Anniversary Linnware

Happy Anniversary Darlene!

We went back to Collector's Treasury to look for some more Linnware to add to our growing South African collection. (And to buy some pieces to commemorate our 35th wedding anniversary - we are not quite yet finished celebrating our big September wedding anniversary!)






First, three containers in interesting shapes and colors for me.

an unusual mushroom colored bowl

an interestingly shaped azure blue urn

a soft mauve pink container

Happy Anniversary Vince!

And the best find of all, for Vince ... this very old and rare yellow paperweight / pen holder!
The earliest iteration of the Ceramic Studio brand, the circa 1910 paperweight was made using the Cullinan trademark.

Before The Ceramic Studio began creating what became known as Linnware, the Cullinan family had long cherished the idea of running a pottery factory in South Africa. During its brief existence , Sir Thomas Cullinan built a special "potters' village" and factory where he employed trained potters from Stoke-on-Kent.

When the factory closed in 1914, the potters were sent back to England and the kilns, workshops and potters' cottages were abandoned until Marjorie Johnstone persuaded the Cullinans to make the premises available for a new studio pottery which she named The Ceramic Studio in 1925.

Happy Anniversary, Vince and Darlene!

Icon jewelry

tribal jewelry hanging on the headboard

It really hasn't been all that hard to keep my promise to myself to not invest in expensive jewelry while living in South Africa. For one thing, it is a much more casual lifestyle here than the one I enjoyed in my old life in the US. And secondly, the tribal and craft jewelry here is so fun and festive ... and cheap! I have hardly felt the deprivation at all.












For instance I love collecting these icon necklaces. Made from photographic images framed in hammered tin, they pack alot of pizazz for a very small price.

Made in South Africa, the photographs feature iconic images like the ubiquitous Lucky Star pilchard can labels in these earrings. (Lucky Star Pilchards are the South African artistic equivalent of Andy Warhol's Campbell Soup cans in the U.S.)  Or these colorful shweshwe kanga cloth images adorning this necklace.

Nerson Mandela photographed by Jürgen Schadeberg

My favorite pieces though feature the photographs of  Jürgen Schadeberg, a South African photographer and artist. Jürgen Schadeberg was born in Berlin in 1931. In 1950, he moved to South Africa to rejoin his family and joined Drum magazine as official photographer and layout artist.

Schadeberg became a teacher and mentor to some of the most creative South African photographers of his time, like Bob Gosani, Ernest Cole and later Peter Magubane. As one of the few white photographers who photographed daily life among the black community, he became knowledgeable about black life and culture. As a result, he captured on film the beginnings of the freedom movement, the effects of apartheid and the vibrancy of township life.

Miriam Makema photographed by Jürgen Schadeberg

Schadeberg photographed many historic and pivotal events in the 1950s among them the Defiance Campaign of 1952, the 1956 Treason Trial, the Sophiatown removals of 1955, the Sophiatown jazz and social scene, the Sharpeville funeral of 1960 and pictures of Robben Island inmates. Some of the famous people he photographed include Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Trevor Huddleston and Govan Mbeki. He also documented the Fifties jazz legends such as Dolly Rathebe, Kippie Moeketsi, Thandi Klaasen and Miriam Makeba.

He was forced to leave South Africa in 1964 and went to London where he taught and curated photographic exhibitions, notably for the Whitechapel Art Gallery. In 1972, he returned to Africa where he accepted a position as photographer for Christian Aid in Botswana and Tanzania. In 1973 he travelled from Senegal and Mali to Kenya and Zaire to take photographs. In 1984, Schadeberg returned to South Africa. He continues to work as a photo-journalist as well as making documentaries about the black community.

The photographs are not limited to only South African icons either. This necklace - which I like to wear on Cinco de Mayo and Dia de los Muertos - features the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.







 

photo from the African Queen Facebook page

I cannot read the very tiny stamped maker's mark on the back of the necklaces so I can't give credit to the actual jewelry designer. But I bought them all at either Art Africa in Parkview or African Queen in Benmore. Oh, I have to find that Tretchikoff necklace!












PS I went back to Art Africa to buy some more necklaces for gifts and I found out the jewelry designer's name is Beverley Price. And you can special order!

Elephant & Giraffe Hair Jewelry

vintage giraffe hair earrings

Along with a treasure trove of vintage ivory and tortoise shell jewelry - which I plan to destroy once I return to the US and therefore will never wear again - I also collect elephant and giraffe hair jewelry. Purchased from a reputable dealer, I do not believe either animal is harmed in any way in order to make jewelry from their tail hair so I feel it is still okay for me to buy and own it. Gosh I hope so anyway!

I bought my first elephant hair bracelets in Africa in 1979 and I wore them for years. Later I collected antique Victorian pieces made with both giraffe and elephant hair that have stood the test of time. Like these 9K gold earrings which I bought at the Chelsea Antique Market in NY - probably made here in South Africa - with giraffe hair inserts and rock art cut-outs of Bushman hunters stalking giraffes.

vintage elephant hair jewelry

Or these Victorian elephant hair and gold bangles and a matching ring which I bought in an antique shop in London. 

contemporary elephant and giraffe hair jewelry

Since moving to South Africa, I have added to my vintage collection with several newer pieces. Like these simple woven elephant and giraffe hair bracelets purchased from the African Craft Market and my elephant hair bracelets and earrings set in silver from jewelry shops in Cape Town. 

an all silver version

People here believe that elephant hair bracelets bring them luck. They also think that whoever wears this kind of bracelet will be blessed with health, love, prosperity and progress.

The legend of African hair bracelet dates back to between 1200 and 1500 years ago where it was believed that people who wore this hair bracelet were protected against misfortunes, harm, and illnesses. People in Africa believe that an elephant is the connecting factor between heaven and earth.

The elephant hair bracelet usually has either two or four knots. The two knots of an elephant hair bracelet represent the balance between nature and earth. The knots of the four knot elephant hair bracelet signifies the four elements of nature, namely fire, sun, water, and wind. The four strands of elephant hairs which pass through the knots symbolize the seasons of a year.

The movements from the knots along the cord shows the forces involving nature and represents continual evolution. As a result, it is believed that the movement helps bring strength, good luck, and fortune to the actual wearer.

Whatever. I just think they are lovely!

Birthday Linnware

I had heard that the Kalk Bay Antique Center near Cape Town specializes in pottery and other ceramic collectibles and might be a good place to scour for some more Linnware for our collection.

It's true, they do. Although to be fair, not nearly as much as Collector's Treasury in Joburg.

But still, I found another coffee mug for Vince for his birthday, this one a dark navy blue.












And a rare red jug for me. This was a real find!

In South Africa, Black Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

Anita Loos, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and even Madonna would have you believe that (white) Diamonds are a girl's best friend, ...










... but back in the USA, I have lots of other precious friends too. Their names are Ruby, Emerald,  ...











... and Sapphire. They are all tucked away in storage waiting for a big girlfriends' reunion someday when I return stateside.

I have black diamond friends in storage too!

Since coming to South Africa though I have adopted the black diamond as my new BFF. (Sorry, Tanzanite.)

It all started with the eternity band of black diamonds Vince bought me here for our 33rd wedding anniversary two years ago. (If there ever was a case for "even a black diamond is forever" by the way, the restaurant where we ate - Le Canard which opened in Sandton in 1987 -  closed shorty after our anniversary dinner. Still have my ring!) Last year, he added a pear-shaped black diamond ring for our 34th.

Latest addition, this black diamond Africa necklace fabricated by Eric at Tinsel for my birthday ...

pear shaped black diamond

... and I bought this ring for myself from Schwartz Jewelers a few months ago ... just because! The eyes are little black diamonds.

In South Africa, black diamonds are this girl's best friend.

Beaded lampshades

Douglas, one of my go-to bead guys at the Bryanston Organic Market, has made beaded lampshades for us before.

He made this one for the side table in our guest bedroom.

















So when I needed another shade for our new Linnware table lamp, I knew who to call ... Douglas!

I love the way the glass beads reflect the light on the walls.

















The colors are perfect too. Thanks Douglas!

South Africa's got Kin in Paris

au La Palais Galliera, La Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris

I chose not to go to see the highly publicized African Art exhibit of carved masks by the Masters of Sculpture from Ivory Coast at the Musée du Quai Branly while I was in Paris in April. I wanted to see Western Art in Europe. I was starved for it.

The National Portrait Gallery, London

Sargent at London's National Portrait Gallery. Matisse, Munch and Picasso at La Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Dürer and the Brueghels at Munich's Alte Pinakothek.

Jan Van Kessel, Africa (detail) from the cycle "The Four Continents", Alte Pinakothek, Munich

 a display of 900 buttons collected by Henri Hamm (1871-1961)

I also saw works by Yves Saint Laurent at La Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent; Jeanne Lanvin at La Palais Galliera, the Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris; and a button exhibit called Déboutonner la mode featuring garments and accessories by emblematic couturiers such as Paul Poiret, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier and Patrick Kelly at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. And the Treasury of jewels at The Munich Residenz. That's Western Art to me too!



And there are probably people who consider Currywurst to be a kind of art as well. I am just not one of them! But if you are, then Berlin's Deutsches Currywurst Museum is the place for you.

au La Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson

So when I stopped in at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Montmartre, I was only looking forward to seeing his iconic photographs again as well as the gallery's other black and white images of street life in Paris.

Then I walked into an exhibition of contemporary photographs and saw this image.

And then I read the title. What's this? Hillbrow 2013. Wait a minute. Hillbrow is in Johannesburg, not Paris.

I picked up a catalog in the lobby and found out that the photographer, Pieter Hugo, is South African. His exhibition, called Kin, was made up mostly of portraits of South Africans of all ages and color, all living on the margins in post-apartheid South Africa. Pieter had set out to photograph the notion of "home" in order to consider one's place in its history. According to Pieter, home is where belonging and alienation coexist. To look at home critically is to look at one's self and one's fellow man.

These two aerial photographs of literal homes graphically articulated the divide between two very different Joburg realities, the Johannesburg township of Diepsloot and the suburban gated community of Dainfern. Note that the scale of the two photographs are the same. Illuminating.

Diepsloot 2013

Dainfern 2013

It was quite a timely exhibit to see considering the current xenophobic crisis happening back in South Africa. Pieter's exhibit did not provide any answers, but it sure gets you thinking.

(Pieter is associated with the Yossi Milo gallery in New York as well as the Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town and Johannesburg.)

My Motiz Quilt

Now that winter's coming, I will be able to really make use of the beautiful quilt Vince bought me for Christmas. He knows how much I love quilts and have been missing being surrounded by them here in South Africa. Dear sweet boy!

But we do not need it for warmth outside of June, July and August, that's for sure. It could come in quite handy though when we're load-shedding this winter - like a quilted silver lining.

I did bring my extra special tee shirt memory quilt with me to South Africa, but out of all the other quilts in my collection in storage back in the US, I have especially been missing our NJ bedroom's all-white wedding ring and pastel and white Victorian fan quilts. Vince bought them both for me for different wedding anniversaries from a quilter near our ski condo in Smugglers' Notch, Vermont. More good memories.






They went everywhere from our first California king size water bed to our later "more mature" queen size ultra-mattress and they graced our bedrooms for more that 30 years!













He purchased my new African quilt from the quilter and batik fabric designer herself at the Sunday Rosebank Finders Keepers Market. Her company is called Motiz Ethnic Wear and Fabric. The quilt does not have a batting layer and it's huge - 245 cm by 230 cm!  It is made up of squares of shweshwe and African batik fabrics with pictures of safari animals and baobabs and rondavels and African crafts. So colorful and beautiful!

Lou & Serge approve!

One thing's for sure. Looks like we are going to have to build an African guest suite in our home wherever we ultimately settle back in the USA to showcase all of our new African treasures.