© Nona Limmen {Instagram / Shop}

Cauldron of the Sorceress (1879) by Odilon Redon

Fred Appleyard (British, 1874-1963) St Cecilia, exhibited 1903

One of my favorite historical tidbits is that Arab traders, for centuries, fooled Europeans into thinking cinnamon came from a rare, vicious and fearsome cinnamon bird.

The belief was so prevalent, in fact, that the mythical cinnamon bird shows up in the writings of Herodotus and Aristotle, all the way into medieval European manuscripts where it’s illustrated in all its fierce, cinnamony glory:

Pliny the Elder expressed skepticism of the bird in his writings, rightly assuming that it was a tale invented to keep control on the trade and prices by reducing competition, but the belief was already so widespread that it persisted in many areas into the early 1300’s.

Marguerite Churchill, photographed by Max Munn Autrey, 1930.

Penteli, 2020

© Nona Limmen {Instagram / Bluesky}

Sword with gold and silver decorated hilt from Nuremburg, Germany, dated 1547

from The Dresden State Art Collection

Ceremonial dagger, Turkey, Ottoman Empire, 16th century,

Given to Gábor Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania.

Ebony, emerald, ruby, silver, steel, turquoise,

length: 38,5 cm, width: 6,8 cm.

Courtesy: Iparművészeti Múzeum (Museum of Applied Arts) Budapest