Lying gazelle

Country: Spain

Manufactory: Lladro

Date of establishment: 1971

Sculptor: Fulgencio Garcia

Size (cm): 13*67

Porcelain Story

One early morning, when I arrived at work, I met a frightened cleaning lady. When asked what had happened, she, with difficulty catching her breath, told how terribly frightened she was when she opened the editorial office for cleaning. ''Going to the window, I suddenly saw some kind of living creature! the woman said excitedly. “Just like a living thing!..” In front of her was this big porcelain gazelle. According to an old habit, I periodically rearrange the products that surround me both at home and at work. This allows each time to notice some details of the works, to perceive the general dynamics of the plot in a new way, to find unexpectedly interesting angles. True, it is better to warn others about such permutations. Otherwise, no one is immune from surprises.

I found a lying gazelle in one of the shops in the Israeli resort town of Eilat. It was many years ago. And it so happened that we went to Eilat from Jerusalem. The road ran through amazing places. The Negev desert, which occupies a huge part of the territory of Israel, sometimes amazed with landscapes, which are usually figuratively called ''lunar''. And here also the story of the talkative guide confirmed: many plots for the ''space'' epic movies were filmed in these places, surprisingly reminiscent of the Martian expanses.

So. Already almost at the entrance to Eilat, the driver of our minibus had to slow down sharply - a flock of graceful artiodactyls crossed a perfectly flat road. ''Do you know what these animals are? the guide asked. And, without waiting for our answer, he answered himself: - These are gazelles. They show up here from time to time. In fact, there are catastrophically few of them left...'' And we went on our way. What was my surprise when literally the next day, walking in the center of Eilat, I suddenly saw this amazing creature in the window of one of the shops. It lay, as if alive, behind the glass, as if carefully examining the people passing by. This happened to me dozens of times in different countries - I did not find new works for my collection, but they found me. So it was at that time.

I couldn't help but buy this great product. Moreover, I always dreamed that in the future museum a number of exhibits made of fragile porcelain would be decorated with signs not with the strictest warning ''Touching is forbidden'', but with an unexpected inscription ''Touching is mandatory!'' And this gazelle, like several other pieces of porcelain, specially selected for such an idea, waited a long time in the wings, quietly basking in the sun, warming the editorial window sill...