Glass cockerel, brass siskin, Nils on wild goose mosaic, and other bird arts for SMAP #170

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(Edited)

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.

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Christmas Tree glass decorations

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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)

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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.

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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 :)

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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.

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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.

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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.

All images taken by me, copyright (c) @qwerrie
My posts at pinmapple.com
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23 comments
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That's a nice bunch of birds you found! That's a nice glass cockerel you found on the street. The bird on the bridge was clever, I might have missed that while walking by!
!BEER

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Yeah, the cockerel is cool but the most pleasurable part for me is that it was found simply on the ground - being lost somewhere by their previous owners, or simply thrown away. Lost and found is such a funny field to speculate!

!BEER

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You have found very nice objects that represent birds and as always you have taken great shots of them. All the best to you in this round @qwerrie friend :)

!discovery 35
!HUG

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Mille Grazie, I appreciate your complement very much - and manual curation as well. 🙏 Let me treat you back with hot Hive !PIZZA 🍕 I count #smap rather as a challenge, than a contest with necessarily winning or loosing; finding a cool exclusive visual matching to the prompt for me is already a win. 😎

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Dear friend, you are already a winner with such great content and great photos. Thanks for the pizza 🍕😎

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Чижик-пыжик это да прям визитка города) интересно сколько людей за день пытаются поймать удачу за хвост))🤔

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Ну, да. Поэтому и статуэтки всех размеров и ценовых категорий, и медальки с ним, и чего там только в лотках нету. У города много брендов - все для туристов, все на продажу! Чашки настолько хороши, что я прямо креплюсь, удерживая себя от ненужной покупки красивой вещички, !LOLZ 😂 !BEER

сколько людей за день пытаются поймать

трудно сосчитать, но глядя в небо, полагаю что сотня-другая. в особо горячие дни сезона скорее всего и больше. самое смешное, что однажды проходя мимо я заметил такого кадра:

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экспериментально я не проверял, но по идее, складывая два плюс два - у него в руках скорее всего мощный магнит, для дистанционного выгребания со дна Невы "урожая" ... ну прям вот откровенно засветился чувак 😂

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Amazing art, really enjoyed seeing the porcelain bird and thinking how hard is to make that.

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Such a nice collection of bird art, all of them with interesting story or memory.
The glass figurines are so fragile and delicate, but the entry photo stole my heart. The student's cap is so lovely on the head of the birdie.
Tossing coin in water is so popular in many cities, but this is different. The bird seems so small and so does the platform.
Thank you for your wonderful post!

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'Stole my heart' - well said, I like how it sounds. 😘 Glad you enjoyed this little selection, Neli! hope that other Hiveans did, as well. 🍕 !PIZZA for your lunch, meo.

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