
MALACHI: "Oh look, Mutzli! A whole basket of pretty chocolate Easter Eggs in a basket, just for me!"
MUTZLI: "And I received a large foil wrapped Easter Egg! I'm so lucky!"
MALACHI: "Oh I do love Easter, Mutzli! I think it's my favourite time of the year!"
MUTZLI: "Even more than Christmas, Malachi?"
MALACHI: "Well..." *Considers.* "Maybe as much as Christmas!"
MUTZLI: "Happy Easter everyone!"
MALACHI: "And happy Easter everybear!"
The theme for “Smile on Saturday” for the 19th of April is “free theme”, where any photo is admissible. It was suggested that if I have a photo somewhere in your photostream or archive that you would love to showcase, then this is the perfect time to do so! I have hundreds of photographs that have never seen the light of day, and I could have used any number of them, but as it is Easter, I have decided to stick with the seasonal theme commenced yesterday with the “Looking Close on Friday” theme of “Easter Greetings”. In this case, I have used two of my 1:12 miniature bears, Malachi and his cousin Mutzli who are sitting inside half of the rather charming Russian papier mâché egg I acquired a little while ago from a Russian gift shop in the city, which opens up and is hollow inside, lined with a pretty stencilled pattern. Another little Russian hand painted wooden egg featuring a folk art floral pattern I picked up at the same time can be seen to the right of the egg Malachi and Mutzli are sitting in. The other delicate and fragile Easter eggs that surround them have been painted completely by hand in Turkey in a beautiful Art Nouveau style, known as Arts and Crafts Movement or “Style Liberty” in the United Kingdom. The eggs all have a solid background over which a stylised pattern of flowers in a William Morris style has been painted. The decorated eggs are then covered in a varnish to protect the fragile hand painted surface. The eggs are all painted in Turkey by one family, and then shipped to Australia. The family also make stylish wooden spherical Christmas ornaments with similar Style Liberty design. I hope you like my choice of this week’s theme, and that it makes you smile!
Malachi I acquired in mid-March 2020 (and mid Coronavirus) from a wonderful Melbourne stalwart toy shop: Dafel Dolls and Bears, when I went looking for a present for one of my goddaughters. Malachi is designed by Mary and hand-made by Wendy Joy in Australia. He has articulated arms and legs, and an extremely sweet face. Malachi was the name he came with, written by hand on his little tag.
Mutzli was a lovely surprise gift from a dear friend in Britain who kindly slipped him into a parcel of other delightful gifts for me. Like Malachi, he is mohair, has articulated arms and legs, and an extremely sweet face. Mutzli got his name from the tiny gold tag around his neck. He is made by Mutzli, a Swiss bear manufacturer since 1949.