Bibelots: Crown Jewels, or souvenirs?

Greetings art lovers, Internet aficionados, and readers.  Last week's installment of "Shock of the New" had a wonderful turnout!  Only five seats were available once the film started.  We can't thank you enough for your support and avid interest in the arts!  This week we're hoping to have a full house; Jim Klueg will be our guest speaker and he will be presenting on the ten things Dada has given us.  We're expecting a full house, so make sure to show up early enough to find a seat - 11am, this Saturday at the Zinema.

Now for this week's vocabulary word, bibelot.

bi·be·lot noun \ˈbē-bə-ˌlō\
1. a small object whose value lies in its beauty or rarity; trinket
2. a book of unusually small size
This being a french word, you might want to drop the 't' phonetically when you say it out loud (we know, it really does sounds like Bilbo Baggins' first name).

Bibelot has a couple of different meanings; sometimes referred to as a "bauble" it can be considered a small trinket that people get, often on a vacation, to remember an event.  It can also mean a small, well-made book that is of great value.  Both definitions share the fact that they are rare and usually a treasured object with sentimental value. 

What are some very old and famous bibelots?  The Crown Jewels!  The Crown Jewels of the UK use to be kept in Westminster Abbey, until the 1300's when it was found "unsafe" (or so the official website of the British monarchy says).

Colonel Thomas Blood (Doesn't he look like a tool?)

Real story: they were stolen.

After their theft the Crown Jewels were soon recovered and transported to their current home, The Tower of London. This incident of theft is not to be confused with the very famous Colonel Blood, known as the 'Man who stole the Crown Jewels'.  This name is somewhat ironic given the fact that he didn't really get away with stealing the crown jewels, he was caught INSIDE the Tower of London before being able to escape.  He also had the audacity to refuse questioning by anyone other than the king; the king acquiesced to his request (Pirates of the Caribbean reference) and ended up pardoning Colonel Blood and awarding him land in Ireland.  Now that's just rewarding bad behavior, if you ask me.

Thank you for sitting through our rant on the Crown Jewels, we promise there is a reason!

 Jewelry making is a wonderful craft, and jewelry can be considered a work of art in it's own respect.  Listed below are a couple regional jewelry makers:

Britta Kauppila : britta lynn design
Silver Cocoon Blog : Silver Cocoon Retail
The Jewelers Bench
Näf Glass
For you Wisconsinites : Water Music Jewelry