Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE

“Partial culture runs to the ornate; extreme culture to simplicity” Christian Nevell Bovee

Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE – An old incense holder from China

Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE – Ornate buildings in Japan (Golden Temple Kinkaku ji in Kyoto & Toshogu Shrine in Nikko), & old Chinese incense holder

Some are more ornate, decorative, with engravings or tri-colored gold, just a little bit of color. Marilyn Oliveira
ORNATE: Something covered with decorations covered with fancy patterns and shapes; using many fancy words; marked by elaborate rhetoric or florid style; elaborately or excessively decorated Merriam-Webster Dictionary

If we look around our cities and towns, we are bound to see ornately designed and decorated items; from the huge clocks in almost every town center, the elaborate artistic pieces we see at museums and fashion shows, to the exotic finds and trinkets we buy at flea markets, there is enough extravaganza to keep us fascinated and entertained. Alas, we don’t always take pictures of them because we are either so used to seeing these items or because they no longer hold the original fascination we had with them. For this exercise, I scanned through my files looking for a number of items (the bust of Queen Victoria in the Waldorf Hotel was one) and when I couldn’t find them, I looked around me. My eyes fell on my old incense burner and voila!

“My contention is that that style is just as stylized as an ornate style.” Rick Moody

Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE – An old incense holder from China

Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE – Ornate temple buildings in Japan: Toshogu Shrine, Nikko, Asakusa Kannon Temple, Tokyo and Golden Temple Kinkaku ji, Kyoto

People are entangled in the enjoyment of fine clothes, but gold and silver are only dust. They acquire beautiful horses and elephants, and ornate carriages of many kinds. They think of nothing else, and they forget all their relatives… Sri Guru Granth Sahib
A lot of designs are grounded in history even though they tend to be clean and not overly ornate. The sculptural form is often historic. If you come to our exhibit, a lot of things will look familiar. Ellen Lupton

For the life of me, I don’t remember how long ago I got this but, I remember it was bought from a market in China and I fell in love with it because it was old, used, and had that aura of a cherished item that was used to practice meditation or kept in a room in an aging temple. Clearly, this could all be my fantasy but that is what often endears items to us… not so much their value (a given) but their history and the memories attached. It brought back memories of incense holders from my Catholic School days and I loved that it was sturdy and burned charcoal well without overheating and creating a mess. A close look shows the ornate designs and that, I’m sure, took time and effort. One of the joys of travel is getting to enjoy the cultural offerinsg from other places. Japan has a lot of gorgeous temples/shrines and ornately designed buildings that remain part of the landscape. I included a few Ornate temple buildings I visited during my travel to Japan: A Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo and The Golden Pavilion Temple Kinkaku ji in Kyoto are three you must see. What do you think?
More Below!

An extravagance is something that your spirit thinks is a necessity. Bernard Williams

Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE – An old incense holder from China

Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE – Extravagant gold leaf gown by Guo Pei

Ornate rhetorick taught out of the rule of Plato…. To which poetry would be made subsequent, or indeed rather precedent, as being less suttle and fine, but more simple, sensuous, and passionate. John Milton
Christmas always rustled. It rustled every time, mysteriously, with silver and gold paper, tissue paper and a rich abundance of shiny paper, decorating and hiding everything and giving a feeling of reckless extravagance. Tove Jansson

To round things off, I added some pictures of the beautiful, ornate architecture I saw on a visit to Japan some years ago; the ornate temples/shrines in Japan were Toshogu Shrine, Nikko, Asakusa Kannon Temple, Tokyo and Golden Temple Kinkaku ji, Kyoto. The stunning gold leaf gown above was one of the most spectacular, elaborately designed gown I’ve seen in years; it was featured at The Met Museum exhibit on China. Do come back!

Stay Safe! Stay inspired. Have a Happy Weekend!

My fellow bloggers were equally creative with their selections. Check out how others interpreted the theme – ORNATE – below.

This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Daily Post: Weekly Photo Challenge: ORNATE   Forget about subdued and restrained. This week, let’s embrace the breathtakingly extravagant. In your photo this week, share something unabashedly ornate — where it’s clear that the creators pulled no stops and went all out. Whether it’s a breathtaking triumph or a total train wreck, I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Positive Motivation Tip: Enjoy the pleasures of life… be they ornate or simple.

PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos copyrighted and from my Personal Collection.

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet