A new post for a new year . . .

whispering on air as on the last bit of lavender scent left in an old forgotten potpourri in the back of a drawer the children start to sing old songs around a bonfire just beginning to roar somewhere beyond the southern sea. . . .songs that go back and songs to be hummed for the words have long been forgotten . . . songs to whisper and then shout until the goddess emerges from the canopy at the top of the trees that tower up into the sky . . . music that can never end as long as the goddess can survive and that's a very long time yet . . .

New Year's Day being our oldest holiday except for perhaps Samhain. . . it is pagan so the various popes tried to get rid of it. People just wouldn't give it up so in the end the pope gave up and made it official.

Ice Frost tiara. 1904. Platinum and diamonds. Chaumet, maker. via pinterest.com.

Woods concept for Act V of a 1918 production of “Saint Elizabeth” Fig. 29, cat. 39. 1918. Austrian/American. Joseph Urban, creator (1872-1933). Collections of Columbia University.

“Pageant, Exit Camel”. circa 1930, by 1937. American. Victor Coleman Anderson, artist (1882-1937). via godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com.

Round top ring. Gold over sterling silver with Murano glass millefiori. via ross-simons.com.

Vauxhall gardens, London. 1809. British. Aquatint. Thomas Rowlandson, maker (1756-1827). via museumoflondon.org.uk.

Band in Elmwood Park celebrating the grand opening of the Terry House Library, Roanoke, Virginia. May 21, 1921 image. Collection of the Roanoke Public Libraries.

The Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace. ca. 2018. British. Watercolor. John Walsom, artist. via illustrationweb.com.

“Ceremonial Arch IV.” 1988 to 2016. American. Mierle Laderman Ukeles artist. Queens Museum. photos by Jillian Steinhauer for Hyperallergic

Rendering by an associate of the architect LeRoy Buffington of Pillsbury Hall at the University of Minnesota Minneapolis that was built in 1889. American. Richardson Romanesque. via startribune.com.

Pair of sconceca. 1780. Gilt and patinated bronze. Pierre Gouthière, maker (1732–1813). After a design by François-Joseph Bélanger. Musée du Louvre. RMN-Grand Palais, Musée du Louvre via frick.org.

Advertising circus poster for the Carasco Atlantic. No date. Beigat, printer. Collection of Jaap Best via circusmuseum.nl.

Watercolor concept of the banner car for the 1899 Krewe of Proteus Mardi Gras parade which had the theme “E Pluribus Unum.” New Orleans, Louisiana. Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University.

Ice palace at the Harbin Ice Festival held in China in early 2020. via bbc.com. Many thanks to Bill Wasserman who found it.

Fred Astaire and Tilly Losch in the 1931 stage production “The Band Wagon.” Vandamm Studio, photographers. via godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com.

Entrée du héraut et des tambours from the court ballet Ballet des Fées de la Forest de Saint Germain. 17th c. French. Daniel Rabel, maker (1568-1637). via bibliodyssey.blogspot.com.

Entrance, Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, California. Built in 1922. Egyptian Revival. American. via dot.la

Toros Roslin gospel book. 1256 AD. Armenian. Tempera ink and gold on parchment. Maker not known. via metmuseum.org.

Design for a tableau curtain for the “Tinturel's Vision” scene for a 1920 production of Wagner's opera “Parsifal.” Austrian/American. Joseph Urban, maker (1872-1933). Collections of Columbia University.

Tea glass holder. Lobed body with swans and flowers on a various colored background. ca. 1896-1908. Russian. Silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel. Mark of Nikolai Alexeev, Moscow, via Facebook.

“Temple of the Sun” concept from an 1818 production of Mozart's opera “The Magic Flute”. Italian. Simon Quaglio, maker (1795-1878). via onedelightfulday.wordpress.com.

Corsage ornament that belonged to the French Empress Eugenie (1826-1920). Gold with diamonds and emeralds. via pinterest.com.

The Chariot of Aurora, one side of a sliding panel in the Fumior of the steamer Normandie. 1935. French. Lacquered relief surface mixed with silver and gold. Jean Dunand and Jean Dupas, creators. via ahlstromappraisals.com.

Concept for the American Ballet Theatre production of the Strauss ballet “Whipped Cream.” 2017. American. Mark Ryden, designer. via arrestedmotion.com.

“Palm Beach Nights” curtain design concept for a 1926 production of “Palm Beach Girl.” 1926. fig. 93. cat. 63b. Austrian/American. Watercolor. Joseph Urban, maker (1872-1933). Collection of Columbia University.

Pyramid motif wallpaper. Fantasy art. Image ca. 2013. South Korean. Jae-Cheol Park, artist. vis slodive.com and dodowallpaper.com.

Design for a pendant jewel with a motif of Perseus at the Fountain of Hippocrene. ca. 1901. British. Charles Ricketts, designer (1866-1931). via britishmuseum.org.

Ram's head detail on a gilded console table. ca. 1770. British. Thomas Chippendale, Senior maker. © Harewood House Trust. Photograph by Paul Barker. via Christie's.

Concept for the “Tableau Cree” in the revue “Les Masques”, staged at the Folies Bergere. British/French. 1932. Gouache, pencil, pen and ink, gold paint, and silver paint on card. Alec Shanks, maker. via blog.paperblanks.com.

“Adventurer’s Guild in Gridania,” Final Fantasy XIV. Fantasy art. ca. 2010. Hayden Ambers, artist. via thenerdsofcolor.org.

Tilly Losch and dancers performing the dancing in the dark number in the 1931 stage production “The Band Wagon”. Vandamm Studio, photographers. via godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com.

Act I, Scene II concept for a 1938 La Scala performance of Verdi's opera “Aida.” Tempera, ink, and watercolor on paper. Nicolai Benois, artist (1901-1988). via Swann Galleries.

Advertising ephemera for Adelaide Herrmann and Company’s Hindoo Magic magic show. ca. 1900. Metropolitan Print Company publisher. Image © McCord Museum. via hyperallergic.com.

Untitled work. Fantasy architecture. Contemporary. Japanese. Minoru Nomata, artist. Born in 1955. nomataminoru.com via doorofperception.com

Panda earrings from the “Beautiful Earth” series. Gold plated with green Swarovski crystals. Designed by Susan Rockefeller in collaboration with Atelier Swarovski. via swarovski.com.

A view of the fireworks and illuminations at his Grace the Duke of Richmond's at Whitehall and on the River Thames on Monday 15 May 1749. Performed by the direction of Charles Fredrick Esq. The premiere of Handel's Water Music.

“Chamber of the Novgorod Council” concept for Scene I of a 1914 production of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera “Sadko”. Russian. Ivan Bilibin, artist (1876-1942). via alamy.com.

Costume #78 concept for the Krewe of Proteus 1898 New Orleans Mardi Gras parade which was themed “A Trip to Wonderland.” New Orleans, Louisiana. Bror Andrews Wikstrom, creator. Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University.

2.56 carat Starbrite cut blue sapphire. Madagascar. johndyergems.com.