On the Move - Leeds Coat of Arms

Another magnificent rendition of Leeds Coat of Arms, this one hand stitched by Beryl Smith in 40 hours.

21st April entry describes the history of the Leeds Coat of Arms so I'm linking this one to "Flock Together", bird inspired Exhibitions and Events across the Leeds Museums Service. One of the most interesting exhibits at Temple Newsam has been borrowed from a library in Scotland. It is a priceless Audubon "Birds of America", volume 1 published in the early C19.

Lady Hertford had a copy of this book but it didn't last long. In 1829 she cut out some of the birds to add extra life to her Chinese wallpaper. For the duration of the exhibition at Temple Newsam (28th May - 30th November) the normally roped off Chinese Room has been opened up to give closer access to spotting these American birds in the Chinese landscape.

Flock there and wing your way to the bullion room - particularly this month when the open page of Audubon reveals magnificent Great Horned Owls.

LS2000 - Millennium Owl

Today's image appears as a response to Leeds Daily Photo blog.

When Millennium Square was created in 1999-2000, by the Civic Architect John Thorp, two new owls were commissioned to stand on Portland stone obelisks at the entrance to the Civic Hall. Apparently the largest platform crane in the country at that time was used to take photographs of the original Art Deco owls on the top of the building.

The bronze was cast and the gilding applied in High Wycombe. There are no bronze foundries in Leeds. Were there ever?

This owl was made by Beryl Smith in goldwork. Kid was cut to shape, padded underneath and stitched by hand.