Takao Ito, the ceramic artist whose work I introduced previously, is holding a solo exhibition in Nagoya titled "Pale Blue Celadon Vessels and the Dinosaur Expo." If you're in the area, please stop by! http://takaryo.jugem.jp/?eid=155

Now, let's move on to Europe and America, starting with England, the birthplace of "dinosaurs." In the mid-19th century, Victorian England was apparently swept up in a dinosaur craze. The term "Dinosauria" was coined in 1842. In 1851, life-sized dinosaur models were displayed at the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition in London (see Treasure House Vol. 39), and the following year, the great author Charles Dickens' novel "Bleak House" included a passage, "It would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus," as a descriptive scene. This suggests how high the public's awareness of dinosaurs was at the time. (Similarly, in Joseph Conrad's 1902 novel "Heart of Darkness," the original work for the film "Apocalypse Now," the name Ichthyosaurus appears.) Therefore, it wouldn't be strange to find dinosaur models made of ceramics (and no, that's not a pun...) or bisque dolls holding fossils from that era. It would be great if I could proudly introduce them with a triumphant look, saying, "These are dinosaurs from the century before last!" (Don't they look older than "dinosaurs from the last century"?) However, 19th-century dinosaur merchandise is, in reality, a distant dream.

Photo 1 A "Wedgwood" plate. It's called a calendar plate, but I don't know why it's considered a calendar.

Photo 2 A "Wade" miniature, about 5cm tall. The bottom row is from the 1993 series, and the top row is from the 2008 series. Incidentally, "Wedgwood" was founded in 1789 and "Wade" in 1810, so "Victorian dinosaurs" might have existed.

Photo 3 A Velociraptor (1993) by "Holland Studio Craft Ltd." 22cm long. Purchased at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Photo 4 A young Plesiosaurus by "North Light" (2004). This is clearly stated to be made of resin, but it looks quite good, so... It's about 18cm long.

Next, across the English Channel to France.

Photo 5 "Fève" http://natsujikan.jp/?mode=f8
The ones in the foreground are from Jurassic Park. The top row is a series themed around evolution, with Darwin in the center. There seem to be many series related to dinosaurs alone, too many to collect them all.

Photo 6 These are also fèves, but they are antiques with a charmingly rustic feel. They depict a Diplodocus and a cave bear versus primitive humans. The bear one seems to be a scene from the adventure novel "The Clan of the Cave Bear," published in 1980, so it was probably made around that time.

Italy has quite a lot.

Photo 7 Huge ornaments. Details unknown. The sauropod and pterosaur on the left are over 35cm tall, and the sauropod on the right is about 50cm long. These are hard to find a place for.

Photo 8 Very carefully made miniatures by "Castagna," about 15-20cm tall. (1988)

Photo 9 Manufacturer and year of manufacture unknown. While not sharp, the paintwork is beautiful. There's also a series with almost the same molding but half the size.

Finally, across the Atlantic to America. Some items appear to be made of resin, but I'll include them in the mix.

Photo 10 "Windstone Editions" These were released from the late 1980s to the 1990s and were quite common in Japan for a while. They are about 20cm tall but surprisingly heavy.

Photo 11 "Island Enterprises" 1986 series. Was the hatching of dinosaurs a trend in America at this time? I bought these around Tokyu Hands during the great explosion of dinosaur merchandise (hereafter DGE) in the early 90s.

Photo 12 This amazing piece has no markings, but I remember buying it with ⑪, so I've assumed it's American-made. About 15cm tall.

Photo 13 "Aus-Ben Studios" This is made of resin, but it's well-done. The Tyrannosaurus is about 20cm tall. Made in 1987. The unique Triceratops has appeared in the Treasure House several times, and each time it's been criticized for being "uncool."

Photo 14 "United Design Corp"'s "DINASOUR DYNASTY" series (1987). This is also light, so it's probably resin. The base is about 10cm. The rugged construction gives it a nice character.

Photo 15 The left one is also made by "United Design Corp," but it seems to be a different series; the label says "Stone Critters." The right one is a Brontosaurus by "Corlett Collectibles," made in 1990, about 15cm tall.

Photo 16 A huge, very heavy piggy bank, 25x20cm. It has a rubber lid at the bottom, but if it fills with coins, it would be impossible to lift.

Photo 17 This is also a piggy bank (36cm). This one and

Photo 18 The Triceratops in Photo 18 (15cm) – I'm not sure if it's American-made, but it's very beautiful. It's a shame the sparkle of ⑱ can't be fully conveyed in a photo!

Most of the American items above were purchased during the DGE. Considering the amount of money spent on these, plus the Asian items from the previous post and non-ceramic DGE items, it's astonishing. I feel like I was directly hit by the "great explosion." Dinosaur merchandise, which I had been starving for, suddenly appeared in massive quantities right before my eyes, and I bought them indiscriminately in a state of panic. There are quite a few items that make me wonder, "Why did I buy this?" I'd like to conclude this section by introducing a prime example.

Photo 19 A candy box that I would definitely not buy now. It's over 25cm in width and length, and sadly, it's just lying in a corner of the room because there's no space for it.