Tuesday, February the 17th, 2004

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Museology

The Tantarabim Carton was recovered from an old potting shed by Dobson, during one of his forays into what he called anarcho-'patapsychoarchaeolontology. It is a ceremonial carton which was used for unknown purposes during ceremonies prosecuted by the Bleach-Splattered Tantarabim Priesthood. Grim and horrifying these rituals may have been, but not the carton. It is 45 cm. in height, has a jewel-encrusted crimplene base, ivory fluting, ruched silk underbelts, hectic trimmings, a delightful milky-green ribbed spandole, villainous scraping marks, a gutta percha rim, opalescent bison-head motifs, swivelling glutinous beads inlaid with serried gems, fleur-de-lys hatching, precise web-and-tuck dufraiment, talc stipples, a riband nightside opening on the velveteen casing, some rather brusque kaolin relief work, tiny cack-iron clips, berry lagging, a splendid gilt Spode handle, and corky frets on the oversling. No picture is available.

Dobson tried to present his find to an art gallery somewhere on the hard, unyielding banks of a river in Yukon Country, but he was chased away by burly men with bludgeons, and was lucky to escape with his life. He subsequently wrote up the episode in his pamphlet Chucklesome Fripperies From My Notebooks (Lavender Series).