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| Pendant England ca. 1540-60 enameled-gold setting with peridot, garnet, sapphire Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
There is a second dial, which regulates
the mix of here-and-now to there-and-then,
the degree to which our designated elsewhere
bleeds into the dry fact of the present
where the present is a dead room with a mike.
Okay: let's pull the plug on it and see
what we have. It is less a locked Versailles
than our proverbial wood, in that split-second
when no one in the universe invokes it.
Here no tree falls, unseen or otherwise,
the constipated bears are all asleep
and the last breath of the cyclone has just failed
to lift the pale wings of the butterfly.
– from The Black Box, published in Landing Light by Don Paterson (Graywolf Press, 2005)
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| Brooch Western Europe ca. 1820-30 gold filigree setting with citrine, emeralds, rubies originally owned by Pre-Raphaelite muse Jane Morris Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pendant Germany ca. 1700 silver setting with emeralds, rubies, diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pendant-cross Western Europe 18th century silver and gold setting with diamonds and rubies Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Brooch Child & Child, England ca. 1900 enameled-gold and silver setting with amethyst and pearl Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Seal England ca. 1580 engraved sapphire in enameled-gold case Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pendant Byzantium ca. AD 500-700 garnet set in gold Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Ring England ca. 1450 gold, rubies, diamond Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Ring Western Europe ca. 1825 gold setting with blue diamond and brilliant-cut diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Pendant England ca. 1860 diamonds set in silver Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Bodice-ornament Russia ca. 1760 diamonds set in silver Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Brooch Western Europe ca. 1885 diamonds and pearls set in silver Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Aigrette France ca. 1810 diamonds, turquoises, amethysts, emerald Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Brooch Andrew Grima, England 1967-68 gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoises, diamonds Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
I am grateful to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for the excellent images.