Artificial wonders

Some reliefs in Andorran church bells.

Resurrected Christ, bell made around the year 1450. Santa Creu church in Canillo.

Saint Barbara, bell made in 1539. Sant Andreu, Arinsal.

Saint Michael killing the devil, bell made in 1545. Sant Pere del Tarter, Canillo.

Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus, bell made in the 16th century. Sant Esteve, Andorra la Vella.

Saint George, bell made in 1558. Sant Esteve, Andorra la Vella.

The Blue Closet

Artist: Dante Gabriel Rossetti (English, 1828–1882)

Date: 1857

Medium: Watercolour on paper

Collection: Tate Britain, London, United Kingdom

Description

I also wonder "Why mermaids?" because the sort of hunting which involved these whistles - deer, boar, wildfowl etc. - almost certainly happened well inland.

It may have been associated with a popular story - media-related collectibles aren't a modern phenomenon.

Alternately it might reflect a fashion thing, such as one hunter getting hold of a fancy mermaid whistle from somewhere and other hunters deciding it was cool and they should have one as well, but with bells on. (Or more bells, anyway.)

Another instance of "If He Has, I Want" are enormous, impressive and totally useless "swords" made of sawfish snouts.

There are pics of four different ones in this post, and I bet there are others.

If these ARE German, then they're probably a fad brought over from somewhere else. Looking into it a bit, maybe they're copied / inspired by the mermaid whistle / rattles from Spain or belled amulet rattles from Italy?

Anyway, the facebook version for this specific pic says:

"Hunting Whistles - also in the form of a Stylized Siren, 16th century. Silver and gold. Hunting whistles, as well as falconry whistles from the medieval and Tudor period are very rare, with only four other examples in silver listed on the Portable Antiquities Scheme, whilst another three are in the Museum of London collection. A beautiful gold hawking whistle that was given by Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn can be seen in the Victoria & Albert Museum."

One of the items in this picture (second down on the right) has a very similar look-a-like on manuelohen dot com which says:

"Amulet, Museu Maritim de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Amulet, a bell, rattle and whistle in the form of a mermaid, silver, 18th century, in the Museu Maritim de Barcelona, or Barcelona Maritime Museum, housed in the former medieval royal shipyards and arsenals at Drassanes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The museum houses exhibits on the maritime history of Catalonia, including many ships and boats built in the shipyards of Barcelona. Picture by Manuel Cohen."

Mermaid whistles with bells maybe seem to be A Thing.

As with this one, which also looks kinda like on in the original pic, second down on the left, at Autioneum, which lists it as:

18TH CENTURY SPANISH SILVER GILT FIGURAL MERMAID WHISTLE RATTLE AMULET An 18th century Spanish silver gilt figural whistle rattle. The rattle in the form of a siren mermaid, mirror in hand and holding a cylindrical whistle aloft, strung with bells and foliates upon fancy link chain. The chains united by a figural surmount having large fashioned bale. Unmarked, tests indicate silver. Measures approx 16cms drop x 7cms width. AF the rattle retains most original gilding, a few bells have been lost over time.

There's also this whistle / rattle / amulet in a similar style that's both listed as Sold on antiquestore dot art AND listed as for sail on graysantiques dot com both of which describe it as:

"A silver gilt mermaid rattle and whistle. North European, probably Frisia, mid 18th century. Measures 11.2 x 7.5cm, excluding chain but including bells. Amulets in the form of a mermaid have been used since the 17th century. The noise of the bells hanging along the lower edge would help to frighten off any evil spirits. In medieval France the mermaid also merged with the symbolism of motherhood."

For museum sources, there's this horse rattle from Italy, as seen on clevelandart dot org, that's got the same basic style, silver with the chain suspension and hanging bells, which lists it as:

Rattle 1700s Italy, Sicily, 18th century silver Overall: 23.5 cm (9 1/4 in.); Average: 7.7 x 7 cm (3 1/16 x 2 3/4 in.) The Mary Spedding Milliken Memorial Collection, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken 1947.275

've got no study in any of this, but if the original pic IS of some "German Hunting Whistles", then I'm very sad that the one hunting museum in Munich I've seen didn't have any :(

Wat Khao Ploy Waen, Ratanakiri Chedi and pagoda

...and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?

Vincent van Gogh

Some close-up shots from the artist’s website:

Jade Apple jar to lubricate postage stamps.

Brooch in the form of grapes; glass and rose-cut diamonds set in silver backed with gold; possibly by Fonsèque and Olive, Paris, ca. 1889.