Get up!

I wasn’t going to work today as Mirinda had a dinner on that she didn’t want to go to. The fact that she didn’t want to go may have been why she had very little difficulty in deciding to come home instead. I’d like to think it was because she wanted me to go to work but I know it’s because she really, really didn’t want to go.

I’d already told Nick at Work that I’d not be in this week but I’d written to him last night, letting him know the good news. I’m not sure it made him all that happy because it meant he had to finish checking my records from last week in a rush first thing this morning.

Almost as soon as I arrived, we sat down together to chat about a few things he’s been meaning to discuss with me. While not particularly productive, this was an excellent catch up session and we managed to deal with quite a few things that have been languishing in the in-tray for ages.

During our chat, Nick asked me if I could find some stuff on the Amazon Steam Navigation Company. Following our chat, I did just that, discovering that it was a British concern which, in 1872 was given the rights and obligations of the Brazilian National Navigation Company, the only company allowed to do business up and down the Amazon. Never one to baulk at colonisation, the Brits jumped at the chance.

They took full advantage of the Brazilian rubber monopoly as well as hunting down coal and other mineral deposits along the river. Then, it all came to an end in 1924 when it was no longer worth it. The Brazilian government bought it back and the company still exists as the Serviço de Navegação da Amazônia e Administração do Porto do Pará, which is not quite so catchy a name…maybe they just called it SNAAPP.

At lunchtime I popped over to the V&A and had a wander around the early European galleries, admiring the ivory carvings and enamel work. I watched a short (3 minutes) video showing how enamelling was done.

My piece for this week is this plaque commemorating the resurrection.

It dates from around 1250 and is gilded copper with enamel. It has a companion but that’s in a museum in Baltimore. They are thought to have, originally, adorned a rather large crucifix.

The interesting thing for me is that the dead, while not losing any of the flesh from their bodies, have lost all their clothes. They seem to be a bit hungry as well. I’m wondering why god would do this. Surely if he could put the flesh back, he could have given them something to bulk them out a bit or some sort of flowing robes. Of course, the pieces wouldn’t look nearly as good or show off the carver’s skills to quite such an extent.

The Latin at the bottom is, apparently, a rhyming poem. Maybe it says

Believe your eyes!
The dead will rise!

I don’t know but like to think it’s at least a little bit funny…but it’s probably not.

And so my day went. At the end of the day I discovered a treasure trove of information about Maudslay’s (a shipbuilding company) but, sadly, had to leave it for next time.