William Owen
@wdowen.bsky.social
Writing about material culture, design history & East India Co networks in arts & sciences @ eaho.substack.com. Advisor on digital transformation & conservation in the cultural sector @ wdowen.substack.com. Adj. Factum Foundation.
Only the clocks have changed ... Not having seen the proposed alternatives to the new Network Rail clock I can't help but think 'there's something missing here', lost in the idea of a logo stunt. And I suspect the answer is an analogue expression of hours and minutes, not just the seconds.
October 31, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Only the clocks have changed ... Not having seen the proposed alternatives to the new Network Rail clock I can't help but think 'there's something missing here', lost in the idea of a logo stunt. And I suspect the answer is an analogue expression of hours and minutes, not just the seconds.
So, when did Alexander the Great go skiing in the Dolomites? and when did they move the Parthenon to Languedoc? Tell us ‘Duolingo for History’
October 18, 2025 at 10:51 AM
So, when did Alexander the Great go skiing in the Dolomites? and when did they move the Parthenon to Languedoc? Tell us ‘Duolingo for History’
And it takes four clicks to get to this in place of the main catalogue
October 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
And it takes four clicks to get to this in place of the main catalogue
I see we have reached peak ontology
October 6, 2025 at 9:47 AM
I see we have reached peak ontology
Have we got to the level of abstraction that overcomes objections from @davidallengreen.bsky.social ?
September 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Have we got to the level of abstraction that overcomes objections from @davidallengreen.bsky.social ?
While on the subject of flags, and in particular the English, this photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron semiotically entwines Arthurian mythology with the paraphernalia of crusader knights to promote an ideal of Christian militarism in imperial Britain in the 19thC - under the cross of St George.
September 5, 2025 at 3:26 PM
While on the subject of flags, and in particular the English, this photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron semiotically entwines Arthurian mythology with the paraphernalia of crusader knights to promote an ideal of Christian militarism in imperial Britain in the 19thC - under the cross of St George.
Come on @ft.com.web.brid.gy primary secondary third? We can cope with tertiary, honest
August 27, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Come on @ft.com.web.brid.gy primary secondary third? We can cope with tertiary, honest
No, not delivering winners. This is Smithfield, so delivering carcasses. #brandfail
August 6, 2025 at 10:35 AM
No, not delivering winners. This is Smithfield, so delivering carcasses. #brandfail
This morning’s startled heron
July 12, 2025 at 9:44 AM
This morning’s startled heron
Dear music lovers (especially of opera): This manuscript is said to have been retrieved by David Ogilvy from the Crystal Palace after the fire that destroyed the North Transept in 1866 (hence the burned edges).
July 7, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Dear music lovers (especially of opera): This manuscript is said to have been retrieved by David Ogilvy from the Crystal Palace after the fire that destroyed the North Transept in 1866 (hence the burned edges).
And a gorgeous bridal head-dress made from kingfisher feathers and pearls, acquired for the museum by Matthew Digby Wyatt, Surveyor of the East India Company, from its looter Captain Frederick Charteris RN, son of the Earl of Wymyss, as 'one of the most beautiful specimens of millinery I ever saw'
June 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
And a gorgeous bridal head-dress made from kingfisher feathers and pearls, acquired for the museum by Matthew Digby Wyatt, Surveyor of the East India Company, from its looter Captain Frederick Charteris RN, son of the Earl of Wymyss, as 'one of the most beautiful specimens of millinery I ever saw'
I was able to examine a stunning cloissonne and gilt 'angry birds' incense burner, looter unknown, purchased in Germany recorded as from 'the Summer Palace, Pekin'. The Chinese Govt. estaimates the losses to be millions of individual works of art, now in over 2000 museums in 47 countries ...
June 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I was able to examine a stunning cloissonne and gilt 'angry birds' incense burner, looter unknown, purchased in Germany recorded as from 'the Summer Palace, Pekin'. The Chinese Govt. estaimates the losses to be millions of individual works of art, now in over 2000 museums in 47 countries ...
The loot from yuanming yuan (Emperor's Summer Palace) included an imperial yellow silk cushion cover plundered by Lt. Col. Garnet Wolesley and left to V&A by his wife along with gold treasures looted by her husband from Asante: see history by @alanlester.bsky.social: alanlester.co.uk/blog/the-ver...
June 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The loot from yuanming yuan (Emperor's Summer Palace) included an imperial yellow silk cushion cover plundered by Lt. Col. Garnet Wolesley and left to V&A by his wife along with gold treasures looted by her husband from Asante: see history by @alanlester.bsky.social: alanlester.co.uk/blog/the-ver...
The V&A's new 'order an object' service totally changes the ethos of a museum: suddenly it's like a public library, with a chance for deep engagement with a work of art. I chose three pieces of loot from the yuanming yuan (2nd opium war 1860) and an EIC armorial porcelain dish from Gov. House Madras
June 6, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The V&A's new 'order an object' service totally changes the ethos of a museum: suddenly it's like a public library, with a chance for deep engagement with a work of art. I chose three pieces of loot from the yuanming yuan (2nd opium war 1860) and an EIC armorial porcelain dish from Gov. House Madras
Thomas Heatherwick showing a strong commitment to recycling in his source ideas for the QE2 memorial
May 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Thomas Heatherwick showing a strong commitment to recycling in his source ideas for the QE2 memorial
... in the West to the Suliman mountains and Peshawar; in the North to the Indus River, beyond Nanga Parbat, (8126m) so including all of Jammu and Kashmir. As shown here in the 1849 Arrowsmith map, a good one, compiled from earlier sources.
March 1, 2025 at 6:12 PM
... in the West to the Suliman mountains and Peshawar; in the North to the Indus River, beyond Nanga Parbat, (8126m) so including all of Jammu and Kashmir. As shown here in the 1849 Arrowsmith map, a good one, compiled from earlier sources.
Great questions of our time: how long is it going to take the V&A to fix the double-banging doors at the National Art Library? (Currently one year and counting). This one:
February 6, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Great questions of our time: how long is it going to take the V&A to fix the double-banging doors at the National Art Library? (Currently one year and counting). This one:
Back from the 2nd opium war, the 11th Bengal Lancers, arranged with infinite care to appear entirely at ease, an orientalist fantasy tinged with the threat of extreme violence. Before Beijing they took the Taku forts, and were party to the destruction of the Yuanmingyuan, aka Emperor's summer palace
February 2, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Back from the 2nd opium war, the 11th Bengal Lancers, arranged with infinite care to appear entirely at ease, an orientalist fantasy tinged with the threat of extreme violence. Before Beijing they took the Taku forts, and were party to the destruction of the Yuanmingyuan, aka Emperor's summer palace
The fractal perfection of a Hornbeam in winter
December 11, 2024 at 11:40 PM
The fractal perfection of a Hornbeam in winter
This is Perin Naoroji; Gandhi called her ‘peppery sister’. She & her sisters Goshi & Nurgis were founder members of Rashtriya Stree Sabha as agitator, organiser and secretary respectively. Collectively they were known as the Captain sisters leading civil disobedience in Mumbai through the 1930s 1/2
December 11, 2024 at 2:07 PM
This is Perin Naoroji; Gandhi called her ‘peppery sister’. She & her sisters Goshi & Nurgis were founder members of Rashtriya Stree Sabha as agitator, organiser and secretary respectively. Collectively they were known as the Captain sisters leading civil disobedience in Mumbai through the 1930s 1/2
Frans Hals at Christie’s, a little beaten up and red-nosed, and the painting’s had a hard time too, but marvellous. And there’s something Ottoman about that coat of arms top right. ???
December 4, 2024 at 4:59 PM
Frans Hals at Christie’s, a little beaten up and red-nosed, and the painting’s had a hard time too, but marvellous. And there’s something Ottoman about that coat of arms top right. ???
A 3D replica created from a scan and mould using data taken from a conventional 35mm camera #factumfoundation @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social
December 2, 2024 at 1:25 PM
A 3D replica created from a scan and mould using data taken from a conventional 35mm camera #factumfoundation @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social