Rupert – Page 16 – Toovey’s Blog

Art of Japanese Cloisonné

A midnight blue Japanese cloisonné vase and cover by Namikawa Yasuyuki

Japanese cloisonné has long been admired by collectors and amongst the most revered cloisonné artists was Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927).

Japan was a society closed to the outside world for almost all of its Edo period (1600-1868) but American gunboat diplomacy by Commodore Perry in 1854 opened Japan to trade with the outside world. The Japanese were determined not to be a subjugated nation and during the Meiji period (1868-1912) they embarked upon a commercial and manufacturing revolution. Alongside this Japan promoted herself through her cultural heritage. Japan first exhibited her exceptional craftsmanship at the Paris Exposition in 1867, including cloisonné wares.

Cloisonné describes a particular decorative process where enamel is poured into compartments known as cloisons formed of a network of metal bands.

Many western travellers visited the studios of Japanese cloisonné manufacturers. Among them was Sussex author Rudyard Kipling, who in his book From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches wrote of his visit to Namikawa Yasuyuki’s studio in the late 1880s: “It is one thing to read of cloisonné making, but quite another to watch it being made. I began to understand the cost of the ware when I saw a man working out a pattern of sprigs and butterflies on a plate about ten inches in diameter. With the finest silver ribbon wire, set on edge, less than a sixteenth of an inch high, he followed the lines of the drawing at his side, pinching the wires into tendrils and the serrated outlines of leaves with infinite patience… With a tiny pair of chopsticks they filled from bowls at their sides each compartment of the pattern with its proper hue of paste… I saw a man who had only been a month over the polishing of one little vase five inches high. When I am in America he will be polishing still, and the ruby-coloured dragon that romped on a field of lazuli, each tiny scale and whisker a separate compartment of enamel, will be growing more lovely.”

Japanese cloisonné vase and cover by Namikawa Yasuyuki, with floral decorated vertical panels

Namikawa Yasuyuki’s work is still revered today. The signed vase and cover, finely worked with polychrome flowers and butterflies on alternating differently coloured vertical panels, has just sold for £13,000 at Toovey’s.

By the 1890s Yasuyuki was producing dark grounds which required a much higher level of technical skill. The smaller vase, decorated with wisteria on a midnight blue ground, realised £4000.

Toovey’s Director and Oriental works of art specialist, Tom Rowsell, is inviting entries for his next fine Asian sale on 31st August 2023.

Gwen John Exhibition at Pallant House Gallery

Gwen John – A Corner of the Artist’s Roon in Paris, circa 1907-09, oil on canvas

Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris is Pallant House Gallery’s latest exhibition. It places this early 20th century British female artist and her work in the context of her life and times. Gwen John’s works are filled with restraint – an innate stillness, luminosity, and insight. Her paintings are beautiful and arresting.

The exhibition illustrates how Gwen John was influenced by her male contemporaries and yet her paintings stand apart, giving voice to an independent, modern woman’s view of the world. So many exhibitions today make assumptions about the knowledge and understanding that the viewer brings under the excuse of ‘letting the pictures speak for themselves’ but this existentialist approach neglects the importance of narrative, time and place, which enhance our understanding of an artist and their work. The narrative which accompanies Gwen John: Art and Life is superb and refreshing. This chronological exhibition traces Gwen John’s forty year career in the context of her time in London and Paris.

She was tutored by Henry Tonks and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. After a time at the Slade, she moved to Paris in 1904 where she would remain throughout her career. Gwen John had a ten year affair with the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. His influence blessed her with a fluidity and sureness of line. From 1904 her intimate life centred on Rodin. Her profound and overwhelming experience of sexual desire and love for him was given explicit voice in her writing but not in her art. She wrote extensively to Rodin, hence the poignancy of her pencil and watercolour study, Autoportrait à la Lettre, which she painted for her lover.

Autoportrait à la Lettre (Self-portrait with a letter), watercolour and pencil

Her relationships with contemporary women artists of the time including Mary Constance Lloyd, Ida Nettleship, Ursula Tyrwhitt and others are also explored. Gwen John’s paintings focussed almost exclusively on women and interiors. The similarities between Gwen John’s and Édouard Vuillard’s work is often commented on, particularly in relation to their beautifully observed and articulated attention to tone. Her oil, A Corner of the Artist’s Room in Paris at first seems intimate and personal to her but paradoxically it is influenced by the Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi who knew Ida Nettleship’s family in London.

Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris runs until 8th October 2023. The beauty of her painting and insight is amplified by the quality of this exhibition’s narrative which eloquently describes the importance of relationship and place.

Alan Toovey
(3rd July 1943 – 28th May 2023)

I am deeply saddened to announce the death of my father, Alan Toovey.

Together, we founded Toovey’s in 1995 and Dad brought his experience as a respected accountant in industry with a background in information technology to the team. It was thanks to him that Toovey’s was among the first salerooms in the country to have a marketing website.

Dad’s entrepreneurial spirit, experience, determination and kindness defined his professional life. His values and professionalism were greatly respected in our profession.

We shared a belief that people should always be front and centre of any organisation and, together with our team, we built a community of passionate collectors, clients and friends. Dad and Mum, Alan and Georgina, have remained at the heart of this community.

Dad shared a lifetime of love with Georgina. A father of five with fifteen grandchildren, family was at the heart of all he did.

There is much to celebrate in both his professional and personal life. He was loved and admired, and will be greatly missed.

Alan’s funeral will be held at St Mary’s Parish Church, Church Street, Storrington on 21st June 2023 and Toovey’s will be closed as a mark of respect. If you would like more details, please contact our offices by telephoning 01903 891955 or emailing auctions@tooveys.com.

Rupert Toovey, DL, FSA, FRICS, FRSA.

130th Anniversary Celebrated at Borde Hill

Andrewjohn and Eleni Stephenson Clarke with their children Jay Robin and Harry at Borde Hill

This June the Stephenson Clarke’s celebrate their 130th anniversary at Borde Hill as the fifth generation of their family step forward to steward this beautiful corner of England. Set in its historic parkland Borde Hill Garden is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in West Sussex.

Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke (known fondly as Stephie) purchased the Elizabethan mansion in 1893 and set about creating the woodland and gardens. He employed many of the great planter hunters of the early 20th century, men like Ernest Henry Wilson and George Forrest, to bring back rare and exotic plants from across the world.

Correspondence between Stephie his nursery and plantsmen, as well as family photographs in the Borde Hill archive provide a unique insight into the horticultural world of the inter-war years.

Stephie died in 1946 and his son Ralph inherited the house, garden and estate. The garden and woodland had been neglected during the Second World War and Ralph set about restoring them.

During the tenure of Stephie’s grandson, Robert, the profile of Borde Hill and its plant collection was raised. Robert won many awards at RHS shows.

Andrewjohn Stephenson Clarke and his wife, Eleni took over Borde Hill’s house, park and garden in 1988 shortly after the Great Storm of 1987. The eminent dendrologist, Alan Mitchell, described Borde Hill at that time as ‘one of the most comprehensive collections of trees and shrubs in the world…[with a] huge wealth of rare eastern Asiatics, within the framework of the original scheme.’ Andrewjohn and Eleni have not only preserved these qualities in the garden but have employed innovative designers, evolving the garden and its planting.

As the 130th anniversary is celebrated at Borde Hill Andrewjohn and Eleni’s children, Jay Robin and Harry, are stepping forward to take on the custodianship of the house, garden and estate. Their priorities match our times as they seek to address climate change and biodiversity, mental well-being and sustainability.

From the 12-18th June, the Grade II listed Mansion House at the heart of the Garden will exclusively open for a week of tours to celebrate 130 years since visionary plantsman and owner Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke first created the magnificent collection of rare trees and flowering shrubs across the Estate.

Visitors can pre-book access to the beautiful garden, Elizabethan Mansion House and view the significant horticultural archive which unlocks the history of the notable rare and unusual plants at Borde Hill. To book your tickets and find out more visit www.bordehill.co.uk/events/130-years-of-planting-excellence.

Clarice Cliff, Designer and Industrialist

A Clarice Cliff Fantasque Umbrellas and Rain pattern seven-piece sandwich set, circa 1930

This week we are returning to the story of Clarice Cliff, one of the most influential women designers and industrialists of the 20th century. Born in 1899 she grew up in Tunstall. Her father worked in an iron foundry whilst her mother took in washing.

When she was thirteen Clarice Cliff started working in the pottery industry as a gilder and studied art and sculpture at the Burslem School of Art. Clarice Cliff’s talent was acknowledged by Newport pottery and A J Wilkinson who gave her a studio in 1927. It was here that she began to paint her free hand patterns employing on-glaze enamels which were much brighter than underglaze colours. Her wares were immediately popular. She called her work Bizarre and ‘The Bizarre by Clarice Cliff’ stamp was used between 1928 and 1936.

In 1930, Clarice Cliff, with talent and determination rose to the position of art director of the Newport pottery and A J Wilkinson

Despite the financial pressures of the Great Depression and the high price of her wares Clarice Cliff‘s Bizarre ware continued to sell in volume across the world in leading department stores. Her ability to model allowed her to embrace the modern influences from Europe.

A Clarice Cliff Bizarre Sunray pattern jug of tapering form, circa 1930

Clarice Cliff had a strong interest in modern art and her modernist designs were influenced by Cubists like Henri Matisse, De Stijl, Sonia Delauney and the French design firm La Maison Desny. She collaborated with many contemporary artists including Dame Laura Knight, adapting their paintings for her pottery.

These bold new artistic styles informed her colourful cubist landscape designs. The Bizarre Sunray pattern jug is typical of Clarice Cliff during this period. It dates from around 1930. The abstract landscape design is based on a New York skyline and features a bold black skyscraper. It realised £500 at Tooveys.

The vibrant, exquisitely conceived Clarice Cliff Fantasque Umbrellas and Rain pattern sandwich set from 1930 brings together the influences of modernist art and the art deco. It was sold for £700 at Tooveys.

The first retrospective of Clarice Cliff’s work was held at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery in 1972. Today, women artists and designers are being reassessed as the often overlooked stories of these important women artists, designers and entrepreneurs in the 20th century are reclaimed.

If you would like advice on collecting or acquiring Clarice Cliff Bizarre ware contact Toovey’s specialist Jo Hardy by telephoning 01903 891955 or emailing auctions@tooveys.com.