Unknown Address, Cape Town - January 2018
Unknown Address, Cape Town - 2018
Observatory, Cape Town - Circa 1940 – 2018
Melba Bone Co Ltd, Circa 1940
- bone ash
- clay
- feldspathic material
- kaolin (clay material)
Object Parents
Natural resources that “parent” objects:Object Domicile
Personal homeObject Origin
Stafford Street, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, England Circa 1940This Venetian Night coffee cup was manufactured by Melba Bone Co Ltd, and would probably have been made as part of a coffee set.
It is a warm summer evening, 9pm, and the sun has only just set. The moon’s reflection slowly appears on the calm water below, and on a cooler breeze, the aroma of an espresso wafts into the night air. I can feel the steam coming off my little coffee cup as I lift it closer to my lips for a sip. As I draw it closer, the moonlight allows for just enough light to illuminate the golden rim.
I have now really experienced a Venentian Night, on this beautiful warm evening.
Antique objects have always fascinated me. They spark my imagination, as I begin to wonder who owned them before, and where they lived. I wonder how old the object is, when it was made, and how it got to the place where I witnessed it.
This imagination of the antique reminds me of my childhood – filled with fairies, magic, and faraway lands – all, or most, of which was created in my mind. The fairy-lit mosquito net under which I slept housed my dreams, and became a safe space of comfort, where I could dream and think about anything. As I have grown older, I have lost touch with my grand imagination; be it of things small or large.
When I come into contact with second-hand objects, my imagination seems to come alive again. I create romantic ideas about the home in which I would love to live in one day, filled with all these ‘misplaced’ objects that have histories of their own. They become objects I imagine would live within that safe space, for an older self.
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