Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: lantern

This stone house was built in 1804 on the site of a wooden structure that was torn down to create space for it. The stone mason was Nicolas Morin and Charles-Simon Delorme was responsible for the woodwork. The new building originally had two storeys. Its first owner was Jacob Wurtele, an innkeeper of German origin. Since Wurtele already had another establishment on the Place Royale, it is possible that he leased his new house to tenants. However, it seems that by 1810 he was receiving guests in this new building and was living in it himself. Wurtele died the following year. He left all his property to his widow, Sarah Bruner. She remarried twice: the first time to William Joshua Andrews and then to Moses Knapp. Sarah Bruner died in 1819. In 1822, The house was seized by the sheriff and sold as a result of a lawsuit undertaken against Moses Knapp by the children of Wurtele and Bruner. Thomas Del Vecchio, another innkeeper, bought the house. He added a third floor to the building in 1825. Del Vecchio died in 1826 and his heirs continued to own the hotel until 1912, although the name of the establishment changed several times. A fourth floor – made of brick – was added to the building around 1900 and wooden stables were built in the back yard. Around 1910, the building was sold to Pacific Vandelac whose family operated a hotel and tavern on the premises for some 50 years. During the 1920’s the stables were converted into market stalls. In 1961 the city of Montreal expropriated the property with the intention of turning it into an underground parking garage. Thankfully, the renewed interest in Old Montreal as an historical site led to the preservation and restoration of the building before it could be demolished. The fourth floor was removed, as were the wooden market stalls. It now houses a Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream shop.

This 9,000 pound bronze lantern was purchased with contributions from Japanese school children as a symbol of friendship to the United States. Yasusuke Katsuno, the Japanese Consul General, formally presented the Peace Lantern on January 8, 1953. The gift was a commemoration of the US Japanese peace treaty signed in San Francisco in 1951 and an expression of friendship for future generations..

The Stag lantern in the Flat Garden. This is a classic pedestal lantern named after the Kasuga shrine where this type of lantern was first used. The design dates back to the 8th century.

While resembling a lantern, this beautiful wooden structure actually covers a fire hydrant! Next to it are cloud-pruned evergreens. Cloud pruning (nawaki) is a Japanese topiary technique of shaping branches into mounds that resemble clouds

... with aplogies to Alexandre Dumas!

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A Kasuga lantern typically has a cylindrical column surmounted by an annulet (small ring). Above this is the lantern box, generally hexagonal and topped by a hexagonal roof with pronounced scrolls at the points. The top is often in the form of a stylised lotus flower. The name "Kasuga" refers to a Shinto shrine. The Kasuga Grand Shrine in Nara was established in 768 AD and at first used solely by the Fujiwara family. Reaching the shrine involves a long walk through three gates (torii) along a path lined with tall imposing lanterns. This type of lantern (with a long pedestal and massive construction) is therefore called a Kasuga lantern in reference to this shrine. The Nitobe lantern has carved in it a lotus blossom (flower of paradise and symbol of purity) and a dog (Nitobe’s birth sign). Also carved are the 12 zodiacal signs or "earthly branches" (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, pig). On the Nitobe lantern, the rat is aligned to the north, taking precedence as the first sign: as such it indicates the month of December and the first (midnight) double-hour of the day. As one goes around the base of the Nitobe lantern, the passage of time is marked. The Nitobe lantern has been interpreted to symbolise the male principle or "Father figure" as well as memorialising Nitobe himself. This lantern predates the Nitobe Memorial Garden. It was installed in the UBC Botanical Garden (then situated in the centre of Campus) in 1939 by the Japan Society and by the Japanese Associations of British Columbia with the inscription: "I.M., Inazo Nitobe, 1861-1933, Apostle of Goodwill Among Nations, Erected by his friends".

An important feature in Japanese gardens, lanterns symbolize light dispelling darkness. Often placed at the junction of paths, they indicate choices in life. Lanterns were originally introduced into Japan by China. The first ones were made of metal and primarily used to light doorways to shrines and temples. They were later made of stone for use in gardens, but it wasn’t until they were introduced into Japanese tea gardens by tea-master Sen-no-Rikkyu did they become a major garden element. Japanese tea ceremonies were often held in the evenings and light was needed to guide guests to the tea-room. The squat and broad-roofed, snow-viewing lantern dates back to the early Edo period (i.e., the 17th century) and is probably so named because of the attractive capture of snowfall on the broad roof. The snow-viewing lantern in the Nitobe Memorial Garden is situated on the Island of Eternity and is thought to represent the "mother figure" in the cycle of life. The island resembles the shape of a turtle, the animal symbol of immortality.

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This lantern may commemorate Nitobe’s Christian faith. It is named after its inventor, tea master Oribe Furuta (1544-1615). Japanese Christians could attach figures of the virgin Mary onto the flat front shaft of the lantern, buried underground, and so were able to worship secretly. In the Nitobe Memorial Garden, the image of the virgin on this lantern is kept half-exposed.

The Nitobe family crest lantern (shizen doro) is made of local stone from Morioka (Dr. Nitobe’s birth place). It bears the moon and stars familiar to many Japanese as the Nitobe family crest.

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