NB! · Observations · Humour
Light blue breeches with lace, gold braid and floral embroidery
Well, what do you make of these culottes? I think one ought to take them
Alexandr Radayev
NB! · Nature · Ethnography
Hare hunting with a stick, a method known since prehistoric times
A woman hunting hares, driving them from their hiding places with a stick. They live in forms in thick bushes or grass and do not dig burrows. Burrows are the business of rabbits. The method of hunting shown here has been known since prehistoric times
Faith · Observations · Science · Mores · Society
Britain's switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1752 and the 11 days that disappeared
On 2 September 1752 Great Britain switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, some 170 years after Pope Gregory XIII proposed abandoning the outdated system of reckoning time. And so, in Britain in 1752, 2 September was followed directly by 14 September. Eleven days vanished from the history of
NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Observations · Humour
A charming Gothic-style chair from the study of the Comtesse d'Osmond
A charming Gothic-style chair from the study of the Comtesse d'Osmond. The work of Jacob Dismalter, a reproduction of around 1820. Terribly cool unicorns.
NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
An eighteenth-century choker: a diamond-studded bonnet string from grandmother's cap
An eighteenth-century choker: a diamond-studded bonnet string from grandmother's cap. With a little imagination, one could play this up rather nicely. I picture Alla Verber in one, for instance. Or Evelina Khromchenko
NB! · Museums · Pop Culture · Humour
Eighteenth-century footwear combining silk and leather in its trim
Silk loafers with leather inserts, or leather sandals overlaid with silk appliqué? Eighteenth-century fashion, do stop
Faith · Art · Observations · Humour
The Magi, called magicians and kings, and the three parts of the medieval world
At different times the Magi were called sorcerers and kings. And they represent, naturally, the three parts of the world known in the Middle Ages: Africa, Asia and Europe. Though, you know, I rather got carried away: Magi are all very well, but how are we to know what they
NB! · Faith · Art · Books · Humour
Three Magi in One Bed in Medieval Christian Book Miniatures
A picture of three kings in one bed is a common sight in medieval Christian books. They are not up to what you thought. These are the Magi (wise men, kings), to whom an angel is bringing glad tidings
Observations · Mores · Humour
A contradiction in the rule on nakedness of the body at cremation and the power of prejudice
The silliest thing about this rule is that cremation also leaves the body bare, since clothing burns away very quickly. How great was the power of formalities and prejudices. How I loathe them
London · Mores · Society
Why English women were burned while men were quartered for the same crimes
In medieval and early modern England the laws were harsh, and judicial practice spared a great many people. Right up to the end of the eighteenth century, and in some cases the middle of the nineteenth, men and women were sentenced to death for crimes that were serious, to be
NB! · Observations · Society · Humour
Whom I represent when political channels discuss the possible presidential candidacy of an unexpected woman
NB! · Observations · Mores · Humour
The muff as part of the male wardrobe of the 18th century in a drawing
The weather is clearly no longer summery, but the cold is still some way off? A muff! The sound solution for the progressive gentleman of the eighteenth century