The Circling Year (page 1/3)

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On the Serpentine

A night-time Winter scene in Victorian London: it’s the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park, and it’s frozen over with ice. People are skatin, carrying burning torches to light their way; in the foreground a man sells roast chestnuts; someone is pushing a passenger on a sleigh, warmly wrapped [...] [more...] [$]

Frontispiece: The Snow Sweepers (1865)

A man in boots and tall hat, scarf, jacket and rolled-up trousers, stands on the steps of a grand front porch with stone columns while two faces peer out of a window in this city scene. A boy on the street holds a snow-shovel in one gloveless hand and has his other had in his pocket. He wears a cap and scarf. A dog looks on in the snow-covered street [...] [more...] [$]

The Village Blacksmith

The blacksmith stands wearing his boiler suit; he has a hammer in one upraised hand ready to strike hot metal on his anvil; perhaps he is making a horseshoe or maybe it’s a manacle for a slave. In the background his apprentice keeps the fire going; in the foreground, standing next to a mighty tree whose branches seem to support the [...] [more...] [$]

A Hole in the Sack

A horse has been fitted with a nosebag so it can eat, but the nosebag has a hole in it, and is leaking grain onto the ground. A goat, two chickens and some sparrows are enjoying the grains that [...] [more...] [$]

Vintage gold circular leaf border or frame

Today people looking at this circular wreath design stamped in gold would think first of Christmas: there’s holly and ivy and what could pass for ornaments. But if you look more closely it represents the whole year, [...] [more...] [$]