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<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v5.0.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:30:29 GMT--><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><title>Domestic Adornments</title><subtitle>Domestic Adornments</subtitle><id>http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/domestic-adornments/</id><link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/domestic-adornments/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/domestic-adornments/atom.xml"/><generator uri="http://www.squarespace.com/" version="Squarespace Site Server v5.0.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/)">Squarespace</generator><entry><title>Recreations for Artistic Ladies</title><id>http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/domestic-adornments/2007/7/27/recreations-for-artistic-ladies.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/domestic-adornments/2007/7/27/recreations-for-artistic-ladies.html"/><author><name>rachel</name></author><published>2007-07-27T22:45:12Z</published><updated>2007-07-27T22:45:12Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p>Published in 1860, <em>Art Recreations </em>offers itself as being a complete guide to all the womanly artistry including pencil drawing, oil and watercolour painting, moss work, papier mache, feather flowers, shell work, magic laterns, enamel painting, hair work, and - of course&nbsp; - taxidermy.&nbsp; The authors waste no time with pleasantries:&nbsp;the chapter begins bluntly:&nbsp;&quot;Take out the entrails.&quot;&nbsp; </p><p><span class="full-image-float-none"><img style="width: 500px; height: 551px" alt="recreations-web.jpg" src="http://www.ravishingbeasts.com/storage/genres/recreations-web.jpg" /></span></p><p>The entire entry consists only of the above page&nbsp;and another&nbsp;paragraph which explains that&nbsp;after taking out the entrails, the&nbsp;&quot;better way for very small birds to open a passage to the brain, which must be scooped out through the mouth.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;The skull cavity and the whole body (that is, the little bird is not skinned) is then to be filled with a mixture of salt, pepper, and alum.&nbsp; The bird is then to be hung in a cool, airy place first by the feet (so that the body may be impregnated with the salt) and then by a wire passed through the bird's beak until the bird &quot;appears to be sweet,&quot; which I assume means until the bird no longer smells of&nbsp;decay.&nbsp; Perhaps&nbsp;the common&nbsp;judgement&nbsp;of the dainty&nbsp;Victorian lady needs some readjustment. &nbsp;</p><p>If you might be wondering what &quot;hair work&quot;&nbsp;involves,&nbsp;let me explain.&nbsp; Simply put, hair work is the art of creating flowers and leaves from hair.&nbsp;&nbsp;The authors claim that the hair must be &quot;hair from the head of living person,&quot; which is the be plucked and brushed as smoothly as possible and tied in bunches. Then begins an explaination that I confess&nbsp;I can't really follow but it involves twisted wire, a bit of whalebone, and knitting needles and&nbsp;succeeds in the creation of&nbsp;forget-me-nots, roses (requiring much time and great care), daisies, leaves, and asters.&nbsp; &quot;Practice in this art,&quot; I am assured, &quot;is of more&nbsp;value than precept.&nbsp; The artist will find the difficulties&nbsp;gradually disappear as the work is persevered in, and to the study specimens of hair work, now so common, will assist the learner in many points.&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp;</p>]]></content></entry></feed>