Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Page 86

Cabinets of Curiosity

A Peruvian Chimu effigy vessel painted with a face and decorative collar, circa 1100AD to 1450AD, with a Mexican Nayarit figure and a Mexican Veracruz pottery head

The latest exhibition at the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery, ‘Curiosity: A Tale of Quirky Collecting’, combines the delights of the Renaissance cabinet of curiosity with the enquiry of the 18th century Enlightenment. It charts the questioning journey of a 21st century Sussex antiquary. The objects form part of his private collection and have never before been seen together in public.

Between 1680 and 1820 the imaginations of some of Britain, Europe and America’s leading philosophers, scientists and writers were inspired by a new age of reason and learning which became known as the Enlightenment.

During the Renaissance rooms and cabinets of curiosities housed encyclopaedic collections of objects whose categorical boundaries were yet to be defined. They were often known as wonder cabinets and rooms. Similarly 18th century collectors, antiquaries and travellers brought together, but also sought to classify, objects from the world around them. Many of these objects were categorised according to the seven major new areas of enquiry during the Enlightenment. These included: natural history, art and civilisation, religion and ritual, the birth of archaeology, discovery and trade, the translation of ancient scripts and classification.

These areas of enquiry are abundantly displayed in this exhibition’s cabinets of curiosity filled with wonder and learning at the Horsham Museum. The objects’ stories are bound together with their custodian’s very personal journey of discovery through collecting.

An incunabula, ‘Chronicle of the World’, printed in 1493

The story begins with geology. Encouraged by his mother, when 11 years old, he began to collect geological specimens. He would eventually amass more than seven hundred examples. From geology we move to the natural world and a Christmas gift of an antique taxidermy red squirrel given to our enlightened collector as a boy of fourteen. And then to books, not just as documents of learning but as aesthetic objects, like the ‘Chronicle of the World’ seen here which was published in 1493. It is an incunabula, a term given to any book which was printed rather than handwritten before 1501. It means cradle of printing. The printed words seem to lead us into the marvellous woodblock illustration which depicts a bustling harbour filled with trading ships and a city beyond. I share this collector’s fascination with books. They have been collected for millennia. The libraries of the ancient world must have been wondrous.

This gifted antiquarian writes how one day, feeling flush, he purchased a Chinese Han Dynasty (206BC to 220AD) pottery figure from a shop near the British Museum in London and his journey of discovery through antiquities began.

Ten ancient terracotta figures from the Indus Valley, circa 3000BC to 2000BC

There are some truly ancient objects in this exhibition. Look at the remarkable group of ten terracotta figurines from the Indus Valley which date from between 3000BC and 2000BC. It is thought that might they might be emblematic of fertility. The Bronze Age, Harrappan Civilisation (3300BC to 1900BC) of the Indus Valley extended from what is now northwest India through Pakistan to northeast Afghanistan. It flourished on the banks of the Indus River. This important civilisation was lost in the mists of time until it began to be rediscovered during the Archaeological Survey of India instigated by the British Raj in 1861. There is something remarkable in these figures being displayed against the backdrop of Horsham’s Causeway.

Alongside objects from Europe, the Indus and China are pieces from the ancient Aztec, Inca and Mayan civilisations of South America. These include the Picasso like Peruvian Chimu effigy vessel painted with a face and geometric collar which dates from between 1100AD and 1450AD. Beside it is a marvellous Mexican Nayarit red pottery figure wearing a bird headdress. It dates from 100BC to 250AD. The Mexican pottery Veracruz head, circa 400AD to 800AD, has wonderfully expressive features.

The romance of history and a curiosity about the past is often bound up with the joy of owning and observing objects. I love the qualities of an enquiring and learning journey expressed in this very personal exhibition of eclectic items. The displays in these wondrous cabinets of curiosity and discovery give us an insight into how human achievement has evolved over the centuries. They allow us to glimpse the 18th century age of Enlightenment’s spirit of enquiry which, it would seem, is alive and well in 21st century Sussex!

‘Curiosity: A Tale of Quirky Collecting’ runs until 5th March 2016, at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE. Entrance to the Museum and exhibition is free. It is the perfect half-term outing! For more information 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.

An International Aesthetic

A rare pair of Sunflower Andirons designed by Thomas Jeckyll being auctioned at Toovey’s, estimate £10,000-£20,000

This week’s column is, in part, inspired by the remarkable discovery of a rare pair of Sunflower Andirons attributed to the Aesthetic Movement designer, Thomas Jeckyll (1827-1881), which are to be sold at Toovey’s in West Sussex.

Since the 1860s designers and potters in Britain and America have fallen under the influence of the Japanese aesthetic. The influences of Japanese culture and art joined with the theories of ‘art for art’s sake’ promoted by influential European writers, poets and critics like Théophile Gautier and Charles Baudelaire. Their thinking promoted artistic expression without edifying, moral or utilitarian purpose; rather it was bound up with a sense of human self-determination and inner-direction. It resulted in the Aesthetic Movement in Britain and America. At the forefront in Britain was the American born, British based, artist James McNeill Whistler and Oscar Wilde.

Thomas Jeckyll worked as an architect and designer and was part of the Aesthetic Movement in Britain. He was commissioned to design a dining room as part of the remodelling and redecoration of Frederick Richards Leyland’s home in London. Leyland had made his fortune as a British shipping magnate. Jeckyll conceived the room to display porcelain in the Anglo-Japanese taste. Despite his undisputed gifts for architectural design he is predominately celebrated for his ironwork. The sunflower features prominently in his designs. A pair of the rare Sunflower Andirons by Jeckyll can be seen in the fireplace of the famous Peacock Room from Leyland’s house. They are very similar to those entered for sale at Toovey’s. These andirons have been described as ‘an exquisite example of the Anglo-Japanese style’. As with many of Jeckyll’s pieces they were made by the Norwich firm, Barnard, Bishop & Barnard.

The Peacock Room acquired its name after the artist James McNeill Whistler overpainted the Jeckyll designed dining room. Between 1876 and 1877 Whistler, inspired by the Chinese porcelains contained in the room, turned it into a masterpiece of mural art painting. He employed a rich, unified palette of over-glazed and gilded brilliant blue-greens. It is considered by many to be the finest surviving Aesthetic Movement interior in the world.

Charles Lang Freer purchased the Peacock Room and in 1904 shipped it from London to his Detroit Mansion where it was reconstructed to display pots in his collection from Egypt, Iran, Japan, China and Korea. The Peacock Room is now on display, together with his collection, in The Freer Sackler, The Smithsonian’s Museum of Asian Art, in Washington D.C.

A selection of work by the 20th century British studio potter Wally Keeler

The influences of the east, especially Japan, also became apparent amongst studio potters from the later 1860s. This influence continued into the 20th century in the work of British potters like Wally Keeler (b.1942). Toovey’s Arts and Crafts specialist, William Rowsell, explains that a collection of Keeler’s work, and pieces by other leading studio potters, have also been consigned to Toovey’s for sale. Keeler led the revival in salt-glazed wares. The combination of his very fine throwing, craftsmanship with his exemplary sense of form is apparent throughout his work and is displayed in the jugs and dish illustrated. The forms are beautifully accentuated by the pitted, coloured salt-glazes he employs.

Toovey’s forthcoming specialist sale of Arts and Crafts Furniture and Works of Art and British Studio Pottery will be held on Tuesday 29th March 2016. William Rowsell, is excited by the Studio Pottery and the potential result of the important Aesthetic Sunflower Andirons designed by Thomas Jeckyll which are expected to realise between £10,000 and £20,000. Entries for this exceptional sale are still being accepted. William Rowsell will be delighted to offer free advice on your Arts and Crafts furniture, objects and Studio Pottery whether you are considering selling or buying. Telephone Toovey’s on 01903 891955, or email auctions@tooveys.com, to arrange an appointment.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 3rd February 2016 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Remarkable New Exhibition at Petworth House

The Adoration of the Magi, attributed to Hieronymus Bosch, circa 1515

Last Thursday evening I found myself at Petworth House for the opening of ‘Remastered: Bosch to Bellotto’ –it is a ravishing display. Rarely do you encounter an array of art as remarkable and exciting as this exhibition of European Old Masters. It reunites rare, unseen masterpieces, loaned from the private collection of Lord Egremont, with paintings from the National Trust’s collection at Petworth House.

This jewel like show is woven together by a coherent and strong narrative which gives an insight into the passionate collecting tastes and connoisseurship of the Earls of Egremont over many centuries. The gallery display gifts us with the opportunity to examine the familiar and the new with a rare intimacy. It allows us to delight in the paintings in the way that these gifted patron collectors must have done as they acquired them. The show continues in the house where the paintings are in their natural setting, forming part of the decorative scheme at Petworth House, alongside furniture and objects.

The exhibition is once again the inspiration of Andrew Loukes, Exhibitions Manager at Petworth House, who continues to break new ground at the National Trust by adding serious in depth exhibitions to the already rich experience of the visiting public. The importance of this exhibition was affirmed by the National Trust’s Central Curator of Pictures and Sculpture, David Taylor, who opened the show.

As you enter the gallery space your eye is immediately drawn to the iconic, seemingly life size, portrait of Henry VIII painted towards the end of his reign in the studio of Hans Holbein. It was placed in the panelling of the Carved Room, by the 3rd Earl of Egremont (famous as the patron and friend of the artist, J. M. W. Turner) in the early 19th century. The picture’s usual setting does not allow you to experience the passages of real beauty in the details. The finely painted hair displays grey in this older monarch’s beard. There is a real sense of metal in the swords hilt and ruby encrusted chain. As you stand in the presence of this painting you feel that if you dared to breathe the delicate, lifelike ermine would move. Andrew Loukes explains that the painting was almost certainly commissioned by Edward Seymour who was very close to Henry VIII in the latter part of his reign and acted as guardian to his sister’s son, Edward VI, during the young King’s short reign. His family’s connection with Petworth through the 6th Duke of Somerset, Charles Seymour (1662-1748), may well have brought his important painting to the collection.

King Henry VIII (1491-1547) from the studio of Hans Holbein the younger, circa 1543/47

To your left is the remarkable Adoration of the Magi, attributed to Hieronymus Bosch and leant by Lord Egremont. Painted around 1515 it is thought to be a version of the central panel of the great triptych now at the Prado in Madrid. It is a work which commands the attention of the viewer as layered meaning and exquisite details reveal themselves. Academic opinions vary but the gold sculpture, Jaspar’s gift, appears to depict the sacrifice the prophet Isaac, foreshadowing the death of Christ. Behind the kneeling Jaspar stands Melchior whose cape depicts King Solomon receiving gifts from the Queen of Sheba. To the left is Balthazar wearing white and bearing myrrh. That the figures in the landscape beyond wear northern European costume against the imaginative backdrop of Jerusalem. Look out for the owl in the rafters too!

After his success with Mr Turner last year Andrew Loukes has done it again! That he has provided us with the opportunity to discover European Old Master paintings of international importance here in Sussex is remarkable and he is deserving of our thanks.

This accessible and jewel like exhibition is a must see and runs at Petworth House until 6th March 2016. Tickets for the exhibition are just £12 (including National Trust members). To book tickets telephone 0844 249 1895.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 13th January 2016 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Capability Brown

2016 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Britain’s most influential and famous gardener, Capability Brown. This remarkable English landscape gardener’s life and work is being celebrated in the latest exhibition at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery. ‘Capability Brown in Horsham: Discovering a Lost Garden’ runs until the 12th March.

The landscape gardener Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown by Richard Cosway © Bridgeman images

The exhibition tells the story of how Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown (1716-1783) designed and constructed a landscape garden around the Jacobean mansion Hills Place for the Ingram family. Brown also worked for the Ingram’s at their Yorkshire home, Temple Newsam, where his gardens can still be seen. The Hills Place gardens were located on the outskirts of Horsham, but were lost when the Duke of Norfolk ploughed them up to turn them into farmland some 50 years after the garden’s completion.

The exhibition includes Brown’s original designs for the garden, together with the survey conducted by his assistant, Lapidge, some two years earlier in 1766. The story is told in the context of the time with costumes, porcelain and objects from the period alongside botanical paintings and letters relating to Brown’s work. The letters reveal Brown’s uncompromising, ambitious nature, and relationship with his clients as he produced his landscape art.

A rare depiction of the lost garden at Hills Place, Horsham

I ask exhibition curator Jeremy Knight what the designs tell us about Capability Brown’s work. He replies enthusiastically “I love that he knew what trees he was going to plant, and where, to create his landscape theatre. He often planted willows, spruce and cedars – cedars were his favourites.”

Brown’s clients and patrons came from the most notable families in England. Between 1751 and 1783 Brown and his team dealt with over 170 commissions and changed the face of Georgian England. Given the stature of his clients I have often wondered how Capability Brown managed their expectations, after all trees and woodland can take generations to establish. Jeremy Knight explains “He would have planted mature and young trees so that the picturesque would be there for the patron and subsequent generations. Often his designs include features like the water cascade at Hills Place. His landscape gardens were like a hyper-reality – nature perfected.”

The qualities of the picturesque are alive in Capability Brown’s landscape gardens. He composed and constructed vignette views onto sweeping lawns, curving lakes and beautifully conceived woodland clumps of trees. It is as though they are in a painting. These features are apparent in his landscape garden at Petworth House and Park, preserved and maintained by the National Trust. It continues to delight and inspire visitors through the seasons of the year.

This aesthetic was born out of the rococo in reaction to the formal straight lines and topiary of the French royal gardens designed by André Le Notre (1613-1700), which had been made popular in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries by George London (d.1714) and Henry Wise (1653-1738). Together they had created the parterres at Hampton Court Palace, Chatsworth and Longleat.

Petworth House set in Capability Brown’s landscape garden

In early 18th century England there was a political desire, held by both the Whig government and Hanoverian King George I, to distance themselves from the excesses of the French Court at Versailles. This combined with a fascination for ‘unbounded nature’. In this climate Capability Brown’s park landscapes evolved in dialogue with his patrons. Perhaps this is why his idealised landscapes speak into the hearts and imaginations of the English and, in part, define us. Today his work can still be seen at Stowe, Blenheim Palace, and elsewhere, as well as at Petworth in West Sussex.

In celebration of Capability Brown’s 300th anniversary Visit England has declared 2016 as the Year of the English Garden. Sussex has much to celebrate in her gardens. Jeremy Knight has once again delivered an extraordinary and timely exhibition. Jeremy and the Horsham District Council are deserving of our thanks. ‘Capability Brown in Horsham: Discovering a Lost Garden’ runs at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, The Causeway, Horsham, RH12 1HE, until 12th March 2016. I am delighted that Toovey’s are supporting this revealing exhibition. Entrance to the Museum and exhibition is free. For more information go to www.horshammuseum.org or telephone 01403 254959.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 27th January 2016 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Geoffrey Godden, Celebrated Sussex Ceramics Specialist

Three Samuel Alcock botanical dessert plates, circa 1830, presale estimate £100-150

The celebrated Sussex ceramics historian, Geoffrey Godden, has for more than fifty years made an outstanding contribution to our understanding of this specialist field. I am excited that he has chosen to enter a number of pieces from his reference collection into Toovey’s specialist sale of English and European Ceramics, on the afternoon of Thursday 28th January 2016.

Geoffrey Godden started in his father’s antiques business in Worthing and although he has an international reputation amongst ceramics collectors and historians he has continued to base himself here in Sussex.

Geoffrey Godden has published some thirty reference books. I ask him about this remarkable output. His face breaks into a smile as he says “My father always said if you want to know about something write a book about it. He was right. I always wrote about subjects I wanted to know about.”

Geoffrey Godden was first encouraged to write by Hugh Wakefield of the V&A Museum in the early 1960s. Geoffrey’s ‘Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks’ was first published in 1964 and remains in print today. It is still the most comprehensive volume of its type and something of an industry bible. Geoffrey enthuses “An Encyclopaedia has to be all embracing.”

I ask Geoffrey what he first collected and he responds “Lowestoft was my first love. It was available and inexpensive. There is a homely quality to English blue and white. The anglicized interpretations of Chinese decoration are not over sophisticated; they are un-laboured, really, and painted by women and children. There is great appeal to individual handmade things made for use by individuals. It offers an affordable charm and blue and white is the right colour for porcelain!” Geoffrey explains how he corrected an earlier generation’s assumption (based upon a mistake by the ceramics historian, William Chaffers) that many of these English pieces were Chinese Export blue and white porcelain. There are a number of Lowestoft pieces in Toovey’s auction entered by another ceramics collector.

Many summer holidays were spent by Geoffrey researching in Stoke on Trent. Pattern books from the 1820s and 1830s revealed that things that had been previously attributed to the Coalport factory in a generic way were in fact made by Minton’s.

With appearances on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and Going for a Song with Arthur Negus Geoffrey has always had an ability to communicate his passion and understanding of his subject to others. With understated pride he comments “I was an early specialist”. He has delighted in educating the public and remarks “For many years I held lectures and seminars where those attending could handle the reference collection which was displayed on open shelves. It was marvellous to see their appreciation of being able to do this and of the objects.” It is a selection of these reference pieces which are to be sold at Toovey’s.

Keele University has honoured Geoffrey Godden with a Doctorate in ‘recognition of his outstanding contributions to the understanding and appreciation of ceramic art.’ His contribution has in no small measure created a cache for ceramics collecting, something which he describes “as an allowable fault.”

This extraordinary man remains excited about his subject and forward looking. He says “I still like to ask questions. Age in itself is not a virtue. A fine piece of modern pottery can be as fine as a piece of Chelsea. It’s quality that matters, not necessarily age.”

As our conversation draws to a close I ask him what has most delighted him about a career working with ceramics. He reflects that it is the friendships with fellow connoisseurs and a lifetime of questioning and learning which is at its heart. And what advice would he offer to ceramic collectors and historians. He pauses and concludes “You have to handle and view pieces closely – possession is almost vital to understanding.”

Two rare examples of Minton’s flower encrusted porcelain, presale estimate £80-120

The opportunity to handle and own pieces from Geoffrey Godden’s reference collection comes at Toovey’s specialist auction of English and European Ceramics, on the afternoon of Thursday 28th January 2016. For more information and to preview these lots go to www.tooveys.com or telephone Toovey’s specialist, Tom Rowsell, on 01903 891955.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 20th January 2016 in the West Sussex Gazette.