Six More Acts of Creativity

Let me see how quickly I can get this post together since I got caught up in emailing a good friend and I'm running about 20 minutes late today. I have six more things of beauty from the Minneapolis Institute of Art to share with you today - things that I love that I wanted to share with all of you. I'll start with the oldest and one that I so adore...

This is a Corinthian Bronze warrior's helmet from 540 BCE. This is a functional piece of beauty and when I compare the sleek lines and patina with those shiny over-the-top metal condoms that PJ had his Gondorian warriors wearing in Return of the King, I am once more appalled at how truly horrible the armor in Lord of the Rings really was. I've had the opportunity to see a lot of different plate armor, helmets and weapons as I grew up - I'm a museum nut. Those helmets from Gondor always make me laugh. They are so stupidly ridiculous. Why couldn't PJ have allowed his warriors to be lean, mean, fighting machines instead? Why not use a helmet like this one?

Now, here's a lovely pottery horse from China. He's not huge, less than two feet tall all around, but just look at that face. What expression. Once again I find myself in love with horses.

I love the Art Deco movement and have three different lights to share with you that fit into that timeframe and style. This is the first. This is a ceiling lamp and it's beauty is in the form and materials. It's heavy, yet light. I'm totally in love.

The second of the lamps is this smaller wood and glass piece that stands on a shelf. It is not a large piece - less than one foot in height, but the balance of materials and the shape of them makes art from something that would normally be totally utilitarian.

My third lamp is this silver and glass oil lamp. The swirls of metal cause my mind to flow and the different angles would reflect the flickering lamplight in so many ways. I probably could sit in front of a lamp like this for hours, just watching the changing light on the swirls of silver.

And finally, because ... well, just because they are super kewl, I present these coral topped gold and silver personal eating utensils. These were made for European royalty and were used in an age when people attended banquets, but they provided their own utensils. The coral was supposed to ward off poisoning, so whoever used these couldn't be poisoned in their food. Such is the trust of man in the higher echelons of society. Maybe it's better to be poor and middle class...