Photo Hunt - Daub

From time-to-time a photo hunt theme will come along and have me thinking 'what the hell does this mean?'

This week's Photo Hunt theme of 'daub' is a perfect example of this. At first I thought it meant a spoonful of cream on a pie or jam on a piece of toast. 'That was easy,' I thought! Then I discovered that that was a dab of cream or a dab of jam. ARGH

So much for easy!

Then I thought that it might mean that amazing French stew. I was heading to the cellar to get the ingredients thinking 'this will be easy AND tasty!'

Of course I realized that that was a daube.

Wrong hunt.

I was tempted to just go with one or the other and hope no one would notice but I knew Sandi would  . . . and she might mock me. I couldn't have that!

So what is a daub?

The word comes from the classic 'wattle and daub' construction technique for making walls in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw. Wattle and daub has been used for at least 6000 years, and is still an important construction material in many parts of the world. Many historic buildings include wattle and daub construction, and the technique is becoming popular again in more developed areas as a low-impact technique.

Daub has come to mean a sticky coating smeared on a surface i.e. painting. It may also mean a crude or amateuristic painting or picture.

There is your lesson for the day!

So what about the pictures?

This was from a watercolour painting class that we took while we were in Tuscany back in 2008. The results certainly fit THIS part of the definition: 'It may also mean a crude or amateuristic painting or picture.'

Then I got thinking about the buildings we saw in Italy. They weren't a classic wattle and daub construction - there were far too many rocks and stones pulled from the ground for that - but they were all coated with a mud/straw coating and painted. Here are some examples:

In the ones where the daubed coating is flaking (or chunking off in some cases) you can really see the beautifully natural rough, uneven surface underneath the colourful veneer. Not unlike with people . . . *smile*

Comments

[Carver]

Fantastic take on the theme. Interesting learning the history of the world and a wonderful set of photographs.

[Bing]

this is such a perfect depiction of the theme!

i do not have an exact depiction (there were no available pics) but tried to put fun for the word.

[Twisted Cinderella]

Great take on the theme!

Mine is up for this week: My Saturday Photohunt

[Peppylady (Dora)]

I guess one can interpret the word “daub” depending on where they are at. I've been having a culture lesson this time around..mine is up and the coffee is on.

[YTSL]

Wow, you've put a lot of thought into this entry...and the result is very good indeed -- in terms of words and also photos too. :)

[Sue St Clair]

Great take on the theme and love the pics. Italy is so beautiful :)

[eastcoastlife]

I was stunned by this 'daub' too but managed to hand in my work. :P

I am admiring the buildings of Italy, they are too pretty.

[Kayte]

I usually just look at the photos and don't comment, but this week was so interesting and exciting to learn the take you did on the photos. Loved seeing the water painting class and the buildings you chose were excellent...gorgeous to look at...thanks especially for the one with all the flowers, I just looked at that and looked at that...ah, I can't wait for summer!

[JDeQ]

Thanks for popping by on photohunt Saturday!