September 2024 – Toovey’s Blog

Irish Artist Gerard Dillon’s Seminal Work High Cross Panel

Gerard Dillon – ‘High Cross Panel’, mixed media with oil, gouache and pastel on fifteen sheets of paper laid on board, circa 1949, 112.5cm x 159cm © The Artist’s Estate/Toovey’s

Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) started to paint in 1936. He worked predominately in Belfast, where he was born, as well as Dublin and Connemara. The work, titled ‘High Cross Panel’, is a large mixed media painting with oil, gouache and pastel comprised of fifteen sheets of paper laid on board. It dates from around 1949. The ‘High Cross Panel’ is inspired by Celtic relief sculptures that Dillon had sketched during his visits to Monasterboice and Mellifont Abbey with his friend and fellow artist Nano Reid. The picture’s series of vignettes depict scenes from the life of Christ and the Old Testament. Dillon grew up in the Roman Catholic Church but became disenchanted with it. Here Dillon incorporates Celtic Christian iconography as he seeks to position his work within the broader context of Ireland’s artistic and religious heritage.

This large seminal work was sold in Toovey’s recent specialist fine art auction for £27,000.

Gerard Dillon – ‘High Cross Panel’ (detail) © The Artist’s Estate/Toovey’s

The painting was first owned by P.J. Carroll & Co. Ltd who provided vital support for many leading Irish artists at a time when general interest in the visual arts was limited. The P.J. Carroll art collection was widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent collections of 20th century Irish art and was originally hung in their factory in Dublin Road, Dundalk, Co. Louth. A large portion of the P.J. Carroll collection is now to be found in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. High Cross Panel was lent by the Carroll collection to the Gerard Dillon Retrospective exhibition held at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (now the Hugh Lane Gallery) in 1973.

The piece was purchased from the P.J. Carroll collection after 1973 by Sir John Galvin, a self-made Australian multi-millionaire. Sir John, who amassed his wealth through ventures in media and mining, was born in Tasmania in 1908. A passionate patron of the arts, Sir John Galvin amassed an art collection that included significant works from his native Australia. He relocated to Ireland in 1959 and added numerous Irish works to the collection. Galvin was a generous a philanthropist in Ireland helping financially to construct St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin. He also contributed to the arts and was a Trustee at the National Library of Ireland. The High Cross Panel remains one of Dillon’s most seminal works.

Handmade Moorcroft Pottery Appeals to the Luxury Market

A pair of Eventide pattern Moorcroft Pottery vases with plated mounts, circa 1925

William Moorcroft and the pottery works he founded, which bears the Moorcroft name, has produced some of the country’s most collectable ceramics for more than a century.

The designs often reflect a love of nature in stylized designs which capture flowers, landscapes, birds and animals. William Moorcroft’s first designs were produced for James Macintyre & Co from 1897. His art pottery often employed tube-lined decoration and the subtle use of hand painted glazes. It quickly caught the eye of prestigious stores like Liberty, Harrods and Tiffany & Co in New York. In 1913 William Moorcroft was able to move production of his pottery to Sandback Road thanks to significant financial investment from Liberty. It was here that W Moorcroft Ltd art pottery was manufactured for the first time. A fine example of Macintyre Moorcroft Florian Ware is the two-handled vase, circa 1900-02, decorated in the Peacock pattern against a pale ground, which gives expression to the Art Nouveau in both its form and decoration. It sold at Toovey’s for £4600. The pair of Eventide pattern Moorcroft Pottery vases were also designed by William Moorcroft and date form around 1925. They are vividly decorated with a sunset behind a stand of trees. It realised £2000 at Toovey’s.

A Macintyre Moorcroft Florian Ware two-handled vase, circa 1900-02

William’s eldest son, Walter, took over the company on his father’s death in 1945 with responsibility for much of the design work. Walter bought out Liberty’s interest in the firm in 1962. With rising fuel and labour costs the business was sold to Roper Brothers in 1984. By 1986 their attempt to mass produce Moorcroft Pottery had failed and they sold the company to Hugh Edwards and Richard Dennis whose wife Sally Tuffin produced designs for Moorcroft until she left with her husband to found the Dennis China Works. Sally’s designs provided a more contemporary voice to the Moorcroft style incorporating animals, birds and flowers. During this period Walter Moorcroft was joined by Rachel Bishop as the pottery’s chief designer. Rachel created floral patterns in a historical manner often drawing influence from William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

To this day Moorcroft’s pottery designs are beautifully created in the handmade, labour intensive way that they have been for most of the factory’s history. They appeal to the luxury market and are sought after by collectors from around the world. Toovey’s English & European ceramics specialist Joanne Hardy is inviting entries for her next specialist sale of Moorcroft to be held on Thursday 5th December 2024.

Historic Motor Racing Fans Unperterbed by the Rain at the 2024 Goodwood Revival

Lining up for the Jaguar XK engine 75th anniversary parade

The rain came down at the 2024 Goodwood Revival but failed to dampen the spirits of those attending this important, international festival of historic motorsport here in the heart of Sussex. The weekend featured a packed program of exciting racing, made more so by the wet conditions. Unperturbed almost everyone attending were dressed-to-the nines in period dress with many of the ladies rocking this year’s glamorous dress with wellies look.

There are few engines as iconic as Jaguar’s straight six XK engine. It powered their racing cars to five Le Mans 24 Hours victories in just seven years. Sir William Lyons tasked his chief engineer William Heynes and his team to design an engine to push the company forward after the Second World War. The engine was so successful it was raced from 1949 to 1966 and remained in use in Jaguars road cars until 1986.

A moving parade of Second World War vehicles and a moment of reflection marked the 80^th Anniversary of the D-day landings in the presence of a number of courageous veterans.

Vernon Williamson’s 1949 JP-Vincent Prototype at the 2024 Goodwood Revival

On the Sunday afternoon the sun finally broke through just in time for the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration. The power, scale and noise from the AC Cobras, Bizarrani 5300GT and Corvette Sting Rays were almost elemental but the handling of the E-type Jaguars held them to account. The TT Celebration is always amongst the highlights of the weekend. Two cars were in a class of their own and duelled throughout the race. They were driven by two current stars of the British Touring Car Championships. Jake Hill drove Grahame Bryant’s 1964 AC Cobra and was harried by Tom Ingram in Mike Whitaker’s ever popular 1964 TVR Griffith 400. A cheer went up around the track in the closing laps as Tom Ingram passed his opponent and narrowly hung on to the lead for the win.

As the exuberant sound of the racing cars and bikes at Goodwood ended the cacophony of sound, the smell of racing oil and tyres and the spectacle of speed and colour faded to memory. I am already looking forward to next year’s Goodwood Member’s Meeting with more historic racing. The GRRC Spring Members’ Meeting is always an exciting celebration of motor racing which is exclusively for GRRC and GRRC Fellowship members here in the heart of Sussex To find out more about the benefits of membership, how to join, and to book tickets for this year’s Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival go to www.goodwood.com/sports/motorsport.

2024 Ploughing Match & Agricultural Show to be held near Horsham

Cattle at West Grinstead and District Plough Match and Agricultural Show

This week I am once again with Rowan Allan who together with Felicity Elliott is the Honorary Secretary of The West Grinstead & District Ploughing & Agricultural Society. This year the society is celebrating its new status as a charity and the 2024 plough match and show will be hosted by David Exwood, his family and the Christ’s Hospital Foundation at Westons Farm, Itchingfield, Nr. Horsham on Saturday 21st September.

I am always excited to attend the ploughing match.

Rowan Allan says “It will be great to be at Westons Farm. David Exwood is Deputy President of the National Farmer’s Union and we are lucky to have his voice as part of the debate around the future of farming.” I comment on the extraordinary stewardship amongst our district’s farming community. Rowan comments “Balancing our heritage with the needs of the natural environment and food production is perfectly possible.”

The West Grinstead and District Ploughing Match and Agricultural Society has been holding shows for over 150 years. It seeks to re-connect town and country and educate the public.

Rowan says “The ploughing match provides a shop window for people to engage with what farming and the countryside are really about.” It’s a great family day out with the ploughing competition, cattle and sheep shows, licenced bar, fun fair, trade stands and local produce, terrier racing, open clay shooting competitions, tug-of-war, gun dog scurry, tractor and threshing machinery and even a ferret race, there is so much to enjoy.

Since 1871 The West Grinstead and District Plough Match and Agricultural Society has been promoting best practice in the local agricultural community through its prizes and awards. Today that also includes a bursary programme which provides financial support to enable and encourage young people to take up careers in the agricultural industry.

Our landscape is part of our nation’s heritage and identity and it is wholly dependent on the life given to it by our farmers who richly deserve our thanks. I will be supporting Rowan and the team at the 2024 West Grinstead and District Plough Match and Agricultural Show at Westons Farm, Itchingfield, RH13 0BD on Saturday 21st September. Entrance is just £8 per person online in advance or £10 on the day with children under 14 free. It’s going to be a fantastic family day, I hope to see you there! For more information contact Rowan Allan at H. J. Burt Steyning through www.hjburt.co.uk or go to www.westgrinsteadploughing.co.uk to buy your tickets.