away the bodies of the dead while bankers grab the bank deposits of the dead.
This poster was displayed in his shop window until he was warned that he could be interned without trial under the terms of the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA). The poster was removed from view, but was made into a postcard which sold well.
In another allegorical poster titled "The Dictator", produced after the end of the war, soldiers returning home are greeted by a fat figure representing Capitalism, seated on a huge sack full of the earnings of others, using a megaphone entitled "The Press" to blast out "Propaganda and Misrepresentation" and setting his "Black and Tan" dog onto Ireland; the grave of Liberty and Freedom is trampled over by a truncheon-wielding policeman called DORA; two more fat figures, representing Lloyd George (standing on broken pledges) and the Church, carry a banner entitled "Britain's Welcome to the Troops" that frames the entrance to a poorhouse.
Martin Anderson's Retirement and death
In 1924 Martin's Edinburgh shop was destroyed by fire. Everything inside it was lost, and he did not have the funds to repair and restock it. He retired to his castle-like mansion in Balmullo to live in increasing poverty. A final edition of The Satires of Cynicus was published in 1926.
In 1930 he wrote "Memoirs of Cynicus", published in 12 instalments in the Glasgow Evening News.
Martin died suddenly on the 14th. April 1932, and was buried in the Martin family grave in Tayport Old Churchyard. The funeral was never paid for, and his grave is unmarked.
His mansion in Balmullo was extensively vandalised after his death.
The Graves of a Household
The quotation on the card is taken from the poem The Graves of a Household (1828) by the English poet Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835). Here is the full text:
'They grew in beauty, side by side,
They fill'd one home with glee;
Their graves are sever'd, far and wide,
By mount, and stream, and sea.
The same fond mother bent at night
O'er each fair sleeping brow;
She had each folded flower in sight,
Where are those dreamers now?
One, midst the forests of the west,
By a dark stream is laid,
The Indian knows his place of rest,
Far in the cedar shade.
The sea, the blue lone sea, hath one,
He lies where pearls lie deep;
He was the lov'd of all, yet none
O'er his low bed may weep.
One sleeps where southern vines are drest
Above the noble slain:
He wrapt his colours round his breast,
On a blood-red field of Spain.
And one o'er her the myrtle showers
Its leaves, by soft winds fann'd;
She faded midst Italian flowers,
The last of that bright band.
And parted thus they rest, who play'd
Beneath the same green tree;
Whose voices mingled as they pray'd
Around one parent knee!
They that with smiles lit up the hall,
And cheer'd with song the hearth,
Alas! for love, if thou wert all,
And nought beyond, oh earth!'
Hemans' poem "The Homes of England" (1827) is the origin of the phrase "stately home", referring to an English country house. The poem evolved into the popular song "The Stately Homes of England", which was made famous by Noël Coward.
Maurice "Doc" Ewing
So what else happened on the day that Walter posted the card?
Well, the 12th. May 1906 marked the birth in Lockney, Texas of Maurice Ewing.
Born William Maurice Ewing, he became a research scientist specialising in geophysics, underwater acoustics and oceanography. His 1931 doctoral thesis was entitled 'Calculation of Ray Paths From Seismic Travel-Time Curves.'
Ewing was a pioneering geophysicist who worked on the research of seismic reflection and refraction in ocean basins, ocean bottom photography, submarine sound transmission, deep sea Core samples of the ocean bottom, and the theory and observation of earthquake surface waves.
He also conducted research into the fluidity of the Earth's core, the generation and propagation of microseisms, submarine explosion seismology, marine gravity, bathymetry and sedimentation, natural radioactivity of ocean waters and sediments, as well as the study of abyssal plains and submarine canyons.
Maurice "Doc" Ewing - The Early Years
Maurice was the eldest surviving child of a large farm family. He won a scholarship to attend Rice University, earning a BA with honors in 1926. He completed his graduate studies at the same institution, earning an MA in 1927, and being awarded his PhD in 1931.
In 1928 he married Avarilla Hildenbrand, and the couple had a son. The couple divorced in 1941.
Ewing worked as an instructor at the Rice Institute while pursuing his PhD before joining the faculty at Lehigh University in 1930, where he served until 1944.
While at Lehigh, he was instrumental in initiating a program in geophysics. In 1944 he married Margaret Sloan Kidder, with whom he had four children.
Maurice "Doc" Ewing - The Later Years
Maurice moved to Columbia University, becoming a professor of geology in 1947. In 1959 he was named the Higgins Professor of Geology at Columbia.
Dr. Ewing (often simply called "Doc" by those who worked with him) was the founder (established in 1949) and first director of the Lamont Geological Observatory (now known as Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) in Palisades, New York).
He worked at LDEO with J. Lamar Worzel (gravity specialist), Frank Press (seismologist), and geologists and oceanographic cartographers Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp.
The former LDEO research vessel R/V Maurice Ewing was named in his honor.
Maurice divorced a second time, and married his third wife Harriet Greene Bassett in 1965. In 1972 he joined the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and was named the head of the Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences of the Marine Biomedical Institute.
During his career Maurice published over 340 scientific papers. He served as president of the American Geophysical Union and the Seismological Society of America.
Maurice led over 50 oceanic expeditions, and made many contributions to oceanography, including the discovery of the SOFAR Channel, the invention of the sofar bomb, and doing much fundamental work on plate tectonics.
While he was working on SOFAR, Ewing engaged in deep water photography, partly as a hobby, and partly to help the government identify lost ships destroyed by U-boats.
Maurice was the chief scientist on board the Glomar Challenger. He originated Project Mogul, an early program to detect Soviet nuclear weapons tests.
Ewing died at the age of 67 following a stroke in Galveston, Texas on the 4th. May 1974.
Space Shuttle Enterprise on the Hudson River, going to her final destination, the Intrepid Museum. Taken with an Olympus OM-D and Zuiko 75-300. You can see the 9/11 memorial on the background.
The side profile of the F-22A. At one point this type was expected to be based at Lakenheath, but the reduction in numbers and also supposedly the threat in Europe meant this never became likely.
Side entrance to Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Guelph. The church is located on a corner so a side entrance is practical in this case.
480 and 473 are side by side in Silverton for a brief time before the 480 heads down the mountain and into Durango.
Birò is a four-wheeled electric vehicle with two seats side by side. It is produced and distributed by Estrima, an Italian company located in Pordenone. It belongs to the category of electric mopeds, in particular to light quadricycle mopeds
IF YOU LOVE THE FIRST LOOK OF MY CRAFTS
YOU WILL LOVE MOST OFMY COLLECTIONS
FEEL FREE TO EXPLORE MORE ON MY PHOTOSTREAM IN THIS WAY
CRAFT REVOLUTION / MOSAIC APPLICATION IN A PATCHWORK APPROACH, A TRULLY NEW LINE IN A ROW
Doing things like no other before is like walking in another line, why we need to do being different from them, how do we see things in another side? Is this possible to have a new line in a row?
I attend seminars about Quality Control, this seminars tackles the main cause of the real problem is in the organization itself, yes, and is true no need to attend seminar for this, if we know ourselves is our best enemy, but how we need to know more ourselves, our environment dictates us to be being with them, and our mind action accordingly in this way of thinking.
Working in an Export Company for long years as a research and product development officer is not a good job, but paying you a lot sometimes per project, and your Boss saying you always; “our sale will get high after this project out of the market! You can go to vacation after this! Yes vacation after finish the particular project, hmm sound nice, as I said this is not a good job after all. Vacation is also not good in this kind of works. Why I say this. How you can say you are free after your kids out in school and you are watching American idol and praying for the artist you want to be declared as a real winner,
How can we say we are free and in vacation with family and thinking what you can do to be more careful for the kids if all with you, or even if you alone and feel bored and open your pc for something else just to get out of your mind, how?
Being free is acceptance just live with them walk with them and feel with them, my master in this seminar put this thing in our mind , the second things he share to us is everybody need a free space for our self, as a person and different from the other person.
He share to us a line in a bible , I forgot the pages and the verses, but something like this I am not particular in the bible things and thoughts but the messages is clear, you are so special from the other person in your words ,in your thought , in your actions too,
And he shouting to all of us saying hey get out of the box his face look like red and I feel he is angry for what ever reason,
Then he put here things in the bag and walking outside the hall never turn back and go to small coffee table and put some head set on his ear, we all get shock we feel confuse, me I am thinking he get mad to someone , that time the seminar is running up to more hours and this person sitting , look like relax and we are thinking what s wrong , the company paying much for him, and the 2 long hours to wait him , feel more confusing , I see also he snap a bit and his eyes is close for almost 15 minute , and we are so silent , and no body want to talk , hey what’s wrong , I go to the other side of the room and I fall asleep, somebody doing that things and fall asleep too, but the only thing I notice no one get out of the room , we are all waiting for something, boring and everybody no one to talk just the eyes talking that time and our lips add some smile,
Time running and one of the participant decide to talk to all of us and saying we don’t need him in this kind of seminar , he never say anything to us just sip his coffee for long hours and we left nothing to do. and one of my colleagues saying , how can we say it in a nice way, everybody saying something ,suggesting , and one off the participant crumble the papers and want to throw to the master , that moment we are all smile and saying yes do it if you can! But after that no one, want to do that kind of things to his master after all,
Or maybe being polite much better that throwing things as our action for that particular situation and the message is clear , everybody even they have a good actions they don’t want to go out of the box,
New line in a row is a fresh and clear action ,as an artist , as a creator of this particular crafts , I love to share what I have after my long journey , this world is so fast in many particular , technology ,development, high-rise building new phone , everything that we can consider as our home outside our home or a chips on our big pockets , weight less but full of everything what we put inside that chips for our own purposes,
This new craft was born in this particular world of arts but I found out, this craft is out of the line , the material is there , the colors is in there, the meaning is there , the message is there , everything is there , and still I cannot fine the right line for this particular crafts,
I start doing craft on my early age, I still remembering cutting pages of full colored magazine cut in a small piece and paste it, collect all the colored papers and cut and paste it just my start, I love to draw plant animals flowers birds everything about nature, and this track considering of my actions whom I am now, in my own world,
I never finish college, as my root, but I take a fine arts courses in one best school in Philippines (U.S.T. University Of Santo Tomas) Manila the oldest School in Asia the school for Architecture and Fine Arts, that time I feel bless, it because I never dream to get enter in that school, I walk barefooted in my young age, I never dream one day I was in one of the room in there. In my teenage days I was always in a church I am a member of a choir group, but my voice is not good at that time, but I feel important when I am part of this group , our master telling me you are part of this group and your voice is to important to us, I joint also a theater club my master told me , here in our company money is hard to find and the only things I can share to you is how they praise you after the production is done, this group is a community base just for a public information and services, and that’s true I feel different from other person when I joint in this group I have many friends , they all like me as a devil in my characters I always portray , this group give ME more opportunity to explore my space more on the way I never do and think before, or maybe I get out of that box I never notice in this way, or I walk in a new line in a row ,
This group also sent me to college, and I walk out in this group and stop my study up to 2nd years in colleges of course the main reason is money, yes this is my hard times at that moment I need to decide which way I need to walk, to finish or make another way like a new line in a row, I need to force my self to work hard for my daily bread.
New line in a row is a formation of things on how we see and need to act patiently specially in our materials that surround us. Or a CALL on how we make a line in a way we can move perfectly, and this is what I want to share to you,
New line in a row is my greatest achievement, after searching and looking for arts and crafts, i look more books, searching more artist, looking for the master, site in the internet, regarding arts and crafts, and still I never see anything that need to compare on my crafts, but this crafts more on mosaic, patchwork, color pixel in our computer and idea coming from cross stitching, and how it make it different from them,?
Mosaic is a form of arts more on glass and stone or anything that form pattern and pastes it,
Patchwork is a form of arts too start from our old clothes recycled it and form pattern too.
Cross stitching is also form of arts that need to count and have pattern too.
Color pixel normally found in our computer if we want to see or using magnifying glass to see thing clear.
I never research much on this particular meaning (mosaic, patchwork, cross stitching, pixels,) suggestion is always welcome or comment to this particular is will help much,
This kind of words build my composition and remind me, where I start thinking and looking in different way, how can I called my crafts , or where can I place it , I thinking is there a room for me, the answer is YES , I can place it in a galleries of mosaic,
In a patchwork, in pixel room, but not in a wall that hangs cross stitching arts,
But more on more that way, my experiment get more wild and run, colored pixel is always many colors in his single square form, I decide to get out in this category,
I try more research about patchwork , and I see more clear things in this room , the next things I open my mind to the mosaic room and get involved more on more , and I notice a clear picture and help me to categories my craft more in this way.
I draw another line, a new line in a row
After fifteen years searching for the soul of my arts, I try to make room for them, I want to be different from them, I want to be more careful and I want to have a free form from them,
Arts is copying nature I thought, and maybe I think in this way, but copying is like doing things you admire and seeing things that guide us, copying is the only easy way to make us more competitive or maybe more to be exact, new line in a row starting in this way collect the things that have a connection on me make a clear picture and transform in a way I do now,
New line in a row is a form of arts with the relationship to the crafts world,
Arts is different from the crafts, arts is unique form and creation of human no same things have in common with out copying using special tools we have..
Crafts are more on copying have pattern to create more precise and get to perfectly conclusion.
New line in a row is my first step to get out of the box, I never notice for long way before.
New line in a row is a form of CRAFTS after all!
I called this crafts MOSAIC CLOTH IN A PATCHWORK APPROACH
A truly NEW LINE IN A RAW
Only the dead man can make his canvass clear and white
I choice freedom that make my life to be complicated and open for more restriction after all
Oktavdsaint
The author
A return to Foregate Street in Worcester. This time I went into the Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. The museum is free to enter.
The building is Grade II* listed,
City Museum and Library with Gates, Worcester
WORCESTER
SO8455SE FRIAR STREET
620-1/12/270 (East side)
05/04/71 City Museum and Library
with gates
(Formerly Listed as:
FRIAR STREET
(East side)
City Museum and Library
(Formerly Victoria
Institute))
GV II*
Museum and library with gates. 1896, by JW Simpson and Milner
Allen at a cost of around ,25,000. Red brick in Flemish bond
with moulded terracotta tiles and plain tile roof; brick left
end stack, banded and with cornice; cast-iron gates and
balustrade. Free Renaissance style. Irregular plan. 2- and 3
storeys with attic, 3 bays plus tower: from left are 2 tall
storeys, 2 bays with 3-lower-storey bay at right with attic in
gable set back, then corner octagonal 5-stage tower. Central
gable contains clock in elaborate cartouche. 'Victoria Regina'
on cartouches; 'THE VICTORIA INSTITUTE' to central frieze;
'Library and Museum' over entrance.
FACADE: the central, entrance bay breaks forward and has
quoins to angles; flight of steps to cambered-arched opening
and chamfered jambs with hollow- and roll-moulding to head,
with three-quarter engaged Ionic columns and dentil pediment
broken by elaborate royal arms in high relief. Double entrance
gates have 'VR' motif and crown, 2 levels of bars and scrolled
crest. Within are 2 sets of double, part-glazed and panelled
doors. Windows are leaded lights in metal frame casements
throughout. To either side of entrance are 2-light mullion
windows with moulded, eared surrounds and scroll pediments. To
left bay on ground floor a wide 'Elizabethan' mullion and
transom window in quoined surround with 3:3:3 lights, the
middle lights have semi-circular light over containing scroll
pediment, and with scrolled central apron. Above entrance at
first floor a large 2:4:2 window and to left bay are two large
4-light windows, all with mullions and transoms and
segmental-arched lights and on continuous egg and dart sill
band; quoined surrounds and composite pilasters between
windows embellished with 'VR' motto. Continuous modillion
frieze, and pediment to gabled entrance bay with crown at apex
surmounted by figure of Victory. Arcaded balustrade with urns
at left.
Right bay: plinth with moulded band surmounted to ground floor
by 5-light mullion window with cornice. To first floor are two
2-segmental-arched-light mullion windows in eared surrounds
and with central segment. Second floor: three 2-light mullion
windows in tooled surround with egg and dart sill band
continuing from first floor of left and centre bays; banded
pilasters between windows rise to moulded cornice. Recessed
and gabled attic storey has 3-light mullion window with tooled
surround and central pediment. Tower: on wine-glass stem has
inscription plaques to lower stage (see below) then three
single-light transom windows in scrolled cartouche surrounds;
to third and fourth stages a single light; fourth stage
surmounted by decorative band with swags and cherub heads.
Upper stage has 2-light mullion windows with semi-circular
lights over in pilastered surrounds and with swags over,
three-quarter-engaged Doric columns between and ovolo cornice.
Broached spire with cupola surmounted by cornice and weather
vane. Right return to Taylor's Lane has similar, but less
elaborate treatment. 5 unequal bays, 2 and 3 storeys. First
bay of 2 storeys has to first floor a large, 5-light mullion
and transom window with 2 levels of transoms. Then a gabled
bay breaks forward and has entrance: double 6-panel doors in
quoined surround, the shaped hood acts as a balcony to 2-light
mullion and transom window with stick balustrade and further
2-light window; 2 segmental arches over on pilasters; gable
has 5-light mullion window. Third bay has five 2-light mullion
and transom windows with pilaster strips to upper band. Fourth
bay similar to second bay. Fifth bay with further entrance and
mainly 3-light mullion windows.
Left return: 5 unequal bays, 3 with gables, 2 storeys and
attics to gables. Ground floor has mullion and transom windows
of 2 and 5 lights. First stage has three oculi to first bay,
2:3:2 light mullion and transom window to third bay and two
3-light windows to fourth bay. Second bay is blind; fifth bay
has 2 small 2-light mullion windows. Gables have 2-light
mullion windows, except at right in ornate, broken pedimented
surrounds and with aprons. Open arcaded balustrade and finials
to gables.
INTERIOR: main feature a 2-storey entrance hall with square
pillars and Doric frieze at first floor with balustrade around
square well; Ionic pillars to first floor and
compartmentalised ceiling with dentil frieze and modillion
cornice. Stone cantilevered dogleg staircase at right has
squat, squared balusters and wide, shaped handrail.
Renaissance motifs continue to stairs. Mosaic floor.
HISTORICAL NOTE: datestone to right at base of tower
inscribed, 'The Lady Mary Lygon Mayoress opened this building
October 1 1896 The Rt Hon Earl Beauchamp Mayor.'
During the C18 Foregate Street was known as 'the mall' and
Tymbs' Worcester Guide of 1802 notes, 'the Foregate Street
itself, by being well paved and sufficiently broad to admit a
full circulation of air seems to be generally resorted to as a
fashionable promenade.'
Pevsner: describes this as 'a resourceful and animated,
totally asymmetrical composition in a mixed Tudor and Baroque
style'. Simpson and Allen had, earlier in the decade, won the
competition for the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum. This is an
outstanding example of late C19 municipal architecture of this
type, in its eclectic use of style redolent of the municipal
libraries of H.T. Hare, such as Wolverhampton (1902).
The Shire Hall, Statue of Queen Victoria, City Museum and
Library, and Nos 15, 19, 22, 23, 24, 28, Nos 33-46
(consecutive) and No.49, Foregate Street (qqv) form a
significant group. The City Museum and Library also forms a
complimentary group with Worcester College, Sansome Walk (qv).
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner: N: Worcestershire:
Harmondsworth: 1968-1985: 324; Worcestershire Historical
Society Occasional Papers: Whitehead D: Urban Renewal and
Suburban Growth: The Shaping of Georgian Worcester: 1989-: 12;
Tymbs: Worcester Guide: Worcester: 1802-: 60).
foundation stone
The Lady Mary Lygon Mayoress opened this building October 1, 1896.
The Rt. Hon. Earl Beauchamp Mayor
From the autumn 2016 trip to Vietnam:
Hey, Hey, Hue Hue! (“Hue” rhymes with “way,” by the way, and has an aspirated ‘h’ at the beginning.) As I mentioned yesterday, the fine folks at Huenino arranged a private car to shuttle us around the Hue countryside. That cost $37, flat rate, to take as long as we wanted, but she said we would probably be done around 2:00.
After eating an omelet and toast, our driver came to our hotel (which was in an alley) to pick us up. The agenda was this: First, we went to the Thien Mu Pagoda about 1-2 kilometers due west of the Citadel along the Perfume River. After that, we went to three different imperial tombs that were roughly 20 kilometers from downtown Hue (and a few kilometers from each other), and then ended up at the Citadel.
Normally, I wouldn’t be very excited about a pagoda, but when we got to Thien Mu, I was pleased. It’s situated on a slight hill above the Perfume River. (I love the name of the river, by the way, though there was nothing pleasantly aromatic about it. I’m also glad to say it wasn’t a sarcastic name with a pungent bouquet to offend the senses, either.) When you get to the pagoda, though, it has a wonderful little approach: a small, steep staircase that leads up to the pagoda with four pillars right at the top of the stairs that frame the pagoda well.
Next to the pagoda are a few minor temples (about the size of outhouses) surrounded by trees with views of the river. Directly behind the pagoda is the entrance to the temple. The main gate is nice and, upon entering, the main hall is about a hundred meters directly in front of you. The green is pretty lovely and, on the side of the green are some minor halls.
Behind the main hall there is a bonsai garden and a second hall. Finally, behind the secondary hall is another green with a mini pagoda/statue at the back of the grounds. The back of the grounds are enclosed by trees.
After leisurely making our way to the back of the grounds (in 30-45 minutes, I’d guess), we walked back towards the front, photographing flowers and two women in traditional dress before stopping at a side hall that had a peculiarity: A sky blue Austin dating from around 1960.
This is the car (which, I believe, I mentioned in my Saigon posts as well) in which the monk Thich Quang Duc rode from An Quang Pagoda down to Saigon before self-immolating in 1963 to protest the treatment of the Ngo Dinh Diem government. (I won’t elaborate here, but the response of Ngo’s sister, to say the least, was callous. You can find a letterbox in the LP Vietnam and read about it.) As I said, I was absolutely delighted by this temple. I suppose I could ascribe it the polar opposite from how I felt at seeing Disappointment Falls en route to Hue on Thursday.
After roughly an hour here at Thien Mu Pagoda, our driver took us to the first of three imperial tombs. To say a little bit about imperial Vietnam – and the era that these tombs cover – the first thing you need to know is that you can NOT associate dynastic Vietnam with China. They couldn’t be much more different. China’s dynasties span more than two thousand years from 221 B.C.-1911 A.D. (with smaller kingdoms even predating those). When talking about imperial Vietnam, we have to reach way, way back in time…to the 1800s – A.D., that is. So, these tombs are somewhere around 150-200 years old, give or take a few years.
Another thing to know about imperial Vietnam is that they ruled while the country was really being run by the French who, by this point, had taken over Indochina. So, I suppose if you were desperate to compare Vietnamese emperors to Chinese, you could go with the last emperor, Puyi, who was pretty much a puppet emperor in Manchuria until the 1930s when the Japanese let him rule as a figurehead. (Speaking of Puyi, that movie – the Last Emperor – is extraordinary.)
For now, I’ll focus squarely on the tombs themselves. The first one we stopped at was the Tomb of Minh Mang. When we arrived here, we went to the ticket booth to buy a pass to the four sites (three tombs plus Citadel) for 360,000 VND/person (~17-18 USD).
Of the imperial tombs I’ve seen – primarily in southeastern Korea – this one was the most like those. The Korean mausoleums are massive mounds built on top of the tombs and that’s what this was.
In retrospect, Minh Mang’s tomb was my favorite of the three we would see on the day. It was parklike and fairly expansive. Minh Mang “ruled” from 1820-1840, so obviously the tomb would date from sometime around 1840. The tomb was planned during his reign and built by his successor, Thieu Tri.
The Honor Courtyard is at the south end of the complex directly in front of Dinh Vuong (Stele Pavilion). There are three stairways leading up to the pavilion. From inside the pavilion, you have a nice view of Sung An Temple (dedicated to Minh Mang and his empress) directly in front of you and two side halls framing in a courtyard filled with potted flowers.
Behind Sung An temple, you pass through Hien Duc Gate descend some stairs and can cross one of three bridges to span Trung Minh Ho (Lake of Impeccable Clarity). The central bridge was for the emperor’s use only, so I guess I was an emperor on this day.
Once across the bridge, you find yourself looking up at Minh Lau Pavilion (Pavilion of Light) which is built on three superimposed terraces that represent the “three powers”: the ehavens, the earth, and water. To the left of this is the Fresh Air Pavilion and, to the right, the Angling Pavilion.
Finally, you cross another, slightly longer, stone bridge that carries you over Tan Nguyet Lake (Lake of the New Moon). This is a crescent-shaped lake and, once across, you finally find yourself at the base of Minh Mang’s tomb with its rather large staircase flanked by dragon banisters that lead to his sepulcher. However, you also find that the gates are locked and you can’t actually go see the tomb. (It’s only open one day a year, on the anniversary of his death.)
After reaching the tomb, you can walk out the same way you came in or, after crossing the stone bridges in front of Minh Lau Pavilion, you can veer off and take a path that skirts the large and rather pleasant Tan Nguyet Lake back to the front gate (which is what we did).
When we finally made our way back to our driver, I think we’d spent an hour or so at the first tomb. From there, it was a short 5-10 minute drive to the second of the three: the Tomb of Khai Dinh. I’ll simply copy the LP Vietnam description of this tomb here:
“This hillside monument is a synthesis of Vietnamese and European elements. Most of the tomb’s grandiose exterior is covered in blackened concrete, creating an unexpectedl Gothic air, while the interiors resemble an explosion of colorful mosaic.
Khai Dinh was the penultimate emperor of Vietnam, from 1916 to 1925, and widely seen as a puppet of the French. The construction of his flamboyant tomb took 11 years.
Steps lead to the Honor Courtyard where mandarin honor guards have a mixture of Vietnamese and European features. Up three more flights of stairs is the stupendous main building, Thien Dinh. The walls and ceiling are decorated with murals of the Four Seasons, Eight Precious Objects, and Eight Fairies. Under a graceless, gold-speckled concrete canopy is a gilt bronze statue of Khai Dinh. His remains are interred 18m below the statue.”
Khai Dinh’s tomb was a stark contrast to Minh Mang’s. Minh Mang’s takes advantage of a natural setting whereas this tomb has a castle/temple feel to it. It’s on a hill and the views afforded from in front of Thien Dinh are quite wonderful. The temple itself – actually it advertises itself as a palace – is pretty much as Lonely Planet described it: rather ostentatious. That being said, it’s still well worth coming out here, especially to use it as a contrast from the other two tombs. Anyway, about 30 minutes at the Tomb of Khai Dinh should more than suffice even the most leisurely of visitors.
From there, we hopped back in the car for a 15 minute drive to the third and final tomb of the day: the Tomb of Tu Duc. This is actually the closest of the three to the city. I rather like the order in which we visited, though. My favorite first, least-favorite second, and another nice one to end it.
The Tomb of Tu Duc was built between 1864 and 1867. According to LP, it’s “the most popular, and certainly one of the most impressive of the royal mausoleums.” (That being said, I preferred Minh Mang’s tomb…by a long way.)
This tomb was designed by the emperor himself for use both before and after his death. Tu Duc was an interesting puppet king. Basically…he was a sterile Lothario. He had 104 wives and countless concubines, though no offspring. (Ok…he may not have been sterile, but with that many women around, I don’t think it’s a terribly unreasonable guess.)
This tomb is much closer in style to Minh Mang’s than to Khai Dinh’s. When you walk through the front gate, a path leads directly to Lou Khiem Lake. There’s a tiny island to the right – Tinh Khiem – where he used to hunt small game. Across the water to the left is Xung Khiem Pavilion, where he would compose and recite poetry to his concubines.
From the lake, turn directly behind you to find Hoa Khiem Temple, where Tu Duc and his wife (Empress Hoang Le Thien Anh) were worshipped. It’s not much to speak of when visiting it today, for it doesn’t seem to be a priority to maintain it. There are two thrones in here…and the larger one was for the empress. Tu Duc was, shall we say, vertically challenged, only reaching 153 cm in stature. (That’s a hair over 5’0”, which would even make Prince seem to tower over him.)
Anyway, the temples to honor the emperor/empress and another to honor his mother were so unimpressive to me that I won’t bother with more details. From this area, you continue to walk back less than 5 minutes to the Honor Courtyard with its statues of elephants, horses, and diminutive mandarins (the emperor ensured that his servants were even shorter than he, though I’m not sure where he found enough that fit that description). The courtyard leads to the Stele Pavilion, which has a 20 ton stele for which the emperor drafted the inscriptions himself. From LP, “He freely admitted that he had made mistakes and chose to name his tomb Khiem (modest).”
Of the three tombs on the day, this one is the least impressive. It’s enclosed by a wall on the back side of a tiny crescent-shaped lagoon. It’s a drab, gray monument. The reason it’s unimpressive, I guess, is because the emperor isn’t actually buried here. The site of his remains is unknown as, to keep it a secret from grave robbers, all 200 servants who buried the king were beheaded. How lovely.
As you can tell, I’m not a fan of this particular kind. (Paranoid and insecure, anyone?) However, the grounds and his tomb – barring the temples dedicated to him and his mom – are pleasant enough. I honestly don’t know why people would consider this the most popular, but I won’t argue. I’ll just say it’s a nice place to visit – but not if it’s the only destination you have in mind. The tombs are best seen as a group for contrast’s sake.
Having had our fix of tombs satisfied, the driver took us back into town and dropped us off just inside the Quang Duc Gate (southwestern gate) of the Citadel right in front of the Nine Holy Cannons. (Actually, there are five on this side; the other four are inside the southeast gate: Ngan Gate.)
The Citadel, for comparison, is quite a bit like China’s Forbidden City in its layout and use. Having said that…it’s nothing like the Forbidden City in terms of scale or elaborate detail. However, it’s still quite photogenic.
To get the dimensions out of the way, the outer wall of the Citadel is 10 kilometers long (close to square in orientation, so 2.5 km by 2.5 km) with a moat surrounding it that is 30 meters across. Within the Citadel, there are very distinct sections: the Imperial Enclosure and Forbidden Purple City is in the center. Temple compounds are in the southwest section and residences for family members (emperor’s mother, for example) are in the northwest. There are gardens in the northeast and to the north was the Mang Ca Fortress (which is still a military base).
Unfortunately for the world, you need to really use your imagination when visiting the Forbidden City because the one thing that wasn’t forbidden, sadly, were bombs by both the French and U.S troops during the various wars of the 20th century. Of the 148 buildings that were originally here, only 20 are still standing.
Getting back to our particular tour of the citadel, it started inside the southwest gate which was the outer wall of the compound. It was more of a military parade ground for the emperor and is currently flanked by the nine aforementioned cannons (for decorative purposes only, found under small pavilions) and a massive Vietnamese flag flying high at the center of the southern outer wall.
Walking across the parade grounds, you get to the ticket booth and pass through Ngo Mon Gate. This is a gate with three doors, the central of which was only for the emperor’s use. On top of the gate is the Ngu Phung (Belvedere of the Five Phoenixes). There’s a large drum and bell on its upper level as well. The emperor only came here on special occasions, the last of which, on 30 August 1945, was when Emperor Bao Dai appeared to end the Nguyen Dynasty, abdicating to a delegation sent by Ho Chi Minh.
After entering and crossing a bridge, you arrive at the Thai Hoa Palace (Palace of Supreme Harmony, built in 1803). This is an attractive palace which forbids photography inside. That’s all for the best. It has nice details but, except for the throne, is essentially a large, empty chamber. In a back room, though, is a nice introductory video that previews the Citadel which I’d recommend watching.
We actually went counter to the plan laid out by Lonely Planet here. Instead of continuing directly through the middle of the compound, we turned left out of the back door of the main palace.
After resting for half an hour or so in a cafe, we continued to the southwest corner of the compound. The highlights here are open fields – in a few cases where temples used to be before being blown to smithereens – and a few nice temples are still standing. The most photographic of these is a temple in front of which stand Nine Dynastic Urns. Having seen the three temples in the southwestern corner of the Citadel, we made our way north along the inside of the western wall towards the residential compounds.
On the way there, we decided to skip those and head back towards the center of the Citadel where we came upon the Hall of Mandarins. This is a hall that lists the accomplishments of every emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty. Again, most of the buildings here are gone, and there are just open, grassy fields framed by the halls. The mandarins used to have their offices off the halls here.
Once through the western hall, you come back into an interior grassy field – also framed by rather nice, long corridors. This is/was the Forbidden Purple City where the private residence of the emperor would have been. To the right of the eastern corridor, just outside the Forbidden Field, is the Royal Theater which, while we were here, was under restoration.
From here, we made our way back towards the Thai Hoa Palace, only to find that we couldn’t exit whence we came in, so we had to follow the wall around to the eastern gate. I can say that the southeastern section of the Citadel just has a nice forest-like feel to it, but nothing architectural of note.
When we finally made our way out the eastern gate, we paid two bike drivers (these are bikes on the front of which are placed chariot-ish looking carts that seat one person) to take us back over towards our hotel where we grabbed a very late lunch/early dinner.
For the evening, we just went out for a walk along the river, but – unlike Hoi An – Hue isn’t terribly impressive at night. There’s a night market, but really, everything just seemed a bit dark and not interesting. This was probably also due to the fact that I was feeling a slight fever (possibly from the afternoon shower the day before) and my energy was practically drained. I’m glad to say that I felt fine the following morning, which was good, since we had a one hour flight to Hanoi that would get us to the capital around noon.
As always, thanks for dropping by and viewing these pictures. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and I’ll answer as I have time.
Maybe you were born in the good side of the world. I was born in the bad side, I've got the mark of the dark side...
Puede que hayas nacido en la cara buena del mundo. Yo nací en la cara mala, llevo la marca del lado oscuro...
We tend to sit over here these days when attending matches instead of standing in the North End like we used to.
Tried to create a different kind of portrait
Picture info:
Picture taken using a Nikon D7000 with 18-105VR lens @ 50mm, f9, 1/60sek, ISO 100
Flash used: Nikon SB-600 @ 1/80 power
Processed in Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5