These handsome Art Deco gazelles are ready to leap! But, for now, they will have to still their hearts; Leap Year is still eleven months away—29 February 2024.
We think of a calendar year on Earth—the time it takes our planet to circle once around the Sun—as being 365 days long. And this is close (but not exact). The Earth's transit time around the Sun is actually just a little bit longer than that: 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 56 seconds. A true year on Earth is 365.212490 days. In 45 BC, the Emperor Julius Caesar's astronomer, called Sosigenes, advised his boss to mandate a leap year every four years. This helped to keep the calendar synchronized with the planetary movements, but it was still not perfect. A leap year every four years overshoots the mark. So in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII further refined the calendar by eliminating the occasional leap year. "Century years" (for example 1700, 1800, 1900) are not leap years unless they are evenly divided by 400 (like 1600 and 2000). Therefore, every fourth "century year" is a leap year, the others are not.
These handsome gazelles are practicing their move. While they prepare for their big day—at which time they will leap a year—they will practice leaping their stylized Art Deco foliage. Nicely cast iron is finished with a (now aged) copper finish. They pack a lot of Art Deco Style into a small place—and are useful while doing it. Click on the photo above to learn more about these handsome bookends.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248