Unconventional Collection

CAT PIANO
Variations on a catatonic scale : the keys are linked to the cats tails, and when depressed the resulting miaows create a concatenation of feline counterpoint

Rudyard Kipling by Cyrus Cuneo
Unconventional Portraits: No.XV.-A Superman amongst writers by Cyrus Cuneo. An impression of Rudyard Kipling, novelist and poet, showing him at work surrounded by characters from his books

Cotswold Games 17th C
Cotswold Olimpick Games organised by Robert Dover, including shin kicking and other local sports

Very Elevated Bicycle
A very elevated bicycle - the look of concentration on the riders face is very understandable!

Bicycle wedding
In Marseille, France, M. Pecolle weds Mlle Latourre on a bicycle built for two

House over River 1950S
This house was built on a bridge over a river in 1680. It is situated in Ambleside, Westmorland

Piano De Silex - 1
Honore Baudres geological piano uses a series of selected stones, each of which emits a different note when struck

Electric Rail Dinner
Still another use for electricity: a miniature railway that brings food from the pantry to the table, removing the need for contact with troublesome servants

Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, writer, poet and traveller
Lucie Delarue-Mardrus (1874-1945)was a prolific poet and novelist, penning more than 70 books. As well as being married to a man for fifteen years

Unconventional aircraft Pterodactyl tailless aeroplane undergoing tests at Yeovil, Somerset Date: 1938

MATTHEWS'S LUMINAPHONE
Grindell Matthews's instrument uses beams of light to produce music : interestingly, the same inventor also offered the world a death ray a few years later. Date: 1926

Wouldn t it be awful if Augustus John became conventional
One of a series of cartoons in The Bystander caricaturing famous people by suggesting how awful it would be if they did something completely uncharacteristic, in this case

EATING REINDEER TO BONE
Ostiaks eat raw reindeer on the bone. Date: 1905

ANIMAL CONCERT
A cat concert, accompanied by monkeys and with the assistance of an owl turning the pages of the music book. Date: circa 1660

Norma Shearer among the Lilies - Screen Celebrities - from a New Angle: Unconventional Portraits. Date: 1930

Faustin Edmond Wirkus, King of La Gonave, Haiti
Faustin Edmond Wirkus (1896-1945), King of La Gonave, Haiti as Faustin II, ruling from 1926 to 1929. He had been a Polish-American US Marine stationed in Haiti during the US occupation

Water Tricycle - 5
The nautical velocipede of Georg Pinkert, of Hamburg, Germany, operates on the paddle-wheel principle. It travels at 15 km/h on land, 12 km/h on water

Wed at 800 Metres
WED AT 800 METRES At San Antonio, Texas, Walter Stone and Mary Shelton are married aboard an airship

Ordnance Column
A colossal column built from French ordnance with wheeled cannon decorating each tier Date: circa 1815

Arm-Driven Bicycle
The German Rudomobil is driven with the arms, not the legs. Date: 1926

Bathing Pavilion
A bathing pavilion with a classical look surrounded by flowers and foliage Date: 1820

Water Tricycle - 1
Several inventors propose forms of water-tricycle. Frenchman Romanes-Rousseau demonstrates his project at Marseille, on a conveniently calm day. Date: 1880

Cycloscaphe 1896
The CYCLOSCAPHE gives a new meaning to the phrase three men and a boat with its adaptation of the bicycle to boat propulsion, the pedals turning the propeller. Date: 1896

French Society Lady
A French Lionne - a lady who holds fashionable salons for the leading people of the day Date: 1850

Egg and Spoon on Horses
Who says that the British in India had too much time on their hands? Ladies enjoy an egg-and-spoon race on horseback. Date: 1896

Rink Tennis 1875
Rink tennis ingeniously combines the joys of ice skating with competitive tennis. Date: 1875

Volleyball with a balloon, as played by Germans at Tempelhof, near Berlin. Date: 1904

Cycling on ice skates
cycling on skates (or skating on a bicycle) Date: 1870

Ladies orchestra, 1875
An orchestra of musical ladies delights an audience of gentlemen with their playing. In addition to the more usual stringed instruments

Bicycle Boat
A Bicycle Boat, a new type of boat, which can be used as a comfortable sidecar on land and a paddleboat on water! The pedals of the bicycle work the paddles. Date: early 1930s

Georges Sand Photo
GEORGES SAND French writer and folklorist, famous for her unconventional life-style and her string of lovers who included de Musset and Chopin. Date: 1804-1876

Vessel for the Homeless
This ordinary looking vessel is actually a floating hotel (or hostel) for tramps and the homeless. Date: 1930s

BATH CHAIR BOAT
An unconventional bath chair boat, operated by levers. Date: early 1930s

Street music: a blind ballad singer, 1815
A blind chaunter of old ballads, shown here accompanying his voice by playing upon a cat gut string drawn over a tea canister, and tied at both ends with a mop stick. Date: 1815

Cat piano and animal choir
A cat piano and a choir of animals make up this unusual ensemble. A motely selection of humans also feature-a one legged man plays the cat piano

A German Bicycle Boat
A bicycle boat on a street in Germany. Date: early 1930s

1850s woman smoking - flouting convention
A charming water colour of an early female smoker, very much a flouter of the conventions of her day. Date: 1850s

Six on a Cycle
Five gents and one lady on a single machine. Date: 1897

Gas-Driven Car
A rather unsafe looking gas- driven Calcott car with a huge Lyon-Spencer gas container on its roof drawfing the car itself. Owned by Lady Idina Wallace.Hope she didn t smoke

Fish Sailing Couple 1939
A sailor, with his female companion, find a far more interesting way to sail the seas, on the back of a fish. The steering wheel must be of invaluable assistance

Basket Carring Race
An amazing Basket Carriers Race, Herne Hill, south London, England

Water Tricycle - 4
American inventor Terry, who crossed the Channel in a tricycle-boat in July 1884, now proposes this aquatic tricycle which travels on the surface : a calm day needed !

Dog-Drawn Catamaran
At Westerly, Rhode Island, a young lady goes for a spin in her catamaran, drawn by two very large dogs, probably Newfoundlands

Aquatic Velocipede
The unnamed inventor of this aquatic velocipede claims to have used it successfully through the winter. Three air filled receptacles keep him up, pedals give motive power

Cycle Football, Berlin
Cycle football is played in Berlin

Ye Olde Coffin House at Brixham, Devon. When a father declared that he would rather see his daughter in a coffin than marry her young man, the young man built this house

Matthauphone (Glasses)
The MATTAUPHONE of M. Mattau of Brussels is simply his version of the glass harmonica in which glasses are filled with liquid to varying depths, then struck

Donkey Serenade
A quartet of donkeys, selected for the note of their bray, perform - though it is unlikely that they could actually read the musical score

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