The Orkney Chair

The long awaited Orkney Chair (2 seater) came this week and it was well worth the wait. 

Individually measured to the shape of the Emperor and Empress and ordered on our travels last year, it was always going to be a long wait for such an anticipated prize. 

However, the wait was more than worth it for an Emperor that has for a lifetime admired the simple beauty of Orkney straw backs.

The Emperor's chair is a modern take on the traditional single seaters, but which utilises all the traditional skill and material of this craft classic. With an added sense of romance the imperial couple hope to mould their respective seats over many years to come.

Made of mahogany with, seagrass seats and the traditional woven straw back, its the simplicity of the lines, methods and materials that make Orkney Chairs an icon of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Kudos indeed to the master craftsman Fraser Anderson of Kirkwall for such a wonderful piece of furniture. It is already well loved here and I hope it will be for many years to come: http://www.orkneyhandcraftedfurniture.co.uk

Immortal Warrior

Who Wants to Live Forever? 

There is much to see at the British Museum, as one might expect.

Though, for the Emperor, there was little to rival the original freeze depiction of a Persian Immortal warrior taken from the imperial palace at Susa (present day Iran).

It is the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus who tells us: 

''The Ten Thousand, who were all Persians and all picked men, were led by Hydarnes, the son of Hydarnes. They were called "the Immortals," for the following reason. If one of their body failed either by the stroke of death or of disease, forthwith his place was filled up by another man, so that their number was at no time either greater or less than 10,000.'' 

''Of all the troops the Persians were adorned with the greatest magnificence, and they were likewise the most valiant. Besides their arms, which have been already described, they glittered all over with gold, vast quantities of which they wore about their persons. They were followed by litters, wherein rode their concubines, and by a numerous train of attendants handsomely dressed. Camels and sumpter-beasts carried their provision, apart from that of the other soldiers.''

[Herodotus, Histories VII, 83]

Ice Flowers

[Ice Flowers - Kinross - March 2018]

A cold Scottish Spring saw winter doggedly clinging on,  deep into March this year.  

The 'Beastie from the Eastie' had an offy nastie wee bite. 

O'bdy was frozen and nae'bdy was happy about it. 

Plato on Snow

[Winter is here: We've had a fair bit this year]

[59e] ... when it is thus solidified, the part of it above the earth which is most affected by this process is termed “hail,” and the part upon the earth “ice” and the part which is less affected and is still only half-solid is called snow when it is above the earth, but when it is upon the earth and solidified out of dew it is called “hoar-frost.”

Plato, Timaeus.  

New Year's Day - The Morning After

[Must have been one hell of a party! Even the bins wore party hats in Stirling on New Year's Day 2018]

Christmas Tree

Christmas decorating came early to the imperial household this year.

A considerable effort was expended in the seasonal adornment of the palace - both inside and out.

In the darkest and most inclement season of the year, there is no doubt that the lights and their warmth console us through the gloom and offer respite form the barren cold.

A tree-mendous effort! 

Pliny on the Guiding Force of Nature

[A frosty winter windscreen: taking on a cosmic effect -  Nov 2017]

"The world is sacred, eternal, boundless, self-contained, or, one should say, complete in itself, finite yet resembling the infinite, of all things certain yet resembling the uncertain, embracing in its grasp all things without and within. The world is the work of Nature and, at the same time, the embodiment of Nature herself." 

Pliny The Elder, Natural History, II.2