I ended the old year with a visit to this extraordinary exhibition which I highly recommend although, sadly, there are only a few days left.
It’s described in the introduction material as follows: Featuring artwork by over 30 Indian artists, this major exhibition is bookended by two transformative events in India’s history: Indira Gandhi’s declaration of a state of emergency in 1975 and the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998. The fraught period between these years was marked by social upheaval, economic collapse, and rapid urbanisation.
Within this turbulence, ordinary life continued, and artists made work that distilled historically significant episodes as well as intimate moments and shared experiences. Across a range of media, the vivid, urgent works on show – about friendship, love, desire, family, religion, violence, caste, community, protest – are deeply personal documents from a period of tremendous change.
This is the first institutional exhibition to cover these definitive years, with many works never before seen in the UK.
You can buy timed tickets and watch a short video here.
A Christmas present I would have liked as a child (in fact, I’d probably enjoy getting it now) …
Illustration from the Transport Ticket Society newsletter (yes, I confess to being a member!).
The St Mary Woolnoth 1810 ‘price list’ …
Note the fees for ‘Churching a Woman’ …
Childbirth was seen as dangerous for both mother and child so the churching ceremony was viewed as a way to give thanks for a successful delivery. It was performed even when the child was stillborn or had died unbaptised.
Concert Hall delivery, I think I can guess what’s in them …
What could those wriggly white things possibly be?
It’s an art work by UrbanSolid. The premises were once an art gallery but are now a nail bar.
Morning visitor to my office …
At Liverpool Street Station …
A joyful doorway in Kensington …
Sweet meeting place idea at London Bridge Station ..
Pretty door and heart combined at 65 Banner Street – surely the same artist …
One of my favourite paintings at the Guildhall Art Gallery, The Carlyle Hotel, Bayswater …
It’s by the wonderfully talented Doreen Fletcher. As is this print, Hot Dogs, Mile End Park, which I’m delighted to own …
Disgruntled ULEZ objector …
Memento Mori – a lady dances with Death in St Stephen Walbrook. Like the lady, Death also wears a skirt …
Stunning stained glass at Two Temple Place, commissioned by and built for William Waldorf Astor in the 1890s …
An owl casts a worried glance at a woodsman doing some drastic pruning …
I almost can’t believe that this is my eighth Christmas quiz. When I started my blog way back in 2017 I wasn’t sure I could maintain a weekly publication, but here I am now writing blog number 379!
Happy Christmas and thank you so much for subscribing.
Here are the questions. They are all based on blogs published during 2024 and the answers are at the end of today’s edition.
1. What animals are waddling around Fleet Street this Christmas?
2. Where can you find this friar carrying a pig in a wheelbarrow …
3. What was in this box on display at the Ashmolean Museum and mysteriously marked NOT TO BE OPENED EXCEPT IN THE PRESENCE OF TWO SENIOR OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL MINT …
4. Where am I ‘driving’ the train …
5. Where is the origin of the mysterious green glow …
6. This exotic Indian Bean Tree can be found on what 19th century estate …
7. What’s wrong with this signage in Gresham Street …
8. What famous store at the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Poultry did this clock once adorn …
9. This is Wesley’s Chapel on City Road, home of Methodism …
A very famous lady got married here, had her children baptised here, and donated these altar rails …
Who was she?
10. In St Botolph without Aldersgate is this memorial window commemorating the life of Matthew Webb. What was he famous for?
11. Is the symbol of the City of London a dragon or a gryphon …
12. On Watling Street, what ancient trade is this man practising …
13. At the Guildhall Art Gallery, who is the subject of this terrific sculpture of a thoughtful, gentle man, created by someone who knew him very well personally …
14. This font cover in All Hallows by the Tower is by one of the most famous sculptors and wood carvers of all time. Who was he (a clue, his initials were GG) …
15. This memorial on the Embankment commemorates a famous Brigade consisting of four regiments, a mixture of British, Australian and New Zealand soldiers. What was the Brigade commonly known as …
16. In this church you will find Wren’s finest dome based on his original design for St Paul’s …
There’s also an old fashioned telephone …
What’s the name of the church and what’s the significance of the telephone?
17. This is one of the Guildhall Art Gallery’s most famous paintings. It’s called La Ghirlandata, who is it by …
18. There are six churches in the City that include the name Mary in their title but only one of them contains a fabulous plaster fan-vaulted ceiling that is more reminiscent of a cathedral. It’s is the only parish church in England known to have one, which ‘Mary’ is it ?
This is the nave …
This is the south side aisle …
19. This man is Percivall Pott (1714-1788) as painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds …
And here’s his tombstone outside St Mary Aldermary …
Why is his name familiar to most medical professionals?
20. An easy one to finish. He was often known as ‘The Bastard’ and he started the construction of this building in 1066 ….
7. The Apostrophe is in the wrong place – surely it should be before the ‘S’?
8. Mappin & Webb. The old building in 1994 just before demolition …
It’s replacement …
I make no comment!
9. Baroness Margaret Thatcher. You can see more of the chapel and the surrounding area here.
10. He was the first man to successfully swim the English Channel. His first attempt was on 12 August 1875 but poor weather and sea conditions forced him to abandon his attempt. Twelve days later, he set off again and, despite several jellyfish stings and strong currents, he completed the swim, which was calculated at 40 miles, in 21 hours and 40 minutes …
Tragically, he drowned in 1883 while attempting to cross the Whirlpool Rapids below Niagara Falls. A memorial in his home town of Daley, Shropshire, reads: “Nothing great is easy.”
12. He is a Cordwainer. Here on Watling Street you are in the Ward of Cordwainer which in medieval times was the centre of shoe-making in the City of London. The finest leather from Cordoba in Spain was used which gave rise to the name of the Ward’s craftsmen.
13. It’s a sculpture of Terry Thomas, a major star in the 1950s and 60s best known for playing disreputable members of the upper classes especially ‘cads’, ‘toffs’ and ‘bounders’ …
19. Today, over 300 years since his birth, he is known as one of the founders of orthopaedics and occupational health. His name lives on in a number of conditions that he identified, such as Pott’s disease of the spine and Pott’s Puffy Tumour. The one that initially intrigued me, however, was Pott’s Fracture and how it came to get its name. It was literally by accident! Read all about it and this very likeable man here.
20. William the the Conqueror. Read more about him and other famous monarchs with City connections here.
Happy New Year! Thank you again for subscribing.
If you would like to follow me on Instagram here is the link …
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
