Alison K. Smith
@profaks.bsky.social
(Russian) history prof at the University of Toronto and (very) occasional blogger at russianhistoryblog.org. Mostly posts things from research and teaching. She/her.
I knew Arcimboldo painted fruit/vegetable portraits but a BOOK portrait?? Amazing. I could not love this more.
Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...
Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...
January 16, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I knew Arcimboldo painted fruit/vegetable portraits but a BOOK portrait?? Amazing. I could not love this more.
Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...
Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...
Today I stumbled on this stunning piece of... embroidery? I think that's the best word for this kind of needle art? ... made by Maria Christina Frosterus in Uleåborg/Oulu Finland, 1820, in the collections of The National Museum of Finland. I love it.
January 16, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Today I stumbled on this stunning piece of... embroidery? I think that's the best word for this kind of needle art? ... made by Maria Christina Frosterus in Uleåborg/Oulu Finland, 1820, in the collections of The National Museum of Finland. I love it.
A powder commonly in use among Russians to prevent cholera, taken “with such good results” by the British ambassador that he is sending the information on to the foreign office! NA FO 65/424/252
January 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
A powder commonly in use among Russians to prevent cholera, taken “with such good results” by the British ambassador that he is sending the information on to the foreign office! NA FO 65/424/252
I had a massive baking fail last week so the fact that this appears to have come out well is a relief!
December 24, 2024 at 7:22 PM
I had a massive baking fail last week so the fact that this appears to have come out well is a relief!
I cannot interpret this bookplate. The mix of Cyrillic and Latin letters, the ... math??
December 13, 2024 at 2:46 PM
I cannot interpret this bookplate. The mix of Cyrillic and Latin letters, the ... math??
This self-portrait by the prolific illustrator (and caricaturist) Vasilii (George) Timm from 1845ish is amazing. He looks like Freddy Mercury dressed up like a moth. And he's holding a pen like a sword!
December 12, 2024 at 7:18 PM
This self-portrait by the prolific illustrator (and caricaturist) Vasilii (George) Timm from 1845ish is amazing. He looks like Freddy Mercury dressed up like a moth. And he's holding a pen like a sword!
Ha, I like this one, too. It's labeled in the catalog as "Physical culture, Hello!"
December 12, 2024 at 6:25 PM
Ha, I like this one, too. It's labeled in the catalog as "Physical culture, Hello!"
There is a whole series on bicycling! Here's a "velomarathon"!
December 12, 2024 at 6:23 PM
There is a whole series on bicycling! Here's a "velomarathon"!
There is a series commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the emancipation of the serfs! This is "reading the manifesto."
December 12, 2024 at 6:18 PM
There is a series commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the emancipation of the serfs! This is "reading the manifesto."
There is a whole series of "Gogolian types." Again, the mind boggles.
December 12, 2024 at 6:13 PM
There is a whole series of "Gogolian types." Again, the mind boggles.
There is a whole series of chocolates of Russian writers. I have to say, the mind boggles at what flavor Dostoevsky was.
December 12, 2024 at 6:08 PM
There is a whole series of chocolates of Russian writers. I have to say, the mind boggles at what flavor Dostoevsky was.
There is a whole series of songbirds that includes lovely pictures and then also their song depicted in musical notes!
December 12, 2024 at 5:58 PM
There is a whole series of songbirds that includes lovely pictures and then also their song depicted in musical notes!
There is a whole series of "French historical fashion." No, I don't know why, but it's rather beautiful??
December 12, 2024 at 5:52 PM
There is a whole series of "French historical fashion." No, I don't know why, but it's rather beautiful??
There is a whole series of "Child Magician" candy wrappers that include, yes, instructions for how to do magic tricks.
December 12, 2024 at 5:50 PM
There is a whole series of "Child Magician" candy wrappers that include, yes, instructions for how to do magic tricks.
There is a whole series of alphabet candy wrappers -- here's K for koshka (cat)
December 12, 2024 at 5:48 PM
There is a whole series of alphabet candy wrappers -- here's K for koshka (cat)
TIL that the Leninka has candy wrappers in its online catalog. A LOT of candy wrappers.
December 12, 2024 at 5:48 PM
TIL that the Leninka has candy wrappers in its online catalog. A LOT of candy wrappers.
TI(also)L that they used to take the streetlights down in St. Petersburg on May 1. It half makes sense to me -- so little darkness after that for a few months -- but also seems like a lot of work? (The text also notes that people are selling flowers and songbirds.)
December 10, 2024 at 4:10 PM
TI(also)L that they used to take the streetlights down in St. Petersburg on May 1. It half makes sense to me -- so little darkness after that for a few months -- but also seems like a lot of work? (The text also notes that people are selling flowers and songbirds.)
TIL that in 1852 you could see giraffes ("the first in St. Petersburg") and an ostrich in on the Moika canal.
December 10, 2024 at 3:56 PM
TIL that in 1852 you could see giraffes ("the first in St. Petersburg") and an ostrich in on the Moika canal.
This is my other favorite shop sign (for a hair salon in St. Petersburg), and this one I can’t even begin to understand.
December 7, 2024 at 5:04 PM
This is my other favorite shop sign (for a hair salon in St. Petersburg), and this one I can’t even begin to understand.
One of my two all-time favorite shop names. An eyebrow (and tanning) salon named … well.
December 7, 2024 at 4:50 PM
One of my two all-time favorite shop names. An eyebrow (and tanning) salon named … well.
1856 ad for a washing machine, an invention that won prizes in New York and Paris! This looks frankly enormously unwieldy.
December 6, 2024 at 3:21 PM
1856 ad for a washing machine, an invention that won prizes in New York and Paris! This looks frankly enormously unwieldy.
Donations to help the wounded from the siege of Sevastopol include money, lint, bandages, tea, sugar, underclothes, and, from a priest, 100 copies of his own book, "A Remembrance of a Father and True Friend" (!!!)
December 5, 2024 at 6:15 PM
Donations to help the wounded from the siege of Sevastopol include money, lint, bandages, tea, sugar, underclothes, and, from a priest, 100 copies of his own book, "A Remembrance of a Father and True Friend" (!!!)
This is amazing. A list of letters put in postboxes in St. Petersburg in January 1855 that can't be delivered. It lists the number of the postbox, the date, the recipient, and why it couldn't be sent (letters that weigh more than the stamp allows, no indication of the city).
December 3, 2024 at 6:55 PM
This is amazing. A list of letters put in postboxes in St. Petersburg in January 1855 that can't be delivered. It lists the number of the postbox, the date, the recipient, and why it couldn't be sent (letters that weigh more than the stamp allows, no indication of the city).
Saturday achievement.
November 30, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Saturday achievement.
Me on stuffing duty, Thanksgiving 1992, in a dorm room (why?? that is lost from my memory) at Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia. I do remember having a lovely interaction with one of the herb ladies at the market when I was looking for sage.
November 28, 2024 at 3:02 PM
Me on stuffing duty, Thanksgiving 1992, in a dorm room (why?? that is lost from my memory) at Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia. I do remember having a lovely interaction with one of the herb ladies at the market when I was looking for sage.