When we were living in Toronto, we had a favourite little Italian trattoire on Dundas Street where we would sometimes dine out on a Friday after Betty Lynn was finished work for the week. One of the reasons we particularly liked this little restaurant was the fact that over the bar area, there were a couple of plaques built in the wall featuring frame drummers. Betty Lynn always said that if the place ever went out of business, she would personally rip them out of the wall herself. This was some years ago, so I can only assume the restaurant is still in business and the plaques are still in situ. Here are some shots I took of them at the time.
We always kept our eyes open for such plaques, and in April, 2013, we finally found one in Adam's Antiques Mall, Adamstown, PA. It was an eleven and a half inch square concrete wall plaque. However, we had a certain amount of difficulty in purchasing it. I spotted it hanging quite high on the mall wall. When I pointed it out, the mall operators were quite reluctant to bring it down on the basis that it belonged to an individual who never bothered to price his stuff, and as he was not there. they could not sell it. It took some doing, but I finally persuaded them to get a ladder and bring it down on the off chance this one actually was priced. No such luck! Not a clue! As we were leaving Adamstown the next morning, I pleaded with them to try and reach the owner and get a price from him, promising that we would return before leaving town. They were none too enthusiastic, but we left it at that, and sure enough, when we returned the next day we had a price, well within our price range. Here's what we found. It is not exactly the same as the ones in Toronto, but clearly it belongs to the same family of plaques.
While we are on the subject of plaques, I picked up a couple of eight and a half inch painted plaster circular plaques in a small shop in Wiscasset, ME, in July of 2013. They are clearly inspired by Luca della Robbia's Singing Gallery in the Duomo of Florence. Only the first has a frame drumming putto, but I include the second plaque to complete the pair.
