Posts
All Comments
Still on the subject of eggs, here’s a little vintage verse from Spike Milligan for World Poetry Day:
There once lived a virile cockerel
With a thousand hens in Spain,
Now he's old and slow
So he'll never go
To work on an egg again.
Chorus: In Spain the rain falls, etc., etc.
I love the childlike charm of Milligan’s poetry.
Do you?
PS ShopCurious has its own collection of curiously psychogeographical poems – click here to visit Matt Bryden’s poetry map.
Have you been searching for eggs on London’s Faberge Big Egg Hunt? I wasn’t especially looking out for them, but on stumbling upon my first egg, I excitedly entered the keyword into my mobile phone, as requested. I promptly received a congratulatory message - which kindly informed me “This text cost £3”. Anyway, I’m sure it’s all for a good cause…
What with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics this year, many of the eggs seem to be London or British inspired – though I was wondering if the butterfly themed number outside Scott's (restaurant) might be a Scotch egg?
The highest concentration of eggs seems to be in Mayfair, where those wishing to disport their wealth generosity must have had the battery hens on overtime. I think I read somewhere that the eggs are being sold off at a charity auction today. According to the website, Marc Quinn’s miminalist-looking contoured egg (see below left) has the highest bid so far.
Oh, and in Selfridges, there’s an interactive egg, which you can help decorate with your picture, by visiting Facebook.
Meantime, at ShopCurious, we’ve our own curiosity egg in the form of a vintage porcelain hatching turtle. This quirky little fellow is curiously collectable - so perfect for an egg collector, or someone hunting for unusual Easter gifts...
Are you?
Happy Easter!
Easter Eggs were originally a pagan symbol of the rebirth of nature in celebrations of spring, but were adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. Eggs favoured include painted hen’s eggs and chocolate or candy filled varieties.
As we’re adopting something of a royal theme this week, I thought I’d also mention Fabergé eggs:
This year, over a hundred masterpieces by Peter Carl Fabergé, the greatest Russian jeweller and goldsmith of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, will go on display in a special exhibition at the Summer Opening of Buckingham Palace (23 July - 3 October 2011). Royal Fabergé will demonstrate how six successive generations of the British Royal Family, from Queen Victoria to The Queen and The Prince of Wales, have shaped the finest collection of Fabergé in the world in terms of size, range and quality.
Items on show will include the Mosaic Imperial Easter Egg acquired by Queen Mary and King George V, 1933, shown left.
Lest you think you’ve stumbled upon one of those strange sites selling all sorts of curious and unmentionable devices that are usually kept hidden away in a bedside drawer, don't be mistaken - this is just an alternative Easter blog post. If you’re the curious type, you may have noticed the current fashion for luxury erotica. Even so, I was rather surprised to find a lady selling designer sex toys at London Fashion Week.
In these times when everything seems to be reduced to the lowest common denominator, little shocks any more. Women’s magazines indulge us in graphic descriptions of basic bodily functions and popular prime time TV programmes include the likes of Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies. Is this mere voyeurism for us hitherto stiff upper lipped Brits, or are we taking the lead from our fellow Europeans, like the Dutch and the Scandinavians, in becoming more open and direct with regard to our physiology?
Compared to many, I’m probably considered postively prudish, but my curiosity was aroused by Shiri Zinn's decorative glass eggs, now available to order at ShopCurious.
It’s recommended that we keep fit in order to live a long and healthy life. However, some parts of our body are more difficult to workout than others – mainly because we can’t localize them easily. This is the case with the lower pelvic floor muscles which, without regular exercise, weaken and lose their resilience. Aging and childbirth also reduce the flexibility and sensitivity of this area.
The eggs come in three handy sizes, of varying weights, and can be used to train those parts that can’t otherwise be reached. It’s suggested that you start with the lightest egg. In fact, the instructions are curiously amusing:
- Always wear knickers while training…This is because the solid eggs are heavy and can fall out onto your toes or break if they hit hard flooring;
- Eggs will always come out naturually if you laugh, sneeze, cough or push gently in a similar manner to making a bowel movement;
- A woman that practices regularly can learn to use two eggs in opposite directions until they hit each other gently. The vibrations can be heavenly.
It’s an added bonus that the ornamental eggs are also tasteful enough to double up as pretty objets d’art for your dressing table or mantelpiece. Anyway, if you’re on the lookout for unusual gifts this Easter, these curiously erotic eggs may just hit the spot.
Are you?
With many schools starting their Easter break today, I’m sure there are lots of eggs being bought and eaten. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast yesterday and one of the two eggs I cracked open had a double yoke – I’m sure this must be a lucky omen?
Did you know that the tradition of giving real, coloured and decorated eggs dates back over 2000 years? Eggs of the chocolate variety are a relatively recent phenomenon – in fact Cadburys produced their first chocolate egg less than 150 years ago in 1875.
In Ancient China, Greece and Persia, the egg was a symbol of new life and eggs were exchanged at a festival in celebration of the rites of spring. The goddess of spring, who rose from her winter sleep to fill the earth with new life was known as Eostre by the Anglo-Saxons and that’s where the word Easter originates from.
Eggs are often associated with birth – in France, brides still break an egg over the threshold of their new home to bring them good luck and healthy babies. To Christians, the egg became a symbol of Christ’s resurrection – or re-birth.
From the 14th century onwards, there are accounts of eggs being dyed and even covered with gold leaf for the royal household of Edward I. Later, eggs were handmade by specialist craftsmen using silver, gold, ivory and porcelain. Some were even encrusted with jewels – like the luxury Faberge eggs, the most opulent of which was sold in 1994 for $5.6 million. By the 18th century, papier-mache eggs were available as containers for small gifts and by the 19th century cardboard eggs became the fashion. These were covered with silk, lace, stylish velvet bows and ribbons.
If you’re curious to find some quirky and unusual gifts this Easter, ShopCurious is definitely the place to look for eggs. We’ve a seriously cute and highly individual hatching egg that’s an antique carved ivory curiosity from the Far East. Of course, you don’t have to be a Christian to celebrate the Easter holiday, or even be religious for that matter, but if you are we’ve also got a vintage ormolu-embellished mother of pearl ‘Souvenir de Lourdes’ containing a delicate mother of pearl and silver rosary.
These unique eggs are timeless in their appeal, as well as being collectable – they’d make a great investment and a much healthier option for an Easter gift than the common calorific variety. They’re certainly more original, though I don’t think Easter would be quite the same without a little bit of chocolate…
Do you?
