ISRAEL – Wall Plate

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PLACE REPRESENTED: Israel

ITEM: Wall Plate

NOTES: A stylish, old school looking brass plate depicting Moses and “Israel” in English and Hebrew along the bottom. Moses was the leader of the Israelites dating back to the 13th century BC. The most important prophet in Judaism and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, the Druze faith, the Baháʼí Faith, and other Abrahamic religions.The plate, like Israel, is intricate, substantial and permanent.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: steel (brass?)

MADE IN: Israel (I suspect)

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 25cm diameter

 

IRELAND – Wall Ornament

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PLACE REPRESENTED: Ireland

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: The Irish shillelagh is a walking stick or club used for walking and, errr clubbing? This one isn’t long enough to be a walking stick, unless you were a little person (the little people of Irish mythology?) and too ornate to be a club (I assume). So,  it is purely decorative though would hurt if used for non-decorative purposes.

In the modern world, the shillelagh is recognised, especially in the Irish-American context, as a symbol of Irishness and populates the mascots and logos of many Irish associations and sports teams. This is one weapon that made the onto the plane and through customs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shillelagh_(club)

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN: Ireland probably

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 44cm long x 11cm wide (at its widest)

 

YANDINA (specifically the Ginger Factory), QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIUA – Tray

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PLACE REPRESENTED: Yandina (specifically The Ginger Factory), Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Tray

NOTES: Every kid in the 1980s had to go visit the Ginger Factory at Yandina, didn’t they? Well, every kid in south east Queensland had to. It was much better than the box factory from The Simpsons as they had activities, a train ride and err ginger products! https://www.gingerfactory.com.au/

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s

MADE FROM: bamboo

MADE IN: Taiwan

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 30.5cm diameter

SLAVONIA, CROATIA – Box

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PLACE REPRESENTED: Slavonia , Croatia

ITEM: Box

NOTES: A very familiar Croatian souvenir from the “Yugoslavia era”, though still manufactured now. Wood, pyrography (wood decorated with burn marks), some basic colours and a postcard glued into place. As I have said before, I love these souvenirs. They are sturdy, vivid and distinctive. This one depicts five towns (Đakovo, Valpovo, Osijek, Vinkovici, Vukovar) in Slavonia, Croatia’s north easter region. Functional and decorative.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN: Croatia (probably)

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 20cm x 16.5cm x 5cm high

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Wall Ornament

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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

NEW CALEDONIA – Wall Plate

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PLACE REPRESENTED: New Caledonia, France

ITEM: Wall Plate

NOTES: New Caledonia, or more appropriately, Nouvelle Caledonie, is an archipelago in the south pacific popular with tourists. This everyone knows. It was colonised by the French. This everyone may know. It is still a dependent territory of France. This everyone should know. It has had political power since 1998 and the Nouméa Accord which was “a promise by the French Republic to grant political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, until the territory decides whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state in a referendum to be held in November 2018” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noumea_Accord) That everyone probably does not know.

The referendum was held in 2018, then another 2020 and 2021. On each occasion New Caledonia voted against independence.

They are , however, sufficiently devolved, though, to have their own nation entry here.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s

MADE FROM: plastic (melamine by the looks of it)

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 15cm diameter

CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO – Ashtray

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PLACE REPRESENTED: Chihuahua , Mexico

ITEM: Ashtray

NOTES: A wonderful Mexican made ashtray in earthy light sand coloured pottery with sparse but vivid glazing. All the stereotypes (though not necessarily negative, so perhaps “symbols” would be a better word) are here … the cactus, the agave, the lagenaria siceraria (Mexican Water Bottle Gourd), and the local in traditional clothing and sombrero having a siesta.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s

MADE FROM: pottery

MADE IN: Mexico

MANUFACTURER: Mexico Co

DIMENSIONS: 10.5cm diameter

 

GOLD COAST (specifically Surfers Paradise), QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Tea Pot

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PLACE REPRESENTED: Gold Coast (specifically Surfers Paradise), Queensland, Australia

ITEM: Tea Pot

NOTES: A tea pot celebrating the famous suburb of Queensland’s beach city the Gold Coast. The suburb is at the heart of the Gold Coast and was (and perhaps still is), for many years, the public face of the Gold Coast and, perhaps, encapsulates all the good and the bad of the suburb. This, tea pot, hand made and colourful is for the upmarket tourists who go to Surfers.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2002

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN: Australia

MANUFACTURER: Jazz (hand made)

DIMENSIONS: 22cm (from spout tip to handle end), 12cm high, 14cm wide, 6.5cd diameter hole for lid.