{apothecaries}

There's something strange & appealing all at once about apothecaries. It's the apothecary that gives that fateful potion to Romeo:

Apothecary. Who calls so loud?

Romeo. Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor:

Hold, there is forty ducats: let me have

A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear

As will disperse itself through all the veins

That the life-weary taker may fall dead

And that the trunk may be discharged of breath

As violently as hasty powder fired

Doth hurry from the fatal cannon's womb.

Apothecary. Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua's law

Is death to any he that utters them.

I am drawn to the little shelves, cabinets and vessels of apothecary shops that have a long history in Europe. Perhaps it is my own interest in collecting and the intersections of knowledge, curiosity, wonder, and science that still keep me intrigued. However, there is something aesthetically pleasing about the beautifully arranged bottles, vessels, jars, and receptacles in these images: 

{replica of a 1790 apothecary in Charleston. Photo from South Carolina Attractions}

{I just love these light blue hues with the glass bottles. 1859 apothecary shop in Beaufort, NC. Photo credits: triangle}

This bar in NYC doubles as an apothecary:

{Apotheke. Photo from abc news}

Apparently, the bar owner, Albert Trummer, opened Apotheke, as a bar-cum-apothecary, hidden in New York City's Chinatown. Bartenders wear white lab coats and mix alcohol with fine herbs, apparently concocting 'remedies' for patrons. All I know is that sometimes a drink really can cure all ills.

I really do love the look of some of the bottles used by apothecaries. How great are these bottles featured on PicWorld?:

How beautiful are these blue bottles?



{Amy Moss has provided free downloadable labels for these bottles on her blog , eat, drink, chic}

{from velocity}

How about apothecary furniture?

This cabinet bedside table from Sundance was featured on Apartment Therapy: 

{I love the rough quality to this apothecary cabinet available for purchase from jjkeating}

{from HGTV's blog}

{from miniature apothecary}



{apothecary cabinet, perfect for a living room. from countryliving}

{apothecary cabinet for your office space from ELLE decor}

  

Apothecary inspiration in the kitchen: 

{from Zuniga interiors}

{from tudorks}

House & Home recently featured a blog on decorating with apothecary jars. I particularly like these ideas:

I love images of early apothecary shops: 

{Pietro Longhi, The Apothecary, 1752}



In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, apothecaries often used earthenware jars, called albarellos, such as those pictured here in a Book of Hours: 

{late 13th-14th century, at the Met}

Apothecary signage is also pretty cool:

{perfect for a captain's daughter!}



{the fool}

Happy Fool's Day!

I recently finished The Lyre of Orpheus, the last book in a trilogy by Robertson Davies, which includes The Rebel Angels (1981) and What's Bred in the Bone (1985). Davies was my father's mentor and professor at UofT, and is one of Canada's best. I can see where my Dad gets his amazing writing skills & wit from. Like Davies' other novels, the tale weaves together the lives of various academics, painting a picture of life in academia so true to those of us privy to this strange world. As an Art Historian, this trilogy also struck home as it includes allusions to the art historical world, including paintings, forgeries, and collections, and most interestingly the story of a fascinating triptych. But what does this have to do with the Fool? Well, Simon Darcourt, an Anglican clergyman and professor of Greek, who appears in the earlier novels as a plumpy and uninteresting character, is the key to unravelling the mysteries and thus bringing all the disparate parts of the trilogy together, as he takes on the persona of The Fool. Being The Fool, Darcourt now feels the impulse to do things forbidden and clandestine.
"He was the Fool, the only one of the Tarot figures who was happily in motion—not falling as in the Tower, not endlessly revolving as in the Wheel of Fortune, not drawn ceremonially by horses as in the Chariot, but off on foot, bound for adventure...But had Darcourt, in all his eminently respectable life, ever had a real adventure? That was what the Time of Myth seemed to be urging him to do. When the time comes for truth to speak, it may choose an unfamiliar tongue; the task is to heed what is said.
When he left the forests to return to his life and its burdens, Simon Darcourt was a changed man. Not a wholly new man, not a man one jot less involved in the life of his duties and his friends, but a man with a stronger sense of who he was."

In this sense, the Fool can be a good card to have. The Fool encourages adventure, encourages one to think about who one really is. So on April Fool's, I urge you to find that self.

The best pranks of all time? You can find them listed on the museum of hoaxes website, which lists the best 100 April Fool's of all time. My personal favourites are:

{On April 1, 1957 the British news show Panorama broadcasted a three-minute segment about a spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. From museum hoax}

{On April 1, 1977, The Guardian published a seven-page report regarding San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands}

 I love the look of old tarot cards, a popular game in the Italian courts in the Early Modern Period.
Here are some images of the Fool card:

{Bonifacio Bembo, The Fool, part of the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck, 1460-1470}

The Ship of Fools was also a common motif, taken from a satire originally published 1494 in Basel, Switzerland by Sebastian Brant.


{1549 woodcut edition}




{ Hieronymus Bosch, The Ship of Fools (study), c. 1500, Wash on gray paper, Musée du Louvre, Paris}

  Here's a 20th century Fool:



{Heinrich Vogtherr, The Fool , 1513-1568}

I love this carefully crafted fool's cap made out of silver & a coconut:



{Leonhard I BRÄM, Cup in the shape of a fool's head, 1556, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, image from wga}

 To finish, I couldn't leave out this well-known depiction of the Fool with a map for a face held in the collections of the Bodleian (Shelfmark: Douce Portfolio 142(92))

{spring inspirations}

I'm all about spring. Even though there is still snow on the ground and the temperatures are still below freezing, the fact is, I need inspirations to remind me that spring is truly around the corner.
These robin-egg shades of blue remind me that Easter is on its way and those true harbingers of spring--eggs & birdie tweets--are close at hand:


{from decor8 via tazzinablu}

 This decor also seems to me to speak 'spring'--light, peaceful colours, with shots of yellow for brightness:


{from kootutmurut}

 These touches of bulbs, flowers, & flowering plants from fraeulein-klein and featured on decor8 really do evoke spring:

and I love love love blossoms. Growing up on Vancouver Island, you can't have spring without cherry blossoms: 

These photos below by Julia Dávila were recently featured on decor8 as well. Julia's site is fantastic--you ought to check it out. How lovely are these images to remind you of the glories of spring...and what follows spring, but summer vacations & travels?:



{photos by Julia Dávila featured on Decor8}

 There's something springy about these Violet May prints:

{prints from Violet May, which you can purchase on Etsy}

These lovely book covers by Coralie Bickford recently featured on design*sponge also scream 'spring':



{How I wish I had chosen this title for my PhD dissertation. But Mr. Lamb, shouldn't you have chosen another tasty beast to roast, considering your name?}

 With spring, comes bike-riding. To inspire, some images of bikes & cute outfits to go with:


{from design*sponge}

{above & below photos from littleredhead}



{from simplesong}



{from fairytalewishes&dreams

For some great fashionable outfits on bikes (off the street), check out shining trends, below is one of my favourites: