Curious devices, forbidden artifacts, mysterious creatures, and intriguing documents.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
I Bear the Mark of the King
Jeweler Whelen35 brings us a slab-style pendant bearing the Yellow Sign. This will come in handy when the stars are finally right and the King in Yellow walks the earth.
Out of curiosity...how did that symbol come to be the generally used graphic for the Yellow Sign? Robert Chambers describes it as follows in his story The Yellow Sign:
"I opened the box. On the pink cotton inside lay a clasp of black onyx, on which was inlaid a curious symbol or letter in gold. It was neither Arabic nor Chinese, nor, as I found afterwards, did it belong to any human script."
But beyond that, he never gave any additional description of it.
Maybe it's just me, but that symbol never struck me as what the Yellow Sign would look like. I always thought it might look more like some shaded letter in a strange script. Something resembling Arabic, Chinese, or Sanskrit than anything else. This symbol seems more like it was a riff on the biohazard symbol than anything else.
Oddly reminds me of a bar of Nazi Gold.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity...how did that symbol come to be the generally used graphic for the Yellow Sign? Robert Chambers describes it as follows in his story The Yellow Sign:
ReplyDelete"I opened the box. On the pink cotton inside lay a clasp of black onyx, on which was inlaid a curious symbol or letter in gold. It was neither Arabic nor Chinese, nor, as I found afterwards, did it belong to any human script."
But beyond that, he never gave any additional description of it.
Maybe it's just me, but that symbol never struck me as what the Yellow Sign would look like. I always thought it might look more like some shaded letter in a strange script. Something resembling Arabic, Chinese, or Sanskrit than anything else. This symbol seems more like it was a riff on the biohazard symbol than anything else.
Not really a fan of this version of the yellow sign at all but this piece nearly won me over, fantastic work by the artist.
ReplyDelete@ Zero Mostel
ReplyDeleteA treasure trove of Nazi gold bearing the mark of the King in Yellow? I'd watch that movie.
@ votre
The wikipedia entry gives a pretty good explanation for the popularity of the Ross design.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Sign
I have an alternate version you may find interesting.
http://propnomicon.blogspot.com/2010/06/yellow-sign-redux.html
An actual ancient three-tentacled creature, Tribrachidium heraldicum, has recently been discovered: Ancient 3-Limbed Sea Creature Reveals Complexity of Early Ecosystem (November 30, 2015).
ReplyDeleteCompare the fossil to the Kevin Ross design.