When it’s #Caturday but also the last day of #BeKindToSpidersWeek … #PleaseNoSquish
#Cat Watching a #Spider
Oide Tōkō (1841–1905)
#Japan, #Meiji period, c. 1888–92
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
14 3/4 x 11 in. (37.5 x 27.9 cm)
Met collection: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/50826?ft=cat+spider&offset=0&rpp=40&pos=1
#JapaneseArt

We don't have an exact birthdate for #Flemish artist Jan van Kessel the Elder, but he was baptised #OTD (5 Apr 1626) so here are the 2 versions of his #caterpillars & #snakes signature (+some bonus #spiders for #BeKindToSpidersWeek - #PleaseNoSquish):

1. oil painting on copper, 1657
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_van_Kessel_(I)_-_Garden_and_house_spiders_with_grass_snakes_and_caterpillars_contorted_and_entwined_to_spell_the_artist%27s_name.jpg

2 oil painting on copper, c.1660s (detail from The Four Continents: The Continent of Europe)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kessel,_Jan_van,_Sr._-_Europa_-_Detail_%22Ian_van_Kessel%22.jpg

#TwoForTuesday for #BeKindToSpidersWeek:

1. Pablo #Picasso (1881-1973), The #Spider (L'Araignée), plate from Histoire naturelle 1936, pub. 1942. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/128351/the-spider-from-histoire-naturelle

2. Paloma Picasso (b. 1949) for #TiffanyAndCo, spider brooch, gold/diamonds/tourmaline/onyx, late 20th century.
https://www.1stdibs.com/jewelry/brooches/brooches/paloma-picasso-gem-set-spider-motif-brooch/id-j_15652112/

#PleaseNoSquish

A lovely #spider piece for #BeKindToSpidersWeek: spindle with foot plate, made of gold with baroque pearl, rose stones and enamel; Russia, 18th century.
Hallwylska museet collection: https://samlingar.shm.se/object/DDE8961C-C2E7-4252-89E6-B86C89E70B03

#PleaseNoSquish

Photo: Bonnevier, Helena, Hallwylska museum/SHM (CC BY 4.0)

@ClaireFromClare thank you for highlighting the horse conch's plight as well. Important to remember that some jewelry materials like pearls, shells, coral, etc. do in fact come from animals, some of which might have become imperiled from their use (e.g., the demand for the beautiful shells of the now critically endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle).
Also I love spiders this is a 24/7/365 #PleaseNoSquish zone 🕷️🕸️

@art_history_animalia Fabulous workmanship! a delight to see - & thanks for highlighting #SaveASpiderDay 🕷️

but spare a thought too for the horse #conch ...
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/one-of-the-worlds-biggest-sea-snails-at-risk-of-extinction

Let's celebrate past #craftsmanship & think about the great 🕸️ of life, for future #SustainableJewelry ? - so from now on also

#PleaseNoSquish 🐚 #endangered #SeaCreatures

#HorseConch #Triplofusus #SeaCreature #EndangeredSpecies #Hemmerle #AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory

More bling for #SaveASpiderDay: gold #spiders for your face!

Spiders can be found in #Andean #iconography going back at least 2500 years as symbols of warfare, ritual sacrifice, & agricultural fertility.

1 Nose ornament, 6th-7th c. CE, Peru, #Moche; gold, silver, shell
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/313405

2 Earflare frontal, 6th-7th c. CE, Peru, Moche; gold, silver
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/312506

3 Nose ornament, #Peru, #Salinar culture, 100 BCE-200 CE https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/313364

Met collection.

#PleaseNoSquish🕷️

For #SaveASpiderDay please enjoy this sparkly #spider bling from the 2021 @AMNH ”Beautiful Creatures” exhibition:
Tarantula brooch by Hemmerle, 1995; horse conch pearl, Umba sapphires, diamonds, colored diamonds and gold.
#PleaseNoSquish 🕷️