A question came up the other day on a Facebook group about the origins of a small black ornamental elephant. I see a lot of ornamental elephants while I’m out and about, some are African but most of them are from India or Asia, but first some basics. There are a few notable differences between Asian and African elephants. African elephants have much larger ears to help dissipate body …

So what’s so good about gargoyles? Well, if you have ever wondered around the cities and towns of Europe then at some point you would have come across one of these lurching or perching on the roofs or walls of churches and Cathedrals. But imagine looking up at the parapets and walls of a church or cathedral on a foggy evening and slowly they all start coming to life, …

We like a bit of brass at Kode Store, we have lots of it, and lots of Brasso too. Brass is quite an ancient copper alloy that has been around in various forms since as early as the 5th millennium BC, the modern day brass that we know of today came on to the scene around the 14th century and has had many uses, but the one we are …

While searching around on Google looking for more information regarding another of our items for sale i came across something else i instantly recognised as one of those things in our collection that i had previously been unable to find any information on. What i found on Google was a Samurai’s Meadate in the shape of a giant Japanese hornet (Japanese Antique Samurai Kabuto Hornet Meadate) which was virtually …

I have a fascination with the anatomies of objects. All things whether old or new are a composite of parts and those parts have names that are occasionally linked to an interesting history or story. I also have a fascination with the wording of objects, which in most cases can be traced back to Latin words. And the candelabra is a good example. We sell quite a few candelabras …