Here’s a look at the history, artistry and majesty of swans

T.Y. sent me a pink blown glass swan and a green blown glass swordfish, about 12 inches tall each.

The swan is Italian (Murano), and the swordfish is Mexican “end of day” glass. “End of day” is the glass left over after a glass blower does the day’s work in colors, and the mixture of colors of left-over glass in the swordfish piece gives that “end-of-day quality” away. Not worth much.

I would like to focus on the swan, as the swan has been a symbol in the material world for ages and in many cultures. In fact, my grandmother from Hamburg, Germany, had a small collection of glass swans in her New York home because she remembered them on the Alster River in 1910-1920s.

Firstly, any creature that is a “passage” creature, partaking of two elements (snake: earth and air and water, swan: earth and air and water), has meaning.

In the Hindu culture, it is said that the swan can suck the milk out of a milk-water mix (earth and water), and the swan, because of the plumage of pure white is the closest creature to the world soul.

When a swan flies, it is an example of the release from the cycle of birth and death (samsara), because when a swan flies, it is a mighty thing to see.

The swan, especially the male, is huge. With its length of up to 6 feet, its weight of 30 pounds and its six-foot wingspan, its taking to the sky is inspiring. And let us not forget the sexual symbolism of the swan due to both the size of the male and the length and aggressive nature of the neck looking forward to “spending more time with my immediate family including my daughter and son and their spouses, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren, my great great granddaughter, nieces/nephews, friends and former co-workers.”

She is also looking forward to, after a 70-year career at the hospital, “sleeping in and enjoying the life that God has given me.”

“I truly believe that my career experiences at Cottage have made me a better person,” Ms. Cue said. “I met so many kind and encouraging people at Cottage. Because of that I also moved forward and accomplished attaining my cosmetology license, and on Saturdays and Sundays I would donate my time and go to the rest homes and give haircuts to various elderly patients.

“This was my way of giving back to our community. I was able to accomplish this because of the opportunity that Cottage gave me.” email: kzehnder@newpress.com and beak.

In the arguably most sexualized era of France, the Second Empire (sex was rampant but never discussed and was undercover in 1870-1890), perhaps the most famous sculpture was “Leda and the Swan,” after the myth of Leda and Zeus. (Zeus desired the lowborn maiden Leda, and he devised a way to not be an aggressive human male but a beautiful animal male swan.)

The maquette was created in 1870 by the sculptor Carrier-Belleuse and reproduced in the thousands.

My grandmother was from Hamburg, the city of the Alster Swans, but my grandfather was from Leipzig, the area known for porcelain in the 18th century, and I visited the Meissen Museum there looking for the famous Meissen Swan Service.

I know it is hard to believe, but before the 18th century, Europe did not know how to make or fire porcelain.

It (the recipe) was discovered in the early 18th century in Meissen/ Dresden area of Germany, and the most famous of all porcelain artists of the time was Johann Joachim Kaendler, who created the most famous of all “dinner party tableware sets,” the 2,200-piece (1737-42) Swan service for a Polish nobleman named Henrich von Bruhl, director of the Meissen Porcelain works in the early 18th century.

Why a swan service? Because the name “Bruhl” in German refers to a swamp (swans are creatures of earth, water and air — as are swamplands) and if nothing else, the 18th century was a time of allegory. Kaendler knew this and visited the Dresden Natural History Museum to sketch the swan.

Only a few pieces of the Swan Service remain today — which were a beautiful depiction of two relief swans in “white on white” porcelain on each dinner plate, cup, and tureen, platter, and candelabra and sconce, because at the end of World War II, when the Red Soviet army invaded Poland, where the Bruhl Castle was located (the service was in the basement), they used the pieces for target practice.

Swans in material culture are symbols that still live. Insult a Hamburg swan by yelling, and under a 17th-century law you will be fined, because if you harm a Hamburg swan, you harm Hamburg’s right to be free and prosperous. A “Swan Father” — who has been in charge of Hamburg swans for 20 years, or his father, in charge for 46 years — will be on you in true German fashion.

The myth of the Hamburg swan: When the world is good, the swans will come, and during the French Siege of Hamburg in 1813, only two swans existed, and after 1919, 16 swans survived. Today there are 120, of which the eldest is 24 years.

The Murano Glass Swan was created by the legendary midcentury artist Seguso and is worth $800.

Dr. Elizabeth Stewart’s “Ask the Gold Digger” column appears Saturdays in the News-Press. Written after her father’s COVID-19 diagnosis, Dr. Stewart’s book “My Darlin’ Quarantine: Intimate Connections Created in Chaos” is a humorous collection of five “what-if” short stories that end in personal triumphs over presentday constrictions. It’s available at Chaucer’s in Santa Barbara.