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| All photos courtesy James L. Dixon |
While we're on the subject of Rowland Emett, I was pleased to see that the castle ELM built for his Rowland Emett tribute diorama still exists. It's in rough shape, but this is one of the very earliest ELM models to have appeared in a published photo - dating from January 1956 in Railroad Model Craftsman.
I wouldn't consider any repair or restoration of this model. Like many time ravaged real castles, this one exhibits a regal beauty that shouldn't be tampered with.
As we see in the diorama photo, the castle was a background building, and didn't need to be detailed on sides that wouldn't be seen.
The stone colours are quite nice and have aged well.
It looks like EL was inspired by Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
ReplyDeleteMaybe so. Can you elaborate?
DeleteOne thing I forgot to mention is that ELM's Emett tribute diorama - of which the castle is a part - appears to be based on pieces from a few cartoons in the 1953 book, Emett's Domain: Trains, Trams and Englishmen. Maybe there is some Emett-Piranesi connection?
DeleteI suspect it is more coincidence than anything however, if you look at Piranesi's etchings of his 'Imaginary Prisons' you can see some similarities.
ReplyDeleteI have a copy of Dover's 2010 edition of The Prisons: The Complete First and Second States. There are similarities, but I think that has to do with the characteristics of the architecture under consideration. But, ELM was a serious reader, and he claims to have had a personal library of about 1,000 volumes in the '50s, so it's indeed possible some Piranesi DNA is in the model.
DeleteMagnifique!
ReplyDeleteThank you for introducing me to Roland Emmet. It seems I have seen some of his work before, but had not realized it was his work. It is all very lovely! I need to do a bit of exploring. Yes thank you, thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. His cartoons are hilarious.
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