Vitascope

[anteros_lmc]

Bonhams annual autumn Marine Sale takes place in London tomorrow and as usual there are lots of hugely desirable and immensely costly pieces in the catalogue including exquisite ship models, paintings by Tuke and Serres and even a painting of the Droits de L'Homme engagement I have never seen before. However the piece I fell in love with is...a

Comments

[eglantine_br]

It is perfect. You could give it such a good home. I am admiring it too.

[anteros_lmc]

It would be very at home here :)

[eglantine_br]

Well. I went and looked at what they had for sale. that did me no good at all! Although my plot donkey may have liked it. (I have a donkey instead of a bunny, because bunnies might actually do what you tell them.)

The sextants were so pretty. I really need one.

[anteros_lmc]

I would love a sextant too. Preferably with a midshipman attached....

I love the idea of plot donkeys. I think I have plot tortoises. They are immensely slow but very long lived!

[eglantine_br]

Did they buy the sextant at home, before they joined the ship? Or was there an old box of sextants somewhere to practice with? (The latter seems unlikely. The former has inherent problems too...)

[anteros_lmc]

I think they had to buy their own sextants and bring them to the ship, though I suspect there was a thriving market in second hand sextants and compasses and such like!

[esteven]

Oh, that clock is so very charming. Why don't they make them like that any more, so that maybe people who cannot spend hundreds of pounds can also buy these cute time pieces.

[anteros_lmc]

Isn't it lovely?! I found some film of one of these clocks working on You Tube, the ship rocks and the back lighting changes to imitate the setting and rising of the sun :)



I did a quick google and came across one that had been sold on ebay for just over £100, it had one hand missing though, and £100 is still a lot of money to pay for a broken clock!

[esteven]

Oh!
*claps hands*
How very very cute!

Also, what things you find!
*admires your great finding skillz*

[anteros_lmc]

Isn't it adorable?!

Also, what things you find!
Nah, they finds me! :)

[charliecochrane]

How sweet is that? Want!

[anteros_lmc]

Want too! And want it even more now I've seen the little film above!

[mylodon]

It reminds me of those pens that have the ships going up and down as you tilt them...

[anteros_lmc]

Ooh yes! Toots has one with a floating shark in it :) Btw her parcel arrived yesterday and she adores her new t-shirt. She took it straight out of the envelope and put it on :D So rest assured, it has found a very appreciative new owner!

[eglantine_br]

Looks as if everything has been sold for crazy high prices. Did you guys see the carved coconut? There is something sweet about it. And there was a French POW model ship.Those two things seemed to me to have the likelihood of interesting stories behind them.

[anteros_lmc]

The coconut is very intriguing isn't it? I would so love to own one of the POW ship models, but they sell for astronomical prices. There is a small but very fine collection of them in the Riverside Museum here in Glasgow. I must try and post pictures of them sometime.