Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Page 79

Concert Celebrates the Life of Henry Burstow

This Saturday a remarkable concert at St Mary’s Parish Church in the Causeway, Horsham, commemorates the life of Henry Burstow who died 100 years ago this year.

Burstow’s love of Bell Ringing and Folk Songs will be celebrated in words, dance, music and bell ringing by the Horsham Bell Ringers, the Horsham Folk Club, the Broadwood Morris Men, the Friends of Horsham Museum and international violinist, Andrew Bernardi, playing the 1696 Stradivarius.

Andrew Bernardi plays the ‘Lark Ascending’ on the 1696 Stradivarius

Henry Burstow was Horsham’s cobbler, a bell ringer and folk singer. Writing about his love of folk music Burstow said ‘In learning and retaining all my songs my memory has seemed to work quite spontaneously: many of the songs I learnt at first time of hearing; others, longer ones, I have learnt upon hearing them twice through.’ His knowledge and memory of Sussex folk music drew the attention of Lucy Broadwood and the composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, who visited the area in 1904.

Celebrating the life of Henry Burstow with Dance, Music and Bell Ringing

Vaughan Williams’ famous ‘Lark Ascending’ will be performed by Andrew Bernardi and members of his critically acclaimed Music Group, String Academy and Christs’ Hospital Director of music, Andrew Cleary. This extraordinary piece of music rises and falls as though accompanying a skylark’s flight in the folds of the Sussex Downs. The composer was inspired by specific lines from George Meredith’s poem of the same title which dates from 1881. They were originally printed on the flyleaf of Vaughan Williams’ musical score:

‘He rises and begins to round,
He drops the silver chain of sound,
Of many links without a break,
In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake.
For singing till his heaven fills,
‘Tis love of earth that he instils,
And ever winging up and up,
Our valley is his golden cup
And he the wine which overflows
to lift us with him as he goes.
Till lost on his aerial rings
In light, and then the fancy sings.’

There is a Eucharistic quality to the way that Vaughan Williams draws these particular lines together from Meredith’s much longer poem. It never fails to move and uplift me.

Writing about bell ringers in his reminiscences Henry Burstow said ‘To all brother campanologists and friends who remain of the hundreds with whom I have had the pleasure of meeting I offer my kind regards, and thanks for the hearty welcome and good fellowship they have always shown me.’ With bell ringers at the heart of this event you can be assured of a warm welcome on Saturday.

This unique concert takes place this weekend on Saturday 22 October at 7.30pm at St Mary’s Parish Church, Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1HE. Advance tickets are priced at £10 each and can be purchased from the Capitol Box Office by telephoning 01403 750220 and from The Horsham Museum and Art Gallery. Tickets will also be available on the night at £12.50 each. The funds raised by the concert will be donated to the Friends of Horsham Museum. For more information visit www.thecapitolhorsham.com or 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.

Battle of Hastings 950th Anniversary

This week we commemorate the Battle of Hastings, fought not at Hastings but at Battle in East Sussex, on the 14th October 1066.

King Harold’s death on the battlefield marked the end of Anglo-Saxon England. Duke William of Normandy would be crowned King of England on Christmas Day at the Saxon Westminster Abbey in London.

In the September of 1066 news reached King Harold that a Norwegian army had landed at York under the leadership of Hardrada. Harold hurried north gathering an army as he went. He met the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge on the 25th September and inflicted a crushing defeat on the invaders.

The English Saxon navy commanded some three hundred ships and dominated the seas, but it was kept at harbour by the prevailing weather as William, Duke of Normandy, sailed for the shores of England. He landed at Hastings, in what is now Sussex, and built a temporary fort.

Harold now hurried south to defend his family lands and kingdom hoping to once again benefit from the element of surprise.

Harold gathered the fyrd, the members of his senior professional army, and the housecarls to him. But William heard news of the Saxon army’s approach and moved to meet them at Battle.

The Saxon’s fought on foot wielding their axes to deadly effect. They formed a shield wall around their King repelling the Norman batteries of crossbow arrows and Knights on horseback. The battle raged throughout the day and the Saxon line was broken as the Norman’s feigned retreat and Harold’s forces pursued them. The Norman’s final assault took place as the October autumn light faded. Harold, it is said, was killed by an arrow piercing his eye.

These scenes were captured in the Bayeux Tapestry. The tapestry was embroidered in coloured wools on a linen strip measuring 230 feet long and 20 inches high. The tapestry shares many similarities with Saxon illuminated manuscripts. Many academics believe that it was worked by Saxon craftsmen at Canterbury.

The great Benedictine Abbey was established at Battle by William to give thanks for his victory. It flourished for more than 400 years until Henry VIII’s suppression of the monasteries during the Reformation.

As you stand amongst the ruins of Battle Abbey there is a stillness which makes it hard to imagine the fierceness of the bloody, long and hard fought battle. William insisted that the High Altar be placed over the spot where King Harold fell and today a plaque marks its position in the Abbey grounds.

The picturesque town of Battle viewed from the gates of the Abbey

England would be changed forever as the Normans built over and upon the rich foundations of the Saxon kingdom. Sussex is rich in Saxon art and history and there is much to be rediscovered.

The town of Battle, with its picturesque High Street, has always been dependent upon its Abbey. This weekend the town will celebrate the 950th anniversary of this famous battle with a series of events. To find out more go to www.battlelocalhistory.com/battle-950 and www.englishheritage.org.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.

Blue and White – the right colour for porcelain

A pair of Chinese blue and white Worcester style export porcelain plates, late Qianlong period, each decorated with the pine cone group design

Blue and white ceramics have always delighted me and none more so than 18th century English porcelain. The famous Sussex based ceramic historian, the late Geoffrey Godden, always maintained that ‘blue and white is the right colour for porcelain’.

These individually handmade objects were made for use and this domesticity lends a particular charm to these beautiful and affordable objects which are often decorated with anglicized interpretations of Chinese decoration. There is an honest un-laboured quality in these depictions.

A Bow blue and white porcelain coffee pot and cover, circa 1765

English blue and white porcelains date from the mid-to late 1740s onwards. Amongst the early makers were Bow in London and Worcester.

Founded in 1744 by Thomas Frye and Edward Heylyn Bow was one of the first two porcelain manufacturers in England. Bow’s output included fine figure models and vases. However, its primary objective was the production of much less expensive blue and white porcelain imitating the Chinese porcelains which arrived in the East India Company warehouses as part of the thriving export trade to this country. Bow’s blue and white was made in large quantities, leading many ceramic historians to believe that it was the largest porcelain manufactory in the 18th century. Take for example the Bow blue and white porcelain coffee pot and cover dating from 1765 painted in the Chinese style with pavilions and trees within trellis borders.

A Lowestoft blue and white porcelain sparrow beak cream jug, circa 1775

The handsome baluster shape of the Bow coffee pot is also employed in the charming Lowestoft cream jug. Made in about 1775 it again shows the influence of the imported Chinese porcelains of the time.

A collection of five Worcester porcelain ‘Pine Cone Group’ pattern plates, circa 1780

The Worcester factory came in to being in 1752 when Benjamin Lund’s highly sophisticated and experimental Bristol factory merged with Dr John Wall’s Worcester. The Chinese taste was once again highly influential.

Largely thanks to the work of Robert Hancock, who would become a partner of the firm, by the late 1750s Worcester had become pre-eminent in the use of transfer printing on porcelain in terms of output, quality, clarity and aesthetic design. The ‘Pine Cone Group’ pattern was the most celebrated of all the underglaze blue transfer prints at Worcester. It was principally used on plates, as seen here, and baskets of the 1770s. It was copied by Lowestoft and other English factories. The ‘Pine Cone Group’ pattern was even copied by the Chinese as shown by the extremely rare pair of plates illustrated.

Prices for 18th century English blue and white porcelain remain accessible for now, with examples like these fetching from low to mid-hundreds of pounds in Toovey’s specialist auctions. As values for Chinese porcelain continues to rise these English interpretations of the Oriental taste represent great value. And after all blue and white is the right colour for porcelain!

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.

Tate Gallery Curator Opens Horsham’s Festival of Watercolours

Alison Smith, Tate Gallery’s Lead Curator of British Art to 1900, at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

‘In Pursuit of the Watercolours’ is at the centre of a festival celebrating British watercolour painting at the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibition was opened by the Tate Gallery’s Lead Curator of British Art to 1900, Alison Smith, in the company of Horsham District Council Chairman, Christian Mitchell and a large gathering of art lovers.

As I reported last week the museum has recently changed its collecting policy and is seeking to collect not only Sussex related art, but also watercolours by the greatest exponents of the medium. It represents a remarkable opportunity to form a collection of national significance.

The project will require the continued patronage of The Friends of Horsham Museum, as well as collectors, businesses, trusts and institutions, in order to acquire watercolours. Toovey’s have already donated work.

From left to right: Jonathan Chowen, Nicholas Toovey, Christian Mitchell and Jeremy Knight

Tate Curator, Alison Smith, expressed her delight to find important watercolourists like J.M.W. Turner, Francis Wheatley, Thomas Rowlandson, John Varley and John Piper represented in an exhibition at Horsham. She praised the Horsham District Council (HDC) for its support of the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, offering particular thanks to HDC Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, Jonathan Chowen, and Curator, Jeremy Knight. Alison went on to acknowledge the ‘enormous’ contribution made by picture specialist, Nicholas Toovey, to the exhibition and catalogue, as well as Toovey’s Fine Art Auctioneers long term support of the Museum. She concluded by wishing the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery every success in forming its new watercolour collection.

Dudley Hardy (1867-1922) – ‘The Bird Fanciers’, watercolour, loaned from a private collection

The domestic scale and subtle nature of many English watercolours are particularly suited to the British temperament, sensibilities and weather. But watercolour offers artists a depth of colour too. Watercolourists have often recorded the world at home and abroad. During the 19th century there was an increasing interest in the exotic, especially the art, architecture and culture of North Africa, Arabia and the Middle East. Art reflecting these subjects is now known as ‘orientalism’. Dudley Hardy produced many orientalist works and my eye is taken by his watercolour ‘The Bird Fanciers’ which is a prime example of the genre. Here Hardy fuses the compositional elements of his father, Thomas Bush Hardy, with the exotic landscape, costume and colours of Algiers.

Whilst the exhibition centres on the Golden Age of watercolour painting in Britain in the 18th and early 19th centuries it also has work from the 17th to the 21st century including paintings by leading contemporary watercolourist, Gordon Rushmer. Gordon is holding a series of masterclasses at the museum to support the festival and collection.

Toovey’s picture specialist, Nicholas Toovey, will be at The Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE, between 10am and 12noon, this Saturday, 1st October 2016. He will be sharing his passion for the British watercolour and offering free valuations on your pictures. Come and discover whether your watercolour is actually by a famous artist!

To support the building of this important new collection of watercolours a third of the seller’s commission for items seen at the event which are subsequently auctioned by Toovey’s will be donated to the Friends of Horsham Museum. Sellers will receive the full amount they would normally get but will know that they have helped the Museum as well.

The accompanying catalogue provides a marvellous introduction and insight to the delights of British watercolours. To find out more about ‘In Pursuit of the Watercolour’ exhibition and events in the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery’s Festival of Watercolours go to www.horshammuseum.org or telephone 01403 254959.

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

Exciting New Collection at Horsham Museum & Art Gallery

John Claude Nattes (c.1765-1839), Horsham on a windy day, 1792, Purchased with the aid of the aid of the V & A Purchase Fund and the Friends of Horsham Museum

In 2010 the Horsham Museum became the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery. Visitor numbers have soared, more than doubling in the last six years, making it one of the most visited art and heritage attractions in the South East of England. It is clear that there is an enormous appetite for art in the Horsham District.

Responding to this demand the museum has recently changed its collecting policy. It is seeking to collect not only Sussex related art, but also watercolours by the greatest exponents of the medium. It represents a remarkable opportunity to form a collection of national and international significance, especially as prices for fine watercolours continue to represent exceptional value for money.

The project will require the continued patronage of The Friends of Horsham Museum, and the Chasemore fund, as well as collectors, businesses, trusts and institutions, to acquire watercolours. I am delighted that Toovey’s have already donated work. The new collection will allow the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery to borrow major works from national museums, broadening the breadth and quality of its already exciting exhibition program.

None of this would be possible without the Horsham District Council’s understanding of the importance of art and heritage to the identity and economy of Horsham and the broader district. Jonathan Chowen, Horsham District Council Cabinet Member for Arts, Heritage & Leisure, and his team are deserving of our thanks for their continued long term support of the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery.

‘In Pursuit of the Watercolour’ is the latest exhibition at the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibition celebrates the English pre-eminence in the medium of watercolour painting from the mid-18th century to the present day. The show is predominately formed of rarely seen watercolours from private collectors and ten works from the Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, including a wonderful view of the beach at Dover by J. M. W. Turner.

Curated by Jeremy Knight, the exhibition puts a spotlight on the broad range of watercolour painting between the 18th and 21st centuries.

The exhibition makes apparent how British watercolour painting moves from the recording of the topographical to a Romantic, personal impression of a particular place. Many argue that the poetic landscape of the romantic imagination is born out of Constable and Turner’s work.

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), A beach scene at Dover, Loaned by Worthing Museum and Art Gallery

J.M.W. Turner would famously break free from the confines of convention and tradition recording impressions of the elemental in nature. The grey wash of his landscape ‘A beach at Dover’, gives a dramatic impression. It is a great treat to observe this rarely seen work.

John Claude Nattes’ landscape ‘Horsham on a Windy Day’ reflects something of the Horsham District’s rural identity today. It was acquired for the collection with help from the V & A Purchase Fund and the Friends of Horsham Museum.

Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA (1793-1867), Study for the oil painting A Market Boat on the Scheldt, circa 1826, donated by Toovey’s Auctioneers & Valuers to Horsham Museum and Art Gallery’s Watercolour Collection

Clarkson Frederick Stanfield’s ‘A Market Boat on the Scheldt’, is a study for an oil painting in the V & A. and has been donated by Toovey’s Auctioneers & Valuers to the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery’s Watercolour Collection. After Turner, Stanfield was considered the greatest marine painter in Britain at the time. John Ruskin preferred Stanfield’s watercolours to his oils as they were more natural and less contrived. He thought him the ‘leader of our English Realists’.

I am proud that Toovey’s are sponsoring the exhibition and catalogue ‘In pursuit of the watercolours’. Toovey’s picture specialist, Nicholas Toovey, will be fund raising for the collection between 10am and 12noon on Saturday, 1st October 2016, offering free pre-sale valuations on your watercolours, prints and paintings at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE. A third of the seller’s commission for items seen at the event which are subsequently auctioned by Toovey’s will be donated to the Friends of Horsham Museum. Sellers will receive the full amount they would normally get but they will know that they have helped the Museum as well. This exceptional exhibition runs from 24th September to 15th October 2016 and admission is free.

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.