Fur and Feathers
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Fur & Feathers Birds of Prey Experience.
Lanner/Peregrine Falcon cross.
Fur & Feathers Birds of Prey Experience.
Female Kestrel.
Portraits of the stars at The Fur & Feathers Bird of Prey experience.
Lanner/Peregrine cross falcon.
Portraits of the stars at The Fur & Feathers Bird of Prey experience.
Kestrel.
Portraits of the stars at The Fur & Feathers Bird of Prey experience.
Eagel Owl.
Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) male and juvenile
FFF+ Snap Happy is a group Lisa (our wonderful FFF+ leader) created for the FFF+ for images that reflect positivity, happiness, joy and beauty only. This must also be reflected in any titles, captions and comments.
- No mention of Coronavirus and no references to it either
- No negativity
- No references to the plight of the world or the situation we all find ourselves currently in.
This week's theme 'Fur and Feathers' was chosen by Margaret ( www.flickr.com/photos/pocket_rocket1/ )
This one is from a visit to last year's Tawny nest, I just loved the way the chick seemed to be smiling at me.
“It must be admitted that a very large fraction of our time was spent in dressing and undressing. We were forever changing our clothes, a custom that necessitated travelling with a mountain of luggage” – Lady Cynthia Asquith (English writer and socialite)
Wickham Place is the London home of Lord and Lady Southgate, their children and staff. Located in fashionable Belgravia it is a fine Georgian terrace house.
Today we are in Lady Southgate’s dressing room, which is adjunct to her bedroom, where poor Newman, Lady Southgate’s Lady’s Maid, is pulling out her hair with frustration. Lord and Lady Southgate have accepted the invitation to stay with friends at their country house in Worcestershire, and even though it is only a ‘Friday to Monday’ weekend party, there is a panoply of outfits and accountments that Newman must pack for Her Ladyship to wear across those three days.
“What’s the point of coming up to London for the Season if you are going to spend half of it visiting friends at their houses all over the English countryside?” Newman mutters as she looks about her despondently at the mounds of luggage that will need to be neatly filled with Her Ladyship’s clothes.
Lady Southgate’s dressing room is situated on the third floor of Wickham Place. It is light and airy with an east facing window, so it gets the morning sun whilst Newman sets her mistress’ hair each day, and Lady Southgate applies beauty products to maintain her creamy complexion. The dressing room is a feminine preserve and its décor reflects that along with the current fashion for whites and pastel colours in boudoirs. The wallpaper is a fashionable Edwardian pattern of birds, butterflies and pink camellias on a pale green background. Feminine Rococo paintings hang on the walls in antique gilt frames. The room contains light coloured furniture including wardrobes full of her ladyship’s clothes, full length mirrors, a white upholstered settee, several occasional tables, a Japanese floral painted screen, a Chippendale style salon chair upholstered in cream satin and a walnut Regency dressing table: a gift to Lady Southbank from her husband.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.
Lady Southgate’s trunks ready to be packed with sable stoles and feather adorned picture hats seemed the perfect choice for the theme. However, this upper-class boudoir scene is different, for it is made up entirely of 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures. Some pieces come from my own childhood including the tallboy at the back of the room. Other items in this tableau I acquired as a teenager and as an adult through specialist doll shops, online dealers and artists who specialise in making 1:12 miniatures.
Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:
The three Edwardian picture hats (yes there are three) are what inspired me to photograph this scene for the “fur and feathers” theme. The black hat on the settee I have had since I was a teenager, and it was one of the first 1:12 artisan pieces I ever bought. The green and camel coloured hats in the foreground were a recent acquisition from an American miniatures collector who was divesting herself of some of her collection. All three hats are 1:12 artisan miniatures, are made just like real hats and are often far more expensive than real hats are. When you think that these would sit comfortably on your index finger, yet they could cost in excess of $150.00 or £100.00 each, they are an extravagance. American artists seem to have the monopoly on this skill and some of the hats that I have seen or acquired over the years are remarkable. The black hat is made of woven straw dyed black and decorated with stiffened fans of black lace, black ribbon and feathers. The camel and green hats are both made of braid trimmed felt and are decorated with imitation fruit and flowers and hand dyed and shaped feathers.
The thick sable stole draped across the far end of the tallboy, near the tallboy, is actually a tail attached to one of my own vintage sable collars. I have artfully (with quite some planning and difficulty), placed it so you can only see the single tail, which is just the right size to be a luxurious stole for Lady Southgate!
The blue travelling case in the background and its matching hatbox in the foreground on which the camel hat is sitting are 1:12 artisan miniatures and made of blue kid leather which is so soft to the touch, and small metal handles, clasps and ornamentation. They have been purposely worn around their edges to give them age. The brown leather hatbox in which the green hat sits is also a 1:12 artisan miniature and unlike the blue pieces, it is made to open and be fully functional and has a cream satin lining. All three pieces come from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders Miniatures in England.
The four furled umbrellas are all 1:12 artisan pieces made of silk, satin and lace. Three have metal handles, whilst the yellow lace one is made from a toothpick with a tip affixed to its end. Three come from England whilst the salmon coloured one with the black pagoda top came from the same collection as the camel and green hats.
The grey pair of gloves on the metal inlaid box in the foreground was bought from the same London Doll House stockist that the black hat came from and they were bought at the same time. They are made of leather and are artisan pieces, cut and fashioned by hand with nail scissors. The canary yellow pair of gloves on top of the blue case in the background are also artisan pieces and are made of kid leather and are so light and soft. They come from Doreen Jeffries’ Small Wonders Miniatures in England.
The purple white polka dot mules are hand painted 1:12 lead miniatures that came from the same American collection as the green and camel coloured hats and the salmon parasol. The black Edwardian high boot in the bottom left hand corner is made of resin and comes from a specialist stockist of 1:12 miniatures in England.
On the right-hand side of the picture, sitting on the white Queen Anne style settee, is Lady Southgate’s glittering travelling jewellery case which is hinged, and is lined with black velvet. It contains a sparkling array of her jewels ready for the journey. Draped over the seat of the settee is a sparking “amethyst” necklace made of tiny strung faceted purple beads and a silver chain.
On top of a black portmanteau are two corset boxes: a Baleinine corset from Paris and a Warner Brothers Coraline Health Corset from New York. The corset was an essential beauty aide for any Victorian or Edwardian woman. It was only with the invention of the Flapper in the 1920s, that corsets fell out of fashion. In the late Nineteenth Century, Dr. Lucien Warner, a prominent American physician gave up his practice to begin a new career on the medical lecturing circuit, specializing in women’s health issues. Dr. Warner lectured about the effects of the corset. After seeing how little influence his lectures had on women’s attitudes, he returned to his New York home and began a different approach to fighting the ills caused by the corset. In 1873, he designed a corset that provided both the shape desired by women and the flexibility required to allow some movement and reduce injuries caused by previous designs. The next year, Lucien Warner and his brother Dr. Ira De Ver Warner gave up their medical practices and founded Warner Brothers Corset Manufacturers. Dr. Warner’s Coraline Health Corsets were made up of two pieces of cloth which were laced or clasped together. These revolutionary undergarments also featured shoulder straps and more flexible boning and lateral bust supports made of Coraline, a product of the fibers of the Mexican Ixtle plant. The success of the Warners’ designs had made the brothers millionaires and in 1894 they retired and turned control of the company over to De Ver’s son and the Warner Brothers partnership was changed to a corporation. Warner\'s business was still doing well under the management of Dr.De Var\'s son. He even added new types of corsets: a rust proof corset, a combination corset, and even a hose supporter. In 1913 the company made seven million US Dollars in sales. Then in 1913 Warner Brother\'s bought the patent for the brassier from Mary Phelps Jacobs, and they ended up making twelve point six million US Dollars by 1920.
The black portmanteau on which the two corset boxes sit is in fact a black leather ring box with gold tooling.
In the background is a Chinese screen dating from the 1930s featuring hand-painted soapstone panels of flowers. It is framed lacquered wood and is remarkably heavy for its size. The reverse features Chinese scenes with mountains and pagodas. Next to it stands a 1:12 Dutch tallboy which I bought from Hamley’s Toyshop in London when I was twelve years old. On the far right on a table stands a 1950s Limoges vase filled with pink hydrangeas. The vase is stamped with a small green Limoges mark to the bottom. This treasure I found in an overcrowded cabinet at the Mill Markets in Geelong.
This weeks theme, 'Fur and Feathers' was chosen by me.
See photo below photo for 'Fur'.
Snap Happy is a weekly Famous Flickr Five+ Group for images that reflect positivity, happiness, joy and beauty only. This must also be reflected in any titles, captions and comments.
Thanks for your visits, kind comments and faves, very much appreciated.
This weeks theme, 'Fur and Feathers', was chosen by me.
Snap Happy is a weekly Famous Flickr Five+ Group for images that reflect positivity, happiness, joy and beauty only. This must also be reflected in any titles, captions and comments.
Many thanks for your visits, kind comments and faves, very much appreciated.
PADDY: “Hullo Scout!”
COUSIN PADDINGTON: “Hullo Scout!”
SCOUT: “Hullo Paddy and Cousin Paddington.”
COUSIN PADDINGTN: “We were just about to sit down and read a faerie story, and we thought you might like to join us, little Scout.”
SCOUT: “Oh that’s very kind of you Cousin Paddington, but I’m a little bit busy at the moment.”
PADDY: “What are you doing, Scout.”
SCOUT: “Well Paddy, I heard that the FFF+ Snap Happy group theme this week is ‘fur and feathers’. I thought to myself, well I am furry, and I wanted to show everyone at the FFF+ my collection of pretty feathers.”
COUSIN PADDINGTON: “That certainly is a very pretty collection of feathers, little Scout!”
SCOUT: “Thank you Cousin Paddington. I have some from the doves, blackbirds and lorikeets that visit our garden, and some are feathers I have found when Paddy, Daddy and I have gone for a walk.”
PADDY: “I think that’s a very good idea for this week’s Snap Happy theme, Scout. Well done for thinking of it! I shall go and ask Daddy to take a photograph, as I am sure they will all be pleased to see us, and your wonderful collection of feathers!”
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.
Scout was right. I thought it was an excellent idea to photograph Paddy, Scout and Cousin Paddington, who all have plush or woollen fur, along with Scout’s collection of beautiful feathers. I’m sure you will agree that it is perfect for the theme!
The little lacquered box that Scout keeps his collection of feathers in is a Russian box painted in the Palekh style which I spotted buried in a box of odds and ends at an auction. It comes from Palekh with is the administrative centre of Palekhsky District of Ivanovo Oblast in Russia. It depicts a scene from the Alexander Pushkin faerie tale ‘The Dead Princess and the Seven Heroes’, which is a derivative of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the story Prince Elissei is betrothed to the Princess before her stepmother the Tsarina tries to have her killed. Prince Elissei rides to the Great North Wind to ask him to help find his missing betrothed, and this is what is shown on the box. Through the wind’s help, Elissei finds his betrothed, but only after she has been poisoned by the apple given her by the disguised Tsarina. The Princess is protected by seven brothers, all strapping fighting heroes, who have taken her in as her sister (a difference from the Grimm version featuring the seven dwarfs). The rest of the story you will know, as it leads to a happy ending for Prince Elissei and his betrothed.
My Paddington Bear came to live with me in London when I was two years old (many, many years ago). He was hand made by my Great Aunt and he has a chocolate coloured felt hat, the brim of which had to be pinned up by a safety pin to stop it getting in his eyes. The collar of his mackintosh is made of the same felt. He wears wellington boots made from the same red leather used to make the toggles on his mackintosh.
He has travelled with me across the world and he and I have had many adventures together over the years. He is a very precious member of my small family.
Scout was a gift to Paddy from my friend. He is a Fair Trade Bear hand knitted in Africa. His name comes from the shop my friend found him in: Scout House. He tells me that life was very different where he came from, and Paddy is helping introduce him to many new experiences. Scout catches on quickly, and has proven to be a cheeky, but very lovable member of our closely knit family.
Cousin Paddington is a recent visitor to our family. Travelling all the way from London, he was caught in transit thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, so it looks like he is stopping with us for a while. The more I look into his happy, smiling face, the more attached I am becoming to him.
Springtime is the busiest time of the year from the Spring Faeries as they busy themselves about the countryside, waking their animal friends after the long and cold winter. The pink Spring Faerie strokes the neck of a new baby faun, admires the fox’s two new cubs and the rabbits’ babies. She also greets a newly fledged white dove who coos contentedly on her outstretched arm. All her other animal friends gather about to say hullo including the jack rabbits, the squirrels, the songbirds and a deer.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.
Two of the wonderful things that attract people, young and old alike, to Playmobil are their vibrant colours and the array of different items that are produced. I wanted to continue my series of faerie Playmobil tableaux, following on from the Yellow, Blue, Pink, Rainbow, Winter and Forest Faeries who have appeared in previous “Snap Happy” challenges.
Playmobil is a line of toys produced by the Brandstätter Group, headquartered in Zirndorf, Germany. Production began in 1974. Playmobil began to be sold worldwide in 1975, and by 2009, approximately 2.2 billion Playmobil figures had been sold. The signature Playmobil toy is a 7.5 cm tall human figure with a particular smiling face. A wide range of accessories, buildings and vehicles, as well as many sorts of animals, are also part of the Playmobil line. Playmobil toys are produced in themed series of sets as well as individual special figures and playsets. New products and product lines developed by a 50-strong development team are introduced frequently, and older sets are discontinued. Promotional and one-off products are sometimes produced in very limited quantities. These practices have helped give rise to a sizeable community of collectors.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.
Anyone who follows my photo stream will know that it does not generally feature birds or animals. This is because I am usually too slow, and my little Canon point-and-shoot is not really designed for such things. I am better with more stationary subjects. However, on occasion I strike it lucky.
The left-hand photo was taken on my birthday in September last year when I was walking through the Fitzroy Gardens. I was near the Dolphin Fountain, photographing the daffodil and jonquil plantings when I watched an Australian wood duck family: drake, hen and eight baby ducklings, emerge from the pond around the fountain. They went foraging for food in the lawns for a little bit. Then Mummy Duck quacked, and all her ducklings gathered in a pile and snuggled up together for a snooze in the sun. Mummy Duck sat down and snoozed lightly with her brood whilst Daddy Drake snoozed more deeply a little further away at a respectable distance. Every time Mummy Duck heard a noise, she would pop up her head. I respectfully kept my distance and snapped quite a few photos of them before some rather loud Asian tourists charged over to see the duck family, and Mummy Duck and Daddy Drake hurried their family back into the relative safety of the Dolphin Fountain pond, much to the tourists’ dismay, and my amusement!
The right-hand photo I took just the other week when I went on my day off to my local post office to pop some gifts for overseas into the post. There were quite a few people in our small post office, so I waited outside for it to empty a little. I was kept company by this ‘fashionable oodle’ (there are so many varieties these days that I’m not sure what type of oodle it is) who was waiting for her owners to come out and take her on her walk. She was very cute, very friendly and very excited! I liked her a lot!
One of the things I love to collect is vintage accessories. This includes antique fans and vintage fur.
My favourite fans are from the Victorian and Edwardian era. Fans from these eras are extremely beautiful, but at such advanced age are often very fragile. This is an ostrich feather and tortoiseshell fan from the early 1900s. The splats are made of tortoiseshell and the fan itself is made from naturally undyed ostrich plumes. Usually ostrich feathers were bleached to make them white or to then colour them. This one is unusual in the fact that it hasn’t been coloured. The fan has been carefully colour graded and put together with plumes that run from paler ones at the front to darker ones at the opposite end, which makes it very striking when splayed out.
The vintage fox fur in the right-hand picture comes from a Victorian tippet from around 1890. A tippet is another word for a lady’s shoulder cape. I like this one because of the bands of beautiful colours it shows. Although unmarked with a maker’s label, the tippet is well made and would have been expensive to buy originally. The fact that it has survived for well over a century is a credit to its furrier.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “fur and feathers” was chosen by Margaret, The Pocket Rocket.
The Victorians and Edwardians were very big on catching and displaying animals, be it taxidermy for educational purposes such as those that featured in the first modern museums created in the Victorian era, the big game hunters who sought lions and other exotic animals for their horns, tusks and hides to display, or for Victorian and Edwardian consumerism such as this fan and fur tippet. Four hundred tons of South African ostrich fethers were brought through St Katherine’s Dock in just one year alone, and at a value of four million pounds, were all used for women’s headdresses, hats and fans. If you are not a fan of fur, tortoiseshell or ostrich feather plumes, I respect that, but please appreciate the fact that all these objects were created before I was born. All are pre Second World War. I do not buy new fur products.