Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Page 101

Jonathan Chiswell Jones at Chichester Cathedral

I have long admired the work of Sussex based potter Jonathan Chiswell Jones. An exhibition of his ceramics, titled “Earth, Fire, Gold: Elemental Beauty by Jonathan Chiswell Jones”, is being held at Chichester Cathedral until 14th September 2014.

Last week I wrote about one of our nation’s most famous potters, William de Morgan, who had such a formative influence on the 19th century Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and a strong association with William Morris. He produced lustre wares, finding inspiration in Persian and Hispano-Moresque ceramics.

Like de Morgan before him, Jonathan Chiswell Jones is a master of carefully integrated patterns. These designs employ motifs drawn from nature, as in the dishes shown here with their reserve panels of flowers and fish.

William Morris famously said: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” Good advice! Jonathan acknowledges the influence of the ideas of John Ruskin and the example of William Morris and says, “My aim is to make practical and beautiful porcelain and lustreware for use in the home. Making lustreware is a process of hand and head and heart; it is the challenge of practising a craft which utilises all my faculties.”

The dish inscribed “To Everything There is a Season and a Time for Every Purpose under the Heavens” draws its inspiration from that wonderful passage in the Old Testament from Ecclesiastes, chapter three, which has given such comfort to successive generations when they pause to reflect on the seasons of our human lives. The verses describe how God gives each of us things to do in his purpose and how we are to enjoy life as a gift of His Grace.

Born in Calcutta in 1944, Jonathan Chiswell Jones first saw pottery being made on the banks of the Hooghly River, where potters were making disposable teacups from river clay. He was one of Lewis Creed’s pupils. Lewis Creed was a young art teacher at Ashfold School, Handcross, who wanted to introduce his pupils to the joys of making pottery. Inspired by these early contacts with clay, Chiswell Jones has worked as a professional potter for the past forty years. In 1998, he was given an award by Arts Training South, which encouraged him to go on a course about ceramic lustre. He began to experiment with the thousand-year-old technique used by Middle Eastern potters to fuse a thin layer of silver or copper onto the surface of a glaze. This layer, protected by the glaze, then reflects light, hence the term ‘lustre.’ The lustreware on show at Chichester Cathedral demonstrates its continuing ability to capture our imaginations. Clay and glaze, metal and fire combine to produce pots which reflect light and colour, a process in which base metal seems to be turned to gold. Jonathan Chiswell Jones notes: “I am proud to stand in this lustreware tradition, with its roots in the Islamic empire of the 10th century, its appearance in Spain and Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries, its revival in the 19th century by Theodore Dec in France and by Zolnay in Hungary, and in this country by William De Morgan, and more recently by Alan Caiger-Smith.”

The 15th century Bell-Arundel Screen restored to the Cathedral in 1960 in memory of the life of Bishop George Bell by Rev. Walter Hussey

How fitting that, following in such an ancient tradition, Jonathan Chiswell Jones’ work should be displayed in our timeless Chichester Cathedral. William Morris defined art as “man’s expression of his joy in labour”. There can be no doubt that creating beauty in the world is part of our human purpose in this life.

“Earth, Fire, Gold: Elemental Beauty by Jonathan Chiswell Jones” is being held in Chichester Cathedral’s Treasury (next to the North Transept) until Sunday 14th September 2014. While you are there, take a moment to go to the Southern Ceramic Group Summer Exhibition in the Bishop’s Kitchen, adjacent to the Cathedral, sponsored by Toovey’s Fine Art Auctioneers.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 30th July 2014 in the West Sussex Gazette.

William de Morgan and Ulisse Cantagalli

A rare Cantagalli dish, late 19th century, decorated in coloured enamels after Benozzo Gozzoli's frescoes in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. Although broken and glued, the dish was sold at Toovey’s for £5,200

William de Morgan Tile — A William de Morgan tile, late 19th century, decorated with two flowers in the Gillow pattern, and a similar tile, sold at Toovey’s for £320

In the late 19th century the Italian manufacturer Cantagalli reinterpreted earlier Italian Renaissance maiolica pottery. These earthenware pieces found particular favour with English collectors. Perhaps this was in part due to the friendship between Ulisse Cantagalli (1839-1901) and England’s leading pottery designer, William de Morgan (1839-1917).

A William de Morgan ruby lustre dish, late 19th century, sold at Toovey’s for £1,600

Ulisse and his brother Giuseppe produced these pieces from 1878 at their pottery near Florence. They also produced lustre wares inspired by Persian and Hispano-Moresque ceramics. The lustre wares were particularly admired by William de Morgan.

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, staying until 1888, when he left to set up a factory in Fulham.

A Cantagalli ruby lustre jug, late 19th century, sold at Toovey’s for £180

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, as shown in the pair of tiles illustrated here. A master of carefully integrated patterns, his designs included animals, fishes, Grecian ships and, as in the case of the illustrated dish, birds and leaves. The subjects of these spirited motifs, although stylized, are clearly recognisable. They are rich in their effect. The Cantagalli ruby lustre jug once again shows the influence of the Persian. From 1892 onwards, William de Morgan spent his winters in Florence and worked with Cantagalli.

The rare late 19th century Cantagalli dish illustrated was decorated after Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence. Depicting the Journey of the Magi, these frescoes were painted on the chapel walls in the hot summer of 1459 and made brilliant by the artist’s use of gold and azure. The scenes provided the opportunity for Gozzoli to paint a pageant of Medici portraits, set in the Tuscan landscape. Cantagalli’s late 19th century interpretation of these paintings is also rich and vibrant in its use of coloured enamels.

How extraordinary that the Cantagalli factory’s fortunes should flourish in England, thanks to the shared inspiration, interests and friendship of two potters and the reputation and work of the Arts and Crafts potter William de Morgan.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 23rd July 2014 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Rolls-Royce & Bentley Day at Borde Hill Garden

Rolls Royce Bentley Borde Hill — A magnificent vintage Rolls-Royce and Bentley on the lawns of Borde Hill

Borde Hill Garden holds its Rolls-Royce and Bentley Day this coming Sunday, 20th July 2014. The gardens will be complimented by cars from these famous marques, vehicles which have often been called ‘the best cars in the world.’

Rolls-Royce 20hp Sedanca — Rupert Toovey’s great-grandfather’s Rolls-Royce 20 h.p. Sedanca

I grew up in a family passionate about motoring and cars, especially from the vintage era. Amongst the numerous stories was that of my great-grandfather’s Rolls-Royce 20 h.p. Sedanca. I have often wondered from this photograph of the car with his chauffeur whether it was bodied by the coachbuilders Hooper. In Rolls-Royce’s catalogue of 1905 the company wrote: “Doctors and others connected with the medical profession have, after trying the leading makes, declared the Rolls-Royce to be the only petrol car that they could bring up to a patient’s house and drive away without the possibility of disturbing the patient.” This may have been a tempting marketing quote for my great-grandfather, Edwin Hopewell-Ash, an eminent physician-neurologist and member of the Royal College of Surgeons.

Henry Royce was a gifted engineer of my great-grandfather’s generation. He had a particular gift for perfecting the design and manufacture in areas of emerging technology. Royce refined the multi-cylinder engine, addressing the noise, vibration and inflexibility of other marques’ earlier engines. The Rolls-Royce motor company has its origins in the 1904 partnership between Royce and the motoring and aviation pioneer Charles Stewart Rolls.

Andrewjohn Stephenson Clarke and his wife, Eleni, are the current custodians of Borde Hill. This weekend brings together the threads and passions of Andrewjohn’s life – the gardens and engineering. He is himself a leading civil and computer engineer.

With Rolls-Royce now located at Chichester in West Sussex, it seems particularly appropriate that this famous marque’s heritage should be celebrated in this way in our county. Borde Hill Garden has many rare and remarkable plants; it is an exceptional living collection.

This weekend there is a treat in store for motoring and garden enthusiasts alike at Borde Hill Garden, Borde Hill Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1XP. For more information on opening times and forthcoming events go to www.bordehill.co.uk or telephone 01444 450326.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 16th July 2014 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Parham House and Gardens’ Annual Garden Weekend

This week I am visiting the walled gardens in the lead up to one of the highlights of the Sussex summer calendar: Parham House and Gardens’ famous ‘Garden Weekend’. This year’s celebration of gardening at Parham will be opened on Saturday by the BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Joe Swift.

I love the stillness that gathers you in the walled gardens at Parham. It transports you, separating you from the business of life. To create a garden of this subtlety, depth and beauty requires a sensitivity to place, light, the elements and the seasons.

Tom Brown, Head Gardener at Parham, leads a team of gifted people, whose creativity allows this sublime garden to honour the past while remaining forward-looking. I am excited to be meeting Peta Ashton, a gardener and member of this team, whose individuality and talent is apparent in her work in the Parham gardens.

Lady Emma Barnard and I walk from her wonderful house to the gardens and she leaves me in the path between the long borders as she goes off to find Peta. If you have ever dared to still yourself and stand in a landscape, you will know that out of the silence your senses become heightened. You become more alive. Sounds, colours and movement reveal themselves to you. As I stand between these borders with the warmth of the sun upon my face, the wind and shadows cause the soft planting to dance. I become aware of the swathes of colour and their relationships to one another, which, together with the textures of flowers and foliage, form complex compositions. The gentle breeze plays upon the leaves. There is a rhythm and wholeness, born out of this rich canvas. Lady Emma appears with Peta, the sound of their voices and feet on the gravel paths marking their approach.

Borders at Parham House and Gardens — Peta Ashton’s sublime borders at Parham

The borders which have just captured my imagination and gathered me are the work and inspiration of Peta Ashton. I remark on my experience of this particular part of the garden. She listens thoughtfully. Her face breaks into a gentle smile beneath her broad-brimmed hat, evidently pleased by my unexpected response to her work. I ask her what has influenced the garden layout. She replies, “The gardens are laid out in the ‘Old Parham Way’ with secret and open spaces.” There is much talk today of garden rooms but it would seem that this is nothing new at Parham.

Together the three of us walk towards another of Peta’s creations, the restored herb garden, which is bordered by a tall yew hedge of dark green hue. Entering through an arch cut into the hedge, we find ourselves in a secret, sunny garden. A circular stone pond with a lead putto is framed by tall herbs. Excitedly Peta leads Emma and me around the herb garden, delighting in the names, the foliage and the characters of each individual plant. It is apparent that we are in the company of a generous and passionate plantswoman, who expresses her hopes and fears for each of them in turn.

In Tudor times, when Parham was built, herbs were used for their culinary, medicinal and strewing properties. Herbs would be strewn on the floors and surfaces of homes to deter insects and to disinfect, as well as for their fragrant qualities. In this enclosed garden, I am reminded that herbs were associated with the monastic tradition in medicine. It is these influences which are expressed in the disciplined, balanced planting. Peta explains that this would be defeated if it was too ornamental. There is a sense of working with nature and history.

The Gardens at Parham House — A view from the gardens looking towards the house and Sussex Downs

I ask Peta how she comes to imagine and create these remarkable borders and gardens. She pauses for a moment, considering her reply, and then says, “The borders come out of being in this space in silence. It is the combination of this inner criterion and influences from outside which I try to work with.” Being attentive to nature, colour, form and movement requires a particular quality of engagement and a generous discipline – a combination of relationship with our environment and an attempt to shut out the white noise of our lives and be truly present, undistracted in the given moment. It is a form of meditation, of prayer. Peta clearly understands this and it gifts her creativity and remarkable vision with depth and subtlety. She is both artist and gardener.

Calling and vocation can be expressed in infinite ways. Peta Ashton’s sense of vocation towards her work, like her gardens, is inspiring. It is bound up with her very personhood. Like so much at Parham House and Gardens, Peta’s tremendously personal expression of creativity is possible thanks to the patronage and involvement of Lady Emma.

Sheltered by the warm hues of the old brick garden walls covered in lichen, these gardens have a remarkable ability to gather and engage people. Families find a gentle place to wander in conversation, their time in the garden informed by the beauty around them. Keen horticulturists will pause to explore the subtleties and effects of the planting and compositions before them. Whatever your approach, though, you cannot fail to wander in this beautiful place without being moved by it.

I am looking forward to the Parham House and Gardens’ ‘Garden Weekend’ this Saturday and Sunday, 12th and 13th July 2014, 10.30am to 5.00pm. For more information go to www.parhaminsussex.co.uk or telephone 01903 742021. Tickets include the wonderful gardens and entry to the house and its superb collections. There are Parham plants for sale too – wonderful stock – so don’t forget to treat yourselves!

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 9th July 2014 in the West Sussex Gazette.

The Delight of William and Mary Taste

William and Mary chest detail — A detail of the top of the chest of drawers, finely inlaid in various woods and stained ivory

Against the backdrop of revolution and religious conflict, 17th century England witnessed remarkable achievements in science, art and commerce. Among these were the scientific genius of Sir Isaac Newton, Samuel Pepys’ groundbreaking work with the Royal Navy, the architecture of Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, and the publication of the King James’ Bible in 1611, often described as the finest work ever produced by committee.

17thC Dutch Delft dish — A late 17th century Dutch Delft moulded dish, auctioned at Toovey’s for £480

William and Mary chest — A fine William and Mary laburnum oyster-veneered and floral marquetry chest of drawers, auctioned at Toovey’s for £17,000

At the end of the 17th century, Charles II’s Catholic brother, James II, was replaced by the Protestants William and Mary during the Glorious Revolution of 1688. William of Orange and his wife Mary, James II’s son-in-law and daughter, invaded England with a Dutch army. Their actions had been encouraged by a group of Tory and Whig parliamentarians, who were fearful that the birth of James II’s son would establish a Roman Catholic dynasty in the British Isles. By Convention of Parliament, William and Mary were invited to sign the Bill of Rights of 1689, which passed the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland to them. They ruled jointly as William III and Mary II until Mary’s death in 1694. William continued his reign alone until he died in 1702. The bill limited the power of the crown, set out the rights of Parliament with rules for freedom of speech, including the right of Parliament to petition the monarch without fear of retribution, and the requirement for regular elections.

William brought with him Dutch artisans, who were joined by French Huguenot refugee craftsmen. The royal couple were painted by the finest artists of their age. However, you cannot help but delight in the naïve quality of the depiction of William III on this late 17th century Dutch Delft dish, painted in blue, green, yellow and black. The border of tulips and other flowers shows the Dutch influence.

The fashion for smaller more intimate rooms created demand for furniture of a more modest scale with an emphasis on comfort, in contrast to the opulence of Charles II’s Restoration period. There is a reliance on good proportion and simple lines in the finest examples of William and Mary case furniture, which is often finely decorated with marquetry inlay. Flowers, acanthus leaf and C-scrolls define the William and Mary taste. Take the William and Mary marquetry-veneered chest of drawers illustrated here. The top is finely inlaid. The central oval panel and four corner panels are filled with flower-charged vases, inhabited by birds, within a laburnum oyster-veneered border. The sides and drawer fronts have similarly inlaid floral panels. Exotic woods, like olive and laburnum, reached this country via new East-West trade routes.

The rare William and Mary longcase clock with its eight-day, five-pillar movement, striking on a bell, is by William Cattell of London. William Cattell was apprenticed in 1664/5 to Edward Stanton and was freed in April 1672. The walnut and laburnum oyster-veneered marquetry case is decorated with motifs of birds and flowers similar to those on the chest of drawers.

The quality and richness of decoration, combined with the intimate and fine proportion of William and Mary furniture and clocks, continue to delight connoisseurs today and prices remain strong.

Toovey’s next specialist auctions of clocks and furniture will be held on Thursday 17th and Friday 18th July 2014. If you are considering the sale of your clocks or furniture, please contact Toovey’s for free and confidential specialist advice.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 2nd July 2014 in the West Sussex Gazette.