Journalist and biographer Ray Coleman was a frequent visitor at Kenwood.
In 1965 (or thereabouts), he asked John for a list of prized possessions (imagine that). Amazingly, John did manage to come up with a list, which included pictures by Stuart Sutcliffe, The Singing Postman's record, his (John's, not the Singing Postman's) attic studio (at that point only home to two tape recorders), books by Aldous Huxley (nuff said), and a "lump of stone" found on the doorstep of Kenwood. This last was initially evaluated as "prehistoric" (isn't all stone, at least in the resolutely non-volcanic UK?), but later re-evaluated as "a load of crap".
Also, pertinently, a stone frog: "I like to see this in the fireplace, near the TV set, looking at us all." Obviously, therefore, it sat, or squatted, or whatever it is that frogs do, in the big living room.
Anyway, Jon Warren has sent in the above photo; he bought a (and possibly the very) stone frog at auction 20 years ago, sold by Cynthia, and of Kenwood vintage; so there we go. Thanks to Jon.
one of John's favorite items...what a lovely thing to have.
ReplyDeleteWow that is really neat!
ReplyDeleteCool! Any pictures of the frog in situ?
ReplyDeleteNot that I am aware of. There is one picture (somewhere on the blog) from 1965 showing the fireplace - but it's in the background, not in focus, and so no detail can be discerned.
ReplyDelete