This post goes for 'Show me a photo (of a bird)' contest, round #170 - with the week topic 'Bird Art'. I am happy the topic continues, since I missed the previous round (had no time for blog) but really would love to share some stuff.
My visuals are a mixture of architectural motifs and decorative arts.
Christmas Tree glass decorations
Let me start with this memorable photo; this pair of gilded glass sparrows (I believe they are sparrows) - a Christmas Tree decoration - we obtained as our present to our babygirl's Godmother. She is a great artist and a nice person, we share love to the art, and Christmas Tree toys as well. These glass decorations is such a fragile stuff that its decline over the years is inevitable... and has to be replenished.
Glass cockerel (Золотой петушок)
Let me start with this one: it is a pure decorative stuff, art made for the sake of itself. Fragile glass figurine that utileses milk-white glass with amber-esque (or fire caramel?) orange colours. Resulting look is very attractive, charming, one would want to hold and touch, even caress its surface... not sure, if my photo conveys that feeling or not xD
An intresting fact about this figurine: I keep it in a special box with the stuff I found on the streets (yes, I enjoy making finds and sometimes even grab and borrow them home, like a dog, to play with, or use as props. Taken individually, these items are not surprising, but as a Lost & Found collection, they make you smile).
So, this cockerel was found on a street (I dont remember when and where exactly). And since it is fragile glass, it was a bit damaged (note the broken beak). Happily, its legs are safe! The overall construction of the figurine does not allow the cockerel to stand at its feet (this was not in plan right from the start).
Siskin statue (Чижик-пыжик)
There is a small statue of a siskin erected at Fontanka embankment in St.Petersburg - but this actually is not a monument to said bird itself, but to the hero of the song of the same name, a representative of urban folklore with almost two centuries history.
There are different versions of the song's origin. One legend claims that 'siskins' (as well as “fried eggs”) was a teaser used on the students of the Imperial Law School, who wore yellow-green uniforms, resembling the siskin plumage. Thus, this teasing song have appeared. (But this is rather a discussible version, not a 100% fact).
На набережной Фонтанки в Петербурге есть памятник чижику-пыжику; но это памятник не птичке, а герою песни, представителю городского фольклора с почти двухвековой историей.
О происхождении песни спорят. Легенда утверждает, что "чижиками-пыжиками", а также "яичницей" дразнили студентов Императорского училища правоведения - их желто-зеленые форменные мундиры пестротой напоминали оперение чижа; именно о них и была сочинена эта шуточная песенка.
The figurine is positioned so that it is difficult to see and cannot be touched, and this is not without reason: it weighs 5 kilograms, and has already been stolen several times, but then restored. Tradition dictates that you throw a coin, and if you manage to do it in a cunning way, if the coin does not fall into the water but remains lying on the platform with the bird, then you will get a lot of happiness. It is difficult to test this experimentally, and probably not necessary - almost every tourist city has such legends, and they are planted by those who then collect coins from the bottom of the river :)
Статуэтка расположена так что ее трудно рассмотреть и нельзя потрогать руками, и это не без причины: оно весит 5 килограммов, и несколько раз уже была украдена, но потом восстановлена. Традиция предписывает кинуть монетку, и если удастся сделать это хитрым образом, если монетка не упадет в воду а останется лежать на платформе с птичкой - то ты получишь много счастья. Проверить это экспериментальным образом трудно, да наверное и не нужно - такие легенды имеет почти каждый туристский город, и высаживают их те кто потом собирает монетки со дна реки :)
Street sellers, of course, have many options for everyone who wants to take home “a piece of St.Petersburg memorabilia.” Moreover, all these figurines do not copy the original one-to-one, but are a free plastic interpretation of the prompt.
Exactly this figurine I photographed at home of my friend, who is obsessed collector of such stuff. The figurine is quite small (3-4 centimeters tall) and depicts a bird in a student uniform, including a uniform cap - which is an absolutely correct interpretation of the character.
Now, let me round up the blog adding to the art bouquet some architectural notes.
Mosaic "Nils's Journey with the Wild Geese". This is only a small part of the art that can be seen at the Mosaic courtyard at 2/7 Tchaikovsky street.
