BRASS FIGURES TO PET SHINY

                       Good Luck Brass Figures

The first brass figure I came across 25 plus years ago was Tacca on my first trip to Victoria, BC. He sat in the patio area near the gift shop at Buchart Gardens. A large 1620 bronze boar, he is a copy of an original that was in the Straw Market in Florence, Italy. The Bucharts purchased him on one of their European trips.

The unique posture of Tacca suggests neither attack nor repose, but instead that he was awakened suddenly by the sound of the hunt. Years later a pond was added at the base with bronze frogs, snakes, and turtles among the plants. His snout is finely burnished by hundreds of visitors who have given him an affectionate rub for good luck. He is dedicated to all the children and animals who visit Buchart Gardens. I gave him a pat years later but  my last visit to the gardens was at night and I somehow missed him.

The statue of a little dog is one of the most photographed statues in Edinburgh, Scotland. The little Skye Terrier was the dog of an Edinburgh policeman known as a bobby. For five years he accompanied his master on his rounds all over the city. Then the policeman died. The gates to the cemetery proclaimed NO DOGS, and the gates were shut the day of the funeral before the little dog could get through them.

Each day after the one o’clock cannon firing at the fort above the Royal Mile the little dog walked to the coffeehouse his master often frequented. He was given a few scraps to eat, then he’d return to the cemetery to guard his master’s grave. After the first day when the cemetery caretaker found him and realized the dog was Greyfriars Bobby he ignored the no dogs rule. Every day for ten years the little dog would repeat his routine. Often on very cold winter nights a caring person would give him shelter in their home. When the little dog died, an exception was made to allow him to be buried beside his master. The little brass replica on a post on the Royal Mile is a favorite photo op.

At one end of the small park in Kiev, Ukraine stands a bronze statue of a little cat whose ears and

tail are shinny from the many rubbings they have received---a sign of good luck. Years ago the little cat smelled smoke and scratched the security people to warn its owners of a fire in time for all of them to make it to safety. But in all the confusion the little cat was forgotten and died of smoke inhalation.

 

In Havana, Cuba there is a life-size bronze statue of a French gentleman standing on the sidewalk outside Basilica Manor.

To touch either his beard or hand is supposed to bring good luck. Both were shiny from much rubbing.

I’ve seen many many statues in my travels, but these are the good-luck charmers of which I have fond memories.