Art · London · Monarchies · Observations · Ethnography

The Green Man on the invitation and the origins of this motif in medieval art

The invitation to the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla is adorned with a pagan image of the Green Man. At the centre of the invitation sits the head of the Green Man, a widely known motif of medieval architecture, art and folklore. You will surely have seen,

NB! · Art · Museums · Ethnography

Hand Embroidery by the Needlewomen of Kostroma for Stalin's 60th Birthday, in the Museum of the Great Kostroma Linen Manufactory

Books · Ethnography · Humour

Valentin Berestov's poem about what Pushkin did not know

Pushkin Studies. What was there that great Pushkin never knew? He never knew a single chastushka, Never saw a single matryoshka In her lacquered little dress. The birch as the symbol of Rus' He never called, God forbid. In his day it was not suited To that role. It

Books · Mores · Pop Culture · Ethnography

After the success of the novel Little Lord Fauntleroy in the 1880s, the outfit of beret, dark jacket, knee-length breeches, coloured silk sash and lace-and-bow shirt became almost obligatory in a boy's wardrobe on both…

After the success of the novel Little Lord Fauntleroy in the 1880s, the outfit of beret, dark jacket, knee-length breeches, coloured silk sash and lace-and-bow shirt became almost obligatory in a boy's wardrobe on both sides of the Atlantic. Suddenly English, French, American and even

Art · London · Museums · Ethnography

Wooden sphinx of the Haida people in the British Museum, attributed to Simeon Siltda

This wooden sphinx in the British Museum has nothing to do with Egypt. The sculpture is the work of a North American artist of the Haida, a small nation living on the islands of British Columbia. The sphinx was found in an abandoned Haida village, buried inside an empty house.

Art · Books · Museums · Ethnography

Rumour flew: the kings of foreign lands Feared my audacity; Their haughty hosts Fled before the swords of the North

"Ruslan and Lyudmila", Pushkin. This is what one of the oldest surviving knotted carpets in the world looks like: a Norwegian tapestry of the 12th century from Baldishol, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo

NB! · Art · Ethnography

Baba Yaga, Viktor Vasnetsov

NB! · The East · Pop Culture · Ethnography

From mid-December to mid-April, Saint Moritz in Switzerland will host a Louis Vuitton pop-up store in the form of a Central Asian yurt, decorated in the LV style

NB! · Mores · Ethnography · Humour

Livia Drusilla makes sure you burn your slip of wishes and eat the ashes before the new year begins

Black and white photograph of a child in a light shirt looking at a hanukkiah whose candles are set on oranges.

NB! · Faith · Observations · Ethnography

A child before a hanukkiah made of oranges, with Hanukkah greetings

A child and a hanukkiah made of oranges. Happy Hanukkah 🌸🌹💐🌺🌷🌼🌻

Faith · Ethnography · Humour

The Norwegian Yule goat Julebukk and its Christmastide house visits

No, this is not the principal shareholder of Balenciaga, but the Yule Goat of Norway, the Julebukk, which goes back to pre-Christian rituals and is linked to the image of the hoofed beasts harnessed to the chariot of the god Thor. At Christmastide the Julebukk goes from house to

NB! · Society · Nature · Ethnography