PLACE REPRESENTED: Szentendre , Hungary
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: Szentendre is a multi ethnic old riverside town in Pest County, Hungary, near the capital city Budapest. This is a nice piece of pottery relief. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szentendre
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s
MADE FROM: pottery
MADE IN: Hungary
MANUFACTURER: Kerámia dísztárgyak
DIMENSIONS: 12cm x 15cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Laos
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: Very shiny gold wall ornament depicting the sites of Laos, “Land of a Million Elephants”. This in the right sunlight is blinding … just like some Laotians I know
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: steel
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 13.5cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Split , Croatia
ITEM: Wall Plate
NOTES: Split, featuring St Dominius Cathedral, done in pyrography (wood decorated with burn marks) on a carved plate. St Dominius (Katedrala Svetog Duje) is located inside the gates of Diocletian’s Palace built in Roman times as the Mausoleum of Diocletian before being converted to a church in the 7th century. Mass is still held here today, making it one of the oldest Catholic cathedrals in the world still in use in its original structure.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Croatia (probably)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 25cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: “I got a boot out of Queensland”. I’m sure you did. Getting a boot can be good or bad, depending who you ask, though it’s generally meant to be favourable. A souvenir of the “insert place name here” variety, this boot is usually used for ‘cowboy country” type places. So, in that respect it does apply to Queensland, at least inland and the outback.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: ceramic material
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 13.5cm across x 16.6cm high
PLACE REPRESENTED: Rijeka , Croatia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: Hand made and home made. i love it. Trsat is a steep hill overlooking Rijeka. On top is perched, not surprisingly, a castle / fortress and a church, Majka Bozja Trsatska (Our lady of Trsat). Building of the (current) church began in the 13th or 14th century but it has been significantly added to and remodelled over the years. Mary’s house in Nazareth is said to have appeared here then mysteriously disappeared sometime later, to be discovered in Italy, in Loreto, where it still stands today as a shrine. The church is famous for its numerous concessions and for the pilgrimages by numerous believers (from Croatia and abroad) throughout the year, and especially on the Assumption of Mary holiday. http://www.kvarner.hr/hodocastiti-svetistima/en/trsat.html
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1998
MADE FROM: pottery
MADE IN: Croatia (I assume)
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 19cm x 14cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Rijeka , Croatia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: The Morcic (Moretto) are a traditional symbol (and good luck charm) for the town of Rijeka on the Croatian north Adriatic coast. This is not some sort of blackface stereotype. The legends of Morcic have a number of sources and you can pick which to accept according to your patriotic, historical or romantic leanings (to show where you are from, to celebrate a military victory over the Ottomans, as a symbol of friendship when an Italian contessa granted freedom to a servant she cared for very much). The morčić motif can be seen throughout the city and is widely recognised, and jewellery and souvenirs, which were prolific, reaching their peak in the 19th century (but disappearing after World War 2) are once again being produced. Rightly or wrongly I’m sure they will be cancelled.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1994
MADE FROM: wood , material , ceramic material.
MADE IN: Croatia
MANUFACTURER: Tarsatic Art
DIMENSIONS: 12cm x 17cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: The Basilica of St Peter , Vatican City
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: The Basilica of St Peter (S Pietro) done in thin tile mosaic on wood. This is small, but in its own way, quite striking. The mentioning of Rome as the location of the Basilica (and Vatican City) is probably superfluous.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s
MADE FROM: wood , tile
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 17cm x 12cm
PLACE REPRESENTED: Lovran , Croatia
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: A small wall ornament with a picture of the old town of Lovran on Croatia’s north coast. Rustic and pretty.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1973
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Croatia probably
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 8cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Tirol , Austria
ITEM: Small wooden wall ornament display plate. NOTES: The region of Tirol (or Tyrol) exists in both Italy (Tirolo) and Austria (Tirol). The spelling indicates this is from the Austrian side but the wooden plate and rustic feel of it reminds me of Italian trinkets. I have another similar ornament and wondered if the flowers depicted are region specific or just random? Those there are similar to the ones here so they could be regionally specific. Small but stylish with pyrography and vivid colours.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 8.5cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Caloundra, Queensland , Australia
ITEM: Humorous Ornament
NOTES: Old school Australian humour. The wheel rotates to display many humorous quotes on “The Sport of Kings”, which is not horseracing but rather betting on horseracing. Have you ever noticed that, inevitably, everything humorous about horse racing seems to revolve about bad luck with the horses? And yet we still gamble. Clearly the “Caloundra” is an afterthought to this tourist trinket. There wasn’t, even, a race track at Caloundra (well not till after this trinket, in the mid 80s). Still, it’s a nice bit of 1960s kitsch.
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: unknown
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 14.5cm x 22cm
