As I have done before, today’s images are of antique foreign postage stamps. These are public domain due to age, or due to the fact that many countries consider old designs of postage stamps to be public domain. I found these on Wikipedia Commons, where you can find many more if you have the patience to look. Click on the images to view or download them full-sized.

I found the first one to be especially interesting. Apparently, around the turn of the 20th c., there was message/mail delivery via homing pigeon to the Great Barrier Island “Down Under”… I don’t have any more details. Perhaps an Australian or New Zealander reader can help?

Great Barrier Island "Pigeon-gram" stamp, c. 1899. From Wikipedia Commons.

Postage stamp, New Zealand, 1901. From Wikipedia Commons.

Postage stamp, Empire of Korea, 2 chon, 1900. From Wikipedia Commons.

Peace,

Bekka

Tags: .jpg, 1899, 1900, Asia, asian, birds, color, daily public domain, design, DPD, free, holiday, image, Korea, lady, New Zealand, PD, pigeon, postage, public domain, stamp, triangle, Victorian, Wiki Commons, Wikipedia, woman, yin-yang

Like I said a couple of days ago, sometimes you get odd illustrations when you collect public domain art. This is an illustration from an 1881 book entitled Illustrated Science for Boys and Girls, that I found on Project Gutenberg. No author or illustrator is given. This particular image comes from a discussion of umbrellas. Click on it to view it/download it full-sized.

"Lord of the Twenty-four Umbrellas", from _Illustrated Science for Boys and Girls_, 1881. No author or illustrator given. From the Project Gutenberg files.

Peace,

Bekka

Tags: 1881, Asia, asian, bw, daily public domain, DPD, free, graphics, illustration, image, lady, line drawing, lord, man, noble, PD, portrait, Project Gutenberg, public domain, umbrella, Victorian

This will be a quick post, as I am already late in posting it. [That's what I get for dozing off early in the evening and failing to schedule it beforehand. Now I'm up in the middle of the night, posting.] But today I began reading the novel Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. A lush book, really; I don’t know about the movie – I haven’t seen it, but if it is as lush as the book, it would be a feast for the eyes.

Anyway, this leads me to today’s Daily Public Domain image, a print by the famed 19th c. Japanese artist, Utagawa Hiroshige, entitled Kawachirõ. It was created between 1837 and 1844; and depicts a party at a teahouse, where the men are being entertained by three geisha. I found it among other prints by Hirogishe in the Library of Congress digital collections. Click to see it full-sized.

Kawachiro, by Utagawa Hiroshige, created between 1837 and 1844. Library of Congress Digital Collections, LOC # LC-DIG-jpd-01272.

And now I will go back to the lushness of my book, and hopefully, the peace of sleep. Peace,

Bekka

Tags: Asia, color, daily public domain, DPD, free, geisha, graphics, image, Japan, Library of Congress, LOC, PD, print, public domain, tea, teahouse