Title: Tournament Shield (Targe) Date: ca. 1500 Culture: German Medium: Wood, burlap, leather, gesso, polychromy Dimensions: H. 26 3/8 in. (67 cm); W. 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm); D. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm); outer circumference 19 5/16 in. (49 cm); H. of lance rest 2 3/8 in. (6 cm) On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 307 "Shields of this shape were inspired by Hungarian light-cavalry shields and were adopted in Germany and Austria for the Hussarisch Turnier (tournament in Hungarian-style costume). The German motto around the owl reads in translation, 'Although I am the hated bird, I rather enjoy that.' Below this are the quartered arms of the Tänzl and Rindscheit families, which were united by marriage in 1499."

For #SuperbOwlSunday 🦉:
Tournament Shield (Targe)
Germany, c. 1500
Wood, burlap, leather, gesso, polychromy
“The German motto around the #owl reads in translation, 'Although I am the hated bird, I rather enjoy that.'”
On display at the Met (69.196)
#Superb_Owl #Superb_Owl_Sunday #BirdsInArt

Book cover: a lizard and an owl playing music together .

An owl holding a book peeking out of a a saguaro cactus.

An owl playing her violin on a balcony on a saguaro cactus

An owl awake in her bed with musical notes coming in through her window. Bust of Beethoven in the background.

It's the day after Superb Owl Sunday. This owl has a weird schedule. From The Sunrise Band, a book I Illustrated for @redchairpress.bsky.social Author: Jeff Dinardo. #Superb_Owl_Sunday #superb_owl #kidlitart #childrensbookillustration #illustration #childrensbook #childrensbooks #kidlitartist

B/W photo by Michel Sima, 1946: Picasso holding his pet owl Ubu in front of a painting featuring his little friend (Owl on a Chair and Sea Urchins, 1946) “While Pablo was still working at the Musée d’Antibes, [Michel] Sima had come to us one day with a little owl he had found in the corner of the museum. One of his claws had been injured. We bandaged it and gradually it healed. We bought a cage for him and when we returned to Paris we brought him back with us and put him in the kitchen with the canaries, the pigeons, the turtledoves. We were very nice to him but he only glared at us. Any time we went into the kitchen, the canaries chirped, the pigeons cooed and the turtledoves laughed but the owl remained stolidly silent or, at best, snorted. He smelled awful and ate nothing but mice. […] Every time the owl snorted at Pablo he would shout, ‘Cochon, Merde,’ and a few other obscenities, just to show the owl that he was even worse mannered than he was.” — Françoise Gilot, as quoted in _A Picasso Bestiary_

B/W photo by Michel Sima, 1946: Picasso holding his pet owl Ubu in front of a painting featuring his little friend (Owl on a Chair and Sea Urchins, 1946) - closer view

B/W photo by Michel Sima, 1946: Picasso holding his pet owl Ubu in his hands while posed on a wooden chair

#Superb_Owl_Sunday hall of fame legend: #Picasso ‘s beloved pet rescue #owl, Ubu, who inspired the famous artist to create a whole series of owl drawings, paintings, and ceramics.
(See ALTS for more info!)
#Superb_Owl #BirdsInArt

Southern boobook in Albert Park sitting on concrete bench.

#superb_owl_sunday
An actual owl, the southern boobook, picture taken in Albert Park (Melbourne) back in 2009.

Photo of the owl plate hanging on display at museum

gallery label: “Above PLATE, ca. 1525-50 Hispano-Moresque (Manises, Valencia) Heraldic animals-such as this fantastical owl wearing a crown-appear widely in Hispano-Moresque pottery, with each center of production developing its own decorative elements. The floral and foliage patterns surrounding the owl, as well as the interlocking lines and circles comprising its torso, were favored during the first half of the 16th century in the town of Manises in the province of Valencia, Spain. Tin-glazed earthenware with luster decoration 48.1099, acquired by Henry Walters”

#Superb_Owl royalty:
Plate with “fantastical #owl wearing a crown,” c. 1525-50
Hispano-Moresque (Manises, Valencia, Spain)
Tin-glazed earthenware with luster decoration, 2 1/16 x 18 1/16 in. (5.2 x 45.9 cm)
On display at the Walters Art Museum 48.1099
#Superb_Owl_Sunday #BirdsInArt

Family of tawny frogmouths

#superb_owl_sunday
Here in Australia, our neighbourhood has a family of (not exactly an owl) tawny frogmouths.

"This object and the group to which it belongs (see also 2014.713.1–.10) reflect the keen interest in historical styles in nineteenth-century Europe. Artists and designers looked to various artistic periods for forms and motifs. There was also an interest in reproducing works of art from earlier epochs with historical accuracy—an approach that is particularly evident in the taste for so-called archaeological jewelry (jewelry based on excavated examples from antiquity), which reached its zenith in the middle of the century. The jewelry made during this period encompassed Etruscan, ancient Roman, early Christian, Byzantine, and medieval styles. The firm of Castellani in Rome both pioneered and dominated the production of archaeological jewelry."

#Superb_Owl Sunday bling:
Brooch in the form of an #owl head, c. 1860
Italian, Rome, Firm of Castellani
Gold, agate (eyes)
1 5/8 x 1 3/8 x 7/16 in. (4.1 x 3.5 x 1.1 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art New York 2014.713.10 www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...
#Superb_Owl_Sunday #BirdsInArt

"Stoneware punch bowl modeled in the shape of an owl, the cover forming the head, painted with cream, green, grey and brown coloured slips, and salt-glazed. The owl, of monumental size, stands face-forward, supported by six large claws splayed around a hexagonal base. The representation is naturalistic, but the bird has quizzical, human-like expression. Both head and body are finely modelled, with particular attention to the feathers, which are painted in shades of brown slip with additional marks in brown and black. The wings are folded behind, the ears are raised and the beak is open. The eyes, made as deep hollow orbs with the pupils cut out, are encircled by cream coloured radial feathers. The glaze on the body is thinly applied, giving a matt finish; the glaze on the face and head is thicker, and shiny. There are two holes drilled down through the base, behind the claws, to attach the owl to a stand."

The perfect piece for today - it's both a #Superb_Owl and a #Super_Bowl!
Stoneware punch bowl in the shape of an #owl by Robert Wallace Martin (Martin Brothers pottery), England, 1903. H.103cm.
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge: data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/13...
#superb_owl_sunday #BirdsInArt

A photo of the feet of a little owl. They are covered in pale feathers and have big bumpy pads underneath and long sharp black talons. The photo is from my iNaturalist observation at https://inaturalist.nz/observations/203998030

Here are the superb feet of a Little Owl, *Athene noctua*.

Little owls were introduced to NZ from Germany in 1906–1910 in an attempt to control the many little birds that had become pests in farmers' grain and fruit crops. Those little birds had also been […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]

Jaru wearing a 2025 AnthrOhio / Ohio Nature Education shirt while holding a stuffed owl

Happy #Superb_Owl_Sunday! Ohio Nature Education will be the AnthrOhio charity again this year, and has some fun merch available! Be sure to check out their site and support them, their superb owls, and all the other critters they care for!
www.ohionature.org/store

A pygmy owl sits on a snowy tree branch, looking back at the camera.

A SuperbOwl from a few years ago. #birdsofmastodon #owls #superb_owl #superb_owl_sunday #superbowl

Happy #Superb_Owl_Sunday!

I love that this is trending 😸

Original post on mastodon.sdf.org

I'm holding a grudge.

Nothing against the amazing athletes but I'm not going to watch as a couple of cowed billionaires turn them into show-ponies to entertain a felon and serial sex-offender. That it's being broadcast by his media lap-dog Fox is just sticking a finger in my eye.

I think I […]

Superb Owls | Smithsonian Institution Superb owls found across the Smithsonian's collections of artifacts, artworks, and archives.... Learn more

#Superb_Owl_Sunday collection:
#superb_owl #owls #birdsinart
www.si.edu/spotlight/owls

This year is the first time I can compete in #Superb_Owl_Sunday as last year was the first year I got photos of Owls. Here's my four Favorite Superb Owl photos for #Superb_Owl2025

"Stoneware punch bowl modeled in the shape of an owl, the cover forming the head, painted with cream, green, grey and brown coloured slips, and salt-glazed. The owl, of monumental size, stands face-forward, supported by six large claws splayed around a hexagonal base. The representation is naturalistic, but the bird has quizzical, human-like expression. Both head and body are finely modelled, with particular attention to the feathers, which are painted in shades of brown slip with additional marks in brown and black. The wings are folded behind, the ears are raised and the beak is open. The eyes, made as deep hollow orbs with the pupils cut out, are encircled by cream coloured radial feathers. The glaze on the body is thinly applied, giving a matt finish; the glaze on the face and head is thicker, and shiny. There are two holes drilled down through the base, behind the claws, to attach the owl to a stand."

The perfect piece for today - it's both a #Superb_Owl and a #Super_Bowl !
Stoneware punch bowl in the shape of an #owl by Robert Wallace Martin (Martin Brothers pottery), England, 1903. Height 103cm.
Fitzwilliam Museum: data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/13...

#superb_owl_sunday #BirdsInArt