Art

Ornate Guns

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The Islamic world has always been prone to decorating firearms in an ornate fashion. Most examples I have seen have been Afghan and Arab “Jezail”- type muzzleloaders. Recently frequent reader and commenter “Johnny UK” was in Morocco where he photographed a modern example at the mausoleum of Mohammed V , the founder of modern-day Morocco. It appears to be a Mauser (I think) of some sort. Reader feedback encouraged!


Good Stuff #6: Calligraphy

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I just found that our friend Sir Terence Clark does Arabic calligraphy as a pastime, Since he is “dog (saluki/ tazi) friend”, the subject of this piece is not surprising. In his words:

“In this piece I have used at the top a line of poetry – “Without hunting there is no pleasure” – in what is known as Early Kufic, the style in which the first Qur’ans were written. In the main body I have used the later Fatimid Kufic style for two lines from a poem describing the strength of a Saluqi called Muq (which appears in Rex Smith’s book on Ibn Marzuban) – “He springs into action faster than the sword and the spear; he is more effective than arrows and javelins”. The decoration is in the Ottoman style of the 18th century.”

Dad’s B -17

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Reid’s post below on the weather vane reminded me of a sketch he and Matt and other visitors have seen in my library.

In 1941 my father was a scholarship student at the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston. A year later he was a first lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, a bombardier and navigator in a B17 flying over Germany. I believe he flew 26 missions.

Here is what you get when an art student flies bombers:

And here is the young lieutenant himself:

Update: my brother in law, who has researched my father’s military career, says:

“Joe actually flew 34 missions– 3 Aug, 44 to 11 Dec, 44– and lived to tell about it!”