Sarah Fisichella

SHOULD THE U.S BLOT OUT THE SUN AND USHER IN AN AGE OF ETERNAL DARKNESS? - Gallup 2/20/26-3/5/26

NO - 41%
YES - 38%
UNSURE - 21%

Geastrum, or Earthstar mushroom, from Anna Maria Hussey’s ‘Illustrations of British mycology’ Published in London: Reeve, Benham and Reeve, 1849-55.

I saw this at UW-Madison Special Collections.

#hernaturalhistory #Geastrum #earthstar

Happy World Book Day!

What is your favourite book?

Here we share a delicate embroidered book cover - the perfect accessory for any book lover in the 17th century.

This cover was made in England in 1632 and originally contained the third part of the bible.

🪡 WA2010.19

Two photographs of a late 19th‑ to early 20th‑century hand‑embroidered cream waistcoat displayed on a mannequin. The full view shows a deep V‑neck waistcoat with curved fronts, five turquoise‑coloured buttons, and floral embroidery along the lapels, pockets, and front edges. The close‑up image highlights the delicate pastel embroidery of flowers and ribbon motifs stitched along the lapel on the smooth silk fabric.

#FridayFrocks #Embroidery A man’s waistcoat of cream silk satin, c.1895 - 1905. It’s likely to have been a wedding waistcoat, with motifs that were meaningful for the wearer. These include baskets, bows and hunting horns.

The life of the mole

BL Royal MS 12 F XIII; 'the Rochester Bestiary'; 13th century; f.44v

On the left, a curved rococo bottle in white porcelain with gilt edges and gilt bronze mounts, painted in overglaze enamels with an amorous couple standing under a tree; on the right, the bottle is in the shape of a flower-filled urn with a butterfly for the stopper. Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid

Closer view. Photo by me!

Scent bottles (both Meissen c1750) and a closer view of the flower-basket one, George R Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto #c18th #c18 #18thc

In these bewildering landscapes (ca. 1689) by Ferdinand van Kessel, 64 cities across 4 continents are depicted as mere backdrops to the antics of animals — the built environment of the human world almost superfluous. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kessel-four-parts-of-the-world

panels of birchbark with embroidered images of strawberries and people gathering them

Some 19th-century Mi'gmaw embroidery, done on birchbark with moosehair. It depicts strawberries, and women dressed in their fancy ceremonial dress gathering strawberries (the fruit is medicine associated with women, renewal, and the heart).

Intaglio print of a woman in an absolutely vast and extraordinary hair-do, entitled “The Extravaganza”.

Fresh from finishing Bridgerton, am being sent by my partner photos from the Marie Antoinette show at the V&A. Keep up the hair!

Pigeon from “Illustrirtes Mustertauben-Buch” by Gustav Prütz and illustrated by Christian Förster. Hamburg: J. F. Richter, 1884-1886.

#pigeons #birdart #chromolithography #pigeonart #naturalhistory #sciart

Cricket’s revenge.

The striking embroidery of both the coat and the waistcoat depicts mainly irises. The iris is the symbol of wisdom and hope – befitting for a man appreciating the ideas of the enlightenment as Francesco Melzi D'Eril was. The silk used for the embroidery is probably Italian, as Italy was one the main silk producers of the 18th century. The fabric of the gala dress-suit is textured velvet, the tailoring is Venetian. Read more: https://regency-explorer.net/galadresssuit/

The splendid coat and waistcoat of Duke Francesco Melzi D'Eril,
2. half of 18th century

for #PalacesandGardens, themed #FashionThroughTime

On display on the estate of Villa Melzi D'Eril in Bellagio / Italy

Resharing for #NationalPigDay 🐖

Silhouette of a woman with an enormous updo hairdo, long 18th century gown, and an absurd hat perched atop.

How can you be talking about HISTORY with everything that's going on. 18th century history? Women's history? Waves hands.

Friends, it is precisely because of everything that's going on that we need to talk about history much, much more.

Curvy, two-handled based on a pedestal of rococo scrollwork. Pompadour pink ground with a scene in the central cartouche, surrounded by green and gold laurel leaves, of soldiers drinking beer in an encampment, flirting with the young woman who draws their beer. But the real feature are the heads of white elephants with gold tusks that are perched on the shoulders of the vase, with bright turquoise/green jewels in the foreheads that lead to a trail of similarly beads and gold balls above the cartouche. One of those moments when 18C taste borders on the hideous

Sèvres elephant vase (c1760), @waddesdonmanor.bsky.social #c18th #c18 #18thc @waddesdoncurators.bsky.social

A detail from a sixteenth-century alchemy printed, hand-colored, title page shwoing a man in a room working with stones and metals and other alchemic stuff placed on a table. However, the eyeglasses are positioned at the other end of the table. The source is: "Rechter Gebrauch d' Alchimei Mitt vil bißher verborgenen nutzbaren vnnd lustigen Künsten..." (1531), VD16 R 492.

Even the best #earlymodern alchemists forgot sometimes, while working the secrets of their art, where they've put their bloody eyeglasses to see better what exactly they were mixing in front of them ...

Barque de cérémonie vénitienne dorée construite entre 1729 et 1731 pour la maison royale de Savoie. © DR

White porcelain plate with gently scalloped edge, decorated with slightly blurred geometric patterns in red, green and blue that imitate the ikat fabrics of SE Asia. An interesting example of cross-cultural influences

Soup plate in the ‘Atlas’ pattern, inspired by SE Asian ikat textiles (Nymphenburg, c1765), George R Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto #c18th #c18 #18thc

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

A typical decorating ornament from a page of an eighteenth century newspaper made in Zurich, Switzerland. The ornament features three heads, 2 smiling men and a woman, made of symbols.

I see text emoji's in this ornament from an eighteenth century news print. #textemoji #newshistory

A small, flat, circular bowl with a hare's head with a long neck attached on the rim, its long ears standing upright. Painted motifs, dots on the neck, stripes and zigzags on the bowl, enhance the buff clay surface, the hare's face showing eyes, nostrils, and a whimsical expression.

It has been quite a week! We all need a timeline cleanse 🐰

This whimsical shallow terracotta bowl with a lively hare's head modelled onto its rim was perfect for holding libations, grains, or small offerings during #Greek rituals.

While its exact findespot is unknown, comparable... 🧵1/2

📷 me
🏺

Mourning brooch of jet pieces set in loops and drops around a triangle locked holding plaited hair.

#TheVictorianBookoftheDead Mourning brooch of jet framing a triangular hair locket containing the plaited hair of Mrs. Julius Deming/Dorothy Champion [1759-1830] The brooch is Inscribed "D.Deming/Ob. 4th/ Dec 1830 AE71."
bento.collection.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/record/catal...

"Chevre-Feuille" (1840s) by J. J. Grandville: a lady stepping up a staircase, followed by a goat. She is dressed in a gown with elements of honeysuckle and a a cute honeysuckle-hat. From bis book: Les fleurs animees

Oh, a honeysuckle-hat! Dashing!

Long before Cicely Mary Barker, French caricaturist
Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard (1803 – 1847), generally known as "Grandville", turned flowers into humans shapes.

#18thc/#19thc

A giant inflated sculpture by Itamar Gov of a gray rhinoceros amid Romanesque church architecture

A giant inflated sculpture by Itamar Gov of a gray rhinoceros amid Romanesque church architecture

The rear end of a giant inflated sculpture by Itamar Gov of a gray rhinoceros amid Romanesque church architecture

You’ve probably heard the idiom, “the elephant in the room,” but what if yet another megafauna stampeded onto the scene? That’s where Itamar Gov’s installation comes in.

www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/02/itam...

A stylised red and white owl.

'Red on White, Owl' - Ippitsusai Buncho, Japanese Edo period. From the Harvard Art Museum collection.
#OwlishMonday #JapaneseArt

Take a quiet moment to look at this 17th century tassel.

Enjoy! (V&A, London)

What does a swan make you think of? 🦢

Swans are often seen as symbols of beauty and grace, devotion and purity, and they play important roles in famous stories and myths. In art, the swan has been a big source of inspiration throughout the centuries.

👁️ https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection

Organ #cat. prayer book, Bruges or Ghent c. 1480-1490. Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, W.438, fol. 161v. #medieval #MedievalArt

Medieval Illumination (@medieval-illuminations.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy)

https://bsky.app/profile/medieval-illuminations.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy/post/3mfixy5nvcow2

> Organ #cat. prayer book, Bruges or Ghent c. 1480-1490. Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, W.438, fol. 161v. #medieval #MedievalArt

This is happening at schools across the country and similar to ignoring Trump’s racist attacks we’re seeing these moves being downplayed in the hopes of white racial reconciliation.

Paradoxical frog (Pseudis paradoxa) and horned frog (Ceratophrys cornuta?) from 'Pantologia. A New Cyclopædia' by John Mason Good, Olinthus Gregory, and Newton Bosworth. London, 1813. Illustrations by Sydenham Edwards.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Special Collections.

#naturalhistory #frogart