John Brian Siddall (May 27, 1939 - April 26, 1981)
Gone, but not forgotten. John will always be my beloved young husband. He was a brilliant chemist known for his clear crystal thought. He loved sailing, skiing, hiking, travel, cats, children, T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, James Taylor, and me (not necessarily in that order). Diagnosed with acute promylecytic leukemia on March 30, 1981, he died a few weeks later on April 26.
The transferware connection is a pattern on a child's plate. That "Time waits for no one" is a common saying. The pattern shows a rococo clock with a woman on one side and a man on the other: on the left is Time leaning on her hour glass and on the right is Death holding a scythe. There is a raised poem between them. The eye above may be the eye of God. The poem reads: "Time, rapid flies, it waits for none/Yet gives us often warning:/We're here to day (sic) tomorrow gone/Out of this world of mourning." Although this pattern might be seen as an inappropriate gift for a child today, it was very acceptable in the 19th century when death was a constant childhood companion.
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| Child's plate, mid-19th century |
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| Child's plate center close-up |
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| John Brian Siddall (May 27, 1939-April 26, 1981) |
loving John..time waits for no one..but it should have waited for him..
ReplyDeleteCondolences. We're walking around and all of sudden, there's Grief.
ReplyDeleteAt John's funeral, the rabbi said "death and life go hand in hand."
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