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William Blake: Sussex and the New Jerusalem

William Blake, ‘Blake’s Cottage at Felpham’, plate 36 from Milton a Poem, etching and watercolour © The British Museum, London

This week I am revisiting the exceptional William Blake in Sussex exhibition at Petworth House. Many visitors will be surprised to find that many of Blake’s most famous jewel like works are intimate in scale contrasting with their often epic themes.

Amongst these is the preface to Blake’s ‘Milton a Poet’ which was inspired by his time at Felpham and begun here in Sussex. The preface, titled ‘And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time’, measures just 9 x 7 inches and is better known to us today as ‘Jerusalem’. It embodies a creative freedom which responds to the pastoral, natural beauty of rural England whose spirit was awakened in Blake in Sussex.

William Blake, ‘Preface, plate 2 from Milton a Poem’, etching and watercolour © The British Museum, London

At the heart of the poem is a questioning of the myth that Jesus Christ briefly visited these Isles with his Uncle Joseph of Arimathea, a tin dealer, making the new Jerusalem, heaven on earth, here in Britain.

The poem builds on that wonderful passage from the Bible in chapter 21 of the Book of Revelations where Creation is perfected and renewed as heaven and earth are united:

‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“Behold, the dwelling of God is with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them, he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”’

Blake must have had this passage in his mind when he wrote to Thomas Butts shortly after his arrival in Sussex: ‘the sweet air and the voices of the winds, trees and birds and the odours of our happy ground makes [Felpham] a dwelling for immortals.’ Blake’s language articulates an earthly paradise contrasting with his lifelong experience of the environs of London.

A little over 100 years later in response to the huge casualties of the Battle of the Somme and declining morale Robert Bridges, the Poet Laureate, edited a patriotic anthology of poems titled ‘The Spirit of Man’. Amongst these was the then little known poem by William Blake titled ‘And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time’ better known to us today as ‘Jerusalem’.

In 1916 Bridges invited Hubert Parry to set William Blake’s poem ‘Jerusalem’ to music and the hymn became a national anthem. Jerusalem’s success inculcated redemption, renewal and hope into our national psyche.

‘Milton a Poet’ has an image titled ‘Blake’s Cottage at Felpham’. It depicts Blake visited by the figure of ‘Inspiration’ in the garden of his cottage. The narrative forms part of a very personal mythology of his own creation. Felpham continued to inform the pastoral qualities of his Arcadian figures depicted under a ‘tranquil moon’ and ‘setting sun’ in his later work.

I am delighted that Toovey’s are headline sponsors of this important show which so beautifully connects William Blake’s art and life to Sussex. This is an exceptional exhibition and The National Trust’s Andrew Loukes, Curator of William Blake in Sussex, is deserving of our thanks.

The exhibition runs at Petworth House in West Sussex until the 25th March 2018. Entry is by pre-booked timed tickets which can be purchased online at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth. Discounted tickets are available to National Trust Members.

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.

The Working Life of Horsham Folk

William Hogarth’s engraving ‘The Tailor Apprentice’ from ‘Industry and Idleness’, circa 1747

With the current debate and concerns about the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence on jobs Horsham Museum’s latest exhibition on work could not be more relevant.

The exhibition, ‘All work and no play – the working life of Horsham folk’, charts the evolution of business and work in the Horsham District over the last two hundred years against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries to the present day.

This exhibition provides a hopeful message from the past and illustrates how work has changed and evolved over the centuries.

Both science and theology acknowledge that we live in a perfecting Universe and we affect and can have a positive part to play in that perfecting through our stewardship and work. Work is fundamentally important to our wellbeing on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. It informs our human experience of the world and our identities.

Horsham Saddler, William Albery © Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

Amongst my favourite images in the exhibition is a photograph of William Albery working on a saddle in his workshop. Hand crafted objects are still highly valued today. He apprenticed to his father’s Saddlers firm in 1878 and was running the business by the time he was twenty-one. William Albery was a man with a keen social conscience and a member of the Labour Party. In 1929 he successfully campaigned to become a Horsham District Councillor. He was known for his care for those down on their luck including the shoe maker and folk singer, Henry Burstow.

William Albery was also a keen historian and the horse related Lorinery items which he collected are on permanent display at the museum.

The lives and work of the English country house have been characterised in Downton Abbey. The photograph of the staff at Coolhurst depicts the working community of an English country house at its height.

The plate ‘The Tailor Apprentice’ from William Hogarth’s 1747 series of engravings ‘Industry and Idleness’ speaks of the virtues of industriousness over idleness. Two apprentices strike out from the same place upon very different paths. Francis Goodchild through hardwork and discipline becomes the Lord Mayor of London whilst Thomas Idle’s more chaotic approach to life tragically leads him to Tyburn and execution.

The stories told by these images from different centuries speak into our own time. Work and the jobs that we do have always changed and there is no doubt that they will continue to do so. The different models of work described in this exhibition establish that we flourish in work where the relationship between employer and staff is informed by mutual respect, care, fairness, industry and duty – then our lives are not ‘all work and no play’.

This insightful exhibition ‘All work and no play – the working life of Horsham folk’ runs at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE until 13th April 2018. For more information go visit www.horshammuseum.org.

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.

Racing Driver’s Collection of Automobilia

John Young racing in the 1955 Goodwood Nine Hour Endurance Race in his Lotus-Connaught

A remarkable collection of automobilia from the Sussex based 1950s motor racing driver, the late John Young, is to be sold at Toovey’s Washington salerooms on Friday 23rd February 2018.

John Young was a gentleman motor racer and enthusiast. He joined the R.A.F when he left Dulwich College. 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 and Young. We were agents for Mercedes-Benz.”

1955 was an important year for British motor sport, especially in endurance sports car racing.

In August 1955 John Young raced in the Goodwood Nine Hours Endurance Race here in Sussex driving a Lotus-Connaught. His co-driver was John Coombs. John explained to me “We were going well in the Connaught and racing into the evening until Coombs came in saying his hands were cold and borrowed my gloves. Shortly after that he turned it over but, thank God, he was alright!” The story was a timely reminder of how dangerous motor racing was in the 1950s.

Earlier in 1955 as April turned to May Stirling Moss famously won the Mille Miglia with his navigator Denis Jenkinson. They finished thirty-two minutes ahead of second place Juan Manuel Fangio. Both men were driving a Mercedes 300SLR. Commenting on his own 300SL Gullwing Mercedes John Young told me “When you drive a 300SL quickly it’s important to keep the power on in the corners or they spin – you’ve really got to drive it! Moss was the master…the best driver of these; he was very good.”

At the Le Mans twenty-four hours race in June 1955 Mike Hawthorn won in a works Jaguar D-type. In the early stages of the race Hawthorn raced closely with Fangio who was co-driving a Mercedes 300SLR with Stirling Moss. But the tragedy of the accident which resulted in a Mercedes disintegrating and killing some eighty spectators would overshadow Hawthorn’s victory. Hawthorn was devastated.

A fine ⅛ scale hand-finished model of Mike Hawthorn's 1955 Jaguar D-type Le Mans winner — A fine ⅛ scale hand-finished model of Mike Hawthorn’s 1955 Jaguar D-type Le Mans winner

The beautifully crafted and poignant ⅛ scale hand-finished model of Mike Hawthorn’s 1955 Jaguar D-type Le Mans winner is just one of the lots of automobilia entered from John Young’s collection and carries a pre-sale auction estimate of £600-£900.

An oil painting by Roy Nockolds of an Aston Martin DBR1/300 with a presentation plaque to Roy Salvadori from Aston Martin owner David Brown

John Young’s great friend, Roy Salvadori, would deliver victory at Le Mans for Aston Martin in a DBR1/300 sports car in 1959. The evocative oil painting by Roy Nockolds of a DBR1/300 has a presentation plaque to Roy Salvadori from Aston Martin owner, David Brown, dated December 16th 1957. It is estimated at £800-£1200.

John Young’s delight in sharing a story and his enthusiasm were balanced by his self-effacing modesty. A generous man, he epitomised the best of his era: a gentleman racer, a collector and an enthusiast with a deep love of life, cars and the Sussex countryside. His collection of automobilia will be sold at Toovey’s on Friday 23rd February 2018. For more information visit www.tooveys.com.

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.

Shipley Arts Festival 2018 Launch

Shipley Arts Festival Director, Andrew Bernardi, at Sedgwick Park House

The 2018 Shipley Arts Festival season promises to once again bring musicians and composers of national and international standing to Sussex. At the heart of this extraordinary celebration of music is its artistic director and founder, Andrew Bernardi.

I meet Andrew Bernardi at Sedgwick Park House where the festival launch is being hosted by Clare Davison in the company of the High Sheriff of West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard. Andrew enthuses “This will be one of the finest festivals to date. It’s a great reflection on all of us that we’ve grown so much together.”

The long term relationships which Andrew has fostered with his audiences and musicians through the Shipley Arts Festival are rare and have enabled an extraordinary renaissance in the patronage of music and creativity in our County.

This is expressed in the commissioning of new music for the festival. The famous composer and baritone, Roderick Williams OBE, is working on two major compositions this year. The first is a piece commissioned for the Shipley Arts Festival which has been inspired by the turtle doves on the Knepp Castle Estate here in West Sussex. The second is for the BBC Proms.

Rupert Toovey with the High Sheriff, Lady Emma Barnard

In 1965 the great patron of the arts and Dean of Chichester Cathedral, The Very Revd Walter Hussey, commissioned the choral work The Chichester Psalms from the American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. The Chichester Psalms were first performed in this country at Chichester Cathedral. 2018 marks the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth and I am excited, having encouraged and spoken about this project over a number of years with Andrew, that the festival has commissioned a series of new choral settings for Psalms to commemorate this anniversary. They will be performed at Steyning Parish Church on 3rd June to coincide with the Steyning Festival. This new choral piece has been composed by Malcolm Singer the former Director of Music at the Yehudi Menuhin School and current Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. These two commissions have been made possible by the generous patronage of Mr John Snelling who has keenly supported the festival from the beginning.

Andrew says “Sussex has a rich artistic history for music especially in the early 20th century, a tradition I am keen to keep alive. We’re following in the footsteps of Sir Edward Elgar who for a time composed at Fittleworth, Ralph Vaughan Williams who gathered many of his famous folk songs and tunes from the fields around Horsham and of course John Ireland who lived at Rock Mill, Washington.”

One of the things I most value about the festival is how it remains outward facing with its String Academy for the county’s young musicians. Andrew and I believe passionately in supporting our local community and charities. This year there will be a concert and charity auction in aid of the children’s hospice Chestnut Tree House.

Andrew Bernardi and the festival are attracting national and international attention as the Shipley Arts Festival continues to grow and mature in stature. As the longest standing sponsor of the Shipley Arts Festival I am delighted that Toovey’s and myself remain at the heart of this remarkable celebration of music and community. Together with our fellow sponsors Kreston Reeves, NFU Mutual, Nyetimber and Rossana, we look forward to West Sussex continuing to be at the centre of our nation’s musical life thanks to the determination and talent of Andrew Bernardi.

For more information on the forthcoming Shipley Arts Festival concerts go to www.shipleyartsfestival.co.uk.

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.

Robert Hennell and the Adam Style

A pair of George III silver oval salts, London 1768 by David and Robert Hennell I

The Adam style provided a very British, joyful interpretation of Neo-Classicism which is encompassed by the work of the Georgian silversmith, Robert Hennell I (1741–1811).

The Hennell dynasty of silversmiths was founded by Robert’s father, David Hennell I (1712-85). David registered his maker’s mark in 1736 and his domestic silver was often defined by the use of understated Rococo ornament.

In 1763 father and son registered a joint mark.

Robert Hennell I made handsome pieces in the Neo-Classical Adam style.

Neo-Classicism was made fashionable in Britain in the 1760s by the work of the celebrated British architect, interior decorator and designer Robert Adam (1728-92) in partnership with his brother James (1732-94). The Adam style interpreted Neo-Classicism with lightness and delicacy, employing geometric forms and the grammar of architectural ornament from the classical antiquity of Greece and Rome.

The Adam style is apparent in the clean lines and proportions of the pair of George III silver oval salts with their pierced sides and gadrooned rims, on claw and ball feet. They were assayed in London in 1768 and bear the joint mark of David and Robert Hennell I.

A George III silver teapot of oval form, engraved on each side with a floral garland cartouche within a banded and floral garland border, London 1791 by Robert Hennell I

The influence of the Adam style can also be seen in the geometric oval form of the George III silver teapot. The engraving on each side with its floral garland cartouche and border is classically inspired. I love the proportion and restrained delicacy of the decoration of this elegant teapot. It bears the mark of Robert Hennell I and was assayed in London 1791.

Robert Hennell and his sons, David (1767-1829) and Samuel (1778-1837), worked together using joint marks. David Hennell II retired in 1802 leaving his father and Samuel in partnership.

A George III silver coffee pot, London 1800 by Robert Hennell I & David Hennell II

The George III silver coffee pot was assayed in London in 1800 and bears the joint maker’s mark of Robert Hennell I & David Hennell II. The urn form of the oval body is again in the Adam style. It is engraved with a classical foliate band and opposing shield shaped cartouche. The proportion and decoration of the coffee pot are beautiful.

All these examples were sold in Toovey’s specialist silver auctions. Tom Rowsell, head of Toovey’s silver department, is always pleased to discuss your collection whether you looking to sell or acquire pieces and can be contacted by telephoning 01903 891955.

It seems that we still love to lay our tables with fine silver and silver is one of today’s boom collectors’ markets. Examples of Robert Hennell’s work are highly sort after and pieces like those illustrated could be purchased for between £200 and £1000 at auction. Perhaps you too will be beguiled by the Adam-style and quality of Robert Hennell’s work!

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.