PLACE REPRESENTED: Innsbruck , Austria
ITEM: Wall Ornament
NOTES: The famous town of Innsbruck in Austria dates back to the 4th century. Depicted is the Goldenes Dachl building (which dates back to 1500) in the old town of Innsbruck. A perfect plate to capture the Alpine nature of the town. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenes_Dachl
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Austria probably
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 18cm diameter
PLACE REPRESENTED: Sarajevo , Bosnia and Herzegovina
ITEM: Wall Ornament ]
NOTES: Sarajevo in Bosnia celebrated in wood craft (by pyrography – the art of decorating wood or leather by burning a design on the surface with a heated metallic point ) typical of Yugoslav folk tourist art of the 70s. Depicted here is the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque and Tower clock damaged in the war of the 1990s but repaired. Oddly, perhaps intentionally, one of the verticals in the Mosque’s dome roof leading to the roof spire looks quite like a cross. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazi_Husrev-beg_Mosque
YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s
MADE FROM: wood
MADE IN: Bosnia and Herzegovina probably
MANUFACTURER: unknown
DIMENSIONS: 16.5cm diameter
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. .
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
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
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
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
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
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
PLACE 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
