Channel Islands: Jersey and Guernsey

La Vaque de Jerri

by John McKenna

Royal Society of British Sculptors

A perfectly, lovely calf stares inquisitively at a toad.  

One of a group of Jersey cows in St. Helier, Jersey. 

    This sculpture is a tribute to the Island breed and a commemoration of the 

50th anniversary of

                       The World Jersey Cattle Bureau. 

                                            (Unveiled 29th September 2001)

Legislation since 1763 protects this breed of cow in its island home.  Originating on the Island of Jersey this dairy animal is well known for its natural ability to produce rich milk.  

The group of cattle seem to be wandering happily around  shoppers in the middle of the city.

    Even appreciating affection from two tourists who were in Jersey for 

                             a 1940's Jersey at War reenactment. April 2013.

I just love this sign with the sweet calves standing at the gate behaving in such a gentle and as "unbull-like" manner as one could imagine.  

    And finally this carved and painted bull with a Beatles-type haircut 

                                  on a piece of  furniture in a house.  

I cannot remember exactly but I am almost certain that this was in the house were Victor Hugo lived for a while when he was in Jersey (1852 - 1855) or Guernsey (1855).

More Signs with Animals

Adorably tacky!

Lovely shop mural with interesting graffiti on the next building.

 My snowman peers at passersby with dogs .....

 Dog parking spot outside a village shop

Love this giant rabbit so out of place and yet so right!

Sweet cats on a building

Native American eagle, Texas - outside a university or museum.  If  you know please let me know.

Carousel horse - a more modern fibre class one hangs on this light pole although the original were lovingly hand carved by immigrants who often modelled them on horses they remembered from home. 

This horse is advertising the Wurlitzer Museum in North Tonawanda, NY, USA.

It was here that the world famous Wurlitzer organs were made, apparently 2,000 between 1911 and 1943.  In 1926 the company was shipping their technological wonders at the rate of one a day. The Wurlitzers were sent to theatres throughout the USA, Canada, England and Australia. (See Blackpool blog post for the Blackpool Ballroom Wurlitzer organ 8-11-16).  During the silent era of film the organ's ability to imitate a full orchestra or create special sound effects was essential.

It is said that the most famous is in Radio City Music Hall, in New York City (1932).  It has more than 4,000 pipes in 56 ranks, ranging from 32 feet in length to the size of a pencil.

 Door knocker on a cottage door

 Road sign in Welsh.  

 Sign for how to behave around working tow-horses on the canal path in Devon.  

 A bench commemorating WWI.    Also seen in the post on animals used in hunting and war, 2-4-2020.

Mural in pebbles by the artist Maggy Howarth depicting the tale of St. Decuman, Watchet, Somerset.  The town is also famous for being the site where The Ancient Mariner was conceived by Samuel Taylor Coleridge circa 1797.

A town in England with decorated swans.  Buffalo, NY had American Bison, Toronto, Canada had Moose!

Village sign of Haslingfield with Queen Elizabeth I riding on a white horse.  Apparently, in1564 the Queen stayed at the Manor for one night. It is said that she lost a ring during her stay and there have been more than a few "ring hunts" since then.  

 Chalk art in a city

Lascaux Caves, France.

Thought to be 17,000 years old.


There are many caves in this area, the Dordogne, France and many paintings still to be discovered.  

Why are some of the animals upside down?  Are they falling or is it because of the position of the artist?

Is this animal pregnant?  Did they still kill it or just record it?

Many of the drawings use the contours of the cave walls thus enhancing the finished picture.

There is a tenderness in many of the pictures. As in the meeting of these two animals.  Even if they were drawn at different times and not meeting, there is a gentle elegance in the drawing.

Is this an animal protesting in fear and pain as it is speared?  Does this drawing depict understanding of the hunter of a sentient being and its feelings?

The assumption is that men made these drawings.  All cave drawings are apparently created by men because they so often depict the hunt.  
I disagree, I think that women were intimately involved in the hunt either as beaters (driving the animals out of hiding) or even in the stalking and the kill.  Certainly they were intimate with the animals as carcasses and perfectly able to depict them accurately on the cave walls.  

Even the simplest of markings give me shivers.  Who drew them and why? What did they mean or was someone just sharpening their drawing instruments?

The elegance of the animal.  Head turning, looking, aware.  This is a picture by someone who knows of more than a hunt for food.

I also think that archeologists have overlooked the fact that it was probably women who would have been in the caves longer than the men.  

They would have been left at the camp when they were heavily pregnant or having just given birth.  They would have been nursing the young, and caring for the elderly and sick. 

They were the ones who would have had the time to draw on the walls.  

They had the to time reflect on hunts or the animals they had skinned, butchered and cooked. 

They may well have been the first philosophers.