Posted 12 years ago
spiritinth…
(135 items)
Here she is Beauty Sleep herself! Picture 1 is the headboard that fits into picture 4 where you see the support for the headboard. I have moved the headboard, just because I had no room for the bed to protrude outwards in the space I have. Picture 3 is the footboard. I have no knowledge of the making of this magnificent piece of work. I do however, have the piece to fix the corner of the footboard that is missing the piece. Anyone with info on this would be greatly appreciated! I have had her a long time My Great Dane named Buddha sleeps on her! Her intricate painting and symbolism reaches out to my curiosity.
~Peace~
Hi, spiritinthesky! Remarkable day bed. So good to see that your Great Dane has such a loving Mum. : )
Most attractive furniture form, most unusual symbolic decorations. A few thoughts, the sense of which I suspect that you might well already have encountered. : ) But just in case...
REF the headboard with the yellow fretwork:
The "IHS" is a very common Christogram, and denotes the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, iota-eta-sigma, or ???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christogram
The heart aflame represents a soul filled with love/charity. The heart aflame and the heart pierced are common images in Catholic art. Arrows can represent contrition, sorrow, sacrifice, or transverberation (a spiritual wounding). Instruments of piercing include swords, lances, arrows, and nails. Mary is sometimes depicted with a sword piercing her heart, as predicted by Simeon (Luke 2:33-35). Sometimes, she is shown pierced by seven swords, representing the seven sorrows of Mary.
http://catholic-skyview-tremblay.blogspot.com/
I mention Mary because the other headboard features a design with a prominent “M” and roses, both Marian signs. I have read that St. Ursula is sometimes depicted with three arrows in the heart, and St. Augustine, too. (Here’s a representation of St. Augustine’s thrice-pierced heart.)
http://colonialmexico.blogspot.com/2012/09/mexican-crosses-crosses-of-actopan.html
I don’t remember ever seeing Mary’s heart pierced by three arrows or lances, but perhaps I shall be very embarrassed tomorrow by someone finding a reference to such an image, and one that I have seen before. : )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_heart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Heart_of_Mary
http://www.doctorsofthecatholicchurch.com/TDAMH.html
http://www.catholictradition.org/Saints/signs5.htm
Don’t know the origin of the image in the first link below, but think that the sketch is likely recent, as the love ‘charity’ is spelled ‘charitas’, when the Latin word is actually ‘caritas’. It’s interesting that there are three arrows here. In the second link I see a motif very similar (perhaps the same?) to this one on an old image of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. I think that the symbol in the second image is likely the source of the image in the http://www.heartsmith.com image – or, at least, that it is likely that they share a common source. It is worth pointing out that the double “M” monogram could stand for St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, or St. Mary Major (The Blessed Virgin Mary) and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque ensemble. It’s not quite clear to me how to read this monogram. I am thinking that it could well have been meant to represent two “M”s and an ampersand, perhaps? But I think it could well admit of another reading.
http://www.heartsmith.com/heart_history.html
http://www.oblates.in/oblates-of-St.Francis-de-Sales-india-oursaints.php#saint4
The flaming, wounded heart appears at the center of a flower. St. John of the Cross speaks of his breast ‘flowering’.
http://onetruename.com/StJohn.htm
http://www.catholic-saints.info/catholic-symbols/flowers-christian-symbols.htm
Well, I see that "charity" in Latin can also be rendered "charitas".
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/charitas
I am accustomed to encountering it in "Ubi caritas".
This is the bestest dog bed I have ever seen..love it!...:-)
Thank you mikko... for the wealth of info, to which I was OBLIVIOUS!!
Thanks inky... for appreciating that my royal Great Dane "Buddha" should rest his majestic head every night on this beauty! He's the bestest dog ever!
~Peace~