Hic Sunt Dracones

I'm having great fun exploring ebay and scouring the local antiques shops (local is a stretch, given that some are 45 minutes or so away, but that's fine...) for furnishings for the new house. The goal is to have things to move in at such a time as we actually have the house ready. Since we didn't move any furniture to speak of, my work is cut out for me!

While browsing the other day, I stumbled across a posting for a wrought-iron chandelier dating from the early 1800s. It had dragons! I was determined to get this item, despite not knowing exactly where it would go.

The dragon holds the light fixture
in its mouth, see the leftmost dragon.

From the photo, it looked to be about 40 cm in diameter, so call it the size of a largeish serving platter. However, I didn't really pay attention to that until Michael and Jeremy asked me last night exactly how large this thing was. "You know? I don't really know...." So I did the obvious and looked at the ebay description. "Grande dimensione" was the only thing it said. Criminy! The "boys" started laughing at me and ribbed me mercilessly all evening. I wrote in a panic to the poster, who declared that it was 60-80 cm in diameter. Phew!

Well, it arrived today, and their scorn notwithstanding, both Michael and Jeremy had to admit that it's magnificent!

It has pointy teeth! And a great supporting structure! I'm not positive yet where it's going (Jeremy has declared that the library is the right place for it), but I can't wait to see it in its new home.

Love,

Alexandra