Category Archives: Wall Ornament

ULURU, NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA – Wall Ornament

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uluru - wall hanging (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Uluru, Northern Territory , Australia

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: The famous Uluru … though probably still called Ayres Rock at the time of this travel trinket (as it was until 1993). Usually referred to as the largest rock in the world, it’s not. Mount Augustus in outback Western Australia is. Still this is pretty and, unusually, it is a night time or dusk scene of the rock as opposed to the more common daylight one.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN:   Australia probably

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 28cm long x 11cm wide x 1.5cm thick.     .

GRINDELWALD, SWITZERLAND – Wall Plate

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Grindelwald - Wall Ornament (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Grindelwald , Switzerland

ITEM: Wall Plate

NOTES: A suitably rustic wall hanging declaring Grindelwald, a village in Switzerland’s Bernese Alps in the south which had a population of about 3300 in the 1960s at the time of this souvenir (and about 4000 now). I’m no expert but the flowers could be the Mountain Avens (or maybe Edelweiss), perhaps a Dissecta and maybe an Alpine Forget-me-not (the “King of the Alps”). This is simple and pretty.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN:   Switzerland probably

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 20cm diameter

 

PERU – Wall Ornament

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Peru - Wall Ornament (1)PLACE REPRESENTED:   Peru

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: A simple but striking wall ornament from Peru in Inca gold. Well, in Peruvian gold, namely copper. And it is understandable why the souvenir is in copper given Peru is one of the largest copper producers in the world.

The symbols, the Inca person, the mountains, the llama all say “Peru”. The “Peru” at the bottom is almost superfluous. The punched and painted metal are streetcraft with style

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: copper

MADE IN:   Peru probably

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 19cm diameter

Peru - Wall Ornament (2)

 

KURANDA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA – Wall Ornament

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kuranda - wall ornament (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Kuranda, Queensland , Australia

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: A large wood map of Australia (sorry, no Tasmania) depicting the Kuranda scenic railway train around Kuranda, located on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia (about 25 km from Cairns). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuranda,_Queensland

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN:  unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 36cm across x 28cm wide

FRANKFURT, GERMANY – Wall Ornament

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frankfurt - wall ornament (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Frankfurt , Germany

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: A magnificently detailed look at Frankfurt, a Frankfurt that doesn’t exist anymore. The skyline is modern now. Here, the late 1950s or early 1960s, Frankfurt was still being rebuilt after heavy bombing during World War 2. The bridge (not sure which one) still has a steel span between the block foundations. Wonderfully evocative of a time gone by … and the Frankfurt Elvis would have seen when he was in the US Army stationed near by.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1950s

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN:   Germany probably

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 33cm long x 14cm wide x 1.5cm thick

frankfurt - wall ornament (4)

ABRUZZO, ITALY – Wall Ornament

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Abruzzo, Italy - Wall Ornament (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Abruzzo , Italy

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: “Ricordo d’ Abruzzo”. A “Rembrance of Abruzzo. A contented woman working in a kitchen. A celebration of the traditional. Abruzzo is a region of Italy in Southern Italy (around the middle of the boot on the eastern side). Fiercely proud (at least the ones I know are) they are neither northern nor southern. Quite beautiful the area is less well known to foreign tourists than the usual staples of Italian tourism.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: Copper

MADE IN:  unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 24cm  diameter

FREMANTLE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA – Wall Ornament

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Fremantle - Wall Ornament (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Fremantle, Western Australia , Australia

ITEM: Wall ornament

NOTES: A vivid wall ornament (or trivet) which captures the bright colours of a sunny beach going Australia. Kitschy and contemporary but quite nice … just like Fremantle, perhaps.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 2000s

MADE FROM: Tile

MADE IN:  Australia

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 15.5cm x  15.5cm

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Wall Ornament

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jerusalem-wall-plate-1PLACE REPRESENTED:   Israel

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: As I have said before, “I doubt this blog will create an international incident but in all fairness have decided to enter Jerusalem in as a “state” unto itself even though technically it is the capital of both Israel and Palestine. Two separate entries would throw out the neat order of my tables. So deal with it. Now, if only the middle east problem was as easy to solve”. This is a wonderful earthenware wall plate recognizes the duality (or triality if you are talking about religions and add in Christianity). At the front there seems to be an Orthodox Jew (wearing a traditional “Shtreimel” (or “Spodik”) hat on his head, playing a Jewish clarinet or flute which would have been typical in Klezmer bands. But, in the background amongst the other building there appear to be the traditional Muslim minarets (the slim towers attached to a mosque).

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN:  unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 24cm diameter

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RIJEKA, CROATIA – Wall Ornament

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Rijeka - Wooden Wall Plate (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Rijeka , Croatia

ITEM: Wall Plate

NOTES: The Kapucinska crkva Gospe Lurdske or The Capuchin Church of Our Lady of Lourdes located on Žabica Square in Rijeka. Built between 1904 – 1929 by the Capuchin nuns this is an impressive red and white Catholic church with a neo-Gothic facade. http://www.kvarner.hr/hodocastiti-svetistima/en/lady-lourd.html

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1973

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN: Croatia  (probably) (or the then Yugoslavia)

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 27cm diameter

 

COLOMBIA – Wall Ornament

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Colombia - Wall Ornament - tin (1)PLACE REPRESENTED: Colombia

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: A great vivid piece of aluminium tin foil raised art mounted on to a piece of thin Masonite wood. This art is a cut above your mass produced stuff. The detail on the raised foil is quite good and the colours are vivid. “Caminos de Colombia” means roads of Colombia … not sure why they have that as it is not a map.

Not likely to me mistaken as headphones either.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1990s

MADE FROM: tin foil, wood.

MADE IN: Colombia probably.

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 26cm  x 26cm