Unicorns

Unicorns are everywhere these days. Little girls (and big girls) are crazy about them, although even Nova and Maya seem to be getting tired of the fad.

I bought this small unicorn pillow at the Musee Cluny gift shop in Paris.  I'm embarrassed to tell you how many euros it cost. Impulse purchase.  On the trip of a lifetime, you tend to throw inhibition to the wind. But when we got home, I wished I'd bought a second one.

We like tapestries, and seeing the original, medieval "Lady and the Unicorn" series was one of the trip highlights. They are incredibly detailed and beautiful. The Lady interacts with the Unicorn, and each tapestry represents an allegory of the five senses, plus desire.

On Ebay (where you can get anything) I found all kinds of unicorn tapestry pillows. I took a chance on a set of Damask covers from China ($20 each, no tax, no shipping, wow.) 

They took about a month to get here, and finally arrived in a weird package that looked like it came off a slow boat from China. Which it did. My expectations were low, but they're really nice for the money.  Only "Touch" is missing from the series, for some reason not available.

"Sight" is my favorite. The vain Unicorn fawns on Lady's lap like a big spoiled dog, admiring his reflection.  Of course, cheap fabric is nothing like the exquisite original tapestry, but the colors are muted and pretty, and they almost look like antiques.