1

A Day
Observed

A story presented by

Scene 1:
‘Morning’

It was a bright cold day with glassy surfaces that looked hard.
Into the square frame he stood as if in a dream.

What emerged was precisely what he expected to find: a reflection of memory images. Contemplating his face in the photo frame he waited.

1960s lucite and chrome 3 image photo frame

By the steady hands of his watch, he listened to time. Every day for the past sixteen days he saw her. Silver lingered in the crease of
an open book.

Rolex burlwood dial, Jubilee bracelet Miniature
oar English university trophy, sterling silver.

So absorbed in his thoughts
he hardly saw the platinum catch-all, the key, or the revelation locked inside those lapis lazuli cufflinks tossed unmistakably in cold blue.

Hans Hanson catch-all. Mid-century, Danish sterling silver. Stirrup money clip, by Hermès. Padlock keyring, sterling silver " Tie bar-slide " Round lapis lazuli cufflinks" Square cufflinks, two tone rose and yellow gold, diamond."

Only by whirling on his heel could he hope to comprehend
the panorama.

Shoe horn, circa 1930. American sterling silver
Scene 2:
‘Noon’

He remained.Trapped in that enormous room,
unmistakably familiar in feeling yet so peculiar.

Above the mantle was
displayed an Austrian hound
of impeccable integrity.

Hagenauer sculpture, 1930

His gaze fell on the letter opener. By accident she had learnt more about his life from the contents of that letter than anywhere.

Dunhill letter opener with lighter top, circa 1950

Cleopatra’s eye reflected
the sun. Through the hypnotism
of precious metals there
emerged a dark slender shadow.

Cleopatra’s eye magnifying glass. Mid-century, gold plated
Hermès weighted pen. Silver plated.

A lighter presented itself, smooth to the touch
it gave the impression of
intelligent company.

Table lighter St Dupont, circa 1960. Gold plate
Scene 3:
‘Evening’

All this time light was receding from the room.

“I should explain why I spend so much time here”, said the silhouette. Leaves moved like shadows across her eyes.

Hermès rope bottle opener. Plated silver.

It’s not too late to turn back. Time moved with faint sounds.

Venini hourglass. Hand-blown lurid Murano glass.

He unscrewed the telescopic cup, rolled and remained still. Black eyes on the dice prophesied a new cycle.

Telescopic cup, J. E. Cauldwell. Gold plated. Dice,
Cartier for America. Vitreous enamel glass, silver

Staring down at the varnished surface her mouth worried him while her eyes examined the gold cufflink.

Audemar Piguet evening watch. gold plated, Roman dial, alligator strap
Scene 4:
‘Night’

Everything went crashing black.

Pale graceful hands placed
the gold stud box delicately
on the table.

Men’s Edwardian jewellery box, 1910. Gold plated.
Mid-century British cigar ashtray. Sterling silver and crystal.

He lit a match to make sure the watch had really stopped. Smoke lingered from its vesta case.

Realist wrapped tobacco leaf march vesta. Silver.

As the travel clock neared
one the figure vanished into dappled shadows.

Art Deco Jaeger LeCoultre travel clock.
Gold and silver plated. Retailed by Aspray.

On the newly varnished table two bronze shot cups sat alive like in a dream.

Tooth shot cup by Foundwell. Bronze and silver plated.
Set of 4, 3 silver 1 gold. Heath & Midleton champagne decanters circa 1900.
Sterling silver and glass.
The End

‘A DAY OBSERVED’
A story by FOUNDWELL
Photography Matthieu Lavanchy, creative direction OK-RM,
notes by Kate O’Brien and objects selected by Alan Bedwell

‘A DAY OBSERVED’
A story by FOUNDWELL
Photography Matthieu Lavanchy,
creative direction OK-RM
notes by Kate O’Brien
and objects selected by Alan Bedwell

Early and Rare Sterling Silver Gorham Martini Mixing Bucket

Golf Cocktail Shaker
and Matching Golf Bag Cup

Sterling Silver Woven Bottle Coaster

Foundwell

A SELECTION OF ITEMS BY THE PRODUCER OF
CRAFTED GOODS & PURVEYOR OF ANTIQUE WATCHES,
JEWELLERY & OTHER SUCH OBJECTS

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A table model of a Boeing B-47 Stratojet made in aluminum.  The Stratojet was introduced after World War II by the United States Air Force as the Iron Curtain fell, and the Cold War began.  Its purpose was to be a high altitude, long range nuclear bomber traveling at subsonic speed, with the capability to hit targets in the Soviet Union.   The USAF Strategic Air Command operated B-47 Stratojets (B-47s, EB-47s, RB-47s and YRB-47s) from 1951 through 1965.

By 1956, the U.S. Air Force had 28 wings of B-47 bombers and five wings of RB-47 reconnaissance aircraft.  The bombers were the first line of America's strategic nuclear deterrent, often operating from forward bases in the UK, Morocco, Spain, Alaska, Greenland and Guam.  B-47s were often set up on "one-third" alert, with a third of the operational aircraft available sitting on hardstands or an alert ramp adjacent to the runway, loaded with fuel and nuclear weapons, crews on standby, ready to attack the Soviet Union  at short notice.

 

This plane was revolutionary in design.  The six newly developed  General Electric TG-180 turbojet engines were fitted to a swept wing.  This was a last minute change to the original plans drawn up in 1944.  A  May 1945 von Kármán mission of the Army Air Forces inspected the secret German aeronautics laboratory near Braunschweig. von Kármán's team included the chief of the technical staff at Boeing, George S. Schairer.  He had heard about the controversial swept-wing theory of R. T. Jones at Langley,  but seeing models of swept-wing aircraft and extensive supersonic wind-tunnel data generated by the Germans, the concept was decisively confirmed. He wired his home office: "Stop the bomber design", and changed the design of the B-47 wing.  

 

After a number of changes in design of the engine  layout, wheel placement and technical details  throughout, the aircraft undertook its first flight on 17th December 1947, the anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight, with no issues.   In February 1949, Russ Schleeh and Joe Howell "broke all coast-to-coast speed records" flying from Moses Lake Air Force Base to Andrews Air Force Base. They averaged 607.8 miles per hour.  

A few iterations later into the plane saw the XB-47.  The Boeing test pilot Rob Robbins had originally been skeptical about the XB-47, saying that before the initial flight he had prayed, "Oh God, please help me through the next two hours." The aircraft was "considered to be a radical airplane". Robbins soon realised that he had an extraordinary aircraft.

Chuck Yeager flew the XB-47 later in its development cycle and years later noted that the aircraft was so aerodynamically clean that he had difficulty putting it down on the Edwards lakebed.

Both XB-47 prototypes were test flown at Edwards AFB; however, the number one XB-47 (46-065) was disassembled and eventually scrapped by the Air Force in 1954, thus making the number two prototype (46-066) the sole surviving XB-47.

Upon retirement, XB-47 (46-066) was restored and placed on display at the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum in Rantoul, Illinois where it remained on display until the museum announced it was closing its doors due to financial difficulties in April 2015.  In late 2015, the Flight Test Historical Foundation began fundraising efforts to purchase XB-47 (46-066) for relocation to the Flight Test Museum at Edwards AFB. The purchase was completed in August 2016 and on September 21, 2016 the aircraft arrived at Edwards AFB for reassembly, restoration and eventual display at the Flight Test Museum.

The 35-degree swept wings were shoulder-mounted, with the twin inboard turbojet engines mounted in neat pods, and the outboard engines tacked under the wings short of the wingtips. With the exception of a change from the shoulder wing configuration to being under the fuselage and cockpit seating to side-by-side, most future commercial airliners would use a similar configuration, with the engines mounted in underwing pylons.

This is a fine model of the "fastest bomber in the world", complete with original decals.  This type of model was not a 'toy', and were made to sit in the mess halls of the pilots and crew that flew them as a proud reminder of the power and prestige of the state of the art aircraft that were under their control.  The model sits on a detachable, original base, that features a ball joint that allows the bomber to be arranged in any number of positions.  Made circa 1950's.  Condition is excellent. 

 


Price $1,350.00

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Item Dimensions
Wingspan
9.5 inches (24.13cm)
Length
9 inches (22.86cm)