Sunday 20 July 2014

County Court


I've never really looked at this entrance before. It's on Alfred Gelder Street and is part of the Guildhall. It's no longer in use as the County Court has moved on to pastures new. What intrigued me is the little pile of Edwardian baroque nonsense above the door (you might like to click on the image to enlarge it). Amongst the usual symbols of power, a lion head, sword, axe, keys, royal sceptre and the scrolls of law there are numerous overflowing cornucopias of poppy heads. Now, aren't poppies symbols of sleep and death? Is this some ironic comment on the process of civil litigation? Or could it be that whoever paid for this was in the opium trade? Your guess is as good as mine.

4 comments:

  1. Quite a variety in those carvings.

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  2. Another interpretation of poppies in classical mythology is that the bright scarlet colour signifies a promise of resurrection after death.

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  3. How quaint! I guess we'll never know what it all means. But that's a great shot.

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  4. I always thought they were apples!

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