Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Page 89

China, the Maturing Market

The thing which never ceases to surprise me about doing business with the Chinese, in mainland China and here in the UK, is the phenomenal speed with which this creative and dynamic nation are adapting and changing in order to do business in the global economy.

In 2013 Toovey’s, together with a group of the UK’s leading regional auctioneers, formed the Association of Accredited Auctioneers (AAA) and were invited to China to form an exclusive working relationship with Epai Live, China’s largest mainland online auction platform for the marketing of art and antiques. The introduction of British auction practice and ethics was seen as an important part of this relationship in Beijing.

Rupert Toovey pictured here at the British Embassy in Beijing with Dr Qi Qi Jiang of Epai Live and Mr Gan Xuejun from the Chinese auction house, Huachen

The British Embassy hosted the launch of this agreement which was signed by the Epai Live Chief Executive, Dr Qi Qi Jiang and attracted much attention in the Chinese media.

A series of promotional lectures have established relationships with mainland collectors and the emerging aspirational professional class. Working with Epai Live continues to allow Toovey’s to overcome the obstacle of the Chinese internet firewall in order to market directly to Chinese mainland collectors.

There have been extraordinary developments in this market with an increasing connoisseurship evident amongst Chinese mainland collectors and specialist dealers. This rapid maturing of this is enormously important to the long term health of this market. The strength of demand has to date shown no signs of abating.

The Qianlong (1736-1795) Chinese famille rose vase sold at Toovey’s for £520,000

Demand from China has had a profound effect on collectors’ markets. Together with India, China looks set to recover its historic economic position. Between 1500 and 1850 AD China and India accounted for between 50% and 60% of the World’s GDP. Britain has the most varied and largest art and antiques market in the European Union, and the third largest internationally next to the US and China. Tom Rowsell, head of the specialist Chinese and Oriental sales at Toovey’s commented “In a few short years China has established itself as the world’s largest antiques market. The new super-rich Chinese elite have the money and the desire to dominate the market. Many of the strongest results in the UK are in the regions. Take for example the Chinese famille rose and pea green ground vase dating from the reign of the Emperor Qianlong which realised £520,000 at Toovey’s. It was sold to a Chinese mainland collector.”

Many areas of China’s economic activity appear to be slowing but their desire to acquire Chinese and increasingly European art and antiques remains undiminished – a trend which looks set to continue in this maturing sector of the collectors’ market.

Tom Rowsell concludes “Toovey’s have specialised in Chinese porcelain and works of art for almost twenty years, with a long standing Chinese client base. But we are continuing to successfully build relationships with new, emerging Chinese mainland collectors through our business activities out there, working with China’s leading collectors’ internet platform EpaiLive.”

Exciting times in this maturing international market!

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 21st October 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Portraying the Poor

‘A Girl feeding Pigs’, a watercolour by Thomas Rowlandson

The Horsham Museum and Art Gallery’s latest exhibition ‘Portraying the Poor and Industrious in the age of Waterloo’ seeks to tell the story of the rural and urban poor, and societies changing attitude towards them in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

A pencil and watercolour sketch titled ‘A Fishing Trip’ by George Morland

The Industrial Revolution in Britain had seen a mass movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities across the country. There had been a long tradition amongst artists of depicting hawkers and the poor in urban settings. However, with increasing fears of revolution at home as well as on the Continent, artists began to draw and paint the rural poor. The timeless social order of the countryside seemed safe against the perceived threats of the urban poor. English print makers reproduced and distributed these images very successfully placing them in the nation’s consciousness.

The 1790s saw two years of appalling harvests leading to starvation. Horsham had bread riots. Events like these led to the enclosure awards which were designed to enable efficiencies in farming. For example the Duke of Norfolk enclosed Horsham in 1813. But enclosure awards did not benefit everyone. Many of the people whose lives were bound up with agricultural land were profoundly affected.

The Agricultural Depression continued after the Napoleonic Wars and the Battle of Waterloo of 1815 until 1836. Crushing taxation connected with the post-war national debt, a glut of workers returning from military service, and the subsequent collapse in food prices came with heavy social and economic costs. The depression’s severity brought financial ruin upon landlords and tenant farmers alike.

Jeremy Knight with mezzotint engravings of rural scenes after George Morland and William Redmore Bigg

Exhibition curator, Jeremy Knight, stands next to a colour mezzotint print titled ‘The Rapacious Steward or Unfortunate Tenant’ after William Redmore Bigg (1755-1828). In this scene a tenant farmer is being taken from his family as the steward looks upon their distress dispassionately.

Jeremy Knight draws my attention to the charming sketch ‘A Fishing Trip’ by the artist George Morland (1763-1804). He comments “This sketch was almost certainly drawn on a visit to the Isle of Wight whilst the artist was avoiding his creditors in London”. Morland is well known for his rural landscapes, but he also painted coastal scenes like this one depicting fishermen and the poor. He employed a spirited technique producing a large body of work despite his own dissolute life which was often defined by drunkenness.

The artist Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) knew George Morland well. Jeremy enthuses “Thomas Rowlandson is probably one of the best known illustrators and caricaturists of the Regency period. When depicting the poor he often draws our attention to the activity and not the actual portrait.” I comment on the charming watercolour ‘Girl feeding Pigs’ by Rowlandson and Jeremy replies “Pigs were very important to the poor. Morland kept pigs in his house and often painted them being fed. Who knows, perhaps Rowlandson might have painted this picture in jest thinking of his friend.” Certainly Rowlandson is famous for caricaturing people’s vanities, eccentricities and hypocrisy.

These depictions provide a softened, romanticised view of the poor. A revival of the Church in England together with fears of revolution brought the plight of the poor to the public’s attention.

Jeremy Knight has once again placed our local history in the context of British art and national events in this imaginative exhibition. He is deserving of our thanks. The majority of the works on display are from private collections and are rarely seen. I am so glad that Toovey’s is supporting this fine exhibition. Admission is free and there is much to delight the visitor!

‘Portraying the Poor and Industrious in the Age of Waterloo’ runs until 28th November 2015 at the Horsham Museum & Art Gallery, 9 Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 1HE. For more information visit www.horshammuseum.org or telephone 01403 254959.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 14th October 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Sussex and Oxford United by the Pre-Raphaelites

002 — ‘A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the persecution of the Druids’, by William Holman Hunt, The Ashmolean, Oxford

In the September of 1848 the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in London. Its principal members included the young painters John Everett Millais (1829-1896), Dante Gabrielle Rossetti (1822-1882), and William Holman Hunt (1827-1910).

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century had destroyed the rich tradition and iconography of Medieval and Renaissance Christian art in Britain. The young artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were aware that their contemporary culture lacked a strong tradition of religious art.

They found themselves in sympathy with the Oxford Movement which was led by High Church members of the Church of England. Amidst some controversy it brought symbolism and vestments back into worship, and some Roman Catholic practices were re-introduced.

003 — ‘Convent Thoughts’, by Charles Allston Collins, The Ashmolean, Oxford

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood set out to place Christian subjects at the heart of their paintings. These pictures were not, however, intended solely for churches, but rather for public exhibition or private contemplation. Their expression of holiness breaking out into the world and into the everyday is something which has a particular resonance for myself and my calling.

From its very beginnings Pre-Raphaelitism was characterised by an innovative style in reaction to the conventions of the Royal Academy. Indeed, Rossetti joined the Royal Academy School in 1844 but left, bored by the curriculum which he felt allowed little room for the imagination.

The Pre-Raphaelites adopted a way of painting on a wet, white ground, imitating the ancient technique of fresco painting. Although slow and difficult it gifted their colours with brilliance and luminosity.

They employed intense detail and depicted the natural likenesses of individual men and women as they sought to bring authenticity to their work. They often painted the landscape backgrounds of their pictures in the open air. It was whilst painting outdoors that John Everett Millais and his follower, Charles Allston Collins (1828-1873), met Thomas Combe. Combe had made a fortune printing Bibles for the University Press and he used his wealth in acts of philanthropy and in patronising these artists. Today his collection forms the basis of the Ashmolean Museum’s group of Pre-Raphaelite work.

The Brotherhood’s work was savagely attacked in the press when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 and 1851. The famous Victorian critic and artist, John Ruskin, wrote a letter in their defence to The Times in May 1851, saying that the Pre-Raphaelites ‘…will draw either what they see, or what they suppose might have been the actual facts of the scene they desire to represent, irrespective of any conventional rules of picture-making’.

004 — ‘The Light of the World’, designed by William Holman Hunt, a stained glass window at All Hallows Church, Tillington, near Petworth

William Holman Hunt’s ‘A Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian Missionary from the persecution of the Druids’ was amongst those pictures strongly criticised in 1850. The painting portrays an act of mercy as a converted British Christian family hides a missionary wearing a red chasuble from the Druids. Beyond the depiction of a particular imagined scene the painting is filled with Christian symbolism. The converts hold a thorn branch, sponge and grapes, symbols of Christ’s death upon the cross and of Holy Communion. The bowl of water speaks of Baptism and the net refers to Jesus’ instruction to his Disciples to be fishers of men. Hunt depicts the humanizing effects of Christianity.

The flowers in Charles Allston Collins’ ‘Convent Thoughts’ were painted in the garden of Thomas Combe. The nun in this enclosed garden contemplates a passion flower, an allegory of the Crucifixion. The book she holds open has depictions of Christ on the Cross, and the Annunciation, both painted from actual manuscripts. The lilies in the garden and on the frame symbolise the qualities of the Virgin Mary’s virtue. In all this the magnificence of sacrifice is portrayed.

Both paintings were owned by Thomas Combe.

Combe also owned a version by William Holman Hunt of ‘The Light of the World’, which he gifted to Keble College, Oxford. It can still be seen in the college chapel. This has been described as ‘a pivotal work’ in Hunt’s career and was perhaps the most famous Victorian painting in its time. The inspiration for the picture is said to have come to Hunt whilst he was reading the Book of Revelation in the Bible. The verse which caused this religious epiphany was “Behold’ I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” The version shown here is from a stained glass window designed by Hunt, at All Hallows, Tillington, Sussex. The light of Christ is depicted by the lamp which illumines his regal figure. The door has no handle; as Jesus offers invitation to us we are to respond with invitation to him. It is vital to our meeting with Christ.

All Hallows, Tillington is under the care of the Revd. Bob Mitchell. Its wonderful array of stained glass windows inspire prayer and reflection. Bob and his congregation will be celebrating Harvest Festival at their family service this coming Sunday, 4th October 2015 at 11.15am. You are invited to join them. Bring some produce, groceries or a donation, and be inspired by ‘The Light of the World’.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 30th September 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

William Stephen Coleman, a Horsham Artist

William Stephen Coleman - Mother and Child feeding Ducks, watercolour and gouache, signed and dated 1901

The artist William Stephen Coleman (1829-1904) was born in Horsham in 1829.

He was destined to be a physician and surgeon like his father. However, his mother came from an artistic family and William demonstrated a talent for drawing becoming a painter and illustrator.

He delighted in natural history illustrating and publishing a series of books on the subject. His sister Rebecca helped him in the preparation of his woodblocks. Coleman collaborated on numerous books including British Ferns by Thomas Moore. The two volume octavo edition, shown here with two other volumes of similar interest, sold in a Toovey’s specialist book auction for £100.

His watercolours often depict figures in landscapes in the manner of Birkett Foster. The timeless scene painted here shows a mother and child feeding ducks beside a pond. The brushwork is delicate and free. The wild flowers are picked out amongst the bracken and are framed by the copse in the distance. It realised £600 at Toovey’s recent fine picture sale.

William Stephen Coleman - Young Woman seated on a Step, sepia etching, signed in pencil

As well as landscapes Coleman also painted pretty figure subjects in the classical taste like the charming, stylized study of a cherubic child in a tree. The graphic qualities of this Victorian artist and illustrator are apparent in the restricted palette and pen and ink outlines. It was sold for £300.

Whilst the subject of the sepia etching is typical of the artist his prints are less sought after by today’s collectors even though they are rarer. This in part reflects the relatively conservative nature of the fine art market. Specialist dealers and collectors will always pay a premium for work that reflects what an artist is well known for. This was reflected in the £140 paid for this charming etching.

An art pottery circular charger in the aesthetic manner, circa 1878, painted in the style of William Stephen Coleman

William Stephen Coleman designed naturalistic decoration for the ceramic manufacturer, Minton’s. In 1871 Minton’s Art Pottery Studio was set up in Kensington Gore, London, under the direction of Coleman. Pottery and tiles were individually hand painted. The studio was short lived. It burnt down in 1875 and the devastating fire resulting in its closure.

The art pottery circular charger dates from 1878 and is painted in the style of William Stephen Coleman and shows the influence of the Aesthetic Movement. The head and shoulders portrait of an elegant lady wearing a hat is brought to life by the background of sunflowers. It realised £160.

Work by Victorian romantic artists like William Stephen Coleman have been out of favour but there are signs that prices might be firming and on the move. Perhaps now is the time for collectors to discover anew the qualities of these 19th century painters whilst prices remain accessible – at least for the moment!

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 16th September 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

The Second Elizabethan Age

A black and white photograph of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by Sir Cecil Beaton

God-willing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will today surpass her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest reigning monarch in our nation’s history.

As I write this column I am aware of a deep sense of gratitude and anticipation. Elizabeth II has been our constant point of reference in a period of unprecedented change for more than sixty-three years.

In the aftermath of the Second World War Britain’s relative success in rebuilding was expressed in the mood of conservatism prevalent in the 1950s. This was captured in the seemingly timeless and unchanging imagery of Elizabeth II’s coronation ceremony. The Church of England, the monarchy and the nation were united with the long procession of our island history. For the first time the Coronation was watched on television, indeed, my Grandpa built a television set specially to watch history in the making. Millions watched and listened across the world. The coronation service was of deep spiritual significance to the Queen and her people.

A black and white photograph of the British Royal Family mounted above the signatures of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, dated 1957

The Queen’s Christian faith has been one of the cornerstones of her life and reign. It has informed her sense of calling to the role of monarch and the qualities of service, respect and duty through which she has blessed us all. The words from The Book of Common Prayer Communion resonate in my heart as I pray – ‘We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governors; and specially thy servant Elizabeth our Queen; that under her we may be godly and quietly governed…’ Elizabeth II still holds the title ‘Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England’. In her first Christmas address she asked people, whatever their religion, to pray that God would give her the wisdom and strength to carry out the promises that she would make on the day of her Coronation.

Elizabeth ascended the throne when she was just twenty-five supported by her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Throughout their married life Prince Philip has been her strength and stay, a marriage which has endured for nearly sixty-eight years. Prince Philip and their family have been another of the cornerstones of her life and reign. Like all families they have faced both joys and sorrows including the untimely loss of Lord Louis Mountbatten and Princess Diana. It was with great empathy that the Queen responded to the tragedy of 9/11 through the British Ambassador to Washington when she said ‘Grief is the price we pay for love…’

A Wedgwood Elizabeth II coronation mug designed by the Sussex artist Eric Ravilious, which captures the hope and excitement at the beginning of the second great Elizabethan age

Queen Elizabeth II has overseen great changes. The success of the Commonwealth of fifty-three nations is amongst her proudest achievements. It has maintained Britain’s international outlook in a post-colonial world. Reconciliation, too, has been a defining quality of her reign. Here is a monarch able to bring reconciliation to her peoples as witnessed in Northern Ireland.

Queen Elizabeth II’s long reign has been defined by her faith and her family, by love, service, respect, duty and courage. She has been our constant point of reference in a period of unprecedented change for more than sixty-three years.

Like Queen Victoria before her, Elizabeth will be at Balmoral today and this evening will no doubt reflect on the day’s significance with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It is perhaps fitting then to end with Prince William’s reflection on his grandmother in the preface of a new book about the Queen, written by the former home secretary Douglas Hurd. In it Prince William writes ‘Time and again, quietly and modestly, the Queen has shown us all that we can confidently embrace the future without comprising the things that are important.’

I thank God that I am blessed to live in the second great Elizabethan age – long may she reign over us that we may be godly and quietly governed.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 9th September 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.