Tardy Gents

These three dapper fellows showed up around Christmastime, but are only now making their way onto the blog. Please welcome...


Sir Archibald Farnsley


Alexander Marchester


Frederick Zimmerstein

Mythology I

My take on the myth of Daphne and Apollo (in bear-vision):

Shoebills, Savage and Otherwise

In the African wilds, Shoebills once roamed in nomadic tribes, hunting and gathering with great skill. The following illustration shows one of the remaining 'savage' Shoebills and is from a portfolio brought to England in 1860.



This drawing is from the collection of one Herbert S. Millivine, known for his extensive library that contained many rare artifacts relating to the ancient Shoebills' society. He added it to his collection in 1867 after finding it languishing in a London antique market, and often referred to the image as 'my dear ancestor'.

Herbert is pictured below in a photo taken sometime between 1867 and 1869.

Seal-Folk

Stephan DeSotto, 1899

Known best for his rapier wit, which he developed in his teenage years to distract from his rapier teeth, Stephan was popular in the artist's cafés of Paris as he always had a clever insult ready for any newcomers who dared to show off their attempts at art. He tried desperately to overcome the existing prejudices that regarded leopard seals as nothing but bloodthirsty killers (of defenseless penguins, even), and managed to make great headway until the day he was discovered with the pocket watch of a penguin artist named Pierre who had recently gone missing.

It later turned out that Pierre had merely drunk too much absinthe and fallen into the river (and that Stephan had found the watch by the riverside), but by then the poor seal had left Paris in disgrace and it is reported that he spent the rest of his days drinking in smoky taverns in the South of France.



Clarence Warlington, 1822

Not nearly as famous as William Orpheus Harrington, Clarence was still considered one of the foremost opera singers in Europe. His rich tenor graced many a stage, and his first performance in London (where he played Alfredo Germont in La Traviata) drew one of the biggest crowds ever recorded.

Orville Ainsworth - 1888

Orville Ainsworth was a quiet badger who enjoyed the countryside and spent the majority of his time in the Lake District, wandering through meadows and commenting on the slant of the daffodils when a breeze appeared. He was fond of saying he'd been friends with Wordsworth during the poet's twilight years, but few believed his claims, even when he retrieved a signed copy of Poems in Two Volumes.


(P.S: Look! I actually put in a background on this one! Exciting!)

William Orpheus Harrington, 1820

A highly respected opera singer, William - known to the public as The Bariboon (on account of his deep voice) - traveled all over the European continent performing for nobility and packed houses in all the major cities (and a few minor ones as well). His rich baritone was unrivaled, and he shone onstage in such roles as Marcello in La Bohème and Papageno in The Magic Flute.

After retirement, William purchased a villa in Tuscany and lived there with a bevy of beautiful women, who he claimed to be training in the art of singing.

Uriah & Eudora

Elephant shrews may not be true shrews, but, like their shrewish cousins, are known for being hot tempered and quite flighty. It is a wonder, then, that this pair ever got together in the first place. Uriah met Eudora while working in a general store in northern New York State, and began to court her with ribbons, trinkets and flowers not long afterward.

Eudora was coquettish and feigned shyness for a few months, but was eventually won over by Uriah's gifts and his promises of a bright future to the west. Records show that the pair left New York in 1802, but after that no trace of them is to be found.

Olive & Charles Chevreuil, 1850

Charles Chevreuil

Descended from French nobility, Charles' ancestors escaped to England during the French Revolution, establishing a modest 200-acre estate just outside of Bath. Charles lived in England until the age of 18, when he decided to reject his father's wishes for his enrollment in law school and travel to Paris to live in drafty garrets and be a starving artist (something his father blamed on Henri Murger's Scènes de la Vie de Bohème, a book Charles had received from an eccentric aunt).

Once in Paris, Charles realized that most of the drafty garrets were already taken, so he ended up staying at a luxury hotel near Pont Neuf, where he met Olive Dupont and fell in love. The pair enjoyed a short courtship amongst the musicians and absinthe drinkers of Montmartre, then returned to England for their marriage.


Olive Chevreuil

These portraits were taken in 1850 to mark the occasion of their fifth anniversary. By this time Charles' father had died, leaving him the Bath estate and a large fortune. He and Olive were known for throwing grand parties, to which Henrietta and Constance Daugney were often invited (though Olive would put her foot down every time they suggested guests put on a little play).

Henrietta & Constance Daugney, 1859

A Photo of Henrietta and Constance Daugney, 1859

Seldom have two otherwise nondescript sisters made such a mark on history. Henrietta and Constance shocked Victorian England by writing a series of adaptations of the texts of the Marquis de Sade for the London stage, which caused an uproar that lasted for nearly one year (1856-57). The pair was firm in declaring their playwriting efforts art, and attempted to secure one of the biggest theatres in London for their lavish production of Volume I of Aline et Valcour (arguably one of de Sade's tamer texts). The play never reached its opening night, being shut down by the authorities on grounds of morality, and the sisters retreated to the countryside, where they threw regular parties and had guests act out scenes from their censored opus.

Obediah Jones & Captain Wilfred, 1853

A Photo of Obediah Jones & Captain Wilfred, 1853

Taken in 1853 at Barnum's American Museum, this is a souvenir portrait of Obediah Jones, giant, and Captain Wilfred (a.k.a. Wilfred R. Snooder), midget.

The pair was one of the most popular exhibits in Barnum's museum, and thousands would attend their (thrice daily) demonstrations, mostly to ogle the shocking difference in size (but also to marvel at Wilfred's iridescent plumage).

Wilfred remained with Barnum's troupe until his untimely death in 1860 at the age of 40. Obediah quit not long after and moved out of New York City to live out the rest of his days in an exceptionally large house in the countryside.