Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Page 42

Buoyant Auctions reflected in a Shift in Values

The prices for art, antiques and collectors’ items have been stronger post-lockdown than they were before. There is a hopefulness in people’s desire to acquire beautiful objects for their homes or to feed a passion for collecting. There has been a delight in once again being able to gather this community of people to the salerooms for viewings and auctions by appointment, as well as online. And they have been delighted to come together observing social distancing, hygiene and masks to keep one another safe.

This has been made possible at Toovey’s by spreading our specialist sales across the month ensuring safe numbers. Large numbers of new clients have signed up for auction updates and catalogues which are constantly changing at tooveys.com

I can’t tell you what is behind this increase in demand. Perhaps the painting, watch or piece of jewellery we have always wanted is more tempting than the 0% interest rates on our savings. Or is it the experience of spending longer in our homes whether homeworking or isolating which have highlighted the austerity of minimalism and a need for richer, eclectic interiors to engage our imaginations and delight the eye. Maybe it’s the experience of separation from loved ones which is inspiring us to prepare gathering homes in the comfortable English country house taste as our Grandparents did for when we can safely be together once again. Is it our experience of bluer skies, less pollution, a deeper appreciation of nature and engagement with the world which is inspiring us to acquire beautiful, sustainable antique furniture made out of precious timbers, which has already served successive generations, as an expression of better stewardship of our planet? Might it also be that these objects speak of our shared story, our common history which binds us together as a nation?

I suspect that it is a combination of all these things. For now at least there seems to be a shift in our priorities and a desire to live differently – perhaps we were all gong a bit fast before Covid.

One of the things that I have observed both at the salerooms and whilst visiting people has been a common view that meeting with others is vital to our wellbeing and whilst Zoom and Facetime have been a blessing, they are no substitute for real life human encounters.

Communities are at the heart of our nation. I hope that the ‘R’ number willing I will be able to continue to meet and gather you as we begin our Winter season of specialist sales.

Objects of Unparalleled Magnificence at the Royal Pavilion

The Saloon © The Royal Pavilion, Brighton/Jim Holden, 2020

This week we are returning to the Royal Pavilion, Brighton where the exhibition ‘A Prince’s Treasure’ is currently on show. It provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to see furniture and works of art, generously loaned by Her Majesty The Queen, displayed as George IV intended in the Pavilion.

We are once again in the company of David Beevers, Keeper of the Royal Pavilion. In The Saloon, the grandest Royal room in the Pavilion, David remarks “Light, the sun and sunflowers are the dominate motifs.”

George IV was self-indulgent, hedonistic, extravagant and self-pitying. He married Mrs Fitzherbert privately and illegally without his father George III’s permission and did not behave well towards Queen Caroline. But he was a charismatic personality.

After Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 George felt that his regal magnificence was the embodiment of Britain’s greatness. In 1811 George had boasted that his court would eclipse that of the French Emperor Napoleon I. Throughout his life George was a passionate patron of the arts, and a connoisseur and collector of the furniture, paintings and works of art of France from the period of Louis XIV at Versailles to Napoleon Bonaparte.

David says ‘The Saloon represents the Pavilion style at its confident best…there is a Stateliness. It’s decorated in the royal colours of crimson, silver and gold – this regal space must have provided a remarkable backdrop to the ceremony and drama of George’s reign.”

The Yellow Drawing Room Buckingham Palace, Royal Collection Trust © HM Queen Elizabeth II, 2019.

David draws my attention to the Kylin clock flanked by the Chinese porcelain vases with English gilt-bronze mounts. They were designed to stand together upon the remarkable chimneypiece which has been photographically superimposed to great effect, the original remains in the East Wing of Buckingham Palace. The clock has a later movement by B.L. Vuillamy which is mounted in a 17th century Chinese porcelain bowl above a pair of 18th century Chinese mythical creatures sometimes described as Kylin. David explains that the clock was acquired in France but the gilt-bronze fruit, flower and sunflower motifs were supplied by the bronze manufacturer Samuel Parker to a design by Robert Jones. Robert Jones’ design can also be seen in the gilt-bronze candle sockets which surmount the pair of Chinese export vases.

David describes the pieces from the Royal Collection as “Objects of unparalleled magnificence”.

David Beevers and the Royal Pavilion team, The Royal Collection Trust and the Government Indemnity Office must all be congratulated on the success of this remarkable venture.

George’s collection in the context of The Royal Pavilion, Brighton, provides a unique insight into the royal and aristocratic tastes of the early 19th century. The Chinese porcelain and clocks with their gilt-bronze mounts bring together George’s fascination with the art of 18th/early 19th century France and the exotic creations of the east.

You can book tickets for ‘A Princes’ Treasure’ by visiting www.brightonmuseums.org.uk/royalpavilion and you must treat yourself to the stunning new Guide to The Royal Pavilion – it is beautifully written and produced.

Once in a Lifetime Opportunity at Royal Pavilion Brighton

Royal Pavilion Banqueting Room with fender, mantel clock and serving tables designed by Robert Jones, Royal Collection Trust/ © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020.

In the first of a series of articles I am exploring a significant and generous loan of objects by Her Majesty The Queen to the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. These important objects will be on display at the Royal Pavilion until the autumn of 2021.

Amongst these are some of the most splendid pieces commissioned by George IV for the Royal Pavilion. The exhibition ‘A Prince’s Treasure’ provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this collection in the context of its original setting as George IV would have intended.

This week I am in the company of David Beevers, Keeper of the Royal Pavilion, who has overseen this remarkable collaboration between the Royal Collection Trust and the Royal Pavilion. The loan comprises of more than 120 objects which are on display at the Royal Pavilion for the first time since their removal to London in 1847/48. David explains how Queen Victoria enjoyed her Uncle George IV’s extravagant taste at Brighton.

When Brighton and the building no longer suited Queen Victoria’s family needs it was decided that the Pavilion should be sold and it was assumed that the site would be redeveloped. The fixtures, including fireplaces and wall panels, and the decorative objects, wallpapers and furniture were removed to London where many of them were installed under Prince Albert’s direction in the newly built East Wing at Buckingham Palace.

With remarkable foresight and in an act of enlightened civic patronage the Pavilion was bought and saved for the town by the Brighton Town Commissioners and their Clerk, Lewis Slight.

In 1863 Queen Victoria generously returned a number of important murals and chandeliers. Since then Royal patronage has seen numerous objects returned to the Royal Pavilion, thanks to a series of gifts and loans. In 1955 Her Majesty The Queen returned more than 100 objects on long term loan.
As we enter the Banqueting Room I remark on how the decorative whole is so much more apparent and alive with the loans in place. David agrees saying “Everything speaks – it suddenly starts talking to each other.”

He explains how the designs of Robert Jones can be discerned in the details and overall decorative scheme. Many of the pieces are designed by Jones. As we stand before one of the fireplaces it becomes apparent that the dragon and serpent motifs decorating the steel, brass and gilt-bronze fenders and fire dogs are repeated elsewhere. The legs of the superb rosewood, mahogany and satinwood veneered serving tables, manufactured by Tatham, Bailey and Sanders are delicately carved with gilded dragons. In the overdoor panels, too, carved gilded serpents and dragons are framed beneath arched palmette friezes bringing together the Chinese and Indian styles.

Banqueting Room mantel clock by Vuillamy, Royal Collection Trust/ © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020

I ask David if he has a favourite piece and he shows me an extraordinary mantel clock saying “This clock reflects the Pavilion style at its confident best.” He describes how the clock was designed by Robert Jones and made by Vuillamy. The Chinese figures echo those painted on the walls. The gilt-bronze foliage was gilded by Fricker and Henderson and seems to allude to an eagle in flight.
Benjamin Lewis Vuillamy was horologist to the Royal family and his work rivalled the French manufacturers. With its enamelled figures and peacock surmount it speaks of George IV’s patronage of the very finest craftsmanship of his age.

‘A Prince’s Treasure’ is an extraordinary exhibition which brings to life the patronage of a Prince and King here in the very heart of Sussex and I am looking forward to revisiting. The generous, intelligent procession through the rooms and the other Covid precautions with ticketed, timed entry has been designed to keep the visitor safe. Visit www.brightonmuseums.org.uk/royalpavilion/ to book your tickets. This is a must see exhibition!

The China Trade

Circle of George Chinnery – ‘Factories, Canton’ (Junk in Canton Harbour), early/mid-19th century watercolour, titled in pencil verso

In 1757, during the reign of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong (1735-1795), Canton was the only port left open to foreign trade after all the other Chinese ports were closed.

The Chinese allowed a limited trade area for westerners to be established outside Canton’s city walls under the watchful eyes of the Co-Hong–thirteen Chinese merchants who were responsible to the Emperor. The westerners, described by the Chinese as ‘foreign devils’, were not allowed to travel in China and all their business had to be conducted through these Chinese Merchants. This system would remain unchanged until the 1841 opium war.

Most European countries established trading companies. The British East India Company was formed in 1600 and the Dutch East India Company two years later. The fashion for tea grew throughout the 17th century adding another valuable commodity to the China trade.

European demand for exotic goods in the 18th century led expanded beyond silks and porcelains to include lacquerware, enamels, furnishings, wallpapers, carvings, ivories, watercolours and paintings. By the third-quarter of the 18th century England, Holland, France, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Spain all occupied hongs at Canton. The small early 19th century watercolour is very much in the style of the artist George Chinnery. It depicts the hongs, also known as factories, which consisted of a front building facing the river with a myriad of buildings connected by courtyards and passages behind them. Westerners’ activities were very restricted. They lived under the constant surveillance of the hong merchants and the Chinese police.

A pair of Chinese famille rose export porcelain candle holder figures of ladies, Qianlong period, each lady modelled holding a lotus bud shaped vase, the figures with brightly enamelled decoration

The importance of the Chinese export trade in ceramics cannot be overstated. It is hard for us to imagine the vast quantities of useful and ornamental porcelain imported into Britain and Continental Europe. These pieces would inform western taste. Whole industries were created to reproduce Chinese blue-and-white patterns. Even the humblest pieces of Chinese were well made.

The British East India Company’s China trade imports predominately comprised of bulk lots of blue and white including wares like plates and dishes which could be packed tightly in the hold with the ballast below the waterline. The second category of imports were important to the commercial success of the voyage for the crew and Company. This officially permitted private trade was made up of pieces of far higher quality. They included armorial, crested, figurative and colourful wares of which the Qianlong period pair of Chinese famille rose export porcelain candle holders modelled as ladies are a fine example.

The watercolour and porcelain candle holders were sold at Toovey’s for £7000 and £2700 respectively.

The company took a percentage of the private trade pieces with the remainder being shared amongst the crew. Much of these wares were sold at the Company’s auctions in London.

Finally the valuable and highly profitable tea and silks were stowed above the waterline in these leaky timber ships.

The lucrative China trade continues today as the Chinese compete with British and European collectors to reacquire items they sold to us for export in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Maynard Keynes, The Great Economist

Laura Knight – Madonna (Head Study of the Dancer, Lydia Lopokova), etching circa 1923, signed in pencil

On the 21st April 1946 The Times reported ‘Lord Keynes, the great economist, died at Tilton, Firle, Sussex, yesterday from a heart attack.’

John Maynard Keynes was a man of great energy, imagination and enterprise. He was born on the 5th June 1883. Educated at Eton he won a scholarship to King’s College Cambridge where he read mathematics and the classics whilst also studying philosophy and economics.

Keynes’s genius was expressed in important contributions to the fundamentals of economic science. He was able to make his theories accessible to the public and was a gifted writer.

As the most frequent visitor to Charleston House in Sussex Keynes was given his own room. Although his love affair with Duncan Grant had ended in 1909 their friendship endured. Maynard Keynes would remain an important figure in the lives of both Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.

As the Great War came to an end and the armistice was declared Keynes would divide his time between France and Charleston as he worked on the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919.

Keynes strongly disagreed with the reparations being proposed against Germany believing they would negatively affect the world and economy. Following his resignation from the British delegation he lived predominately at Charleston where he wrote his famous denunciation of the Peace Treaty, The Economic Consequences of Peace which you see illustrated. Keynes was a great bibliophile so it is fitting that his own books are highly sort after.

In 1925 Keynes married the Russian ballerina Lydia Lopokova of the Diaghilev Company. Laura Knight’s sensitive portrayal in the etched portrait from 1923 depicts Lydia as the Madonna. Her face displays a strength and vulnerability. There is a rising demand for women artists like Laura Knight.
Both were sold at Toovey’s for £800 and £2300 respectively.

John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace. London: Macmillan & Co., 1919. First edition

Keynes’s experience of the Great War and of economic depression caused him to reconsider traditional economic theories. He concluded that for a free market system to work at optimum capacity and provide full-employment it would be necessary to have deliberate central control of interest rates and, in some cases, to stimulate capital development.

Keynes would have a great influence after the Second World War ensuring that the mistakes of the Versailles Treaty were not repeated.

Ordinary Englishmen could not return from war a second time to be deprived of work, security and appropriate housing. The bloodless revolution of the Post-War Labour government with its radical redistribution of wealth through inheritance tax at 80% and general taxation may have pre-empted revolution of a bloodier kind. It brought with it the NHS and extended the Welfare State.

Keynes understood that this would inevitably undermine private patronage of the arts. He became Chairman of CEMA in 1942 and the fledgling Arts Council in 1945, as well as introducing resident artists at universities and working with theatres.

I have often wondered whether it was his relationships with Duncan Grant, Lydia Lopokova and his unconsummated, flirtatious affection for Vanessa Bell which influenced his love of the arts, of which he was a tireless advocate and supporter. The great economist was never happier than when in the company of his artistic friends especially here in Sussex.

Governments, including our own, seem to once again be embracing Keynesian economics as they seek to create capital investment in emerging technologies and optimum capacity and employment in their economies.