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The Unexpected Relevance of Medieval Monsters

Monsters once lived at the heart of pop culture, albeit during what was arguably the weirdest time to be alive: the Middle Ages. In intrepid, faraway lands you’d find them: neckless men with their faces in their stomachs – known as “blemmyae” – or yet another being, known as a “panotti”, with ears big enough…
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The Hushed History of Sex Workers on the Battlefield

Sex and war are seemingly the uneasiest of bedfellows, nonetheless, they’ve have had a most intense relationship over centuries of conflict. As early as the Third Crusade, Philip II of France, horrified with the rampant rape and sodomy in his armies, instructed boatloads of “girls of joy” to be dispatched from France to “re-focus” his…
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All You Need is the Opossum Lady (the Undisputed Queen of Youtube)

This picture may not need any explanation. It is arguably perfect as it is. But in these strange and uncertain times, I had an inkling that this might be exactly what we all need. So allow me to formally introduce you to Pearl de Wisdom, aka the Opossum lady. She has been making spiritual opossum…

The Sweet & Forgotten Charm of Vintage Sugar Cube Packaging

So I found this peculiar collection on Flickr by a guy in California called Frank Kelsey. He’s been collecting for 30+ years – he’s also got impressive collections of vintage ashtrays, matchbook covers and baseball cards – but it’s his sugar cube wrappers that had me really enamoured. My guess is there aren’t that many…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 716)

Cauldrons ready? 1. Vintage ephemera from the Talking Board Historical Society Time to get your boards out. More imagery here. 2. Hieroglyphic Lioconcha, a true enigma of the ocean Hieroglyphic Lioconcha is a fascinating species of saltwater clam, native to the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. It is distinguished by its intricate patterns on the shell…

The Lost Art of Cyanotype, Found Again

There’s something in the window of my boutique on Paris’ Left Bank that has been stopping wanderers in their tracks. It’s that mesmerising shade of deep Prussian blue, the result of a 19th-century photographic process known as cyanotype, once favoured by Victorian botanists and early female pioneers of photography. Today, cyanotype has found a second…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 715)

1. Currently lusting after these 3D animal portraits: Immediately must have these at the Cabinet. Stay tuned. See more of the artist’s work here. Found while browsing this incredible home in India on AD Magazine. 2. French Kissing by Edouard Boubat  We all know that famous kiss of Robert Doisneau, but I found these portraits…

Sculpted in Paris, a Black Women’s Legacy Finally Comes to Light

In the 1960s, Barbara Chase-Riboud chose Paris as her home and sanctuary away from her upbringing Jim Crow America, and yet frustratingly, for too long, her genius remained quietly overshadowed by the tumultuous tides of history. The Philadelphia-born artist and writer may not be a household name, but her artistic and literary contributions are as…

The Extraordinary Guests of Charles Babbage’s Saturday Night Soirées

Forget your standard 19th-century dinner parties, where everyone sat around sipping sherry and discussing the weather. If you were lucky enough to snag an invite to Charles Babbage’s Saturday night scientific soirées, you were in for a wild ride through the brainiest and most bizarre conversations that Victorian London had to offer. Picture a mad…

The Mystery of Salem’s Great Misery Island

Whilst looking recently at an old nautical map of the North Shore coastline of Massachusetts, one tiny island caught our eye because of its mysterious sounding name: Great Misery Island! Further inspection of the map showed that the island had no towns, roads or any other topographical features apart from in the south west corner,…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 714)

1. Meet one of the world’s most prolific chair collectors: How Noritsugu Oda found himself sitting on 1,400 chairs. Over 50 years, the Japanese illustrator has accumulated a world-class archive. Now he has to decide what to do with it. “He still remembers the day in 1972 when he spotted a 4 Chaise Longue (then…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 713)

1. An antique railway car miniature made by a retired French postman A wooden-framed railway car is finished with tinted straw in decorative manner to create wall murals, carpets, inlay furnishings, and walls in the interior, and slatted boards and window frames on the exterior. When opened, the interior room has built-in furnishings including table,…
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Mum & Dad named me Vanessa, but you can call me Nessy.

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