© All Rights Reserved

Data Value Hub

“How can Artificial Intelligence enable growth for SMEs”? Looking forward to hearing presentation on this topic for local SME's. datavaluehub.com/about-us/

 

Chennai Listeni/ˈtʃɛnnaɪ/ (formerly known as Madras Listeni/məˈdrɑːs/ or /-ˈdræs/) is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal, it is the biggest cultural, economic and educational centre in South India. Chennai is known as the "Detroit of South Asia" for its automobile industry. It is the fourth-largest city and fourth-most populous metropolitan area in India and 36th-largest urban area in the world. Chennai is one of the Indian cities most visited by foreign tourists, and is the 38th most visited city in the world. The Quality of Living Survey rated Chennai as the safest city in India. Chennai attracts 45 percent of health tourists visiting India, and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. As such, it is termed "India's health capital".

 

After Mumbai and Delhi, Chennai has the third-largest expatriate population in India at 35,000 in 2009 and 82,790 in 2011. Tourism guide publisher Lonely Planet named Chennai as one of the top ten cities in the world to visit in 2015. Chennai is ranked as a beta-level city in the Global Cities Index and was ranked the best city in India by India Today in the 2014 annual Indian city survey. In 2015 Chennai was named the "hottest" city (worth visiting, and worth living in for long term) by the BBC, citing the mixture of both modern and traditional values. National Geographic ranked Chennai's food as second best in the world; it was the only Indian city to feature in the list. Chennai was also named the ninth-best cosmopolitan city in the world by Lonely Planet.

 

In January 2015 the Chennai Metropolitan Area was ranked as the fourth-largest economy in India, with the third-highest GDP per capita. Chennai has been selected as one of the 20 Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under PM Narendra Modi's flagship Smart Cities Mission.

 

ETYMOLOGY

There are two different theories for the origin of the name Chennai. The first theory is that it was derived from the name of Damarla Chennappa Nayagar, father of Damarla Venkatapathy Nayak, a Nayak ruler who served as a general under Venkata III of the Vijayanagar Empire from whom the British acquired the town in 1639. The first official use of the name Chennai is said to be in a sale deed, dated 8 August 1639, to Francis Day of the East India Company. The second theory states that it was named after the Chenna Kesava Perumal Temple; the word Chenni in Tamil means face, with the temple regarded as the face of the city.

 

The nativity of 'Madras' of being Tamil origin and 'Chennai' of being Telugu origin, has been clearly proven and documented after various researches done by renowned scholars and historians. The name Madras originated even before the British presence was established in India. Madras was allegedly derived from Madraspattinam, a fishing-village north of Fort St George. However, it is uncertain whether the name was in use before the arrival of European influence. The British military mapmakers believed Madras was originally Mundir-raj or Mundiraj. Madras might have also been derived from the word Madhuras (Sanskrit: मधुरस) meaning "juice of honey" or "sugarcane" in Sanskrit. A Vijayanagar-era inscription dated to the year 1367 that mentions the port of Maadarasanpattanam, along with other small ports on the east coast was discovered in 2015 and it was theorised that the aforementioned port is the fishing port of Royapuram.

 

In 1996, the Government of Tamil Nadu officially changed the name from Madras to Chennai. At that time many Indian cities underwent a change of name. However, the name Madras continues in occasional use for the city, as well as for places named after the city such as University of Madras, IIT Madras, Madras Institute of Technology, Madras Medical College, Madras Christian College.

 

HISTORY

Stone age implements have been found near Pallavaram in Chennai. According to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Pallavaram was a megalithic cultural establishment, and pre-historic communities resided in the settlement.

 

The region around Chennai has served as an important administrative, military, and economic centre for many centuries. During 1st century CE, a poet and weaver named Thiruvalluvar lived in the town of Mylapore (a neighbourhood of present Chennai). From the 1st–12th century the region of present Tamil Nadu and parts of South India was ruled by the Cholas.

 

The Pallavas of Kanchi built the areas of Mahabalipuram and Pallavaram during the reign of Mahendravarman I. They also defeated several kingdoms including the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas who ruled over the area before their arrival. Sculpted caves and paintings have been identified from that period. Ancient coins dating to around 500 BC have also been unearthed from the city and its surrounding areas. A portion of these findings belonged to the Vijayanagara Empire, which ruled the region during the medieval period.

 

The Portuguese first arrived in 1522 and built a port called São Tomé after the Christian apostle, St. Thomas, who is believed to have preached in the area between 52 and 70 CE. In 1612, the Dutch established themselves near Pulicat, north of Chennai.

 

On 22 August 1639, which is referred to as Madras Day, the English East India Company under Francis Day bought a small strip of land stretching 3 miles on the Coromandel Coast. They got a license to build a fort and a castle in the contracted region. The ruler Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu, the Nayaka of Chandragiri, granted the English permission to build a factory and warehouse for their trading enterprises. The region was then primarily a fishing village known as "Madraspatnam". A year later, the English built Fort St. George, the first major English settlement in India, which became the nucleus of the growing colonial city and urban Chennai, grew around this Fort. Post independence the fort housed the Tamil Nadu Assembly until the new Secretariat building was opened in 2010, but shortly afterwards it was again moved back to Fort St. George, due to a change in the Government.

 

In 1746, Fort St. George and Madras were captured by the French under General La Bourdonnais, the Governor of Mauritius, who plundered the town and its outlying villages. The British regained control in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and strengthened the town's fortress wall to withstand further attacks from the French and Hyder Ali, the Sultan of Mysore. They resisted a French siege attempt in 1759 under the leadership of Eyre Coote. In 1769 the city was threatened by Mysore and the British were defeated by Hyder Ali, after which the Treaty of Madras ended the war. By the 18th century, the British had conquered most of the region around Tamil Nadu and the northern modern–day states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, establishing the Madras Presidency with Madras as the capital.

 

Gradually, the city grew into a major naval base and became the central administrative centre for the British in South India.[54] With the advent of railways in India in the 19th century, the thriving urban centre was connected to other important cities such as Bombay and Calcutta, promoting increased communication and trade with the hinterland. Sir Arthur Lawley was Governor of Madras from 1906 to 1911 and promoted modern agriculture, industry, railways, education, the arts and more democratic governance. The Governor lived in Government House, Fort St George, and had a country home at Guindy, with access to a golf course, hockey pitches, riding stables and the Guindy Horse Racing Track. In the First World War as Red Cross Commissioner in Mesopotamia, he looked after the welfare of Indian soldiers. Madras was the only Indian city to be attacked by the Central Powers during World War I, when an oil depot was shelled by the German light cruiser SMS Emden on 22 September 1914, as it raided shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean, causing disruption to shipping.

 

After India gained its independence in 1947, the city became the capital of Madras State, which was renamed as Tamil Nadu in 1969. The violent agitations of 1965 against the compulsory imposition of Hindi and in support of English in India in the state marked a major shift in the political dynamics of the city and eventually it had a big impact on the whole state. Because of Madras and its people, English now exists in India, otherwise Hindi might have been made the sole official language in India. On 17 July 1996, the city known as Madras was officially renamed Chennai, in line with what was then a nationwide trend to using less Anglicised names. On 26 December 2004, an Indian Ocean tsunami lashed the shores of Chennai, killing 206 people in Chennai and permanently altering the coastline. The 2015 Chennai Floods submerged major portions of the city, killing 269 people and resulting in damages of ₹86.4 billion (US$1 billion).

 

ENVIRONMENT

GEOGRAPHY

Chennai, sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to South India," is located on the south–eastern coast of India in the north–eastern part of Tamil Nadu on a flat coastal plain known as the Eastern Coastal Plains. Its average elevation is around 6.7 metres, and its highest point is 60 m. Two major rivers flow through Chennai, the Cooum River (or Koovam) through the centre and the Adyar River to the south. A third river, the Kortalaiyar, travels through the northern fringes of the city before draining into the Bay of Bengal, at Ennore. The estuary of this river is heavily polluted with effluents released by the industries in the region. Adyar and Cooum rivers are heavily polluted with effluents and waste from domestic and commercial sources, the Coumm being so heavily polluted it is regarded as the city's eyesore. A protected estuary on the Adyar forms a natural habitat for several species of birds and animals. The Buckingham Canal, 4 km inland, runs parallel to the coast, linking the two rivers. The Otteri Nullah, an east–west stream, runs through north Chennai and meets the Buckingham Canal at Basin Bridge. Several lakes of varying size are located on the western fringes of the city. Some areas of the city have the problem of excess iron content in groundwater.

 

Chennai's soil is mostly clay, shale and sandstone. Clay underlies most of the city, chiefly Manali, Kolathur, Maduravoyal, K. K. Nagar, Tambaram, Mudichur, Pallavaram Semmencherry, Alapakkam, Vyasarpadi and Anna Nagar. Sandy areas are found along the river banks and coasts, and include areas such as Tiruvottiyur, George Town, Madhavaram, New Washermanpet, Chepauk, Mylapore, Porur, Adyar, Besant Nagar and Uthandi. In these areas, rainwater runoff percolates quickly through the soil. Areas having hard rock surface include Guindy, Nanganallur, Pallikaranai, Alandur, Jaladampet, Velachery, Adambakkam and a part of Saidapet and Perungudi. The ground water table in Chennai is at 4-5 m below ground in most of the areas, which was considerably improved and maintained through the mandatory rain water harvesting system.

 

GEOLOGY

Chennai is classified as being in Seismic Zone III, indicating a moderate risk of damage from earthquakes. Owing to the geotectonic zone the city falls in, the city is considered a potential geothermal energy site. The crust has granite rocks indicating volcanic activities in the past. It is expected that temperatures of around 200 to 300 C° will be available if the ground were drilled 4 to 5 km deep. The region has the oldest rocks in the country dating back to nearly a billion years.

 

FLORA AND FAUNA

The southern stretch of Chennai's coast from Tiruvanmiyur to Neelangarai are favoured by the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles to lay eggs every winter. A large number of cattle egrets, pond herons and other waterbirds can be seen in the rivers of Cooum and Adyar. About 75,000 birds migrate to Chennai every year. Marshy wetlands such as Pallikaranai also play host to a number of migratory birds during the monsoon and winter. Over 300 species of birds have been recorded in the city and its neighbourhood by members of Madras Naturalists' Society since its inception in 1978.

 

Guindy National Park is a protected area within the city limits. Wildlife conservation and research activities take place at Arignar Anna Zoological Park including Olive ridley sea turtle conservation. Madras Crocodile Bank Trust is a herpetology research station, located 40 kilometres south of Chennai. It is India's leading institution for herpeto faunal conservation and the first crocodile breeding centre in Asia.

 

ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION

Chennai has three rivers and many lakes spread across the city. Urbanization has led to shrinkage of water bodies and wetlands. The quantity of wetlands in the city has decreased from 650 to only 27 currently. The Chennai River Restoration trust set up by the government is working on the restoration of Adyar river. Environmentalist Foundation of India is a volunteering group working towards wildlife conservation and habitat restoration.

 

CLIMATE

Chennai has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen: Aw). The city lies on the thermal equator and is also on the coast, which prevents extreme variation in seasonal temperature. The hottest part of the year is late May to early June, known regionally as Agni Nakshatram ("fire star") or as Kathiri Veyyil, with maximum temperatures around 35–40 °C. The coolest part of the year is January, with minimum temperatures around 19–25 °C). The lowest recorded temperature was 13.9 °C on 11 December 1895 and 29 January 1905. The highest recorded temperature was 45 °C on 31 May 2003. The average annual rainfall is about 140 cm.

 

The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall from the north–east monsoon winds, from mid–October to mid–December. Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal sometimes hit the city. The highest annual rainfall recorded is 257 cm in 2005. Prevailing winds in Chennai are usually southwesterly between April and October and north-easterly during the rest of the year. Historically, Chennai has relied on the annual rains of the monsoon season to replenish water reservoirs, as no major rivers flow through the area. Chennai has a water table at 2 metres for 60 percent of the year.

 

ADMINISTRATION

Chennai city is governed by the Greater Chennai Corporation (formerly "Corporation of Madras"), which was established in 1688. It is the oldest surviving municipal corporation in India and the second oldest surviving corporation in the world. In 2011, the jurisdiction of the Chennai Corporation was expanded from 174 km2 to an area of 426 km2, dividing into three regions - North, South and Central, which covers 200 wards. The corporation is headed by a mayor, an office presently occupied by Saidai Sa. Duraisamy. The Mayor and councillors of the city are elected through a popular vote by the residents. While the city limit was expanded to 426 km2 in 2011, the revised population is yet to be officially announced.

 

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) is the nodal agency responsible for planning and development of Chennai Metropolitan Area, which is spread over an area of 1,189 km2, covering the Chennai district and parts of Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts. The larger suburbs are governed by town municipalities, and the smaller are governed by town councils called panchayats. Under the gamut of the CMDA are 5 parliamentary and 28 assembly constituencies. The CMDA has drafted an additional Master Plan that aims to develop satellite townships around the city. The city's contiguous satellite towns include Mahabalipuram in the south, Chengalpattu and Maraimalai Nagar in the southwest, and Sriperumpudur, Arakkonam, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur to the west.

 

Chennai, as the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, houses the state executive and legislative headquarters primarily in the Secretariat Buildings in the Fort St George campus. The Madras High Court, is the highest judicial authority in the state, whose jurisdiction extends across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Chennai has three parliamentary constituencies - Chennai North, Chennai Central and Chennai South - and elects 14 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to the state legislature.

 

LAW AND ORDER

The Greater Chennai Police is the main law enforcement agency in the city, with a jurisdiction of over 745 sq km catering to over 85 lakh people. It consists of 121 Police stations and is headed by a commissioner of police. The Greater Chennai Police is a division of the Tamil Nadu Police, and the administrative control lies with the Tamil Nadu Home Ministry. Chennai City Traffic Police (CCTP) is responsible for the traffic management in the city. The metropolitan suburbs are policed by the Chennai Metropolitan Police, headed by the Chennai Police Commissionerate, and the outer district areas of the CMDA are policed by the Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur police departments.

 

As of 2011 (prior to the expansion of Chennai Corporation area), Chennai city has a sanctioned strength of 14,000 police personnel. With a population density of 26,903 persons per square kilometre, the city had 1 policeman for every 413 people. The Chennai suburban police had about 4,093 police personnel and a ratio of 1:1,222. In 2010, the crime rate in the city was 169.2 per 100,000 people, as against an average of 341.9 in the 35 major cities of India. In 2011, North Chennai zone had 30 police stations and 3 police out posts, Central Chennai zone had 28 police stations and 3 police out posts, and South Chennai zone had 30 police stations.

 

In 2009, Chennai Central Prison, one of the oldest prisons in India, built over 11 acres (4 ha) of land, was demolished; the prisoners were moved to Puzhal Central Prison.

 

POLITICS

Since the 19th century, when Western scholars proposed that Dravidian languages, which dominated the southern region of India, formed a different linguistic group to that of the Indo-Aryan languages that are predominant in the north of the subcontinent, the aspects of Tamil nationalism gained prominence. This resulted in the Anti-Hindi agitations in the city and across the state. However, the post-Independence re-organisation of Indian states according to linguistic and ethnic basis has moderated Tamil nationalism, especially the demand for separation from the Indian Union. The Anti-Hindi agitations in mid-1960s made the DMK more popular and more powerful political force in the state. The agitations of the 1960s played a crucial role in the defeat of the Tamil Nadu Congress party in the 1967 elections and the continuing dominance of Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu politics.

 

Being the capital of the Madras Province that covered a vast area of the Deccan region, Chennai remained the centre of politics in the southern region of India during the British colonial era. After Independence, it remained the centre of political activities of the state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the birthplace of the idea of the Indian National Congress, commonly known as the Congress Party. Founded by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement, most notably A.O. Hume, the idea was originally conceived in a private meeting of 17 men after a Theosophical Convention held in the city in December 1884. During the first 50 years of the Indian National Congress, the city played host to its conferences seven times in 1887, 1894, 1898, 1903, 1908, 1914 and 1927, becoming one of the strong bases for the Indian independence movement. After independence, the city hosted the Congress in 1955 in its suburb of Avadi.

 

Chennai is also the birthplace of several regional political movements since the British era. South Indian Welfare Association, one of the earliest regional parties, was founded in 1916, which later came to be known as the Justice Party, which was the main opposition party to the Indian National Congress in the state. In 1944, the party was renamed Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) by E. V. Ramasami (popularly known as 'Periyar'). The party was a non-political party that demanded the establishment of an independent state called Dravida Nadu. However, due to the differences between its two leaders Periyar and C. N. Annadurai, the party was split. Annadurai left the party to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK decided to enter into politics in 1956.

 

UTILTY SERVICES

The city's water supply and sewage treatment are managed by the Chennai MetroWater Supply and Sewage Board. Water is drawn from Red Hills Lake and Chembarambakkam Lake, the primary water reservoirs of the city, and treated at water treatment plants located at Kilpauk, Puzhal, Chembarambakkam and supplied to the city through 27 water distribution stations. The city receives 530 mld of water from Krishna River through Telugu Ganga project, 180 mld of water from the Veeranam lake project and 100 mld of water from the Minjur desalination plant, the country's largest sea water desalination plant. However, Chennai is predicted to face a huge deficit of 713 million litres per day (MLD) in 2026 as the demand is projected at 2,248 MLD and supply estimated at only 1,535 MLD. The city's sewer system was designed in 1910, with some modifications in 1958. There are 714 public toilets in the city managed by the city corporation, and 2,000 more have been planned by the corporation. The corporation also owns 52 community halls across the city.

 

The Corporation of Chennai provides civic services to the city. Garbage collection in some of the wards is contracted to Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, a private company, while the Corporation looks after the removal and processing of solid waste in the others, with a superintendent engineer managing the channels. As of 2011, 8 transfer stations exist within the city for treating the waste. Garbage is dumped in two dump-yards in the city - One in Kodungaiyur and another in Perungudi, with a major portion of the latter covering the Pallikaranai marshland. In market areas, the conservancy work is done during the night. Electricity is distributed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. Fire services are handled by the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services. The city, along with the suburbs, has 33 operating fire stations.

 

ARCHITECTURE

With the history of many neighbourhoods of the city such as Mylapore and Triplicane antedating that of the city, the architecture of Chennai ranges in a wide chronology. The oldest buildings in the city dates from the 7th and 8th centuries CE, which include the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in Mylapore and the Parthasarathy Temple in Triplicane, built in the Dravidian architecture. This architecture includes various styles, such as those of the Pallavas, the Cholas, and the Vijayanagara empires. The associated Agraharam architecture, which consists of traditional row houses surrounding a temple, can still be seen in these areas. The heritage temples at Mamallapuram at the outskirts of the city are some of the examples of the Pallava architecture. Chennai ranks second to Kolkata of Indian heritage buildings.

 

With the advent of the Mugals and the British, the city saw a rise in a blend of Hindu, Islamic and Gothic revival styles, resulting in the distinct Indo-Saracenic style. The architecture for several early institutions such as banking and commerce, railways, press and education, chiefly through the colonial rule, followed the earlier directions of the Neo-Classical and the Indo-Saracenic. The Chepauk Palace in the city, designed by Paul Benfield, is said to be the first Indo-Saracenic building in India. Since then, many of the colonial-era buildings in the city were designed in this style of architecture, which is most apparent around the Fort St. George built in 1640. Most of these were designed by English architects Robert Fellowes Chisholm and Henry Irwin. The best examples of this style include the Madras High Court (built in 1892), Southern Railway headquarters, Ripon Building, Government Museum, Senate House of the University of Madras, Amir Mahal, Bharat Insurance Building, Victoria Public Hall and the College of Engineering.

 

The Triumph of Labour, also known as the Labour statue, is a statue at the Marina Beach, Chennai, India. Erected at the northern end of the beach at the Anna Square opposite University of Madras, it is an important landmark of Chennai. The statue shows four men toiling to move a rock, depicting the hard work of the labouring class.It was sculpted by Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhry.

 

The construction of the National Art Gallery in Madras was completed in 1909. The new building, with a stunning façade, was built of pink sandstone brought from Sathyavedu, and formed part of the Madras Museum campus. It was opened, on 23 January 1909, by the Governor of Fort St. George, Sir Arthur Lawley, and called the Victoria Memorial Hall after the Queen-Empress Victoria. The residential architecture in the city was based on the bungalow or the continuous row house prototypes. Gothic revival style buildings include the Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore railway stations. The Santhome Church, which was originally built by the Portuguese in 1523 and is believed to house the remains of the apostle St. Thomas, was rebuilt in 1893 in neo-Gothic style.

 

By the early 20th century, the art deco too made its entry upon the city's urban landscape. From the 1930s onwards, many buildings in George Town were built in this style, including the United India building (presently housing LIC) and the Burma Shell building (presently the Chennai House), both built in the 1930s, and the Dare House, built in 1940. Other examples include the Bombay Mutual building (presently housing LIC) and the South Indian Chamber of Commerce building. After Independence, the city witnessed a rise in the Modernism style of architecture. The completion of the LIC Building in 1959, the tallest building in the country at that time, marked the transition from lime-and-brick construction to concrete columns in the region. The presence of the weather radar at the Chennai Port, however, prohibited the construction of buildings taller than 60 m around a radius of 10 km. In addition, the floor-area ratio (FAR) in the central business district is also 1.5, much less than that of smaller cities of the country. This resulted in the city expanding horizontally, unlike other metropolitan cities where vertical growth is prominent. On the contrary, the peripheral regions, especially on the southern and south-western sides, are experiencing vertical growth with the construction of buildings up to 60 floors.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

A resident of Chennai is called a Chennaite. Chennai has a population of 7,088,000. According to 2011 based on pre-expansion limits, the city had a population of 4,681,087, with a density of 26,903 per km² and the urban agglomeration had a population of 8,653,521. The city registered a growth rate of 7.77% during the period 2001–2011. In 2001, the population density in the city was 24,682 per km², while the population density of the metropolitan area was 5,922 per km², making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The Chennai metropolitan area is the fourth most populated agglomeration in India. The sex ratio is 986 females for every 1,000 males, higher than the national average of 940. The average literacy rate rose from 85.33% in 2001 to 90.18% in 2011, much higher than the national average of 74.04%. However, the city has the fourth highest population of slum dwellers among major cities in India, with about 820,000 people (18.6% of the city's population) living in slum conditions. According to 2011 census, the Chennai district has 11 lakh households, with 51% of them living in rented houses.

 

The majority of the population in Chennai are Tamils. Tamil is the primary language spoken in Chennai. English is spoken largely by white-collar workers, often mixed into Tamil. In 2001, out of the 2,937,000 migrants (33.8% of its population) in the city, 61.5% were from other parts of the state, 33.8% were from rest of India and 3.7% were from outside the country. As per 2001 census, the number of speakers mother tongue wise are as follows, Tamil is spoken by 3,424,107 (78.83%), followed by Telugu by 419,209 (9.65%), Urdu by 180,245 (4.1%), Malayalam by 113,828 (2.6%), Hindi by 104,084 (2.39%), and Kannada by 22,250 (0.5%).

 

Chennai, along with Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, is one of the few Indian cities that are home to a diverse population of ethno-religious communities. Minorities include Telugus, Marwaris, Gujaratis , Parsis, Sindhis, Odias, Goans, Kannadigas, Anglo-Indians, Bengalis, Punjabi, and Malayalees. As per the religious census of 2011, Chennai had 80.73% Hindus, 9.45% Muslims, 7.72% Christians, 0.06% Sikhs, 0.06% Buddhists, 1.11% Jains, 0.83% following other religions and 0.04% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.

 

HOUSING

In a 2013 survey titled 'Emerging trends in real estate in Asia Pacific 2014', Chennai emerged in the top 25 real estate destinations list in the Asia Pacific region. The city ranked 22nd in the list. There are about 1,240 slums in Chennai home to about 9 lakh people.

 

Per 2011 census, there are 1.1 million households in the city and the residential housing stock available is 1,150,000 – a surplus of about 50,000 houses. About 43,700 of them are kept vacant. In the suburbs of Chennai located in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, the figures of vacant houses 56,000 and 71,000, respectively. Of the existing housing stock in the city, about 200,000 houses are not in good condition, necessitating either to rebuild or build new units. About 26,000 households live in houses without any room and another 427,000 families (with an average size of five members) live in small dwelling units with only one room. An earlier estimate shows that there is a need to generate about 420,000 units for low-income groups by 2016.

 

As of 2012, an estimated population of 11,116 (0.16 percent) were homeless. Per Supreme Court guidelines, the city needs 65 shelters for the homeless. However, it has only 15, of which 8 are functioning and two are under renovation.

 

ARTS AND CULTURE

MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES

Chennai is home to many museums, galleries, and other institutions, many of which are free of admission charges and are major tourist attractions as well as playing a research role. The city also has one of the oldest Museum and Art Gallery in the country- Government Museum, Chennai and The National Art Gallery (Chennai), established in the early 18th century. The city also hosts two art festivals annually. The "Fort Museum" inside the premises of Fort St. George is an important museum having a noteworthy collection of objects of the British era in its collection. The museum is managed by the Archaeological Survey of India and has in its possession, the first Flag of India hoisted at Fort St George after the declaration of India's Independence on 15 August 1947.

 

MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS

Chennai is a major centre for music, art and culture in India. The city is known for its classical dance shows. In 1930, for the first time in India, Madras University introduced a course of music, as part of the Bachelor of Arts curriculum. The Madras Music Season, initiated by Madras Music Academy in 1927, is celebrated every year during the month of December. It features performances of traditional Carnatic music by many artists in and around the city.

 

An arts festival called the Chennai Sangamam, which showcases not only various arts of Tamil Nadu but also from the neighbouring states, like kalari (from Kerala), which is a major attraction, is held in January every year. The Speciality of Chennai Sangamam is that the various programmes are held near or at the various famous landmarks in the city so that everyone in the city has access to the programmes and there is no fee charged for entry for any of the programmes. Pookolam, a form of art that uses coloured flour to create patterns and designs, comes from Kerala, but can be seen in abundance at the time of Onam.

 

The city has a diverse theatre scene and is one of the important centres for Bharata Natyam, a classical dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu and is the oldest dance of India. An important cultural centre for Bharata Natyam is Kalakshetra, on the beach in the south of the city. In 2012, a group of five Bharatha Natyam dancers from Chennai performed at the India Campaign during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Chennai is also home to some choirs, who during the Christmas season stage various carol performances across the city in Tamil and English.

 

CITYSCAPE

Madras is divided into four broad regions: North, Central, South and West. North Madras is primarily an industrial area. South Madras and West Madras, previously mostly residential, are fast becoming commercial, home to a growing number of information technology firms, financial companies and call centres. The city is expanding quickly along the Old Mahabalipuram Road and the Grand Southern Trunk Road (GST Road) in the south and towards Ambattur, Koyambedu and Sriperumbdur in the west. Central Madras comprises residential elements, but is primarily home to the downtown area, and surrounding areas, the most visited by travellers to the city. The financial district is also located here.

 

TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

With temples, beaches and centres of historical and cultural significance, including the UNESCO Heritage Site of Mahabalipuram, Chennai is one of the most visited cities in India. The city serves as the gateway to the southern part of India with tourists landing in the city and starting their trip to the rest of the region. Chennai was the most visited Indian city by foreign tourists in 2009 and issued the third highest number of visas on arrival in 2014. In 2011, Chennai was ranked 41st in global top 100 city destination ranking, with 3,174,500 tourists, a 14 percent increase from 2010. About 830,620 domestic tourists arrived in Chennai in March 2011. Top foreign nationals visiting the city include those from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom, France and United States. As of 2012, the city had 21 luxury five-star hotels with over 4,500 rooms in the inventory.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

Chennai is the base for the Tamil film industry, known as Kollywood. Many film personalities have gone on to become politicians including C.N.Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa. Chennai hosts major film studios, including AVM Productions, the oldest surviving studio in India. As of 2012, there are 120 cinema screens and multiplexes. Major multiplexes include Sathyam Cinemas, Escape cinemas, Devi, Abirami complex and Mayajaal. Chennai's expansive theatre network stages many Tamil plays of many genres: political satire, slapstick comedy, history, mythology and drama. English plays are popular in the city, along with the more common Tamil-language plays.

 

RECREATION

Zoo, beaches, and wildlife parks form the primary recreation areas of the city. Chennai has a total coast length of more than 19 km. Marina Beach runs for 6 km, spanning along the shoreline of the city between the deltas of Cooum and Adyar, and is the second longest urban beach in the world. Elliot's Beach lies south of the Adyar delta.

 

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust is a reptile zoo located 40 kilometres south of the city covering an area of 3.4 ha and had over 450,000 visitors in 2007. The centre has one of the world's largest collections of reptiles and has bred 14 of the 23 existing species of crocodiles and alligators. The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, one of the largest zoological parks in the world, attracts nearly 20 lakh visitors per year. The city boasts two popular beaches, the Marina and Elliot's. Guindy National Park, a protected area of Tamil Nadu, has a children's park and a snake park, which gained statutory recognition as a medium zoo from the Central Zoo Authority of India in 1995. Chennai is one of the few cities in the world that accommodates a national park, the Guindy National Park, within its limits. The city has an estimated 4.5 percent of its area under green cover. This enables Chennai residents to go birding. The seven zones of the old corporation limits has about 260 parks, many of which suffer poor maintenance. The city has a per capita park space of 0.41 sq m, which is the least among all metros in India. The eight zones in the newly added areas of the city have about 265 locations that have been identified for development of new parks. The largest among the parks is the 358-acre Tholkappia Poonga, developed to restore the fragile ecosystem of the Adyar estuary. The horticulture department-owned Semmozhi Poonga is a 20-acre botanical garden located in the downtown.

 

Chennai houses several theme parks, namely MGM Dizzee World and Queens Land. The safety of several amusement parks has been questioned after several fatal accidents occurred. Wonderla is planning to open an amusement park in 2017. Other important recreation centres include Madras Boat Club, which is over 140 years old, and Gymkhana Club, which is famous for its 18-hole golf courses. Built in 1867, Madras Boat Club is the second oldest surviving Indian rowing club.

 

ECONOMY

Industrialisation in the city dates back to the 16th century, when textile mills manufactured goods which were exported to British during its war with France. According to Forbes magazine, Chennai is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and is rated in the "Forbes-Top 10 Fastest Growing Cities in the World". It is ranked 4th in hosting the maximum number of Fortune 500 companies of India, next only to Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. It also is home to 24 Indian companies having a net worth of more than US$1 billion. As of 2012, the city has about 34,260 identified companies in its 15 zones, of which 5,196 companies have a paid-up the capital of over ₹ 50 lakh.Chennai has a diversified economic base anchored by the automobile, software services, hardware manufacturing, health care and financial services industries. According to the Confederation of Indian Industry, Chennai is estimated to grow to a US$100–billion economy, 2.5 times its present size, by the year 2025. As of 2012, with ₹ 1 lakh crore investment in the pipeline over 5 years, the city is poised for major industrial investment. Chennai is classified as a global city by GaWC, with a ranking of Beta based on the extent of global reach and financial influence.

 

The city is base to around 30 percent of India's automobile industry and 40 percent of auto components industry. A large number of automotive companies including Hyundai, Renault, Robert Bosch, Nissan Motors, Ashok Leyland, Daimler AG, Caterpillar Inc., Komatsu Limited, Ford, BMW and Mitsubishi have manufacturing plants in Chennai. The Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi produces military vehicles, including India's main battle tank: Arjun MBT. The Integral Coach Factory manufactures railway coaches and other rolling stock for Indian Railways. The Ambattur–Padi industrial zone houses many textile manufacturers, and a special economic zone (SEZ) for apparel and footwear manufacturing has been set up in the southern suburbs of the city. Chennai contributes more than 50 percent of India's leather exports.

 

COMMUNICATION

Chennai is one of four Indian cities connected to the rest of the world by undersea fibre-optic cables, the other three being Mumbai, Kochi, and Tuticorin. The city is the landing point of major submarine telecommunication cable networks such as SMW4 (connecting India with Western Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia), i2i (connecting India with Singapore), TIC (connecting India with Singapore), and BRICS (connecting India with Brasil, Russia, China and South Africa). The 3,175-km-long, 8-fiber-paired i2i has the world's largest design capacity of 8.4 terabits per second.

 

As of 2013, eight mobile phone service companies operate seven GSM networks including Airtel, Aircel, BSNL, Vodafone, Tata Docomo GSM, Idea, Reliance GSM and three CDMA networks including MTS, Relaince CDMA, Tata Docomo CDMA in the city. 2G Mobile internet connections are provided by all the operators and 4G, 3G mobile broadband are provided by few operators in the city. There are four land line companies providing Commercial and domestic broadband Internet services. Chennai was the first Indian city to deploy Wi-Fi internet access in a widespread manner. As of 2010, there were 9.8 million mobile phone users in Chennai. In 2010, Chennai had the fourth highest number of active Internet users in India, with 2.2 million users.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Photo class work

Best Value Investments are ideal options.

In the news this week it was revealed that some supermarkets were selling the new Harry Potter for less than the wholesale price. So much so that some independant booksellers will be buying them from Tesco to sell in their shops.

 

They are going to rather disappointed when they see the new cover.

Stirling Road, Larbert, Stirlingshire

August 2018

The Škoda Rapid Convertible

(cabriolet) was remarkable value for money when sold in the UK in the Mid-1980s. Converted for Škoda (UK) from standard cars by Ludgate Designs in Kent, the (now rare) convertible was considerably cheaper than other new soft-topped cars on the market. It was a good drive, too. Autocar described the car as "the poor man's Porsche", and they are now sought after vehicles. This - probably the best one surviving - was taking part in this years SALT Rally, and was snapped at the Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough.

The SALT Rally 2012 (SALT SIX) was held around Market Harborough. The SALT Rallies are for vehicles built in the Cold War period, and the events tour Cold-War related venues. Most of the participating vehicles come from the Soviet Bloc, but there is no political element, implied or actual in the SALT ethos.

 

Visit the Communist Classic Cars Panorama!

  

Camera: Nikon F5

Lens: Nikkor 28-80mm zoom

Film: Kodak Ektar 100

The history of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art

1863 / After many years of efforts by Rudolf Eitelberger decides Emperor Franz Joseph I on 7 March on the initiative of his uncle Archduke Rainer, following the model of the in 1852 founded South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), the establishment of the "k. k. Austrian Museum for Art and Industry" and appointed Rudolf von Eitelberger, the first professor of art history at the University of Vienna, director. The museum should be serving as a specimen collection for artists, industrialists, and public and as a training and education center for designers and craftsmen.

1864/ on 12th of May, opened the museum - provisionally in premises of the ball house next to the Vienna Hofburg, the architect Heinrich von Ferstel for museum purposes had adapted. First exhibited objects are loans and donations from the imperial collections, monasteries, private property and from the kk polytechnic in Vienna. Reproductions, masters and plaster casts are standing value-neutral next originals.

1865-1897 / The Museum of Art and Industry publishes the journal Communications of Imperial (k. k.) Austrian Museum for Art and Industry .

1866 / Due to the lack of space in the ballroom setting up of an own museum building is accelerated. A first project of Rudolf von Eitelberger and Heinrich von Ferstel provides the integration of the museum in the project of imperial museums in front of the Hofburg Imperial Forum. Only after the failure of this project, the site of the former Exerzierfelds (parade ground) of the defense barracks before Stubentor the museum here is assigned, next to the newly created city park on the still being under development Rind Road.

1867 / Theoretical and practical training are combined with the establishment of the School of Applied Arts. This will initially be housed in the old gun factory, Währinger Straße 11-13/Schwarzspanierstrasse 17, Vienna 9.

1868 / With the construction of the building at Stubenring is started as soon as it is approved by Emperor Franz Joseph I. the second draft of Heinrich Ferstel.

1871 / The opening of the building at Stubering takes place after three years of construction, 15 November. Designed according to plans by Heinrich von Ferstel in the Renaissance style, it is the first built museum building on the ring. Objects from now on could be placed permanently and arranged according to main materials. / / The Arts School moves into the house on Stubenring. / / Opening of Austrian art and crafts exhibition.

1873 / Vienna World Exhibition. / / The Museum of Art and Industry and the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts are exhibiting together at Stubenring. / / Rudolf von Eitelberger organizes in the framework of the World Exhibition the worldwide first international art scientific congress in Vienna, thus emphasizing the orientation of the Museum on teaching and research. / / During the World Exhibition major purchases for the museum of funds of the Ministry are made, eg 60 pages of Indo-Persian Journal Mughal manuscript Hamzanama.

1877 / decision on the establishment of taxes for the award of Hoftiteln (court titels). With the collected amounts the local art industry can be promoted. / / The new building of the School of Applied Arts, adjoining the museum, Stubenring 3 , also designed by Heinrich von Ferstel, is opened.

1878 / participation of the Museum of Art and Industry and the School of Art at the Paris World Exhibition.

1884 / founding of the Vienna Arts and Crafts Association with seat in the museum. Many well-known companies and workshops (led by J. & L. Lobmeyr), personalities and professors of the arts and crafts school join the Arts and Crafts Association. Undertaking of this association is to further develop all creative and executive powers the arts and crafts since the 1860s has obtained. For this reason are organized various times changing, open to the public exhibitions at the Imperial Austrian Museum for Art and Industry. The exhibits can also be purchased. These new, generously carried out exhibitions give the club the necessary national and international resonance.

1885 / After the death of Rudolf von Eitelberger is Jacob von Falke, his longtime deputy, appointed manager. Falke plans all collection areas als well as publications to develop newly and systematically. With his popular publications he influences significantly the interior design style of the historicism in Vienna.

1888 / The Empress Maria Theresa exhibition revives the contemporary discussion with the high baroque in the history of art and in applied arts in particular.

1895 / end of the Directorate of Jacob von Falke. Bruno Bucher, longtime curator of the Museum of metal, ceramic and glass, and since 1885 deputy director, is appointed director.

1896 / The Vienna Congress exhibition launches the confrontation with the Empire and Biedermeier style, the sources of inspiration of Viennese Modernism .

1897 / end of the Directorate of Bruno Bucher. Arthur von Scala, Director of the Imperial Oriental Museum in Vienna since its founding in 1875 (renamed Imperial Austrian Trade Museum 1887), takes over the management of the Museum of Art and Industry. / / Scala wins Otto Wagner, Felician of Myrbach, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Alfred Roller to work at the museum and school of applied arts. / / The style of the Secession is crucial for the Arts and Crafts School. Scala propagated the example of the Arts and Crafts Movement and makes appropriate acquisitions for the museum's collection.

1898 / Due to differences between Scala and the Arts and Crafts Association, which sees its influence on the Museum wane, Archduke Rainer puts down his function as protector. / / New statutes are written.

1898-1921 / The Museum magazine art and crafts replaces the Mittheilungen (Communications) and soon gaines international reputation.

1900 / The administration of Museum and Arts and Crafts School is disconnected.

1904 / The Exhibition of Old Vienna porcelain, the to this day most comprehensive presentation on this topic, brings with the by the Museum in 1867 definitely taken over estate of the " k. k. Aerarial Porcelain Manufactory" (Vienna Porcelain Manufactory) important pieces of collectors from all parts of the Habsburg monarchy together.

1907 / The Museum of Art and Industry takes over the majority of the inventories of the Imperial Austrian Trade Museum, including the by Arthur von Scala founded Asia collection and the extensive East Asian collection of Heinrich von Siebold .

1908 / Integration of the Museum of Art and Industry in the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Public Works.

1909 / separation of Museum and Arts and Crafts School, the latter remains subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Education. / / After three years of construction, the according to plans of Ludwig Baumann extension building of the museum (now Weiskirchnerstraße 3, Wien 1) is opened. The museum receives thereby rooms for special and permanent exhibitions. / / Arthur von Scala retires, Eduard Leisching follows him as director. / / Revision of the statutes.

1909 / Archduke Carl exhibition. For the centenary of the Battle of Aspern. / / The Biedermeier style is discussed in exhibitions and art and crafts.

1914 / Exhibition of works by the Austrian art industry from 1850 to 1914, a competitive exhibition that highlights, among other things, the role model of the museum of arts and crafts in the fifty years of its existence.

1919 / After the founding of the First Republic it comes to assignments of former imperial possession to the museum, for example, of oriental carpets that are shown in an exhibition in 1920. The Museum now has one of the finest collections of oriental carpets worldwide .

1920 / As part of the reform of museums of the First Republic, the collection areas are delineated. The Antiquities Collection of the Museum of Art and Industry is given away to the Museum of Art History.

1922 / The exhibition of glasses of classicism, the Empire and Biedermeier time offers with precious objects from the museum and private collections an overview of the art of glassmaking from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. / / Biedermeier glass serves as a model for contemporary glass production and designs, such as Josef Hoffmann.

1922 / affiliation of the museal inventory of the royal table and silver collection to the museum. Until the institutional separation the former imperial household and table decoration is co-managed by the Museum of Art and Industry and is inventoried for the first time by Richard Ernst.

1925 / After the end of the Directorate of Eduard Leisching Hermann Trenkwald is appointed director.

1926 / The exhibition Gothic in Austria gives a first comprehensive overview of the Austrian panel painting and of arts and crafts of the 12th to 16th Century.

1927 / August Schestag succeeds Hermann Trenkwald as director .

1930 / The Werkbund (artists' organization) Exhibition Vienna, A first comprehensive presentation of the Austrian Werkbund, takes place on the occasion of the meeting of the Deutscher Werkbund in Austria, it is organized by Josef Hoffmann in collaboration with Oskar Strnad, Josef Frank, Ernst Lichtblau and Clemens Holzmeister.

1931 / August Schestag finishes his Directorate .

1932 / Richard Ernst is the new director .

1936 and 1940 / In exchange with the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History), the museum at Stubenring gives away part of the sculptures and takes over craft inventories of the collection Albert Figdor and the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

1937 / The Collection of the Museum of Art and Industry is re-established by Richard Ernst according to periods. / / Oskar Kokoschka exhibition on the 50th birthday of the artist.

1938 / After the "Anschluss" of Austria by Nazi Germany, the museum was renamed "National Museum of Decorative Arts in Vienna".

1939-1945 / The museums are taking over numerous confiscated private collections. The collection of the "State Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna" is also enlarged in this way.

1945 / Partial destruction of the museum building by impact of war. / / War losses on collection objects, even in the places of rescue of objects.

1946 / The return of the outsourced objects of art begins. A portion of the during the Nazi time expropriated objects is returned in the following years.

1947 / The "State Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna" is renamed "Austrian Museum of Applied Arts".

1948 / The "Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St. Stephen" organizes the exhibition The St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Museum of Applied Arts. History, monuments, reconstruction.

1949 / The Museum is reopened after repair of the war damages.

1950 / As last exhibition under director Richard Ernst takes place Great art from Austria's monasteries (Middle Ages).

1951 / Ignaz Schlosser is appointed manager.

1952 / The exhibition Social home decor, designed by Franz Schuster, makes the development of social housing in Vienna again the topic of the Museum of Applied Arts.

1955 / The comprehensive archive of the Wiener Werkstätte (workshop) is acquired.

1955-1985 / The Museum publishes the periodical ancient and modern art .

1956 / Exhibition New Form from Denmark, modern design from Scandinavia becomes topic of the museum and model.

1957 / On the occasion of the exhibition Venini Murano glass, the first presentation of Venini glass in Austria, there are significant purchases and donations for the collection of glass.

1958 / End of the Directorate Ignaz Schlosser

1959 / Viktor Griesmaier is appointed as the new director.

1960 / Exhibition Artistic creation and mass production of Gustavsberg, Sweden. Role model of Swedish design for the Austrian art and crafts.

1963 / For the first time in Europe, in the context of a comprehensive exhibition art treasures from Iran are shown.

1964 / The exhibition Vienna 1900 presents Crafts of Art Nouveau for the first time after the Second World War. / / It is started with the systematic processing of the archive of the Wiener Werkstätte. / / On the occasion of the founding anniversary grantes the exhibition 100 years Austrian Museum of Applied Arts using examples of historicism insights into the collection.

1965 / The Geymüllerschlössel is as a branch of the Museum angegliedert (annexed). Gleichzeitig (at the same time) with the building came the important collection of Franz Sobek - old Viennese clocks, emerged between 1760 and the second half of the 19th Century - and furniture from the years 1800 to 1840 in the possession of the MAK.

1966 / In the exhibition Selection 66 selected items of modern Austrian interior designers (male and female ones) are merged.

1967 / The Exhibition The Wiener Werkstätte. Modern Arts and Crafts from 1903 to 1932 is founding the boom that continues to today of Austria's most important design project in the 20th Century.

1968 / On Viktor Griesmaier follows Wilhelm Mrazek as director.

1969 / The exhibition Sitting 69 shows on the international modernism oriented positions of Austrian designers, inter alia by Hans Hollein.

1974 / For the first time outside of China Archaeological Finds of the People's Republic of China are shown in a traveling exhibition in the so-called Western world.

1979 / Gerhart Egger is appointed director .

1980 / The exhibition New Living. Viennese interior design 1918-1938 provides the first comprehensive presentation of the art space in Vienna during the interwar period.

1981 / Herbert Fux follows Gerhart Egger as Director.

1984 / Ludwig Neustift is appointed interim director. / / Exhibition Achille Castiglioni: Designer. First exhibition of the Italian designer in Austria

1986 / Peter NOEVER is appointed as Director and started building up the collection of contemporary art.

1987 / Josef Hoffmann. Ornament between hope and crime is the first comprehensive exhibition on the work of the architect and designer.

1989-1993 / General renovation of thee old buildings and construction of a two-storey underground storeroom and a connecting tract. A generous deposit for collection and additional exhibit spaces arise.

1989 / Exhibition Carlo Scarpa. The other city, the first comprehensive exhibition on the work of the architect outside Italy.

1990 / exhibition Hidden impressions. Japonisme in Vienna 1870-1930, first exhibition on the theme of the Japanese influence on the Viennese Modernism.

1991 / exhibition Donald Judd Architecture, first major presentation of the artist in Austria.

1992 / Magdalena Jetelová domestication of a pyramid (installation in the MAK portico).

1993 / The permanent collection is re-established, interventions of internationally recognized artists (Barbara Bloom, Eichinger oder Knechtl, Günther Förg, GANGART, Franz Graf, Jenny Holzer, Donald Judd, Peter Noever, Manfred Wakolbinger and Heimo Zobernig) update the prospects, in the sense of "Tradition and Experiment". The halls on Stubenring accommodate furthermore the study collection and the temporary exhibitions of contemporary artists reserved gallery. The building in the Weiskirchnerstraße is dedicated to changing exhibitions. / / The opening exhibition Vito Acconci. The City Inside Us shows a room installation by New York artist.

1994 / The Gefechtsturm (defence tower) Arenbergpark becomes branch of the MAK. / / Start of the cooperation MAK/MUAR - Schusev State Museum of Architecture Moscow. / / Ilya Kabakov: The Red Wagon (installation on the MAK terrace plateau).

1995 / The MAK founds the branch of MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles, in the Schindler House and at the Mackey Apartments, MAK Artists and Architects-in-Residence Program starts in October 1995. / / Exhibition Sergei Bugaev Africa : Krimania.

1996 / For the exhibition Philip Johnson: Turning Point designs the American doyen of architectural designing the sculpture "Viennese Trio", which is located since 1998 at the Franz-Josefs-Kai/Schottenring.

1998 / The for the exhibition James Turrell. The other Horizon designed Skyspace today stands in the garden of MAK Expositur Geymüllerschlössel. / / Overcoming the utility. Dagobert Peche and the Wiener Werkstätte, the first comprehensive Personale of the work of the designer of Wiener Werkstätte after the Second World War.

1999 / Due to the Restitution Act and the Provenance Research from now on numerous during the Nazi time confiscated objects are returned .

2000 / Outsourcing the federal museums, transforming the museum into a "scientific institution under public law". / / The exhibition of art and industry. The beginnings of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna are dealing with the founding history of the house and the collection.

2001 / As part of the exhibition Franz West: No Mercy, for which the sculptor and installation artist developed his hitherto most extensive work the "Four lemurs heads " are placed at the Stubenbrücke located next to the MAK. / / Dennis Hopper: A System of Moments.

2001-2002 / The CAT Project - Contemporary Art Tower after New York, Los Angeles, Moscow and Berlin in Vienna is presented.

2002 / Exhibition Nodes. symmetrical-asymmetrical. The historic Oriental Carpets of the MAK presents the extensive rug collection.

2003 / Exhibition Zaha Hadid. Architecture. / / For the anniversary of the artist workshop, the exhibition The Price of Beauty. 100 years Wiener Werkstätte takes place. / / Richard Artschwager: The Hydraulic Door Check. Sculpture, painting, drawing.

2004 / James Turrell MAKlite is since November 2004 permanently on the facade of the building installed. / / Exhibition Peter Eisenmann. Barefoot on White-Hot Walls, large-scaled architectural installation on the work of the influential American architect and theorist.

2005 / Atelier Van Lieshout: The Disziplinatornbsp / / The exhibition Ukiyo-e Reloaded for the first time presents the collection of Japanese woodblock prints of the MAK in large scale.

2006 / Since the beginning of the year the birthplace of Josef Hoffmann in Brtnice of the Moravian Gallery in Brno and the MAK Vienna as a joint branch is run and presents special exhibitions annually. / / The exhibition The Price of Beauty. The Wiener Werkstätte and the Stoclet House brings the objects of the Wiener Werkstätte to Brussels. / / Exhibition Jenny Holzer: XX.

2007/2008 / Exhibition Coop Himmelb(l)au. Beyond the Blue, is the hitherto largest and most comprehensive museal presentation of the global team of architects .

2008 / The 1936 according to plans of Rudolph M. Schindler built Fitzpatrick-Leland House, a generous gift from Russ Leland to the MAK Center LA, becomes using a promotion that granted the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department the MAK Center, the center of the MAK UFI project - MAK Urban Future Initiative. / / Julian Opie: Recent Works / / The exhibition Recollecting. Looting and Restitution examines the status of efforts to restitute expropriated objects from Jewish property of museums in Vienna.

2009 / The permanent exhibition Josef Hoffmann: Inspiration is in the Josef Hoffmann Museum, Brtnice opened. / / Exhibition Anish Kapoor. Shooting into the Corner / / The museum sees itself as a promoter of Cultural Interchange and discusses in the exhibition Global:lab Art as a message. Asia and Europe 1500-1700 the intercultural as well as the intercontinental cultural exchange based on objects from the MAK and from international collections.

2011 / After Peter Noevers resignation Martina Kandeler-Fritsch takes over temporarily the management. / / Since 1 September Christoph Thun-Hohenstein is director of the MAK.

www.mak.at/das_mak/geschichte

To the surprise of nobody who's ever talked to me, I have eclectic tastes when it comes to collectibles. Yeah, I'll get the things that are generally universally liked, but ultimately shock value and general tastelessness (by puritan US standards) are what kind of guide my collecting path.

 

About a year ago, there was a company with a dream - Big Firebird Toy - and that dream was to make a transforming Arcee figure that was more Senran Kagura than G1 Autobot. Her name would be Nicee, and would share enough characteristics with her licensed namesake so you could help Hot Rod live out his high school fantasies including a familiar alt mode and a very G1 Arcee head.

 

People complained, of course, but in this day and age, what else is new? At least this wasn't Flametoys where they were selling licensed figures... this was the Wild Wild West of Third Party Transformer figures. I'll admit the window dressing was might attractive, but the Engineer in me also wanted to know.. just how would they pull off such an ambitious design?

 

At any rate, preorders were placed and all was well for a while.

 

First it was COVID causing mayhem and delaying production of everything across the board. Then, rumour has it that Hasbro started actually cracking down on Chinese bootlegs of their figures, and so Big Firebird Toy dropped the Arcee head, and just stuck with their own original content. That all passed, and I finally received my copy of the figure.

 

So just how did they do? Lets look at the Big Firebird Toy EX-01: Nicee figure.

 

I ordered mine from TF-Direct, who were the lowest price point at the time. Prices have since jumped up from the $95 USD I paid, which included EMS shipping, but a cursory glance at eBay shows you should still be OK. The figure came in it's own brown shipper, with an art box contained within which houses all the fun stuff.

 

A quick glance at the art box should very quick establish that no... this is not a kids figure. It's not quite Skytube hentai PVC material, but it is at least Teen territory. Also nice is the Pink foiled letters.

 

I also have to giggle at the security seal and the quality assurance foil sticker because, well... China.

 

Nicee is packed in robot mode, and comes in a single layered tray with her accessories. By the time things are said and done, the box is gigantic, effectively 12" x 12" x 4", like something out of the old Toys R Us MP boxes. Accessories include an extra Aheago head, a breast plate with soft rubbery breasts, a laser pistol, an energy arrow, a sword, part of her chasis, the handle for her bow, and six additional hands. Naturally, she has a set of instructions, as well as a nifty art card.

 

Nicee is a gorgeous figure, and I'm not just talking curves. I had two major concerns - crappy paint work, and crappy build. I've done the best I can on my photos, but one of things I couldn't make out on other photos I've seen is the fact that Nicee has a nice pearl finish on all her painted parts. Try as I might, I could not find any areas of overspray or bleeding, with the only bad paint being a fibre or something being embedded into the forehead of my Aheago head. Even the pink on the wheels are pearl finish. Now, I would ADD some colours to a few areas, such as the blade of the sword and maybe to the face to make the lips turn out better, but that's another discussion - what paint work you do get is pretty damn good and is generally resistant to most forms of contact.

 

I'm not saying you should break out the sand paper, but you can at least be assured you don't have to worry about actually handling the figure without gloves.

 

Build quality is a bit tougher to explore, but to put aside any immediate worries, overall things are very good. Nicee has rubber tires, which is becoming more and more of a rare thing. There are some die cast metal parts, though these in high stress structural components. The plastics they used feel like the same stuff you'd get on a Takara Tomy MP figure, but perhaps a bit thinner, maybe due to the sheer number of curved parts on this figure.

 

The finish on these parts is, without a doubt, phenomenal. very few rough surfaces or mould lines found. My mind is blown at how well the pieces fit together, and that truly the finished product matched the CG renders almost perfectly. QC with regards to accuracy of tabs and slots is almost perfect, but isn't quite up to Takara Tomy standards, so it can be a bit of pain to get things aligned correctly but it can be done, at least, and the parts come together with tolerances that wouldn't be out of place on an MP figure.

 

Joints in general tend to be a bit on the stiff side, especially the neck and head joints, which can make posing Nicee a bit of a headache..

 

Finally I feel the hands should have used the more popular method of connection, that is having the ball on the wrist joint itself and the socket on the hand, as opposed to the opposite. This would make things connect more securely, as well as improve range of motion here.

 

Nicee herself is 19 cm tall, which puts here out of MP scale, as she's supposed to be slightly smaller than Hot Rod. On the plus side, she's that much more visually impressive and has that much more shelf presence.

 

Articulation is impressive, and is in line with what I'd expect from an MP figure. You get full ankles (two separate points of movement), double jointed knees, thigh twist, hips with pull down for greater range of motion, waist, mid torso, shoulders with lateral movement (so arms can come closer together), bicep swivel, single jointed elbows, wrists, neck, and head. Provided you can get the joints to cooperate, you can put the figure into many, many poses, though for next time Big Firebird Toy, double jointed elbows, please.

 

For all the effort put into the design of this figure, I feel that Big Firebird Toy put their C Team on weapons duty. The sword is a bit bland, but more importantly, there's one hand dedicated to holding both the Sword and the Bow, and neither of them are really held that well. The laser pistol is perhaps the only weapon where they did some homework as there's almost no way that gun will ever get loose from that hand, and I wish that they had given her a second pistol, in addition to more useful hands.

 

Another thing that might cool your enthusiasm for Nicee is that she is somewhat of a Partsformer, like most of the current mainline Transformers. In order to achieve a certain body shape, designers just made unwanted parts removable and convertible into accessories for the main figure.

 

In Nicee's case, that piece of the car body turns into a shield that is pegged in a way that you either can move the forearm it's attached to, or you hold it like a gun because there's no proper handle. Then there's the bow.... oh that bow.

 

It's made up of the front of the vehicle mode, which usually hangs on to her behind her neck, giving Nicee those wing looking things. Conversion to a bow involves plugging in a plastic piece that gives it a handle, then squeezing it into the hand that is meant for the sword. It's very, very awkward to say the least, and the fact there's no real dedicated hand for holding the arrow is also a major pain.

 

Oh right, in the event you don't fancy a bow, you can convert most of the parts into a skirt for... reasons, which unfortunately leaves you with a completely useless panel as well as reduced articulation.

 

Finally, coming full circle we have transformations, though before I go on I should probably mention that you swap out the breast plates by popping up the shoulders and head and replacing the part.

 

Conversion into vehicle mode isn't really that complicated once you decipher the instruction manuals mentions of degrees and misspelt words. To their credit, there is a link to a transformation video, which I didn't watch, but I'll presume is more helpful than the instructions. The overall methodology is kind of like TM2 Blackarachnia where you stretch out the body, wrap the legs around the body and cover the entire thing in a shell. IIRC the Generations version had this method and maybe even the other 3P Arcee I have, the Occular Max Zinnia.

 

I guess I should also mention there was controversy about how the vehicle mode had the visual making of a Vagina or something. I dunno.. I don't looking for the meaning of life in my cups of coffee, and I don't go looking for Vaginas in my vehicle modes.

 

So in conclusion, the base figure itself is very good, and I'm impressed with the excellent paint work and overall production values of the figure. Weapons really is where the ball was dropped, and even then things could have been saved if the variety of hands was greater and if the bow/shield had actual proper handles so they could do their job. But all-in-all, this is much better than any novelty figure has the right to be.

 

So if you're an open minded transforming robot fan, I'd highly recommend you give Nicee a try.

Basic vans but great value when new.

A farmer delivers milk to a Nestlé collection centre close to our factory in Shuangcheng, China.

  

seriously written on a 5lb bag of gummi bears

www.bundlesofjoy-shopping.co.uk/personalised-baby-gifts

Bundles of Joy is a UK based, one-stop, online baby gift store, offering luxury christening gifts and personalised baby gifts at value for money prices. These include Kaloo, beautiful wooden toys, original christening gifts, birthday gifts, newborn presents, children's furniture and much, much more.

 

Our online baby gift store caters for all of your baby present needs such as unsual and unique Christening gifts and personalised baby gifts. We have delightful and unique gifts for newborn babies and new mums to make their "My 1st Years" extra special, Christmas gifts for babies, as well as personalised children's christening presents for babies and young children.

 

As well as offering a wide range of personalised baby gifts and newborn presents, we also offer Childrens birthday presents and can boast one of the largest ranges of personalised gifts for babies and young children of any UK online baby presents store.

 

Quality New Baby Gifts - Quality Service

 

We are always adding new and exciting ideas for your new baby, christening, children and 1st birthday gifts in 2015, so please have fun browsing through all of our online products. On all our gifts, we offer FREE gift wrapping and a fast delivery service, throughout the UK and worldwide.

 

If you have any questions about any of our baby/children’s gift products, christening gifts or prefer the personal touch when choosing your baby gift, please don't hesitate to call us on 01832 737989 (available between 9am and 7pm seven days a week), or e-mail us at info@bundlesofjoy-shopping.co.uk, and we will be delighted to advise you concerning any aspect of ordering baby gifts online.

 

We are always willing to help and go that extra mile to ensure that you receive your gifts for that special little person in your life on time and beautifully wrapped.

by isleta lakes

Blogged here

 

Frontiers series—hidden numbers

 

Hidden numbers—Step 4: See a circle of numbers matching the note’s value appear through the frosted maple leaf window.

 

Série Frontières—chiffres cachés

 

Chiffres cachés—Étape 4 : Vous verrez apparaître un cercle formé de chiffres correspondant à la valeur du billet.

 

The reproduction of bank note images is protected by the Criminal Code and the Copyright Act. / Le Code criminel et la Loi sur le droit d’auteur limitent le droit de reproduire les images de billets de banque.

I was dangling my legs in the pool when Linda swam up and blocked me. Something about Linda always made me a little uncomfortable. I wanted her to like me, mostly because none of my classmates lived close enough to hang out after school. Linda lived only two houses down from mine. But this warm spring afternoon, her words made me shiver.

 

“You’ve got to do what I say,” she commanded, her voice low. “Otherwise, I’ll tell your mom you did it anyway.”

 

“She won’t believe you,” I protested.

 

Linda glanced a few feet away at our moms in their pool chairs. We could hear them laughing and chatting. They weren’t listening to us. Linda tossed her wet ponytail over her shoulder. “Oh, I don’t know… maybe she will. And even if she doesn’t, my mom wouldn’t talk to yours anymore either.”

 

Uh-oh. Linda’s ideas weren’t always fun. And sometimes they were downright mean. “What do you want me to do?” I squeaked.

 

“You know those new people in the house on the corner?”

 

“Yeah,” I answered.

 

“We-ell… they’re such pains,” Linda declared. “All I have to do is put a toe on their precious lawn and they come running out to make sure I didn’t run over their flowers with my skates. I have an idea that will show them.”

 

Linda pulled me down into the shallow water beside her and whispered her hideous plan.

 

“Soooo…. you just bring me a bag of your grossest garbage tonight,” she said. “Then, when it’s dark enough, we can pull our stuff down there in my wagon….” Her voice sounded mysterious, like a kid detective. Only she wasn’t solving crimes. She was planning one.

 

“But…” I tried again. “I don’t like this. What if they see us?”

 

“Don’t be a baby,” she said flatly. “They won’t.”

 

Maybe I could do it after dinner when I was supposed to be taking the trash out anyway. But I was feeling sicker by the minute. Why was I doing this? So what, if Linda dumped me. I knew it was wrong. I didn’t even know those people. But it was like Linda had some sort of hold on me that I couldn’t explain.

 

As Mom and I left, Linda wrapped her dripping arm around my shoulders and laughed loudly like we were best buds. “See you later!” she said.

 

“Feeling okay, hon?” Mom asked when I could barely eat my dinner.

 

“I’m just… not… too hungry, I guess,” I said. Now I was lying too! How did I get in this mess?

 

I pulled the kitchen trash bag to the door. “Be back in a bit,” I called.

 

Outside, I nearly abandoned the whole idea. But there was Linda, waiting at the end of our driveway. She must’ve known I’d chicken out and she wasn’t going to let me.

 

“C’mon!” she urged, tugging our cargo down past her house to the corner. The home was dark. “Perfect!” she said in her director’s voice. “Now!”

 

And suddenly, there we were, tossing all that yucky grossness onto the clean driveway. Lettuce leaves and greasy foil wrappers and wads of smelly tissue landed at my feet. I could hear cans dinging and rolling behind the bushes.

 

My heart was pounding, and my feet felt glued to the pavement in horror at what we’d just done. Somewhere a light went on in the back of the house. “Run!” Linda cried, yanking the rattling wagon and pulling me down the street. I never ran so fast in my life.

 

The next morning I truly did feel sick. But somehow I made it through the door, into the car with Dad, and on to school. “Have a great day!” Dad called. I hugged my books to my chest and clunked the door behind me. I didn’t think I’d have a great day ever again.

 

I flubbed the easiest math problem when Mrs. F. called on me. I couldn’t concentrate on my favorite reading book. I could barely swallow my peanut butter and jelly sandwich at lunch. And by the time I got home, my insides felt as wobbly as Jell-O Jigglers.

 

“Is something bothering you?” Mom wondered when I turned down Toll House cookies. Her voice was quiet, but I could hear a firmness in it. I knew she wouldn’t let this one slide.

 

Suddenly, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I think I did something… terrible!” I blurted on a sob. “And I’m… not sure… how… to fix it.”

 

Mom just listened, pushing my bangs away from my eyes as I choked out the whole disgusting story. I was sure she was going to be so disappointed in me. More than I was in myself… and that was huge.

 

But she only looked into space for a moment. “I saw the husband out trying to scrape his driveway this morning,” Mom told me then. “His wife is recovering from a fall she had last month and he told me how glad he was she didn’t trip over any of that slop today.”

 

I looked into her eyes, miserable. She reached over and tucked her finger under my chin. “I think you know what it feels like to be the new kid in school. And how they feel being new on our block….”

 

“Yes,” I admitted softly. Then, after a moment, it was like I suddenly woke up from a nightmare. Yes! I did know. And I also knew how much I wanted people to like me and to fit in. So much that I let someone talk me into doing something so unlike me that it left me heartbroken. I had hurt someone for no reason. And like Mom always said, “hurting someone else hurts God, too.”

 

Suddenly I was angrier than I was afraid. Mostly at myself — for letting Linda talk me into such a plot. I wanted to march two houses down and tell her my own plan. And if she didn’t care to join me, that was her problem.

 

Linda did go with me, hanging behind as I rang the bell. I stuttered our apology to the woman in her wheelchair. At first, her black eyes flashed, reminding me of dark skies on a stormy day. I could tell she wasn’t sure if we were really sorry, or if someone was making us confess. But after we finished hosing down her driveway she asked us in for lemonade. She told us about her grandchildren, who were our age and lived in another state. I confided how I loved to read and that Linda was a great swimmer. By the time we left, I had a new friend, and dinner sounded good again.

 

Even Linda seemed relieved. It was almost like she had needed me to stand up to her. Maybe all her crazy ideas were because she tried too hard to feel… important. Because she wanted me to like her, too. I hadn’t thought of that before.

 

“Hey! Race you to your house!” I dared.

 

I was through doing whatever old thing Linda said. But after today, maybe, we could be real friends….

 

P. D.

May 13, 2015 | The Role of Philanthropy in Shared Value, featuring FSG's Mark Kramer, Walmart Foundation's Kathleen McLaughlin, and Ford Foundation's Darren Walker.

Teacher example. My 2D Art class began doing value studies of backpacks

After coming out of prison last summer, Welcome is now a One Man Can Training Assistant. He explains how the project asks questions and encourages men to rethink how they value women and change their lives.

 

“How can I say that I’m gender conscious if I’m still being abusive? How can I say I’m gender conscious if I’m still seeing women as objects rather than our equals? So in order to change, I needed to do this introspection and move myself away from gang activity to understand I could be a loving man and a loving provider, if I just worked on that process.”

 

Background

 

In March 2013 the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women will meet to discuss how to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls.

 

This International Women's Day, help demand action by sending a message to global leaders that it's time to put a stop to this worldwide injustice.

 

UK aid is working in 21 countries to address physical and sexual violence against women and girls and will be supporting 10 million women and girls with improved access to security and justice services by 2015.

 

Find out more at www.dfid.gov.uk/violence-against-women-and-girls

 

For more information about the Sonke Gender Justice programme visit genderjustice.org.za/

 

Picture: Lindsay Mgbor/Department for International Development

 

Terms of use

 

This image is posted under a Creative Commons - Attribution Licence, in accordance with the Open Government Licence. You are free to embed, download or otherwise re-use it, as long as you credit the source as Lindsay Mgbor/Department for International Development'.

To the glory of God

And in loving memory of

Gifford Sherman READE

Of Holbrook House, Ipswich, England

Born 1846 Died at Auckland 5 Dec. 1929

And of his wife

Margaret Augusta Walker

Born 1843 Died 6 July 1929

Mr Reade gave his family property and large fortune to the Admiralty for the benefit of

the Navy and in memory of its services during the Great War 1914-1918

In thee oh Lord have I put my trust

 

Plaque on top of grave

“Benefactor to The Royal Hospital School

Holbrook, England”

 

Area 4 Block A Lot No. 10

  

A GIFT TO THE NATION.

...new Naval College which is to be erected at Holbrook, Suffolk, as the result of the munificent gift of an Auckland citizen, Mr. Gifford Sherman Reade. He has given his ancestral home of 850 acres and an endowment of a total value of £1,000,000. The Admiralty has let a contract for the buildings, which, on their completion in four years' time, will supersede the Royal Hospital, Greenwich, where 1000 boys are educated.

 

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 159, 8 July 1929, Page 17

OBITUARY.

MRS. G. S. READE,

The death occurred on July 6, at her home, "Summit," 1, Landscape Road, Mount Eden, of Mrs. Margaret Augusta Reade, wife of Mr. Gifford Sherman Reade, and daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. Walker, of Edinburgh, Scotland. Mrs. Reade was 84 years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Reade came to New Zealand thirteen years ago on a holiday trip and decided to settle in Auckland. Their former home was Holbrook House, near Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Mr. Reade spent 35 years of his life in India, where he had extensive estates in Assam and acquired interests in various industries. He retired 25 years ago. In July, 1928, the fact was announced by cable that Mr. Reade had donated his ancestral estate of 850 acres on the southern portion boundary of Suffolk, overlooking the estuary of the River Stour, together with a large sum of money, for the purpose of establishing a naval training school to replace the present one at Queen's Hall, Greenwich. The total value of the gift of Mr. Reade was £1,000,000. The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of York, and building is expected to be completed within four years' time. The interment of Mrs. Reade took place at Hillsboro' [sic] Cemetery. [2]

 

Margaret’s probate is available:

archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=9383051

  

“On the 5th December 2008, two former pupils of the Royal Hospital School attended a service at the grave of Gifford Sherman Reade in Auckland, New Zealand. The gravestone has recently been renovated under the guidance of the New Zealand Navy and service coincided with the 79th anniversary of his death.

Gifford Sherman Reade was born in 1864 at Holbrook House and he became a very successful tea trader and ship owner. In 1921 he gifted his Holbrook estate to the Admiralty enabling the relocation of the Royal Hospital School from Greenwich to Holbrook. Gifford Sherman Reade died in 1929 before the new school buildings were complete but he made a further bequest of funds in his will in gratitude for the Royal Navy's safeguarding of his merchant fleet during the First World War.

The service of rededication of Reade's gravestone at Hillsborough Cemetery, Auckland was led by a New Zealand naval chaplain and attended by Tom Blackett, son of the Royal Hospital School's Headmaster, Howard Blackett. Fellow former pupil Chris Emmerson also attended with his father Graham, who transferred as an officer serving with the Royal Navy to the New Zealand Navy four years ago.“ [1]

Holbrook Estate

www.grenhosp.org.uk/general/holbrook-estate/

Gifford’s obituary reads similarly, with the addition that “its erection will enable the famous Macpherson collection to be eventually installed at Queen’s House, Greenwich, where the school is at present established”. [3]

 

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 289, 6 December 1929, Page 5

"I have now given my all to the Navy," was the reply that Mr. Gifford Sherman Reade was in the habit of sending to the numerous begging letters he received, after it was made public that he had donated for the benefit of the British Navy, property and endowments to the value of £1,000,000. This statement was quite true, as Mr. Reade, in July last, divested himself of all but a small income on which to live for the remaining term of his life. Mr. Reade's death took place last evening at his home in Landscape Road East, Mount Eden, at the age of 85 years, his wife having died last July. As is but fitting, the Royal Navy will be represented at the funeral of this giver of wealth to the Empire by the two commanders of the New Zealand Division, and a lieutenant in charge of a firing party of 24 men. Wreaths have also been sent by the officers. Mr. Reade's former home was at Holbrook House, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, and it is this valuable property, including 850 acres of land which had belonged to his ancestors for generations, which he donated to the Navy, together with funds to equip and endow a training school. The British Admiralty let a contract for the buildings, the foundation stone of the school was laid in October last year by the Duke of York, who forwarded to Mr. Reade a special cable concerning the ceremony. It is estimated that it will take four years to complete the buildings, which will be capable of accommodating 1000 boys.

 

During the war Mr. Reade made munificent gifts to the cause of the Allies, including huge consignments of tea for the men at the front. This endowment is to be administered as a national trust. Mr. Reade amassed his fortune as the owner of several tea growing estates in Assam. He was also interested in other industries, including coal mining. He spent 35 years of his life in India, and came to New Zealand with his wife 1 year ago. Having no family, and liking the climate, he made Auckland his headquarters, but travelled extensively over New Zealand. He was a keen fisherman.

 

Some 20 years ago Mr. Reade retired from active business, and travelled extensively with his wife before coming to New Zealand to spend the evening of their days. It was the splendid work done by the British Navy during the Great War that caused Mr. Reade to decide upon making his munificent gift to the Empire. His idea was to enable the Admiralty to transfer the boys from Queen's College Naval Training School, at Greenwich, to more suitable quarters. The Admiralty sent Mr. Smallwood, principal of the college, to New Zealand to finalise with Mr. Reade the details of his gift, which included the offer of £100,000 to be allowed to accumulate until the principal sum is sufficiently large to produce a, sum which will entirely support the institution.

 

Mr. Reade was a very quiet, unassuming-: man, but with the true instinct of an Englishman, he recognised that the safety of the Empire depended upon the Navy, hence his munificence in providing for the training of youths to man the ships in the future.[4]

  

A portrait of Gifford is here:

www.mwadui.com/RHS/Index_rhs.htm

 

Gifford’s probate is available:

archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=9383050

 

WITH NAVAL HONOURS.

MR. G. S. READE'S FUNERAL

ADMIRALTY SENDS WREATH.

A naval funeral was accorded Mr. Gifford Sherman Reade, who was buried at Hillsboro' [sic] Cemetery on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Reade, who had ardently supported the Navy throughout his life, and who had presented his entire estate to the Admiralty for the establishment of a naval school, which he endowed to the extent of more than £1,000,000, was buried with full honours.

 

A naval detachment, consisting of Commander Robertson, of H.M.s. Veronica. Commander Jeffries and Lieutenant R. S. Jessall. of H.M.s. Dunedin, and 24 men from the combined vessels of the New Zealand station, was present. Regret at their inability to attend was expressed by Commodore Blake and Commander Tobin. of H.M.s. Philomel, who were detained by the naval manoeuvres conducted by the Royal Naval Reserve. Three wreaths, one from the Lord- Commissioners of the Admiralty, one from the commanders, officers and men of the ships of the New Zealand station, and one from the superintendent, officers and boys of the Royal Naval School at Greenwich were sent.

 

Mr. Reade, whose wife died last July, was not survived by any relatives in New Zealand, nor had he many acquaintances. Two families of his very intimate friends were represented at the funeral. Mrs. G. Haydock, Mr. R. Haydock and Mr. B. Haydock and Mr. and Mrs. D. Gillies. The Rev. E. P. Willis, vicar of St. Andrew's Church, Epsom, conducted the service; he was assisted by the naval chaplain, the Rev. G. T. Robson. Eight men from the New Zealand station acted as pall-bearers. [5]

  

SOURCES:

[1]

www.royalhospitalschool.org/default.asp?page=560&news...

[2]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=s...

[3]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=s...

[4]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AS...

[5]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=s...

   

Some of the values artists value. Croudsourced values, part of *For the Love of it*, Artquest, London 2013

   

Istanbul Galata district 2019 - Dolmabahce Sarayi Palace...

 

Centre of the Ottoman Empire 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922

 

Dolmabahçe Palace was ordered by the Empire's 31st Sultan, Abdülmecid I, and built between the years 1843 and 1856.

 

Previously, the Sultan and his family had lived at the Topkapı Palace, but as the medieval Topkapı was lacking in contemporary style, luxury, and comfort, as compared to the palaces of the European monarchs, Abdülmecid decided to build a new modern palace near the site of the former Beşiktaş Sahil Palace, which was demolished. Hacı Said Ağa was responsible for the construction works, while the project was realized by architects Garabet Balyan, his son Nigoğayos Balyan and Evanis Kalfa (members of the Armenian Balyan family of Ottoman court architects).

 

The construction cost five million Ottoman gold lira, or 35 tonnes of gold, the equivalent of ca. $1.5 billion in today's (2013) values.[1][2] This sum corresponded to approximately a quarter of the yearly tax revenue. Actually, the construction was financed through debasement, by massive issue of paper money, as well as by foreign loans. The huge expenses placed an enormous burden on the state purse and contributed to the deteriorating financial situation of the Ottoman Empire, which eventually defaulted on its public debt in October 1875, with the subsequent establishment in 1881 of financial control over the "sick man of Europe" by the European powers.

 

The palace was home to six Sultans from 1856, when it was first inhabited, up until the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924:

 

The last royal to live here was Caliph Abdülmecid Efendi. A law that went into effect on March 3, 1924 transferred the ownership of the palace to the national heritage of the new Turkish Republic.

 

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, used the palace as a presidential residence during the summers and enacted some of his most important works here. Atatürk spent the last days of his medical treatment in this palace, where he died on November 10, 1938.

 

Location

 

Close-up view of the palace from the Bosphorus

The site of Dolmabahçe was originally a bay on the Bosphorus which was used for the anchorage of the Ottoman fleet. The area was reclaimed gradually during the 18th century to become an imperial garden, much appreciated by the Ottoman sultans; it is from this garden that the name Dolmabahçe (Filled-in Garden) comes from the Turkish dolma meaning "filled" and bahçe meaning "garden." Various small summer palaces and wooden pavilions were built here during the 18th and 19th centuries ultimately forming a palace complex named Beşiktaş Waterfront Palace. The area of 110,000 m² is confined by Bosphorus on the east side, while a steep precipice bounds it on the west side, such that after the building of the new 45,000 m² monoblock Dolmabahçe Palace a relatively limited space has remained for a garden complex which would normally surround such a palace.[3][4]

 

Design and layout

 

Fountain in the garden

 

Floor plan of the palace

Dolmabahçe is the largest palace in Turkey. It has an area of 45,000 m2 (11.1 acres), and contains 285 rooms, 46 halls, 6 baths (hamam) and 68 toilets.[3][4]

 

The design contains eclectic elements from the Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical styles, blended with traditional Ottoman architecture to create a new synthesis. The palace layout and décor reflect the increasing influence of European styles and standards on Ottoman culture and art during the Tanzimat period. The exterior, in particular the view from the Bosporus, shows a classical European two-wing arrangement which is divided by a big avant-corps with two side avant-corps.

 

Functionally, on the other hand, the palace retains elements of traditional Ottoman palace life, and also features of traditional Turkish homes. It is strictly separated structurally in a southern wing (Mabeyn-i Hümâyûn, or Selamlık, the quarters reserved for the men) which contains the public representation rooms, and a northern wing (Harem-i Hümâyûn, the Harem) serving as the private residential area for the Sultan and his family. The two functional areas are separated by the big Ceremonial Hall (Muayede Salonu) with a floor area of 2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft) and a 36 m (118 ft) high dome. Since the harem had to be completely isolated from the outside world, the main entrance for the visitors is located on the narrow southern side. There, the representation rooms are arranged for receptions of visitors and of foreign diplomats. The harem area includes eight interconnected apartments for the wives of the sultan, for his favourites and concubines, and for his mother, each with its own bathroom.

 

Décor and equipment

 

Ceremonial Hall, with the chandelier said to have been given by Queen Victoria

 

Crystal Staircase with Baccarat crystal banisters and chandelier

 

Ambassador's Hall (Süfera Salonu) with two bearskin rugs

 

Sultan's hamam decorated with Egyptian alabaster

Whereas the Topkapı has exquisite examples of Iznik tiles and Ottoman carving, the Dolmabahçe palace is extensively decorated with gold and crystal. Fourteen tonnes of gold were used to gild the ceilings.[5] The world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier is in the Ceremonial Hall. The chandelier was assumed to be a gift from Queen Victoria, however in 2006 the receipt was found showing it was paid for in full. It has 750 lamps and weighs 4.5 tonnes. Dolmabahçe has the largest collection of Bohemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world. The famous Crystal Staircase has the shape of a double horseshoe and is built of Baccarat crystal, brass and mahogany.

 

Expensive stones such as Marmara (Proconnesian) marble, Egyptian alabaster (calcite, also known as onyx-marble), and Porphyry from Pergamon were used for the decoration.

 

The palace includes a large number of Hereke palace carpets made by the Hereke Imperial Factory. Also featured are 150-year-old bearskin rugs originally presented to the Sultan as a gift by Tsar Nicholas I.

 

A collection of 202 oil paintings is on display in the palace. A highlight of the collection are 23 paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky which he created as a court painter during his stays in Istanbul.[6] The collection also includes paintings by Gustave Boulanger, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Eugène Fromentin, Stanisław Chlebowski, Félix Ziem, Karl Joseph Kuwasseg, Fausto Zonaro, Théo van Rysselberghe and Alexander Sandor Svoboda. There are also paintings by Turkish painters such as Osman Hamdi Bey, Halil Pasha and Osman Nuri Pasha in this art museum.

 

From the very beginning, the palace's equipment implemented the highest technical standards. Gas lighting and water-closets were imported from Great Britain, whereas the palaces in continental Europe were still lacking these features at that time. Later, electricity, a central heating system and an elevator were installed.

 

Rooms

 

Blue Hall

 

Pink Hall

Medhal (Main Entrance) Hall

A visit to the Dolmabahce Palace begins at the Medhal Hall. Rooms leading off the Medhal are towards the sea and the land. The rooms facing the sea were used by the leading Ottoman officials, the Grand Vizier and the other state ministers, while the rooms facing the land were used by various administrators of the palace and the state, such as the Palace Marshall, Şeyhülislam, and members of the House of Representatives (Meclis-i Mebusan) and the Senate (Meclis-i Ayan).

 

Guests would first wait in this hall and then would be led inside at the proper time by a palace protocol officer. On entering the Medhal, one sees Boulle tables on both sides of the room, which bear the monogram of Sultan Abdülmecid on top. The royal monogram of the sultan is also on the fireplace. The English chandelier hanging in the middle of this room has sixty arms. The Hereke fabrics used as upholstery for the furniture and as draperies are in the royal shade of red.

 

The secretariat's rooms

The second room after the Medhal to the right is the Clerk's Hall, also referred to as the Tiled Room. The largest painting in the palace collection, a depiction of the Surre Procession by Stefano Ussi, hangs on the left wall of this hall. Surre was used to refer to the caravans which travelled from Istanbul to Mecca during the religious month of Recep, bearing the monetary aid used to support the maintenance and the decoration of the Kaaba and to provide financial assistance to the local population of Hejaz.

  

Atatürk's deathbed

On the wall to the right is a painting signed by Rudolf Ernst depicting the fire at the Paris Municipal Theater and another painting of a Dutch Village Girl by Delandre. Decorated with French style furniture, this room also contains very valuable porcelain vases.

 

Atatürk's room

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk spent the last days of his life in the palace as his health deteriorated. He died at 9:05 A.M. on November 10, 1938, in a bedroom located in the former harem area of the palace. All the clocks in the palace were stopped and set to 9:05 after his death. The clocks outside of his room now are set to the actual time in Turkey, but the clock in the room in which he died still points to 9:05.

 

Value @ Bridgetown 3/22/14

Value @ Bridgetown 3/22/14

VIP 尊貴客戶鑑賞 7 件藝術品

Seven valuable works of art for VIP valued customers to appreciate

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/qZgfI4DY-Ag

 

youtu.be/GJRZTcC_u0I

 

youtube.com/shorts/5gn_UiOEH6I?feature=share

 

Uploaded on April 12, 2022, the number of visitors on the first two days of upload was 127.

 

2022 年 4 月 12 日上傳，上傳首二日訪問人數為 127 人。

  

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/317271...

 

m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31678471...

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316883...

  

Flickr:

 

flickr.com/photos/myfatedata/51998680392/in/dateposted-pu...

 

Uploaded on April 12, 2022, the number of visitors on the first day of upload was 96.

 

2022 年 4 月 12 日上傳，上傳首日訪問人數為 96 人。

  

(1) 價格：新台幣八億八千萬元。

 

極為罕見稀少的外太空外星隕石鑽石 (一面形似人類腳底、一面形似人類腳背、它形似人類腳掌形狀)。

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/naSIgelq42U

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316826...

 

重量：2,091 公克

 

國際上「隕石鑽石」價格為每顆至少新台幣7.5億元以上 (美金2,500萬元以上，請參閱「隕石鑽石 - 百度百科 baike.baidu.hk/item/%E9%9A%95%E7%9F%B3%E9%91%BD%E7%9F%B3/... 」)

 

全球目前「隕石鑽石」只發現三顆，一顆在中華人民共和國、二在美利堅合眾國、三「似乎也是最大一顆」則在中華民國的台灣。

  

「天然宇宙神韻」形狀

 

來自宇宙的天然迷人和令人驚嘆的藝術作品

 

極為罕見稀少的「外太空外星隕石鑽石 」(一面形似人類「腳底」、一面形似人類「腳背」、它形似人類「腳掌」形狀)。

 

在地球上，過去從未被發現，將來也不會被發現。

  

1、我們已經「專業研究隕石」數十多年，「貨真價實」。

 

2、我們有「隕石專業人員」會把「賣出隕石」預先「以手工特別盤整過一段時日」，使「賣出隕石」能夠讓購買者「更容易吸收」外太空外星隕石的「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」，而這些都是地球上所沒有具備的「微量元素及其能量」。

 

3、不是我們賣出的隕石，如果未經過我們的「隕石專業人員以手工特別盤整過一段時日」，可能會讓其購買者「完全無法、或是非常地不容易 ‘’吸收‘’ 外太空外星隕石的 '宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量'」；只能當作是「擺設用、收藏用、或是投資用隕石」，或只是「隕石擺件、或吊飾」使用而已。

 

這真是非常地可惜，如同浪費了「宇宙外太空中極為稀有、罕見、尤其珍貴」的外太空外星隕石之「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」。

 

千萬請勿浪費宇宙外太空外星隕石！

 

上開說法是有何憑據呢？

 

1、數千年來，西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛皆是採用「外太空外星隕石天鐵」與「外太空外星隕石天銅」製作「金剛法器」，如金剛杵、金剛降魔杵與金剛法鈴等等。

 

這就是西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛引用「外太空外星隕石之 ‘’宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量‘’」，並藉由西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛的「法會佛事活動、和藏傳佛教儀式」，達到讓人「更容易吸收」外太空外星隕石的「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」的千古年來如山鐵證。

 

2、「隕石的微量元素與健康」部分，請參閱文末之每日頭條新聞報導內容。

 

kknews.cc/news/9n55mkl.html#amp_tf=%E4%BE%86%E6%BA%90%EF%...

 

但千萬注意，上開文中所介紹「將多類石隕石或泡水或煮水，就可以獲得富含微量元素的水。」者部分，則萬萬不可，因為外太空外星隕石的「宇宙外太空外星微量元素及其能量」是完全無法被溶入水份子中的。

 

而數千年來，也從未曾聽說過，有何西藏藏傳佛教喇嘛曾經將伊採用「外太空外星隕石天鐵」與「外太空外星隕石天銅」所製成的「金剛法器」，如金剛杵、金剛降魔杵與金剛法鈴等等，或泡水、或煮水，而讓信徒們飲用者情事。

  

天然宇宙神韻形狀

Natural Cosmic Charming Shape

 

天然宇宙神韻形狀

 

來自宇宙的天然迷人和令人驚嘆的藝術作品

 

極為罕見稀少的外太空外星隕石鑽石 (一面形似人類腳底、一面形似人類腳背、它形似人類腳掌形狀)。

 

在地球上，過去從未被發現，將來也不會被發現。

 

此隕石鑽石具備「球粒石隕石 Chondrite Aerolite (a stony meteorite)」應有的隕石氣印 (拇指印)、深黑色隕石熔殼、隕石熔流微細線、隕石的高比重密度 3.5、球粒石隕石會稍微吸引磁鐵的磁性、表面上可見些許鎳鐵球粒 (銀白色顆粒)、球粒石隕石具有的球粒、球粒石隕石斷面或表面上都能看到金屬銀白色的顆粒斑點，甚至於在隕石表面上尚具有隕石鑽石的非常微小鑽石晶體顆粒。

 

重量：2,091 grams 公克

尺寸：長 16.3 x 寬 8.9 x 厚 6.4 cm 公分

比重密度：3.5

 

地球普通岩石的密度為 2.5 - 3.0

鐵礦石的密度 4.0 - 6.0

鐵隕石的密度是 7.0 - 8.0

 

大多數隕石是由重礦物組成，密度為 3.0 - 8.0

石隕石密度 3 - 3.5

普通隕石的密度是 3.0 - 3.7

 

月球隕石的密度是 2.7 - 3.8

 

石隕石中的鐵鎳金屬含量小於等於30%；

石鐵隕石的鐵鎳金屬含量在30% - 65%之間；

鐵隕石的鐵鎳金屬含量大於等於95%。

玻璃隕石不含金屬成分。

 

「石隕石」分為「球粒隕石」 (占大部分) 與「非球粒隕石」兩個子類。

 

石隕石，是來自地球以外太陽系其他天體的碎片，絕大多數來自位於火星和木星之間的小行星。

 

球粒隕石 (Chondrite) 是行星母體未經過熔融或行星分化，而未被改變的石隕石。

 

球粒隕石是由原始太陽系中存在的塵埃和砂石粒子吸積形成的，並且在超過 45.5 億年前產生了小行星。這些球粒隕石的小行星母體是 (或曾經是) 中小型的小行星，它們是從未曾大到可以進行熔融和行星分化的太陽系小天體的一部分。

 

它們的特點之一是存在著由不同礦物形成圓形晶粒的隕石球粒，通常構成球粒隕石體積的20%至80%。它們的球粒直徑大小一般在0.5至1毫米之間。

 

球粒隕石中的金屬顆粒主要為鐵和鎳，而鎳的存在也是決定一顆石頭是否隕石的常用指標。

 

重量：2,091 公克

國際上「隕石鑽石」價格為每顆至少新台幣 7.5 億元以上 (美金 2,500 萬元以上，請參閱「隕石鑽石 - 百度百科

baike.baidu.hk/item/%E9%9A%95%E7%9F%B3%E9%91%BD%E7%9F%B3/... 」)

 

全球目前「隕石鑽石」只發現三顆，一顆在中華人民共和國、二在美利堅合眾國、三「也似乎是最大的一顆」則在中華民國的台灣。

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/wpaK8s2o2tY

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31649615...

 

Natural Cosmic Charming Shape

 

Natural Charming and Amazing Work of Art by the Universe

 

An extremely rare extraterrestrial Alien stone meteorite diamond of the outer space (one side resembles the sole of a human foot, the other resembles the instep of a human foot, and it resembles the footpalm shape of a human foot).

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/naSIgelq42U

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316826...

 

On Earth never has it been found in the past and will not be found in the future.

 

This meteorite diamond has the features of meteorite regmaglypts (thumbprints), dark black meteorite fusion crust, tiny meteorite fusion flow lines, high specific gravity density of meteorite 3.5, and the magnetic characteristic to attract magnet slightly by a chondrite meteorite. There are some nickel-iron chondrules (silver-white particles) on the surface, chondrules of chondrite stony meteorite, and metallic silver-white particle spots of chondrite stony meteorite being seen on the section or the surface, even on the surface of this meteorite, very tiny diamond crystal grains of a meteorite diamond being seen as well.

 

Weight: 2,091 grams

Dimensions: Length 16.3 x Width 8.9 x Depth 6.4 cm

Specific Gravity Density: 3.5

 

The average Specific Gravity Density of Earth's rock: 2.5 - 3.0

The Specific Gravity Density of iron ore: 4.0 - 6.0

The Specific Gravity Density of iron meteorite: 7.0 - 8.0

 

Most meteorites are composed of heavy minerals and have a Specific Gravity Density of 3.0 - 8.0

 

The Specific Gravity Density of Stone Meteorite: 3 - 3.5

The Specific Gravity Density of normal meteorites: 3.0 - 3.7

 

The Specific Gravity Density of lunar meteorites: 2.7 - 3.8

 

The iron-nickel metal content of stony meteorites is less than or equal to 30%;

The iron-nickel metal content of stony-iron meteorites is between 30% and 65%;

The iron-nickel metal content of iron meteorites is greater than or equal to 95%.

Glass meteorites do not contain metallic components.

 

"Stony meteorite" is divided into "chondrite" (mostly) and "achondrite", two sub-categories.

 

Stony meteorites are debris from other celestial bodies in the solar system other than Earth, most of which come from asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter.

 

Chondrites are stony meteorites whose celestial parent bodies have not been melted or differentiated, and without changing.

 

Chondrites were formed by the accretion of dust and sand particles that existed in the original solar system and produced asteroids more than 4.55 billion years ago. The asteroid parent bodies of these chondrites are (or were) small to medium-sized asteroids, that were part of small solar system bodies, that were never large enough to undergo melting and planetary differentiation.

 

One of their characteristics is the presence of chondrules, which are circular grains of different minerals, and typically make up 20 to 80 percent of the volume of the chondrite. Their spherulites are generally between 0.5 and 1 mm in diameter.

 

The metal particles in chondrites are mainly iron and nickel, and the presence of nickel is also a common indicator for determining whether a stone is a meteorite.

 

Weight: 2,091 grams

The international price of "meteorite diamonds" is at least NT$750 million per piece (more than US$ 25 million, please refer to "Meteorite Diamonds - Baidu Encyclopedia"

baike.baidu.hk/item/%E9%9A%95%E7%9F%B3%E9%91%BD%E7%9F%B3/... ”)

 

At present, only three "meteorite diamonds" have been found in the world, one in the People's Republic of China, two in the United States, and three "seems to be the largest" in Taiwan, the Republic of China.

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/wpaK8s2o2tY

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31649615...

 

kknews.cc/news/9n55mkl.html#amp_tf=%E4%BE%86%E6%BA%90%EF%...

 

「每日頭條」新聞

 

隕石的微量元素與健康

 

時間＼2018-10-07

 

2018年2月17曰，我在新浪微博發表過一篇題為《養生保健7種隕石礦物元素》的文章，有興趣的新朋友可以百度「華北隕石」微博中看到，當時，讀者反映很不錯，好多人認真進行了嘗試，作用顯著。

 

這就是隕石走向大眾化可喜的發展結果。也有個別朋友詢問，如何獲得隕石微量元素？在此簡單述說，大家一定知道「礦泉水」，經過水質檢測部門進行水質分析，這種來自山石縫隙間的水富含多種礦物微量元素。同樣的道理，我們將多類石隕石或泡或煮，就可以獲得富含微量元素的水。

 

隕石養生是一門新的科學。儘管，隕石養生功效直接使人的睡眠改善，多種慢性疾病康復等等，仍然需要喜好隕石者認真嘗試，不斷深入探究。我們收藏隕石，不要首先考慮它能賣多少錢？

 

關鍵看它有沒有養生功效，能讓我們睡的好，吃的飽，身體少毛病，少不適感，這才是它最大價值。只要發現特具養生能量的隕石，就是好藏品！為了更完善，更全面的科學利用隕石，今天再來補充說明三種特別的隕石微量元素，以便大家有針對性的運用。

 

【1】隕石中的「鍶」元素

 

在隕石里發現多種礦物元素，據說有一百餘種，而更重要的是隕石里有些元素對於人體來說都是必需品。比如隕石中的「鍶」元素，就是人體骨骼及牙齒所生長的組成成分，它能夠促進骨骼的發育成長，維繫人體正常的生理功能，在經研究中發現，鍶與鈣、鎂、矽、鋰等元素一樣，也能防治心血管類的疾病，與長壽息息相關，其機理可能是鍶元素在腸道內會與鈉元素競爭，從而減少人體對於鈉元素本身的吸收，這對於平常飲食口重，攝取鹽分較多的人群，血粘稠患者簡直算是救星。

 

【2】隕石中的「鈷」元素、和【3】「鈦」元素

 

還有像隕石中的「鈷」元素和「鈦」元素，前者能夠增強人體甲狀腺的生理功能，要知道鈷元素可是合成腺素所必需的成分，因此對於甲狀腺腫大的症狀有著一定的療效，同時還能預防甲狀腺腫瘤，而後者的功效則更為強大，鈦元素能夠刺激吞噬細胞，使免疫力增強的這一效益已被證實，鈦由於有親生物特性，在人體內，可以抵抗分泌物的腐蝕，對任何殺菌方法都較為適應，另外鈦元素還是一種能通過放射一致的波長使得細胞電離，從而達到調節人體內電流元素的作用，這也直接解釋了，為什麼人長時間接觸過隕石後，可以對人體產生有益的生理作用。

 

各種礦物元素是存在於所有身體組織和體液中的無機物質，它們的存在對於生命所依賴的許多生理化學過程至關重要。

 

這些礦物元素可以廣義的分為基本元素，例如鈣、磷、鈉、氯和微量元素，例如鐵、銅、鈷、鉀、鎂、碘、鋅、錳、鉬、氟、鉻、硒和硫。

 

這些礦物元素是不同於蛋白質、脂肪、碳水化合物和維他命等的營養實體。儘管需求量不大，但它們是各種酶、激素和細胞的組成部分，它們之間的新陳代謝相互關聯，相互輔助，也影響到其它組織。

 

礦物元素對人體健康的重要性已經被人類意識到。這些元素的缺乏或紊亂會對新陳代謝和組織結構產生重要影響，從而導致多種疾病的產生。

 

不幸的是，大多數人並沒有從膳食中攝取到足夠的這些必要礦物元素。而且，隨著年齡的增長，人體對這些基本和微量元素的需求都會增加，同時某些藥物的服用也會導致這些礦物元素的流失。

 

因此，單從攝取膳食和水中的礦物元素很難補足，而有針對性的從隕石中獲得一些隕石礦物元素，也是一種可行的方法。但要記住一點，貴在長久堅持！

  

（2）價格： 新台幣十一億七千七百萬元。

 

北宋汝窯天青釉刻劃印花五爪龍吐珠十二梅花紋折沿盤

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/TBkKaYU02Oc

 

youtu.be/wa1nYyX0Aes

 

youtu.be/WA0xEV5m3kA

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31677981...

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/317863...

 

圓盤直徑：17.9 ～ 18.0 cm 厘米

圈足直徑：9.1 ～ 9.2 cm 厘米

 

本瓷盤為滿釉支燒，五支釘痕，香灰胎，天青釉，冰裂紋片，潤之如玉，在器物底部可見細如芝麻狀的支釘痕五個，痕跡很淺，大小如芝麻。

 

瓷盤龍紋上有數處「黑點之古瓷瑕疵」，龍紋線條「皆是手工製作、亦顯左右不對稱」，十二梅花紋「大小、間隙、寬度、深度皆不相同，明顯是由手工刻劃形成」，底部圈足兩側壁緣有「瑪瑙入釉及聚釉痕跡」，折沿口緣內側邊線上有一個明顯之「棕眼之古瓷瑕疵」，滿釉有古代柴燒氣泡及冰裂開片紋，底部圈足略為外撇。

 

而此傳世北宋汝窯瓷器的胎體有三個特點：

 

第一點是輕薄。

 

第二點胎色為香灰色，胎骨輕薄，胎質看色粗松實則細密。汝瓷胎色呈淺灰、灰白，因其色調與香燃燒之後形成的香灰相似，因而俗稱「香灰胎」。

 

第三點是汝瓷胎質細膩滋潤，堅緻緊密，被譽為「銅骨」。另外，接觸過傳世汝瓷的人常有「扣聲如磬」的形容，這在一定程度上也說明了汝瓷胎的輕薄與緻密。

 

另外，器底於光線下呈現略為凹凸不平，是由於泥坯中間的部位水份未乾，成型泥胎在掙脫粘連的泥范（模）時，由北宋窯工左右輕微轉動脫模操作所形成。

 

現代博物館裡的專業人士、收藏家、鑑賞家、學者、專家等等，因為他們都不是北宋皇帝宋徽宗本人，所以顯然他們已經把自己作為平民老百姓的品味，當作是應該屬於北宋皇帝宋徽宗的最愛。他們普遍認為，市面上流傳下來的 80 餘件傳世汝窯瓷器，應該就是北宋皇帝宋徽宗的御用汝官窯瓷器。 你認為有可能嗎？

  

Northern Song Dynasty Ru Kiln Sky-green glazed inscribed and printed Five-clawed Dragon Spit Bead and Twelve Plum Patterns Folding Edge Plate

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/TBkKaYU02Oc

 

youtu.be/wa1nYyX0Aes

 

youtu.be/WA0xEV5m3kA

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

m.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/31677981...

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/317863...

 

Plate diameter: 17.9 - 18.0 cm

Ring foot diameter: 9.1 - 9.2 cm

 

This porcelain plate was full-glazed and burned with supporting-nails, five supporting-nail marks, incense-ash-like-earth-yellow-greyish porcelain body, sky-green glaze, broken-ice-cracking-like cracking-patterns, jade-like smoothness, and five sesame-like supporting-nail marks can be seen on the bottom of the utensil, the marks are very shallow, their sizes are such as sesames.

 

The dragon pattern on the porcelain plate has several "black spots of ancient porcelain flaws", the dragon pattern lines "are all handmade and also show asymmetry between the left and right", and the twelve plum patterns "are different in size, gap, width, and depth, which were obviously formed by hand-carving", there are "marks of agate mixed in the glaze and polyglaze" on both side walls of the bottom ring foot, and an obvious "brown-eye-small-hole" which is an ancient porcelain flaw, on the inner edge line of the folding mouth edge. It was fully glazed with ancient wood-fired air bubbles and broken-ice-cracking-like cracking-patterns. The bottom ring foot is slightly slanted outward.

 

The porcelain body of this handed down Ru kiln porcelain in the Northern Song Dynasty has three characteristics:

 

The first is “light and thinness”.

 

The second is that the porcelain fetal color is incense-ash-like-earth-yellow-greyish, the porcelain fetal bone is light and thin, and the fetal quality seems to be rough but fine. The color of Ru porcelain body is light-gray and gray-white, because its color is similar to the incense ash formed after burning incense, so it is commonly known as "incense gray porcelain body".

 

The third is that the texture of Ru porcelain is delicate and smooth, firm and compact, and is known as "bronze bone". In addition, people who have come into contact with the handed down Ru porcelain often describe it as "sound like a chime (a musical stone)", which to a certain extent also shows the lightness and compactness of the Ru porcelain body.

 

In addition, the bottom of the utensil is slightly uneven under the light. Because when the water in the middle of the porcelain mud body was not dry yet and meanwhile the molded mud body was slightly turned left and right to be broken away from the sticking mud mold. So long as the porcelain kiln workers in the Northern Song Dynasty took the above procedure, then the uneven bottom would have been formed.

 

Professionals in the modern museums, collectors, connoisseurs, scholars, experts, and so on, because they are all not the Emperor Song Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty himself, so obviously they have regarded their own taste of being the common people, as the same favorite that should belonged to the Emperor Song Huizong in the Northern Song Dynasty. They generally believed that more than 80 pieces of Ru kiln porcelain handed down on the market should be the personal royal Ru Imperial kiln porcelain wares of the Northern Song Emperor Song Huizong. Do you think it is possible?

  

來源：

 

屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。

 

Provenance:

 

The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").

  

（3）價格：新台幣三億元。

 

中國周朝周文王鈎首龍頭鈎身鈎尾狐狸紋青銅鎏金戰袍帶鈎

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/Vp1chX9jCrM

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...

 

重量：301 grams 公克

尺寸：長 22.8 x 寬 4.4 x 高 3.3 cm 公分

 

《山海經》裡記載青丘之山，有九尾狐。這個九尾狐，經學者研究，很可能是九個氏族，或者是當地氏族崇拜的圖騰。甚至周文王也曾給商紂王獻過九尾狐。周文王被商紂王關在羑里，西岐方面為了救他出來，就到處尋找珍禽異獸。散宜生弄到了一隻九尾狐，連同其他珍寶獻給了商紂王。商紂王一高興就把姬昌 (周文王) 給放了。原文是：

 

文王拘羑里，散宜生至西海之濱，取白狐青翰獻紂，紂大悅。（《尚書大傳》，青翰，青色的野雞）

 

散宜生至吳，得九尾狐，以獻紂也。 （《幽通賦》注）

 

因此，周文王因「九尾狐」而得救，致御用青銅鎏金戰袍帶鈎為鈎首龍頭鈎身鈎尾雕狐狸紋。

 

King Zhou Wenwang's gilt bronze war robe hook with dragon head, fox pattern hook body and hook tail, Zhou Dynasty, China

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/Vp1chX9jCrM

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...

 

Weight: 301 grams

Dimensions: Length 22.8 x Width 4.4 x Height 3.3 cm

 

The "Shan Hai Jing" records that there was nine-tailed fox on the mountain of Qingqiu. This nine-tailed fox, studied by scholars, was likely to be the nine clans, or a totem worshipped by the local clan. Even King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) presented a nine-tailed fox to King Shang Zhou (商紂王). King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) was imprisoned in Yuli by King Shang Zhou (商紂王), and in order to rescue him, the subjects in Kingdom Xiqi searched everywhere for rare birds and animals. San Yisheng obtained a nine-tailed fox and presented it to King Shang Zhou (商紂王) along with other treasures. When King Shang Zhou (商紂王) was pleased, he released Ji Chang [King Zhou Wenwang (周文王)]. The original text is:

 

King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) was detained in Yuli, San Yisheng went to the coast of the West Sea, and took the white fox and qinghan (green pheasant) to present to King Shang Zhou (商紂王), and King Shang Zhou (商紂王) was very pleased. ("The Great Biography of Shangshu", Qinghan, the green pheasant)

 

San Yisheng went to Wu and got a nine-tailed fox to offer King Shang Zhou (商紂王). (The Note of "You Tong Fu")

 

Therefore, King Zhou Wenwang (周文王) was saved because of the "nine-tailed fox", so he used a gilt bronze war robe hook, with dragon head, fox pattern hook body and hook tail.

 

來源：

 

屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。

 

Provenance:

 

The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").

  

（4）價格：新台幣三千萬元。

 

白堊紀早期美洲大陸最高大的恐龍波塞東龍幼龍化石板

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/PDzbc0pd75E

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316781...

 

化石板重量：591 grams 公克

化石板尺寸：長 18.0 x 寬 14.2 x 厚 0.9 cm 公分

 

波塞東龍（Sauroposeidon）（意思為希臘神“波塞東”的“蜥蜴地震神”）是一種蜥腳類恐龍，係從幾個不完整的標本中得知，包括在美國奧克拉荷馬州、懷俄明州、德州發現的骨床化石和足跡化石。

 

波塞東龍（Sauroposeidon），生存於白堊紀早期。波塞東龍是目前已知最高的恐龍，經估計有17公尺高；而身長接近30到34公尺，體重被估計為50到60公噸之間。

 

目前已發現數個標本，正模標本由4個頸椎構成，在1994年發現於美國奧克拉荷馬州，之後在懷俄明州、德州也發現化石與足跡化石，地質年代屬於白堊紀早期，該地區過去是史前墨西哥灣的三角洲。由於之前很少發現該時代的北美洲巨型蜥腳類化石，這些化石曾一度被認為是矽化木。

 

出版著錄：

 

《Dinosaurs and Meteorites 恐龍與隕石 恐龙与陨石 恐竜と隕石》由美國谷歌圖書出版並在全球七十九國家發行：

 

Google Books:

 

books.google.com/books/about/Dinosaurs_and_Meteorites_%E6...

 

Google Play:

 

play.google.com/store/books/details/Orion_Hsu_Dinosaurs_a...

 

The tallest dinosaur Sauroposeidon baby fossil stone plate in the American Continent in the early Cretaceous

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/PDzbc0pd75E

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316781...

 

Fossil stone plate weight: 591 grams

Fossil stone plate size: length 18.0 x width 14.2 x thickness 0.9 cm

 

Sauroposeidon (meaning "lizard earthquake god" after the Greek god Poseidon) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known from several incomplete specimens including a bone bed fossil and fossilized trackways that have been found in the U.S. states of Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Texas.

 

Sauroposeidon was living in the early Cretaceous. Sauroposeidon was the tallest known dinosaur, at an estimated height of 17 meters; its body length was nearly 30 to 34 meters, and its weight was estimated to be between 50 and 60 metric tons.

 

Several specimens have been found so far. The holotype is composed of 4 cervical vertebrae. It was discovered in Oklahoma, USA in 1994. Fossils and footprint fossils were also found in Wyoming and Texas. The geological age belongs to the early Cretaceous period. It used to be the delta of the prehistoric Gulf of Mexico. The fossils were once thought to be petrified wood because few giant sauropod fossils from this era have been found before.

 

Published bibliography:

 

《Dinosaurs and Meteorites 恐龍與隕石 恐龙与陨石 恐竜と隕石》Published by Google Books USA and distributed in 79 countries around the world:

 

Google Books:

 

books.google.com/books/about/Dinosaurs_and_Meteorites_%E6...

 

Google Play:

 

play.google.com/store/books/details/Orion_Hsu_Dinosaurs_a...

  

（5）價格：新台幣三千萬元。

 

唐朝皇室和闐白玉圓雕七隻豬 (代表無限財富) 紙鎮

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/nlMqMf5mioU

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316825...

 

重量：390 grams 公克

尺寸：長 16.7 x 高 5.6 x 厚 5.1 cm 公分

 

玉石與眾不同的色澤和光彩，使人愛不惜手。古代由於數量少，加工困難，成為難得的奢侈品。它必定是社會地位極高的人物所擁有，玉石器就成了權力的象徵物，這又使它漸漸演變成為禮器、祭器。玉石器從原來僅僅是一種特殊的石頭轉化為代表權力、地位、財富、神權的象徵。

 

古代豬是財富的象徵，在漢唐時代如果說羊代表了吉祥，那麼豬就是財富的象徵。在漢唐時代豬已經是財富的重要表徵，豬也是一個富足家庭中所必備的家畜。因此在漢字中「家」中「豕」就是豬的象形文字，可見在古代漢朝與唐朝，豬確實是漢朝與唐朝皇室與人民重要的財產，也是財富的象徵之一。

 

由七隻豬 (代表無限財富) 紙鎮之材質和闐白玉石的皮層表面已經包漿氧化成為皮殼，而玉石皮表面的鐵元素亦氧化成為紅色，但無漢朝皇室玉雕品的圖騰紋飾，可確認此七隻豬 (代表無限財富) 紙鎮為唐朝 (618 - 907) 之皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕巧作。

 

Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) Hetian White Jade circular carving imperial workshop carved Jade Seven Pigs (representing infinite wealth) paperweight

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/nlMqMf5mioU

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316825...

 

Weight: 390 grams

Dimensions: total length 16.7 cm x height 5.6 cm x depth 5.1 cm

 

The distinctive color and brilliance of jade make people love it at all costs. In ancient times, due to the small quantity and difficulty in processing, it became a rare luxury. It must be owned by a person of extremely high social status, and the jade carved artifact had become a symbol of power, which has gradually evolved it into a ritual tool and a sacrificial tool. The jade carved artifact was transformed from a special kind of stone into a symbol of power, status, wealth, and theocracy.

 

In ancient times, the pig was a symbol of wealth. In the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, if the sheep represented auspiciousness, then the pig was a symbol of wealth. In these Dynasties, the pig was an important symbol of wealth, and the pig was also a must-have domestic animal in a wealthy family. Therefore within the Chinese character of "home", "hog" is the hieroglyph of the pig. It can be seen that in the ancient Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, the pig was indeed an important property of the imperial family and the people of these Dynasties, and it was one of the symbols of wealth.

 

The material of the jade Seven Pigs (representing infinite wealth) paperweight and the cortical surface of the white jade have been slurried and oxidized into a jade shell, and the iron element on the surface of the jade stone skin has also been oxidized to red. However, no patterns’ decoration of the imperial jade carvings of the Han Dynasty was carved on it. It can be confirmed that this jade Seven Pigs (representing infinite wealth) paperweight is a royal craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and a skillful circular carving of white jade.

 

來源：

 

屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。

 

Provenance:

 

The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").

  

（6）價格：新台幣五千萬元。

 

唐朝 (618 - 907) 皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕玉佛像

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/BnYACPpyvPo

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...

 

重量：601 公克

尺寸：全高 19.6 厘米 x 寬 6.5 厘米 x 厚 5.8 厘米

 

盛唐時代可以說是佛造像的黃金時代，此時期的造像比例舒展勻稱，結構合理，已完全擺脫了隋和初唐時期的佛頭偏大，體態略僵板的感覺，動態極為自由活潑。頭部為螺髮型，大耳下垂，神情莊重而又不失慈祥。身材比例勻稱，結構合理，體態自然舒展，臉龐圓潤，曲眉豐頸，五官秀美。服飾華美，帔帛 (帔帛是美麗女式唐裝的點綴，就是我們看到畫裏唐代婦女肩上或手臂上搭着一條長長的條帶，走路隨風擺動，顯得瀟灑自然，這就是帔帛) 環繞，瓔珞 (瓔珞是一種掛於項頸，垂於胸前的飾品，用多種小巧的花朵穿串而成。 ) 小巧精緻，衣服紋線流暢自然。右手持寶珠。

 

由玉佛像之材質和闐白玉石的皮層表面已經包漿氧化成為皮殼，而玉石皮表面的鐵元素亦氧化成為紅色，頭部為螺髮且大耳下垂，身材比例勻稱，結構合理，披唐代帔帛，且右手持寶珠，可確認此玉佛像為唐朝 (618 - 907) 之皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕巧作。

 

Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) Hetian White Jade circular carving imperial workshop carved Jade Buddha Statue

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/BnYACPpyvPo

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...

 

Weight: 601 grams

Dimensions: total height 19.6 cm x width 6.5 cm x depth 5.8 cm

 

The prosperous Tang Dynasty can be said to be the golden age of Buddha statues. The statues in this period are well-proportioned in proportion and reasonable in structure. They have completely gotten rid of the large head and slightly rigid body of the Buddha in the Sui and early Tang Dynasties, and the dynamics are extremely free and lively. He has a spiral hair on his head, large drooping ears, and a dignified yet kind expression. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, the body is naturally stretched, the face is round, the eyebrows are plumply curved and the neck is full, and the facial features are beautiful. The apparels are gorgeous, shawl (shawl is the embellishment of beautiful women's Tang suits, that is, we see a long strip on the shoulders or arms of the women in the Tang Dynasty in the painting, walking with the wind swinging, looking elegant and natural, this is the shawl) is around the body. Wreath (wreath is a kind of decorations hanging on the neck and the chest, made of a variety of small flowers.) is small and delicate, the clothes' lines are smooth and natural. The right hand holds a treasure orb.

 

The material of the jade Buddha statue and the cortical surface of the white jade have been slurried and oxidized into a jade shell, and the iron element on the surface of the jade stone skin has also been oxidized to red. The head is spiral hair and the big ears are drooping. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, wearing in Tang Dynasty shawl, and holding a treasure orb in the right hand. It can be confirmed that this jade Buddha statue is a royal craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and a skillful circular carving of white jade.

 

來源：

 

屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。

 

Provenance:

 

The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").

  

（7）價格：新台幣十一億七千七百萬元

 

唐朝皇室和闐白玉圓雕觀世音菩薩蓮花底座造像

 

Youtube:

 

2022 年 3 月份全球觀眾： 1,373 總觀看次數及1,588 總觀看時間 (分鐘)

 

youtu.be/Ljf5NFWAezk

 

Facebook 臉書：

 

擁有 48,000 名全球會員的臉書公共社群網站 'Fine Art to sell'：

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...

 

重量：1,627 grams 公克

尺寸：高 19.9 x 寬 9.8 x 厚 8.8 cm 公分

 

玉石與眾不同的色澤和光彩，使人愛不惜手。古代由於數量少，加工困難，成為難得的奢侈品。它必定是社會地位極高的人物所擁有，玉石器就成了權力的象徵物，這又使它漸漸演變成為禮器、祭器。玉石器從原來僅僅是一種特殊的石頭轉化為代表權力、地位、財富、神權的象徵。

 

盛唐時代可以說是佛造像的黃金時代，此時期的造像比例舒展勻稱，結構合理，已完全擺脫了隋和初唐時期的佛頭偏大，體態略僵板的感覺，動態極為自由活潑。頭部大耳下垂，神情莊重而又不失慈祥。身材比例勻稱，結構合理，體態自然舒展，臉龐圓潤，曲眉豐頸，五官秀美。服飾華美，帔帛 (帔帛是美麗女式唐裝的點綴，就是我們看到畫裏唐代婦女肩上或手臂上搭着一條長長的條帶，走路隨風擺動，顯得瀟灑自然，這就是帔帛) 環繞，瓔珞 (瓔珞是一種掛於項頸，垂於胸前的飾品，用多種小巧的花朵穿串而成。 ) 小巧精緻，衣服紋線流暢自然。觀世音菩薩雙手捧持淨水瓶。

 

由觀世音菩薩玉佛像之材質和闐白玉石的皮層表面已經包漿氧化成為皮殼，而玉石皮表面的鐵元素亦氧化成為紅色，頭部為大耳下垂，身材比例勻稱，結構合理，披唐代帔帛，且雙手捧持淨水瓶，可確認此觀世音菩薩玉佛像為唐朝 (618 - 907) 之皇室工藝和闐白玉圓雕巧作。

 

Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) Hetian White Jade circular carving imperial workshop carved Jade Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva lotus pedestal statue

 

Youtube:

 

Global audience in March 2022: 1,373 total views and 1,588 total watch time (minutes)

 

youtu.be/Ljf5NFWAezk

 

Facebook:

 

Facebook Public Group 'Fine Art to sell' that has 48,000 global members:

 

www.facebook.com/groups/fine.art.to.sell/permalink/316780...

 

Weight: 1,627 grams

Dimensions: total height 19.9 cm x width 9.8 cm x depth 8.8 cm

 

The distinctive color and brilliance of jade make people love it at all costs. In ancient times, due to the small quantity and difficulty in processing, it became a rare luxury. It must be owned by a person of extremely high social status, and the jade carved artifact had become a symbol of power, which has gradually evolved it into a ritual tool and a sacrificial tool. The jade carved artifact was transformed from a special kind of stone into a symbol of power, status, wealth, and theocracy.

 

The prosperous Tang Dynasty can be said to be the golden age of Buddha statues. The statues in this period are well-proportioned in proportion and reasonable in structure. They have completely gotten rid of the large head and slightly rigid body of the Buddha in the Sui and early Tang Dynasties, and the dynamics are extremely free and lively. She has large drooping ears, and a dignified yet kind expression. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, the body is naturally stretched, the face is round, the eyebrows are plumply curved and the neck is full, and the facial features are beautiful. The apparels are gorgeous, shawl (shawl is the embellishment of beautiful women's Tang suits, that is, we see a long strip on the shoulders or arms of the women in the Tang Dynasty in the painting, walking with the wind swinging, looking elegant and natural, this is the shawl) is around the body. Wreath (wreath is a kind of decorations hanging on the neck and the chest, made of a variety of small flowers.) is small and delicate, the clothes' lines are smooth and natural. The two hands of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva hold a clean water bottle.

 

The material of the jade Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva lotus pedestal statue and the cortical surface of the white jade have been slurried and oxidized into a jade shell, and the iron element on the surface of the jade stone skin has also been oxidized to red. The head's big ears are drooping. The body is well-proportioned, the structure is reasonable, wearing in Tang Dynasty shawl, and the two hands of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva hold a clean water bottle. It can be confirmed that this jade Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva lotus pedestal statue is a royal craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and a skillful circular carving of white jade.

 

來源：

 

屬擊敗蒙古元朝歐亞大帝國的明朝皇帝朱元璋所分封為軍事大元帥的「陳秀甫」(陳秀甫亦為明代開國功臣光祿大夫《光祿大夫為皇帝開國及軍事作戰的出糧出資金錢財主》) 家族傳世的祖傳傳世品。

 

Provenance:

 

The handed down collection from the family ancestor of Chen Xiufu, a military marshal who was assigned by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang (Zhu Yuanzhang defeated the Eurasian Empire of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty), (Chen Xiufu was also the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, whose official name was Guangludafu, "Guangludafu was the rich and wealthy capitalist of food and money supplied for the emperor's nation-founding and military operations.").

 

...

 

The news was that Jools' cough was little better. She got a mail back from the surgery on Friday saying her (non-urgent) appointment with the doctor was on December 14th. But as we were going to Tesco, she would have a chat with the pharmasist and see about some of the behind the counter stuff.

 

Winter has arrived, though no snow as yet, but the wind is set in the east, its cloudy and feels raw outside.

 

I would spend part of the day churchcrawling.

 

After shopping.

 

We go to Tesco, Jools really only coming so she could get something for her cough.

 

With a few bottles of tripel and cider we managed to spend £140. A bag of rice, not white easy cook rice I'll admit, but that's £4.50 now.

 

Wow.

 

Back home with the shopping and a bottle of serious cough syrup, we put the shopping away and have breakfast.

 

No surprise then that Jools wasn't coming out with me, she wanted to get the cough under control, would only take the new syrup when needed as it can make you drowsy.

 

I had a list of churches, and first up was our local one, St Margaret.

 

They were having a craft day. I thought it might be a fayre, but was a kid's craft day. Anyway, the church would be open and I could take shots of the memorials and windows.

 

There were pagan heads at the top of each column, and as corbel stones. The more I looked, the more pagan heads, even at the top of two of the columns, but not all.

 

No real ancient glass, but good quality Victorian.

 

The church itself is the triumph, being an early Norman and well preserved.

 

Although, sadly, the tower is in poor repair and needs reroofing, which is why it is currently encased in scaffolding.

 

I am sure when we called in at Barham last week, a sign said there was a craft fayre on, so would be open. I would go back, and get some shots, I thought.

 

Its a half hour drive, if that out of Dover down the A2 and off at the Wingham turning, down the valley and parking outside the church, its spire pointing to heaven.

 

Inside the church there was no fayre again, just a warden showing a lady round. We all said "hello", and I went about getting shots.

 

I have been here at least three times, but now take the big lens to get details of the windows and memorials high up, so there are always new details to reveal.

 

Star item is the window of St George and the dragon, though is hidden in the north-west corner, and best viewed from the stairs to the belltower.

 

After 20 minutes, the visitor left and the warden turned off the lights, forgetting I was there, but I had my shots.

 

From Barham its a short drive to Bridge, then along the Nailbourne to Patrixbourne, where I see the door was open, but I had another target: Bekesbourne, the next village along, crossing the dry bed of the bourne, stopping on the lane outside the church. I look left to the Old Palace, but there were no cars parked there, so no point of even knocking, I drove on.

 

Instead of turning left back to Bridge, I turn right towards Littlebourne, no real idea where I was going.

 

Littlebourne could wait for another time, I only went back there in 2020, I went to Wingham, driving on towards Sandwich.

 

I thought, it's a long time since I was at Woodnesborough, I could cut through Ash and go there.

 

Which is what I did.

 

I could have stopped at Ash too, that's usually open, but there'll be other times. I have been there twice and got good shots last time for sure.

 

From Ash, the road climbs, leading to Woodnesborough, Woden's Hill, where there was a hill fort in antiquity. The church is on the highest point, overlooking the marshes of the old Wantsum Channel, and on to Sandwich which when the Channel was still flooded, was on a spit of land.

 

The church is a marker for miles around due to its cupola, something is shares with Ringwould near to home.

 

Inside it was so dark, I thought I would need to find the lights, but I could not find them. So, I hoped the camera would cope without.

 

It did.

 

But again, I was here really to record the windows, which were rich in detail. I took 215 shots here, 560 in a morning at three churches.

 

Not bad.

 

But I was done, what light there was, was fading, even though it was only just after one. I would go home.

 

Once home I got busy.

 

I have a taste for beans. Not baked beans, but Boston Beans. I had a recipe, and we got the ingredients that morning, so went about making a huge panful. Three tins of haricot beans, tomatoes, stock, spices, bacon, pork belly, mustard, and black treacle.

 

Cooked on the hob for an hour, then cooked long and low in the oven for four hours.

 

What came out looked and tasted like fine Boston Beans. We will be eating these for weeks.

 

At the same time I make fritters.

 

The plan was to be all cooked and eaten before the football began at three.

 

I did it with half an hour to spare, the leftover wine drunk too, meaning I would struggle to stay awake for Holland v USA game. Netherlands win pretty comfortably.

 

And in the evening, with a soundtrack of funk and soul thanks to Craig, I watch Argentine v Australia, which was a stunning game.

 

Even better, I sat on the sofa to watch, Cleo eyed me as if to say how dare you take my chosen sleeping place. But she came over, paced around, then lay between the arm of the sofa and my leg. Scully lay on the other side. I had 50% of the household cats.

 

Happier than I have been for ages.

 

Best of all was that the syrup worked, stopped the coughing, and Jools fell asleep right off.

 

------------------------------------------------

 

A morning out, revisiting some familiar fairly local churches.

 

Final visit was to Woodnesborough, aka Woden's Hill, near to Sandwich.

 

It was open, but no light switch that could be found meant that the church was dark, but the camera coped well.

 

Woodnesborough sits on the highest point near to the coast, its cupola marking the spot, and visible for miles in all directions.

 

-------------------------------------------

 

The tower makes this church one of the easiest in Kent to identify. It is capped by a little cupola and wooden balustrade of eighteenth-century date that replaced a medieval spire. During the Middle Ages the church was owned by Leeds Priory which invested heavily in the structure, and was no doubt responsible for the excellent sedilia built in about 1350. The canopy is supported by a quadripartite vault in turn supported by angry little heads. Above the sedilia is the cut-off end of a prickett beam. The east window, of Decorated style stonework, has a thirteenth-century hangover in the form of a shafted rere-arch. There are two excellent modern stained glass windows designed by F.W Cole, which show the Creation (1980) and St Francis (1992). The good altar rails are of Queen Anne's reign, as are the splendid Royal Arms.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Woodnesborough

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

WOODNESBOROUGH,

¶OR Winsborough, as it is usually called, lies the next parish northward from Eastry, being written in the survey of Domesday, Wanesberge. It took its name according to Verstegan, from the Saxon idol Woden, (and it is spelt by some Wodensborough) whose place of worship was in it; however that may be, the termination of the word berge, or borough, shews it to be of high antiquity.

 

art of this parish, over which the manor of Boxley claims, is within the jurisdiction of the justices of the town and port of Sandwich, and liberty of the cinque ports; and the residue is in the hundred of Eastry, and jurisdiction of the county of Kent.

 

There are three boroughs in this parish, viz. Cold Friday, Hamwold, and Marshborough; the borsholders of which are chosen at the petty sessions of the justices, acting at Wingham, for the east division of the lath of St. Augustine.

 

THIS PARISH is large, being two miles and an half one way, and upwards of a mile and an half the other. The church stands nearly in the centre of it, on high ground. At a small distance from the church is Woodnesborough hill, both of which are sea marks. This hill is a very high mount, seemingly thrown up by art, and consisting of a sandy earth, it has been thought by some to have been the place on which the idol Woden from whom this place is supposed to have taken its name) was worshipped in the time of the Saxons; by others to be the burial place of Vortimer, the Saxon king, who died in 457, whilst others suppose this mount was raised over those who fell in the battle fought between Ceoldred, king of Mercia, and Ina, king of the West Saxons, in the year 715, at Woodnesbeorb, according to the Saxon chronicle, which name Dr. Plot supposes to be Woodnesborough. Vortimer, as our historians tell us, at his death, desired to be buried near the place where the Saxons used to land, being persuaded that his bones would deter them from any attempt in future. Though authors differ much on the place of his burial, yet this mount at Woodnesborough is as probable, or more so, perhaps, than any other, for it was near to, and was cast up so high as to be plainly seen from the Portus Rutupinus, which at that time was the general landing place of the Saxon fleets. Some years ago there were found upon the top of it sundry sepulchral remains, viz. a glass vessel (engraved by the Rev. Mr. Douglas, in his Nænia;) a fibula, (engraved by Mr. Eoys, in his collections for Sandwich;) the head of a spear, and some fragments of Roman vessels. Much of the earth of sand has been lately removed round the sides of it, but nothing further has been found.

 

At a small distance northward from hence, at the bottom of a short steep hill, lies the village called Woodnesborough-street, and sometimes Cold Fridaystreet, containing thirty four houses. The vicaragehouse is situated in the middle of it, being a new handsome building; almost contiguous to it is a handsome sashed house, belonging to the Jull family, now made use of as a poor-house; through this street the road leads to Sandwich. West ward of the street stands the parsonage-house, late the seat of Oliver Stephens, esq. deceased, and now of his window, as will be further noticed hereafter. Besides the manors and estates in this parish, particularly described, in the western parts of it there are several hamlets, as Somerfield, Barnsole, Coombe, with New-street, Great and Little Flemings, Ringlemere, and the farm of Christians Court.

 

In the north east part of the parish, the road from Eastry, by the parsonage of Woodnesborough northwestward, divides; one road, which in antient deeds is called Lovekys-street, going towards Ash-street; the other through the hamlet of Marshborough, formerly called Marshborough, alias Stipins, to Each End and Sandwich, the two windmills close to the entrance of which are with in the bounds of this parish. Each, Upper Each, called antiently Upriche, and Each End, antiently called Netheriche, were both formerly accounted manors, and are mentioned as such in the marriage settlement of Henry Whyte, esq. in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign. After the Whytes, these manors passed in like manner as Grove, in this parish, to the James's. Upper Each, or Upriche, has for many years belonged to the family of Abbot, of Ramsgate, and is now the property of John Abbot, esq. of Canterbury. Each End, or Netheriche, belongs, one moiety to the heirs or devisees of the late earl of Strafford, and the other moiety to John Matson, esq. of Sandwich.

 

¶It cannot but occur to the reader how much this parish abounds with Saxon names, besides the name of Wodens borough, the street of Cold Friday, mentioned before, is certainly derived from the Saxon words, Cola, and Friga, which latter was the name of a goddess, worshipped by the Saxons, and her day Frige-deag, from whence our day of Friday is derived; other places in this parish, mentioned before likewise, claim, surely, their original from the same language.

 

This parish contains about 3000 acres, the whole rents of it being about 3373l. yearly value. It is very bare of coppice wood; the Old Wood, so called, in Ringleton, being the only one in it. The soil of this parish is very rich and fertile, equal to those the most so in this neighbourhood, particularly as to the plantations of hops, which have much increased within these few years past. The middle of the parish is high ground, and is in general a flat open country of arable common fields. West and south-westward the lands are more inclosed with hedges. North and north-westward of the parsonage, towards Sandwich, they are low and wet, consisting of a large level of marsh land, the nearness of which makes the other parts of this parish rather unhealthy, which is not otherwise very pleasant in any part of it. There was a fair held here yearly, on Holy Thursday, but it has been for some time disused.

 

In Ringleton field, in this parish, there was found about the year 1514, a fine gold coin, weighing about twelve shillings, with a loop of the same metal to hang it by; on one side was the figure of a young man in armour, a helmet on his head, and a spear over his right shoulder; on the reverse, the figure of Victory, with a sword in her hand, the point downwards.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, consists of a nave, and two isles, having a square tower steeple at the west end, with a modern wooden turret and vane at the top of it, in which are five bells, made in 1676. It had a high spire on the tower, which was taken down some years ago. At the east end of the chancel is a marble tablet for John Cason, esq. of this place, justice of the peace, obt. 1718; John Cason, esq. his son, obt. 1755; arms,Argent, a chevron, sable, between three wolves heads, erased, gules, on an escutcheon of pretence, sable, a chevron, between three fleurs de lis, of the field; another for Thomas Blechenden, of the antient family of that name, of Aldington, in Kent, obt. 1661; arms, Azure, a fess nebulee, argent, between three lions heads erased, or, attired, gules, impalingBoys. On the south side, an antient altar monument with gothic pillars and arches, having had shields and arms, now obliterated. Against the wall, under the canopy, two brass plates, which have been removed to this place, from two grave-stones in the chancel; the first for Sir John Parcar, late vicar of this church, who died the v.day of May, a°o dni m° v° xiij° on the second are Latin verses to the memory of Nichs Spencer, esq. obt. 1593. In the middle of the chancel, a gravestone for William Docksey, esq. of Snellston, in Derbyshire, a justice of the peace, obt. 1760; Sarah his wife, youngest daughter of John Cason, esq. obt. 1774; arms,Or, a lion rampant, azure, surmounted of a bend, argent. On a gravestone on the north side of the chancel, on a brass plate, On a chevron, three quatersoils, between three annulets, quartering other coats, now obliterated, for Master Myghell Heyre, sumtyme vicar of this churche, who dyed the xxii day of July, m° v° xxviii. In the north isle are several memorials for the family of Gillow, arms, A lion rampant, in chief, three fleurs de lis. At the entrance into the chancel, on a grave-stone, on a brass plate, John Hill, gent. of the parish of Nassall, in Staffordshire, obt. 1605. A mural monument for William Gibbs, of this parish, obt. 1777; arms,Argent, three battle axes, in fess, sable. In the church-yard are altar tombs to the memory of the Julls, and for Sladden; one for John Verall, gent. sometime mayor of Sandwich, obt. 1610; and another for John Benchkin, of Pouton, obt. 1639.

 

There were formerly painted in the windows of this church,Or, a chief indented, azure, for John de Sandwich. Several coats of arms, among which were those of Valence and St. Leger,Argent, three leaves in sinster bend, their points downward, proper.— On a canton, azure, three crescents, or, for Grove.— Argent, three escallops in chief, or, in base a crescent, gules, for Helpestone, usually called Hilpurton, bailiff of Sandwich, in 1299. A shield, being Helpeston's badge, another On a fess engrailed, three cinquefoils, between three garbs, for John Hill, of Nasall, in Staffordshire, who lies buried in this church. —A fess engrailed, three lions rampant, in chief, on the fess, a crescent for difference, for Spencer, customer, of Sandwich. — Quarterly, four coats; first, On a chevron, three quaterfoils; second, Per pale, ermine and argent; third, A cross, between four pomegranates, slipped; sourth,Three bars, wavy, for Michael Heyre, vicar here in 1520.

 

The church of Woodnesborough was given, in the reign of king Henry I. by a religious woman, one Ascelina de Wodensberg, to the priory of Ledes, soon after the foundation of it; to which deed was witness Robert de Crevequer, founder of the priory, Elias his son, and others; which gift was confirmed by the said Robert, who by his charter, released to the priory all his right and title to it. It was likewise confirmed by archbishop Theobald, and several of his successors, and by king Henry III. by his charter of inspeximus in his 41st year.

 

Archbishop William Corboil, who came to the see of Canterbury, three years after the foundation of Ledes priory, at the instance and petition of Ascelina above mentioned, who resigned this church into his hands for this purpose, appropriated it to the prior and convent, for the finding of necessary cloaths, for the canons there; and a vicarage was accordingly endowed in it.

 

There was a controversy between the prior and convent, and Adam, vicar of this church, in 1627, anno 14 Henry II. concerning the great tithes arising from the crofts and curtilages within this parish, which was referred to the prior of Rochester, who was the pope's delegate for this purpose, who determined that the prior and convent of Ledes, as rectors of this church, should receive, without any exception, all the great tithes of wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, and of every fort of corn arising, or to arise from all lands, crofts, curtilages, or other places whatever, situated within the bounds, of this parish; and that the prior and convent should yearly pay to the said vicar, and his successors, half a seam of barley, and half a seam of beans, at the nativity of our Lord. (fn. 10)

 

¶After which, this parsonage appropriate,(which appears to have been esteemed as a manor) together with the advowson of the vicarage, remained with the prior and convent of Ledes, till its dissolution in the 31st year of king Henry VIII. when it was, with all its lands and possessions, surrendered into the king's hands, who by his dotation charter, in his 33d year, settled both parsonage and advowson on his new-founded dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom they remain at this time. On the dissolution of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1649, when is appeared that the manor or parsonage of Woodnesborough, with the scite thereof, and all manner of tithes belonging to it, with a garden and orchard of one acre, was valued all together at 300l. that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the church; that the vicarage was worth fifty pounds per annum. The then incumbent was under sequestration, and there was none to serve the cure; and that the church was then quite ruinated, and in great decay. (fn. 11)

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol10/pp121-144

  

-------------------------------------------

 

A long and light church, best viewed from the south. Like nearby Ickham it is cruciform in plan, with a west rather than central, tower. Sometimes this is the result of a later tower being added, but here it is an early feature indeed, at least the same age (if not earlier) than the body of the church. Lord Kitchener lived in the parish, so his name appears on the War Memorial. At the west end of the south aisle, tucked out of the way, is the memorial to Sir Basil Dixwell (d 1750). There are two twentieth century windows by Martin Travers. The 1925 east window shows Our Lady and Child beneath the typical Travers Baroque Canopy. Under the tower, affixed to the wall, are some Flemish tiles, purchased under the will of John Digge who died in 1375. His memorial brass survives in the Vestry.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Barham

 

------------------------------------------

 

Many churches in Kent are well known for their yew trees but St. John the Baptist at Barham is noteworthy for its magnificent beech trees.

 

The Church guide suggests that there has been a Church here since the 9th Century but the present structure was probably started in the 12th Century although Syms, in his book about Kent Country Churches, states that there is a hint of possible Norman construction at the base of the present tower. The bulk of the Church covers the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular periods of building. Many of the huge roof beams, ties and posts are original 14th Century as are the three arches leading into the aisle..

 

In the Northwest corner is a small 13th Century window containing modern glass depicting St. George slaying the dragon and dedicated to the 23rd Signal Company. The Church also contains a White Ensign which was presented to it by Viscount Broome, a local resident. The Ensign was from 'H.M.S. Raglan' which was also commanded by Viscount Broome. The ship was sunk in January, 1918 by the German light cruiser 'Breslau'.

 

The walls contain various mural tablets. Hanging high on the west wall is a helmet said to have belonged to Sir Basil Dixwell of Broome Park. The helmet probably never saw action but was carried at his funeral.

 

The floor in the north transept is uneven because some years ago three brasses were found there. According to popular medieval custom engraved metal cut-outs were sunk into indented stone slabs and secured with rivets and pitch. In order to save them from further damage the brasses were lifted and placed on the walls. The oldest dates from about 1370 is of a civilian but very mutilated. The other two are in good condition and dated about 1460. One is of a woman wearing the dress of a widow which was similar to a nun. The other is of a bare headed man in plate armour. These are believed to be of John Digges and his wife Joan.

 

At the west end of the church is a list of Rectors and Priests-in-Charge - the first being Otho Caputh in 1280. Notice should be made of Richard Hooker (1594), the author of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. The tiles incorporated into the wall were originally in place in the Chancel about 1375. They were left by John Digges whose Will instructed that he was to be buried in the Chancel and "my executors are to buy Flanders tiles to pave the said Chancel".

 

The 14th century font is large enough to submerse a baby - as would have been the custom of the time. The bowl is octagonal representing the first day of the new week, the day of Christ's resurrection. The cover is Jacobean.

 

The Millennium Window in the South Transept was designed and constructed by Alexandra Le Rossignol and was dedicated in July 2001. The cost of the project (approximately £6,500) was raised locally with the first donation being made by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey.

 

The porch contains two wooden plaques listing the names of men from the village who were killed in the Great Wars - among them being Field Marshall Lord Kitchener of Broome Park.

 

www.barham-kent.org.uk/landmark_church.htm

 

-----------------------------------------

 

ANTIENTLY written Bereham, lies the next parish eastward. There are five boroughs in it, viz. of Buxton, Outelmeston, Derrington, Breach, and Shelving. The manor of Bishopsborne claims over almost the whole of this parish, at the court of which the four latter borsholders are chosen, and the manors of Reculver and Adisham over a small part of it.

 

BARHAM is situated at the confines of that beautiful country heretofore described, the same Nailbourne valley running through it, near which, in like manner the land is very fertile, but all the rest of it is a chalky barren soil. On the rise of the hill northward from it, is the village called Barham-street, with the church, and just beyond the summit of it, on the further side Barham court, having its front towards the downs, over part of which this parish extends, and gives name to them. At the foot of the same hill, further eastward, is the mansion of Brome, with its adjoining plantatious, a conspicuous object from the downs, to which by inclosing a part of them, the grounds extend as far as the Dover road, close to Denne-hill, and a costly entrance has been erected into them there. By the corner of Brome house the road leads to the left through Denton-street, close up to which this parish extends, towards Folkestone; and to the right, towards Eleham and Hythe. One this road, within the bounds of this parish, in a chalky and stony country, of poor barren land, there is a large waste of pasture, called Breach down, on which there are a number of tumuli, or barrows. By the road side there have been found several skeletons, one of which had round its neck a string of beads, of various forms and sizes, from a pidgeon's egg to a pea, and by it a sword, dagger, and spear; the others lay in good order, without any particular thing to distinguish them. (fn. 1)

 

In the Nailbourne valley, near the stream, are the two hamlets of Derrington and South Barham; from thence the hills, on the opposite side of it to those already mentioned, rise southward pretty high, the tops of them being covered with woods, one of them being that large one called Covert wood, a manor belonging to the archbishop, and partly in this parish, being the beginning of a poor hilly country, covered with stones, and enveloped with frequent woods.

 

BARHAM, which, as appears by the survey of Domesday, formerly lay in a hundred of its own name, was given anno 809, by the estimation of seven ploughlands, by Cenulph, king of Kent, to archbishop Wlfred, free from all secular demands, except the trinoda necessitas, but this was for the use of his church; for the archbishop, anno 824, gave the monks lands in Egelhorne and Langeduna, in exchange for it. After which it came into the possession of archbishop Stigand, but, as appears by Domesday, not in right of his archbishopric, at the taking of which survey, it was become part of the possessions of Odo, bishop of Baieux, under the title of whose lands it is thus entered in it:

 

In Berham hundred, Fulbert holds of the bishop Berham. It was taxed at six sulings. The arable land is thirty two carucates. In demesne there are three carucates, and fifty two villeins, with twenty cottagers having eighteen carucates. There is a church, and one mill of twenty shillings and four pence. There are twentlyfive fisheries of thirty-five shillings all four pence. Of average, that is service, sixty shilling. Of herbage twenty six shillings, and twenty acres of meadow Of pannage sufficient for one hundred and fifty hogs. Of this manor the bishop gave one berewic to Herbert, the son of Ivo, which is called Hugham, and there be has one carucate in demesne, and twelve villeins, with nine carucates, and twenty acres of meadow. Of the same manor the bisoop gave to Osberne Paisforere one suling and two mills of fifty sbillings, and there is in demesne one carucate, and four villeins with one carucate. The whole of Barbam, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, was worth forty pounds, when be received it the like, and yet it yielded to him one hundred pounds, now Berhem of itself is worth forty pounds, and Hucham ten pounds, and this which Osberne bas six pounds, and the land of one Ralph, a knight, is worth forty shillings. This manor Stigand, the archbishop held, but it was not of the archbishopric, but was of the demesne ferm of king Edward.

 

On the bishop's disgrace four years afterwards, and his estates being confiscated to the crown, the seignory of this parish most probably returned to the see of Canterbury, with which it has ever since continued. The estate mentioned above in Domesday to have been held of the bishop by Fulbert, comprehended, in all likelihood, the several manors and other estates in this parish, now held of the manor of Bishopsborne, one of these was THE MANOR AND SEAT OF BARHAM-COURT, situated near the church, which probably was originally the court-lodge of the manor of Barham in very early times, before it became united to that of Bishopsborne, and in king Henry II.'s time was held of the archbishop by knight's service, by Sir Randal Fitzurse, who was one of the four knights belonging to the king's houshould, who murdered archbishop Becket anno 1170; after perpetrating which, Sir Randal fled into Ireland, and changed his name to Mac-Mahon, and one of his relations took possession of this estate, and assumed the name of Berham from it; and accordingly, his descendant Warin de Berham is recorded in the return made by the sheriff anno 12 and 13 king John, among others of the archbishop's tenants by knight's service, as holding lands in Berham of him, in whose posterity it continued till Thomas Barham, esq. in the very beginning of king James I.'s reign, alienated it to the Rev. Charles Fotherbye, dean of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1619. He was eldest son of Martin Fotherby, of Great Grimsby, in Lincolnshire, and eldest brother of Martin Fotherby, bishop of Salisbury. He had a grant of arms, Gules, a cross of lozenges flory, or, assigned to him and Martin his brother, by Camden, clarencieux, in 1605. (fn. 2) His only surviving son Sir John Fotherbye, of Barham-court, died in 1666, and was buried in that cathedral with his father. At length his grandson Charles, who died in 1720, leaving two daughters his coheirs; Mary, the eldest, inherited this manor by her father's will, and afterwards married Henry Mompesson, esq. of Wiltshire, (fn. 3) who resided at Barhamcourt, and died in 1732, s. p. and she again carried this manor in marriage to Sir Edward Dering, bart. of Surrenden, whose second wife she was. (fn. 4) He lest her surviving, and three children by her, Charles Dering, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Farnaby, bart. since deceased, by whom he has an only surviving daughter, married to George Dering, esq. of Rolling, the youngest son of the late Sir Edw. Dering, bart. and her first cousin; Mary married Sir Robert Hilyard, bart. and Thomas Dering, esq. of London. Lady Dering died in 1775, and was succeeded by her eldest son Charles Dering, esq. afterwards of Barhamcourt, the present owner of it. It is at present occupied by Gen. Sir Charles Grey, bart. K. B. commanderin chief of the southern district of this kingdom.

 

THE MANORS OF BROME and OUTELMESTONE, alias DIGGS COURT, are situated in this parish; the latter in the valley, at the western boundary of it, was the first residence in this county of the eminent family of Digg, or, as they were asterwards called, Diggs, whence it gained its name of Diggs-court. John, son of Roger de Mildenhall, otherwise called Digg, the first-mentioned in the pedigrees of this family, lived in king Henry III.'s reign, at which time he, or one of this family of the same name, was possessed of the aldermanry of Newingate, in Canterbury, as part of their inheritance. His descendants continued to reside at Diggs-court, and bore for their arms, Gules, on a cross argent, five eagles with two heads displayed, sable, One of whom, James Diggs, of Diggs-court, died in 1535. At his death he gave the manor and seat of Outelmeston, alias Diggs-court, to his eldest son (by his first wife) John, and the manor of Brome to his youngest son, (by his second wife) Leonard, whose descendants were of Chilham castle. (fn. 5) John Diggs, esq. was of Diggs-court, whose descendant Thomas Posthumus Diggs, esq. about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign, alienated this manor, with Diggs-place, to Capt. Halsey, of London, and he sold it to Sir Tho. Somes, alderman of London, who again parted with it to Sir B. Dixwell, bart. and he passed it away to Sir Thomas Williams, bart. whose heir Sir John Williams, bart. conveyed it, about the year 1706, to Daniel and Nathaniel Matson, and on the death of the former, the latter became wholly possessed of it, and his descendant Henry Matson, about the year 1730, gave it by will to the trustees for the repair of Dover harbour, in whom it continues at this time vested for that purpose.

 

BUT THE MANOR OF BROME, which came to Leonard Diggs, esq. by his father's will as above-mentioned, was sold by him to Basil Dixwell, esq. second son of Cha. Dixwell, esq. of Coton, in Warwickshire, then of Tevlingham, in Folkestone, who having built a handsome mansion for his residence on this manor, removed to it in 1622. In the second year of king Charles I. he served the office of sheriff with much honour and hospitality; after which he was knighted, and cveated a baronet. He died unmarried in 1641, having devised this manor and seat, with the rest of his estates, to his nephew Mark Dixwell, son of his elder brother William, of Coton above-mentioned, who afterwards resided at Brome, whose son Basil Dixwell, esq. of Brome, was anno 12 Charles II. created a baronet. He bore for his arms, Argent, a chevron, gules, between three sleurs de lis, sable. His only son Sir Basil Dixwell, bart. of Brome, died at Brome,s. p. in 1750, and devised this, among the rest of his estates, to his kinsman George Oxenden, esq. second son of Sir Geo. Oxenden, bart. of Dean, in Wingham, with an injunction for him to take the name and arms of Dixwell, for which an act passed anno 25 George II. but he died soon afterwards, unmarried, having devised this manor and seat to his father Sir George Oxenden, who settled it on his eldest and only surviving son, now Sir Henry Oxenden, bart. who is the present owner of it. He resides at Brome, which he has, as well as the grounds about it, much altered and improved for these many years successively.

 

SHELVING is a manor, situated in the borough of its own name, at the eastern boundary of this parish, which was so called from a family who were in antient times the possessors of it. John de Shelving resided here in king Edward I.'s reign, and married Helen, daughter and heir of John de Bourne, by whom he had Waretius de Shelving, whose son, J. de Shelving, of Shelvingborne, married Benedicta de Hougham, and died possessed of this manor anno 4 Edward III. After which it descended to their daughter Benedicta, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edmund de Haut, of Petham, in whose descendants, in like manner as Shelvington, alias Hautsborne, above-described, it continued down to Sir William Haut, of Hautsborne, in king Henry VIII's reign, whose eldest daughter and coheir Elizabeth carried it in marriage to Tho. Colepeper, esq. of Bedgbury, who in the beginning of king Edward VI.'s reign passed it away to Walter Mantle, whose window carried it by a second marriage to Christopher Carlell, gent. who bore for his arms, Or, a cross flory, gules; one of whose descendants sold it to Stephen Hobday, in whose name it continued till Hester, daughter of Hills Hobday, carried it in marriage to J. Lade, esq. of Boughton, and he having obtained an act for the purpose, alienated it to E. Bridges, esq. of Wootton-court, who passed away part of it to Sir George Oxenden, bart. whose son Sir Henry Oxenden, bart. of Brome, now owns it; but Mr. Bridges died possessed of the remaining part in 1780, and his eldest son the Rev. Edward Timewell Brydges, is the present possessor of it.

 

MAY DEACON, as it has been for many years past both called and written, is a seat in the southern part of this parish, adjoining to Denton-street, in which parish part of it is situated. Its original and true name was Madekin, being so called from a family who were owners of it, and continued so, as appears by the deeds of it, till king Henry VI's reign, in the beginning of which it passed from that name to Sydnor, in which it continued till king Henry VIII.'s reign, when Paul Sydnor, who upon his obtaining from the king a grant of Brenchley manor, removed thither, and alienated this seat to James Brooker, who resided here, and his sole daughter and heir carried it in marriage, in queen Elizabeth's reign, to Sir Henry Oxenden, of Dene, in Wingham, whose grandson Sir Henry Oxenden, bart. sold it in 1664, to Edward Adye, esq. the second son of John Adye, esq. of Doddington, one of whose daughters and coheirs, Rosamond, entitled her husband George Elcock, esq. afterwards of Madekin, to it, and his daughter and heir Elizabeth carried it in marriage to Capt. Charles Fotherby, whose eldest daughter and coheir Mary, entitled her two successive husbands, Henry Mompesson, esq. and Sir Edward Dering, bart. to the possession of it, and Charles Dering, esq. of Barham-court, eldest son of the latter, by her, is at this time the owner of it. The seat is now inhabited by Henry Oxenden, esq.

 

There are no parochial charities. The poor constantly maintained are about forty, casually fifteen.

 

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanryof Bridge.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. John Baptist, is a handsome building, consisting of a body and side isle, a cross or sept, and a high chancel, having a slim tall spire at the west end, in which are four bells. In the chancel are memorials for George Elcock, esq. of Madeacon, obt. 1703, and for his wife and children; for Charles Bean, A. M. rector, obt. 1731. A monument for William Barne, gent. son of the Rev. Miles Barne. His grandfather was Sir William Barne, of Woolwich, obt. 1706; arms, Azure, three leopards faces, argent. Several memorials for the Nethersoles, of this parish. In the south sept is a magnificent pyramid of marble for the family of Dixwell, who lie buried in a vault underneath, and inscriptions for them. In the north sept is a monument for the Fotherbys. On the pavement, on a gravestone, are the figures of an armed knight (his feet on a greyhound) and his wife; arms, A cross, quartering six lozenges, three and three. In the east window these arms, Gules, three crowns, or—Gules, three lions passant in pale, or. This chapel was dedicated to St. Giles, and some of the family of Diggs were buried in it; and there are memorials for several of the Legrands. There are three tombs of the Lades in the church-yard, the inscriptions obliterated, but the dates remaining are 1603, 1625, and 1660. There were formerly in the windows of this church these arms, Ermine, a chief, quarterly, or, and gules, and underneath, Jacobus Peccam. Another coat, Bruine and Rocheleyquartered; and another, Gules, a fess between three lions heads, erased, argent, and underneath,Orate p ais Roberti Baptford & Johe ux; which family resided at Barham, the last of whom, Sir John Baptford, lest an only daughter and heir, married to John Earde, of Denton.

 

¶The church of Barham has always been accounted as a chapel to the church of Bishopsborne, and as such is included in the valuation of it in the king's books. In 1588 here were communicants one hundred and eighty; in 1640 there were two hundred and fifty.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp350-358

designed by @gavinkeech

Eco Fashion Week April 22, 2013 Three stylists with $500 each made three runway collections from outfits presented by Value Village. Photos by Sean Herd.

 

Watch VCAD videos www.youtube.com/VancouverVCAD

 

VCAD - Fashion Design Program

500 - 626 West Pender St.

Vancouver, BC

V6B 1V9

CANADA

1.800.356.8497

Value Education Workshop at Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar District of West Bengal in April 2017

value

Page 31 of the Summer 1964 Lana Lobell catalog.

It's a good thing I'm not interested in the armed forces. I don't think I could pledge half of these things.

6067 East Main Street in Columbus, Ohio

January 31st, 2015

Strange Matter

Richmond, VA