August 21, 2008

Brass Menagerie

When Style Court, whom I hold in the highest esteem, shared her collection of small brass animals, I thought I could share my collection with you all, too. This was actually my father's collection and they always had a place on the bookshelves in the library at our old house.
Two of the brass figures are bugs, used for advertising for a pest control company. Their wings lift up to reveal a little ad. Their bodies are hollow and can store small things like paperclips, or perhaps they might have been ashtrays. The casts of the two bugs are quite detailed; the others, less so.
I also have a brass crab, which is symbolic of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. I can tell it's a she-crab by the mark on her underside. Male blue crabs have an apron that looks like the Washington Monument and female blue crabs have an apron shaped like the Capitol dome. Bet you didn't know that! The shell of the crab lifts off and I've stored little coral jewelry pieces in its cavity.

I also have three brass Christmas ornaments representing my favourite cities - New York, London and Paris. They're pretty heavy to hang on a fir tree, so I have them stationed on a bookcase.
Here's my little brass menagerie!

14 comments:

  1. i have an odd brass 'paperweight' with a bull's face on one side and a bear's face on the other that belonged to my great-grandfather -i can only assume it has something to do with a bear and bull market? I'll have to photograph and post it next week when I'm back from a weekend trip to see if someone knows ANYTHING about it!!

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  2. I found a wonderful little brass turtle at an antique shoe several years ago. Press his little turtle tail and a bell rings. My father loved it so much, I gave it to him.

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  3. OH - those are much bigger in the last shot than I thought! They look wonderful together I think. I love the ad, though - that's so cute!!!

    JOni

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  4. Great collection! I am particularly fond of the crab, being a Cancer. And I have never seen anything like that bug! Love it.

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  5. "Brass Menagerie" - love the play on the play by Tennessee Williams!

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  6. Joni... they're all about 3-5 inches.

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  7. I love these. Such a wonderful collection. I have to say...the she crab is my favorite.

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  8. I love them too! And I too am a July baby so I love the little she-crab! But the bug with the pest control advertising is wonderful too! Now I know what to bring you for a hostess gift...

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  9. Fun collection. I have sold the fly (which I think is an ashtray) before and he was barely on the shelf before someone snatched him up!

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  10. Meg -- so glad you shared these. I need to make sure Kelly and Stephanie see them! Yours are really treasures.

    (And right back at you :)

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  11. Those bugs are wonderful. Also, love the visual for telling male from female crabs. (And no, I've never heard it described that way.)

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  12. This is a fantastic collection! I love love love the bug ad. Too bad companies don't so things like that anymore! How amazing.

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  13. First visit to your site and am very impressed. I also have the crab, and I'm a Cancer (who happened to have cancer) but I've had it for so long I no longer can recall its provenance. Mine has an ashtray insert, which I'm sure yours did originally as they are identical.
    Enjoy your trip across the pond.

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