November 2017 – Toovey’s Blog

Echoes of Land and Sea

The acclaimed Sussex born British pianist, Maria Marchant, has recently released her new album with SOMM Recordings. ‘Echoes of Land and Sea’ is a recording of outstanding virtuosity which has been celebrated by many of the nation’s leading music critics including BBC Radio 3’s Record Review.

‘Echoes of Land and Sea’ highlights the rich repertoire of solo piano music by leading British composers including Benjamin Britten, Ronald Stevenson, John Ireland, Kenneth Leighton and Gustav Holst. Covering a century of music the recording takes the form of a recital which carries the listener on a journey through the British landscape of the 20th century to the present day with Roderick Williams’ composition, ‘Goodwood by the Sea’.

Maria Marchant is no stranger to Sussex performing with Andrew Bernardi’s 1696 Stradivarius Trio at the Shipley Arts Festival.

The composers included in this recital were at one time or another inspired by Britain and her remarkable landscape and coastline.

Maria’s virtuosity gives extraordinary life to her performances which combine a generous discipline and finesse with undoubted passion.

These qualities are apparent in this album which opens with Benjamin Britten’s ‘Holiday Diary Op. 5’. The precocious talent of Britten, even as a young man of twenty, is immediately apparent. The youthful exuberance of ‘Early Morning Bathe’ captures the joy and excitement of bathing in the sea and contrasts with the subtlety of ‘Sailing’ which gives voice to the experience of the play of light on the water and the changing breeze of an incoming tide. Maria’s rendition of Britten’s ‘Night’ is achingly beautiful. The depth, melodic space and stillness she conveys in this piece is overwhelmingly moving.

Acclaimed British pianist, Maria Marchant

Roderick Williams’ ‘Goodwood by the Sea’ brings us right up to date. Roderick is one of the nation’s leading baritones and emerging composers. The Shipley Arts Festival commissioned the work for Maria and I was blessed to be at Goodwood House on the night it was premièred at the start of the 2016 Festival. The piece provides an impressionistic articulation of the sea. I have longed to be able to adequately describe the whoosh and clatter of waves breaking on the pebbles of a beach and the feeling of being so very alive as the wind carries the salty spray ashore and the elements overwhelm the senses. And yet here Roderick and Maria convey all this and more allowing us to glimpse something of the world beyond our immediate perception.

Roderick Williams wrote of Maria thanking her “for her haunting magical première of ‘Goodwood by the Sea’…she brought my music alive with great sensitivity and made it glow in a way I had not imagined possible.” Maria’s is the first recording of the work and it is filled with the life of her live performance.

Rarely do you find a CD recording of such quality. Maria Marchant’s exceptional musicianship engages the listener with the energy and life of a live performance. If you only buy one album this year it should be this one. Echoes of Land and Sea is fantastic. Copies are available from www.somm-recordings.com/recording/echoes-of-land-sea/ and all good record retailers.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

“One More Sir!” A Sussex Connoisseurs Collection

The late John Young, gentleman, motor racer and collector

Toovey’s Christmas series of specialist auctions include an exceptional range of silver, furniture, collectors’ items and works of art from the estate of the Sussex collector, the late John Young.

My friend John was not only a gentleman motor racer and classic-car enthusiast but also a connoisseur of art and antiques. His taste matched his glamorous lifestyle and he created an elegant but comfortable home in the heart of Sussex.

He had a passion for life and loved the theatre of a sale day at Toovey’s. His bidding often ended just before the gavel fell with the raise of a finger and his customary call, “One more, sir!”

John Young was educated at Dulwich College and subsequently joined the R.A.F. He once told me: “I wanted to fly a Spitfire but there were too many pilots just after the war for me to get a look in, so I left and joined the family firm, Rose & Young. We were agents for Mercedes-Benz.”

John was a man whose life was closely bound up with the fortunes of motor racing and automobiles. A works driver for the Connaught team in the 1950s, with drives at many of the great motor racing circuits, he was part of that glamorous and courageous cohort of racing drivers in the years after the Second World War.

Louis-Ernest Barrias - Nature unveiling Herself before Science, a late 19th/early 20th century gilded and silvered cast bronze figure of a standing maiden — Louis-Ernest Barrias – Nature unveiling Herself before Science, a late 19th/early 20th century gilded and silvered cast bronze figure of a standing maiden

Amongst his collection is a beautiful gilded and silvered cast bronze by the famous French sculptor Louis-Ernest Barrias. This well-known sculpture is titled ‘Nature unveiling Herself before Science’. The Art Nouveau figure is allegorical and dates from the late 19th/early 20th century. It is modelled as a standing maiden representing nature as she reveals her hidden secrets to science. It is estimated at £5000-8000.

A Napoleon III kingwood and floral marquetry inlaid meuble d'appui, circa 1860 — A Napoleon III kingwood and floral marquetry inlaid meuble d’appui, circa 1860

John loved fine French furniture and there are a number of examples from his collection in the sale. They include the Napoleon III kingwood and floral marquetry inlaid meuble d’appui (cabinet) seen here. It was made in 1860. The two bronzed plaques after the sculptor Clodion compliment the fine ormolu mounts and inlay. It is an exceptional piece and carries a pre-sale estimate of £4000-6000.

It was always a treat to spend time with John at his home. Once, as we drank champagne on the terrace, I asked him why he didn’t live in Monaco with his peers and he gestured towards the South Downs beyond and replied, “Oh, I’ve had yachts down there but I love England. Look at that view – why would you want to be anywhere else?” His delight in sharing a story and his infectious enthusiasm were balanced by his modesty. A generous man, John Young epitomized the best of his era: a gentleman, a racer, a collector and an enthusiast with a deep love of life, cars, animals and the Sussex countryside. I am privileged to have counted John as a friend. Collections of this quality are rare and I am looking forward to the sale. The auctions are on view at Toovey’s Washington salerooms from Saturday 25th November 2017.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

Ancient Chinese Jade Ceremonial Blade Discovered

A rare archaistic Chinese jade ceremonial blade from the late Shang/early Zhou Dynasty (11th - 15th century BC) with important collectors’ labels, inscribed with a translation of the engraved Chinese calligraphy which reads: ‘In the Royal 12th year in the 1st Moon, and the fortunate 1st day of the King whilst staying in the Capital caused to be made this blade of jade. May it be for perpetual use.’ — A rare archaistic Chinese jade ceremonial blade from the late Shang/early Zhou Dynasty (11th – 15th century BC) with important collectors’ labels, inscribed with a translation of the engraved Chinese calligraphy which reads: ‘In the Royal 12th year in the 1st Moon, and the fortunate 1st day of the King whilst staying in the Capital caused to be made this blade of jade. May it be for perpetual use.’

A rare and important archaistic Chinese jade ceremonial blade from the late Shang/early Zhou Dynasty (11th – 15th century BC) has been discovered by Toovey’s specialist, Mark Stonard. This remarkable object formed part of the collection of the late Fred Clark, a gifted and meticulous antiquarian, whose collector’s label it bears.

It is believed that Fred Clark bought it in the years immediately after the Second World War. The blade has an older hand written paper label which offers a translation of the Chinese calligraphy engraved into the jade and also a printed paper segment which reads ‘Beasley Collection’.

It is always the cause of some excitement when an archaic piece surfaces bearing the name of the early 20th century collector Harry Geoffrey Beasley (1882-1939).

Between 1895 and 1939 Beasley put together one of the largest collections of ethnographic material in Britain. The collection was formed of more than 10,000 objects from Asia, Africa, Scandinavia, and across the world. In the years after Beasley’s death in 1939 the majority of the collection was donated to leading British Museums.

The Chinese have always prized jade more highly than gold. This hard translucent stone has, over the centuries, been worked into decorative and ritual objects as well as ceremonial weapons.

Jade was worn by kings and nobles in life and was buried with them, affording the material a high status and associations with immortality.

The Chinese way of life was based on a combination of faith, tradition and ethics which bound families and communities together. The Chinese philosopher, Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC), emphasized the moral responsibility that accompanies authority. Confucius established a school with a radical new principal of accepting students of sufficient intelligence regardless of their background or ability to pay. He combined this belief in meritocracy with a faith in the generous order of a hierarchical society. The hierarchical principles expressed in Confucianism may, perhaps, give some insight into the use of this jade blade. A ruler had a right to obedience and respect but equally had a duty to act justly in the best interests of his subjects. Many academics believe that jade objects like this blade were symbols of office. If this is correct it is probable that blades of this type were used in a similar way to ceremonial jade Kuei tablets of the period. A high ranking courtier would have held the blade to his mouth and spoken through it when addressing the Emperor.

When you hold this ancient ceremonial blade you become aware of the exquisite workmanship employed in its making. The balance and line of the blade work in concert with the patterns in the jade. It has the power to move you and a particular, vital quality to it.

This late Shang/early Zhou Dynasty jade ceremonial blade has just returned from exhibition at the International Asian Art week in London where it attracted much attention and is expected to realise thousands of pounds when it is auctioned at Toovey’s specialist Asian Art sale on Thursday 30th November 2017.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.