Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Toovey’s Blog

The Formative Influence of the Arts And Crafts Potter and Designer William De Morgan

A detail of three William de Morgan ‘Moffatt’ pattern, Merton Abbey period, pottery tiles showing the influence of the Persian on his designs

The English potter William de Morgan had a formative influence on the Arts and Crafts Movement. He trained at the Royal Academy of Arts. In the early 1860s he was associated with William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He began to produce his famous tiles and pottery in London in 1869. In 1882 he moved his workshop to William Morris’s site at Merton Abbey on the River Wandle in south-west London where he stayed until 1888 when he set up a factory in Fulham.

Reacting against the Victorian fashion for 18th century style vases decorated with botanical studies, Chinese designs and the Gothic Revival, de Morgan found inspiration in the Persian and Hispano-Moresque. His tiles and vessels were decorated in lustre or the Persian palette of green, black and turquoise. The set of three William de Morgan ‘Moffatt’ pattern pottery tiles were made during de Morgan’s Merton Abbey period between 1882 and 1888. Painted in purple, green, brown and turquoise, they mirror the Persian Iznik patterns which were such an inspiration to de Morgan. The tile design is illustrated in ‘The Designs of William de Morgan’ by Martin Greenwood and these three tiles realised £950 at Toovey’s.

A William de Morgan Sunset and Moonlight Suite triple lustre bowl, by Fred Passenger, late 19th/early 20th century, painted to the interior with a stylized lion

William de Morgan was a master of carefully integrated patterns, his designs included animals, fishes and Grecian ships. The subjects of these spirited motifs, although stylized, are clearly recognisable. They are rich in their effect as can be seen in the small Moonlight Suite triple lustre bowl painted with a lion beneath a band of hearts and leaves framed by the elegant border of stiff leaves. It sold for £1200 at Toovey’s. Passenger was a partner in the firm at Sands End, Fulham between 1898 and 1907 together with de Morgan, Frank Iles and Charles Passenger.

De Morgan’s distinctive art pottery, influenced by Middle Eastern motifs and the natural world, added beauty and colour to Victorian homes. William de Morgan ceramics, and Arts and Crafts pieces more generally including furniture, silver and metalwork, are highly sought after by collectors. William Rowsell is inviting entries for his next specialist Arts and Crafts auction at Toovey’s and is always delighted to share and discuss his passion for this field with collectors.

Great Dixter a Place of Beauty and Blessing

Great Dixter enfolded by its meadows and gardens

I have long wanted to visit Great Dixter and its celebrated gardens and I am excited as I arrive.

The house and gardens are the very personal, creative expression of the late Christopher Lloyd, his family, and his friend and head gardener Fergus Garrett.

Christopher’s father, Nathaniel, was a highly successful entrepreneur. The success of his colour printing firm allowed him to retire in 1909 at the age of 35. A passionate collector of antique furniture he bought Great Dixter in 1910 for £6000 with his wife Daisy. Nathaniel commissioned the then little known architect, Edwin Lutyens, to restore and enlarge the 15th century house. In 1911 Lutyens was asked to provide outline plans for the garden. The topiary was Nathaniel’s inspiration but the planting was devised by Daisy. Gertrude Jekyll, who often worked closely with Lutyens did not produce any planting plans but her influence on Daisy through her writing can be seen in the schemes with attention to the foliage, structure and colour co-ordinated sweeps of plants. Inspiration seems to have also been drawn form the writings of William Robinson whose emphasis on naturalistic planting using grasses and wildflowers are apparent in his own garden at Gravetye and can also be seen at Great Dixter.

A border in the Sunk Garden at Great Dixter

Daisy and Nathaniel’s youngest son, Christopher Lloyd, would imbue the gardens at Great Dixter with a unique and particular voice. He gardened there with his mother until her death in 1972. As he experimented with planting at Great Dixter he gave practical expression to the mixed border which we take for granted today but in the 1950s seemed new and radical. The particular voice of Great Dixter’s gardens and its experimental nature brought Christopher Lloyd and Fergus Garrett together. The planting is informal with large swathes of colour in groups. The gardens are on a grand scale and bless you with immediate impressions which belie the detail and artistry of these living compositions making them so extraordinary. As you pay attention to the detail of the planting you enter into an exploration of the joy of these gifted plantsmen. Each garden room and border and the open sweep of the meadow areas with their delicate wild flowers moving gently in the breeze reminds you that you are sharing a private garden which has such life. The planting enfolds you. It is an intimate, personal experience which engages all your senses. This is a truly extraordinary place filled with beauty and blessing. To find out more and to plan your visit go to www.greatdixter.co.uk.

The English Love Affair with Gardens Captured in Art

George Henry Boughton – Three Quarter Length Portrait of a Girl in a Rose Garden, 19th century oil on canvas © Toovey’s

The English love affair with the garden has been conducted over centuries.

The influence of the Arts and Crafts movement led by designers like Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens combined structured layouts with more naturalistic informal planting. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries artists captured this expression of Englishness and our love affair with gardens in their art.

These equalities are apparent in A Path of Roses by the Anglo-American artist George Henry Boughton (1833-1905). Boughton was born in Norwich. His family emigrated to America in 1835 when he was just two. He would grow up in New York. Throughout his life he journeyed between and exhibited in America and London. He was elected as a Royal Academician in 1896. In A Path of Roses Boughton depicts a young girl walking in a rose garden, her cat upon her shoulder. This stylized scene provides an American romantic interpretation of the English affair with gardens giving expression to the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts voices prevalent in British art at the time. The light, palette and composition create a stillness, it is as though we glimpse a moment out of time. The oil painting, which sold at Toovey’s for £2200, was a cabinet sized version of the artist’s 1875 Royal Academy exhibited work of the same title.

Beatrice Emma Parsons – ‘Water-Garden, Gravetye Manor’, early 20th century watercolour © Toovey’s

Beatrice Emma Parsons (1869-1955) was invited to paint the delicate early 20th century watercolour of the Water-Garden at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex by the garden’s designer and patron, William Robinson. He began to create the gardens in 1885. From humble beginnings in Ireland Robinson made his fortune as a garden writer. Amongst his most influential books were The Wild Garden and The English Flower Garden. Today he is best known for his understanding of the wild garden, a garden which celebrates nature rather than controlling it. He introduced the modern mixed border and popularised things we take for granted today like secateurs and hosepipes. Beatrice Parson’s was famous for her paintings of gardens in full colour. Her depiction of the rhododendrons reflecting in Gravetye’s lake is beautifully conceived. It realised £1000 at Toovey’s.

Rudyard Kipling opened his poem The Glory of the Garden with this verse – ‘Our England is a garden that is full of stately views, Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues…’

The English love affair with the garden remains as strong today as it has always been.

Jaeger-Lecoultre and the Art of Time

A rare gentleman’s wristwatch by Jaeger-LeCoultre has just been sold at Toovey’s for £50,000. The watch was formerly the property of Sir John Reeves Ellerman, 2^nd Baronet (1909-1973) who was believed to be the richest man in Britain in his day. He was just twenty-three when he inherited his name, title and fortune form his father.

His father, Sir John Ellerman, 1st Baronet (1862-1933) was the son of a Lutheran ship broker and corn merchant who came to Britain in 1850. John senior lost his father when he was young, left home at fourteen and trained as an accountant. He made his fortune by identifying established businesses with a good product which were suffering from managerial decline after the death of a founder. In 1892 he turned his attention to shipping and by 1917 owned 150 million tons of shipping, equivalent to the entire French merchant fleet at that time. In 1916 his fortune was at its height and estimated at some £55 million (the equivalent of about £4.7 billion today).

Even after the Great Depression and inheritance tax his son inherited some £20 million and continued to successfully run the Ellerman shipping line as well as being a talented natural historian. He was also a great philanthropist.

The LeCoultre watchmaking atelier was founded in 1833 in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland by Antoine LeCoultre (1803-1881). He was obsessed with accuracy manufacturing the tools necessary to make the most accurate parts to the finest calibre. In 1903 Edmond Jaeger and Jaques-David LeCoultre came together and in 1937 the Jaeger-LeCoultre name was created. They combined the French style and Swiss technique of which Sir John Ellerman’s watch is such a fine example.

A Jaeger-LeCoultre 18ct gold perpetual calendar gentleman’s wristwatch displaying the fine art of recording time

Sir John’s fine and rare Jaeger-LeCoultre 18ct gold gentleman’s wristwatch illustrates the fine art of recording time. Made in 1938 it would have been amongst their earliest perpetual calendar watches. It had a tonneau case with a signed and jewelled movement. The unsigned silvered dial had gilt Arabic hour numerals and subsidiary day, date and month dials above subsidiary seconds with a moonphase.

Today this tradition of fine craftsmanship continues. Jaeger-LeCoultre remains one of the only watch manufacturers which develops, decorates and produces all its timepieces in its own workshops which are still located in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland.

Whether you are looking to collect or sell fine watches Toovey’s watch specialist and Director, Tom Rowsell, is always delighted to share his passion for remarkable timepieces.

A Garden Festival to Delight the Senses at Borde Hill

Gardens, nature and the arts will be celebrated in Sussex at Borde Hill’s new season flagship garden festival on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June.

Events will be held throughout the world famous gardens at Borde Hill with art, music, stalls and rare and unusual plant sellers. You will be able to savour the finest of English sparkling wines from Wiston whilst enjoying the music in the splendid rose garden. Amongst the many notable speakers will be the international artist, Claire Luxton, who will explore The Nature of Looking: Art, Femininity, and The Natural World. Claire’s work is deeply inspired by the natural world, flowers and butterflies. The four times Chelsea gold winning garden designer, Jo Thompson, will be talking about the art of creating Romantic Gardens for the 21st Century. We are fortunate that both of these exceptionally talented and respected women are based in Sussex. The Knepp Estate, famous for its re-wilding projects, will also be contributing to the weekend.

As I walk through the gardens the light and reflections play on the water in the Italian garden framed by the glorious Alliums. Across the lawns in front of the house I pass abundant borders filled with scent and colour and then to the exquisite rose garden where the roses are already out. The gardens are looking beautiful and delight the senses.

I catch up with Jay Goddard whose family created and have stewarded these internationally important gardens and their plant collections for more than 130 years. Jay is clearly excited about the Garden Festival. She says “This new flagship event is our first festival on this scale celebrating the beauty of nature and how it inspires creativity, art and music.”

Borde Hill’s Garden Festival will also be showcasing the best finds for both home and garden with over 40 curated independent stalls. Rare and unusual plants from national specialist nurseries will feature alongside planters, garden furniture, lifestyle trends and artisan accessories. And the leading designer Cath Kidston will be speaking about her Passion for Pelargoniums. Jay concludes “I hope everyone who comes will have a vibrant, wonderful weekend and will have time to discover and delight in the garden. Time to celebrate the beauty of nature the importance of our natural world, and shine a spotlight on sustainability and climate change.” Borde Hill’s gardens bless you. As you walk your conversations cannot fail to be informed by the beauty of the place. For more information and to buy tickets for Borde Hill’s Garden Festival visit www.bordehill.co.uk/events/borde-hill-garden-festival/ or telephone 01444 450326