Startling Lady of Gore
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postnatodepression.bsky.social
Startling Lady of Gore
@postnatodepression.bsky.social
2.8K followers 520 following 6.7K posts
She/her. Lesbian. I post New Zealand ephemera and cool things I find on the Internet Archive. Not affiliated with Archives New Zealand or the National Library.

Gam zu l'tova.
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postnatodepression.bsky.social
Memento mori pendant. Germany, ca. 1660.
The coffin opens to disclose an enamelled skeleton, the initials I.C.S. above its head and the inscription 'HIE. LIEG. ICH. VND. WARTH. AVF. DIH' (Here I lie and wait for you).
Ref M.74-1975, V & A Museum.
Enamelled gold memento mori pendant in the form of a coffin, with cross bones on the suspension chains and a skull pendant. The coffin opens to disclose an enamelled skeleton, the initials I.C.S. above its head and the inscription 'HIE. LIEG. ICH. VND. WARTH. AVF. DIH' (Here I lie and wait for you, in German).
January 29, 2026 at 2:49 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Ivory chaplet, probably French, ca. 1530.
The beads are carved with figures of the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist, the joined heads of a man, woman and Death, and images of the Pope, kings and figures in aristocratic dress.
Ref 281-1867, V & A Museum.
The chaplet is made up of ten small beads, two larger beads at top and bottom, and a terminal memento mori pendant at the lower end, each carved with three heads. The uppermost bead, is a flat panel, with, on one side, the Virgin, on the other, St John the Evangelist (this is a modern insertion). The ten small beads take the form of leaf-covered nuts and all contain three busts in oval quadrilobed niches. The larger three-sided bead below, in the form of an aedicule with a coloumn at its centre, contains a pope, a king, and an emperor. At the bottom, the memento mori pendant consists of three conjoined heads, a bearded man with wreath, a skull with worms curling out from his mouth, also with wreath, and a young woman with plaited and knotted hair. Where their heads meet above there is a triple leaf form and on the underside is a foliate cup. In the Late Middle Ages the chaplet was a vital and commonplace aid to keeping count of the repetition of prayers for both rich and poor. Often hung from the belt by a ring, it usually consisted of ten ‘ave’ (Hail Mary) beads with a larger ‘paternoster’ (Our Father) bead at the beginning or end and a terminal Crucifix. Chaplet beads were made in many materials, from humble plain wood to precious metals and ivory. The popularity of the rosary – the fullest form of repeated prayers – gave rise to the establishment of confraternities devoted to its use in the late fifteenth century, so that by the sixteenth century the production of intricate and costly chaplets was widespread. Chaplets often ended not with a cross but with a terminal pendant, and it is these larger beads which are usually the grandest. Most of them are connected with the notion of the memento mori, a constant reflection that human life is transient. The most common type of memento mori bead is that with conjoined heads: the skull, representing Death, is always present, and is either backed with a single bust or a pair of heads, male and female.
January 29, 2026 at 2:44 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Badge, probably British, ca. 1960-1980.
Ref E.608-2002, V & A Museum.
'I AM AN ENEMY OF THE STATE'. Black text on red.
January 29, 2026 at 2:40 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
"Edward Lear Aged 73 and a Half and His Cat Foss, Aged 16" Drawing by Edward Lear, 1885.
No photographs survive of Foss, as he jumped out of Lear's arms on the only occasion when one was to be taken.
Lear, a rotund bespectacled man with spindly legs, and Foss, a stripy cat with a short tail.
January 29, 2026 at 12:55 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
"Is it too fanciful to suppose that the centrosome [...] is the analogue of the radiating force in human courtship which so strangely sifts out and remoulds the elements of the lover's personality?"
The Drama of Love and Death
Edward Carpenter, 1912
The ignorance, therefore, which causes a young man, husband or lover, to think that the hurried completion of the sexual act is at once the initiation and fulfillment of love, is fatal enough. It marks more often the end than the beginning of the affair, For contrariwise time and plenty of time has to be given in order to allow the central radiation in each case to have its perfect work. Is it too fanciful to suppose that the centrosome, which makes its appearance in the protozoon on its approach to conjunction, and which seems to rule the rearrangement of the chromatin elements within it, is the analogue of the radiating force in human courtship which so strangely sifts out and remoulds the elements of the lover's personality? Does the magic of the centrosome correspond in some sense to the glamour so well known in human affairs?
January 29, 2026 at 12:37 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Actually, this is famously a thing you can do with eggs
Advert- You Can’t Beat Eggs
January 27, 2026 at 7:29 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Portrait of Ruta Raniera.
Foy Brothers, Thames, 1872.
Ref PA3-0073, National Library of New Zealand.
Black and white photo of a young girl in a traditional cloak.
January 27, 2026 at 3:53 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Josiah Wedgwood's trial tray for jasperware, 1773.
Each trial is carefully numbered to correspond with an entry in Josiah’s experiment books, which were written in code because of the risk of industrial espionage.
Ref WE.4241-2014, V & A Museum.
Wooden tray containing ceramic trials in white Jasperware of varying shapes and sizes including modelled mask designs and cameos, numbers written around the trials.
January 27, 2026 at 3:30 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
"SHE WON'T TALK! Will you?"
American poster circa 1943, urging its audience not to accidentally give Nazis information.
Ref E.1409-2004, V & A Museum.
Glamorous blonde with a man's hand covering her mouth. Four large, disembodied ears loom in the background. Kind of Hitchcock-y. Black and white.
January 27, 2026 at 3:14 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
"Closed for the Duration - Loose Talk Can Cost Lives"
Howard Scott for the British and American Ambulance Corps, 1942.
Ref E.597-2004, V & A Museum.
'Closed for the duration', World War II poster warning against careless depicting a man with his mouth covered with tape. The man's head and neck are seen, face on, against a green background, and he has neatly combed black hair. Two pieces of tape are stuck over his mount in an 'X' shape. Above the image, is the slogan, 'Closed for the duration', and below the image, printed in black on a yellow 'banner', 'Loose Talk Can Cost Lives'.
January 27, 2026 at 3:08 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Darned my sock very cutely but on the wrong side, truly nobody has ever suffered as I suffer
An inside out grey sock with a green and yellow patch
January 26, 2026 at 11:10 PM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
I got given some of my aunt’s yarn stash to use up and I would like everyone to appreciate what this colour is called
Yellow merino called “No! Not The Bees”
January 26, 2026 at 9:57 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
A 1942 poster issued by the British and American Ambulance Corps, designed by Otto Soglow. It reminds the viewer not to give Nazis useful information.
Ref E.600-2004, V & A Museum.
'Button your lip!', World War II poster warning against careless depicting a seviceman with his mouth buttoned together. The soldier is depicted in cartoon form, and his mouth is covered by three buttons. The cartoon is black and white, but is against a red background. Above the image, in white letters, is the slogan, 'Button your lip!', and below the image, printed in black on a yellow 'banner', 'Loose Talk Can Cost Lives'.
January 26, 2026 at 5:04 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Portrait of young Māori girl taken ca 1870s, American Photographic Company of Auckland.
Ref PA2-0040, National Library of New Zealand.
A little girl in a korowai and a tāniko dress or skirt. Sepia photo.
January 26, 2026 at 2:56 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Group of Māori children in front of a pātaka, Korohe Marae.
Photo by Leo White, 1938.
Ref PAColl-10010-034
National Library of New Zealand.
Black and white picture of a load of mostly barefoot young kids in front of a storehouse.
January 26, 2026 at 2:51 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
giraffe mohel, apprehensive at his first bris for a human baby
it's a giraffe puppet, kind of like harold the giraffe but won't tell you about menstruation? holding a comically large pair of scissors and looking apprehensive
January 26, 2026 at 1:15 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
My back garden looks like this so Luxon’s hands can look like this
Flooded as, but the ducks are enjoying it Hands full of cash
January 25, 2026 at 5:01 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Hand-knitted tank top by Northern Irish fashion designer Jonathan Anderson.
Ref T.100:1, V & A Museum.
Hand-knitted sleeveless wool top with a complex interlocking structure and various openings. The green, yellow and black yarns used create a similar geometric pattern. The top is not lined.
January 25, 2026 at 3:15 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
This bridal outfit is the oldest known more or less complete Icelandic woman's costume in existence. It is in the general style of Icelandic festive costumes from the late 18th century to about 1800. Some of the jewellery dates back to ~1520.
Ref 258 to M-1869, V & A Museum.
The outfit consists of a green velvet bodice decorated with gilt braid, which is attached to a petticoat of green worsted. A short black velvet jacket goes over the bodice, ornamented with gilt braid and gilt metal thread embroidery. From the openings of the long, tight-fitting sleeves hang spherical ornamented silver gilt buttons of filigree work with pendant leaves. A pleated full skirt of heavy dark blue broadcloth is bound with red wool tape at the bottom, above which is a wide floral border embroidered in polychrome wools. The skirt has a long front opening, which is covered by the matching apron which is held in place by the long pendant girdle made of dark green velvet onto which are sewn 31 closely spaced silver gilt plaques of filigree work together with an ornate silver gilt buckle of cast work. A chain wound around the neck consists of 53 ornate links of cast work from which is suspended a medallion of filigree work with five pendant letters: B A B H B (three letters are now missing). A blue stone in the centre is surrounded by the inscribed letters H H D and the date 1782. The heavy silver gilt shoulder chain, linking together seven circular pieces and a bar, all of filigree work, is of Scandinavian 17th- or 18th-century workmanship. It is terminated at the back by a large medal carrying the date 1537 and in front by a large cross reliquary from about 1520, both by German or Dutch workmanship.
January 25, 2026 at 3:11 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
"This design is made with ear flaps to enable good hearing during telephone calls".
A 1940s knitting pattern, available for download at the Victoria and Albert museum: www.vam.ac.uk/articles/194...
It's a fella in a balaclava that makes him look like a Teletubby.
January 25, 2026 at 3:08 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
A Māori woman grooming herself by the Waikato river, 1938.
Photo by Leo White.
Ref WA-12576-G, National Library of New Zealand.
Black and white photo of a woman in traditional clothes sitting on a riverbank. She is looking at herself in a hand mirror. A brush and comb are by her left hand.
January 23, 2026 at 4:37 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
'The rain it raineth every day'
Beatrix Potter, 1905.
Ref BP.506, V & A Museum.
Drawing in watercolour and pen and ink of frog fishing in the rain with black umbrella up, on a lily pad. Stylised presentation that includes line of verse. Reeds flow from bottom of lily pads down towards white space. Three blue fish are also down in this section of the drawing, one of which has been caught by the frog's line. The red float on the line is bobbing on the water's surface.
January 23, 2026 at 2:04 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Two 18th C darning samplers, both examples of young girls learning to mend their family's clothes. The Dutch piece on the right is noticeably more elaborate.
Left: Eliza Broadhead, 1785, England. Ref T.731-1997.
Right: Gerarda Gerritson age 13, 1763, Netherlands. Ref T.186-1921.
V & A Museum.
January 23, 2026 at 2:00 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
Embroidered sampler showing the solar system. Samplers depicting maps, at first drawn onto the canvas by the pupil or her teacher, became so popular that ready-to-stitch versions in printed satin were developed for sale in the 19th C.
Unknown maker, 1811, England.
Ref T.92-1939. V & A Museum.
Sampler showing the solar system, as it was known in the 19th century- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Also shows how long a year is on each planet at the bottom right corner.
January 23, 2026 at 1:54 AM
postnatodepression.bsky.social
"Circus Performers Getting Ready"
Photograph by John Wilfrid Hinde, 1943
Ref RPS.1203-2019, V & A Museum.
Image shows a man and woman getting ready for a performance within a caravan or trailer. The man is applying clown makeup, and the woman is looking at her reflection in a compact mirror. Both figures are sat a a desk which has a further mirror on it, reflecting a further version of the womans face. There is a window on the right on the image which is lighting the scene.
January 22, 2026 at 7:51 AM