Hello Kitty, Bats and the Fountain of Youth

[squirmelia]

At the V&A, one rainy Sunday in January, I looked at dreamy photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron, taken in the 19th century. I then wandered around the refurbished Japan Gallery, where they had a Hello Kitty rice cooker and some mobile phones, but luckily they also still have the netsuke. I went to say "hello" to the bats on the bowl that features in Russell Hoban's Bat Tattoo after that. Then I searched for the fountain of youth and found it depicted on an ivory comb.