Picture Gallery

Here, taken yesterday, is a picture of me with my big friend, who lives at Gateshead.

Photo courtesy of FionaB

It is an interesting picture, McTag. Can you elaborate a bit more about
the statue?

Books were secured by chaining them to shelves, reading desks, pulpits and pews in order to prevent them from being stolen. The chains used for this purpose varied in length from nearly 3 feet to almost 5 feet, while the links ranged in size from 1 1/2 to almost 3 inches in length, with a width of about 1/2 inch. The problem of the chains breaking when twisted was partially overcome by the inclusion of a swivel in the middle or at one end.

Taken recently at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

I have it on very good authority that this is a "great bed".

"The Great Bed of Ware is one of the most extravagant pieces in the British Galleries at the V&A. At over three metres wide it is twice the size of a normal bed of that period and was probably made for an inn at Ware in Hertfordshire. However it only took six years for it have tourism status, when it was mentioned by a German visitor to Ware and a few years later it was referred to in Shakespeare's play 'Twelfth Night'. There were also strange stories about the bed such as on the night of William and Mary's coronation in 1689 it was said to have slept '26 butchers and their wives'! It was made by a German craftsman out of oak wood and inspired by design prints from Flanders (a place in Belgium). The decoration is similar to beds of the time including the drapes which were more expensive than the actual bed."