sutton059

status assumed PD I was sent this image by a reader (thanks, Mr. May!).  Doing a little digging for story, and finding it , I learned that this was taken on Lafayette Street, New York City, in 1928 (or at least that's when it was published in the New York Times).

 [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons We've seen the luminous work of Takeuchi Seiho a couple of times before at the Museum; you may recall a mouse going formal , a cat keeping clean .  Here is a piece dating around 1935 titled "Tranquility" and absolutely delivering what it promises.

www.metmuseum.org Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1964 This earthenware bowl dates from Fatimid-era (909-1171 CE) Egypt, a time and place of dynamic, luxuriant creation in Islamic art.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art identifies it at first quarter 11th century, yet the metallic luster painting of this running hare remains bright with barely any wear.  The exact significance of rabbits in this culture is not precise, but I did find this passage that proposes that rabbits, like mankind, seek to preserve their life. Rabbits do it by running away; humans do it by any means they can devise, including running away, and in that we're in fellowship with our fellow creatures.  Not a bad thing to remember as you dine from your gold-enhanced bowl.

https:\\collections.artsmia.org Gift of Katherine Kierland Herberger Though this springing kitty bank is fun to look at and probably more so to use, I sighed with disappointment when I noticed the Asian figure on the end.  This toy bank was made circa 1882 by Charles A. Bailey of Connecticut, and I know it reflects common images of the time - but the bank would have been far more beautiful without it.  So why did I post it?  Because a curator can't avoid the past, but she can offer it as an example of how much better to do from there.  Plus, I do like the cat itself.

https://collections.artsmia.org, william hoood dunwoody fund  (public domain) Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755-1838) is best known for this portrait of George Washington.  That work is only one among the 1,000-plus portraits he executed in his career (and he still managed to leave his family in poverty).  This work, "Portrait of James Ward," was done in London, where he worked from 1775 to 1787.  Since the posing here is very like those in court and nobility portraits by Van Dyck, I thought perhaps James Ward might be an aristocrat's son or someone of similar standing, but that remains unknown. Look how his dog blends into the backing landscape.  I think perhaps he may be a poodle, one bred for the hunt, as poodles are superb waterfowl dogs.  Everything here is a muted, brownish shade until you get to the boy's dazzling face, hair, and framing collar.  You could be forgiven for thinking of the dog as window dressing, but Stuart has shown such a look of ...

www.rijksmuseum.nl, ,  J.W.E. vom Rath Bequest, Amsterdam According to this artwork's page at the Rijksmuseum, when business heir Edwin vom Rath's (Dutch; 1863-1940) parents both passed away he lived in the family mansion with only his pug for company.  Here's a watercolor portrait of the pug by Dutch painter Conradijn Cuneaus circa 1890-95, and I must say this pup does look like good company. Vom Rath's family had built a fortune from their sugar business; he himself remained unmarried and childless, and was a generous patron to Amsterdam's cultural scene.

Washington D.C., 1919:  a young Italian strikes a blow for equality as a single mother and immigrant in the employ of the US Postal Service.  Victor Emmanuel, a tortoiseshell left behind by a foreign official, was adopted by the city post office as a staff mouser, only to surprise her employer with the value-added gift of four kittens and a fast rethink on gender. -- Angell, George T. (George Thorndike), 1823-1909, and Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Our Dumb Animals. [Boston]: Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, v. 52 no. 2 (July 1919), p. 27.

A BIT OF A DOG. The smaller the dog is, the surer to wear A pushing, important, impertinent air. I judge from Adolphus—the least of my friends No sooner begun than he suddenly ends. There's never a minnow more arrowy-spry, No needle so sharp as his little black eye. His wiry legs flicker too quickly to see, And often he chooses to hirple* on three. He runs like a leaf blown along in a draught, Half side-ways, for want of more balancing aft. His tiny brown body goes lightly on springs, But his thoughts are concerned with the weightiest things. He has to enquire, as he scouts down the street, The business of every odd dog he may meet. He's always on business, quick, perky, and trim, Not walking with you—you accompany him. At evening his gravity seems to convey His sense of an active, responsible day. Oh, long may you dodge death's preposterous dart, You little brown dog with the high little heart! *Hirple: limp.   -- Holmes, W. Kersley. More Ballads of Field And Billet, And O...

a rerun but a good one

I've been tripping happily through a series of American field dog stud books published from 1901 to 1923.  Why? For the sheer entertainment of the names: Waddle Shadeland Flashlight Bang Bang Fred Sheriff Spotiferous Zoo Boy Jr. Bird Graphic Smut Princess Nicotine Buckellew Ornithologist  The Abbot Kate Perry (an English Setter from Hot Springs AR) Queen of the Stubble . . .  and that's from ONE year. - Rowe, Nicholas, Mrs. The Field Dog Stud Book: an Authentic Register of Names, Colors, Ages, Pedigrees, Sex, Winnings And Owners of Field Dogs On the American Continent . Chicago: American Field Pub. Co., for Mrs. Dr. N. Rowe. v. 3 (1902), 1903.

from the museum collection Maybe you can go over to your mom's and look over all those old snapshots of when you were that one kitten that insisted on doing your own thing.  Or maybe you're Mom and counting your kittens. Whichever it is, The Pet Museum sends you love!

From a 1924 book of modern and frankly odd fables: The Druggist, the Little Girl and Her Dog A self-recording scale stood on the sidewalk in front of a drug store. A Woman, accompanied by her little Girl and her Dog, approached the scale. The Dog jumping on the platform, the Mother of the Girl said: "Get off, Jack; this is not for you," while the Girl, seeing the weight recorded, called out, "Forty pounds!" The Druggist standing in the doorway of the store, hearing the command of the Girl's mother, remarked, "I am willing that my scale be used by all that are my friends, the lowly as well as the high." "I am glad to hear you say that," said the Girl. "My Dog is low, but he looks up friendly to everybody." The Dog at the Window and the Girl A Dog was looking out of a window opening on a street, when a little Girl standing on the opposite side observed him. The Dog was motionless and the Girl was uncertain whether he was alive, or whe...

from british library flickr (PD) This cat is serious.  He may be only a piece of decorative embellishment in a 19th century novel* but he is going to do his damned best at it, sir.  *From p. 115 of "Jardyne's Wife. A Novel, etc." ( Etc.? - curator ) (London: Trischler and Co., 1891).

from the museum collection, bought in eureka ca 2012

www.metmuseum.org. Gift of Alvin H. Schechter, 1985 Could this mutt look any happier?  Could that fish be any plumper?  This pair, made in Japan of ivory and horn sometime in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, is a delightful kataborinetsuke ("figural netsuke," the most common kind).  If this were hanging from the end of my purse, I imagine I'd feel as fortunate as this dog looks.  In Japan dogs were looked on as dispellers of evil; what an excellent choice to guard your wallet.  For sheer interest, I'll offer this link to the International Netsuke Society website .

thanks pixabay (CC0 creative commons) I know bees aren't normally considered pets, but they are important to human well-being.  Every so often I come across a bee reference that is too good not to share.  Today it's an old Anglo-Saxon charm to keep your bees from swarming. AGAINST A SWARM OF BEES Take earth, with your right hand throw it under your right foot, and say: -- "I take under foot; I have located it. Lo, earth is potent against every sort of creature, And against hatred and against forgetfulness, And against the mighty spell of man." Throw gravel over them when they swarm, and say: "Alight, victory-dames, sink to the ground! Never fly wild to the woodland! Be as mindful of my profit As is every man of food and home." -- Grendon, Felix.  The Anglo-Saxon Charms (New York: Journal of American Folklore, 1909), p. 169.

digitalcollections.nypl.org 1704515 (no known copyright) Walter Crane (English; 1845-1915) was one of the most important illustrators of children's literature in the late 19th century.  A student of the Arts and Crafts Movement, he chose natural forms presented in a tidied, romantic fashion.  In this opening page from the tale of Puss in Boots, Crane chose a background of traditional village occupations and its intersection with wildlife.  The Arts and Crafts Movement chose this as a way to turn popular visuals away from industrialization and a resulting decline in beauty and human values, and back toward honest craft and the environment.  Learn more about Walter Crane and see more of his lyrical and rich work here . Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Puss in boots"  The New York Public Library Digital Collections . http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6c7f0ada-1804-0ff1-e040-e00a18065957

thanks wikimedia commons (PD) "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" That's the King James version of the German verse above, Psalm 133:1.  This painted window, part of a larger one featuring the reforming theologian Johannes Brenz,  is found at the Evangelical Lutheran church of Ravensburg, Germany.  The church has a page (in German only, alas) on its  history .  I've been looking for any specific tie between this verse and the hen with her egg, and the best I can do is suggest that just as the hen shelters her egg, so may we all shelter under divine protection together.  The window dates from the 19th century and seems to have been designed by Gustav Konig.

from the museum collection

thanks british library flickr Hafod y Gareg's wife is on her way home from church when she comes across a tiny, exhausted dog.  This is the opening to a Welsh folktale that manages to dovetail a test of character and a trick question in a very short time.  Where did the dog come from?  Or...whom? Does she pass on all counts?   Aren't you curious ?