Crowns

I am not sure when my fascination with crowns began, but I suspect it might have been when I saw a post on Mardi Gras on the lovely blog Bayou Contessa, and glimpsed Julie Neill's crown collection on her mantle.

From Bayou Contessa - a beautiful display of crowns used as decorations for Mardi Gras.

Clearly Julie loves crowns. She has a crown in her logo, and look at this beautiful piece of furniture from her collection:

The crown is an emblem of victory, sovereignty, and empire. It is a visible sign of success, thus the term "crowning achievement," and its significance as the decoration of the ultimate level of rank and power, makes bearing the crown a great honour. Crowns are also sometimes symbols of God, as he is considered to be the “King of all.” (from House of Names)

This picture is from an Atlanta real estate listing. Isn't that crown painting amazing? I would love to find out the name of the artist.

The painting in the Atlanta real estate listing reminds me a bit of this artwork "Crown Jewels" by Ann Carrington, seen in Gwyneth Paltrow's East Hampton home, via Topsy Turvy Style. House & Garden, 11/07. Photo by Eric Cahan.

Here is a close up of the art. It is comprised of hundreds of tiny pearl buttons.

And here is the real thing, part of the crown jewels of the British royal family.

When thinking about crowns, I remembered seeing a crown on Princess Diana's personal stationary. It took me a while to find this, but it was worth the search. I think the D with the little crown is so charming. Image from Historic Press.

If you want your own crown stationary, Crane & Co. has a cute crown design.

Prince of Wales Feathers, the badge of Prince Charles, has a crown, as is befitting of the heir to the throne.

The Prince of Wales crest is full of crowns. I can count seven, but there may be more.

This is the coat of arms for the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Only three crowns on this one!

Camilla has her own coat of arms, granted by the Queen on July 17, 2005. I count four crowns on this coat of arms.

This one is Prince William's coat of arms, which is combines elements from Charles' and Diana's coats of arms. I count five crowns in this one! All coat of arms information from College of Arms.

If you want some crowns in your own life, check out this crown for your cell phone. From Holly Hardwick, an online store that specializes in crowns.

Antique reproduction crowns can be found in many antique stores.

This is a hand carved reproduction wood crown, seen in an antique store in Atlanta

Crown chandelier by Currey & Co.

Reproduction decorative crown, on ebay.

The Wisteria catalog has quite a few crowns. Here is a crown doormat.

Crown votive candle holders, also from Wisteria.

This crown is pictured both in the garden, and elsewhere in the catalog, on the coffee table.

A beautiful sconce from Remains lighting, with a crown detail at the base.

Crowns can also be seen in architecture, in particular at the top of buildings. Here is a great example from the Crown Building, NYC. Image from deadprogrammer.com.

St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, is famous for its crown spire. From virtualtourist.com.

This was a nice topic to research for my 100th post. I was able to find sources in art, design, real estate, architecture, and royalty - which are all of my favorite topics of inspiration! As always, thank you for reading my blog. I look forward to another 100 posts!

To visit my store, Quatrefoil Design, click here.

To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.

To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.

http://www.quatrefoildesign.com/