PLACE REPRESENTED: Pula , Croatia
ITEM: Religious Ornament
NOTES: The Blessed Virgin amongst shells with the town name written in (read: insert any town name). Actually, Pula is quite a spectacular mid-size Catholic Croatian coastal town.
Well, that explains the shells and the Blessed Virgin.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2004
MADE FROM: shells
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 10cm high, 10cm across
PLACE REPRESENTED: Istra, Croatia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: A simple yet telling wall hanging depicting the Croatian area of Istra as well as commonly seen objects in the area, all relating to wine, food and agriculture … naturally enough.
The area is, also, commonly referred to as Istria which is the Italian word for the area so the “Istra” depicted is a statement of Croatian Slavic-ness.
The Goat symbol at the top is the shield of Croatian Istra.
Istra is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea and is shared by three countries Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy tough the overwhelming majority of it is in Croatia.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1994
MADE FROM: wood, steel.
MADE IN: Croatia
MANUFACTURER: Izvorni Istarski Suvenir Brcic, Visnjan, Croatia.
DIMENSIONS: 20cm tall, 15cm across
PLACE REPRESENTED: Dubrovnik , Croatia
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: A small ceramic ornament which is nicely detailed … and a quite vivid remembrance of old town Dubrovnik.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2004
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Croatia
MANUFACTURER: Keramika Augustanec
DIMENSIONS: 6cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Split , Croatia
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: A minature beer mug. Wine is more porpular in Split (in Dalmatia) and Croatia generally but beer is drunken (by mugs) though not normally from mugs. Regardless, most places seem to have their town depicted on these beer mug trinkets.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2004
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Croatia (probably)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 6cm high , 5cm wide
PLACE REPRESENTED: Opatija , Croatia.
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: Croatians, like Italians, love their wine. This miniature bukaleta (a wine pitcher) and similar wine related trinkets are everywhere (especially around the Istrian peninsula of Croatia) and most towns have their name depicted on miniature bukaletas. In Italian the pitcher is called a boccaletta or boccale and Opatija is called Abbazia.
For more on bukaletas: http://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=hr&u=http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukaleta&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbukaleta%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D832
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1994
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Croatia (probably)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 7cm high , 7cm wide
PLACE REPRESENTED: Pula , Croatia
ITEM: Coffee Mug
NOTES: Pula’s famous amphitheatre in Istra (Croatian regionalism). Interestingly the mug also has the Italian name for Pula on the front, Pola. Trying to cash in on Italian tourism perhaps or hedging bets on Italy’s return?
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2004
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: Croatia (probably)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 10cm high , 12cm wide
PLACE REPRESENTED: Opatija, Yugoslavia (now Croatia)
ITEM: Wall Picture
NOTES: A wooden frame with a postcard picture. The picture is a postcard of a fountain with a random bus in the background in Opatija but it can be replaced with any postcard. Which would be about right. I’m no expert but the wooden frame seems to be more alpine in nature … and Opatija is on the coast.
I still love this type of rustic souvenir.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 22cm across , 17cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Croatia
ITEM: Ornament
NOTES: Technically this is from Yugoslavia (1972) but it was purchased in Croatia and clearly looks like a Croatian donkey. Doesn’t it?
A well detailed wood carving of the traditional Croatian form of transport of years past, the “magarac” … donkey. The donkey is carrying the obligatory barrel of wine as well as a bucket on each side.
The donkey is central to Croatian culture. Poems, stories and songs have been written about the donkey. Though not that fashionable anymore these trinkets from the 1970s show a clear line to Croatia recent, agrarian past.
Will the mythology survive the shock of the new that is the world post EU?
These carvings were prolific and came in different sizes and shapes.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1972
MADE FROM: wood , steel.
MADE IN: Yugoslavia (as it then was).
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 18cm high , 17cm long.
And there are others . The same size but with slightly different markings.
And of course, together;
PLACE REPRESENTED: Fuzina , Croatia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: Handmade and suitably earthy or woodsy in this case. A slice of wood with some creative use of pine cones. The basic pyrography “Uspomena iz Fuzina” means “A remembrance of Fuzina”. I’m not sure why the maker has chosen the historical Italian variation “Fuzina” rather than the contemporary Croatian “Fuzine”. A nice big piece.
More detail here: http://www.tz-fuzine.hr/view.asp?p=5&c=8
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1994
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Croatia
MANUFACTURER: Handmade
DIMENSIONS: 33cm high , 8cm across
Remember to click on the photos for detailed large images.
PLACE REPRESENTED: Lovran , Croatia
ITEM: Wall ornament
NOTES: I love these things. Handmade with a lot of detail and materials. Not bad for a postcard stuck to a piece of wood and then decorated. Very evocative, despite the fact the shells probably didn’t even come from the area depicted.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1994
MADE FROM: wood , shell
MADE IN: Croatia
MANUFACTURER: Handmade
DIMENSIONS: 30cm long , 10cm high
