Even though it’s spring, it’s still chilly outside at night and a human skull ‘log’ might be just what the witch doctor ordered to keep you warm. It’s definitely a conversation piece, I’ll give it that. The human skull ‘log’ is for gas or liquid propane pits only.

The description from the listing is below:

• The log is steel reinforced, plus produced with lave granules plus significant heat ceramic refractory which is employed to check rocket machines.
• ★Handmade, longer Lead-Time★ Dimensions: About an adult skull. Averagely, the length is 8-9 inches, width is 6.5-7.5 inches. Heavy. Highly detailed, hand painted refractory fire log.
• By 3 generations of designers, logs are designed, handwork manufactured in CA USA.
• Type: Imitated Human Skull Fire Gas Log with 3 color choices - White, Black, Brown
• Approved Certification is through OMNI TESTING LABORATORIES. Indoor gas logs sets have limited LIFETIME WARRANTY by manufacturer.

The skulls come in three colors: white, black and brown. They sell for $65 each here.

 
A 24-karat gold skull armchair for that special supervillain in your life. I can’t imagine too many people will be buying this as it’s retailing for $500,000. Holy crap, Batman!

The company who makes it is called Harow. Here’s their information just in case, you know, you can afford it.

Dig the black velvet upholstery.

 
More after the jump…
 

Teaset “Iraq 2007”, 2007
 
According to the biographical narrative of sculptor Richard T. Notkin, the Helena, Montana-based artist has been creating surreal and politically charged ceramics for almost 40 years. Of note in Notkin’s long career is his fondness for creating odd-looking teapots; an affinity that was born from his early love of Chinese Yixing teapots. Notkin was so enamoured with his subject that he spent most of the twelve years between 1983 and 1995 creating surrealist-looking teapots. Notkin’s works are also meant to represent his disdain of politics, war and other important societal issues.

Notkin on why he chose the teapot as a way of expressing himself:

Although the vast majority of my work created between 1983 and 1995 consists almost entirely of teapots, I consider myself a sculptor with a strong commitment to social commentary. My chosen medium — the material I love to work with — is clay. The vessel is the primal “canvas” for the ceramic artist, and my vessel of choice is the teapot, the most complex of vessels, consisting of body, handle, spout, lid and knob. This allows me the widest latitude in juxtaposing the many images I use to set up my narrative pieces.

Notkin’s works have been displayed by museums across the world, including locations in New York, Los Angeles, London and Japan. I’m especially fond of the teapots that follow.
 

Light bulb teapot (variation #6), 1984
 

“Nuclear Nuts” teapot (variation #12) 1987
 
More after the jump…
 

Sant’Agostino, memorial to Cardinal Giuseppe Ranato Imperiali, by Paolo Posi (design) and Pietro Bracci (statuary), 1741
 
There’s a romance to Catholicism that I envied growing up—services attended with Protestant grandparents provided none of the splashy aesthetics Catholicism is so famous for. We certainly weren’t graced with sculptures of super-vigorous skeletons—specifically, skeletons that aren’t letting their lack of skin and organs prevent them from leading active, productive afterlives. Skeletons with joie de décès, if you will.

These Roman skeleton sculptures (documented by Catholic death ritual hobbyist, Elizabeth Harper) exhibit an expressiveness not expected from bones of stone. Harper’s subjects hoist the doors to their own tombs, brandish banners and portraits, and even genuflect before the dead. Congregants are reminded of their own mortality, but the morbid stigma of the skeleton is eclipsed by the dynamic, lush beauty of the sculptures.
 

Gesù e Maria, memorial to Camillo del Corno by Domenico Guidi, 1682
 

San Francesco d’Assisi a Ripa Grande, memorial to Maria Camilla and Giovanni Battista Rospigliosi, skeleton by Michele Garofolino, 1713
 

San Pietro in Montorio: Detail of the relief carved on the tomb of Girolamo Raimondi by Niccolo Sale, chapel designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1640
 

San Pietro in Vincoli, memorial to Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini by Carlo Bizzaccheri, died 1610
 

San Pietro in Vincoli, memorial to Cardinal Mariano Pietro Vecchiarelli, died 1639
 

Sant’Eustachio, memorial to Silvio Cavallieri, 1717
 

Santa Maria del Popolo, tomb of Giovanni Battista Gisleni, made for himself prior to his death in 1672
 

Santa Maria del Popolo, tomb of Princess Maria Eleonora Boncompagni Ludovisi, died 1745
 

Detail of the façade of Santa Maria dell’Orazione e Morte, designed by Ferdinando Fuga, 1738. The inscription on the scroll reads, “Today me, tomorrow you.”
 

Façade of Santa Maria dell’Orazione e Morte, designed by Ferdinando Fuga, 1738
 

Santa Maria sopra Minerva, memorial to Carlo Emanuele Vizzani, by Domenico Guidi, 1661
 
Via Atlas Obscura

 
It’s probably a bit too early to start thinking about Halloween (or, you know, you could just wear one to work for “casual freaky Friday”) but these handmade resin skull masks by Etsy shop aishavoya are pretty damned incredible.

Each mask is hand painted, so each paint job slightly varies. Masks are lined in fabric and the straps are leather but can be switched with a synthetic leather upon request.

The masks are hand-sculpted, supposedly lightweight, somewhat flexible and apparently can fit “a wide range of face shapes and sizes.”

I’ve added links underneath each photo. Each mask runs around $180.00.

”Dragon Skull Mask”
 

”Horned Demon Skull Mask”
 

“Curly Horned Demon Skull Mask”
 

”Owl Bird Skull Mask”
 
h/t Geekologie

 
Iowa artist Tamara Howell has undertaken a series of sculptures inspired by Norse myth, and among those pieces are five jaw-droppingly lovely skulls—two wolves, three goats—beautifully embellished with, as her web site simply states, “clay and mixed media.” I’d love to know more about her process, but, perhaps with an eye towards maintaining a mystique, Howell seems to demure on those details.
 

 

 

”Sköll Devours the Sun”
 
More after the jump…

 
These remarkable photographs are by Italian artist Cristina Burns, who clearly has a knack for a saccharine brand of thanatopsis (that’s right, I went straight to “thanatopsis”). They’re part of her “Through the Mirror” series, which is obviously a reference to Lewis Carroll (there’s even a Queen of Hearts), but not all of the photos reference that, some of the imagery draws from the Easter Bunny, Sleeping Beauty, or general mythology. Burns’ wonderful, sickly-sweet dioramas, for lack of a better word, feature all manner of flowers, candy, birds, eggs, hearts, and who knows what else.

How original, to present a world of death entirely in pastels…...
 

 

 

 

 

 
More of Burns’ meticulous masterpieces after the jump…...

 
In the puzzling biographical blurb on his website, the artist Diddo claims to have “aroused the curiosity of creators and tastemakers, receiving requests from the likes of Sasha Baron Cohen, Kanye West and Lady Gaga.” It also says that he “was born on the luckiest day since the sixth century (7-7-’77).”

Diddo’s most recent work, “Ecce Animal,” poses provocative questions about the human condition, such as “How much does that fucking thing cost?” It’s a skull measuring roughly 5 x 7 x 8.5 inches—I’m neither a doctor nor a medical examiner, but I’m going to go ahead and call that “life-sized”—and it’s made of “street cocaine.”

In the “Laboratory” section of his website, he drops such risible bon mots as “The analysis started with the preparation of the 100% Cocaine standard and sample solution. An amount of standard was dissolved in a mobile phase followed by a series of trial runs to calibrate and identify the HPLC method that gave adequate separation of the standard. ... The retention time of our sample matched the Cocaine standard, albeit with
 a much smaller peak. This is because the sample is diluted with so-called ‘cutting agents’. The purity of the Cocaine in percentage lies in the range of approximately 15% to 20%.”
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
via designboom

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
I ♥ the cocaine, I ♥ the cocaine
Charlie Chaplin on cocaine