And thanks to peacay, over at Bibliodyssey, for this link to a flickr set taken of sketches from Lyon, France - the best of which peacay himself showcased in his recent "Collected Miscellany" post. Marvelous.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
La Mongolfiera
I bought these in a flea market in France this summer. I think they're wonderful. La Mongolfiera means "the [hot air] Balloon" in Italian. What they were doing in France, and whether they were even really antiques, as the man was implying, I don't know - and I probably don't care. They're really fun, and that's enough for me. Click on them for more details...
And thanks to peacay, over at Bibliodyssey, for this link to a flickr set taken of sketches from Lyon, France - the best of which peacay himself showcased in his recent "Collected Miscellany" post. Marvelous.
And thanks to peacay, over at Bibliodyssey, for this link to a flickr set taken of sketches from Lyon, France - the best of which peacay himself showcased in his recent "Collected Miscellany" post. Marvelous.
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10 comments:
Yeah, it all seems a leetle suspicious. Names and dates add an air (sic) of authenticity but I think my money would be on recent or semi-recent retro illustrations. But yes, of course, they are fabulous! Good score.
It occured to me they might be from some kind of modern enthusiast's monogram, like something from a fanciful magazine article, turned into a sort of Steampunk version of a commemorative plate (although that seems very unusual). There is a page up about hot air ballooning in Italy, with links to various associations, but I have yet to find any reference to any magazines or publications.
I've been reading your blog for a while but this is my first de-lurking.
Who cares if these are original; they're beautiful!
Funnily enough, I did a post today about hot air balloons, though I think I shall now forever call them "mongolfiera". My post, if you want to see, is here: http://fishnorfowl.net/?p=9
What an interesting blog you have! Congratulations.
It's a beautiful piece you have.
I will take a "mongolfiera" flight soon in my area with a group of friends. It's been postponed due weather conditions several times. I always dream I'm flying and the balloon looks everything but a normal balloon in my dreams. Maybe I'll dream about the mongolfiera next time before I fly.
Oh by the way, check out this flickr set. The person who posted it/alerted me to it says that it's a contemporary [ie. 1784] manuscript of flying machines owned by the Municipal Archives in Lyons in France.
Oh, my word. Those are marvelous. Everything marvelous to do with the Enlightenment seems to come from France... I encourage everyone to go look. In fact, peacay, I'm going to make an addendum, if you don't mind.
Sure. It's not like they're mine, heh.
(I did actually post a couple of pics fromt he set the other day - the guy wrote to me and I was a bit skeptical about their origin. So he passed on a bit more info and sent me to an official institutional link in Lyons that uses a partial image from the manuscript in their header.)
Montgolfier invente the hot air balloon - looks like the "t" got elided in the Italian.
very cool. thank you for sharing.
They are fantastic, regardless of their origin. I could stare at them forever!
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