TheConnoisseur
An Illustrated Magazine
For Collectors
Edited by J. T. Herbert Baily
Vol. XXXV.
(JANUARY APRIL. 1913)
LONDON
Published by OTTO LIMITED, at the
Editorial and Advertisement Offices of The Connoisseur,
at Hanover Buildings, 35-39, Maddox Street, \V.
1913
s
PRINTED BY
DEMROSE AND SONS LTD.
DERBY AND LONDON
A ifp;
8M632
INDEX
ARTICLES AND NOTES
1-AGE
89
289
290
266
•Annals of Hampstead" (Reviewed). By T. J.
Barratt
Answers to Correspondents ... ... 65. 131, 191,
(Heraldic) 66, 132. 192
Arragon, Chest of Queen Katherine of
Authors.
Gardner, J. Starkie. Antique Silver and Sheffield
Plate
Grundy, C. Reginald.
Mr. Fritz Reiss's Mezzotint Portraits. Part III.
Sir Joseph Beecharh's Collection at Hampstead.
Part I.
Levetus, Amelia S. Dr. Albert Figdor's Col-
lection of Dolls' Furniture. Part I.
Mason, R. L. " Cottage and Farmhouse Furni-
ture " (Reviewed) ...
Penny. W. E. Wynn. Loan Collection of
Eighteenth-Century English Glass at the
Victoria ami Albert Museum
Percival, M. Ceramic Trinketry
Robinson. H. China Cottages
Spielmann. M. H., F.S.A. " Welbeck Abbey"
Miniature of Shakespeare ...
Squire. Wm. Barclay. Fiirstenberg Groups of
Perseus and Andromeda ...
Thomson. \V. G. " Diana Hunting " Tapestries.
belonging to Mr. Kennedy Jones...
Turner, W. Floral Painting on Porcelain,
English School
Willoughby, Leonard. City of Cardiff. Part I. 17
Beecham's. Sir Joseph, Collection at Hampstead.
By C. Reginald Grundy °9
" Belmount Hall " Portrait of Shakespeare. By
J. M. P. Mmrhead 168
"Belmount Hall" Portrait of Shakespeare. Mr.
Spielmann's Reply ... ... •■■ ••• 169
Books Received 4^. IQ6. I7°
Books Reviewed.
" Adulteress before Christ. The." By Rembrandt.
By Charles Sedelmeyer
" Annals of Hampstead." By T. J. Barratt ...
" Art in Egypt." By G. Maspero
" Artist in Egypt, An.'" Bv Walter Tynda'e.
R.l '
199
1 ; ;
69
Si
21 1
222
97
229
1 5 5
2/8
S9
I2'i
1,1
Books Reviewed — continued.
" Austria." Illustrated by Donald Maxwell ...
" Ayrshire Idylls." By Neil Munro, LL.D.
" Bacon's Essays." Edited by Sydney Humphries
" Ballads Weird and Wonderful," with twenty-
five Drawings by Vernon Hill
" Eartolozzi." Edited by A. M. Hind
Blake's Illustrations to Thornton's " Pastorals of
Virgil"
•' Books that Count." and other of Messrs.
Black's Annuals
" Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture." By
T. G. Jackson, R.A.
" Choffard." By V. Salomons ...
" Church Bells of England." Bv H. B. Walters,
M.A
" Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture." By Arthur
Hayden
" Cottages and Village Life of Rural England."
By P. H. Ditchfield, M.A
•• Delia Robbias in America." By Allan Marquand
" Dictionary of Medallists." Vol. V. By
Forrer ...
" English Fireplace and its Accessories,
By L. A. Shuffrey
"Engravings of William Blake, The" ...
" Eothen." Illustrated by F. Braugwyn
" Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art.
Ernest F. Fenollosa...
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
quest Catalogues
" Forged Egyptian Antiquities.
Wakeling
" Garrards, 1721-1911"
" Germany." Painted by
Harrison Compton .
" Greuze and his Models."
" Historv of Old Sheffield Plate.
Bradbury
" History of Painting in North Italy, A."
J. A. Crowe and G. B. Cavalcaselle
" John Halifax, Gentleman." Illustrated by-
Oswald Moser
" LaCoted'Emeraude." Painted by J. Hardwicke
Lewis ...
The.'
By
McLean Be-
By T.
T. and E. C.
By J,
Rivers
' B.- Fn Ik.
By
61
186
127
130
56
187
126
1S5
128
129
27
61
187
147
12S
63
186
60
130
271,
121.
61
64
193
'-»4
58
2 7"
///(/(• \
[Reviewed nued.
ely and tin' Stuart Portrait Painters." Bj
C. II. Collins Baker 55
I ife in the West ol Inland." Prawn and
painted by Jack B. Yeats
"Little Songs oi I emu Ago." Illustrated bj
11. Willebeek Le Man 59
" Masterpieces oi the Sea William I. Richards."
Bj Harrison S. Morris ... ... ... 270
" Mediaeval Figure Sculpture in England." Bj
E. S. Prior, M.A., and A. Gardner, M. \. 188
Metalwork and Enamelling." Bj Herbert
Maryon ■•• ••• ■■■ ••■ ••• "1
"Mornings with Masters ol Art." By II. II.
Powers ... ■•• ■•■ ••• ■•• 56
"Museums and Ruins oi Rome, The" ... ... 63
"Nova Scotia." By Beckles Willson 277
Paris \ Sketch Book." By Eug. Bejot ... 276
" Poems of Passion and Pleasure." By Ella
Wheeler Wilcox (.4. 188
" Portrait Miniatures oi Five Centuries." By
Ernest Lemberger ... ... ... ■•• 125
" Scottish Heraldry Made Easy." By G. Harvey
Johnstone ... ... ••• • •■ ■•• rs
" Selec turns from the Writings of Lord Dunsany " 1 24
"Shakespeare, Bacon and the Great Unknown."
Bv Andrew Lang ... ... ... ... 123
" Shu Stoops to Conquer." Illustrated l>y Hugh
Thomson ... ... ... ... ... 124
" South America." Painted by A. S. Forrest... 61
" Staircases and Garden Steps. " By Guy Cadogan
Rothery •■• ••■ ••• ■•• ••■ I25
" Story of Whitehall The." By Austin Brereton 129
" Summary of the Index to Waagen, A." By
Algernon Graves, F.S.A. ... ... •■■ 277
"Technique of Painting, The." By Charles
Moreau-Vauthier ... ... ... ... 57
" Van Eycks and Their Art, The." By W. II.
James Weale and M. W. Brockwell ... 125
" Wild Life." An Illustrated Monthly 277
Bottling Protector 41
Cardiff, The City of. Part I. By Leonard Wil-
loughliy ... ... ... •■■ ••• 17
Ceramic Trinketry. By M. Percival ... ... 222
China Cottages. By H. Robinson ... ... ... 97
Chippendale Settee ... ... ... ... ... 105
Clepsydra, or Water-Clock. Bv Maberlv Phillips,
F.S.A ' ... ' 38
Clepsydra, or Water-Clock, at Norwich Castle ... 266
Colet, Dean, Portrait of ... ... ... ... 21.0
Collections.
Beecham's, Sir Joseph Pictures at Hampstead.
Part I. 69
Eighteenth-Century English Olass, at Victoria and
Albert Museum, Mr. and Mrs. Rees Price's 211
Figdor's, Dr. Albert, Dolls' Furniture. Part I. 81
Reiss's, Mr. Fritz, Mezzotint Portraits. Part III. 1 ;;
1 ottage and Farmhouse Furniture" (Reviewed).
Bj R I . Mason ij
Current Art Notes ... ... ... 49, 11;, 17;, j.si
[For it, ins v, undei Exhibitions).
" Diana Hunting " Tapestries, belonging to Mr.
Kennedy Jones. By W. G. Thomson ... 229
Dolls' Furniture. Dr. Albert Figdor's Collection of,
Vienna. Part I. Bv Amelia S. Levetus... 81
PAGE
Dublin, Georgian Room in National Museum ... 118
Elizabethan Mansion An Interesting ... ... 2;;
English (.lass al Victoria and Albert Museum, Loan
Collection oi Eighteenth-Century. By
W. E. W'vnn Pennj ... ... ... 21 1
Engravings.
Reiss's, Mr. Fritz, Mezzotint Portraits. Part 111. 135
Exhibitions.
Alma l.idein.i Exhibition at Royal Academy •■■ 1 ,i ;
Ails ami Crafts Exhibition ... ... ... 50
Baillie Gallery. Pastels bv J. W. Herald, Oil
Pu tmes by C. M. Ilardie, and Etchings by
Martin Hardie ... ... ... ... 180
1 .ui, ix Galleries. Pictures and Drawings bv
Professor C. J. Holmes ... ... ... 171)
Colnaghi, Messrs. Modern Drawings and Etchings 282
Connell, Messrs. Jas. Modern Etchings... ... 178
Dowdeswell < lalleries.
Drawings by Old Masters and Paintings by
E. S. Lumsden, A.R.E. ... ... ... 110
Etchings by Sir J. C. Robinson, and Drawings
by Miss Frances Drummond ... ... 178
Edinburgh.
Arts and Crafts Club, Scottish Gallery and
College of Art ... ... ... ... 11S
Scottish Gallery, etc. ... ... ... ... 2.S4
Society of Eight ... ... ... ... ... 51
Society of Scottish Artists ... ... ... 181
Fine Art Society.
Drawings by I. Lynch and H. L. Norris, and
Etchings by A. Bentley and others ... 177
Societe Internationale de la Peinture a l'Eau
and Mogul Miniature Paintings ... ... 282
Water-Colours of West Highlands by Finlay
MacKinnon, and Modern Miniature Sculp-
ture ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 10
Friday Club, The ... ... ... ... ... 180
Gutekunst, Mr. Etchings by Rembrandt and
his Contemporaries ... ... ... ... 179
Leicester Galleries. Paintings by Signorina Emma
Ciardi and Louis Sargent ... ... ... 181
McLean Galleries. Water-Colours by Miss Emily
Patterson ... ... ... ... ... 118
New English Art Club, The ... ... ... 49
Pennell, Lithographs and Etchings by Mr. Joseph,
and Drawings by M. B. Huish ... ... 118
Royal Water-Colour Society. Landscape Exhi-
bition ... ... ... ... ... ... 119
Society of Humorous Art ... ... ... ... 51
Wales, National Museum of ... ... ... 179
Walker's Galleries, Messrs.
Drawings by C. Dixon. R.I., and Paintings by
Mary Ethel Hunter and Olive Anderson... 117
Water-Colours by Wynne Apperley, R.I. ... 120
Water-Colours by Miss L. E. Pierce and R.
Purvis Flint ... ... ... ... ... 180
Women's International Art Club ... ... 281
Vamanaka's, Messrs.. Japanese Swords and Masks 282
Figdor's, Dr. Albert, Collection of Dolls' Furniture,
Vienna. Parti. By Amelia S. Levetus... 81
Floral Painting on Porcelain : English School. By
W. Turner ... ... ... ... ... 15;
Forrer's " Dictionary of Medallists." Vol. V.
(Reviewed) ... ... ... ... ... 147
Index
Furniture.
Chest of Queen Katherine of Arragon 266
Chippendale.
Period Tallboy Chest if>9
Settee 105
Figdor's, Dr. Albert. Collection of Dolls' Furni-
ture. Part I. 81
French Writing Bureau ... ... ••■ ••• 41
Louis XVI. Table 41
Fiirstenberg Groups of Perseus and Andromeda. By
Wm. Barclay Squire ... ... ... 14
Glass.
Eighteenth - Century English Glass. A Loan
Collection at the Victoria and Albert
Museum. By W. E. Wynn Penny ... 211
Gold. Silver, and Plated Ware.
Antique Silver and Sheffield Plate 199
" History of Old Sheffield Plate " (Reviewed) ... 193
" Hampstead. Annals of " (Reviewed) ... ... 89
Sir Joseph Beecham's Collection at... 69
Historic English Potteries ... ... ... ••■ 241
Hour-Glass. Historical ... ... ••■ 103
Hvsing. Hans. Portrait by ••• ••• •■■ ••• 103
" In the Sale Room "
43. 109, 173, 2;
Lead Font at Syston Church... ... ... ... 267
Leeds Pottery. Black Basalt Portrait Medallions 21.4
Louis XVI. Table 41
Medals.
Forrer's " Dictionary ol Medallists." Vol. V.
(Reviewed) ... ... ... ... ... 147
Modern Art. The Tendency oi ... ... •■■ 175
Notes and Queries
Paperwork. Old English Rolled
Pictures.
35, 101, 162, 261
j8
Beecham's. Sir Joseph, Collection at Hampstead.
Part I. ' 69
" Belmount Hall" Portrait of Shakespeare ... 168
Pictures — continued.
Portrait by Hans Hysing ... ... ... ■■• 103
Raeburn's Portrait of Lady Margaret Maclean... 263
" Welbeck Abbey " Miniature of Shakespeare ... 3
Plate Notes 42, 106, 170, i(>y
Portrait by Swedish Painter, Hans Hysing ... 103
Pottery and Porcelain.
Ceramic Tnnketry ... ... ... ... ... 222
China Cottages ... ... ... ••■ 97
Floral Painting on Porcelain : English School ... 1 vl
Fiirstenberg Groups of Perseus and Andromeda ... 14
Historic English Potteries ... ... ... ••■ 241
Leeds Pottery : Black Basalt Portrait Medallions 204
Raeburn's Portrait of Lady Margaret Maclean ... 263
Reiss's, Mr. Fritz, Mezzotint Portraits. Part III.
By C. Reginald Grundy 135
Royal Visit to Stoke-on-Trent, the 209
Shakespeare, The " Belmount Hall " Portrait of 16S [69
The "Welbeck Abbey" Miniature of 3
" Sheffield Plate, History of Old." By F. Bradbury
(Reviewed)' ... ... ... ■■• ••■ 19.1
Silver and Sheffield Plate. Antique. By J. Starkie
Gardner 199
Silver, see under Gold. Silver, etc.
Solon Collection ... ... ••• ••• •■■ 43
" Stay Busks " J9
Tallboy Chest. Chippendale Period 169
Tapestry.
" Diana Hunting " Tapestries, belonging to Mr.
Kennedy Jones ... ... ■■■ ... --<>
" Toddy Lifter " 4"
Warship. An Eighteenth-Century Miniature ... 166
Water-Clocks 3s -'•'■
" Welbeck Abbey " or " Harleian " Miniature of
Shakespeare. By M. H. Spielmann. F.S.A. 3
Wood-Carving.
Elizabethan Mansion. An Interesting (The "Star"
Hotel. Great Yarmouth^ ... ... ■■■ 2;;
Wilting Bureau, French ... ■■■ •■■ ••• 41
ILLUSTRATIONS
Account of Frederick, Prince of Wales, at Garrard's
1735-6
Architecture.
Campanile, The. Le Puy ...
S. Maria Maggiore-Toscanella
Artists.
Adam, P. W.. R.S.A. Autumn ...
Affleck, A. F. Chateau d'Amboise
Alma-Tadema, Sir L.
Honeymoon, The ...
" Hush ! She Sleeps"
Almond, W. D. 'Arriet
PAGE
13°
187
185
51
177
A rtists — continued.
Anderson, S. Northolt, Etching of 281
Bell, Rodolphe. Portrait of a Lady Unknown... 125
Bennett, S. Shakespeare ... ... ... ■•• 4
Bentley, A. Cour du Dragon, Paris 175
Birch. W. Golder's Green. After W. Russell... 91
Blake, W. Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting.
After R. Cosway ... ... ••• •■• 5s
Bock, J. C. Shakespeare ... ... ... ••• 7
Bovi, M. Gleaner's Child, The. After R. Westall 33
Brookshaw, R. Mons. Masson, "The Tennis
Player." After J. H. Mortimer 141
Index
PAG]
Artists — continued.
I aurent Perseus and Andromeda. Vftei
Lemoyne ... ... ... ... ... 14
Constable John R \
Abra ml onstable ... ... ... ... ... 72
Golding Constable ... ... ... ... 72
Hampstead Heath ... ... ... ... 74
Salisbury 1 athedral from the Bishop's Grounds 73
Steele's Cottage 9 |
>t J B. C. Wood Gatherers, The 227
1 osw a\ K.
King George ill. ol England ... ... ... 125
Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting. By
W. Blake .'. 59
Cot man, J. S. Old Mill, The. Alter Rembrandt 20S
Cousins, S. Ladv Acland and Children. After
Sir T. Lawrence ... ... ... •■• £3;
1 1. iinc, J. Shipping on the Yare ... ... 7s
Dawe P. Oyster Woman. The. Alter 11. Mor
land i-l"
Dayes E. Visit to the Grandfather, A. After
J. K. Smith 138
De Wint P. Highgate Ponds from Millfield
Lane ... 89
Dickinson, W. Mrs. Hartley. Alter ]. Nixon... 121
Drahonet, Dubois. Everard William Bouverie,
Colonel R.H.G., 1843-1853 269
Eberlein. Cupid Chastised ... January Covet
Edmunds, Mis- V II.
Dons 183
Eileen, daughter of H. Marshall. Esq. ... 183
Faber. Evelyn Pierrepont. Duke of Kingston.
After Kneller 90
Falconet. P. Portrait of a Lady 2
Fraser, Rose M. La Reve 285
Gainsborough. T.
Interior of a Cottage. By C. Turner... ... 137
Little Cottager. The. By C. Turner 136
Giorgione. Portrait of a Young Man ... ... 57
Green. V.
Lady Caroline Howard. After Sir J. Reynolds 23
Miss Sarah Campbell .. ,, 2}
Greuze. Head of a Child... ... ... ... 58
Grozer, J.
Morning, or the Reflection. After W. Ward
Presentation Plate, February
Shepherdess. The. After R. Westall 143
Hancock. S. T. Coleridge at the age of 24 ... 92
Hastings, T. Richard Wilson's Favourite Oak... 96
Hvsing. H. Thomas. Fourth 1 hike of Leeds, when
Earl of Dan by ... ... ... ... 105
Janinet. LTndiscretion. Alter Lavreince
I'n st ntation Plate, March
Kano Soshu. Trees... ... ... ... ... 62
Kaurfmann. Angelica. Shakespeare, Portrait of 9
Kneller, G.
Evelyn Pierrepont, Duke of Kingston. By
Faber ... ... ... ... ... ... 90
Steele ... ... ... ... ... ... 9°
Koriusai. Kakemono-Ye ... ... ... ■•• 61
Lavreince. LTndiscretion. By Janinet
I'n m ntation Plate, March
Lawrence, Sir T., P.R.A.
Ladv Acland and Children. By S. Cousins ... 135
Miss Hartington ... ... ... ... ... 157
PAG]
Artists — continued.
Lemoyne. Perseusand Andromeda. By Laurent
Cars ' 1 I
Mabuse Adoration oi the Kings, The ... ... 134
Massol. Shakespeare ... ... ... ••• 4
Mauve, Anton. Watering Horses... ... ... 259
Meyer, II. E03 with Kitten, After W. Owen... 141
Millet, J. K l.e Semeur 189
Morland, ('..
Gipsy Encampment, A ... ... ... •■• 69
Morning ; or, I he Benevolent Sportsman ... 69
Wreckers. The ... ... ... ... ■•• 71
Morland, 11.
Fair Nun Qnmask'd. By J. Wilson 139
Oyster Woman. The. By P. Dawe 140
Mortimer, J. H. Mons. Masson, "The Tennis
Player," By R. Brookshau 141
Nasmyth, P.
Landscape ... ... ... ... ... ••• 71'
Landscape with Bridge ... ... ... ••■ 77
View looking towards Harrow ... ... ... 76
Nixon, J. Mrs. Hartley. By W. Dickinson ... 121
Owen, W. Boy with Kitten. By II. Meyer ... 144
Palma Vecchio. Portrait of a Lady ... ... 56
Raeburn, Sir Henry, R.A.
John, Second Marquis of Bute... ... ... 21
Lady Margaret Maclean... ... ... ... 263
Mrs. McCrae and Children ... ... ... 107
Mrs. Scott Moncrieff 219
William Ferguson, of Kilsie ... ... ... 171
Reinagle, R. John Constable ... ... ... 72
Reynolds, Sir J.
Lady Caroline Howard. By V. Green ... 23
Miss Sarah Campbell. By V. Green ... ... 23
Richardson. Ladv Mary Wortley Montagu. By
C. Watson 9°
Rose, R. T. Drawings for the Book of Job 179, 182
Roussel, T. Chelsea Children 190
Russell, J. Golder's Green. By W. Birch ... 91
Ruysdael, J. van. Landscape ... ... ... 68
Sherlock. W. James I. ... ... ... ... 7
Sims, Charles, A. R.A. Coming of Spring, The... 11
Smith, D. Murray. Hammersmith, Etching of... 283
Smith. J. R. Visit to the Grandfather, A. By
E. Dayes 13S
Stark. J. Country Lane. A ... ... ... 77
Tischbein, J. F. A. Princess Frederica Sophie
Wilhelmina ... ... ••■ February Covet
Turnbull, J. A. " Fantasia " 120
Turner, C.
Interior of a Cottage. After T. Gainsborough 137
Little Cottager. After T. Gainsborough ... 136
Turner, J. M. W., R.A. Walton Bridges ... 75
Vertue, G.
James I. ... ... ••• ••• ■■• ■•• '•
Shakespeare ... ... ••• ■•• ■■• 5
Vincent, George. Greenwich Hospital ... ... 78
Walker, W. ami J. Shakespeare 6
Ward, Jas. Wright of Derby. Alter Himself... 142
Ward, W.
Choice. The Match Covet
Morning, or the Reflection. By J. Grozer
Presentation Plate, February
Index
Artists — continued.
Watson, Caroline. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.
After Richardson 9°
Westall, R.
Gleaner's Child, The. By M. Bovi So
Shepherdess. The. By J. Grozer 143
Wilson. Jas. Fair Nun Unmask'd. After H.
Morland ... ... •■• ••• ••• 139
Wright of Derby. Portrait of Himself. By J.
Ward ... " 142
Bottling Protector, Leather 40
Cardiff, Arms of 20
City Hall 17
,, Entrance to Council Chamber... 22
Lord Mayor. 1911-12. Portrait of ... 17
1912-13 ... 17
Plan of, 1610 20
Seals of ... ... ••• ••• ••• 26
View of. 174S... ... ... ••• ••• 17
Chalk Farm in 1825. By D. T. Egerton 95
Clepsydra, or Water-Clock 38. 266
Egypt. "Art in Egypt" (Heinemann)
tions from
Illustra-
127
209
144
95
>;;
190
Engravings and Etchings.
Acland. Lady, and Children. By S. Cousins,
after Sir T. Lawrence ... ... ... 135
"Beauty" ... ... Presentation Plate. January
Bouverie, Everard William. Colonel R.H.G..
1 845-1853, after Dubois Drahonet
Boy with Kitten. By H. Meyer, after W. Owen...
Campbell, Miss Sarah. By V. Green, after Sir
J. Reynolds ...
Chalk Farm in 1825. The Trial of Nerves. By
D. T. Egerton
Chateau d'Amboise. By A. F. Affleck
Chelsea Children. By T. Roussel
Choice, The. By and alter W. Ward March >
Cour du Dragon, Paris. By A. Bentley ... 175
Fair Nun Unmask'd. B\ J. Wilson, after Henry
Morland 139
Gleaner's Child, The. By M. Bovi, after R.
Westall ... ... ••• ••• ••• 33
Golder's Green. By W. Birch, after J. Russell... 91
Hammersmith. By W. Murray Smith 2N3
Hartley. Mrs. By W. Dickinson, after J. Nixon 121
Howard. Lady Caroline. By V. Green, after
Sir J. Reynolds
Interior of a Cottage. By C. Turner, after
T. Gainsborough
James I. By W. Sherlock
By G. Vertue ...
Kakemono- Ye. By Koriusai
Le Semeur. By J. F. Millet
Lessingham, Mrs., as " Oriana " ...
I. 'Indiscretion. Bv Janmet, after Lavreir.ee
Presentation Plate, March
Little Cottager, The. By C. Turner, after T.
Gainsborough ... •■• ••■ •■■ i3'>
Maclean, Lady Margaret. By Sir H. Raeburn.
R.A. ... ' 263
Mary Queen of Scots 261
Masson, Mons., " The Tennis Player." By R.
Brookshaw, after J. H. Mortimer ... 141
23
137
7
G
GI
I89
92
By Laurent Cars, after
Engravings and Etchings -continued.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. By C. Watson
alter Richardson
Morning, or the Reflection. By J. Grozer.
albr W. Ward Presentation Plate, Feb
Northolt. By S. Anderson
Oyster Woman, The. By P. Dawe, alter H.
Morland
Perseus and Andromeda
Lemoyne
Shakespeare. By S. Bennett
By J. C. Bock
Bv Massol ...
By G. Vertue
By W. and J. Walker
Shepherdess. The. Bv J. Grozer. alter R. Westall,
R.A
Swearing on the Horns at Highgate ...
Trees. By Kano Soshu
Venus dissuades Adonis from Hunting. By W.
Blake, after R. Cosway
Visit to the Grandfather. By E. Daves, after
J. R. Smith
Wilson's Favourite Oak. Richard. By T. Hastings
Wright of Derby. By J. Ward, alter Himself ...
90
1 nary
281
140
14
4
7
4
5
6
'43
95
(.2
59
i;8
96
142
Furniture.
Adam. Table. Pinewood Country-made...
Bible Box, 1. 1650
Chair, Oliver Goldsmith's
Chairs, Examples of Cottage.
Ladder-back, with rush seats
Lancashire Spindle-back
Oak 29
Chest of Queen Katherine of Arragon
Chippendale Period Tallboy Chest
Settee ...
Clock, Musical
Dolls' Furniture. Dr. Albert Figdor's Collection
of. Seventeen Examples ... ... &
Dresser and Clock combined
French Writing Bureau
Georgian Room in National Museum, Dublin
Apollo
Ceiling in
Louis XVI. Table with Ormolu Mount-,
Sheraton Sideboard ...
failles, " Cricket." 1700 and 175°
Gate-leg
Glass.
Eighteenth-Century English, Loan Collection at
Victoria and Albert Museum ... 21.1
Golder's Green ...
Gold, Silver, and Plated Ware.
Anne. Queen. Monteith. 1705
Cardiff, Plate of City of.
Lady Mayoress's Chain ...
Loving Cup
Maces, 1608 and 1690, and Lord Mayor's
Chain ...
Charles II. Porringer and Cover, 1669
Charles II. and Queen Anne Porringers, etc. ...
Coffee-pot, Cylindrical, 1727
29
3°
28
31
31
. 31
267
17"
liiG
54
1-S8
3°
41
117
11/
41
46
-7
3°
221
91
18
19
2CO
205
205
Index
Co d, Silver, and Plated \\ \ki -continued.
i ream Pail, 1768
i.",""
1 [izabi than.
Chalii e and Paten, 1 570..,
Standing Salt. 1599
i 1 ei w are Jug 1 580
Epergne 1765
1 Inkstand, 1721 ...
1 .,■. ii ge 11.
Fruit Basket, 1754
Fruit Dish (Reprodui tion)
George ill. Dredgers, 1775
German Beaker
Goddia ood Cup 1 884
James 1.
Beaker, [607
i ocoa mil Cup, 1611
Steeple Cup, 1613...
Kettle Stand and Lamp, 1742
Sheffield Plate, Old.
Argyle in the form of a Jug, 1800 ...
Candlestick, 1768
t oach Lamp. t8i6
Dish Ring, [787
Inkstand. 1S04
lamp. The Arganda, 1784
Muffineers, 1786 ...
Mustard Pot, 1789
Pipe-lighter, 1783
Snuffers, 1S20
and Tray. 1775
Table Knife, 1779...
Tea Caddy. 1797 • ••
Teapot. 1828
1/89
Tinder Box, 1800...
Tobacco Box, 1783
Sugar Baskets, Pierced, 1777,
Tankard. Flat-topped. 1707
77, 1775, and 17S0.
201
20]
203
206
[99
20]
203
202
2(» J
204
60
202
203
200
204
205
i"7
206
195
1 9< i
194
196
204
194
[93
19S
198
198
194
197
2 06
197
197
20I
205
Hampstead, Richard Wilson's Oak
Spaniards' Tavern
Highgate Ponds from Millfield Lane. By P. de
Wint
Highgate, Swearing on the Horns at
Iron and Metal Ware.
Firebacks, Sussex Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Century
Wooden Patterns of ...
Firegrate, Eighteenth-Century
96
9i
89
95
28
Jewellery.
Ceramic Trinketry. Examples of ...
Chatelaines ...
Lead Font in Syston Church, near Bath
222-22(1
224
... 268
Medals, etc.
Forrer's "Dictionary of Medallists, ' Illustrations
from.
Ascension, The. By Jacopo Sansovino ... 152
Camilla Rugeri. By G. A. Signoretti 148
Engelken Tols. By Stephens of Holland ... 149
Medals, et< — , ontinued.
Forrer's " Dictionary oi Medallists" continued.
Huntington, Mi. H\ I. Spun Simson ... [48
Joan oi \re. By I.. O, Roty [4S
Louise de Quferouaille. By J, Roettiers ... 151
Lucrezia Borgia. By J. Romano ... ... i;i
Naval Reward, 1653. By T. Simon ... ... [49
Xonina Strozzi. By Xiccoloili Forzore Spimlli 1 |.s
Paolo Giovio. By Francesco da Sangallo ... [50
Savonarola. By Delia Robbia... ... ... 151
Shelley, Sir Richard. By B. Rantwic ... 1 19
Viennese Laundry-Maid. By A. Scharff ... 1 17
Ticket of Admission to Hampstead Long Room
about 1730 ... ... ... ... ... 96
Miniatures.
Doris. By Miss \. ll. Edmunds... ... ... [83
Eileen, daughter of H. Marshall, Esq. By Mis-.
N. H. Edmunds ' ... [83
George III. of England. By R. Cosway ... 125
Portrait of a Lady Unknown. By Rodolphe Bell 125
Shakespeare, The " Welbeck Abbey " ... ... 3
Victoria, Queen, as a Child ... ... ... 14?
Xapoleon's Hour-Glass ... ... ... ... 103
Paperwork, Old English Rolled vs
Pictures.
Adoration of the Kings, The. By Mabuse ... [34
'Arriet. By W. D. Almond ... ... ... 53
Autumn. By P. W. Adam, R.S.A 51
Book of Job, Drawings for the. By R. T. Rose 179,182
Bute, John, Second Marquis of. By Sir H.
Raeburn ... ... ... ... ... 21
Clements, Miss. By J. J. Masquerier 79
Coleridge, S. T. By Hancock 92
Colet, Dean, Founder of St. Paul's School
Presentation Plate, April
Coming of Spring, The. By Charles Sims, A.R.A. 11
Constable, Abram. By J. Constable 72
Golding. ,, .. ... ... 72
John, at the age of 22 or 23. By R.
Reinagle
Country Lane, A. By J. Stark 77
Drake. Sir Francis ... ... ... ... ... 10
"Fantasia." By J. A. Turnbull... ••■ 120
Ferguson, William, of Kilsie. By Sir H. Raeburn 147
Frederica Sophie Wilhelmina, Princess. By J. F.
A. Tischbein February Cove)
Gipsy Encampment. By G. Morland ... ... 7"
Greenwich Hospital. By G. Vincent
Hampstead Heath. By J. Constable 74
Hartington, Miss. By Sir T. Lawrence, P.R.A. 157
Head of a Child. Chalk Drawing by Greuze ... 58
Highgate Ponds from Millfield Lane. By P. de
Wint 89
Honeymoon, The. By Sir L. Alma-Tadema ... 115
" Hush! She Sleeps." By Sir L. Alma-Tadema 113
La Reve. By Rose M. Fraser 285
Landscape. By J. van Ruysdael...
By P. Nasmyth ... ... ... 76
with Bridge. By P. Nasmyth
Leeds, Thomas, Fourth Duke of, when Earl of
Danby. By H. Hysing 10;
McCrae, Mrs., and Children. By Sir H. Raeburn 107
Moncrieff, Mrs. Scott. By Sir H. Raeburn ... 219
Index
PAGE
Pictures — continued.
Morning, or the Benevolent Sportsman. By G.
Morland ... ... ... ... ... 69
Old Mill, The. By J. S. Cotman, after Rembrandt 208
Portrait of a Lady. By Falconet ... ... 2
By Palma Vecchio ... 56
Young Man. By Giorgione ... 57
Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop*s Grounds.
By J. Constable. R.A yi
Shakespeare. By Angelica Kauffmann ... ... 9
" Belmount Hall " Portrait of ... irS/
Shipping on the Yare. By J. Crome ... ... 78
Steele's Cottage. By J. Constable ... ... 93
View looking towards Harrow. By P. Nasmyth 76
Walton Bridges. By J. M. W. Turner 75
Watering Horses. By Anton Mauve ... ... 259
Wood Gatherers, The. By J. B. C. Corot ... 227
Wreckers, The. By G. Morland ... ... ... 71
Plates.
Adoration of the Kings, The. By Mabuse ... 134
Beauty ... ... Presentation Plate. January
Bouverie, Everard William, Col. R.H.G., 1845-
1853. After Dubois Drahonet ... ... 269
Campbell, Miss Sarah. By V. Green, after Sir
J. Reynolds ... ... ... ... ... 23
Choice, The. By and after W. Ward March Cover
Clements, Miss Anna. By J. J. Masquerier ... 79
Colet, Dean, Founder of St. Paul's School
Presentation Plate. April
Coming of Spring, The. Bv Charles Sims,
A.R.A. 11
Cupid Chastised. By Eberlein ... January Covet
Doris, and Eileen, daughter of H. Marshall. Esq.
By Miss N. H. Edmunds ... ... ... 183
Ferguson, William, of Kilsie. By Sir H. Raeburn,
R.A 171
Frederica Sophie Wilhelmina. Princess. By
J. F. A. Tischbein ... ... February Core)
Gleaner's Child. The. Bv M. Bovi, after R.
Westall ... '. 33
Hartington, Miss. By Sir T. Lawrence, P.R.A. 147
Hartley, Mrs. By W. Dickinson, after J. Nixon 121
Howard, Ladv Caroline. By V. Green, after Sir
J. Reynolds 27,
Landscape. By J. van Ruysdael... ... ... 68
L'Indiscretion. By Janinet, after Lavreince
Presentation Plate, Man It
McCrae, Mrs., and her Children. By Sir H.
Raeburn ... ... ... ... ... 107
Moncrieff, Mrs. Scott. By Sir H. Raeburn ... 21Q
Morning, or the Reflection. By J. Grozer. after
W. Ward ... Presentation Plate. February
Old Mill, The. By J. S. Cotman, after Rembrandt 208
Portrait of a Lady. By Falconet ... ... 2
Salt-Glaze Owl, A. In the George Stoner Col-
lection... ... ... ... ... ... 239
Spode China 249
Steele's Cottage. By J. Constable ... ... 93
Victoria, Queen, as a Child ... ... ■•• 145
Watering Horses. By Anton Mauve ... ... 259
Wedgwood Plaque : " Penelope and Maidens " ... 279
Wood Gatherers, The. By J. B. C. Corot ... 227
Pottery and Porcelain.
Adams Potteries, View of one of the first, as it
appeared in 1750 ... ... ... ... 288
256
244. 255
246
248
-4-
2S8
22o
226
226
1 do
2 2;
2 2^
1(7-100
->44
242
Pottery and Porcelain — continued.
Ashworth.
Bowl. Mason Ware, Bruges
Dinner Plate, Mason Ware
Vases. Lustrosa Chinese Shapes
Mason Ware. Tokio
Buen-Retiro Pin
Cauldon.
Plaque with View of Windsor Castle ...
Plate
Plate with View ...
Shakespearean Vase
Tea Service
Chelsea.
Etui
Figure of Masked Cupid
,, Shakespeare ...
Groups
Plate with Floral Painting
Seals and Charms...
Watch-back
China Cottages, Examples of
Copeland (late Spode).
Candelabra and Clock
Centrepiece
Lamp
Service, Present-Day
Three Vases
Doulton.
Beakers made by Royal Command ... ... 2>N
Flambe Mottled Vases ... ... ... ... 243
Plate of Dessert Service made for late King
Edward ... ... ... ... ■■■ 2;<>
Tea Service (Old Leeds Revival) ... ... 247
Vase in Rembrandt Ware ... ... ... _• j \
Vases with Floral Painting ... ... ... 159
Egyptian.
Amulet Rings ... ... ... ••■ ■■■ ---
Daisy Bead 222
String of Beads ... ... ... ... ... 22}
Floral Painting on Porcelain : English School.
Bristol Cup and Saucer ... ... ... ... 154
Chelsea Plate 160
Coalport Plaque ... ... ... ... ■•• 155
Plate 155
Vase [56, i''i
Crown Derby Jug ... ... ... ■■• 153
Derby Plaques ... ... ... ... •■■ 154
Doulton Vases ... ... ... ••• ■•• [59
Worcester Vases ... ... ... ... 1 59-161
Fiirstenberg.
Andromeda Figure ... ... ... •■• 16
Perseus Group ... ... ... ••• ••■ 15
Leeds Medallions ... ... ... ... 2(14. 2i>;
Minton.
Coffee Set ... ... ... ... ••• ••• 2;?
Figure, Parian, " Lion in Love " ... ... 243
"Summer" ... ... ■■■ 24;
Plates, Sevres Style ... ... •■• ■■• 251
Vase, Reproduction of Sevres ... ... ... 253
Vases, Pair of, about 1840 ... ... •■■ 24s
Salt-Glaze Owl, A. In the George Stoner Col-
lection... ... ... ••• ••• ••■ 239
Index
Pottery and Pom i i UN confinti .
Spode.
China
Pish and 1 ti akei i 0-1S00
Staffordshire Pottery, Examples in. Solon Sale.
Enamelled Sail Glaze rea-Caddy
Portobello Drinking Mug
I olt Dish
ryg
Wedgwood.
i ameos ... ... ... ... ... --
Compotier, Dessert Plate, and Fruit Basket ■■
Plaque "Apotheosis ol Homer"
" Apotheosis of Virgil "
Blind Man's Burl "
" Hercules in the Garden ot the
I [esperides "
" Penelope and Maidens "
Plates 1 lure
249
44
45
I I
--' I
25 l
-4'1
247
245
241
•7"
251
SCULPTUR] \\n si \ 1 1 \uv. PAGI
Aphrodite ol Knidos, I he... ... ... ••• 63
Chimnej Piece and Grate .it Stratford House ... 129
t" n] >i< 1 Chastised. B) Eberlein ... January Covei
I >iscobolus, Statue oi ... ... ... •■■ 63
Silver, see undei Gold, Silver, i re.
I M'l SI'RY.
The "Diana Hunting" Tapestries, belonging to
Mr. Kennedy Jones... ... ■■• 229-234
Toddy Lifter, Glass 4"
Warship, Eighteenth-Century Miniature ... ... 166
Watei Clocks 39. -''"
Wood-Carving.
Elizabethan Mansion, An Interesting (The "Star"
lintel. Great Yarmouth).
Detail of Carving 237, 238
Nelson Room, I he 235, 236
IN THE SALE ROOM
\ RAPHS.
\ndrc. Major... ... ... ... ••• ■•• 275
Charles I. Instruction to R. Fanshawe... ... 112
Letter to Earl of Newcastle 112
Dickens, (lias. Letters to W. Hcpworth Dixon 275
Edward IV. Letter to Chancellor of Charles
the Bold 275
Edward VI. Sign-Manual 275
Elizabeth, Queen, Indenture signed by ^-7?
Fanshawe Papers Ill, 112
Field inf.- Family Papers 27;
Henry VIII. I etter to Madame de la Ferte ... 275
Hyde, Sir Ed. Letters 112
Lamb. C. Letters to J. Rickman 112
Marlborough. Duke of. Letters 275
Mendelssohn. " Surrexit Pastor " MSS. ... 275
Meredith, G. Letters to Rev. A. and Mrs. Jessopp 1 1 2
I'hilip IT. Letters to Pedro Mendoca 275
Raleigh. Sir Walter. Letter to Sir W. Gilbert... 275
Rubens, P. P. Letter to Pierre Dupuy 275
Scott. Sir W. Letters 212
Tennyson. Poem, MS 275
Wagner, R. Rule Britannia. Vutograph Store 112
Washington, George... ... •■• ••• ••• 275
Wolfe, General. Order Book 275
Wolsey, Cardinal ... ... ••• ••• ••■ 275
Books and Max' si ripts.
Ackermann, R.
Costumes of the British Army, 1840-54 ... 274
Costumes ot the Indian Army. 1843 -7 \
History of University of Oxford, 1814 ... 174
Xe« Serie, ot Costumes, 1855-58 ... ... 274
Anderson, Jas. New Book, etc., of Free and
Accepted Masons, 173S 174
Barham, R. II. D. Martin's Vagaries 1 s4 < ... 174
Books and Manuscripts — continued.
Blake. W.
America: a Prophecy, 1794 ••• ••• ••• 275
Europe: a Prophecy. 1794 ... ••• ••■ 27;
Blundevell. Horsemanship and Art of Riding,
1580-4 112
Boileau. CEuvres (Lord Byron's Copy) m
Browne. H. K. " Mdme. Mantalini introduces
Kate to Miss Knag." (Illustrated) ... 173
Byron, Lord. Fugitive Poems, 1806. Pres. Copy m
Cannon, R. Historical Records of British Army.
1834-53 ""4
Carlyle. T. Guises, The. MS 112
Daves. E.
Series of Eighteen Coloured Costumes. By T.
Hodges, 1792... ... ... ••• •■• 274
Series of Eighteen different Prints of Foot
Guards. By T. Kirk. 1792 274
Dickens, Chas.
Nicholas Nickleby, 1839... ... ... ••• 17.1
Oliver Twist, 1838 173
Dighton. D. Lance Exercise in Three Divisions.
1825 ... ■-. ••• •■■ ••• ■•• 274
Fielding. H. Dramatic Works, 1755 174
Fitzgerald.
Omar Khayyam, 1859 275
Salaman and Absal, 185(1 ... ••• •■• 275
Fry, Mr. Herbert, Dispersal ot Library 17!
Germ, the, 1850 ... ... ••■ ••■ ••• 275
Gould. J.
Birds of Great Britain, 1S62-73 174
Mammals of Australia, 1845-63 '74
Monograph of the Trpchilidae, 1849-61 ... >74
Green, C. Illustrations for " Old Curiosity Shop " 1 ;
Hayes, Michael Angelo. The British Army. 1844 274
Hayley, W. Designs to a Series of Ballads, 1802 275
Index
Books and Manuscripts — continued. P
Heath. \V. Military Costume of British Cavalry.
182
Hore. J. P. History of Newmarket, The. 1SS6...
Hull. E. Costume of British Army in 1S2S ...
Lamb. Chas.
Essays of Elia, £82 j
Last Essays of Elia. 1833
Locher. Recueil <le Portraits et Costumes Suisses,
1800 ...
Lovelace. Lucasta Posthumc Poems, 1659-60...
Mahoney, J. Illus. " Battle of Life "
Mansion and St. Eschauzier. Military Costumes
of British Army, 1831-3
Markham's Masterpiece, 1651
Martens. Collection of Water-Colours of Costumes
of British and Indian Armies
Meredith, G.
Alsace-Lorraine, MS.
Xapoleon, MS.
Revolution, The. MS
Milne, late Mr. S. M. Dispersal of Library ...
Nizam of Ganjah, Five Metrical Romances of.
1529-30
Ponsonby Collection of Book Plates
Potts. Mr. R. A. Dispersal of Library
•• Robinson Crusoe, Mariner," 1719
Session Cases, 1821-1911
Shakespeare. Othello, 1630
Shelley, P. B.
Cenci, The, 1S19 ...
Epipsychidon, 1S21
Sporting Magazine, 1792-1842
Sporting Review. 1847-1864
Stevenson, R. L. Prince Otto, 1885
Swinburne, A. C.
Midsummer Holiday, 18S4
Studies in Song, 1SS0
Study of Shakespeare, 1S80
Symonds. J. A. Renaissance in Italy. 1880-86...
Thackeray. Lucy's Birthday, M.S.
Times, The, 1828 to present day...
Walton.
Compleat Angler, 1653 ...
Life of Dr. Sanderson, 1678
Wilde, O. Six Sonnets, MS., and Impressions du
Theatre
Young. Night Thoughts, 1808 ...
Engravings and Etchings.
Affleck, A. F.
Durham Cathedral
St. Jerome
Agar, J.
Lady Heathcote. After Cosway
Antonio del Pollaiuolo.
Combat of Ten Nude Men
Gladiators. The ...
Appleton. T. Isobel. After Raeburn
Barney, J. Charity. By W. Smith
Barney, W. W. Lords George and Charles
Spencer. After Romney ...
Bartolozzi.
Lady Elizabeth Foster. After Reynolds
Lecture on Gadding. After J. R. Smith
274
112
2,-4
275
275
i"4
1 1 1
174
2 74
1 12
2 74
1 12
2 74
174
1 1 1
2 74
174
174
11 1
27^
275
174
174
174
174
174
174
174
1 1 2
I II
1 1 1
174
174
275
II 1
II I
-, 3
2 7}
1 10
ill
1 1 1
2 7 3
Alter Sir P.
Snow .
After
Engravings and Etchings — continued.
Baudouin. Le Coucher de la Mariee. ByMoreau
le Jenne
Blooteling. A. Prince Rupert.
Lely ...
Bocholt, F. Von. Saint Anthony
Boilvin. E. Generals in the
Meissonier
Bone, Muirhead.
Ayr Beach...
Ballantrae Road ...
Building
Chiswick Mall
Colonnade, Glasgow Exhibition...
Demolition of St. James' Hall...
Dunimarle ...
East Blatchington...
Ely Yard
Fosse. Lincoln, The
Hove
Kulross Roofs
Leeds
Liberty's Clock
Near Chichester ...
Ossett, Yorks.
Oxfordshire
Prison, Ayr
St. John's Wood ...
Ship-builders, Whiteinch...
Somerset House ...
Southgate. King's Lynn...
Strand
Bonnet. Venus and Cupid. After Boucher
Boulard, A. Picquet. After Meissonier...
Boucher. Venus and Cupid. By Bonnet
Brangwyn, F.
Bridge of Sighs ...
Browning's House
Santa Maria, from the Street ...
Bridgwater, H. Scott. Frankland Sisters.
J. Hoppner ...
Brown, A. Charles I. with Infant Prince Charles.
Alter Van Dyck
Cameron. D. Y.
Illustrated Catalogue of Etched Work
John Knox's House
La Roche ...
.Mai's Work. Stirling
On the Ourthe
Robert's Ley's Workshop
Still Waters
Street in Cairo
Yvmi
Clint, G. Sir Samuel Hood.
Copley, J. S. Henri Laurens.
Cosway, R. Lady Heathcote.
Cousins, S.
Countess Gower and Daughter.
T. Lawrence ...
Piper and Pair of Nutcrackers. Alter Sir T.
Landseer
Dayes, E. Promenade in St. Jameses Park ; An
Airing in Hyde Park.
and T. Gaugain
After
^73,
2 74
273
1 1 1
11 1
in
in
no
1 1 1
1 1 1
in
1 1 1
1 10
1 1 1
1 1 1
1 10
in
no
1 10
in
no
1 10
1 1 1
1 10
1 10
1 11
I ID
4"
no
1 10
no
2 74
hei 1 W01
k
in
11 1
1 in
in
1 in
1 1 1
1 1 1
1 10
no
Alter J.
1 luppner
1 1 1
By V.
Green ...
in
By J.
Agar ...
273
After Sir
Bv F. D. Soiron
Index
PAG!
Engravings vnd l cchings— eon<inu«<i.
De I aunay, N.
Le :; let-] >oux vnd i lu'en .lit I'Abbe. After
I ,l\ 1.11H e ... ... ... ... ... 273
1 Petit Joui vnd 1 .1 Consolation de I' Absence.
\u« 1 In adeberg and Lavreince 273
DequevauviUier. L'Assemblee .111 Concert and
L'Assemblee au Salon. Vfter N Lavreince 273
Dickinson, W. Richard Barwell and Sun. \ti. 1
Reynolds 273
Dicksce H. Wat< hei on the Hill ' ' >
Durer, A.
Apocalypse anil Life oi the Virgin and the
1 arge " Passion ... ... ... ••• 273
Prodigal Sun. The ... ... •■• ••• 273
Virgin with a Pear ... ... ■•■ ••• 273
Witch, The 273
Earlom, R. Flower Pieceand Fruit Piece. Vfter
Van llnysnm... ... ... ••• •■• 274
Edelinck, G. Martin van den Baugart. After
Rigaud ... ■•• ••• •■• ••■ 274
Fitton, Hedley
Hevil Castle no
Interior of Chartres Cathedral ... ■■• ••• it"
John Knox's House. Edinburgh ... ••■ n°
London Bridge ... ... ... ■■• ••• >'"
Portal del St. Zaccaria, Venice no
St. Mem, Paris "I
Freudeberg, S. Le Petit Jour. By N. de
Launay ... ... ... ••■ ■•• 273
Gainsborough, T. Lady Sheffield. By S. E.
Wilson ... " "°
Gaugain, T.. and F. D. Soiron. An Airing in
Hyde Park, and Promenade in St. James's
Park. After E. Dayes 273
Goltzius, H. Henry Goltzius 273
Gott, late Bishop. Dispersal of Collection ... 273
Green, V.
Henri Laurens. After J. S. Copley in
Ladies Waldegrave. After Reynolds 273
Mary, Duchess of Rutland. After Reynolds.. 274
Miss Sarah Campbell. After Reynolds ... in
Sir Joshua Reynolds as P.R.A. After Himself 274
Greuze, J. B.
Expectation. By C. Turner ... ... ... in
Nina. By S. E. Wilson no
Had en, Sir F. S.
Breaking up of the "Agamemnon" ... ... no
Calais Pier no
Haig, Axel.
Basilica of St. Giles at Aries no
Upsala Cathedral no
Hodges, C. Portrait of an Old Lady. After
Rembrandt m
Hoppner, J.
Frankland Sisters. By H. Scott Bridgwater ... in
Lady Charlotte Greville. By J. Young ... 27;
Miranda. By S. E. Wilson no
Mrs. Arbuthnot. By S. W. Reynolds in
Mrs. Jordan as " Hypolita." By J. Jones ... m
Salad Girl. By W. Ward n 1
Sir Samuel Hood. By G. Clint n 1
Houbraken. Portrait Heads ... ... ... 274
Houston, R. Woman Plucking a Fowl. After
Rembrandt in
Engravings and Etchings continued.
Jacquet, J. Portrait ol the Sergeant. Aftei
Meissonier ... ... ... ••• •■■ no
Jones, J.
James Boswell ol Auchinleck. Alter Reynolds 274
Mrs. Jordan as " Hypolita." After J. Hoppnei 1 1 1
Kneller, Sir G.
Portrait oi Himself. Bj J. Smith 274
John Smith. Bj J. Smith ... 274
Landseei . Sir E.
Deer Pass. By l. I andseer 1 to
Piper and a Pan oi Nut crackers. By Cousin- [10
Landseer, T. Deer Pass. After Sir E. Land seer no
Landshut, Mair von. Saint Anne with the Virgin
and Child 273
1 .avreince.
L'Assemblee au Concert and I.'Assemblee au
Salon. By Dequevauvilln 1 ... ... 273
La Consolation de l'Absence. By N. d(
Launay ... ... ... ... ••• 273
Le Billet-Doux and Qu'en .lit I'Abbe. By
N. de Launay ... ••• ••• ••• 273
Lawrence. Sir T.
Countess Gower and Daughter. By S. Cousin^ 275
Lady Julia Peel. By S. E. Wilson no
Miss Croker. ,, .. no
Le Brun. Mdme. Mdme. Le Brim and Child.
By S. E. Wilson no
Lely. Sir P. Prince Rupert. By A. Blootelin.u 277
Leyden, L. Van. Poet Virgil suspended in a
Basket 273
McArdell. J. Rembrandt's Mother. After Rem-
brandt m
Macbeth. Harbour of Refuge. After F. Walker no
Mantegna. A.
Christ descending into Limbo ...
Combat of Marine Gods ... ... ••• •■■ 273
Marin, L. Milk-Woman and Woman taking
Coffee
Meckenem, I. van.
Christ Disputing with the Doctors
Passion. The 273
Meissonier.
Confidences. By H. Vion no
Generals in the Snow. By E. Boilvin ... m
Picquet. By A. Boulard no
Portrait of the Sergeant. By J. Jacquet ... no
Meryon.
L'Abside of Notre Dame de Paris in
St. Etienne du Mont m
Montagna, B. Apollo and Midas
Moreau le Jeune. Le Coucher de la Mariee.
After Baudouin ... ... ■•■ ■•• 273
Morland, G.
Effects of Earlv Industry and Economy, and
Effects of Idleness and Dissipation. By
W. Ward -V4
Feeding the Pigs and Return to Market. By
J. R. Smith ni
Visit to the Child at Nurse. By W. Ward ... in
Nielli.
Arms of the Bentivoglio Family
Conversion of S. Paul ... ... ••• •■• 273
Three Women Dancing ... ... ■•• ■•■ 273
Nutter, W. Moralist. The. After J. R. Smith... 273
Index
Engravings and Etchings — continued. r
Peters, Rev. M. W. Love in her Eyes sits Playing.
By J. R. Smith
Raeburn.
Boy and Rabbit. By J. C. Webb
Isobel. By T. Appleton
Sir Walter Scott. By C. Turner
Rembrandt.
Marriage of Jason and Creusa ...
Mill. The
Portrait of an Old Lady. By C. Hodges ...
Rembrandt leaning on a Stone Sill
Rembrandt's Mother. By J. McArdell
Woman Plucking a Fowl. By R. Houston ...
Reynolds, Sir J.
Dr. Hunter. By W. Sharp
James Boswell, of Auchinleck. By J. Jones...
Ladies Waldegrave. By S. E. Wilson
,, ,, By V. Green
Lady Elizabeth Foster. By Bartolozzi
Lady Elizabeth Taylor.
Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante. By S. E.
Wilson
Lady Smyth and Children. By S. E. Wilson...
Lord Richard Cavendish. By J. R. Smith ...
Man,', Duchess of Rutland. By V. Green ...
Mask, The. By Schiavonetti ...
Master Hare. By S. E. Wilson
Miss Sarah Campbell. By V. Green ...
Portrait of Himself. By J. Watson
Proofs, Set of 313. By S. W. Reynolds ...
Richard Barwell and Son. By W. Dickinson...
Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. By V. Green ...
Reynolds, S. W.
Duchess of Bedford
Mrs. Arbuthnot. After J. Hoppner ...
Proofs. After Sir J. Reynolds...
Rigaud. Martin van den Baugart. By G.
Edclinck
Romney, G.
Gower Family. By J. R. Smith
Lady Hamilton as " Circe." By S. E. Wilson
" Nature." ,,
Lords George and Charles Spencer. By W.
Barney
Miss Cumberland. By J. R. Smith ...
Mrs. Beresford. By S. E. Wilson
Mrs. Canning and Child. By S. E. Wilson ...
Mrs. Musters. By S. E. Wilson
Mrs. Robinson. By J. R. Smith
Rupert, Prince. Standard-Bearer, The ...
St. Aubin, A. de. Au Moins soyes Discret, and
Comptez sur mes Serments...
Schiavonetti.
Ghost, A. After R. Westall
Mask, The. After Reynolds
Schongauer, M.
Bishop's Crozier, A
Death of the Virgin
Dirk van Staren ...
Nativity, The
Schutz (After). Views on the Rhine
Sharp, W. Dr. Hunter. After Sir J. Reynolds
Short, Sir F. Wensleydale
-continued
1 10
1 1(>
I I r
273
273
1 1 1
I I I
1 1 1
274
27-t
110
273
1 1 1
no
no
no
2 74
2/4
1 1 1
1 in
1 1 1
2 74
2 74
273
274
I I 1
I I I
2 74
274
After Kneller
to Market.
I 1 1
I I 1
1 i"
1 1 1
1 1 1
t 1 1
274
2 74
2 74
2 74
2 74
2 74
1 1 1
Engravings and Etchings-
Smith, J.
Portrait of Sir G. Kneller.
Himself.
Smith, J. R.
Feeding the Pigs and Return
After Morland
Fruit Barrow. The. After H. Walton
Gower Family. After Romney...
Lecture on Gadding, A. By F. Bartolozzi ...
Lord Richard Cavendish. Alter Reynolds ...
Love in her Eyes sits Playing. After Peters...
Miss Cumberland. After Romney
Moralist, The. By W. Nutter
Mrs. Robinson. After Romney
Painting
Smith, W. Charity. After J. Barney
Soiron, F. D. , and T. Gaugain. An Airing in
Hyde Park, and Promenade in St. James's
Park. After E. Dayes
Strange, Sir R. Charles 1. After Van Dyck ...
Tompkins, P. W. Cottager and Villager. After
a Ladv ... ... ... ... ...
g
1 urner. t .
Expectation. After J. B. Grenze
Sir Walter Scott. After Raeburn
Turner, J. M. W.
" Liber Studiorum."
Ben Arthur
Bridge in Middle Distance
Calm
Chain of Alps, from Grenoble In Chamouni
Hindoo Worshipper
Near Blair Athol
Peat Bog, Scotland
Woman at a Tank
Van Dyck, Sir A.
Charles I., with Infant Prince Charles
A. Brown
Charles I. By Sir R. Strange...
Van Huysum. Flower Piece ;incl
By R. Earlom
Vion, H. Confidences. After Meissonier
Walker, F. Harbour of Refuge. By Macbeth...
Walton. Fruit Barrow, The. By J. R. Smith...
Ward, Jas. Summer and Winter. By W. Ward
Ward, W.
Effects of Early Industry and Economy ami
Effects of Idleness and Dissipation. After
Morland
Salad Girl. After J.
Soldier's Return and
F. Wheatley ...
Soliloquy, The
Summer and Winter.
Visit to the Child at Nurse.
Watson. L'ortrait of Sir J.
Himself
Webb. J. C. Boy and Rabbit. After Raeburn
Westall, R. Ghost, A. By Schiavonetti
Wheatley, F. Soldier's Return and Sailor's
Return. By W. Want
Whistler, J. M.
Fish Shop, Chelsea
Little Lagoon
Bv
Fruit Piece.
Hoppner
Sailor's
Return. Alter
After J. Ward
After G. Morland
Reynolds. After
2 74
2 74
1 1 1
2 74
1 1 1
273
2 74
273
1 1 1
^i
1 1 1
2 74
1 1 1
-/ .1
274
1 1 1
1 11
274
274
2 74
2 74
2 74
2/4
2 74
2 74
2 74
274
2 74
1 10
110
2 74
27 i
274
1 1 1
-/.■>
1 1 1
i 10
1 1 1
Index
\\ ings and Etchings tinned.
Wilson S i
ve i he. \ 1 1 > i Sir J. Re) oold :
■ h raylor. \im Sn J. Re) aolds
i tamilton as .1 Ba< 1 hante. After Sir J.
Reynolds
Hamilton as " Circe." After G. Romnej
I ad) Hamilton as" Nature." After G. Romney
Lad) Julia Peel. After Sir r. Lawrence
I -i l\ Sheffield. After T. Gainsborough
1 id) Sun ili and Children. Alter Sir J.
Reynolds
Madame L< Brun and Child. After Madame
le Hum
Mastei I [are \11.1 Sir J, Reynolds
Miranda tfter J. Hoppner
Miss Croker. Vftei Sh I. Lawrence
Mis. Beresford. Vfter ('.. Romney
Mis. Canning and Child. After G. Romney...
Mrs. Musters. After G. Romney
Nina. After J. B. Greuze
Voung, J.
Lad) Charlotte Greville. After Hoppner
Zorn, A. Zorn and I lis Model ...
Furniture.
Adam.
Cabinet
Suite
\n111 Queen. Chairs
Charles II. Day-bed
Chippendale.
Armchair ...
Cabinet
Side-table ...
Writing-table
Clock, Louis XVI., by Culiau
Seventeenth-Century, by E. East...
Davies, late Sir Horatio. Dispersal of Collection
Direct. lire Fauteuil ...
Electroliers, Cut-glass
English Old Marqueterie Cabinet...
Work-table
Hepplewhite Chairs...
James II. Chairs ...
Louis XV. Library Table...
Louis XVI.
Clock
Secretaire ...
Settees ... ...
Sheraton.
Commode ...
Sideboard ...
Wardrobe ...
Pictures and Drawings.
Abbey, H. A. "God save you. Sweet Lady"...
Augsburg, School of. Salutation. The ...
Barret. G. Classical River Scene
Bartlett, late Mr. T. Dispersal of Collection ...
Beach, T. Portraits of Two Young Girls with
Pet Dog '
Beechey, Sir W. Portrait of H.R.H. Princess
Mary, Duchess of Gloucester
Black. late Mr. Wm. Dispersal of Collection ...
1 10
1 1 n
[10
1 10
1 in
1 10
1 in
1 10
i in
1 10
1 10
1 in
1 10
1 in
1 10
273
1 1 1
4 5
i/"4
45
1 1 2
45
1 12
4''
1/4
174
173
1 12
174
i/"4
45
112
46
112
174
174
112
174
112
4''
174
109
109
272
45
272
1 in
[09
-7;
llll)
I III
45
173
45
n«,
Pk irtis ANii Drawings — continued
Bosboom, J.
1I1. hi it) ill ..I .1 1 athe Iral
I ransepl oi .1 Cathe Iral
Bum her, !•. Le Billet Doux
Houghton, (',. II.. K.A. Faggot Hearer, I he ...
BriiMi, Bartel. Portrail oi .1 Gentleman
Buck, A. Misses Fischer, I lie
Burgess, J. B., K.A. Making Harness in Seville
Canaletto, B. Doge's Palace, Venice
Cole, \ 1c.1t R. \ Oxford from [ffley
Collier, T. Denbighshire Hills
Collins. W., R.A. Mussel Gatherers, I he
Cooper, T. S., K.A.
Cattle at Sunset ...
Cow, a Coat, and two Sheep ...
Peasants, Cows, etc.
Corot. J. B. C.
Confidences ... ... ... ... ... 272
Hay-cart. The ... ... ... ... ... 272
Cosway, Richard. Portrait of a Lady ... ... 273
Cotes, F., R.A. Portrait of Charles second Earl
oi Portmore ... ... ... ... ... 271
Cox, D.
Crossing the Bridge ... ... ... ... 272
Crossing Ulverston Sands ... ... ... 272
Early Morning : Bolsover Sands ... ... 272
Returning from Market : Sunset ... ... 272
Setting Sun ... ... ... ... ... 272
View of the Romney Marshes ... ... ... 272
Culme-Seymour, Admiral Sir Michael. Dispersal
of Collection ... ... ... ... ... 45
Cuyp. A.
Portrait of a Girl... ... ... ... ... no
Lady ••■ •■• ■•• •■• 272
Davies, late Sir Horatio D. Dispersal of Col-
lection... ... ... ... ... ... 272
Davis, H. W. B., R.A. Wye, The 272
De Heere, Lucas. Portrait of Queen Mary ... 272
De la Tour, Quentin. Portrait of Henry Dawkins 271
De Wint, P.
Barge, A. ... ... ... ... ... ... 272
On the Witham. Lines. ... ... ... ... 272
River Witham ... ... ... ... ... 272
Thames at Richmond, The ... ... ... 272
Diaz, N. In Fontainebleau Forest ... ... 27;
Domenichino. Portrait of Cardinal Barberini ... 109
Downman, J., A. R.A. Portrait of a Lady ••• 2^2
East, Sir Alfred, A.R.A.
Rising Moon, The... ... ... ... ... 45
Venice ... ... ... ••• ••• ••■ 272
Ellis, late Sir J. Whittaker. Dispersal of Col-
lection... ... ... ••• ••• ■•• 273
English School. Sisters ... ... ... ... 27;
Fielding, Copley.
Ben Venue, from Loch Achray... ... ... 272
Grand Canal. Venice ... ... ... ... 272
Lake Scene, with Cattle and Sheep 175
Loch Earn and Ben Vorlich, Perthshire ... 272
Old Mill, The 272
Foster, Birket. Peasant Children and Geese ... 173
Fragonard. Cupid with an arrow sporting near
a bed of roses ... ... ... ■•■ 272
Index
Pictures and Drawings — continued.
Frith. W. P.
Glovers, Paris. The ... ... ... ... 45
Village Pastor. The ... .... ... ... 4;
Gainsborough, T. Portrait ot John, Fourth Duke
of Bedford ... ... ... ... ... 271
Gibbons, Mr. J. Dispersal of Collection ... 45
Graham, P. Spate on the Tummel. A ... ... 27 2
Graham. T. River Thames, The... ... ... 109
Gregory, E. J.. R.A. "Will He Come?" ... 173
Hamilton. Gavin. Lady Juliana Dawkins as
" Ceres " ... ... ... ... ... 271
Hardy, F. D. Doctor, The ... ... ... 173
Herring, J. F., senr. Farmyard, A ... ... 45
Highmore, J.
Portrait of Louisa Greville, Countess of Mans-
field ... ... ... ... ... ... 272
Portrait of Miss Elizabeth Helvey ... ... 109
Holbein. Portrait of Thomas Cromwell. Earl of
Essex ... ... ... ... ... ... 109
Holland. J.
On the Giudecca, Venice ... ... ... 272
Venice from the Lagoon... ... ... ... 272
Hondecoeter. Peacock, Pheasants and Poultry
in a Landscape ... ... ... ... 109
Hudson, T. Portrait of George Frederick Handel 109
Hunt, W. Mid -day Meal, The 272
Israels, J.
Departure, The ... ... ... ... ... 272
Fisher-Girl on the Dunes ... ... ... 272
Fisher-Girls on the Seashore ... ... ... 272
Washing Day ... ... ... ... ... 272
Janssens, C.
Portrait of Viscountess Falkland ... ... 272
Portrait of a Young Girl... ... ... ... no
Kneller, Sir G. Portraits.
Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester ... 271
Duchess of Dorset ... ... ... ... 271
Sir Charles Sedley ... ... ... ... 271
Youth, A ... ... ... ... ... ... 271
Koek Koek, B. C. River Scene ... ... ... 109
Koninck, P. Woody Landscape ... ... ... 272
Lancret. Mischief ... ... ... ... ... no
Lane, Mr. J. H. H. V. Dispersal of Collection... 109
Lawrence, Sir T.
John Philip Kemble ... ... ... ... 45
Mrs. Harriet Harding ... ... ... ... 109
Le Brun. Mdme. Vigee. Portrait of Marie Therese
of Savoy ... ... ■•■ ••• ••• -7-
Lely, Sir P. Portrait of the Duchess of Ports-
mouth... ... ... ... ... ... 271
Leslie, C. R., R.A. Chas. Dickens in Character
of Capt. Bobadil ... ... ... ••• 45
Linnell, J., senr.
Cornfield, A ... ... ... •■■ ■•• 45
Young Blood, The ... ... ••• •■• 173
Maris, Willem. Meadow, A ... ... ... 272
Meisonnier. J. L. E.
Advance Guard of an Army ... ... ... 273
Artist Riding at Antibes, The... ... ... 273
Landscape, A ... ... ■•■ •■• ••• 273
Millet. J. F. Portrait of the Artist's Wife ... 273
Moreelse, P. Portrait of a Lady... ... ... 109
Morland, H. Portrait of Ladv Scarsdale ... 271
Pictures and Drawings — continued.
Mulready, W., R.A. Carpenter's Shop, The ...
Xasmyth, 1'.
Highland Lake Scene
Surrey Landscape, A
Wooded Scene with Figures
Orchardson, Sir W. O., R.A. MacLeod's Return
Orpen, W., A. R.A.
On the Dublin Mountains
Study in Black, A
Ostade, A. van. Interior of a Tavern...
Peters, Rev. M. W., R.A.
Fortune-Teller, The
Grief
Lydia
Pettie, J.. R.A. MacLeod of Dare
Philips, R. A Portrait Group at Weybridge...
Prout, S. Strasbourg
Raeburn, Sir H., R.A. Portraits.
General Macgregor
Harley Drummond, Esq.
William Darnell, Esq.
Ravesteyn. J. Portrait of a Gentleman...
Rembrandt.
Portrait of a Man holding a Gun
Portrait of a Youth (attributed to)
Reynolds, Sir J., P.R.A.
Charles, Second Earl of Portmore
Lady Juliana Dawkins ...
Mrs. James Colyear Dawkins ...
William Charles, Third Earl of Portmore ...
Riviere, Briton, R.A. Poacher's Widow, The ...
Romney, G.
Dr. Barkley
Head of Lady Hamilton...
Lady in Classical Dress...
Master O'Connor of Castlebrook
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Taylor ...
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Heron ...
Russell, J., R.A. Blowing Bubbles
Ruysdael, J. van. Waterfall, A
Ruysdael, S. van. View at Nimegucn
Rysbraek, P. A. Peacocks and Domestic Poultry
Sadee, Ph.
Return from the Fields ...
Waiting for the Fishing-Boats ...
Shaver, W, senr. Peasant, with a White Pony
Smith, late Mr. George. Dispersal of Collection
Southgate, Mr. C. F. Dispersal of Collection ...
Stark, J. Scene in Windsor Great Park
Stone, M., R.A.
My Lady is a Widow and Childless
Stealing the Keys
Swan, J. M., R.A.
Orpheus Charming the Lions ...
Tigress and Cubs at a Torrent...
Teniers, D. Alchemist, The ... • •••
Thompson, Mr. W. J. Dispersal of Collection...
Thorne-Waite. R. Dover from St. Margaret'-...
Turner, J. M. W.
Margate
Teignmouth
173
173
27;
2/3
109
2/2
272
272
272
109
109
271
27 1
no
27 I
1 10
271
271
271
271
173
271
109
271
109
271
271
27^
173
2 7 3
173
273
272
173
109
173
Index
Pictures ind Drawings- continued.
\ .in de Velde, W.
Shipping in a Culm oil the Coast
Shipping .'it a Jetrj ind Shipping in .1
Breeze...
Van der Weyden. Pieta \
\ an Drest, A. River Scene
Van P\ek. Bacchus and Bacchanals
\ .m Goyen, J.
Mouth "l .1 River with Sailing Boats
River Scene
Rivei Scene, with Peasants, etc
Van Marcke. E, Cattle in a Meadow
Van Os, J. Fruit anil Flowers on a Marble
Slab
Velasquez. Portrait of Don John of Austria,
when a Boy ...
Verboeckhoven, E. Frightened Flock. The
Walker. F. Coquette and Leezebeth
Ward. E. M., K.A. Defoe receiving back the
Manuscript of "Robinson Crusoe"
Watson. C. P.R.S.A. Portrait of Lady Sinclair
Watts. G. F.. R.A. Katie
Woodward, late Mr. W. Dispersal of Collection
Wootton, J.
Horses Training at Newmarket
Nobleman and his Racehorses, A
Racing on Newmarket Heath ...
Wright, J., A.R.A. William Wilberforce
Zucchero. Portrait of a Girl
Pottery and Porcelain.
Chelsea Figure
Chinese.
Bottles
Figures
Vase
Delft Bowl
ico
273
[09
273
[09
I-
272
45
109
272
173
109
45
272
45
272
272
272
4 5
4 =
174
1 74
Pottery and Porcelain— eon<»»tt«rf.
1 Iresden.
Figure
Groups
1 1,,, hsl Jars and Covers ...
Lane, Mr. J. II. 11. V. Dispersal of Collection..,
Lindsay, late Ladj Caroline. Dispersal of Col-
lection...
Sevres. Egg-boiler by Gomery ...
Solon, Mr. L. M. Dispersal oi Collection
Staffordshire Pottery (Solon Collection).
Cradles
Cruet-Stand
Dishes
Ralph Toft
Drinking-Cup, double-handled ...
Figures
Jugs
Whieldon
Mug and Cover
Posset-Pots
Tea-Caddy
Teapots
Tiles
Toby Jug
Tygs
Water-Ewer
Vienna Group
Worcester.
Dessert Service
Dishes
Teacup and Saucer
Tea Service
Tapestry, etc.
Brussels Panel
Flemish Panels
Persian Rug ...
Roxby, late Canon.
Portobello "...
PAGE
1 12
45
45
1 12
1 12
1 12
4.5
44
44
43
43
45
45
44
45
44
44
44
45
44
45
44
44
45
I I
44
46,
46,
Dispersal of Collection
1 12
174
i/"4
112
112
112
174
46
PORTRAIT OF A LADY
BY P. E. FALCONET
(Bv permission of the Edward Gallery)
January, 1913.
The "WelbecK Abbey" or "Harleian" Miniature of ShaRespeare
The "James I. Type" By M. H. Spielmann, F.S.A.
It has always been a puzzle to Shakespearean
commentators, and a reproach to George Vertue, the
great though inaccurate engraver — to whose artistic
and personal probity, notwithstanding, Horace Wal-
pole over and over again bears emphatic witness * —
that so trusted an artist should have imposed upon
the public a no-likeness of Shakespeare, by merely
adapting the portrait of another person. " The por-
trait palmed upon Mr. Pope + for an original of
Shakespeare, from which he had his
fine plate engraven, is evidently a
juvenile portrait of King James I."
These words of William Oldys, I
in a MS. note to his copy of Lang-
baine's Dramatic Poets (1691), were
Introduced by George Steevens
into his edition of Shakespeare, and
have been copied ad nauseam by
Malone, Boaden, and every other
succeeding commentator of Shake-
speare portraits without any attempt
being made to verify the original
charge. As to Venue's punctilious
honesty, constantly vaunted at the
expense of Houbraken's, I shall
speak on another occasion, merely
remarking here on the readiness with which succesbivt-
writers have delighted to seize on and to repeat de-
preciatory criticism without caring to ascertain how
far the statement is truth or calumnv. Here is a case
Walpole's Anecdotes of Fainting is, of course, based almost
entirely on Vertue's labours and research, which were conducted
with extraordinary conscientiousness and care.
+ For Pope's edition of Shakespeare : London, printed for
Jacob Tonson, 6 vols., 1723-25. The first vol. is dated 1725 ;
the others 1 723. In the same edition appears Vertue's engraving
1 if the Stratford bust, on the shoulders of which the engraver has
had the audacity to place the Chandos head !
X 1696— 1761. Norroy King-of-Arms.
XO. I. THE " WELBECK ABBEY
MINIATURE OF SHAKESPEARE"
By permission 0/ His Grace i/ie Duke of
Portland
in point. That Vertue in the present instance, how-
ever, is not guiltless, will presently be seen ; but that
he did not work from a soi-disant portrait of the
poet, and that he used a likeness of King James, are
statements demonstrably false.
Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford (1661-1724),
despite the turbulence of his political career, formed,
as everyone knows, a great library, adding to it those
collections of MSS. of Foxe, Stow, and Sir Simon
D'Ewes, which afforded him much
solace during his incarceration in
the Tower.* When he died in
1724 he was succeeded by his son,
Edward Harley, the second Earl,
some time after whose death, in
1 741, the magnificent library, to
which he had considerably added,
was dispersed : the books went to
Osborne the bookseller for ,£13,000
(being less than the cost of the
bindings), and the manuscripts to
the nation for ,£10,000. These are
now among the treasures of the
British Museum. When Edward
Harley died there was held a
three days' sale, in March, 1741 2, J
when on the first day there was knocked down for
two guineas to one Barrett a portrait of Shakespeare,
" three-quarters " (what we call nowadays 30 in. by
25 in.), "by an artist unknown." % His collection of
miniatures did not leave the family.
In the possession of the first Earl, if Sir George
See E. S. Roscoe, Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford. London,
1902.
t See Notes and Queries, 9th S.V., April 2Sth, 1900.
X Whether or not this is identical with the copy of the Chandos
portrait bequeathed by Edward Capell to the Library of Trinity
College, Cambridge, will be discussed at a future time.
Vol. XXXV.— No. 137.— a •>
[Copyright by J. T. Herbert Baily in the United States of America , May,
1901]
The Connoisseur
Xo. III.— THE IMITATION BY S. BENNETT OF
VERTUE'S PLATE, 1807 ; SHOWING HOW THE
TYPE WAS GRADUALLY PROMULGATED
Si lull" be right, had been the miniature (No. i.) here
shown ; but it is more likely that it belonged to
his son, Edward Harley, during his father's lifetime.
This fine head was a favourite with its owner, who was
convinced that it was a portrait of Shakespeare, and,
as I am informed,* " Lord Oxford has written his
name on the back of it ; it was in his collection as
early as 17 19, when it was framed." That was about
the period of the first Earl's retirement. Whence the
miniature was first acquired is not known ; the earliest
reference to it at Welbeck Abbey " occurs on a bill
of Bernard Lens, t who enclosed it in its present pear-
tree frame, stained black, in May, 1719. For Lord
Harley (afterwards second Earl of Oxford), Lens
framed many miniatures, t and at his death they
passed to his daughter, Margaret, Duchess of Port-
land,'' j who married Henry, the first Duke and second
By Mr. Richard \V. Goulding, Librarian to the Duke of
Portland at Welbeck Abbey.
t The eminent miniature-painter, 16S0-1740, and father of
the miniature-painters Andrew and Peter, less distinguished
than himself.
X One of these, lately in my hands, is one of the miniature
copies of the Chandos portrait by ( >zias Humphrey, R.A. The
history of this interesting miniature will be told in its proper
place.
j Mr. Richard W. Goulding.
Earl. Since 1 7.) 1 -\ thru-lore, the miniature has been
in the possession of the Dukes of Portland.
Edward Harley, like his father, was the friend of
eminent men of letters. Robert Harley counted
Swift, Prior, Arbuthnot, (Lay, and Pope among his
intimates ; his son was equally the friend of Pope and
Swift, and was the generous and bountiful " patron "
of Vertueand W.Oldys. It is not surprising, therefore,
that when Pope was casting about on behalf of his
publisher, Tonson, for a portrait to be engraved lor
the frontispiece to his edition of Shakespeare (which,
by the way, reflected so very little credit upon him —
little as "a dull editor," and still less as an expurgator,
as he presumed to be), that Harley should have pressed
upon him his newly-found, unknown, and unpub-
lished miniature ; but it is more surprising that author
and engraver should accept the suggestion of theLr
kind and influential friend.* And what is still
stranger is that Oldys should have turned on his
patron with a false statement as to the original of
• "The Earl's generous and unparalleled encouragement of
my undertakings," wrote Vertue, " by promoting my studious
endeavours, gave me great reputation and advantage over all
other professors of the same art in England." See Walpole's
Anecdotes, vol. Hi., p. 271, 1S76 edition.
H..I.J ,'™^t*
W. SHAKSPEARE.
No. IV. — STIPPLE ENGRAVING BY MASSOL (FOR
GUIZOT'S FRENCH EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE
1848), INTRODUCING THE LESSER GEORGE. SEE
TORTRAIT OF JAMES I.
NO. II.— GEORGE VERTUE'S LINE ENGRAVING OF 1/2 I FROM THE MINIATURE (NO. I.) THEN IN THE
POSSESSION OF EDWARD HARLEY (AFTERWARDS EARL OF OXFORD), AND NOW IN THAT OF THE DUKE OF
PORTLAND. AND FALSELY STIGMATIZED AS A PORTRAIT OF KING JAMES I.
The Connoisseur
Vertue's plate.
Pope, perha ps,
was little acquaint-
ed with the por-
traits of Shake-
speare, but Vertue
knew better : and
if he was willing to
engrave this like-
ness— which, after
all, has strong
poi nt s ni resem-
blance with the
Chandos portrait
several times
r e p r od u ced b y
him — it was prob-
ably because he
hail little more
faith in the Chan-
dos itself. Other-
wise his act would
be totally unjusti-
fiable.
Sir George
Scharf * is severe
on the subject.
" Both Pope and
Vertue," he says,
" were willing to
gratify Lord Ox-
ford, their patron,
by selecting a por-
trait in his posses-
sion, and which he
fondly believed to
be Shakespeare's.
The picture which
they adopted is in
reality merely the
portrait of a gentle-
man of the period
of King James I.,
Vc-rtut, .r.uA
No. V. — vertue's line ENGRAVING OF JAMES I., with the lesser
GEORGE, 1747, FOR RAPIN'S (SMALLER) HISTORY OF ENGLAND
SHOWING THE FANCIED RESEMBLANCE TO THE WELBECK MINIATURE
ilia met ers. It
shows a burly man
with a ruddy com-
plexion, whose
forehead, though
high, by no means
mounts into bald-
ness. His head,
indeed, is well
covered with
brownish-black
hair, and beard
turning slightly
grey, and with
eyes of hazel-
brown ; and he
wears a gold ring
in his ear. That
ear-ring is for many
— especially for
the adherents of
the Chandos por-
trait— the hall-
mark of Shake-
speare ; and for
my part I do not
see why this minia-
ture likeness
should or should
not be accepted
as "the one and
only life- portrait
of the poet" any
more or less than
a score of others
which have been
published without
any censure being
incurred by the en-
gravers. Of course,
there is no word
of proof advanced
to substantiate the
and not even, as some have surmised, one of the
monarch himself. The engraving, however, is admir-
ably executed." It is clear, from his reference to
" the picture," that Sir George had not himself ex-
amined the original of Vertue's beautiful plate, unless,
indeed, he knew of the painting I allude to further
on. But this I doubt.
This miniature measures 2 in. by if in., in oval-
Sre George Scharf, On the Principal Portraits of Shake-
speare, 1864.
claim, but no proof is, at least, as satisfactory as un-
convincing or disprovable evidence with which most
portraits of Shakespeare have been bolstered up.
This powerful miniature, then, which is among the
striking things in the fine collection of the Duke of
Portland, represents a man of strong will and character
who lived in the reign of James I. The authorship
of the little picture is a puzzle. About the date at
which the sitter lived, judged by the costume, there is
no doubt ; but the style and technique of the painting
appear much more modern. The draughts nanship
The "Welbeck Abbey" or "Har/eian" Miniature of Shakespeare
and modelling
are quite excel-
lent, and reveal
to high advan-
tage both the
vigour anil the
craftsmanship of
the artist. To
the writer it has
appeared likely
that Bernat d
Lens, who paint-
ed an important
series of Harley
portraits in
miniature, may
have been em-
ployed by the
lirst Earl of Ox-
ford to copy
some previous
limning or pic-
ture, now lost,
which he be-
lieved to be
Shakespeare.
The explana-
tion is far from
conclusive or convincing,
but it is as probable as any
other that can be advanced,
especially when we recall his
copy of Cooper's unfinished
miniature of Cromwell. This
work, which is also at Wel-
beck Abbey, reveals the same
force and presents much the
same texture.
In any case, George Vertue
made his engraving, after
consultation with his patron
and his editor, Pope, for the
edition which Jacob Tun-
son was about to publish.*
* Pope's edition was issued in
7 vols., 410, in 1723-5, and in
10 vols., duo., in 1728. Jacob
Tonson (1656 ?-I 736) and his
great-nephew, of the same name
(d. 1767) — "the eminent biblio-
polist," as the Gentleman s Maga-
zine (lvii., p. 76) calls him — issued
eight editions of Shakespeare alto-
gether between the years 1709
and 1767-S, having for successive
editors Rowe, Pope, Sir T.
Hanmer, Dr. Johnson, Steevens,
James i.
No. VI.
MASSOL (
(THIS
Tonson, it is in-
teresting to note,
possessed a small
portraitof Shake-
speare which was
doubtless paint-
ed f o r h i m, as
its decorative
symbolical em-
bellishments are
more or less
common to the
engraved por-
traits of the poet
issued by pub-
lishers of the
time. This, in
1827, belonged
to H. Rodd, the
picture-dealer :
Wivellt de-
scribes it accur-
ately, and speaks
of it as " done
about the year
1700," although
THE LINE ENGRAVING BY W. SHERLOCK WHICH INSPIRED
NO. IV.) AND PROVIDED HIM WITH THE LESSER] GEORGE 'he inscription
PLATE WAS WONDERFULLY FACSIMILIED BY ROMNEY) nil itS frame at
the Shakespeare Memorial
Gallery at Stratford-on-Avon
(to which the late Mr. Henry
Graves presented it in 1883,
No. 31 in the Catalogue of
the Gallery) runs thus: —
" The Jacob Tonson Picture,
1 735-"+ SofarasI am aware.
and Capell — a goodly array, what-
ever may lie said of the compara-
tive results of their labours. (War-
burton's edition of 1747 has been
incorrectly attributed in the
Dictionary of National Biography
to Jacob Tonson the younger. It
was published by J. & P. Knapton.)
At the death sale of the younger
Tonson in 1767, "one hundred
and forty copies of Pope's Shake-
speare, in six volumes, quarto"
[this is a mistake — the quarto
edition was in seven volumes],
" for which the original subscribers
paid six guineas, were disposed of
at sixteen shillings the set." (See
Gentleman's Magazine, as above.)
This was the 1723-5 edition with
George Vertue's engravings.
t See A. Wivell, An Inquiry,
etc., Supplement, p. 29.
X This is certainly not ihe
plate done for Tonson 's 1735
edition (S vols., duo.); that was
Shakspeare.
no. viii.' — close copy by j. c bock of the
walkers' copy (no. vii.) of vertue's plate
the type was thus spread to germany
The Connoisseur
it has new i been
ived, and it
maj be i on-
jectured that this
i wh.it forbid
ding and strati;
Semitic head was
discarded by the
publisher in favour
of t he moi e ro-
mantic portrait re-
- ommended alike
by the Earl o\
( )xford, Pope, and
Vertue.
The plate
me a Ml re S 8}, in.
h\ 6 in., and the
oval containing
the head 5I in. by
47, in. ( No. ii. I.
Above is a wreath
of bay-leaves and
a ribbon-scroll in-
scribed w 1 1. 1.1 \ M
SH A K ES PEA R E :
a n d b e 1 o w a
medallion bearing
the poet's coat-of-
arms with mant-
and on the
base which sup-
ports the portrait
the inscription —
Ad Origin ale 111
Tab 11 1 a 111 penes
E 1 1 W A R D I UM
Dow in 1/ 111 Har-
LEV. ' G. J '(■/■/l/c\
Sculp, t 7 2 1 . Ex-
cept for the head
and ruff, the plate
greatly resembles Vertue's large Chandos engraving
of 1 7 19 (repeated by him in reduced size a year
or two later). The likeness, it must be owned in
mitigation of Vertue's concession — whereby his crime
may be said to shrink to a mere peccadillo — has
so much in common with a liberal interpretation of
<'.>/</<, r."<</ /'</ ''''- :.A //<?
the Chandos pic-
ture (according to
the version of the
original picture at
that time in vogue)
that ma n y might
regard it as repre-
senting the same
man at an earlier
period 0 f h i s
career. There is
a profusion of hair
on the top of the
head ; the beard
and moustache are
fuller and better
groomed, and the
softening of the
features in the
process of engrav-
ing has brought
the face into
greater harmony
with the Chandos ;
while the fact that
the head is viewed
almost from the
front, whereby the
full shape of the
nose is concealed,
must be t a k e n
into consideration
when comparison
is made between
the two portraits
— the Chandos
and the Harley.
In this engrav-
ing of Vertue's
after the Harley
miniature the head
is enlarged from
JJO. VII. — LINE ENGRAVING, REVERSED, BY THE WALKERS (AFTE'R
VERTUE), FOR BELLAMY AND ROBERTS'S EDITION OF SHAKESPEARE, l/QI
ISSUED AS AUTHENTIC
1 1 in. to 1 1 in., and it will be observed that the figure
is reversed — that it looks to the right instead of to
the left, owing to the engraver having worked direct,
the same way, from the miniature, instead of reversing
it on the copper, by means of a mirror, so that it might
print looking to the left. Fifty-four years later, in 1775,
the portrait was used as a frontispiece to Mrs. Griffith's
book, The Morality of Shakespeare s Drama Illus-
trated, and again, in 1784 (though dated a year earlier),
now sadly worn, was published with S. Ayscough's
octavo edition of Shakespeare, issued by J. Stockdale.
In these cases the embellishments had all been cleared
engraved by I>u Guernier after Arlaud's version of the Chandos
picture.
* Resembling, in all save the head and ruff, the folio plate by
Vertue of 1719, used later, in 1S12, in Boydell's Antient British
Prints.
I " From the original picture in the possession of Edward,
Lord Harley."
The "IVelbeck Abbey " or "Harleian " Miniature of Shakespeare
away, and the
portrait appears
against a semi-
rusticated wall
of masonry. For
Ayscough's third
edition (2 vols.,
1807) Stockdale
employed S .
Bennett to copy
Yertue's engrav-
ing, abandoning
the oval shape
for the rectangu-
lar. Superficial ly
regarded, a very
fair imitation
was the result ;
but all the
subtlety, finesse,
and sensitive-
ness that charac-
terised Vertue's
plate were gone.
Bennett's was
worked until
it was b lit th e
ghost of its
original self;
indeed, I have
an impression
of it in which
the hair and
beard seem in-
tended for very
fair hair, if not
for absolute
white (No. iii.).
Later on, in
NO. IX. — BY ANGELICA KAUFFMANN, R.A., AFTER THE VERTUE FLATE OF
1 72 1 FROM THE PAINTING IN THE SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL GALLERY,
STRATFORD-ON-AVON, BY PERMISSION OF THE COMMITTEE AND SECRETARY
such as it is, for
the unfounded
charge against
Vertue of having
palmed off upon
the public a por-
trait of James I.,
for while there
is no ear-ring —
at least the ear
it would deco-
rate is covered
by one of the
luxuriant curls
that play about
the head and
run into the
w e 1 1 - g r o 0 med
beard, while a
cloak is thrown
dashinglyaround
the body — from
the neck dangle
the ribbon and
m e d a 1 of the
Order of St.
George — the
Lesser George —
as may be seen
in the portraits
of the monarch
by many copy-
ists, besides
Vertue himself,*
W. Shei lock, etc.
(Nos. v. and vi.).
\l eanwhile,
one or two
plates had been
1 82 1, there was published in Paris Guizot's thirteen-
volunie edition of Lc Tollman's Shakespeare * (with
profoundly necessary corrections by Madame Guizot
of the French prose text), and Ladvocat, the publisher,
commissioned Massol to engrave a frontispiece in
stipple (No. iv.). This is a very beautiful rendering
of Vertue's plate from the Duke of Portland's minia-
ture, unpardonably brushed up, smartened up, and
tricked out. The strong, rugged, expressive face of
the original has become that of a quiet, contemplative
gentleman — a rather melancholy beau, as handsome
as the idealised portraits of George Villiers, Duke of
Buckingham. Here, at last, is a belated justification,
engraved facing towards the left, the same way as the
miniature. The first was that done by W. & J. Walker
for Bellamy and Roberts's eight-volume edition of
Shakespeare, issued in 1 791 (No. vii.). These engravers
were William and John Walker, father and son, of
Thirsk, who worked in London and did much good
and important work. The plate in question is beauti-
fully engraved as to the head ; the oval is retained and
is supported by embellishments of dramatic symbols.
On the base is engraved "shakspeare," and below,
Engraved by W. &° J. Walker. Published as the Act
Originally published 1776-1782.
See the plate for the smaller edition of Rapin (8vo). A
comparison between Vertue's Harleian Shakespeare and his
'• fames I." is sufficient to show that the general resemblance
between the two is merely superficial.
V?
NO. X.— PORTRAIT OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, IN THE POSSESSION OF THE LORD SACKVILLE, AND REPRODUCED
BY HIS COURTEOUS PERMISSION IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THIS MAY BE THE ORIGINAL OF THE "WEI.BECK
MINIATURE OF SHAKESPEARE," FREELY COPIED BY BERNARD LENS
w
o
z .
5 <-
a, e
m <
u. w
o s
o
Z en
o g
a °
X >
H a
The "IVelbeck Abbey" or "Harleian " Miniature of Shakespeare
directs by Bellamy and Roberts, Aug. i. i 789. The plate
measures 6 in. by 3! in. The oval portrait of it was
imitated in a remarkable facsimile by Johann Christoph
Bock (for an eighteenth-century German edition I
have not vet been able to identify) so accurately that,
except for the effect, and for the greater brilliancy in
the lights which are more insisted upon, it might
almost be taken for the same plate, so closely have
the engraved lines been followed (No. viii.).
It is very curious that Angelica Kauffmann, R.A.,
in all probability soon after her arrival in England at
about the age of twenty-four — that is to say, in 1765,
when the excitement of the Shakespeare bicentenary
had scarcely simmered down — should have chosen Ver-
tue's engraving of Harley's miniature, rather than the
miniature itself, as the basis of her picture. Probably
it was more accessible. The painting was her tribute
to the poet, no doubt ; yet it has every appearance
of being a commission from a publisher, if not from
David Garrick, whose portrait she had just painted.
Indeed, the charming design below, as a predella,
of " Fame adorning the Tomb of Shakespeare," was
engraved not only by Bartolozzi but by others, and
was published more than once. She has brought
the likeness closer to the Chandos while, as was her
charmingly effeminate characteristic, eliminating as
far as possible all virility from the face, and has intro-
duced an elementary form of conventional symbolism
in the branches of palm and myrtle and in the
emblems of comedy and tragedy. The predella she
carried out on a larger scale for the Marquess of
Exeter, and the picture still, I believe, hangs at
Burghley House (No. ix.).
Her Shakespeare portrait, which measures 40+ in.
by 35ft in., is at the Shakespeare Memorial Gallery
at Stratford-on Avon, to which it was presented by
the late Mr. Henry Graves ; by the courtesy of the
Committee and Librarian it is reproduced here.
And now comes the strange part of the story.
Lord Sackville possesses, at Knole, a life-size portrait,
so nearly resembling in general arrangement and type
the picture we are considering, that we are justified
in inquiring into the connexion. It is the Knole
portrait of Sir Francis Drake, testified to, among other
authorities, by Scharf (No. x.). It presents a type
seen in several of the Drake portraits, and acknow-
ledged by Sir L E. Boehm in the statue which he
designed in 1883 for Tavistock and Plymouth Hoe.
I believe it to be a seventeenth-century picture, on
oak panel, about 250 years old, adzed, not planed,
at the back, and although the painting has been
restored with unnecessary emphasis, it is, in the
main, a genuine thing. I assume that the globe
with the circumnavigator's hand resting on it — the
hall-mark of many a Drake portrait, painted and
engraved — is contemporaneous work. There is an
ostentatious wart on the side of the nose, which also
appears in more suppressed form in the Welbeck
Abbey miniature, and a general capacity for joviality
in the strong face, buried in its luxuriance of ruff.
The mass of the hair, regarded as a mass, corre-
sponds in shape ; the balance of the features, in the
ensemble, is not dissimilar ; there are frequently
found authentic portraits of the same man not more
dissimilar than these.
Is this picture the original of the Welbeck minia-
ture ? — and can the miniature, then, be a portrait
of Drake ? It is not impossible. Lord Sackville's
picture (which the owner has most courteously and
kindly allowed me to reproduce here) may not have
the authority of Lord Lothian's or Sir F. Fuller-Elliot-
Drake's or the Plymouth picture ; probably not less
than the Sydenham, or even than the Rabel, which is
the foundation of so many of the prints promulgated
by the engravers from comparatively early times. It
is an interesting point to which further inquiry may
profitably be devoted. The portrait, it may be added,
was shown at the " Shakespeare's England " Exhibi-
tion, but as a late contribution it did not appear in
the catalogue. It measures 31^ in. by 25! in. ; the
" false oval " 27A in. by 21J in. ; while on the ribbon-
scroll is inscribed : sK fran5' drake, k' It may con-
ceivably be that this ribbon-scroll on the old frame,
the shape of which has become distorted through age,
may have suggested the ornament in Yertue's engrav-
ing. No student of seventeenth-century engraved
portraiture, which so often presents widely divergent
versions of the same picture in the different plates
from it, will see in these divergences any insuperable
objection to the suggestion I have made.
£ g «*
'^&.
!3
Pottery and
Porcelai
Furstenberg Groups of Perseus and Andromeda
By Wm. Barclay Squire
Among the minor porcelain factories ot
nany that of Furstenberg lias always had more
patrons in England than its rivals at Bayreuth,
Hochst, Berlin, etc., probably owing to the connec-
tion of the ducal family with that of Hanover and
England throughout the eighteenth century. Like
most of the other
German fac-
tories, Fiirsten-
berg depended
for its existence
on the favour of
.1 court. It was
actually founded
(about 1749) by
Duke Charles of
Brunswick and
his wife Philip-
pine Charlotte-
ia sister of Fred-
erick the Great),
and from the
first its produc-
tions were more
or less avowed
imitations of
Dresden. Quite
e a r 1 v in the
annals of fur-
stenberg there-
are records of
the manufacture
of those figures
and groups upon
which the fame
of the ware, at
its best period,
chiefly rests.
Busts, sets of
characters from perseus and andromeda
the " Commedia dell' Arte," and porcelain flutes
were produced before the Seven Years1 War, when
evil days fell upon Furstenberg. In 1759 the store
of gold for gilding had long been exhausted, and it
was only the fortunate chance of an Englishman's
buying a dinner-service and paying for it with
150 gold ducats
that enabled
the factory to
struggle on.
The end of the
war was followed
by a period of
serious rivalry
with Dresden,
during which,
by a system of
underselling, the
Saxon factory
nearly succeeded
in ruining its
Brunswick imi-
tator. About
1770, probably
owing to the
introduction of
better methods
of treating the
local clay, the
fortunes of
the factory 1111-
p r o v e d, a n d
though appar-
ently the finan-
cial results
remained un-
satisfactory, from
1770 until the
death of Duke
BY LAURENT CARS, AFTER LEMOYNE ChaileS ill I 7 So,
14
Furstenberg Groups of Perseus and Andromeda
THE PERSEUS GROUP
IN LORD RADNOR S COLLECTION
and for a few years later, its productions reached the
highest degree of technical and artistic excellence
that was ever attained at Furstenberg.
As was the custom in most of the smaller porce-
lain factories, the modellers of the groups, figures,
and busts produced at Furstenberg during this
period can lay no claim to be considered original
artists : they were merely clever workmen who
copied and adapted the ideas of others. The names
of some of these Furstenberg modellers are known ;
i he best of them were Anton Carl Luplau (who
copied Dresden figures and groups), Desoches (of
whom more anon), and Carl Gottfried Schubert,
who worked from 1778 until 1S04. Besides imita-
ting groups of figures, such as the Dresden monkey
orchestra, modelling portrait busts, and copying
bronzes and ivories from the Ducal Museum, the
Furstenberg workmen took for their models subjects
derived from engravings and prints, of which the
factory possessed, according to an inventory made
in 1770, a large collection. From this source
Professor Scherer, of the Brunswick Ducal Museum,
was enabled to identify (in articles contributed to the
Kunstgewerbeblatt for 1S91 and 1892) among the
line collection of Furstenberg figures in his care a
charming figure of Cupid, as copied from E. M.
Falconet (1716-1791) ; a Metamorphosis of Dryope,
copied from Moreau le Jeune (1769) ; and a figure
of Andromeda chained to the rock, copied from a
print by Laurent Cars of a picture of Perseus and
Andromeda by J. L. Lemoyne. The Andromeda
was modelled by Desoches, a Frenchman, who first
appeared at Furstenberg in 1769, and worked there
until 1774. He was a pupil of the sculptor Pierre
Philippe Mignot, who was in his turn a pupil ot
J. L. Lemoyne, so that it is practically certain that
the print ol Lemoyne's picture found its way to the
Furstenberg workshop through Mignot and Desoches.
IS
The Connoisseur
1'lu- present where-
abouts ol the original
painting is unknown,
but a reproduction of
the print (from P.
Mantz's 1 ■ Boh
chtr, Lemoyne, el Na-
toire, 1880) is interesting
as showing how it was
translated into porce-
lain by Desoches.
Professor Scherer, in
tin above- mentioned
article, was only aware
of the existence of the
figure of Andromeda,
but I am enabled, by
the courtesy of the Earl
oi Radnor, to show that
the French modeller was
not content with copy-
ing the plump form ol
Lemoyne's Andromeda,
but also, with consider-
able ingenuity, used the
remainder of the picture
by p 1 a c i n g the flying
figure of Perseus on his
feet by the side of the
dragon, which he is
about to slay with his
uplifted scimitar.
The Perseus group
(which is in Lord
Radnor's collection at
Longford Castle) thus
forms the complement
of the Brunswick Andromeda, and from the shape
of the bases of both groups it is evident that they
were intended to stand side by side and form a
FIGURE OF A
IN THE BRUNSWICK
single reproduction of
the picture. According
to Professor Scherer,
the height of the Andro-
meda is C285 m., which
exactly agrees with that
of the Perseus. When
the two were separated,
and the Perseus found
its way to England, it is
impossible to say. The
first Viscount Folke-
stone a ml h i s succes-
sors, the first and second
Earls of Radnor, were
great art-lovers, as the
magnificent pictures, fur-
niture, plate and china
still preserved at Long-
ford Castle bear witness.
It is therefore probable
that the Perseus, which
must have been pro-
duced between 1769 and
1774, was acquired by
the second Earl (1750-
1828), who succeeded
his father in 1776. To
his successor, the sixth
Earl, who has kindly
allowed the Perseus
group to be photo-
graphed for The
Connoisseuk, a n d to
Professor Scherer, to
whom I am indebted
for much of the infor-
mation in this article, as well as for enabling me to
obtain photographs of the Andromeda, I beg to
express my sincere thanks.
NDROMEDA
DUCAL MUSEUM
l6
THE CITY HALL
The City and County Borough of Cardiff
Part I. By Leonard Willoughby
One won-
ders how many
of those who
know Cardiff
as it is to-day
are acquainted
with its long
story. Perhaps
a few are
aware, though
I fear the great
majority are blissfully ignorant of anything concern"
ing it, beyond the fact that it has mighty docks and
is a colliery centre. Cardiff, as she is now called, is
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD MAYOR OF
CARDIFF, 1912-13 PHOTO SARGENT
a corruption of the words Caer Dydd — the Camp of
Didius. Aulius Didius was he who planted the
standard of Rome at the mouth of the Taff in
the first century. The city to-day is built on the
banks of the river Taff, a mile above its junction
with the estuary of the Severn, known as the Bristol
Channel. Cardiff, which now numbers close on two
hundred thousand souls, has a history which goes
back to very early days. It has always been recog-
nised as the site of an important Roman station,
while tradition even connects the town with Carac-
tacus and the determined resistance of the Silures
to the Roman power. Excavations go to prove
that Cardiff was undoubtedly an early Roman fort,
......
VIEW OF CARDIFF FROM THE WEST, 17/:
FROM THE ENGRAVING BY S. AND N. BUCK
17
llic Connoisseur
THE LADY MAYORESS S CHAIN
founded, so some imagine, by Julius Frontinus, the
Roman general, upon his conquest of Siluria, a.d.
75-7. In later Roman days it was an important
coast fort, which, after their departure, the Welsh
princes of Glamorgan, some of whom bore the title
of king, held as their principal seat of government.
For much of this early history Cardiff is indebted
to the work of excavation undertaken by the late
Marquis of Bute, who then discovered the massive
Roman wall with bastions, and the remains of a great
Roman gateway with guard-room on either side. The
stone fortifications had doubtless subsequently been
buried beneath earth works, on which was placed a
wall enclosing the Roman keep and mediaeval castle.
This ancient castle has indeed played an important
part in the fortunes of Cardiff, for its government was
vested in the hands of the lords and owners of the
castle, down to Tudor days. For three hundred years
the Romans were in power, but as to what happened
after their departure history appears to be a little
vague. It is even uncertain as to who erected the
earthwork fortifications which covered the old Roman
wall. We may assume, however, that during the six
hundred years which elapsed between the going of
the Romans and the coming of the Normans that the
Welsh princes or kings who ruled in Cardiff fought
against the incursion of the Saxons and Danes in
their turn, as did the still earlier inhabitants when the
Romans arrived. This shows that Cardiff was an
important place quite eighteen hundred years ago.
In the eleventh century Glamorgan was conquered
by the Normans under Robert Fitzhamon, and then
became a marcher lordship. Jestyn ap Gwrgan was
reigning prince at the time, and Cardiff was his
iS
The City and Comity Borough of Cardiff
1608
capital ; but Fitzhamon
took his richest lands
for himself and his fol-
lowers, whom he made
under - lords, the lord-
ship itself which he held
being fief of the Crown,
and every manor within
it was held immediately
of the chief lord as of
his Castle of Cardiff.
Cardiff was the capital
of the lordship of Gla-
morgan, and the chief
residence and centre of
THE FOUR MACES
•ytt
I
THE LORD MAYOR S BADGE
19
1608
authority of its lord, who
was in truth little less
than king. The king's
writ did not even run
in his territory, and he
had his own sheriff, his
chancery, his great seal,
his courts civil and
criminal, rights of ad-
miralty and of wreck,
of life and death, and
an ambulatory Council
of Parliament. He
had also jura regalia,
fines,oblations, escheats,
The Connoisseur
PLAN OF CARDIFF, IOIO
FROM SPEED S MAP OF GLAMORGAN
wardships, marriages, and other feudal incidents.
The under-lords, from whom he exacted fealty and
service, built castles for themselves in the county,
and the lords council met
in the great hall of Car-
diff Castle to discuss the
government of the district,
while armed retainers of
the under-lords kept
watch in turn over the
castle. Fitzhamon's son-
in-law was his successor,
and this was Robert Con-
sul, Earl of Gloucester, a
natural son of Henry I.
Robert's marriage with
the greatest heiress of her
time was arranged by her
father with Henry I., who
appears to have done the
wooing part. We are told
by Mr. John Ballinger, in
his Guide to Cardiff, that
the lady's answer was that
she was being wooed
not for herself but for
ARMS OF THE CITY OF CARDIFF, I9O7
her possessions, and that with such a heritage she
ought not to marry any lover unless he had two
names. This drew from the king the promise that
his son should be called
" Robert le Fitz Roy."
On a further inquiryfrom
the lady as to the name
their son is to bear,
' ' Robert, Earl of
Gloucester, his name
shall be, and is, and his
heirs likewise," said the
king — and so it was. It
was Robert, Earl of
Gloucester, that gave
Cardiff its earliest known
grant of municipal privi-
leges, admitting the right
of Welshmen of Glamor-
gan to enjoytheirancient
liberties and customs.
The earl was a warrior, a
statesman, and a scholar,
and he thus gathered
round h i m a brilliant
band of men of letters.
The City and County Borough of Cardiff
To hi m w a S
dedicated the
Historia Briio-
/mm, the chief
work of Geof-
frey of Mon-
mouth, which
work marked
an epoch in the
literary history
of Europe, and
exercised a
powerful influ-
ence.
It was to
Cardiff Castle
that the eldest
son of William
the Conqueror
— Curt hose —
after w as tin g
his fortune and
causing cease-
less trouble to
his family, was
taken prisoner
in I ic6 by the
chaplain of
his brother,
Henry I. He
was kept there
the rest of his
life, after being
confined in the
Tower of London, Devizes, and Bristol. He died
in 1 134 at Cardiff, at the age of eighty. During the
reign of the Lords Marches, revolts were continual
by the Welsh people, and in 1404 one Owain
Glyndwr almost entirely destroyed the town and
castle, burning everything except the White Friars
convent, which he spared, as he had an affection for
the Order.
He robbed the castle and set it in flames, and
when the White Friars petitioned him to return them
their books and chalices, which in their alarm they
had placed in the castle for safety, he replied, " Where-
fore have ye stored your goods in the castle? If ye
had kept them in your house they had been safe."
In r492 most of the houses in Cardiff were in ruins,
and no rent was paid, having remained in this deplor-
able condition for years after the rebels had laid the
town waste. In 1495 tne Power of the Lords Marches
ceased to exist after a period of reign of four hundred
years, the last to hold office being Jasper, Duke of
JOHN. SECOND MARQUIS OF BUTE (I793-1S4S) BY SIR HENRY RAEBURN
Bedford. The
lordship then
reverted to the
king, and after-
wards the pro-
perties attach-
ing were given
to Sir William
Herbert in
1547, and this
included the
lordship of Car-
diff, but not of
Glamorgan. As
Mr. Ballinger
puts it, " The
days of feudal-
ism were past,
the vast powers
wielded by
the Marchers
of Glamorgan
disappeared."
During the
reigns of
Elizabeth and
James I. the
town became
notorious as
the home of
pirates, who
preyed upon
shipping in the
Channel ports.
This brought great discredit on the name of Cardiff,
as many of the inhabitants participated in the spoils.
By then, too, the lords of Cardiff, no longer invested
with power, lost interest in the town, and things
gradually sank and sank to a very low ebb. In 1607,
to make matters worse, a terrible flood did enormous
damage, and it only required the outbreak of the
Civil War to practically complete the ruin.
The town was at first for the royal cause, but the
king appears to have caused much resentment by the
appointment of a governor of the town in place of
the popular Sir Nicholas Kemeys. The king subse-
quently spent a week in Cardiff with a view ot
appeasing the anger of the inhabitants, though with
but small success. Within a month of his departure
the town was captured by the Parliamentarians. A
rally of the Glamorganshire men in the royal cause
ensued, and a march on Cardiff was effected to
capture the castle, but only to meet with a rout. So
Cardiff remained in Cromwell's hands till the end of
The Connoisseur
rsl Civil
War. When,
trou
over
disbanding the
army,theR<
ists in Glamor-
ganshire, taking
advant age ol
this, were quick-
I\ u p in anus
again, and mat*
ters became so
i ious iii South
W ales that
i Iromwell wa s
thoroughly
alarmed. 1 >es-
patchingaforce
of 3,000 trained
soldiers, they
met on March
8111,1648,8,000
Glamorgan ir-
regulars a t St.
Fagans, some
few miles out-
side Cardiff.
The result was
dec i si ve, the
Royalists los-
ing some 3,000
taken prisoners
and over fifty
officers killed. This ended the Civil War in Glamor-
gan. Matters were not bright during the middle of
the seventeenth to the end of the eighteenth century ;
but after this a change commenced, and from this
time forward Cardiff has never looked back. It was
to the discovery of the fact that iron ore could be
melted by mineral fuel which brought the iron-
masters of Kent and Sussex to South Wales. In the
commencement of the eighteenth century the iron-
making industry commenced at Merthyr, the iron
being conveyed to Cardiff on the backs of mules for
shipment. For nearly one hundred years the iron
trade slowly increased till about 1S00, when the
development of coal brought about that which was
destined to make Cardiff the great city she now is.
The population in 1801 was but 1,018, while in
1901 it was 164,333. Thus in one hundred years
the population increased over one hundred and
seventy-six fold — a marvellous growth. The city
now covers an area of S,4oS acres, and is a municipal
ENTRANCE TO THE COUNCIL CHAMBER
borough, a
county bor-
ough, .1 quar-
ter sessions
bo rough, and
an assize town.
In 1 905 it was
created a city
by His Ma-
jesty Kin g
Edward VII.,
the title of Lord
Mayor being
conferred on
its chief magis-
tral e . The
docks are
amongst the
finest in the
United K ing-
dom, and cover
a n area of
.207 acres, and
represent a
capital o I
^8,0 00,000 ;
while in respect
of foreign
clearances it is
the first port
in the United
Kingdom,
With this
brief review of
early events I must suffice, and devote the rest
of the space allotted to me to an account of the
treasures contained within the massive walls of the
City Hall. This fine building was erected in Cathay's
Park, and cost, together with the Law Courts,
which stand close beside it, about ,£260,000. In
the City Hall are the Council Chamber, Reception
Hall, Assembly or Banqueting Hall, Lord Mayor's
Parlour, Deputy Lord Mayor's Parlour, Committee
Rooms, Rooms for Members of the Corporation,
Reading, Writing, and Luncheon Rooms, Depart-
ments for Municipal Officials. It may be said of
Cardiff that everything has been built up and remade
within the last thirty to forty years, for the city was
greatly lacking in buildings prior to this. School and
educational buildings have added materially to the
architecture, while the parks and spaces cover an
area of two hundred and ninety-one acres. Its
institutions, with its Art Gallery and National Museum
(now being erected in Cathay's Park, towards which
LADY CAROLINE HOWARD
PAINTED BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
ENGRAVED BY VALENTINE GREEN
The City and County Borough of Cardiff
the Government is largely contributing), will make
the metropolis of Wales well worth visiting.
The documents relating to Cardiff are not so com-
plete as might be, owing to the fact that for so long
— in fact, to a hundred
years ago — the city was
governed from the castle,
where the documents were
kept. When Cardiff re-
ceived its Charter of In-
corporation as a municipal
authority, with a mayor,
the records of the Cor-
poration were studiously
kept. To these were
added sundry ancient
charters, previously kept
within the castle and other
places. Unfortunately,
these were not complete,
and thus the Corporation
have had to employ outside
assistance in the work ot
completing its history and
records, obtaining the
necessary information and
facts from the British
Museum, Record Office,
and private sources. The
result has been the pro-
duction of five extensive
volumes, which in a com-
prehensive manner deal
with everything connected
with the history of Cardiff.
Of the concrete evidences
which exist, and the
treasures of the Corpora-
tion in the shape of regalia
and plate, I am able,
through the courtesy of the
Town Clerk, to give some
illustrations and descrip-
tion. The collection is
not a large one, though I
find the charters consist of
ireven, the oldest being
that of Hugh le Despenser,
1338. There is also an-
other from him, 1340 ; one
from Edward III., 1359;
one from Henry IV., 140 1 ;
one from Edward IV.,
1465 : one from James I., presented by
1608; and one from Edward VII., 1905. Of the
seals which are interesting, that of William, Earl of
Gloucester, who held the lordship of Cardiff 1147-
11 83, is well preserved. It was the seal of the lord
of Cardiff, who granted
the first charter to Cardiff.
The common seal of the
borough used in 1684 is
interesting, and is described
as "on a pyramidical
mount or cavin of stones,
two lions rampant com-
batant, supporting aloft a
shield of arms three chev-
rons : Town of Cardiff."
Legend in ornamental
letters, " S' Commune de
ICerdif." From this it
would appear that in the
fourteenth century the
common seal of the
borough was a modified
copy of the reverse of the
seal used by Richard de
Clare, Earl of Gloucester
and Hertford, who held
the lordship of Cardiff
1 2 3 o - 1 2 6 2 . A sketch
of this seal — here illus-
trated— is given in the
account of the progress of
Henry, first Duke of Beau-
fort, through Wales, 1684,
as appearing affixed to the
Deed of Surrender of the
Town Charter to the Duke
as Lord President of Wales.
The present common seal
of the borough was first
used in 1608. It is the
Tudor rose with the legend
"Villa Card if," beaded
borders.
The Corporation owns
four maces, two of which
are short and two larger
ones. The small ones are
the oldest, and measure
2ii inches, having semi-
globular heads 31 inches
in diameter and 2 J inches
in depth, crested with
circlets of fleur-de-lis.
The heads are divided by
THE LOVING CUP
THE LATE MARQUIS OF BUTE IN
:89I
25
The c 'onnoisseur
bal uster strips,
nected together at the
top by an prn
m high relief, into four
compartments, contain-
ing alternately an n
rai d sen i] ornament
.unl the words, ville
cardif T h e
shafts, divided into three
lengths, exclusive of the
grips, are quite plain.
The grips arc " bulged
and banded. There
til-marks, but die
date is probably . irca
1608. The two larger
maces are 33 | inches
in length, and are silver.
On the Bat plates at the
topol the head under the
arches of the crowns are the royal arms of William
and Mary within the garter, and crowned with sup-
porters and motto. Around the heads, divided from
each other by demi-figures and foliage, are the rose,
thistle, harp, and fleur-de-lis severally crowned. The
shafts, which are divid-
ed into three lengths by
encircling knops, are
beautifully chased in
double spiral wreaths of
roses, thistles, lilies, and
foliage. Around the
base of one is the
inscription, "Cardiff
Villa, Ex. Dono Johan-
nis Richards, Alder-
man," and on the other,
" Cardiff Villa." Hall-
marks: London 1690-1.
Maker : K, in a shaped shield with a pellet in
base. The Lord Mayor's chain of gold, with the
badge of gold and enamel, consists of forty-seven
links. These are intricate ball-and-twist pattern, and
weigh 30 oz. The badge measures \\ inches by
3! inches, and bears on a shield within an oval
garter the borough arms, the whole surmounted by
a wreath, on the dexter of laurel leaves and berries,
and on the sinister of oak leaves and acorns. On
the garter are the words "Villa Cardif," and the badge
is surmounted by the Prince of Wales feathers. From
SEAL OF WIL1.IAM, EARL OF GLOUCESTER,
LORD OF CARDIFF, I 147
COMMON SEALS OF THE BOROUGH OF CARDIFF
SEAL OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY (USED 16S4)
SEAL NOW IN USE (FIRST USED 160S)
tin- bottom of the badge
hangs a small oval pen-
dant, mi which, on a
ihield, are the anus of
the M arq uis of Bute.
On tin back of the
badge are engraved the
names and dates of
mayors since 1867. The
Lady Mayoress's chain
was added in 1897 to
commemorate the Dia-
mond Jubilee of Queen
Victoria. It is com-
posed of a succession of
shields, heraldic roses,
dragons, goats, and
sea -horses of 18 -carat
gold. The shield, which
occupies the centre of
the chain in front, is
emblazoned in correct heraldic colours with the arms
of the county borough of Cardiff. The chevronels
are of rubies. The shield is surmounted by a mural
crown set in diamonds. Occupying a similar position
at the top of the chain is a pair of leeks in saltire
carrying a shield bear-
ing the arms of Wales,
also surmounted by a
mural crown set with
diamonds. On the sides
of the chain are twelve
shields charged with the
arms of the counties of
Wales. These are all
enamelled in correct
heraldic colours, and
each is surmounted by
the Prince of Wales
plume. Each shield is
supported by either a dragon and goat or a dragon
and a sea-horse. Between the shield is an heraldic
rose, the common seal of the borough. The badge
is of diamonds, and in the centre is a portrait in
enamel of Queen Victoria, surmounting which are the
royal arms enamelled in colours. On either side
are figures typifying poetry and music. Below are
branches in diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, or roses,
thistles, and shamrocks, with the dates 1 837-1897.
The link which joins the badge to the chain consists
of a rose, in the centre of which is a diamond.
26
Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture
By R. L. Mason
" Castle, house, cottage," runs the old
distich, and the words not inaptly describe the trend
of furniture fashions, the shapes and styles seen in
the mansions of
one generation
finding their way
to the abodes of
the farmers and cot-
tagers of the next.
The wheel of
fashion, however,
is ceaseless in its
revolutions : cot-
tages and farm-
houses are being
ransacked of their
contents for the
adornment of
dwellings of high-
er degree; and
oaken dressers,
whose shelves were once filled with the coarse earthen-
ware used for the labourers' beans and bacon, are
now laden with delicate china, forming the centres
of attraction in many a suburban drawing-room.
Though Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture is the
title of Mr. Arthur Hayden's latest contribution to
INTERIOR OF FARMHOUSE PARLOUR
the excellent " Chat6 Series,'' one suspects that the
term is somewhat of a misnomer. The circumstance
of being born in a stable does not convert one into a
horse, so the fact
that many delight-
ful old articles are
now, or rather were,
chiefly to be found
in cottages and
farmhouses, does
not imply that
originally they were
intended for such
humble dwellings.
The bulk of the fur-
niture described by
the author is not of
later origin than the
beginning of the
nineteenth century,
while some of it
dates back to the seventeenth. The former time
synchronises with that of many of the rustic interiors
painted by Morland and his contemporaries. If the
■ Chats on Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture, by Arthur
Ilayilen. (T. Fisher Unwin. 5s. net.)
CRICKET " TABLE
CIRCA I75O
CIRCA I7OO
27
The Connoisseur
quaint corner cupboards,
grandfather's clocks, and
chintz-hung windows had
been among the usual fur-
niture ol a cottage, these
artists would hardly have
tailed to introduce such
picturesque objects in their
canvases : their omission to
do so may be taken as
strong evidence that such
articles were not among the
orthodox possessions of a
cottager. H ow then were
the cottages of the period
furnished? The answer may
be found in such paintings
as the one by Morland,
-.bowing a fashionable lady
paying A Visit to tlie Child
at nurse. Here the furniture
shown is both meagre in
quantity and poor in quality.
What there is of it appears
home - made. The nurse —
a woman, one would think,
of superior station, or else
she would not be entrusted
with her charge — is seated
on the bed, apparently because she has no chair.
The bed itself is a rough wooden structure, supported
on four roughly-shaped posts, rude and substantial
enough to support the stand of a hay-stack, while a
home-made stool, a few baskets, and a single shelf,
high placed on the wall to be out of the way of the
OLIVER GOLDSMITH S CHAIR
children, and holding a few
articles of crockery, consti-
tute all the remainder of
the furniture that is visible.
Tin- cottage — or rather small
farm, for it boasts of at least
two living-rooms — from
which the fai r bu t Ira i 1
Lretitia elopes to join her
lover is a little better fur-
nished; but one doubts
whether any of the pieces
portrayed would be orna-
mental enough to illustrate
in Mr. Hayden's volume.
There are, however, some
interesting objects to be
found depicted in the old
prints. One of these is the
hour-glass, the precursor of
the grandfather's clock,
which Wheatley not unfre-
quently introduces. The
same artist, too, whose cot-
tage interiors appear more
amply furnished than those
of Morland, being generally
of a slightly later date,
occasionally introduces a
warming-pan, of which utensil Mr. Hayden gives
several interesting examples. But warming-pans were
by no means indigenous to either cottage or farm-
house ; their use was probably introduced from the
towns, and in all likelihood many of the older
specimens now picked up in country districts have
FIREGRATE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
28
Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture
drifted there after
they have ceased
to be fashionable
in the former places.
Of chairs, the ladder-
back with rush seat
appears to be the
favourite type. Mr.
Hayden tells us
that this ladder-
back type belongs
to the North of
England, its "real
home and place of
origin " ; but the
fact that he also
informs us that
this type is still
to be found on the
Continent, and its constant introduction in eighteenth-
century prints, would lead one rather to infer that
it first appeared in the South and subsequently be-
came localised in the North. These ladder-backed
rush-bottomed chairs evidently must have enjoyed a
long period of general popularity with the poorer
classes, for specimens of them appear in almost every
picture of a humble interior through the latter half
of the eighteenth century. The heroine of Hogarth's
Harlot's Progress — painted in 173 1 — has one by
PINEWOOD COUNTRY-MADE ADAM TABLE
her bedside in the
scene depicting her
arrest, while Mor-
land, Ward, and
Wheatley frequently
introduce what is
practically the same
type in their works
painted from fifty to
eighty years later.
This variety, Mr.
Hayden tells us,
was superseded by
the Windsor chair
— so called from
George III. order-
ing one for his own
use for Windsor
Castle. This held
its own in country places until within living memory.
One sees them occasionally introduced in Morland's
pictures, not in peasants' cottages, but as belonging
to people of a better class. It is interesting to
remember that Oliver Goldsmith's chair, now in the
Bethnal Green Museum, belongs to this type, which
was as much used in the town as in the country.
Mr. Hayden states that " the study of old farm-
house and cottage furniture has not been pursued in
this country in so scientific a manner as in Sweden
"^■ii 1 mo— -am
OAK CHAIR, WITH CRESTING
RAIL OF CHARLES II. PERIOD
DETAINED
OAK CHAIR, WITH ELABORATION
IN TURNED LEGS AND UPRIGHTS OF
WILLIAM AND MARY PERIOD RETAINED
OAK CHAIR, WITH SUNK SEAT
FOR SQUAB, SHOWING TRANSITION
FROM LATH BACK TO SPLAT BACK
29
The Connoisseur
and Denmark," and urges that the authorities
should take action, before it is too late, by
erecting a series ol typical farmhouses. One
raid that the result would not be so satis-
factory as in the northern kingdoms. In the
latter agriculture has always been the chief pur-
suit, and consequently the prevailing fashions
in furniture have been largely dominated by
prevailing in the agricultural districts.
In England, on the other hand, since civilized
furniture has come into VOgue, the town has
dominated the country ; the landed gentry have
taken theii fashions second-hand from London,
and their tenantry have followed suit. Thus
ili' articles specially appertaining to country
and farmhouse life are few in number, and
even of these not a few can trace an urban
ancestry. The spinning-wheel is one of the
most typical objects in old English country life,
BIBLE BOX OF R\RE PATTERN, ABOUT 165O
but the spinning-wheel was also in use anion
great ladies, and the most beautiful specimens
not from the cottage, but the hall. Rush-
light holders were characteristic cottage
utensils, until they were replaced by
candlesticks, the rushlight being the
precursor of the common dip candle,
which now in its turn has been almost
wholly superseded by wax. The rush-
light was merely a thin rush stripped of
its surface, so that only the inner white
pith remained, and then dipped into
melted tallow until it was well soaked and
coated. It could not stand upright, and
had to be supported by a holder arranged
with jaws capable of clasping it at any
point. These holders were invariably
made of iron, and are more interesting
as curiosities than as ornaments. More
beautiful were the old sand-moulded fire-
backs, which, if not wholly confined to
Sussex — the great iron-making county of
England until well on in the seventeenth
the
come
PRIMITIVE GATE-LEG TABLE MADE BY A LOCAL CARPENTER
century — are chiefly to be found there.
In the sixteenth century a considerable
number were made, some with the royal
arms and with the royal cypher, "E.R.,"
and bearing dates and sometimes
makers' names. The earliest type was
stamped with the fleur-de-lys or with
portions of twisted cable to form some
sort of a design. A later pattern is the
" Royal Oak," showing an oak tree sur-
mounted with three crowns and having
the initials " C.R." placed below. This is, of course,
commemorative of the escape of Charles II. and his
UNIQUE DRESSER AND CLOCK COMBINED
IN THE COLLECTION OF D. A. BEVAN, ESQ.
Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture
LADDER-BACK CHAIRS WITH RUSH SEATS
concealment in the oak tree. Later came
the Dutch influence, resulting in the intro-
duction of a higher and narrower type,
with designs of a more ornate character,
generally representing scriptural and
mythological subjects. Other articles
appertaining to the fire were chimney
cranes, the swing - arm variety of which
is still to be found in many a farmhouse
kitchen, and the now practically obsolete
pot-hook type, which hung from the chim-
ney by a chain, a catch, which might be
raised or lowered, being suspended from
its teeth. Cake-burners, resembling
thick frying-pans, having lids to protect
the dough from the flames, served as a primitive
substitute for an oven, the instrument being held
over the smouldering ashes until its contents were
baked. Kettle-trivets are sometimes to be found
in cottages, but are by no means indigenous, being
commonly in use in better-class houses both in
town and country until quite recently.
Indigenous articles of cottage furniture are ex-
tremely few, most of the desirable pieces of furni-
ture belonging to the present generation of cottages
having been gradually accumulated as they were
discarded from the houses of the wealthier classes.
The village wheelwright might attempt some of
the plainer articles of furniture, such as the more
primitive types of table and the practically un-
decorated types of oaken cradles, but one fancies
that anything of a more ambitious nature which
was not imported from London would come from
TYPES OF COTTAGE CHAIRS IN OAK
LANCASHIRE SPINDLE-BACK CHAIRS
the cabinet-makers in the country towns.
Their customers were not so much tenant
farmers, but provincial merchants, pro-
fessional men, and all but the larger land-
holders — people often of considerable
substance, but who, like Squire Hard-
castle, were content to have their fur-
niture "antique but creditable," and rarely
if ever paid a visit to the metropolis.
The larger country inns — not the road-
side tavern of the "Three Pigeons"
type, but those more of the standing of
the "Castle Inn" at Marlborough —
would also be furnished from these pro-
vincial firms. So that most of what is
now popularly termed cottage and farm-
house furniture was really originally
destined for abodes of superior standing.
In Mr. Hayden's well-written book he
The Connoisseur
favourite tables in the country were of
gate-legged types, and among these
may be found examples so rudely con-
structed as evidently to owe their origin
to a village carpenter. In some parts
of the country distinctive types were
used, as, for instance, the "cricket"
tables peculiar to Hertfordshire,
Bedfordshire, Cambridge, and Essex,
supposedly so called because their
legs were suggestive of cricket stumps.
Possibly the name originates from the
earlier variety of cricket, more com-
monly known as stool-ball, in which a
small stool was used instead of wickets,
the forms of the tables being similar to
SUSSEX IRON FIREBACK
FIRST HALF OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY
describes the styles and periods of this
country-made furniture accurately and
in an instructive manner. Its makers
fashioned their pieces in a more solid
and substantial manner than the town
craftsmen, whose styles they imitated,
often after the lapse of many years.
They disregarded the fashions for
special woods shown at different
epochs, most commonly using oak, but
otherwise any other wood that hap-
pened to be accessible, and thus we
have such unusual combinations as
an Adam table in pine wood. The
ORIGINAL WOODEN PATTERNS FROM WHICH FIREBACKS WERE
MADE, AT ASHBURNHAM. SUSSEX
SUSSEX IRON FIREBACK
LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
the stools. Belonging to an earlier
date are the bible boxes, which
first appeared in the times of the
Puritans. Many other curious and
uncommon types of furniture
might be mentioned, none perhaps
more unique than the combination
of clock and dresser, of which an
illustration is given. Readers who
wish to study the subject more
thoroughly cannot do better than
consult Mr. Hayden's handy vol-
ume, which, compact, well written
and profusely illustrated, is as
good a guide as one could wish
to have.
X
u
X
OTES
gjUERigj
[The Editor invites the assistance of readers
information required by Correspondents .]
Unidentified Painting (19).
Dear Sir, — I enclose herewith photograph for
insertion in your " Notes and Queries " pages of your
magazine. The original canvas of this painting
measures S ft. by 4 ft. 6 in. It represents Bacchus
and Ariadne on the island of Naxos, with accom-
panying band of nymphs, satyrs, etc., including the
drunken god Silenus seated on an ass. The picture
also shows the golden crown presented to Ariadne by
Bacchus when she became his bride. I am anxious
to ascertain the name of the painter of this picture.
Yours truly, Otto Popper.
Unidentified Painting (No. 13).
November, 191 2.
Dear Sir, — There is a print of this at Coolmore
(Major J. H.Connellan's),Thomastown, co. Kilkenny.
It has no title, but underneath it is stated that the
picture was painted by Frederick Taylor, R.W.S.
(curious, as the picture (No. 13) is an oil-painting),
of The Connoisseur who may be able to impart the
and engraved by H. T. Ryall, historical engraver to
the Queen. Yours faithfully, F. W. S.
Drawings by Rossini.
Dear Sir, — I have lately come across some
rather nice architectural etchings of full size, by
"Rossini, 1822," whose name does not appear in
Bryan. Can Connoisseur help to solve problem ?
Italian scenes. Yours faithfully, R. C W.
Unidentified Painting (14). November, 191 2.
Sir, — The original of the picture St. Agnes with
the Lamb is by Carlo Dolci. I have a specially fine
copy by an Italian artist, which was bought by my
father about 1S38 or '39. My picture differs slightly
from that in The Connoisseur. The face is far
prettier ; the lamb is looking at St. Agnes, and is
in a totally different position. I should say E. C.
Masters' copy was not accurate. My picture is on
canvas, and is beautiful. C. Hippisley.
(19) unidentified painting
35
The Connoisseur
(20) unidentified painting
Unidentified Painting (20).
Dear Sir,— I am sending you under separate
cover a photograph of a painting in my possession.
It was bought originally in Italy, about the year
1840, and brought to this country, where it was
placed in a private collection. Since that time it
has come into my possession, and I am very anxious
to find out who the artist might be and who the
subject is. The canvas is about i\ by i\ feet.
I will greatly appreciate any information on this
subject.
Yours very truly, Edgar Ames.
Unidentified Picture (No. 13).
November, 191 2.
Dear Sir, — Amongst the unidentified pictures
given in your last issue, there is one (No. 13) which
is exactly like one I had (and know where it is now),
and the lettering below is as follows : —
Painted by Frederick Taylor, Member of the Society of
Water-Colours.
Engraved by H. T. Ryall, Artist to the Queen.
From ihe original drawing in his collection
to
l: njamin Hick, Esq., of Bolton, this Engraving of the Morning
of the Chase at Haddon Hall in the days of yore is respectfully
inscribed by the publishers, Henry Grave & Co.
The size of the actual engraving is 34 in. by 32 in.,
with about 4 in. margin.
1 recognised the picture at once. Haddon Hall
is quite close to Bakewell. The building is correct,
and the persons on the picture appear to be making
a fuss owr a young lady on the white horse, which,
I expect, is meant for the famous Dorothy Vernon,
daughter of one of the Lords of Haddon. You no
doubt have heard of the romantic elopement with
|ohn Manners. If not, 1 can send you a book
written by the late Duchess of Rutland which partly
describes 1 bullion in former days.
1 am, yours truly, J. Smith.
Unidentified Painting (21).
Dear Sir, — I enclose herewith a photograph
of an unidentified picture for insertion in " Notes
and Queries." The size of the canvas in 26 in. by
28 in. It belongs to me, and it has been in the
possession of my family more than 150 years, and is
supposed to have been painted by a great I Hitch artist.
The picture is very fine and delicate, the hair of the
figure light blond. She is in blue-black dress, painted
on dark-grey ground. Can you or anyone of your
readers inform me of the name of the painter ?
I am, faithfully yours, Arpad Deak.
Unidentified Painting (22).
Dear Sir,— Will you very kindly insert in The
Connoisseur the photo of an old oil-painting which
(2l) UNIDENTIFIED PAINTING
36
Notes and Queries
1 possess ? The paint-
ing was the property
of a local flax mer-
chant, and had been in
the possession of his
family for 130 years. It
was brought from the
Continent. The canvas
is 40 in. by 27 in., and
perhaps some of your
contributors might be
able to identify same.
It has been attributed
to Franz Hals by a local
critic.
I am, yours respectfully,
John Brown.
Unidentified
Portrait (i).
September, 1912.
1 (ear Sir, — Re the
request signed " M.B."
in connection with the
unidentified portrait
No. 1 in your Septem-
ber, 191 2, issue, I wish
to say that I believe the
person represented to be
no other than jeanne d'albert, queen of navarre,
and mother of Henry IV. of France. The costume is
that of the period, and the essential features are very
like those shown in the earlier and probably idealised
engraved portrait in Imbert de Saint Amand's Valois
Court.
Respectfully yours,
H. Hager.
Unidentified Painting (No. 15).
November, 19 12.
•Sir, — From rough observation, I should say it
might be the work of Nicholas Poussin (French) or
by one of his pupils, much after the style of one
I 'had. H. P. R.
Unidentified
Painting (14).
November, 191 2.
Dear Sir, — I am a
subscriber to The Con-
noisseur, and in reply
to the enquiry of Miss
Emily C. Masters in your
November, 191 2, issue,
I beg leave to send you
the following announce-
ment, which explains
itself: —
Yours truly, Belle
Cameron Thom.
" We beg to call the
) UNIDENTIFIED PAINTING
attention of the art-
lovers of California to
this picture from the
brush of one of the
greatest of Italy's Old
Masters. Carlo Dolci
was celebrated for his
religious paintings, and
St. Agues is an ex-
quisite and rare example
of his work. He
is represented in the
chief galleries of the world, but never before has a
painting of such importance been placed tor sale in
Los Angeles, or, in fact, in California.
" The picture originally came to this country in the
possession of a French gentleman, and passed from
his hands into the collection of a well-known connois-
seur ; there it remained for almost fifty years, when it
again changed owners, and has now been entrusted to
us for disposal.
" It will be on exhibition in our galleries for a
limited time only, and we extend a cordial invitation
to those interested to call and inspect this valuable
painting."
Kanst Art Gallery,
642, South Spring Street, Los Angeles, California.
A REMARKABLE example of the old Knglish rolled
paperwork described in the last October number of
The Connoisseur is now to be
Old English seen ;n the victoria and Albert
^oIIed , Museum, the gift of Mr. W. A.
raperwork
Propert. '1 he donor, who has a
number of fine specimens of similar technique, selected
this as being the best in his collection for presentation
to the Museum.
'The work, which
is entirely ot
rolled paper en-
riched with gold
and colour, is
executed with
great skill and
ingenuity, and
the result is
highly decora-
tive. The arms
are those of
Queen Anne,
and as an ex-
ample of English
craftsmanship of
the early eigh-
teenth century,
the object is
one of consider-
able value and
interest.
Clepsydra, or
Water-Clock
Mr.F. J. Brit-
ten tells us in
his most valuable
work, Old Clocks
iiiid Watches and
OLD ENGLISH ROLLED PAPERWORK
their Makers, that one of the very earliest ways of
measuring time was by the flow of water, and gives
several interesting illustrations of the various methods
in which this was carried out. We are also told that
there was a revival of these instruments in the early
years of the seventeenth century. As the sun-dial
has remained with us long after its use as a time-
recorder was necessary, so I presume the manufacture
of the water-
clock may have
lingered in the
same way.
Th e c lock
here illustrated
1 recently added
to my collection.
It measures
2 feet 9 inches
in height and
io inches across
the face of the
dial. The cis-
tern holds about
one q u art o f
water. On the
top of the
water rests the
float. At the
bottom of the
cistern (hi dd en
from view be-
hind the in-
scription plate)
is a very small
tap, from which
the water drips
into the tank.
As the water falls
in the cistern.
Notes
WATER-CLOCK
FRONT VIEW
the float descends and causes the pointer to revolve
round the dial. The face of the dial is numbered for
twenty-four hours, and on an outer rim will be seen
the signs of the Zodiac. When the water has all
passed from the cistern to the tank, the latter has to
be unhooked, emptied, and a fresh supply of water
put into the cistern. The diffi-
culty is to adjust the tap so that
the water does not drip out too
quickly. The clock goes about
forty hours without refilling. The
supports of the dial are of oak,
and interlacing scroll-work is
carved on the face of the up-
rights. On either side of the
supports is bolder interlacing
and the figure of a monk. The
inscription reads : —
" Tyme is Swift
Dave Cartlidge of ye
Towne of Rutherglen, 1652."
Maberly Phillips, F.S.A.
Dr. Fingland sends
some further information on
" Stay Busks,"
"Stay Busks" as iUustrated in
The Connoisseur for October,
p. 117.
Maze Sender, " Le Livre des
Collectionneurs," p. 737, et seq.
Les Buses de Corsage were
made in steel, ivory, varnished
and stained woods, silver-gilt
covered with devices, ornaments,
allegorical designs engraved in
black, which served to support
the high corsages and give the
figure certain advantages. Mine.
de Villedieu has composed upon
the Busk, under the title of
" Gallanterie," a poem, very
clever, printed with her Carrou-
sel de Monsigneur le Dauphin,
1672.
"Qu'il hereux de tout costez,
I.e bois leger que vous portez ;
Et que son office admirable
Devrait paroitre desirable,
Aux galans les plus fortunez,
(Hi 'amour ait jamais couronnez ;
D'ailleurs, de ce bois -an merite,
La fortune est elle petite,
Quant a la main vous le tenez,
Et qu' avec lui vous badinez,
Car la beaute la plus devine,
Avec son busc, souvent badine,
Et le badinage a des gouts
Tout a fait ravissants et doux ;
L'autre bout qui regatde en bas,
Couvre certains lieux pleins d'appas,
Que 1'on pent mieux penser que dire,
Et qu'il fame joliment d'ecrire."
WATER-CLOCK
SIDE VIEW
39
The Connoisseur
On the
GLASS TODDY LIFTER
The Collection of Busks of Mme.Jubinalde St. Albin.
i. C •.'<•' de bois, pont d'eau, bete que fuit est chatiee.
(Zini, 1556.)
2. Fer grave, man in armour, conducting a car
drawn by two lions : on the other side a woman nude,
transfixed with an arrow, then this quatrain:—
" J'ai de ma dank- celte grace,
D'estre Mir son sein longuement.
D'011 jottys sospirer un araant.
Qui vouldrait bien tenir la plao
3. Triangular Busk in ivory, engraved designs,
thn-e medallions accompanied with mottoes. 1st,
Two hearts enflammes — "L'amour les joint." 2nd,
Two hearts transfixed with an arrow — " Elles nous
unit." 3rd, A flower like a sun — " Vous voir, ou
mourn.' 1 ( ommencement of seventeenth century.)
4. Black Busk of Anne of Austria. First, device
under L'Amour. " Plus redoutable que la foudre."
Second, Justice— " Equite." Third, under her por-
trait— " Soyez moi bono sujets, je vous serai
bon prince. Plutot montrer que perdre." Fourth,
" \"ertu, bonte, sagesse suivent cette princesse."
Fifth, "Si la loi manque, l'amour pcrira.
other side are the following lines :
" |e 5uis ce beau busc curieux,
Aussi chaque ieune amoureux,
VIi baise avec force tendressc,
Je sei 3 de divertissement,
] t 111:1 place ovdinairement,
Est sin le coeut de ma maitresse."
5. Device on the Busk of the Grande Mademoiselle,
" Suit que je v ive ou que je meure,
fe \ eux que mon 1 01 m •<■•" demeun ,
Mes yeux a tous, mon coeur a vous,
La tendresse el la foi Mir tout,
Combien je i">il envie an bonheur qui le suit,
Etendu mollemenl sui ce blanc sein d'ivoire,
Partagons entre nous, ->'il le plait cette gloire ;
In v Mm, n jour ei gi sere la nun."
6. Busk, Louis XIII., a poignard, en marqueterii
de bois violette et ivoire.
7. Busk, Louis XIII, en vermeil, cisele, surmonti
d'une couronne royale.
S. Busk, Louis XIII, eighteenth century. Di
musicienne, en ivoire, presenting engraved ornament
illustrating music, and a heart pierced with an arroi
placed on a " bonne foi," deux mains qui se tienneni
For want of a better name 1 call the little bottl
here shown a " Toddy Lifter," for tha
"Toddy really was its use. It was recentl
given me by a friend living near th
borders of Scotland. It is glass, 6 inches high, an
BOTTLING PROTECTOR
40
Notes
will hold about a wine-glassful of liquid. It is pretty
well known that when a Scotsman brewed himself a
" rummer" of whisky and water, it was, and probably
still is, the custom to ladle out a wine-glassful of the
steaming liquid, which was handed to his better half
or other lady friend as her portion.
The little bottle here illustrated obviated the use of
the toddy ladle. It has a very small hole at the top,
and a rather larger one at the bottom. When the
gentleman wished to fill the lady's glass he plunged
the bottle into the rummer, where it would speedily
fill from the bottom hole. Then placing his forefinger
over the top hole so as to exclude the air, he would
lift the bottle over the lady's glass and remove his
finger, when the air pressure would cause the liquid
to flow from the bottom hole. These bottles may
still be in use, but it is the only one I have met with.
Further information would be interesting.
The protector here shown is made of very stout
leather, shaped to cover a quart bottle up to the
neck. A strong iron runs round the
Bottling bottom, from which project two spurs.
It stands 9}- inches high, and the base,
including the spurs, measures 1 1 inches. When draw-
ing a cork the bottle would be placed on the ground,
FRENCH WRITING BUREAU
LOUIS XVI. TABLE WITH ORMOLU MOUNTS
and the protector put over it. The operator, by
placing a foot on each spur, would be in an excellent
position to draw the most obstinate cork. Should
the bottle burst during the operation, the hand of
the drawer was fully protected. For bottling wine or
beer the bottle would be put on a table, the protector
placed over, when the hardest cork could be driven
home with perfect safety to the operator.
Louis XVI. Table
The small French lady's writing table illustrated is
of Louis XVI. period, the ground-work being of tulip-
wood, finely inlaid with coloured woods in floral
design, ormolu mounts and banding. Size, iS in. by
13 in.
The French writing bureau illustrated is on shaped
legs ; the drawer has a writing slide and a small stamp-
drawer at end. The bottom part
French Writing js enclosed wi,h two slidillg shutters,
and top part has two sliding shutters
enclosing six drawers, all beautifully inlaid in diaper
design on a tulip-wood background. Loth the above
pieces are in the possession of Mr. Roger Ford, of
Bristol.
4>
The Connoisseur
Our Plates
Pierri Etienni Falconer was among the few
mporuries. nt" Reynolds who did not fall undei
tin- influence of that master. Horn
in France and of French parentage,
his technique and palette belong rather to his native
country than that of his adoption. This is instanced
in his charming Portrait of a Lady, signed and dated
1771. and possibly the work exhibited under the
same title at the Society ol Artists of that year. The
simple yet finished handling, and the pure, cool,
transparent, and harmonious colour, derive their
origin from the art of Watteau, and show a close
affinity to that of Gainsborough and of Ramsay and
5, as exemplified in some of their finer works.
The painting, which is now at the Edward Gallery
I King Street, St. James's), was formerly in the collec-
tion of the late John Bower, Esq., of West Dean
Park, Chichester. The Coming of Spring, by Mr.
Charles Sims, A.R.A., was described on page 193 of
the November number of The Connoisseur ; while
./ Gleaner's Child, from the plate in colours by
M. Bovi, after Richard Westall, is the companion to
The Reaper's Child, reproduced in the December
number. The original picture was exhibited at
the Royal Academy in 1795. The plates of Lady
Caroline Howard and Miss Sarah Campbell, both
l'\ Valentine Green, after Sir Joshua Reynolds, are
reproduced from choice first -state proofs in the
collection ol Mr. Fritz Reiss.
Books Received
Art in Egypt, by 1 >. Maspero, 6s. net; The Technique of
Painting, by C. Moreau-Vauthier, 10s. 6<1. net; Great
Engravers: Bartolotti, 2S. 6d. net. (W. Heinemann.)
The Engravings 0/ William Blake, by Archibald (i. K. Russell,
M.A., 25s. net. (Granl Richards.)
Metalwork and Enamelling, by Herbert Maryon, 7s. 6d. net.
(Chapman S Hall.)
The Cottagei and the Village Life of Rural England, by P, 11.
DitchBeld, M.A. (J. M. Dent & Sons.)
. / History of Painting in North Italy, ; vi >ls. , edited I ly Tancred
Borenius, Ph.D., ,£3 3s. net. (John Murray.)
Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters, 2 vols., by C. II. Collins
Baker, £7 7s. ami £6 6s. ; The King who knew not
Fear, by ( >. R., 5s. net. (Philip Lee Warner.)
Austria : Her People and their Homelands, by James Baker,
21s. net; The Van Eycks ami their Art, by W. II.
James Weale ami M. \V. Brockwell, 12s. 6d. net.
(John Lane.)
The English Fireplace, by L. A. Shuffrey, £2 2s. net. (B. T.
Batsford.)
History of Ola Sheffield Plate, by Frederick Bradbury, £2 2s.
net. (Macmillan.)
The McClean Bequest in the Fitzwilliam Museum : Catalogue
of Manuscripts, by Montague Rhodes James, Litt.l).,
etc., 25s. net : and Catalogue of Medieval Ivories,
Enamels, etc., by O. M. Dallon, M.A., 7s. 6d. net.
(Cambridge University Press.)
the pottery and glass trades benevolent institution banquet, november icjth, icii2
[photo fradelle and young
42
The Solon
Collection
BY far the most interesting ceramic sale held during
the month was that of the collection of pottery and
porcelain belonging to Mr. L. M.
Solon, dispersed by Messrs. Charles
Butters and Sons on November 26th,
27th, and 28th, at their premises, Trinity Buildings,
Hanley. A full account of this collection is contained
in two articles which appeared in the issues of THE
CONNOISSEUR for December, 1901, and February,
1902. It was almost entirely confined to pre- YVedg wood
English pottery, of which it contained a unique series of
examples. It was the accumulation of forty years' search
for characteristic pieces made by a ceramic artist of
rare ability who possessed an unexcelled knowledge of
the wares he collected. The three days' sale included
683 lots, which realised an aggregate of .£5,849. A full
list of all the individual items and their prices will be
included in the next issue of "Auction Sale Prices."
Among the most interesting lots disposed of on the
first day was a Thomas Toft slip dish, inscribed with
the potter's name, and decorated in brown, red, and
yellow slips, with the figure of a cavalier drinking a toast
(diam., 165 in.). The opening bid was £100, and it was
finally knocked down for £i~o. A similar dish, with
a lady holding a flower, inscribed, " Ralph Oft " (sic)
(diam., 17 in.), brought £145. Other slip dishes included
the following : — Dish with brown slip decoration over a
moulded pattern, head of Charles II. (diam., 14 in.), £31 :
octagonal dish, with pomegranate ornaments, brown
slip on a raised pattern (diam., 14 in.), early eighteenth
century, Staffordshire, £30 ; another of the same style,
inscribed, "Remember Loth's Wife" (diam., 14 in.),
£y> ; and one with yellow ground with floral decoration
(diam., 16 in.), Staffordshire, £33.
Among old English customs was the presentation of
a cradle made of clay or some more precious materials
STAFFORDSHIRE TYG
SOLON SALE, ^IOO
43
The Connoisseur
to happy pan
on tlir occasion ol
the birth of th( ir
lirst child. Several
e .1 r t h o n \\ a r e
cradles, which owed
their origin to this,
realised sums vai j
ing from ,£65 to .£4,
the former being
llcdfol .1 .pi 1
men in yellow ware
irated in brown
slip, inscribed,
" William Smith,
1 "00; M art h a
Smith, M.S."
(height, - , in. ;
length, 1 5 i in. .
S t a ("for dshire.
Another, in yellow
clay, inscribed in
1 iwn slip, '• Ralph
Simpson" length,
10 in.), brought
,£30 ; and a third,
in brown clay, also
inscribed, and
dated 1725 (length,
9 in.), £33. A fine
posset pot with
three handles, de-
corated in brown
and yellow slip, in-
scri bed, " Mary
Shiffiibottom,i705"
height, 7 in. ; diam., S| in.), Staffordshire, just attained
the dignity of three figures; while another, with cover
and two handles and two spouts, similarly decorated,
inscribed, and dated 1714 (height, 9$ in. ; diam., 8| in.),
brought ,£90 ; and a third of the same character, with
two handles and one spout, inscribed, and dated 171 1
(height, 5j in. ; diam., 7.! in.), brought ,£50. A four-
handled tyg of brown ware, decorated in yellow slip,
shape of a drinking glass (height, 9 in. ; diam., 8£ in.),
supposed to be of Welsh origin, brought ^65 ; another,
with black ground, inscribed in yellow slip, " Margaret
Colley, 1684" (height, 6| in. ; diam., 7J in.), Staffordshire,
,£So ; and a third, of red clay with ornamented cover,
upon yellow bands glazed in green, inscribed, " John
Hughes, N.B., 1690," ,£100. A jug of yellow clay,
decorated in brown slip with a peacock, etc., dated 1704
(height, 9 in.), sold for ,£50 ; and a teapot with slip
decoration in red and black (height, with cover, S3 in. ),
Staffordshire, ^35.
The highest-priced item on the second day — or, indeed,
during the whole sale — was furnished by a piece of white
ware touched up with brown, representing two figures
in late seventeenth-century costume seated on a bench
(height, 5 in.). This was obviously the fancy work of
PORTOBELI.O DRINKING MUG
some clever crafts-
man, and not made
for the trad.'. After
a spii ited compi I
tion it fell to a bid
of £205, going, it
is understood, to
New Zealand. A
highly - finished
water - ewer, with
enamelled decora-
tion; in the pseudo-
Chinese style
(height, 8i in.), be-
longing to the same
set as a wash-hand
basin in the Schrie-
b e r Collection,
brought .£100. It
is supposed to be
the work of the
Dutch painters es-
tablished in Burs-
lem towards 1750.
A cruet-stand with
four bottles, clever-
ly enamelled in the
Chinese style with
conventional flow-
ers (diam., 7 in. I,
brought ,£62 ; and
a figure of a bird
decorated with
patches of brown
slip and dots of
dark blue (height,
7 in.), ,£37- There were a numerous array of teapots
and covers, of which the following fetched the highest
prices : — One of globular shape, maroon ground, with
reserved medallions painted with flowers and birds
(height, 4! in.), ,£47; another, same shape, enamelled
with the portrait of the King of Prussia (height, 3j in.),
,£36 ; another, same shape, green ground with a diaper
of yellow, red, and blue enamelled lines, forming squares
(height, 3 in.), £32 ; another, cylindrical shape, turquoise
ground enamelled with pink roses (height, 2 J- in.), ,£33 ;
and another, four-lobed shape, enamelled with pseudo-
Chinese decoration (height, j,\ in.), ,£30. A drinking
mug and cover with figure of Admiral Vernon, inscribed,
" G. R. Portobello, taken by Admiral Vernon " (height,
9 in. 1, ,£110; a cylindrical mug bearing coats of arms
and the subject of Hogarth's Midnight Conversation
(height, 7 j in.), .£50; cubic tea-caddy, enamelled with
pastoral scenes, and inscribed, " Fine Bohea Tea" (height,
5 in.), ,£41 ; a figure of Queen Anne, stained with rubbing
of blue glaze (height, Ji in.), ,£50; and four tiles, with
subjects in relief (size, 5 in.), from a mantelpiece in
Whieldon's own house, ,£32.
An untoward incident in the third day's proceed-
ings was the breakage by a visitor of one of the most
SOLON sale, £110
44
/// the Sale Room
TOFT DISH
interesting' pieces in the
sale. This was a double-
handled drinking-cup in
the shape of a satyr's
head, in cream-coloured
ware touched with colour-
ed -lazes (height, 5} in.).
This, in its damaged con-
dition, brought £\o 10s.
A jug, cream-colour, with
applied stems, foliages,
and rosettes, clouded
glazes, inscribed. " K. H.
(Ralph Hammersley),
1757'' (height, ~h in.),
interesting as being one
of the few pieces of pot-
tery known to be, with-
out doubt, of Whieldon's
manufacture, brought
^70 ; a small figure of a
man playing the hunt-
ing-horn, coloured glazes
(height, 6 J in.), .£30 ; and another of a man seated
and drinking, coloured glazes, ^36 ; a Toby jug, tor-
toiseshell ware, the figure holding in his hands a pot
of red clay (height, c,i in.,) ,£60 ; and a teapot and
cover, four-lobed shape, perforated out-casting, Chinese
pattern in relief, touched up with coloured glazes (height,
4i in.), ^75-
THOUGH the winter season commenced later than
usual this year, the first picture sale at Christie's not
being held until November 22nd, already
Pictures some noteworthy prices have been
realised, though these appertain more
to ceramic art than to pictorial. The sale already
alluded to comprised old and modern pictures and
drawings from the collection of Admiral Sir Michael
Culme-Seymour, Bart., and other sources. Only two
pictures, both by J. van Goyen, reached the dignity of
three figures. These were A River Scene, with Peasants,
Ducks, and Boats, signed with initials and dated 1642, on
panel, 21 in. by 17 in., which brought ,£241 10s., and
an unsigned example, The Mouth of a River, with
Sailing Boats, on panel, 15 in. by 235 in., which realised
the same amount.
The modern pictures and drawings belonging to John
Gibbons, Esq., Thomas Bartlett, Esq., deceased, and
from other sources, included several examples of the early
Victorian period, which, considering the present unpopu-
larity of such works, brought good prices. The Village
Pastor, l'i>\ in. by 53J in., exhibited by W. P. Frith, R.A.,
at the Royal Academy in 1S45, brought ,£504; and The
Glovers, J'aris, 24' in. by 20J in., painted by the same
artist in the same year, .£,120 15s. Defoe receiving back
the Manuscript of Robinson Crusoe, 384 in. by 52 in., by
E. M. Ward, R.A., which was exhibited in 1849, brought
£157 10s. ; The Mussel Gatherers, 35 in. by 53 in., by
W. Collins, R. A., £\ 52 5s. ; A Cornfield, 20 in. by 30 in.,
by J. Linnell, sen., ,£168;
A Farmyard, 28 in. by
36 in., by ]. F. Herring,
sen., 1S50, ,£136 10s. ; and
a portrait of Charles
Dickens in the Character
of Captain Bobadil, 2'?'.]
in. by 36^ in., by C. R.
Leslie, R.A., despite its
unirnpugned authenticity,
only realised £z\. A
portrait of John Philip
Kemble, the actor, in dark
green coat and vest with
white stock, 29J in. by
24! in., by Sir Thomas
Lawrence, brought ,£420.
Among the more modern
works were the follow-
ing:— The Rising Moon,
23J in. by 3 5 i in., by
Sir Alfred East, A.R.A.,
,£105 ; Katie, 24-J in. by
19ft in., by G. F. Watts, R.A., ,£i 1 5 10s. ; Orpheus charm-
ing the Lions, 43 in. by 66 in., by J. M. Swan, R.A., ^£630 ;
and Oxford, from Iffley, 50 in. by 84 in., by Vicat
Cole, R.A., ,£252.
SOI.ON SALE
£l/0
China,
Furniture,
Tapestry, etc.
SOME remarkably high prices were realised at the sale
of old English furniture and English and Continental
porcelain held by Messrs. Christie on
November 2Sth. The sensation of the
day was provided by a Vienna porcelain
group of a lady, gentleman, and three
children, I2rt in. high, which, after a spirited contest,
brought .£850, the highest price ever realised at auction
for a single piece of this china. A Dresden group of
lovers seated beneath a tree with a lamb and dog, on
plinth encrusted with flowers, 10.} in. high, brought ,£714,
and another of a girl and harlequin with a bird-cage and
a pug-dog, 7J in. high, .£693 ; a pair of Hdchst oviform
jars and covers, pierced with rosette ornaments and
painted with garden scenes and Watteau figures,
6i in. high, ,£157 10s. ; a Chelsea figure of John Coan,
English dwarf, with dog and flowers, 9! in. high,
,£162 15s. ; a pair of Chinese famille-verte figures of boys,
their costumes enamelled with flowers in various colours,
\\\ in. high, Kang-He, .£588 ; and a pair of Chinese
powdered-blue bottles, with bulbous necks, painted with
flowers, etc., 18 in. high, ,£273. Among the items of
furniture were an Adams cabinet painted with figures
and floral decoration, with gilt border and legs (5S in.
high, 48 in. wide), .£315 ; a late seventeenth-century
English marqueterie cabinet, inlaid with decorated panels
in coloured woods and ivories (74 in. high, 58 in. wide ,
£451 10s. ; six Queen Anne walnut-wood chairs, with
seats and backs stuffed and covered with petit-point
needlework, on cabriole legs, with claw-and-ball feet,
,£630 ; a Chippendale mahogany armchair, with pierced
vase-shaped centre to back, scroll arms, and cabriole
45
The Comioisseitr
leg >, the whole richly carved
and supported on scroll feet,
i ed Hepple-
white 13 chairs with
eats and backs,
. and a Chippendale
mahoganj side-table, the
whole richly car's ed, on
ile legs .uul liqn's-claw
feet, surmounted by a marble
I m. wide), { -'S3 10s.
At Messrs. Puttii k&Simp-
miu's, on November 22nd, a
tine panel of late sixteenth-
century Flemish tapestry,
belonging to the late Rev.
Canon Roxby, and depicting
Her< ules and the Nemean
lion in the central panel,
bordered by smaller ones,
and hunting, military, and
musical trophies, etc. ( 1 1 ft.
2 in. by 14 f t . 10 in.),
brought .£500 ; and a pane
ENAMELLED
SALT-GLAZE SOLON SALE, /4I
of seventeenth - century of the pedestals over all, 6
floral border (9 ft. by 1 1 ft.
6 in.), brought .£105. At
a sale of engra\ i 11^ s by
the same firm, on Friday,
November 1 5th, an impres-
sion of Venus and Cupid,
by Bonnet, after Boucher,
brought £62.
That tine furniture has not
mi necessity to be sold in
London to realise a good
price was shown at a sale,
held by Messrs. T. Oliver
& Sons, of Torquay, of the
contents of "West holme,"
the residence of the late
Miss H. S. Perkins of that
town. In this the outstand-
ing feature was a mahogany
inlaid Sheraton sideboard
set, comprising a pair of
inlaid pedestals supporting
two urns with covers (height
ft. 2 in., and total length,
Brussels tapestry, depicting Diana and Actcon, with a 9 ft.), which brought .£1,050.
SHERATON SIDEBOARD
PERKINS SALE, TORQUAY, £ 1 ,0$O
46
MISS SARAH CAMPBELL
PAINTED BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS
ENGRAVED BY VALENTINE GREEN
The New
English
Art Club
Mr. AUGUSTUS JOHN'S Mumpers was by no means
the best picture at the current exhibition of the New
English Art Club (Suffolk Street), though
it was the largest, the most original, and
probably painted with the strongest
conviction. These last two characteris-
tics are important. How is it, that, possessing them, a
picture by Mr. John, one of the most gifted craftsmen of
the day, was a comparative failure ? The reason is, that
the artist has gone in, heart and soul, for Post-Impres-
sionism. By virtue of his accomplishments, Mr. John
must be considered the leader of the English section of
the new cult. His picture is the most important Post-
Impressionist work produced on this side of the Channel ;
its excellences and shortcomings, therefore, may be
taken as a standard by which the value of the movement
may be accurately gauged. Post- Impressionism means
a sacrifice of certain qualities — and among them ones
which have hitherto been most esteemed in art — in order
to enhance others. Before attempting to balance the
losses and gains, so far as they concern Mr. John's
picture, it may be as well to describe it in some detail.
It represents a company of gipsies on some fenced-in
waste ground backed by olive trees, with a broad stretch
of water and some distant mountains beyond, the whole
being surmounted by a summer sky of blue and white.
The first thing that attracts the eye is that the work is
painted in perfectly flat tones ; this means a nearly total
sacrifice of atmosphere and texture. A donkey in the
extreme background of the group stands out as pro-
minently as the foremost figures, and the palings and
tree-trunks which border the waste ground are hardly
more suggestive of wood than the garments which drape
the "mumpers." The artist has reduced himself to pure
line and flat colour as the vehicles with which to image
his conceptions ; in a word, he has put back the clock
for some thousands of years and returned to what was
practically the methods of pictorial expression of the
ancient Egyptians. There is a salient difference, how-
ever, in the manner in which these methods are employed.
The best Egyptian art was conventional in its character,
while Mr. John tries to be realistic, or at least as realistic
as his wilful abnegation of half the resources of the
painter's craft will allow. He records with a some-
what grotesque literalism the various peculiarities of form,
feature, and raiment which characterise the group, and
these, unchastened by the softening influences of tone
and shadow, painfully attract the eye. Thus a patch on
a man's trousers lying down in the foreground — a by no
means decorative object — is one of the most obtrusive
pieces of detail in the work. The picture is not consistent,
for portions — the fish in a frying-pan over a fire, and the
column of smoke issuing from the latter — have been
invested with a plastic significance in contrast to the
remainder of the canvas — a lapse which is as incongruous
as if a writer telling a story in biblical phrase suddenly
descended into modern colloquialisms ; while, though
most of the persons depicted are provided with shadows,
a donkey in almost the exact centre of the canvas is
without, so that at first sight is looks as if suspended in
mid-air. This donkey, indeed, is an important feature
in the composition ; together with the woman frying
herrings, it forms the link intended to bind the two
scattered groups, which constitute the main feature of
the picture, into a homogeneous whole. Unfortunately,
the link is not sufficiently well constructed for its office ;
the two groups remain detached, the donkey belonging
to neither of them, the woman to both. If the animal
was obliterated and a third of the canvas taken away
at either end, the picture would gain, for there would
remain a single, well-balanced, and rhythmic composition
instead of two conflicting ones. The result of these
numerous weaknesses is that, as has already been
stated, the work is a comparative failure. It is not a
complete one, because no dallying with strange faiths
can wholly deprive Mr. John of his inborn and acquired
artistry. He is a fine colourist, and perhaps the greatest
living master of poignant line, and so throughout the
canvas are isolated passages of great beauty — passages
which serve to emphasize the folly of Post-Impressionism,
as suggesting the great masterpiece that might have
been, if unspoilt by its baneful influence. Mr. John's
second contribution is a large black-and-white cartoon
of Calderari — Gipsies of the Caucasus, a crowded arr.i\
of heads and figures arranged in a symmetrical com-
position, suggestive of a design for a stained - glass
window. Here the artist, as though to show that he
could be wholly independent of the synthetic simpli-
fications of Post-Impressionism, has gone to the other
extreme. His composition is far too crowded, and the
49
The Connoisseur
eve wanders from head to head in a vain endeavour to
light on Mime point of central interest.
M is Ethel Walker's mosl important work, a Decoration
'ring— One of the Four Seasons, would also ha\e
implicit)'. The individual figures
lered with mu< h grace and feeling, but the com-
in as a whole was too busy and confused. A third
important decorative work, a Panel for a Hypothetical
Decoration to sj niolise tin- Ri the East and
West, was contributed by Mr.W. Rothenstein. One would
that this was a portion only of the intended work,
for the figures were exclusively Eastern, and the religions
symbolised by the figures appeared to be confined to
those which are still in vogue in Asia. The work was
delicately rather than forcefully treated; the lambient
but tender colour which suffused the canvas, the lack of
movement in the figures, all assisting to convey the feeling
of serenity and repose which formed the keynote of the
picture. Mr. W. G. von Glehn showed the versatility of
his powers by appearing as a landscape painter, being
represented by a breezy, full-coloured canvas of The
Sussex Downs. More in his usual tnJtier was The Gold-
fish Bowl, showing an attractive girl standing in front of
a window gazing at the bowl which gave the picture its
title. Again, one has to congratulate Mr. von Glehn on
the sureness of his technique. No artist excels him in
his power of rendering the play of light on colour, the
incidence of texture and atmospheric values. His failing
is that he is somewhat prodigal of his powers, rendering
every object on his canvases with the same sentient
realism, so that, as in this instance, the attention is some-
what distracted from the principal theme of his work. Of
Mr. David Muirhead's two more important landscapes,
which hung in the Great Room, the Harvest Time was
the most pleasing ; fresh in colour, spacious, and handled
with breadth and sincerity, it was typically English in
feeling as well as in its theme. Mr. Ambrose M.
McEvoy's large portrait group of Mrs. C. K. Butler
and her two daughters was conceived in a light key
of delicately harmonised colour. The figures of the
two girls were the more successful as merging more
completely with their surroundings ; that of the mother
appeared detached from the others, owing, perhaps, to
the unbroken and rather uninteresting mass of blue in the
front of her corsage. One wonders, if this was somewhat
modified, whether it would not bring the arrangement of
the picture into more complete harmony. In the Portrait
of the Lady Clare Annesley Mr. P. Wilson Steer had
combined two good pictures into one bad one. Examined
separately, the figure of the sitter and the landscape back-
ground were each excellent ; seen together, they clashed
inconcinnously. Mr. Steer would do well to sacrifice his
landscape, tone down the many gleams of light by which
it is characterised, and merge it into that subordination
to the principal figure which is essential to the back-
ground of a good portrait. Mr. W. Orpen was not seen
in his usual strength, being represented by only a couple
of somewhat slight examples, distinguished, indeed, by
his usual deft brushmanship and fine feeling tor colour
and atmosphere, but not of sufficient importance to make
or mar a man's reputation. Somewhat akin to Mr. ( (rpen's
work in a serious mood was Mr. Howard Somerville's
self portrait, entitled /// the Studio. The resemblance,
however, w; il\ luperficial, the handling and colour
being both more solid. The work was painted with
power and conviction. The latter criticism might also
apply to Mr. Rudolph Ihlee's Magic Wand, representing
a group of spectators watching with enthralling interest
some performance which is outside the scope of the
picture, a work which at once seized the attention.
Turning to the remaining landscapes, one should mention
Mr. Charles M. Gere's brightly-coloured Cotswold
Holiday, Mr. Frederick Brown's atmospheric On the
'Thames, Mr. Ian Strong's well-studied but uninteresting
Sierra Nevada, and Mr. Lucien Pissarro's truthful
Misty Morning' at Acton, in which the murky brightness
of a sunlit sky in the vicinity of London was admirably
rendered. One of the best works in the exhibition was
Mr. Mark Fisher's Landscape and Cattle, representing
the patched sunlight and shade of a tree-shaded water-
meadow fresh with the vivid tints of young summer. It
was sparkling, redolent of the open air, and permeated
with a joyous feeling.
The Arts and Crafts Exhibition at the Grosvenor
Gallery was hardly exhilarating. The multitude of
exhibits and their indiscriminate
The Arts and
Crafts Exhibition
variety tired the visitor long before
he had toiled through the two or
three thousand items set forth in the catalogue. One
was painfully conscious that the purely decorative work
shown in the exhibition was out of touch with the latest
movements in contemporary art. Here was a sphere
where it might have been thought that the simplification
and synthesis employed in the saner phases of Post-
Impressionism might have been used with good effect,
but anything savouring of the movement was conspicuous
by its absence. It is characteristically English that at
the present time many of our best artists are producing
works of a wholly decorative value as easel pictures,
while others are realising pictorially works intended for
purelv decorative purposes. The best works shown,
perhaps, were those designed for utilitarian purposes.
Thus most of the furniture, if not strikingly original, was
tasteful and well adapted for its intended purpose. Quite
among the best were the unostentatious pieces designed
by Sir Robert Lorimer, severely plain in style, but
beautiful by reason of their fine proportions. Though
not catalogued, the cane chairs provided by the Dryad
craftsmen for the use of visitors were as good as anything"
of their kind, being shapely, strong, and comfortable.
Mr. Ambrose Heal's numerous designs showed much
originality, though often this was attained at the sacrifice
of congruity ; his writing bureau and bookshelves were,
perhaps, his most completely satisfying examples.)
Of jewellery there was abundance ; in fact, the
plethora of exhibits pratically forbids individual mention,
for practically no article singled itself from amongst its
companions as being specially noteworthy. The work
generally was characterised by high craftsmanship and
5°
Current Art Notes
an excessive use
of colour. The
silver included
many tasteful
examples, among
those specially
noteworthy being
a teapot by Mr.
J. Paul Cooper,
a p a i r o f f r u i t
dishes by Mr.
Edward Spencer,
a sports cup by
Mr. C. R. Ashbee,
and some of the
various examples
of Mr. Bernard
Cuzner. Among
the manuscripts,
several ornate and
highly wrought
illuminations by
Miss Jessie Bayes
call for special
mention; while
the Holy Com-
munion service,
the joint work
of Messrs. Allan
F. Vigers and
Graily Hewitt, was
distinguished b y
its well-balanced
arrangement, the
writing being
made an essential
part of the deco-
rative scheme.
The bindings
shit vv n w ere
generally of high
quality, while
there was a wealth
of book illustrations and numerous designs for tapestry
wall decorations and stained glass. While most of the
exhibits showed more than a respectable amount of
technical skill, the designs too generally were wanting in
originality, and showed a strong tendency to follow the
inspiration of older days.
The Society of Humorous Art, a lately-formed body
comprising fifteen of the best known comic illustrators of
the present day, opened its inaugural
exhibition at the galleries of Messrs.
Goupil & Co. (Bedford Street,
Covent Garden). The first exhibits which attracted the
eye were Mr. John Hassall's uncatalogued representa-
tions of a biplane and monoplane, in which the artist
showed himself a profound master of space composition.
■■
AUTUMN
AT THE SOCIETY
BY P. W. ADAM, R.S.A.
OF EIGHT EXHIBITION, EDINBURGH
The works, which
were hung above
the level of the
eye, consisted of
blank sheets of
paper, with the
aeroplanes drawn
o n a minutely
5 mall scale on
the extreme Mini-
m its. Further
fooling was
afforded in the
cataloguing of
Mr. Cecil Alden's
exhibits, most of
the n u m b e r s
being set against
the wrong titles.
His works were
thoroughly char-
acteristic, but
most of them had
already been seen
in his recent ex-
hibition. Mr. W.
Douglas Almond,
w h o m list be
looked upon a?
Phil M ay's suc-
c e s s o r in his
power of charac-
terising cockney
t y p e&, though
there is little affin-
ity in their tech-
nical methods,
was happi ly re-
presented. Mr.
H. M. Baten-.an
had some of his
inimitable droller-
ies, while Messrs.
George Belcher, Rene Bull, Dudley Hardy, George
Morrow, Charles Pears, L. Raven Hill. E. T. Reed,
Frank Reynolds, W. Heath Robinson, Harry Rowntree,
J. A. Shepherd, and Leslie Ward were all seen at their
happiest moments. The exhibition contained the best
collection of humorous art that has been gathered
together for a long time ; and it is to be hoped that the
Societv, after such an auspicious commencement, will
enjoy a successful career.
The Society of
Humorous Art
Writing about midway through last century,
Theophile Can tier expressed keen
regret that the art of Louis David
had become virtually forgotten pro
tempore throughout France, having
been submerged bv the "romantic movement." And just
Edinburgh :
The Society
of Eight
51
The Connoisseur
as the luminaries of th.u school, inasmuch as they were
wholly at variance with David's outlook, were prone to
forget how fine a painter he really was, perhaps the
permutations which have marked Scottish art during
the la . '• irs, and the great manifestation of activity
on the part ol the youngei artists, have begotten undue
neglect of the work ol the patriarchs. It is clear,
however, that some of these are determined not to be
itten just yet; for a coterie oi them have lately
founded a new body th< oi Eight. True that
two of the members Mr. David Alison and Mr. F. C.
adell — can scarcely be called painters of wide or
old-established fame ; but all the remaining six are men
who enjoyed high reputation once if not to-day, while
most of them were long since dei orated by the Scottish
A.i ademy. They have acquired a suite of rooms to which
they have given the auspicious title of the New Gallery,
and they deserve exceptional praise for the eminently
artistic way in which they have arranged this place;
while what is more important, one may certainly affirm
that nearly every member of the Society shows at least
one picture of worth. Mr. P. W. Adam, for example, is
not successful in his every canvas ; but in his Autumn :
Interior he manifests a rare perceptivity towards light,
that mysterious element which is the arch-beautifier, and
can cast a glamour over everything, ennobling even the
meanest objects. The picture in question is a drawing-
room scene, and the artist has ably indicated the sun's
rays filtering through an unseen window, and illuminating,
and accordingly glorifying, sundry articles of furniture.
His conquest herein would have been acclaimed by
Chardin, and the old Dutch painters of domestic scenes,
while Mr. Adam engages further by the almost invariable
soundness of his draughtsmanship. Mr. J. Cadenhead,
on the other hand, is unsatisfactory, the colour in the
various landscapes which he shows being sadly shallow ;
but in the output of another and less distinguished exhi-
bitor, Mr. A. G. Sinclair, one detects many fine qualities.
Among the supreme feats in art is to use a mono-
chromatic medium in such a way as to suggest colour,
and this is just what Mr. Sinclair achieves. One marks
it repeatedly in his charcoal drawings, and indeed one of
these, Evening, rivals any lithograph by Gavarni in this
relation, the blacks and greys adequately adumbrating
the delicate tints of departing day. Mr. Sinclair is
praiseworthy again in some of his work in oils, notably
Study of a Cloud, a landscape whose solid, loaded paint
tells of complete ease and confidence on the artist's part;
but in his Portrait of Lady Dunedin, a full-length, he is
much less meritorious. The colour is good in passages,
but the neck and bosom of the sitter — she is in evening
dress — are devoid of the subtle tones of real flesh, while
the picture discloses simultaneously a still more vitiating
fault. The lady is standing, one of her feet is protruding
from underneath her skirt, but the other is hidden
thereby ; and this other foot is in no way indicated, the
inevitable result being that the subject looks as though
she had but one leg, while her body lacks the semblance
of stability.
The work of Mr. Harrington Mann constitutes an
enigma, for some of it is so very good, some so ineffi-
cient. There is probably no truer test of the colourist
than this : can he give his greys and blacks intrinsic
beauty— a beauty apart from their value as a repoussoir
for brighter shades ? And in this connection Mr. Mann
is culpable, the black dress in his Portrait of the Artist's
Mother being tawdry ; while, moreover, in this picture
he ha-, made the mistake- Mr. Sargent too often makes,
throwing such a brilliant light on the face that it appears
unduly isolated. In his Portrait Group, again, one
notes some slovenly modelling ; but his Annabel is
surely one of the best paintings of a baby ever done;
while in Girl Reading he has compassed that infinitely
important thing — he has portrayed his sitter in an atti-
tude which is essentially graceful — nor is his colouring
in this instance less excellent than the other factors.
The girl is dressed in a dark skirt and a flimsy blouse
which is almost white, she has a black hat trimmed with
pink, while the background is a brownish grey ; and
truly beautiful it all is, doubly beautiful it seemed as the
writer saw it first, in the soft light of a winter's afternoon,
and doubly beautiful, besides, by reason of the picture's
tasteful frame of dulled gold, presumably a copy after
some Florentine craftsman of the Renaissance. Com-
pared with this chef cPceuvre by Mr. Mann, the various
things which Mr. John Lavery shows seem far from
decorative ; but, if much inferior to his earlier work, they
are all partly redeemed by the vigour and decision which
characterise their brushwork. Turning to Mr. James
Paterson, one misses the latter qualities in him ; and
albeit he is charming if slight in some of his crayon
portraits, notably one of Lord Archibald Campbell, he
has failed conspicuously in his likeness of the late J. M.
Synge. No whit of Synge's genius is revealed in the
portrait, and one thinks ruefully of the brilliant drawing
of him by Mr. John Yeats, father of Mr. W. B. Yeats,
the poet.
It behoves, in conclusion, to speak of the two youngest
members of the Society, Mr. Alison and Mr. Cadell.
The former's L'Aitenie is clever in composition, and,
though the colour is harsh here and in divers other
things by this painter, the reverse is true of his
Chrysanthemums, and more particularly of his Purple
and Gold, a picture in which the nuances of tone which
sunlight evokes are well expressed. As to Mr. Cadell,
he betrays a huge debt to the greatest Scottish impres-
sionist of to-day, Mr. S. J. Peploe ; yet, with this almost
slavish discipleship to his debit, his work is intensely
arresting, and the reason for this fascination would seem
to be that his intelligence is exceptionally keen and
lively, and that he never undergoes such a thing as
mental lassitude while painting. But if always interest-
ing, Mr. Cadell is satisfactory only on rare occasions.
He is delightful in Study, a portrait done wholly in
brown and grey ; while his North Benvick, a landscape
in water-colours, is quite a masterpiece. Nevertheless,
in studying his charcoal drawings, one feels that his
desire to be elliptical often results in incoherence, while
in many of his large figure-studies in oils the colour is
literally glaring. It must be granted that these pictures
52
Current Art Notes
ire marvels of realism, but then,
■ealism is only a means to an
md. For life is like a tub, art
ike a Grecian urn ; and the true
mist is the man who, able to
distinguish between these two
things, transforms the former
nto the latter, stating life truth-
fully, yet so as to make it beau-
tiful. Mayhap the whole Society
of Eight would do well to pon-
der on this truth, while there is
a further word of counsel one
would offer them. They should
find a good sculptor, and add
him to their ranks ; for their
gallery, lovely as it is already,
would have a much greater
air of completeness if graced
by a few pieces of imposing
statuary.
A remarkably handsome
musical clock, of unusual size,
is now being
shown at Mr.
Frank Par-
tridge's Galler-
ies (26, King Street, St. James's).
It is the work of Allen Walker,
of London, a clockmaker who
flourished until towards the
close of the eighteenth century,
and is evidently an instrument
of which he was particularly
proud, for he records on it that
it was commenced 1756 and
finished 1758 — not an unduly
long time when the beauty of the work and its high finish
are taken into account. It plays six tunes. The case,
which is of solid mahogany, now richly toned with age,
gives evidence of the strong classical feeling which was
then influencing English architecture, the face being
framed in pure Corinthian columns and pediment, though
in the elaborate and ornate carving of the lower portion
this style has not been adhered to.
Interesting
Musical
Clock
A Carved Oak
Mantel-piece
'arriet by w. d. almond at the
society of humorous art exhibition
Old Prints
and China
AN exhibition which should appeal to connoisseurs of
widely varying tastes is the one of old prints, china, and
glass, with which Messrs. Mortlock
(Oxford Street and Orchard Street)
are inaugurating the new gallery
which has been added to their already spacious premises.
The engravings include many rare examples of mezzotint
portraits, sporting prints, and aquatints, a large propor-
tion of which are in early states. Among the beautiful
specimens of china are characteristic pieces from prac-
tically all the old English factories, Worcester, Chelsea,
Plymouth, Bristol, Nantgarw,
Swansea, Rockingham, Coal-
port, and Derby being especi-
ally well represented; while
some particularly choice dinner
and tea services are shown.
The variety and range of the
examples on view preclude the
mention of individual items, of
which many are worthy of
special notice. The exhibi-
tion is one of exceptional in-
terest, and should prove a
great attraction to print and
china lovers.
That the former practice of
covering old carved woodwork
with paint
and varnish,
so fiercely
condemned in resthetic circles,
is not entirely without justifica-
tion, is exemplified in a richly-
carved Elizabethan mantel-
piece now on view, among a
multitude of other art treasures,
at Messrs. Daniell's Galleries
(Wigmore Street). This mantel-
piece, with a large amount of
ancient oak panelling, has been
brought from Oulton High
House, an historical Suffolk
mansion, mentioned in the
Doomsday Book. After passing
through various vicissitudes,
the house, at about the close
of the fifteenth century, came
into the possession of the Hobart family, and it is to
Henry Hobart, who inherited the property in 1550, that
the origin of the mantel-piece must be ascribed, and it
was he, too, who, in all probability, had this ornate work
painted and varnished, the result being that when the
layer of preservative material is removed, the delicate
and highly elaborate carving is as fresh and crisp as the
day when it was chiselled. The work is a most interesting
specimen of early Elizabethan art, showing the combina-
tion of classical form with Gothic detail which marked
the introduction of Renaissance architecture in England.
The upper portion is surmounted by a cornice and
divided into three panels, the central one being fronted
by two elaborately-carved figures under a bifurcated
arch. The fireplace is flanked on either side by two
Corinthian pilasters, and the various borders and friezes
are richly carved with a free Gothic design in heads;
Tudor roses and conventional floral work are introduced.
The oak room, of which this mantel-piece forms a part, is
one of the most interesting examples of the period that
has been shown for some time.
53
The Connoisseur
Tm carving of the FT, Lbethan
pei iod was super Bed ed by othei
styles in which
Old Oak-panclk-J , , ,,
r cla steal mtlu-
Rooms ence be ime
m. m- and more apparent. I lie
progress of this development is
well illustrated in a number of
rooms and mantel-pieces noj» 1 •■
shown at the galleries of Messrs.
h field S C o., ;. Bru t o n
Street, W. In a fine oak-panelled
room of the Jacobean period,
i ning .in e* eptionally beauti-
ful mantel - piece, the ri'< hi)
carved and inlaid panels which
surmount the latter show strongly
the influence of the mediaeval
i rails in a n, m O d u 1 a t e d and
chastened by renaissance in-
■ ition. The former influence
lias altogether disappeared in an-
other beautiful room of the Queen
Anne period, in which the fine
carvings of the Grinling Gibbons
school and the symmetrically pro-
portioned pilasters possess a rich
and chaste dignity. There are
several other fine rooms of differ-
ent periods to be seen at the gal-
leries, and a number of superb
mantel-pieces, including a fine
statuary marble example of Robert
Adam, besides a fine collection of
choice old furniture.
Among the interesting collection
of English and Oriental China at
present on view at
3 and ;, King Street,
St. James's, is a set
of four exquisite statuettes in Bristol porcelain, modelled
by Tebo, illustrating the Four Seasons. The four figures,
consisting of two boys and two girls, are: Spring, a girl
holding a basket of flowers; Summer, a girl holding a
basket of fruit ; Autumn, a boy holding" a sheaf of corn ;
and Winter, a boy skating, with a basket containing
a goose and hare. All the heads are entwined respec-
tively with flowers, grapes, ears of corn, and holly
berries. These examples of Bristol porcelain rank
first amongst known figures by this craftsman, and are
full of grace and perfection of colouring. The height
is iof in., and date about 1770.
Pantomime Ball
at the
Albert Hall
Stoner's
Galleries
musical clock
partridge's
AT MR. FRANK
GALLERIES
Tin Pantomime Ball at the
Albert Hall, organised by Lady
Constance
Hatch, with the
assistance of
A! 1 . F u t e s
Fraser, was an unqualified success,
the procession of characters illus-
trating various episodes in old
inn .1 tv rhynu-s forming a series of
beautiful pictures, the costumes in
nearly every instance being carried
out with a keen and appreciative
eye for a charming colour effect.
There is no historical precedent
in regard to the raiment of the
mythical heroes and heroines of
nursery romance, and it conse-
quently affords much scope to the
individual imagination, enabling
the actors who take such parts to
select from all styles and periods
of dress what is most sumptuous
and attractive. Full advantage
was taken of this liberty ; apparel
illustrative of every epoch in his-
tory and every era in art was
represented at the ball; and
though, from an ;esthetic stand-
point, it would be considered bar-
barous to mix furniture of various
styles, or to have costumes of differ-
ent periods in an historical play,
the effect, instead of being inhar-
monious, was most attractive, a
piquant contrast being afforded
by the juxtaposition of the differ-
ent styles of costumes — some culled
from early mediaeval records and
others from popular pictures at the
last Academy.
The festival dinner in aid of the funds of the Pottery
and Glass Trades' Benevolent Institution was held at
the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metro-
pole, on Tuesday, November 19th,
under the presidency ot the Earl
of Harrowby, with Mr. Minton
Goode in the vice-chair, when a
large and representative gathering
assembled. Such gatherings, besides unloosing the purse-
strings of their patrons in the aid of charity, do much to
promote the social intercourse of the members of the
trade, which is every year assuming greater importance.
The Festival
Dinner of the
Pottery and Glass
Trades' Benevo-
lent Institution
54
"Face-Painting is nowhere so well performed as
England. . . .
" Lely and the
Stuart Portrait
Painters," by
C. H. Collins
Baker
(Philip Lee
Warner,
2 vols., £6 6s.)
I have seen what is done abroad and
can assure you that the Honour of
that Branch of Painting is justly due
to us. . . . So that instead of going
to Italy, or elsewhere, one that designs
for Portrait-Painting ought to study
in England." Thus an anonymous
correspondent, writing in The Spectator
under the date of December 4th, 171 2,
speaks of contemporary art. Thirty
years ago this statement would have been scouted ;
to-day, if we do not fully endorse it, we have been
educated by the sight of the many fine pictures belonging
to the period — shown at the National Portrait Gallery
and other public and private exhibitions — into believing
it is only a pardonable exaggeration of the truth. Of the
artists producing these pictures little is known but what
can be gleaned from the pages of Walpole, who, if an
always interesting writer, was by no means a reliable
critic. Now, after the lapse of a century and a half, Mr.
C. H. Collins Baker has superseded Wal pole's Anecdotes
of Painting, so far as it relates to the artists in portraiture
who flourished between the years 1600 and 1740. To
Walpole himself the author is little indebted, but he
has largely availed himself of the note-books of George
Yertue, on which the famous letter-writer based his work.
The information obtained from these has been supple-
mented with gleanings from every available source, and
by much independent research among public and private
picture collections. The result is a work which can be
truthfully described as monumental ; for the first time
we have a comprehensive record of the least known
period of English art — the period roughly synchronising
with the careers of Van Dyck, Lely, and Kneller, which
writers like Redgrave have dismissed in a brief chapter
as unworthy of extended notice. The establishment in
the National Portrait Gallery, and the incidence of fine
pictures belonging to this despised period, among its
treasures and in other public and private galleries, have
gradually revealed that a number of capable and, in
some instances, great artists flourished during the era ;
and that Hogarth, Reynolds, and the other eighteenth-
century masters, so far from founding a new school of
painting in England, were merely developing one already
well established. The greatest painters of this earlier
school were foreigners, but in all instances their art was
largely modified by English influences, while contem-
porary with them were a large number of native painters
whose work, if less technically perfect, often attained
certain qualities characteristic of the English temper
which no alien was able to emulate. This English
temper, as revealed in the portraits of the seventeenth
century, found its first expression in Marc Ghaeraedts,
who, coming to England when but five or six, naturally
was susceptible to environment. Cornelius Johnson
— popularly, though erroneously, known as Cornelius
Janssen — next gave utterance to the distinctive qualities
of this attitude. After him it found vent in painters
who, like Dobson, How, Greenhill, and Riley, were
untainted by foreign extraction. Frankness and disin-
genuity, the not self-conscious aspect, an absence of
pose, distinguish Dobson's portraits from Van Dyck's,
the best of Greenhill's from Lely's. An open candour
and high breeding especially reside in these English
painters' vision, and while Van Dyck is their peer as far
as chivalry and birth are concerned, it is only excep-
tionally that he conveys their impression of lack of self-
consciousness. To understand the English art of the
eighteenth century, or even that of the present time, one
must go back to the beginnings of the native school,
which far from springing into spontaneous life at the
time of Hogarth, was of slow growth, its origin lost in
the obscurity of the Middle Ages.
Mr. Collins Baker's work bridges the interval between
the death of Elizabeth and the Georgian era. There
have been other workers in the same field whose labours
the author generously acknowledges ; but this is the
first time that any writer has attempted a comprehen-
sive history of portrait painting of the Stuart era, giving
full records of the artists' lives and their works, and
clearly differentiating between their individual styles and
55
77/c Connoisseur
productions, All the known portraits of importance
belonging to the period are chronicled, and also the
numerous engravings made from them. One hopes that
Mr. Collins Baker may extend the period of his survey
;it English painting to the times anterior to the Stuart
attempting to follow their offshoots, or to show the re-
acting influences which the schools had on one another.
A typical book of this class is Mr. H. H. Powers'
Mornings with Masters of Art, a work which is intended
" partially to interpret the development of Christian art
from the time of Constantine to
the death of Michaelangelo."
The author, after his prelimin-
ary chapters on Graeco- Roman
art, centres his attention on the
leading masters of the Floren-
tine and Umbrian schools,
tracing the progress of painting
and sculpture by explaining the
career and achievements of a
single great artist in each
generation. Mr. Powers, who
sees things in an original man-
ner, has produced an interesting
volume, which, if it does not
add much to our stock of know-
ledge, should be well worth
reading by those who are con-
tent with mastering the general
outlines of the history of art.
The illustrations are numerous
and well executed.
THE impossibility of doing
justice to the merits of a score
or more
"Bartolozzi"
("Great Engravers
Series"), edited
by A. M. Hind
PORTRAIT OF A LADY BY PALMA VECCHIO
CAVALCASELLE'S "HISTORY OF PAINTING IN NORTH ITALY
dynasty, and also to the school of artists who immediately
preceded Reynolds ; as it is, his book is the most valuable
addition to the history of English art that has been
produced in the present generation.
AMERICAN art books, with some noteworthy excep-
tions, generally recall the outlook of
English critics of thirty or forty years
ago. The standpoint of the writers
is literary rather than artistic ; they
are more concerned with the message
of a painter than his manner of
delivering it, and trace the main
developments of the great schools of painting without
FROM CROWE AND
' (JOHN MURRAY)
(William
Heinemann
2s. 6d. net)
" Mornings with
Masters of Art,"
by H. H. Powers
(Macmillan and
Co., Ltd.
8s. 6d. net)
of engrav-
ers in half
a dozen
pages is
shown in
the little
volume on
Bartolozzi and other Stipple
Engravers working in England
at the end of the Eighteenth
Century, the latest addition
to the "Great Engravers"
series. What Mr. A. M. Hind
has to say on the subject of
stipple engraving and its votaries is well to the point,
but it is all too brief, and the reader has to be con-
tent with the bare mention of engravers whose career
and characteristics well deserved more extended notice.
Mr. Hind speaks of the art as being extinct ; but this
is not so, for of recent years quite a number of stipple
engravings have been issued. Another error, though
doubtlessly Mr. Hind cannot be held responsible,
is the attribution of Lawrence's famous picture of
Miss Farren to Reynolds. Some of the illustrations,
which constitute the great attraction to the volume, are
excellent, but in the heavier examples the tone and
feeling of the originals is often quite lost in the repro-
ductions.
56
The Connoisseur Bookshelf
"The Technique of Painting," by Charles Moreau-
Vauthier (William Heinemann, ios. 6d. net)
One would gather without reading the statement on the
title-page of The Technique of Painting, by M. Charles
Moreau-Vauthier, that the work is a translation from the
French, as the author takes his
examples exclusively from French
sources. This, however, is not a
material blemish, for the tech-
nique of the Old Masters illus-
trated can be studied with as much
advantage in the National Gallery
as at the Louvre, and that of the
more modern French masters can
be matched in the work of artists
on this side of the Channel. By
"technique" the author means
everything that pertains to the
craftsmanship of painting —
panels, canvases, pigments, and
vehicles, as well as the actual
laying-on of the colours ; and his
volume contains an exhaustive
examination of the methods and
materials of the painter's art— so
far as modern research has re-
vealed them — from the time of
the cave-dwellers. The early
periods are treated upon some-
what briefly. It may be pointed
out en passant that while M.
Moreau-Vauthier ascribes the use
of varnish to the Egyptians of
the Xth dynasty, this practice is
more generally set down as being
followed by those of the XlXth,
while the process of encaustic
painting, which, he states, " re-
mains somewhat of a mystery,"
has been fully revealed by recent
discoveries and investigations.
A more unsolvable mystery is the
secret of the Van Eycks. They
are popularly credited with having
invented oil-painting, which, how-
ever, was in use before their birth.
What they did was to bring the
method to a technical perfection which has never been
surpassed, or indeed equalled. Their pictures still retain
their original freshness and brilliancy, while others painted
hundreds of years later have sadly deteriorated, and, in
many instances, perished. The Van Eycks carried the
secrets of their process with them to the grave. The con-
temporary and later artists who professed to execute their
pictures in the same method really initiated the modern
manner of oil-painting, that is, painting in oil on oil prim-
ings in thick layers, finally coated with a varnish which
does not form a homogeneous body with the stratum of
colour. It is noteworthy that the earlier Flemish artists
who succeeded the Van Eycks continued to produce
the best work done in this manner, a result partly to
be ascribed to their minute and learned technique and
partly to the excellence of their materials. On the
latter point, however, the moderns are comforted by the
reassuring statement made by M. Etienne Dinet in the
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN BY GIORGIONE
CAVALCASELLE'S "HISTORY OF PAINTING IN NORTH ITALY
FROM CROWE AND
' (JOHN MURRAY')
preface to the volume, that artists now " have at their
disposal colours a thousand times more brilliant and more
enduring than those used by the Old Masters." The
mishaps that so often occur in their use are occasioned
by want of technical knowledge. M. Moreau-Vauthier
in his work examines at length the qualities of the chief
modern pigments, describing their action when used in
conjunction with one another, and under a prolonged
exposure to light. He also describes the technical
methods of typical masters of the various ancient and
modern schools ; this portion of his work being made
of especial value by the numerous illustrations in colour
and monochrome, giving on a large scale portions of the
57
The Coii/ioissciii
.11 tist s pu tin es
o as to enable
the readei to
thoroughly un-
derstand their
handling, and
show the < iu 1 1
of time on the
works. All the
\ .u iousmethods
of painting ai<
described, the
vehicles an d
materials which
are employed,
t h e v a r i o u s
processes of
restoration and
the methods
necessary to
ensure the pre-
servation of
works of art ; a
chapter is even
devoted to the
production of
forgeries. In
short, the work
is a complete
vade mecum of
the painter's
art, thoroughly
reliable, and
clearly and con-
cisely written.
It should be in
the hands of
every artist who
wishes to produce work of permanent durability, and
of every collector who desires to preserve his "old
masters" without deterioration.
The master-work of Dinah Maria Mulock — John
Halifax, Gentleman — has been re-issued in a most attrac-
tive guise by Messrs. Adam and
Charles Black. A forenote by Mr.
Gordon Home just tells what a
reader would like to know concern-
ing the work and its authoress — the
genesis of the story and the outline
of Miss Mulock's uneventful and
hard-working life. The illustrations
in colour by Messrs. Oswald Moser and G. F. Nicholls
thoroughly harmonize with the character of the book.
To the former artist has been allotted the task of invest-
ing the personages described in the story with their
outward semblances. He has done his work with a
spirit and discretion that give an additional force to the
narrative. Mr. Nicholls has recorded the scenes in and
about Norton Bury — Miss Mulock's nom de plume for
Tewkesbu ry —
and introduces
us to quaint old-
world street s
a n <1 alleys,
sunny water-
meadows and
leafy lanes, all
set forth in true
and pleasant
colouration, and
all showing a
love for nature
akin to that of
the authoress.
The volum e
is moderately
priced, well
bound and set
up, and is alto-
gether as desir-
able an edition
of the work as
one could wish
to have.
" Scottish
Heraldry made
Easy,"
2nd edition,
by G. Harvey
Johnstone
(W. and A. K.
Johnston
5s. net)
HEAD Or A CHILD c
FROM "GREUZE AND HIS MODE
HALK DRAWING BY GREUZE
I-S" (HUTCHINSON AND CO.)
"John Halifax,
Gentleman,"
illustrated by
Oswald Moser
and G. F. Nicholls
(Messrs. A. & C.
Black, 7s. 6d. net)
IT is not diffi-
cult to under-
stand why this book should have run into a second
edition. The title describes the work completely. 1 he
author has succeeded, so far as is possible, in over-
coming the usual difficulty in such works, namely, the
description of the various technical terms, not only
by explanation, but by illustrating over one hundred
shields in actual colours, to say nothing of the numerous
illustrations appearing on nearly every page. There
would not be room in this book to give all crests and
mottoes of Scottish families, and it might therefore
have been advisable to have kept these lists for a
separate work.
"Odds and Ends" is a most valuable addition, but
we fail to see references to such works as Bernau's
Scottis/i Records mentioned in the list of books dealing
with the subject. The Glossary is very complete, and
one of the most valuable items from a genealogical
point is the list of Scottish Family Histories. We are
very glad to see the author has given a good index,
a thing so often lacking ; and he is to be congratulated
upon the masterly way in which he has handled a
difficult subject.
58
The Connoisseur Bookshelf
" Life in the West of Ireland," drawn and painted by
Jack B. Yeats (Maunsel & Co., Ltd., cloth, 5s.;
special edition, £i is.)
Life in the West of Ireland is a pictorial record by Mr.
lack B. Yeats, an artist whose striking and original work
has been often seen in London exhibitions. About half
characteristics of the Irish people to those of the English.
After seeing them one realizes that novels like Charles
0 'Malley are hardly an exaggeration, and that even in
the present day they give a more faithful picture of the
traits of the Irish people than most of the works on
the subject which have been written since.
VENUS DISSUADES ADONIS FROM HUNTING BY WILLIAM BLAKE. AFTER RICHARD COSWAY
FROM "THE ENGRAVINGS OF WILLIAM BLAKE" (GRANT RICHARDS)
the sixty illustrations which it contains are from line
drawings, the remainder being equally divided between
reproductions in colour from water-colours, and in
monochrome from oil-paintings. The work in the first-
named medium is the most effective for reproduction.
Mr. Yeats cultivates a broad style of line, suggestive of
the wood-block illustrations of the old broad-sheets,
which he uses with force and directness, often in a few
virile strokes attaining effects of light and distance which
it would seem impossible to realise by such simple means.
The great charm of the book, however, lies in its vivid
presentation of Irish life and character. These records,
racy of the soil and glowing with national feeling, reveal,
more than many loads of blue-books or long-drawn
political speeches, how essentially different are the
One of the most desirable children's books which
has been published for some time is the Little Songs
of Long Ago, illustrated by Mr. H.
!_' Little Songs of Willebeek Le Mair. The fault of
one of the orthodox books for chil-
dren is that, however well it is
written and illustrated, no sooner are
its contents read and mastered than
it is laid aside, generally for good.
In this instance, however, the songs
— familiar nursery rhymes for the most part— are set
to music, which the attractiveness of the beautiful
illustrations will tempt the youngsters to learn, and
once they are learnt, they will prove a perpetual source
of enjoyment.
Long Ago,"
illustrated by
H. Willebeek
Le Mair
(Augener & Co.
7s. 6d. net)
59
The ( 'onnoisseur
" Epochs of
Chinese and
Japanese Art"
Ernest F. Fenol-
losa (2 vols.,
William Heine-
mann, 36s. net.)
1' ROB \ 1: 1 v no
man has exercised
a greater or more
beneficial influence
o\ er modern Japan-
e e ut than the late
Professor Ernest K.
Fenollosa. An
American of Span-
ish extraction he
went to Japan in
187S to take the
chair of Political
Economy and Phil-
osophy at the Uni-
versity of Tokio.
It was a time when
the Japanese, in
their ha->te to adopt
Western civiliza-
tion, were casting
aside all their older
traditions, those of
art being among
them. European
oil-painting, draw-
ing, and painting
were taught in the
art schools, and the
wonderful achieve-
ments of Japanese
art in the past were
valued as things of
no account. Fenol-
losa, with fiery
energy, denounced
this state of things,
and it was largely
owing to his unceas-
ing efforts that the
eyes ofthe Japanese
government were opened to the value of the national
artistic birthright. In 18S6 they appointed him a Com-
missioner of Fine Arts, and he was entrusted with
the task of registering" all the artistic treasures of the
country. He worked at this for three years, and then,
decorated with some of the highest honours of Japan,
returned to America, where his work in cataloguing and
arranging the Oriental treasures at the Boston Museum
— many of which came from his own collection — and his
lectures on Eastern Art gave him a unique reputation.
He unfortunately never lived to complete his great work
on Epochs of Chinese and Japanese .-lit, dying in 1910,
j wi 11 T" "a1
£^I
SOUTH GERMAN BEAKER
FROM " METALWORK AND ENAMELLING1
and lea\ ing on]'
rough manuscri
which it was
intention to corr
and revise in Jap;
This task has n
been ably done
his wife, who 1
been assisted
some of the gre
est living authc
ties on Chinese a
Japanese art, a
the result is e
bodied in two st
stantial volum
which const it 11
what is perhaps I
best and most co
prehensive histc
of the art of t
Far East which r
yet been written.
In most essays
this st u pen do
subject a Weste
origin is assign
to the arts and ci
1 i z a t i o n of t '
Chinese. Profe*:
Fenollosa adopt:
different theo
and suggests tl
in prehistoric aj
there were two
dependent centi
of art-dispersion
one in the regie
about the " e;
end of the Me<
terranean," and t
other at "sor
point of the ma
less defined Me
terraneans e
closed by t 1
large islands
the wester n h
ofthe Pacific Ocean," China coming within the scope
the hitter. In support of this hypothesis the Profess
adduces the existence of a substantial unity of art fori
throughout the regions bordering the vast basin
the Pacific which would seem to denote a comm
origin, and are wholly unlike those belonging to ancif
Western civilization. The Chinese, indeed, whose h
tory may be traced with some degree of certainty 1
a period of five thousand years, were already a cultur
nation, ruled over by an emperor, and possessi
a written language and considerable artistic cultt
before thev came into contact with the Western wor
FIFTEENTH CENTURY
(CHAPMAN AND HALL)
60
The Connoisseur Bookshelf
s^.
\A
Direct communication appears to have
been established at the beginning of the
Han dynasty, about two hundred year-,
before the Christian era, when the in-
fluence of Mesopotamian, Persian, and
Greek art and craftsmanship becomes
apparent, more especially in the intro-
duction of pottery glazes. For the most
part, however, East Asiatic art has been
of indigenous growth and development,
Chinese and Japanese art mutually re-
acting on each other, their ever-varying
phases interlocking into a sort of mosaic
pattern, or, rather, unfolding in a single
aesthetic movement. Professor Fenollosa
is the first author who in an important
work has treated this movement as a
whole. He has, moreover, treated it,
not as a foreigner, content with an
examination of its technical achieve-
ments, but from the standpoint of a
native, showing the religious and political
influences which provided it with inspira-
tion, and tracing its development through
all its varied manifestations in painting,
sculpture, and the applied arts. He has
perhaps devoted an undue proportion of
his history to the arts of Japan ; but one
would not wish that a single line of this
should have been omitted, only that the
achievement, of China might be treated
with equal fulness. The book is the
crowning achievement of a great life,
giving the best and most comprehensive
general view of Eastern art which has
yet been presented, and will inevitably
remain the standard work on the subject
for many years to come. Mrs. Fenol-
losa is to be congratulated on having
wrought her late husband's rough draft
into a complete and well-proportioned
book, showing little or no sign of not
having been completed by its original
author. The volumes are well illustrated
by plates of excellent quality.
Books in Colour : —
"The Cottages and the Village Life of
Rural England," by P. H. Ditchfield,
M.A., illustrated by A. R. Quinton
(J. M. Dent & Son, Ltd., 21s. net)
" An Artist in Egypt," by Walter
Tyndale, R.I. (Hodder & Stoughton,
20s. net)
"South America," painted by
A. S. Forrest, described by
W. H. Koebel ; " Germany," painted
by E. T. and E. C. Harrison Compton, described
by J. F. Dickie (A. & C. Black, 20s. each net)
sWS
'<&1
n
KAKEMONO-YE BY KORIUSAI
FROM "EPOCHS OF CHINESE
AND JAPANESE ART"
(HEINEMANN)
journeyings
by the ord
"Austria: Her People and Their
Homelands," by James Baker, illus-
trated by Donald Maxwell. (John
Lane, 21s. net)
The colour-work issued by the lead-
ing publishers is of a quality and auto-
graphic fidelity which would have seemed
marvellous in the eyes of the artists of
a few generations ago. One can fancy
that Reynolds, who prized McArdell's
engravings from his works as ensuring
their immortality long after their pig-
ments had faded, would haw given some
of the best years of his life to have
ensured the perpetuating of his pictures,
when glowing with their original colours,
in some of the modern processes. We
are now apt to undervalue these because
they are inexpensive, can be used with
facility, and are sometimes used for
work not worthy of reproduction. Mr.
A. R. Quinton's drawing, do not come
within the latter category; nominally
executed as illustrations to .Mr. P. H.
Ditchfield's book on The Cottages and
the Village Life of Rural England, they
harmonise pleasantly with the text, but
hardly form an actual accompaniment.
Some ot the most charming are of
places unmentioned by the author, while
many of the most salient features of
cottage life which he describes are left
undepicted. This, however, hardly inter-
feres with the reader's enjoyment of
the book, for author and artist are in
thorough sympathy, each realising in his
own way, and with much charm, the
fading beauties of old English village
life. Mr. Ditchfield describes various
types of cottage and introduces us to
many bygone customs, quaint super-
stitions, and picturesque features of village
life, conveying much solid information in
a fascinating and interesting manner.
Mr. Quinton's drawings are equally
charming, and those who saw the originals
when they were on exhibition in Bond
Street will find that they have lost little
in the reproduction.
Mr. Walter Tyndale, in .-/" Artist in
Egypt, happily combines the functions of
trtist and author. He appears to have
had opportunities of seeing the inner
life of the East in a manner enjoyed by
few Europeans, and is thus enabled to
introduce us to the manners and cus-
ton;s of the Egyptians with thorough
and sympathetic insight. The artist s
have taken him into many places unvisited
inarj tourist, «hile he is acquainted with
61
The Connoisseur
picturesque items ol Egyp
tian history not hitherto
recorded in English.
Making the best use ol
these qualifii at ions, Mr.
Tyndale has produced a
most interesting and enter-
taining book, whit h would be
thoroughly worthy of publi-
on without the numerous
plate ■ in i olour it contains.
Many of the originals oi
these will be familiar to
frequenters "I the \\ est-end
galleries. Few artists are
better fitted than Mr.Tyndale
to reproduce the colour,
light, and atmosphere of the
East, and in these beautifully
harmonised drawings he has
done justice both to his
talents and his themes. The
reproductions are of excep-
tionally high quality, and
altogether the volume must
be accounted one of the
most attractive works on
Egypt issued during the last
decade.
The present conditions ol
what is now the most pro-
gressive of continents — South
America — are painted by
Mr. A. S. Forrest and de-
scribed by Mr.W. H. Koebel
in one of the latest of Messrs.
A. & C. Black's sumptuous
series of colour books. The
drawings of the former are
unequal, and many do not
specially lend themselves to
colour reproduction, this
characteristic being more
marked in those which are
heaviest in tone. Some of
the others, like Boats atBahia
and Workmen on a Fort,
Rio Harbour, are, however,
excellent.
Mr. Koebel's letterpress
is an interesting medley
of modern commercial
fact and ancient historical
legend, written with facility
and a feeling for pictures-
que style. From the same
publishers comes a volume on Germany, painted by
Messrs. E. T. and E. C. Harrison Compton, and described
by Mr. f. F. Dickie. To the two artists the claims
of old-world Germany are paramount, and though they
BY KANO SOSHU
OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE ART" (HEINEMANN)
iionally introduce us to
an .1 i" • i ol the industrialism
ol to-day, it is die castles,
cathedrals, and picturesque
buildings surviving from
the past and the beautiful
scenery of the Fatherland
which chiefly claim their
attention. Thei r drawings
are closely akin in style and
quality, all being marked by
atmospheric feeling, good
i olour, and loose but well-
informed handling. Mr.
|. V. Dickie's letterpress
chimes pleasantly with the
sentiment of the drawings,
and his pages, forming an
efficient guide to the places
described, are lightened by
many an old legend or
snatches of bygone history.
Mr. James Baker, in his
Austria: Her People and
Their Homelands, shows
thorough acquaintance with
his subject. His volume
gives a vivid picture of the
so-called Germanic half of
the dual empire, which is,
however, becoming more and
more a Slav state. The
author depicts the state of the
country in roseate colours,
and the evidences he brings
forward of its material
progress appear incontro-
vertible. Even the racial
differences, of which we
hear so much in England,
only serve to promote the
general prosperity, for the
rivalry between the different
peoples who inhabit the
empire finds its outlet less
in political differences than
in the desire that their dis-
tricts shall be distinguished
by the best commercial
organisations, systems of
education, and the finest
museums and art galleries,
so that many of the Austrian
provincial cities are better
equipped in these respects
than some of the greater
capitals of Europe. Mr. Baker, however, by no means
confines himself to commercial or social matters. Hie
book forms an admirable guide to the many beauty-
spots of the empire ; and he neither neglects history not
FROM " EPOCHS
62
The Connoisseur Bookshelf
legend. The forty-eight coloured plates, after drawings
by Mr. Donald Maxwell, are varied in their appeal, but
all distinguished by high artistry, sure draughtsman-
ship, and pleasant colour. The volume can be safely
recommended as an advisable purchase to anyone visit-
ing Austria or who is interested in the country.
William Blake, perhaps the most original artistic
genius of the eighteenth century, was compelled by his
poverty to follow a dual career. In
the one phase he was a great artist
giving birth to imperishable de-
signs; in the other, merely a hack
engraver. Mr. Archibald G. B.
Russell's book on the Engravings
of William Blake — a Catalogue
Raisonne, prefixed by an interesting
critical study of the artist's career— leads one to realise
what a large amount of hack-work he executed, no less
than two hundred and fifty reproductions after other
painters being recorded. The bulk of these are illustra-
tions to books, but they also include important plates
after Morland, Huet Villiers, and others, some of which
are of sufficient merit to realise good prices in the auction
room from purchasers who have little or no sympathy
with the original work of the poet-painter. These repro-
ductions possess little direct appeal to Blake's orthodox
"The Engravings
of William
Blake," by Archi-
bald G. B.Russell,
B.A. (Grant
Richards, Lim.,
25s. net)
STATUE OF A DISCOBOLUS
AND RUINS OF ROME'
FROM "THE MUSEUMS
(DUCKWORTH)
THE APHRODITE OF KNIDOS
AND RUINS OF ROME1
FROM "THE MUSEUMS
(DUCKWORTH)
admirers; they are interesting, however, as illustrating
the progress of his technical skill, and their record throws
light on a phase of his career which has been little studied.
The most important portion of Mr. Russell's book is that
dealing with Blake's own designs, a full record being
given, both of those engraved by the artist himself and
those translated by others. The author has performed
this labour with most painstaking care, giving a full
description of every individual item, and in most instances
recounting all the circumstances attendant to its produc-
tion. Probably no one was better qualified than Mr.
Russell to undertake such a work, and certainly no single-
individual could have carried it to a more satisfactory
completion. The result is a volume which will remain
indispensable to all collectors of Blake's productions, and
will inevitably be the standard work on the subject.
"The Museums and Ruins of Rome," by W. Amelung
and H. Holtzinger (Duckworth & Co., 2 vols., 5s. net)
The re-issue of Mrs. Arthur Strong's translation of
The Museums and Ruins of Rome, from the German
by Walther Amelung and Dr. H. Holtzinger, in a
popular and inexpensive form, will be welcome to the
many who desire to possess authoritative and reliable
works on art but whose purses do not always permit
them to indulge their tastes. The present edition
consists of two handy and compact volumes profusely
63
The Connoisseur
illustrated, clearl) printed, and well mounted, and the
publishers maj be congratulated on their enterprise in
issuing so valuable a work at so reasonable a price.
"Famous Paintings" (Casscll & Co., Ltd.)
In our December number, owing to a misprint, the
"I" Famous Paintings, issued by Messrs. Cassell &
Company, was incorrectly given as 2is.net. The amount
should be 1 -^. net.
" Poems of Passion and Pleasure," by Ella Wheeler
Wilcox (Gay & Hancock, 15s. net)
Of the numerous " colour books " issued this season,
the edition of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's Poems of Passion
and Pleasure, published by Messrs. Gay & Hancock, is
especially notable, the twenty coloured illustrations by
Dudley Tennant denoting a sympathetic appreciation
oi the poet's sentiments. A word, too, must be said for
the typographical excellence of the volume.
The account given by Mr. J. Rivers of Greuze and his
Models is obviousl) intended for popular reading. It
gives with lively detail the story
of the artist's life and his relations
with the various models he immor-
talised in his pictures. His love-
affairs were numerous, but always
" Greuze and his
Models," by
J. Rivers
(Hutchinson &
Co., 10s. 6d. net)
conducted in a spirit of Quixotic
chivalry, which justified the high standard of morality he
professed, and proves that the voluptuous qualities with
which some of his pictures are popularly credited are
never intentional. His earliest passion appears to have
been entertained, when quite a boy, for a servant in his
father's house; then he fell deeply in love with the wife
of his master, Graudon, contenting- himself, however,
with platonic worship. By an irony of fate, Greuze, who
had loved so many women, eventually married one for
whom he at first entertained little affection, the girl
deliberately playing on his Quixotic sense of honour to
force him into the match. For the details of this and the
other affairs of feeling which marked the life of this most
sentimental of artists, the reader may well be referred
to Mr. Rivers's volume. It is profusely illustrated, and
while some of the plates do justice to the productions
ot the painter, in others the quality and feeling of the
originals are almost wholly lost.
A THOROUGHLY practical treatise dealing with all the
mysteries of the gold and silversmith's art and the allied
crafts should be welcomed in these
•' Metalwork and d;iys when such ja, attenti,m ,s
Enamelling, by , • , . , , , ,
« .. iwr being devoted to hand - wrought
Herbert Maryon , . °
,~, o u (I metalwork and jewellery. Mr.
(Chapman & Hall .. , .,
„ ,-, ... Herbert .Maryon s well-tilled volume
7s. od. net)
answers to this description, and can
be recommended as a reliable vade mecum for workers.
It deals exhaustively with the principles of design, the
various processes, and the properties of the materials
employed. The descriptions are full, clear, and accurate,
and every process and style of design is profusely
illustrated. As an example of the thoroughness wit
which the latter work has been done, it may be nientiom
that no fewer than ;j styles of twisted wire pattern
are reproduced, while there arc drawings of practically a
the hundreds of implements mentioned in the work.
Though Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle's mom
mental History of Painting in North Italy was pub
lished over forty years ago, it i
" A History of n0, ijk(,iy ,f) bc soon supersedec
Painting in Indeed, as time goes on, the durabl
North Italy," , , ,, , ,
" qualities of the work are onl
by J. A. Crowe and , , . ,. . . ,
„' „ , ,, brought into greater relief, for th
(j. hi Cavakasclle
Edited by Tancred
facts and theories set forth in it, i
the main, have been confirmed b
tiorenius (John
Murray, t vols., modern research and the scientili
£l is net) criticism of the present day. Th
changes in ownership of variou
pictures since the original edition was brought out, an
the fresh discoveries of art historians, have, of cours<
tended to impair the utility of that issue, so that a ne'
one, thoroughly revised and brought up to date by iM
Tancred Borenius, is more than justified. The book he
been treated in a similar manner as the recently issue
edition of the same writer's History of Painting in Hal
to which, indeed, it is a companion work. That is I
say, that while misprints and obvious slips have bee
corrected, and the changes in the catalogue numbers 1
pictures incorporated, with these exceptions the text an
notes of the original edition have been printed \ erbatin
the fresh information, compiled and brought to light b
the editor, being included in the form of additional note
These, though they dc not add greatly to the bulk of tl
work, are both numerous and valuable, containing a
immense amount of condensed information, much 1
which is obviously the result of original research. M
liorenius is to be congratulated both on the wealth 1
knowledge he displays and on the modesty which permi
him to put it in such an unostentatious though thorough
useful form. These notes are additionally interestin
from the proof they afford of the general sound judgmei
of Crowe and Cavalcasellc. While in a few instance
their conclusions have been negatived by subsequent di
coveries, it is remarkable how olten their attributions ha\
been proved to be correct, and have subsequently bee
adopted by the custodians of the pictures to which the
referred. Of topical interest are the numerous reference
to the late Lady Layard's pictures, soon to be tli
property of the National Gallery. One of the most in
portant of these is the famous Portrait of the Sulta;
Mehemet //., by Gentile Bellini, a much restored pieo
but "still of extraordinary interest, charming us" by th
wondrous finish of the parts which have resisted th
ravages of time. The other pictures recorded beloiu
ing to the Layard collection are too numerous to b
mentioned in a short review, but on this and all othe
collections containing examples of North Italian art froi
the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, the reader wi
find the present edition of Crowe and Cavalcaselle
monumental work an inexhaustible mine of informatioi
64
Special Notice
Enquiries should be made upon the coupon which will be found in the advertisement pages. While,
jwing to our enormous correspondence and the fact that every number of The Connoisseur Magazine is
printed a month in advance, it is impossible for us to guarantee in every case a prompt reply in these columns,
an immediate reply will be sent by post to all readers who desire it, upon payment of a nominal fee. Expert
opinions and valuations can be supplied when objects are sent to our offices for inspection, and, where
necessary, arrangements can be made for an expert to examine single objects and collections in the country,
and give advice, the fee in all cases to be arranged beforehand. Objects sent to us may be insured whilst
they are in our possession, at a moderate cost. All communications and goods should be addressed to the
" Manager of Enquiry Dept., The Connoisseur, 35-39, Maddox Street, \\\"
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
Paper-work. — A6, 315 (Warrington). — Paper flowers are
generally of no value at all, except those made by Mrs. Delany,
and even these are not as a rule worth much nowadays.
Engravings after Bigg. — A6,3i6 (Fribourg). — Your
two colour prints after Bigg are not the original issue. These
pictures were engraved by fhnmas Gaugain, and published in
17QI. The pair have recently realised sums ranging from ^10
to nearly ^40. but your copies, we fear, would have very little
interest to a print collector. The subjects were also engraved
by Daniel Orme.
Portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence.— A6, 323 (Clapham
Common). — Princess Lieven was the wife of the Ambassador
representing Russia at the Court of St. James from 1812 to
1S34. and was one of the leaders of English Society during that
time She was well known at Almack's, and was frequently the
guest of George IV. at the Pavilion at Brighton. Greville
mentions her in his Memoirs, describing her as "a ires grande
dame with abilities of a very fine order, great tact and finesse,
;md taking a boundless pleasure in the society of the great world
and in political affairs of every sort."
Engravers. — A6. 3 28 (Bristol). — The Fight for the Standard,
by R. Ansdell, was engraved by II. T. Ryall, and published by
Herring & Remington, August 15th, 1S61. Johnson, Boswell,
and Goldsmith at the Mitre Tavern was engraved by R. B.
Parke,.
"Marriage a la Mode."— A6, 336 (Clapham).— The
demand for engravings after Hogarth has decreased so consider-
ably of recent years that we fear your set would only realise .1
very small sum, at the most a few shillings each print.
Prints. — A6.349 (Basingstoke). — None of the prints on
your list would Ire likely to realise any sum ol importance, as
ihey are practically all of the last century. The two prints by
Armitage and Greatbach are steel engravings, for which there
is now practically no demand, these engravers having turned out
such a large quantity of work during their years of activity.
Tea Caddies. — A6.351 (Monkstown). — We should value
the tea caddies approximately as follows: — (1) £5 ios.. (21
s-5. (3) £4 4s. The value in this case partly depends upon
condition, silver fittings, etc., and the objects are sufficiently
rare to fluctuate in price.
Prints. — A6, 353 (Edinburgh). — The value of Blowin&
and King of the Castle, by P. W. Tomkins, after
Hamilton, largely depends upon whether they are plain or
coloured impressions. If the former, they would be unlikely to
realise more than £1 or so, but if fine coloured examples their
value would be considerable. We should need to see them
before valuing definitely. The stipple print, A Shipwrecked
Sailor Boy, by Orme, alter Bigg, is one of a pair, and you omit
to say whether it is in colours or plain. In colours the pair
realises from ,£15 to £2^,, but uncoloured the value is consider-
ably les,.
Engravings. — A6,3S5 (Hamilton, Lanark). — The engrav-
ing by W. Ward, And Joseph brought in facoh his Father .
is not a subject for which there is any demand. Very few
Scriptural subjects realise any sum of importance. At the most
it would realise £1 to 30s.
Painting of Madonna. — A6, ;02 (Melbourne). — It is
quite impossible for us to give an opinion upon your painting
attributed to Francesco Francia without seeing it. There were
many imitators of this famous master, and one writer records no
less than 220 of them. As regards the blue Nankin vase, you
do not describe the mark, and it is essential for us to know this
before giving any opinion, as the value entirely depends upon
the period.
Verge Watch.— Ao, 374 (Lewisham). — Several watches by
I. Wilter are recorded in Button's Old Clocks and Watches. We
cannot, however, value the watch without seeing it.
Prints. — A6,38i (Saxmundham). — bulging by your des-
cription, your two coloured prints are merely German coloured
lithographs, the value of which is trifling and the demand tin
which is practically nil.
" Progress of Steam." A6.382 (Fareham) — From the
particulars you send we should say that your print would pro-
bably realise from £$ to £5, but the value depends entirely
upon the quality of the impression and its general condition.
" David Qarrick," by S. VV. Reynolds, after
Zoffany. — A6.3S5 (Guildford). — If your copy of this subject is
an ordinary proof impression its value is not above £2 to £3.
" A Treatise of Fortifications." — A6.404 (Manchester).
— The book you describe would be unlikely to realise more than
a few shillings.
Grandfather Clock. — A6.4I2 (Bray). — There were several
makers of the name of Met winking in London from the 1 arly
part of the seventeenth century up to the first half of the
eighteenth. There was also a firm working as Mitchell & Viel
at Cornhill in 1768. We cannot trace any record of the maker
of your Sheraton clock by Edward Owens.
Bureau, etc. — A6.422 (Darlaston).— As mentioned in our
letter, we cannot place a value on the furniture without seeing
photographs.
Coin. — A6.427 (Vancouver). — Your 20-franc piece is worth
very little more than its face value.
65
HE CONNOISSEVR.
GENEALOGICAL AND
LDIC DEPARJMENT
Special Notice
Rkadkrs of The Connoisseur who desire to
take advantage of the opportunities offered herein
should address all letters on the subject to the
Manager of the Heraldic Department, Hanover
Buildings, 35-39, Maddox Street, W.
Only replies that may be considered to be of
general interest will be published in these columns.
Those of a directly personal character, or in cases
where the applicant may prefer a private answer, will
be dealt with by post.
Readers who desire to have pedigrees traced, the
accuracy of armorial bearings enquired into, or other-
wise to make use of the department, will be charged
fees according to the amount of work involved.
Particulars will be supplied on application.
When asking information respecting genealogy or
heraldry, it is desirable that the fullest details, so far
as they may be already known to the applicant, should
be set forth.
Thomas Noel Harris. — The following particulars are taken
from the Uppingham School Roll, second series : " Thomas
Nil I Harris, 1785. Ensign, 87th Regiment, 1800. Served in
campaigns of 1S11, 1812, and part of 1S13 in the Peninsula.
In 1S13 joined the headquarters of the allied armies in N.
Germany. Served throughout the campaigns of 1S13-14, up to
tlie surrender of Talis. Was present at the battles of Gross-
bergen and Dennewitz, and the battle of Leipsic of 16th, 18th,
and 191I1 October, 1813. lie was bearer of the first intelligence
that arrived in England of the fall of the French capital, lie
served in the campaign of 1815, and was present at Quatre Bras
and Waterloo, at which he lost a limb, and was otherwise severely
wounded. For his military services he was made a Knight of
the Royal Hanoverian Order in 1S30, and was knighted in 1841.
He had received the silver war medal and four clasps for his
services in the Peninsula, also the Order of Military Merit of
Prussia, and the Order of St. Anne and St. Vladimir of Russia.
lie retired on half-pay in 1830, and died in March, i860."
Pi.aie, of CORNWALL. — In the De Banco Rolls for Michai
mas, 7 Henry V., m. 521, there is an interesting reference
this family, which is as follows: " Robert Bealle and Juliai
his wife, and Walter Blyghe and Argentina his wife, sued Willia
Frefosburgh and Alice his wife, and Thomas Cade and Ali
his wife, and John Bausyn and Margery his wife, for land
Trenalt, which Richard Nywaton gave to John, son of Rog
de Blerek, in frank marriage with Margery, his daughter, whii
should revert to Juliana and Argentilla, as the heirs of tl
donor : John son of Roger having died s.p."
The pedigree is given as follows : —
Richard Nywaton, temp. Edward II.
I
John Fitz Roger = Margery = Richard Wydecombe.
Simon.
Juliana.
I
Argentilla.
The defendants give the following descent : —
Richard Nywaton, temp. Edward II.
!
Walter,
ob. s.p.
I
Margery = John Fit/. Roger.
I
Thomas,
ob. s.p.
and they claim by a grant of Margery, after the death of h>
husband and son.
HlLL. — In the majority of genealogical books, references wi
be found to the various families of this name. In Vivian
Visitation of Cornwall there is a pedigree of Hill, giving tl
descent from one Robert, who came to England with William
The same volume also gives other de-cents from the time
Edward I. and from Richard II.
Queries.
DESBOROUGH FAMILY. — Any particulars relating to th
family will be much appreciated. The family resided chiefly i
Cambridge and Huntingdon.
66
February, 1913.
Pictures
Sir Joseph Beecham's Collection at Hampstead
Part I. By C. Reginald Grundy
Towards the close of the eighteenth century
English art, nourished on the traditions of the past
fifty years, and rich in the produce of two generations
of great craftsmen, was fully emerged as an indepen-
dent growth. It had not yet spread into the wild
luxuriance of later days. Ungrafted to any extent
by foreign influence, it was essentially English, and
continued to develop on thoroughly national lines
for the next half-century or more. It is this period
— roughly bridging the interval between the death of
Reynolds and the advent of pre-Raphaelitism — which
is best exemplified in Sir Joseph Beecham's collection
at Hampstead. The most original work of this
period was in landscape. Though, at the beginning
of the epoch, Raebum, Hoppner, and Lawrence were
producing their finest portraits, one cannot say that
the destruction of the latter would make a complete
hiatus in the history of art. They revealed no fresh
secrets of nature, but rather adapted the discoveries
which had been made by earlier generations of great
BY GEORGE MORLAND
MORNING ; OR, THE BENEVOLENT SPORTSMAN
Vol. XXXV.— No. 13S.— e 69
[Copyright by J. T. Herbert Baily in the United States of America. May, 1901]
The Connoisseur
GIPSY ENCAMPMENT
BY GEORGE MOKLAND
portrait painters to the expression of English nation-
ality and sentiment. With landscape it is different.
Had Constable and Turner never lived, the whole
course of modern art would have been changed.
Constable was the pioneer of the Barbizon school ;
while Turner, directly and indirectly, exercises a
more profound influence on the art of to-day than
any other single master. These two great landscape
painters are superbly represented in Sir Joseph
lice ham's collection, and with them a company of
painters whose artistic stature is hardly dwarfed by
comparison with such giants; Morland, Cox, Nasmyth,
Crome, Stark, Bonnington, Muller, Landseer, and
Linnell are among them, all exemplified by charac-
teristic works, a large proportion of which may be
numbered among the painters' masterpieces.
The earliest of these artists in point of chronology
is Morland, in many respects the pioneer painter of
English rural life. It is true that Gainsborough
preceded him in the same theme, but Gainsborough,
though the greater artist, was hardly so convincing.
His long practice in fashionable portraiture unfitted
him tor the realization of country scenes ; his peasant
children are invested with a grace and dignity of
deportment which savours of the castle rather than
the cottage ; while his landscapes not unfrequcntly
betray signs of studio origin. Morland, on the
other hand, lived among the scenes he painted, and
rendered them with a simplicity and truth to nature
unsurpassed by the Dutch masters, who were his
early exemplars. Though Morland was not the first
English master of landscape, he was the first master
in English landscape ; that is to say, the first artist
who entirely discarded foreign tradition and saw
English scenery and rural life with the eyes of an
Englishman ; for Gainsborough never wholly freed
himself from Dutch and Flemish influence, and
^'ilson's pictures are always tinctured with Italian
feeling.
In pictures like the superb Morning; or, the Be-
nevolent Sportsman, the most completely satisfying
example of his work in Sir Joseph Beecham's col-
lection, Morland ranks with the greatest English
masters. It was painted in 1792, when he was in
the full maturity of his powers, and had attained a
breadth and freedom in his brushwork that is not
Sir Joseph Beech an is Collection at Hampstead
THE WRECKERS
BY GEORGE NORLAND
apparent in his earlier and more laboured examples.
Later on this freedom was to degenerate into slovenly
and scamped execution, but in The Benevolent Sports-
man these faults are not apparent. The work, indeed,
was painted under circumstances which both induced
and enabled the artist to put forth his full strength ;
it was one of the first-fruits from his brush after his
return from Leicestershire, whither he had fled to
avoid his creditors. He had lain perdu there until
his attorney had made arrangements with them. The
.sojourn in the country, out of reach of his fast associates,
had reinvigorated him in body and mind, while his
lengthy absence from his London patrons probably
made it necessary that he should give unequivocal
proofs that his talents were unimpaired.
In any case, the period immediately after the be-
ginning of the last decade of the eighteenth century
saw the production of some of Morland's most notable
efforts. In 1791 he painted The Farmer's Stable, the
finest representation of the artist in the National
Gallery. The Benevolent Sportsman belongs to the
following year ; it was commissioned by Colonel
Stuart, who paid 70 guineas for it, probably the high-
est price that the artist had yet received for a single
work. In many respects the picture is more typical of
Morland than the National Gallery example; the com-
position is happier, and the scene, instead of being an
interior with comparatively uninteresting walls for a
background, is laid in the open country ; and Morland
was even greater in landscape than as an animal painter,
and greatest of all when, as in the present instance,
he combined landscape, animals, and figures in a
single composition. This is less owing to his technical
ability— though he was more highly trained and a
better craftsman than almost any artist of his time —
than to his intimate knowledge of his theme. His
temperament, which made him enjoy rustic society
and coarse bucolic pleasures instead of courting his
fashionable clients, gave him a unique advantage in
this respect. He realized rural life from the stand-
point of a country yokel versed in all the lore of man
and beast, and he alone possessed this knowledge and
the ability to set it forth on canvas. In The Benevo-
lent Sportsman this characteristic is exemplified to a
high degree — the action and pose of every figure,
whether human or animal, are perfectly natural and
in harmony with its environment. This may seem a
small matter to achieve, and yet how few artists have
7i
The Connoisseur
achieved it — the old
1 nu<h masters were best
in this respect. Shut
their time there is scarce-
ly a great painter of
rustic life but has intro
d an extraneous
element of idealised
like Gainsborough,
,.i commonplace senti
ment like some of the
later English artists, or
of epic grandeur like
Millet. Morland was
content to paint it as he
saw it, and he saw it with
the eyes of a country-
man. Moreover, he had
the power of recording
his vision adequately.
Apart from its unaffected
realism, the picture is
line 0 I the finest ex-
amples of the British
school by reason of its
line craftsmanship. It is simply and directly painted,
the draughtsmanship is fully adequate, the composition
admirably balanced, and the colouring bright, lucid,
JOHN CONSTABLE AT THE
TWENTY-THREE
and harmonious. Seven
or eight other charac-
teristic Morlands are
included in Sir Joseph's
collection. Of these the
Boys Bathing and the
Skating Lesson were
noticed and illustrated
when on view in the ex-
hibition of Old Masters
at the Graves Galleries
in 191 1. Of the other
examples,the one depict-
ing a gipsy encampment,
and another depicting a
group of farm-buildings
with a couple of cattle
faced by a dog in the
foreground, are closely
akin in style and treat-
ment to The Benevolent
Sportsman, both being
carefully painted, the
latter more especially, be-
ing elaborately wrought
and minutely finished. The picture of The Lucky
Sportsman, representing a man in blue coat, leaning
on a gun and with a dog by his side, talking to a
AGE OF TWENTY-TWO OR
BY RICHARD REINAGLE
GOLDING CONST \BLE
BY JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A.
ABRAM CONSTABLE
BY JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A.
72
Sir Joseph Beecham s Collection at Flanipstead
SALISBURY CATHEDRAL FROM THE BISHOPS GROUNDS
couple of women, is well known from the engraving
of the subject made by F. D. Soiron in 1793, while
the companion work shows The Unlucky Sportsman,
with a couple of dogs, seated disconsolately in a
country inn. Both these works were formerly in the
Huth collection — they are somewhat slightly painted,
but show remarkable facility and gusto in the brush-
work. Another figure-subject by Morland is The
Woodman, while a fine example of his skill as a marine
artist is The Wreckers.
If Morland was the first English painter of landscape
essentially national in his feeling, it was Constable
whose work gave the British landscape school a
European reputation ; and Constable, like Morland, is
superbly represented. Perhaps the finest of his works
here is the Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's
Grounds, a variant from the painting of the same
subject now in the South Kensington Museum. Sir
Joseph's picture, together with The Jumping Horse,
belonging to the Royal Academy, were the only ex-
amples of Constable's work selected to represent the
artist in the British section at the International Fine
Arts Exhibition held in Rome in 191 1, a distinction
BY JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A.
which the work fully deserves. The j differences
between it and the South Kensington picture are
slight, but not unimportant ; the compositions are
practically identical. It is only in the treatment of
the trees that there exists a noteworthy discrepancy,
and in this the preference must be decidedly given
to the Beecham picture. It will be remembered by
readers of Leslie's Life of Constable that the South
Kensington version of the subject was begun by the
artist in the winter of 1822, and finished in the spring
of the following year — when it was exhibited at the
Royal Academy — for the Bishop of Salisbury. Leslie
adds, "It is an exceedingly beautiful work, and one
with which he took great pains." The last fact is
evidenced by the unusual elaboration with which the
foliage of the trees in the foreground is rendered — an
elaboration which almost degenerates into prettiness
and takes away from the breadth of the picture. One
would hazard to guess that this was done by Constable
against his own inclinations, to suit the taste of his
patron. In the Beecham work the trees are treated
in characteristic Constable fashion, with the result
that it gains immensely in simplicity and directness.
73
The ( onnoisseur
\
HAMPSTEAD HEATH
BY JOHN CONST
The other portions of the picture are practically un-
altered, including the group of cattle, of which Leslie
writes: "In the foreground Constable introduced a
circumstance familiar to all who are in the habit of
noticing cattle. With cows there is generally, if not
always, one which is called, not very accurately, the
master cow, and there is scarcely anything the herd
will venture to do until the master has taken the lead.
On the left of the picture this individual is drinking,
and turns with surprise and jealousy to another cow-
approaching the canal lower down for the same
purpose." Constable described the subject as the
most difficult he had ever attempted in landscape, and
he was deservedly proud at the success with which he-
had handled it. His landscape themes were nearly
all taken from three districts — his native Suffolk :
Hampstead, the home of his later years ; and Salis-
bury, where he frequently visited. Sir Joseph Beecham
is the fortunate possessor of examples illustrative of
all three localities. That of Salisbury has already been
described; Suffolk is represented by a smaller but
very pleasing work, showing a Lock on the Stour, with
Dedham Church in the Distance, and a transparent
ABLE. R.A.
and tender rendering of Yarmouth Jetty; while Hamp-
stead is represented by four characteristic works. Two
of these, the Hampstead Heath, with gravel carts in
the foreground, and another view of the Heath with
Harrow in the distance, were both exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1825, and mezzotinted by David
Lucas. These Hampstead scenes, with their vast
expanses of rolling scenery and open sky, were
singularly adapted to Constable's genius, and he has
realized them with wonderful simplicity and breadth.
Not quite so congenial to his talents were his essays
in portraiture ; yet even in these he attained qualities
shown in the work of no other painter of his time.
He observed his subjects as he observed his land-
scapes, as a whole, and while there is not the same
power of characterisation shown in his work as in
that of a few of his contemporaries, in their atmos-
pheric feeling and powerful chiaroscuro they will hold
their own with the best. Sir Joseph possesses three
examples of this too little known phase of Con-
stable's art, and also an interesting portrait of
Constable himself, when twenty-two or twenty-three,
by Richard Reinagle. Though the latter was trained
74
Sir Joseph Beet ham's Collection at H amp stead
WALTON BRIDGES
M. W. TURNER,
as a professional portrait painter, his picture hardly
stands comparison with those of his sitter.
The solitary example in oils by Constable's even
greater contemporary, Turner — the famous Walton
Bridges — will be treated upon in a future article in
conjunction with the superb series of drawings by
this artist which are contained in the collection.
For the consideration of the remaining works, which
come within the scope of the present paper, the
space left is already scanty, and one is compelled to
pass by with a brief mention pictures which are
worthy of a lengthy and exhaustive examination. It
will be noticed that Sir Joseph Beecham's sympathies
are especially directed towards English landscape,
more especially for those representations of it which
are most national in their feeling, typical, and racy
of the soil. This being so, one confidently antici-
pates that the claims of John Crome have not been
overlooked, and both he and his followers, James
Stark and George Vincent, are seen to great advan-
tage. With them may be coupled Patrick Nasmyth,
Scottish by nationality and training, but essentially
English in his wurk. All these artists exhibit a closer
affinity to Morland than to either Constable or
Turner : strongly insular as they were in outlook and
feeling, their style was founded on Dutch models,
and they failed to make further progress in technical
expression than their exemplars. Nasmyth especially
kept steadily within the lines laid down by his models,
choosing themes which would have appealed to
Wvnants or Hobbema, and rivalling those artists in
the minuteness and accuracy of his execution. In
a View Looking towards Harrow, with its fresh
and lambent skv, and its beautiful realization of the
broad expanse of field, hedgerow, and dwarf copses,
which constitute a scene of almost idyllic charm, he is
seen at his best : the Landscape, with a windmill in
the distance, and in the foreground a group of the
gnarled, stunted oaks which he so delighted to paint.
also exhibits him in his full maturity. Another
pastoral landscape by the same artist shows a placid
river with an angler on the bank ; the River Scene,
with its quaint, high-arched bridge, probably belongs
to an earlier period.
Sir Joseph Beecham's finest Crome, A Wooded
Landscape, is at present absent from his collection,
being lent to the exhibition at the Burlington Fine
Arts Club. It is painted with greater care and
75
The Connoisseur
VIEW LOOKING TOWARDS HARROW
restraint than many of the Norwich master's works,
and shows strongly the influence of his Dutch proto-
types in the studied treatment of the trees ; yet no
one could mistake the landscape for any but an
English scene, and no work gives a better idea of an
BY PATRICK NASMVTH
English wooded lane. In The Road through the
Wood and a view of A Country Lane with farm build-
ings James Stark shows a close affinity to his master,
though in these, as in most of his works, his com-
positions are more elaborate and his brushwork less
LANDSCAPE
BY PATRICK NASMYTH
76
Sir Joseph Beechams Collection at Hampstead
A COUNTRY LANE
BY JAMES STARK
fluent. Few pictures than these better display his
powers. Perhaps a finer artist than James Stark was
Grume's other pupil, George Vincent, and in Sir
Joseph Beecham's collection he appears to greater
advantage because of the superb quality of his repre-
sentation— a view of Bannockbum, near Stirling,
and, greatest of all, his swan-song of painting, the
Greenwich Hospital, commissioned by Mr. Carpenter
LANDSCAPE WITH BRIDGE
BY PATRICK NASMYTH
77
The Connoisseur
r—
SHIPPING ON THE YARE
BY JOHN CROME
in 1S57, his greatest work and practically the last
one he produced worthy of his genius. The tender
luminosity of the sky, the fine arrangement of the
crowded shipping, and the beautiful representation of
the shimmering water, all combine to make a noble
picture, masterly in both conception and execution.
GREENWICH HOSPITAL
BY GEORGE VINCENT
78
PORTRAIT OF MISS ANNA ELIZABETH CLEMENTS
BY JOHN JAMES MASQUERIER
By permission of the Edward Gallery
0'
Dr. Albert Figdor's Collection of Dolls' Furniture, Vienna
Part I. By Amelia S. Levetus
Dr. Albert Figdor, the well-known art
collector of Vienna, has among his other rare
treasures a collection of dolls' furniture and other
toys which is of more than common interest. The
objects contained in it date from the middle of the
sixteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century —
a period of a hundred years ; they are, therefore, of
value as aids to the manners
and customs of that time ; they
help to give us an insight into
the way in which a child was
brought up, and at the same
time instruct us as to the re-
quirements of the home, its
furnishing and general appoint-
ments. We can imagine that
the dolls' house here to be
described is a picture en minia-
ture of the real home ; we can
judge by it the general standard
of comfort obtaining at that
period in higher circles. For a
close study of this dolls' house
is of great value both from the
historical and the social point
of view. Moreover, the collec-
tion is so complete that to
study it is to study German
life in those remote days. We
learn of what very great im-
portance toys played in the
upbringing of the children, for
the little maidens by them
gained their first comprehen-
sive knowledge of the home,
the small boys of the greater
world without them. They
served as a preparation for the
seriousness of life. We see
little maids busy in their minia-
ture homes, there learning those
No. I.
duties which they will afterwards be called upon to
perform in the real home, delighting in the house-
hold duties which they in the character of their
dolls so ably exercise. For as the future man is
seen in the play of the boy, so is the future woman
seen in the play of the girl. In those remote days
the children were not essentially different from those
of our time. This is the great
lesson the history of toys
teaches us. It teaches us,
moreover, that the parents of
all times and all generations
have been eager to give their
children pleasure, for the par-
ents of past days were in no
ways different from those of
the twentieth century. Both
from Dr. Figdor's collection of
toys and others, both private
and public, we gather how
much pride and how much
good taste were shown in the
making and choosing of play-
things. How vastly different
are the toys of hundreds of
years ago from the gimcrack
ones of our day, hastily thrown
together by the maker, and
hastily thrown aside when the
child is tired of them. Every
object in Dr. Figdor's collec
tion breathes of the delight in
making, of a delight in giving,
a delight in having. Those
were times when man had
leisure for thought, even in
executing the smallest object,
which to him, however, was not
trivial, but a real piece of work,
to which he willingly gave
the best of his craft. We can
SPINNING-WHEEL CIRCA 164O
7 INCHES HIGH
Si
The Connoisseur
XOS. II. AND III. — DOLLS' LINEN PRESS
OPEN AND SHUT
CIRCA 1620
74 IN. BY 4 IN.
imagine that the donor, surely in most cases the
mother, must have spent much time and thought on
the choosing of her child's playthings — for her daugh-
ters, something for the building up of the home ; for
her sons, implements of war and of husbandry, the
two subjects which would play the most important
part in their later lives. The dolls' house served as
an introduction, as it were, to the secrets of the house-
hold ways ; the dolls' house was to the child her
castle, over the threshold of which none had the right
to step uninvited. Dear little girls of generations and
generations ago, what very busy personages you must
have been, how gladly must you have performed your
household duties !
Henry Rene d'AUemagne, in his Hisloire desjouets*
has thrown much light on the history of toys through-
out the ages. It is a work which cannot be too
highly recommended to all those interested in the
subject. Another publication, however, is of special
service in studying the toys in Dr. Figdor's collec-
tion, which is almost exclusively of German origin,
* Paris, Chez l'auteur, 30, Rue des Mathurins.
namely, Kinderleben in der deutschen Vergangenheit,
by Hans Boesch.t This is a most instructive work,
which deals most intelligently and attractively with
every phase in the life of the German child from its
earliest infancy and from the earliest times. It con-
tains, moreover, as does also the His/oirc des Jouets,
much of value relative to the origin and development
of toys, from the primitive rattle onwards.
The dolls' house and furniture in Dr. Figdor's
collection is, as has already been mentioned, of
German origin. It came from the city of Ulm in
the Duchy of Wurtemberg, where it had been in
the possession of one and the same patrician family
for over three hundred years, being handed down as
an heirloom in the direct line. It is possible that
the house itself may not be the original one : there
can be no possible mistake as to the furniture and
appointments, for many of the objects bear their
age written upon their face. The door has been
removed, so that you at once get a picture of its con-
tents. It is more than a metre long and about eighty
t Eugen Diedrich, Leipzig.
82
Dr. Albert Fip-rfor's Collection of Dolls Furniture
No. IV. — dolls' cupboard circa 1630
HALF ORIGINAL SIZE
centimetres high. There are four rooms, two upper
and two lower ones. The latter are the kitchen and
a sort of general room, such as are common in the
houses of the peasantry of our days, but which in
past ones was a necessity of every patrician's home.
No. VI. — dolls' cupboard circa 1630
72 IN. BY 5 IN.
It has now given place to the scullery. The two
upper rooms are furnished as bed-sitting rooms, for
it must be remembered that it was then the custom
to receive in the bedroom ; indeed, it was the chief
room in the house. In some parts this custom still
No. V. — dolls' cupboard circa 1620
91 in. by "i in.
83
No. VII. — dolls' cupboard dated 1656
8 IN. by 7 IN.
T/ie Connoisseur
No. IX. — dolls' cupboard, 1568
ORIG. S IN. BY 1\ IN.
obtains. In addition to the furniture and other
things contained in the dolls' house, Dr. Figdor
possesses numerous other objects, for the collection
is .111 extremely large and varied one. In considering
No. VIII. — dolls' cupboard circa 1620
ORIG. S IN. BY 4 IN.
these we are at once considering the age in which
they arose, for they are as aids to the history of
culture and of social development generally. Take,
for instance, the hand-loom and the spinning-wheel.
No X. — dolls' cupboard interior dated 1568 8 in. by 7J in.
84
Dr. Albert Figdor's Collection of Dolls' Furniture
In those days, and in the centuries
before, they were most important
requirements of every home. Then
came machinery to supersede
them. Toy ones are still made,
but they almost fall into pieces
when you look at them. The
spinning-wheel here reproduced
(No. i.), though but 7 in. in height,
is as well made as if intended for
real use. There it stands, ready
for tiny, deft lingers to manipulate,
with the flax still wound round the
spindle as the little girl left it per-
haps a couple of centuries ago.
How many generations of the
small daughters of that patrician
family in Ulm have amused them-
selves with this toy, perhaps by
means of it been initiated into the
use of the real wheel. In the
dolls' chamber they mast have
sought to imitate what they saw in
their mother's Kerne nate, that
room in which, together with the
women of her household, she sat
at work, spinning, weaving, sew-
ing, embroidering, and making
tapestry. She may even have
knitted, though at this period of
its history knitting, in Germany at
least, was considered men's work.
How many little maids of long ago
must have watched the grown-ups
linen so neatly laid one upon
NO. XI. — WORK CUPBOARD
CIRCA I63O T\ IN. BY 3^ IN.
weaving that dolls'
the other on the
shelves of the linen press (Nos. ii.
and in.,), or perhaps imitated their
elders by weaving on the toy loom
in the general room of the dolls'
house. Examine the pieces of
woven material. How evenly the
threads run, how exact are the
patterns. These are not pieces
cut off from larger ones, but have
actually been woven to this
minute size, some in linen and
others in silk. Notice the pat-
terns. In parts of Germany, par-
ticularly in Schleswig-Holstein, the
same patterns are still favoured by
the peasant women. And not only
in Germany, but also in Austria,
and even in the Eastern countries,
the same patterns are still woven,
this more especially so in lands
where hand-weaving still obtains,
and where the women-folk of the
household bring forth their hand-
looms, which during the summer
months they have put aside, to
weave the household linen and
their daughters' outfit. The same
patterns are also made by ma-
chines. Tastes change rarely. 1 1
is worth while examining the press
itself, noticing the lovely patina
which ages have lent it. It is of
oak ; the intarsias are refined and
The same refinement of treatment is
well incised.
everywhere present, and is to be found in those
No. XII. — dolls' chest
SIXTEENTH CENTURY
4 IN. BY If IN.
85
The ( onnoisseur
a n C lent
specimens
of furniture
which h.i\ e
n hand
ed down to
us from the
M i d d 1 e
\ ;es. The
lock is pi i
feet in its
mechanism;
the d o o r
bungs well
on its
hinges,
which serve
both for
use and for
ornament
— a charac-
teristic of
those days. The whole cupboard conveys a sense
of fitness and of strength, as if the maker knew it
would be handed down throughout the ages. Here
NO. XIII. — DOLLS COT
mind and
hand were
winking to-
-ether,
though the
object is
but a toy.
'I' he same
perfection of
w o 1 k m a n-
ship may be
seen in all
the other
cupboards
(No. i v . ,
No. v., No.
v i . ) here
represented.
All are
b e a u t i fu 1
s p e c i m ens
of late
Renaissance and German Barock. Most have the
same designs as the cupboards of a larger growth.
They are all perfect in workmanship, and show a
CIRCA I580
IN. BY 7i IN.
No. XIV.— dolls' four-post bedstead circa 1580 7 IN- BY s IN-
86
Dr. Albert Figdor's Collection of Dolls Furniture
thoroughness
and mastership
in the use of the
tools, and a right
aim to produce
nothing but of
the best. The
cupboard (No.
vii.) bears its age,
256 years, on its
face ; for, as the
date tells us, it
w as made in
1656. 1 1 i s
questionable if
the toys of our
days would even
stand the wear
and tear of more
than one genera-
tion of children.
It will be seen that some of these cupboards, in
addition to their wood-carving, are also ornamented
with intarsia of soft wood, the cupboards themselves
either being of oak or of walnut. No. viii. is a fine
example of this minute and artistic method of deco-
ration. Nos. ix. and x. show a still more beautiful
intarsia, the cupboard being a hundred years older
than No. vii., for, as the date below the embroidery
...1
No. XV. — dolls' table
CIRCA 1560
3 J IN. BY 4' IN.
lining the right
door will show,
it was made in
1568 — that
means, that it is
344 years old.
It seems as if it
had been made
for some very
special occasion.
The family coat
of arms is em-
blazoned in gold
and silver. But
was it the family
coat of arms?
Perhaps it was
o n e chosen for
thedollforwhose
purpose it was
made. Nothins
could be more beautiful than the workmanship every-
where present in this piece of craftsmanship. It is
of walnut, the intarsia being of soft woods in natural
colours — pine, pear, apple, maple. The whole
mechanism is perfect. All these cupboards have
grown mellow with age, and, as they have never been
doctored, the tones are singularly beautiful. They
are all filled with articles for the dolls' toilet — dresses,
No. XVI. — TABLE
CIRCA I_S90
87
5, IN. BY 4i IN.
The Comioissenr
No. XVII. — dolls' flap table
linen, and everything imaginable. No. xi. shows us
a cupboard of another style, exactly like those in use
in ime parts to the present day. The water was
stored above, from whence it fell into the pewter
basin below. Such cupboards are invariably found
in the living-rooms of old houses, and date from a
time before the invention of knives and forks, when
it was necessary to wash the fingers very frequently.
The inlaid chest (No. xii.) is a miniature marriage
chest, such as the bride stored her clothing in in
olden times. Here, too, the fineness of the work-
manship is everywhere present.
The history of bedsteads has also its own interest,
but it lies without the province of this article. The
two specimens here reproduced are especially fas-
cinating, not only on account of their intrinsic value,
but because they also tell us of past customs. Both
are highly decorative ; both are distinct and beautiful
specimens of a craft which is no more. The four-
i (No. xiv.) has hangings of heavy green silk;
the head and the foot, though not shown on the
photograph, are exquisitely carved, and the bed-posts
finely turned. The bed-linen is hand-woven, so is
that of the cot (No. xiii.). It shows a very cunning
device for the safety of the child, which at the
same time could see and be seen. It is shut in at
the top, so that nothing could befall it, though, of
course, in our days of strict attention to the rules of
circa 1550
4] IX. BY 4} IN.
hygiene, such cots would never suit ; but in those
days they did not seem to think so much about
light and air for their progenies. This cot is about
330 years old — about the same age as the bed.
In Dr. Figdor's collection there are other fine speci-
mens of dolls' bedsteads, Renaissance and Barock in
form, all the work of sincere-thinking craftsmen, all
showing the same right feeling for proportion and
construction.
Naturally tables were then, as now, an important
feature in the furnishing of the dolls' house. Those
reproduced here are all excellent in their way.
No. xv. is ornamented with chip-carving, very primitive
in comparison with the other pieces of furniture ;
but it is very strongly made, and to the purpose. It
had its place in the kitchen. No. xvi. is exceptionally
strong in construction, and is excellently put together,
as in all tables of this period. The centre of the lid
is made to lift up, and there is a hollow below for
the storing of things. This served the purpose of a
drawer. No. xvii. shows a flap table, which, when
opened, fits admirably into the sockets. Here it will
be seen that there is also a hollow, the same as in
this form of table of a larger growth. Its chief beauty
lies in its proportions, in the construction and the
loveliness of its colouring. It is a miniature of those
tables known as " Bock " : a development of the
trestle table.
88
w m
Ifliscellaneous;
' uiHiiinrtli i .1 1 > imintlimi t im;!.l'«fl'».l'< < «
Annals of Hampstead
By T. J. Barratt*
(Reviewed)
Among the books of most enduring interest
are many which have brought in little or no pecuniary
return to their authors. Classical instances, like
Milton's Paradise Lost, might be adduced, but one
which comes readier to hand is Mr. Thomas J.
Barratt's Annals of Hampstead, a sumptuously
mounted production, limited in issue to 550 copies,
the sale of the entire edition of which can never
recoup the author for the cost of his outlay. Obvi-
ously the book has been a labour of love, and, like
most work undertaken in such a spirit, neither
industry nor research has been spared to bring it to
full completeness. In the construction of the book
Mr. Barratt's business training has stood him in good
stead : it is orderly in sequence, there are no repeti-
tions, no extraneous matter is introduced, and the
facts recorded are given clearly and concisely. With-
out these safeguards the work might have grown to
an oppressive bulk ; even as it is, there is so great
a wealth of material that it is difficult to compress it
into three substantial volumes containing one thousand
pages of letterpress and over five hundred illustrations.
Mr. Barratt, indeed, has practically exhausted the sub-
ject : other searchers in the same field may light
upon facts to fill in the chinks and interstices of his
monumental structure, but his work, which glows
with interest from start to finish, will remain the
standard authority on Hampstead, and, indeed, should
attract a wider circle of readers than those who are
personally interested in the Heath and the neighbour-
hood, for this well-written history gives us not only
an account of a locality, but incidentally the social
progress of England during the last thousand years.
It is back to the remote dawn of history that Mr.
Barratt's opening pages take us, when Hampstead was
part of a huge forest that covered nearly all Middle-
sex and stretched far beyond the county's borders.
There were trackways cut through this forest, one
of which was probably utilised by the Romans as one
of the two routes between London and Verulamium,
the ancient St. Albans ; and tradition has it that the
Innals of Hampstead, by Thomas J. Barratt. (A. & C.
Black, 3 vols., £s 5s. net.)
HIGHGATE PONDS FROM MILLFIELD LANE FROM A WATER-COLOUR DRAWING BY
IN THE BELL-MOOR COLLECTION
P. DE WINT
89
The Connoisseur
Hampstead heights were the scene ol the final
struggle between Boadicea and Suetonius Paulinus.
The Roman road ol Watling Sin. i crossed- the
Heath, and Roman remains have been found on it ;
but well on into Saxon times the district remained
part of a i ested with outlaws and b
ol prey, a constant danger to the pilgrims from
London to the shrim oi St. Albans. The Manor oi
pstead was eventually granted to the Abbot ol
"A tminster, but passed, some time in the twelfth
century, into lay hands. In the thirteenth century
of land at Hampstead changed hands
LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU FROM THE
ENGRAVING BY CAROLINE WATSON, AFTER THE
PAINTING BY RICHARDSON
who stripped himself and his wife of their fortunes in
order to equip an expedition — the third he undertook
— to discover a north-west passage to Cathay, leaving
his wife in abject penury and apparently dependent
upon the hard-hearted charity of Queen Elizabeth ;
the two Waads— Armigell and his son Sir William—
who were occupants of Belsize Park, and high in the
councils of the English monarchs from the time of
STEELE FROM ONE OF KNELLER S ORIGINAL
SKETCHES, NOW AT BELL-MOOR
at 6d. an acre, a price which would attract numerous
purchasers at the present time. Moderate as was the
value, the possession of Hampstead land, however,
appears to have been a source of contention between
the Abbots of Westminster, who endeavoured to
revive their ancient rights, and the citizens of London,
some of whom had acquired possessions there. This
friction resulted in a fierce riot in 1222, when the
citizens of London and Westminster fought together,
one of the most prominent among the latter, Con-
stantine, a man of great wealth, being hanged in
consequence by the authorities.
In the sixteenth century Hampstead began to enjoy
a closer connection with London, a colony of laun-
dresses settling there, who are said to have done
washing for the royal household ; and now from time
to time great historical personages begin to flit through
Mr. Barratt's pages, generally revealing themselves in
a new and intimate light. There is Martin Frobisher,
EVELYN PIERREPONT DUKE OF KINGSTON
FROM THE MEZZOTINT BY' FABER, AFTER KNELLER
90
?'S GREEN FROM THE PAINTING BY J. RUSSELL, R.A., ENGRAVED BY W. BIRCH, I7N/
FROM DUGDALE'S "ENGLAND AND WALES." ABOUT
91
The Connoisseur
S. T. COLERIDGE AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-FOUR
FROM THE PORTRAIT BY HANCOCK, IN THE
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
Henry VIII. to James I.; their successor, Colonel
Bushell, who mortgaged, and so lost, the property to
raise forces for Charles I. ; Colonel Daniel O'Niel,
third husband of the beautiful Catherine Lady
Stanhope and Countess of Chesterfield : ami the
latter's son, Lord Wotton, afterwards Earl of Bellamont,
whom Pepys and Evelyn honoured with visits,
the Litter praising the gardens as "wonderful fine,"
but "too good for the house," being " the most noble
I ever saw, and have orange trees and lemon trees,"
and the latter in true connoisseur spirit condemning
them as " very large but ill-kept, yet woody and
chargeable ; the soil a cold, weeping clay, not answer-
ing the expense."
Among subsequent residents at Belsize were Philip,
Earl of Chesterfield, the famous letter-writer, and
Spencer Perceval, the Prime Minister ; but the people
well known in politics, art, and literature who have
lived in Hampstead, and whose doings there are
recorded in Mr. Barratt's book, are innumerable.
There are other less reputable characters — alleged
witches like William Hunt and his wife, and Alice
Bradley, the first-named of whom suffered for his
supposed sorceries by hanging ; highwaymen, including
Claude Duval, Nevison, Dick Turpin, Sixteen String
Jack, and other heroes of the road, whose fraternity
furnished many occupants for the gibbet, which stood
between two great elms on the verge of Hampstead
Heath, below Jack Straw's Castle : and other less
formidable offenders, for whose tenancy the stocks,
whipping-post, and ducking-stool were provided. The
author does not dwell over long on these gruesome
assoi i.i 1 1. mis, for there are far more attractive themes
for his pen —Steele and the Kit-( "at Club ; Hampstead
as a fashionable health resort in the < Georgian days, and
as London's favourite suburb in the nineteenth and
tw< ntieth centuries, numbering among its inhabitants
many ol the iliie of the social and intellectual world.
On all these matters and personages Mr. Barratt has
much that is interesting to tell us, and much, too, on
the antiquities of Hampstead and the neighbourhood
— the inns, famous houses, thoroughfares, and places
of public resort ; while to the geology, botany,
meteorology, and natural history special chapters are
devoted by leading experts. How thoroughly Mr.
Barratt has done his work may be judged by the fact
that the index to his volumes extends to over fifty
closely printed pages, and the bibliography of the
subject to thirty. A unique feature of the work is its
wealth of illustration. Man)- of the most interesting
plates have been taken from subjects in the author's
own extensive collection at Bell-Moor ; but he has
not rested content with this source of supply, but has
ransacked public and private picture galleries and
libraries to bring in any subjects which illustrate his
MRS. LESSINGHAM IN THE CHARACTER OK ORIANA
FROM A CONTEMPORARY PRINT
92
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o
en
o
W
z
_
I
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a
SWEARING ON THE HORNS AT HIGHGATE
FROM A PRINT IN THE COATES COLLECTION
V-
s.
v
CHALK FARM IN 1S2;
THE TRIAL OF NERVES DESIGNED AND ETCHED BY D. T. EGERTON
95
The Connoisseur
theme-, and supplemented these In the labours of the
photographer in depicting the present aspect of the
ibourhood. Generall) speaking, the reproduc
■ ellent in quality, some of the colour
congratulated on the completion of his great work ; it
is .1 book which will live and become more and more
valuable as time goes on, for it is not merely a re< ord
dI the past, but recalls it with such vividness and
richard Wilson's favourite oak, which formerly stood on hampstead heath
from an etching by t. hastings, made in i 82 5
plates from pictures by Constable— a long - time
resident — and other well-known masters being of
especially high quality. Mr. Barratt may be heartily
insight that, in dipping among the pages, one seems
transported among the scenes and characters which
the writer is describing.
COPPER "TICKET" OF ADMISSION TO THE HAMPSTEAD LONG ROOM, ABOUT I J 50
IN THE POSSESSION OF MR. E. E. NEWTON
96
More about China Cottages
By H. Robinson
As a collector whose special hobby is the
acquisition of old china and stoneware cottages, I
agree with a former writer on the subject in the pages
of The Connoisseur, that it is now extremely difficult
to find good specimens, and that bargains are almost
out of the question. In my collection of nearly one
hundred examples are included, in addition to the
orthodox cottage, pipe -racks, savings banks, ring-
stands, pastille-burners, watch-stands, and ink-pots
in Rockingham, Leeds, Delft, and other wares, many
of which are now of extreme rarity; and to form a
similar collection at the present time would be
attended by almost unsurmountable difficulties.
The first group consists of five Rockingham and
two Staffordshire houses. The second and third in
the front row are mauve, the former also being gilt,
and having a group of white flowers on the roof.
The Staffordshire castle on the right at the top is a
facsimile in miniature of Scarborough castle.
Of the eight specimens illustrated in Group ii., the
three at the top are all Staffordshire. The first has a
blue enamelled roof, and on either side of the door
repose a dog and a lamb, while on either side of the
door of the second is a fox and a hen. Of the
three in the centre of the bottom row the smaller
one is Staffordshire, and the two supporting it are
Rockingham.
Some interesting specimens are illustrated in Group
iii. The two at the top are respectively Delft and
Staffordshire, the latter, a pipe-rack, being the same
back and front. The centre one in the lower row is
a chapel in Leeds pottery, and is a savings bank. It
has a very polished paste, and is distinguished for its
lightness. The house on the right, with a man and
Group I. — five Rockingham and two Staffordshire houses
97
Group II. — rockingham and Staffordshire houses
I^A'pp 111
" M
1 RH I •* Jfl
1. >i J •■
I • 1 »■ -■■
am 1 'a ' 1
SSSb
MHHfl ■ ft i '/x*"r I
Group III. — delft, leeds, and Staffordshire houses, pipe-rack, and savings bank
Group IV. — three burslem pastille-burners
98
More about China Cottages
Group V. — three rockingham pastille-burners
a woman by the side, is also Leeds, while that on the
left is Staffordshire. The last-mentioned, according
to one writer, is a fake, though an expert of consider-
able repute vouches for its authenticity.
The three pastille-burners in Group iv. are all
Burslem, and, though interesting, are more distin-
guished for their simplicity than their beauty.
In direct contrast are the three examples illustrated
in Group v., which I consider the gems of my collection.
They are all Rockingham, and are remarkable for the
daintiness of their floral decoration and colouring.
The church is white, with a pale-blue roof and pierced
windows freely gilt. The tower has a flower below
each pinnacle, while there is also a good deal of floral
decoration on the stand, which is separate. The
other two are also beautiful specimens of Rockingham
china. The first, which is white, is almost covered
with encrustation, and on the roof are numerous
coloured flowers, amongst them on the summit being
a large carnation. The other, rather simpler in form
and decoration, has a gray roof encrusted with green.
Both have open windows just below the roof.
The sixth group consists of fine specimens of
Rockingham china. The pergola on the right at the
top has a curious archway to the steps of the house,
and the windows are pierced and heavily gilded. The
house in the centre of the group is a curious example,
having a bow-window on one side and a verandah on
Group VI. — rockingham houses
99
The Connoisseur
Group VII.— collection of houses, ring-stands, ink-pots, watch-stands, etc.
the other. It is also on a base of blue enamel and
gilt.
The seventh illustration comprises my complete
collection, and gives a good indication of the wide
range these dainty examples of the potter's art offer
to the collector, and though their steadily increasing
popularity makes their acquisition to be attended with
considerable difficulty, their value from a decorative
point of view well repays one for any trouble one may
have in finding good specimens.
OTES
nUCRi^-J
[The Editor invites the assistance of readers
information required by Correspondents^
Unidentified Painting (23).
Gentlemen, — I send herewith a photo of an oil-
painting for you to reproduce for identification as to
subject and artist. The picture is on a seventeenth-
century canvas, 6 ft. by 3 ft. 6 in., and has been
re-lined twice. As it is apparently a twilight scene,
and therefore rather dark, the photo does not bring
out the full character of the painting. Between the
legs of the man leaning over in the centre is a
monogram in white, as shown beneath the . photo
sunt. Perhaps this is a collector's mark, which will
help to identify the painting. Do any of your readers
know if it has been engraved ?
Very truly yours, Guv A. Jackson.
Shrewsbury Collection Catalogue.
Dear Sir, — Perhaps some of your readers may
be able to inform me of the name of book in two
vols, giving the list of paintings purchased by the
of The Connoisseur who may be able to impart the
then Lord Shrewsbury in 1836 or 1837 from Prince
Borghese, and which included the collection lately
belonging to "Madame Mere," who died in Rome
in 1836. It is many years since I saw the book,
and the name has escaped my memory, but was told
it was difficult to procure. I have seen a list of the
paintings in a small guide-book to Matlock and
neighbourhood, but it was not correct.
Yours truly, An Old Subscriber.
Drawings by Rossini.
Sir, — Luigi Rossini, to whose architectural etchings
R. C. W. calls attention in the January issue of The
Connoisseur, was born about 1790, and was still
working in 1835. He is referred to by Mr. A. M.
Hind, on p. 232 of A Short History of Engraving
and Etching, as one upon whom fell the mantle of
the Piranesi, and there can be no doubt that he
wore it right worthily. Mr. Hind further tells us
(23) UNIDENTIFIED PAINTING
IOI
7 he ( onnoisseur
that the gn at< r pan of
Rossini's etched work of
the ancii nt architecture
ol Rome was done be-
\ en 1S1 7 and 182 |.
I 'i 11 .11 ed in a col-
.1 edition in seven
imperial folio volumes
in 1829.
It has always been to
me a matter ol amaze-
ment that these magnifi-
cent plates (which ran
still be picked up in
fine condition at from
7s. I'd. to 12s. 6d. each)
have received such scant
1 icognition from collec-
tors, as many of them —
particularly those of the
t r i u m p h a 1 a r c h e s,
bridges, and temples —
d i s p 1 a y p o w e r s o f
draughtsmanship which
are at once vigorous, (24) uniden:
convincing, and imaginative. In this last quality they
are only surpassed by the finest of Rossini's great
predecessor and inspirer, Gianbattista Piranesi. Like
Piranesi, Rossini did a considerable amount of hack-
work, but there are quite a hundred of his etched
plates which any collector of prints would be proud
to possess. Like Bernardo Belotto and Luca
Carlevaris, Luigi Rossini has yet "to arrive."
I am. Sir, your obedient servant, John Mallett.
1S55-1867, and when at
Claines a personal friend
of my grandfather, hut
the existence of the pic-
ture seems to have been
hitherto unknown to any
of the family.
The portrait is an oil-
painting of considerable
artistic merit, on a can-
vas measuring 4 ft. 9 in.
by 3 It. i) in., but the
painter's name does not
appear. "T. Brown,
High Holborn," is sten-
cilled on the back of the
canvas in lettering of
about 1830. This Brown
sold artists' materials in
1 lolborn from 1808 until
j 85 3. The origin of so
remarkable a picture is
a mystery, and it seems
unlikely to be Thomas
Stallard, sen., of Little
Birch, as he does not appear to have been in a position
in life to have had such a portrait painted, yet the
picture has a striking likeness to members of the
family.
Any information which would help in tracing the
history of the picture and the possible artist would
be most gratefully received.
Arthur D. Stallard.
P.S. — I shall be delighted to show your correspon-
dent some of the finest examples of Rossini's work,
should he care to see them.
Unidentified Painting (24).
Dear Sir, — This picture, which has recently come
into my possession, has an old label on the back
with the inscription : " Painting of Mr. Stallard,
father of William Stallard, merchant, The Blanquettes,
Worcestershire." This would describe my great-
grandfather, Thomas Stallard, of Little Birch, Co.
Hereford, who died in the year 1S33, aged ninety-
eight. My grandfather, William Stallard, lived at
The Blanquettes from 1S40 until 1855. The family
from whom I bought the picture received it from the
Rev. John Palmer, who was perpetual curate of Claines,
near Worcester, 1S40-1855, and Vicar of Bromyard
Unidentified Painting (No. 15).
November, 1912.
Dear Sir, — The painting (No. 15), page 177 of
the November issue of The Connoisseur, is a copy
of the picture entitled The Shepherd's Offerings, by
Bonifazio, which now hangs in the Royal Galleries at
Hampton Court, No. 151 in the catalogue. The
figure, with crutch, sitting on a stone, is St. Joseph,
while those on the left represent St. Roche and St.
Elizabeth sitting with the young Baptist in her amis.
Trusting the information may be of use to you,
I remain, yours truly, Hugh Clarke.
JOSIAH SPODE.
Dear Sir, — I wonder if any of your readets know
of any descendants now living of the above eminent
man? If so, any information would be greatly
esteemed by your correspondent. — Tom G. Cannon.
SHAv7T5°
Historical
Hour-glass
The hour-glass illustrated has been in the possession
of Napoleon I. It is about 10 inches high, and
represents a very fine piece of antique
bronze. Later it came to Arenberg
in the possession of Queen Hortense,
afterwards of her daughter, who married a German
painter named Keller. This
man gave it to a German
" inrist " — an equivalent for
his successful counsel in a
process. This hour-glass was
reproduced on one of the
old prints which present the
great emperor at Elba, but I
could never find this print.
Perhaps one of the readers
of The Connoisseur will
kindly let me know where
I can find a reproduction
of it.
An Interesting Portrait
by the Swedish painter
Hans Hysing
I think it may be of
some interest to the readers
of The Connoisseur to
see a reproduction of the
portrait on page 105,
hitherto supposed to repre-
sent Charles Edward Stuart,
the Young Pretender. A
replica or copy of the picture
was engraved by E. Scriven,
and published by C. Tilt in
1830, over the name of the
Young Pretender. In the
Catalogue oj Engraved
British Portraits at the
British Museum, compiled by
NAPOLEON S HOUR-GLASS
Freeman O'Donoghue, London, 1908, Vol. I., p.4°6,
a photogravure of the same picture is also said to
represent " Prince Charles Edward Louis Philip
Casimir, the Young Pretender, when a boy ; AW L.,
standing in landscape, in a tartan dress. From picture
in possession of Lord Rosebery." The compiler of
the catalogue also mentions
the stipple engraving, by i'..
Scriven, after the same por-
trait, and also a "woodcut,
figure only; vignette with
French title. H.Holfeldel."
That picture does belong to
the Earl of Rosebery, and is
preserved at his Scottish
estate, Dalmeny, near Edin-
burgh. At the time of its
being engraved, however, the
portrait belonged to G. A.
Williams, and has, at a later
date, come into the pus-
session of Lord Rosebery.
Andrew Lang, in his book
entitled Prince Charles Ed-
ward (London, tooo), repro-
duced (facing page 32) the
picture belonging to the Earl
of Rosebery, and supposed
to represent Prince Charlie.
Naturally there was no doubt
in his mind as to the au-
thenticity of the portrait, as
that could be verified from
the engraving. But, alas !
one ought not always to be-
lieve what is printed even on
an engraving. Lord Rose-
bery, the brilliant historian
of Europe's Great Pretender
of the eighteenth century, has
103
The Connoisseur
doubtless indulged in many ingenious reflections, and
has possibly meditated on th vanitj oi all things
mundane when ga rig on the poor little " Pretend* i
in the national dress. I must humbly apologise to
his lordship for disturbing Ins ideas in this matter, but
the little Highlander is onlya "pretended Pretender."
His lordship has presumably never visited Hornby
, for otherwise hi would have been somewhat
surprised on being introduced by his Grace the Duke
ol 1 eeds to a portrait of the very same little High-
: whose picture adorns the walls of Dalmeny
House, and hearing that it represents one of the
duke's ancestors, the Earl of Danby. As a matter
ol fact, the original portrait is preserved at Hornby
( \istle, and represents Thomas, fourth Duke of Leeds,
when Earl ol Danby, and is signed " H. Hysing,
pinx. i726."'-: Signature and date can be seen also
on the photograph lure reproduced. The similar
portrait at Dalmeny is not signed according to the
information which his lordship has kindly given me,
and that picture must consequently be a replica or
a copy of the portrait at Hornby Castle.
It can also be proved without much painstaking
investigation that the portrait cannot possibly repre-
sent the Young Pretender. He was born at Rome
on December 31st, 1720, and would consequently
be between five and six years old at the date when
this portrait was painted, but obviously the boy in
this picture is much older. The fourth Duke ot
Leeds was born in 17 13. and was consequently
thirteen years old when this portrait was painted,
which is just the age one must feel inclined to give
the boy painted. Moreover, Charles Edward never
came to England before he commenced the famous
insurrection in 1745, and Hysing never left England
after arriving there in 1700. I think these facts are
sufficient to prove that the portrait cannot anyhow
represent the Young Pretender. On the other hand,
there seems to be no reason to doubt that the
picture represents Thomas, young Earl of Danby,
afterwards fourth Duke of Leeds, as stated by the
owner, the present Duke of Leeds.
Of the Young Pretender, when a boy, or when a
young man, there are two portraits which I suppose
to be authentic, one by B. Gennari, and the other
by J. Blanchet, the last being in the possession of
Colonel Walpole, Heckfield Place. Both are repro-
duced in Andrew Lang's book here quoted. Later
on his portrait was painted by L. Tocque. There is
a third portrait of the Pretender, when a boy, at the
National Portrait Gallery, attributed to Largilliere.
I will now give a few biographical data on the person
Dimensions 77^ in. by 56} in.
here represented. Thomas, fourth Duke of Leeds, was
born in 1713. lie married, 1740. Lady Mary Godol-
phin, daughter and heiress of Francis, second Earl
oi Godolphin, ami his wife Henrietta, Duchess >>i
Marlborough in her own right. He was K..G. 1749,
Cofferer of the Household 175'', P.C. 1760, fellow of
the Royal Society and LL.D. The duke died 1789.
As to the painter, a lew notes may also lie ol
interest. His name is usually wrongly given as
Huyssing or Huyssings in English books — for instam e,
by Horace Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting. The
author of the anecdotes only gives our artist a few
lines, and so 1 propose to give here a little fresh
information about him, as he is by no means unim-
portant. Hans Hysing was a Swede, and was born
at Stockholm in 1678. He was brought up as a
jeweller, but afterwards became a pupil of David von
KralTt, the portrait painter. In 1700, however, he
left his native land and went to London, where he
became a pupil of his fellow-countryman, Michael
Dahl, the portrait painter, who had settled in Louden
in r688, and acquired a great reputation as a "face
painter. ' Hysing, who was living with Dahl for
many years, became by-and-by a well-known and
highly esteemed painter. He was also, as Vertue
puts it, "really a very ingenious painter," and some-
times he showed himself his master's superior in his
art, drawing more strongly and penetrating more
deeply into the soul of his model. The clever
Swede was patronised by the court and the nobility.
George III., when Prince of Wales, sat to him, as
did also the three daughters of George II. — the
Princesses Anne, Amelia, and Caroline. He painted
the portraits of Robert Walpole ; John, first Earl of
Egmont; Baptist Noel, fourth Earl of Gainsborough;
Bonaventura Giffard, Catholic Bishop and President
of Magdalen College, Oxford; and of Arthur Onslow,
Speaker of the House of Commons, whose portrait
is an excellent picture, which is now to be seen at
W'adham College, Oxford. The Duke of Richmond
and Gordon has at Goodwood a fine portrait by
Hysing of William, first Earl of Cadogan, dated
1725. He also painted the portraits of many
contemporary artists, such as James Gibbs. the
architect; Peter Angelis, Nicolas Dorigny, Joseph
Goupy, James Parmentier, and Peter Tillemans,
painters ; John Faber, jun., and George Yertue, en-
gravers ; and Frederick Zincke, the famous enameller.
About a dozen of Hysing's pictures were engraved
by John Faber, jun., and a lew by John Simon,
George White, and othcis.
The death of our artist has been stated to have
occurred about 1740, but it was really much later that
he passed away, as may be seen from the following
104
Notes
extract from
the principal
registry of
the Probate,
Divorce and
Admiralty
Division of
the High
C ourt of
Justice in
the Preroga-
tive Court of
Canterbury:
" February,
17 5 3- On
the sixth day
Administra-
tion of the
Goods Chat-
tel s and
Credits of
Hans H y -
sing late of
the parish of
St. James
Wi ■ s t m i n s-
t e r in the
county of
Middlesex
dece a sed
was granted
to Frances
Hysing wi-
dow the Re-
lict of the
said de-
ceased be-
ing first
sworn duly
to adminis-
ter." Fur-
thermo re,
there exists an authentic signature of his to the will
of Miss Dorothy 1 >ahl, daughter of his teacher, dated
24th November, 1752.
Besides Dahl and Hysing there were several eigh-
teenth-century Swedish painters working in England.
The portrait painters George Schroder and Lorenz
Pasch worked in London for some years (about
1 7 20-1 730), as did also, at an earlier date, the cele-
brated enamel painter Charles Boit and his pupil,
Frederick Peterson. The well-known miniature
painter, Christian Richter, lived in London from
1702 till his death in 1732, and a little later we trace
THOMAS,
FOURTH DUKE OF LEEDS, WHEN EARL OF DANBY B\
IN THE POSSESSION OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF LEEDS
Charles
B a 11 c k s,
miniature
painter in
Indian ink,
who called
himself a
Swede. His
works are
very seldom
met with.
In the latter
part of the
century two
important
S w e d i s h
painters
worked for
some time
in England.
Elias Mar-
tin, a land-
scape and
portrait
painter in
oil and
w a t e r -
colours,
settled in
London for
some years
(in 1768),
bee oming
later A. R. A.
CarlFredrik
von Breda,
too, a por-
trait painter
and a pupil
of Rey-
nolds, was a
Swede. He
was living in London from 1787 till 1796. I should
be very glad to hear from any owner of works by
those artists, as I intend to publish a book about
Swedish painters in England in the eighteenth cen-
tury. Address : Emil Hultmark, Stockholm, Sweden.
Chippendale Settee
The settee illustrated is interesting as a specimen
of Chippendale's earliest work (before he was in-
fluenced by the French decorative and Chinese styles),
now comparatively rare. It is in the possession of
Mr. Luke G. Dillon.
H. HYSING
i°S
The Connoisseur
CHIPPENDALE Sli 111 I-
Our Plates
The picture of Sir Richard Steele's Cottage at
Hampstead, by John Constable, R.A., is in the collec-
tion of Mr. Thomas J. Barratt, and is
one of the best-known pictures of the
artist, being familiarised to the public by the masterly
plate which David Lucas made from it. Fine as the
latter is, however, it cannot reproduce the beautiful
colour of the original, which is among Constable's
happiest and most poetical works, and possesses a
unique interest to Londoners as giving the view —
now so changed — of their city as seen from their
favourite pleasure ground eighty years ago. The fine
Landscape, by Jacob van Ruysdael, belonging to
I »r. Theodore Fisher, was shown at the winter exhi-
bition of the Royal Academy, and was warmly praised
by the president, Sir Edward Poynter, in his speech
at the Academy banquet. It shows the Dutch artist
in one of his tranquil moods, and is thoroughly typical
of his school. John James Masquerier has recently
been alluded to in these pages when an example of
his work was reproduced. A second characteristic
work by him is given in the present number, in the
charming pastel portrait of Miss Anna Elizabeth
Clements. The lady was daughter of Captain Richard
Clements, E.I.C.S., and married Mr. Arthur Brown,
of Newtown, Co. Roscommon, great-grandson of Earl
Altamount. The picture of Mrs, Alexander McCrae
and Family, one of the most attractive family groups
painted by Sir Henry Raeburn, was shown in the
exhibition of that artist's works at the French Gallery
in 1910. The mother and girl are dressed in white,
while the boy is in a red jacket with yellow trousers
and waistcoat ; the size of the canvas is 50 in. by
40 in. Engraving is represented in the two plates of
Mrs. Hartley as " Elfrida," by W . Dickinson, after
J. Nixon, and Morning, by J. Grozer, after W. Ward,
which is probably a portrait of the latter's wife, the
sister of George Morland. The first-named lady,
Elizabeth Hartley, was painted by many contem-
porary artists. She first appeared at Bath about 1 77 1,
and became a most popular tragic actress. She left
the stage in 17S1, and died at Woolwich in 1824.
6d.
Books Received
George Frederic Watts, by M. S. Watts, three vols.,^1 us
net. (Macmillan.)
/!,i,e>:'s Essays, edited by Sydney Humphries, 6s. net ; Who's
Who, 15s. net ; The Englishwoman's Vein- Booh, 2s. 6d.
net : The Writers' and Artists' Year Booh, Is. net ;
Books that Count, 5s. net. (A. & C. Black.)
British Portrait Painting, by M. II. Spielmann, F.S.A., two
vols., ^26 5s. net. (Berlin Photographic Company. )
Eothen, by A. W. Kinglake, illustrated by Frank Brangwyn,
A.R.A., 12s. 6d. net. (Sampson Low, Marston & Co.)
Masterpieces 0/ the Sea, William T. Richards, by Harrison S.
Morris, 4s. 6d. net. (J. B. Lippincott & Co.)
Portrait Miniatures of Five Centuries, by Ernest Lemberger,
£2 2s. net. (Hodder & Stoughton.)
Tapestries: their Origin, History, and Renaissance, by George
Leland Hunter, 16s. net. (John Lane.)
Church Bells of England, by H. B. Walters, 7s. Od. net.
(II. Frowde.)
106
MRS. ALEXANDER McCRAE, ALEXANDER McCRAE, Jun.,
AND THOMAS ANN McCRAE
BY SIR HENRY RAEBURN, R.A.
{Photo. Annan
The occurrence of the Christmas holidays renders the
December sale record but a mutilated one, and tends to
keep out collections
of the first importance
from the auction mart.
It is indeed a period
favouring the collector
rather than the dis-
perser, and many a
shrewd bargain can
be picked up by the
watchful connoisseur
in the slack season
anterior to the Yuletide festivities. The first dispersal
of pictures and drawings during the month at Messrs.
Christie's, on December 2nd, possessed a sentimental
interest as including a number of items formerly belong-
ing to William Black, the novelist, and sold by order of
the executors of his widow. These chiefly consisted of
black and white illustrations to some of his works— more
especially Judith Shakespeare and MacLeod of Dare —
and brought even lower prices than the moderate ones
that black and white work usually commands. The
following may be taken as typical : — God Save You, Sweet
Lady (black and white), 19 in. by 26 in., by E. A. Abbey,
R.A., 1883,^9 9s.; The Faggot Bearer (colour), 9i in.
by b\ in., by G. H. Boughton, R.A., .£8 18s. 6d. ; The
River Thames (charcoal), 11 in. by 192 in., by Tom
Graham, £4 5s.; MacLeod's Return (charcoal), 22A in.
by 143 in., by Sir W. Q. Orchardson, R.A., £4 5s.;
MacLeod of Dare (black and white), 14 in. by 8 in., by
J. Pettie, R.A., ,£5 15s. 6d. ; and three small drawings
of Coquette and Leezebeth, in one frame, by F. Walker,
A.R.A., £\i os. 6d. At the same sale, but not from the
same collection, A River Scene, on panel, 19J in. by
24J in., by B. C. Koek Koek— the best-known member
of a once famous family of artists — brought /, 1 1 5 10;.,
and a typical T. S. Cooper, R.A., a group of Peasants,
Cows, Sheep, Goats and Pony, near a stream, 37 in. by
51 in., £147.
The sale of old pictures — many of them of doubtful
attribution — by the same firm on December 6th may be
passed by without comment, as the only individual
items attaining the dignity of three figures were a draw-
ing by Adam Buck, dated 1800, a portrait of The Misses
Fischer, 15 in. by 15! in., in white dresses, one sister
seated and the other standing holding a green shawl,
and a sketch of a Head of Lady Hamilton, 19J in. by
15 in., by George Romney, which realised .£102 18s.
and ,£168 respectively. At the same sale an alleged
portrait by Hoppner changed hands for £2 lis. 6d.,
and a large drawing labelled Turner for £5 15s. 6d.
In the sale of pictures by Old Masters, the property
of J. H. H. V. Lane, Esq., of King's Bromley Manor,
Lichfield, and pictures and drawings from other sources,
there were included works of a much more assured
calibre, as well as others which can only be described as
doubtful. The following includes the principal items : —
Sir T. Lawrence, P.R.A., Portrait of Mrs. Harriet
Harding, in white dress cut low at neck, leaning on a
pedestal, oval, 16 in. by \2\ in., ,£210; Domenichino,
Portrait of Cardinal Barberini, oval, 49 in. by 36 in.
(from the Strawberry Hill collection), £\tf ; George
Romney, portrait of Master O'Connor of Castlebrook, in
red coat, seated, 29V in. by 24A in., .£756; School of
Van der Weyden, A Picta, the dead Christ, with the
Virgin and four other figures at the front of the cross,
on panel, 26 in. by 34 in., .£357 ; Sir A. Van Dyck,
Bacchus and Bacchanals, on panel, 21 in. by 31 in.,
,£105 ; Rev. W. Peters, R.A., Grief, a lady with two
children, ,£105; Thomas Hudson, Portrait of George
Frederick Handel, in brown coat and yellow vest, hold-
ing a book, 48 in. by 37 in. (exhibited at the Handel
Festival, 1859, and at the International Exhibition,
Vienna, 1892), ,£168 ; Hondecoeter, A Peacock, Pheasants
and Poultry, in a landscape, 46 in. by 51 in., .£105 ;
School of Augsburg, The Salutation, the Madonna and
Saint Anne, with donors kneeling on the left and
architectural background, on panel, 241 in. by 22 in.,
,£199 10s. ; Van de Velde, Shipping in a Calm off the
Coast, 32 in. by 45 in., .£183 15s. ; Holbein, Portrait of
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, in dark dress trimmed
with fur, on panel, 30$ in. by 23} in., .£178 ; J. Van Os,
Fruit and Flowers on a Marble Slab, signed and dated
1771, on panel, 24 in. by 19 in., £178 10s. ; P. Moreelse,
Portrait of a Lady, on panel, 27* in. by 23* in., ,£189 ;
and D. Teniers, The Alchemist, on panel, 15 in. by
24 in., .£210. One of the few sensations of the day was
afforded by a portrait by J. Highmore, an artist who,
until a comparatively short time ago, was looked upon
109
The Connoisseur
bj dealers in general a-- po i ing a name useful to
affix to a painting too bad for Kneller and too earl) for
Hudson. The picture (49 in. by 39 in.) was a Portrait
of Misi Elisabeth Heriiey, daughtei ol Captain Hon.
William Hervey, and showed the lady in white satin
dress with blue bow, resting hei right elbow cm a tree.
Painted with the sound tci hnical knowledge of the period,
and showing an artistry greater than that with which the
English painters ol the lime are generally credited, the
work, after a spirited competition, was knocked down
for .£651 — a proof that the more talented contemporaries
and immediate successors of Kneller are at last begin-
ning to come into then own. Relatively to this price,
the ,£320 5s. realised by the Portrait 0/ a Youth, in red
dress with white frill, 19 in. by 15 in., was distinctly
moderate, nor could the Portrait of H.R.H. Princess
Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, in a pale blue striped muslin
dress, 55 j in. by 435 in., by Sir William Beechey, R.A.,
be considered high priced at ,£630 ; but the earlier men
were comparatively in the ascendant, and maintained
their own to a greater extent than usual. Thus a
Portrait of a Young Girl, in white satin dress with blue
scarf, oval, 25 in. by 2oi in., by C. Janssens, signed and
dated 1643, brought .£441 ; and another picture (on
panel, 29 in. by 24 in.) similarly titled and by the same
artist, but neither signed nor dated, and representing a
damsel in a red slashed dress with white collar and
cuffs, brought ,£294. A third, Portrait of a Girl, in a
dove-coloured dress trimmed with gold braid, 29J in. by
24 in., this time by A. Cuyp, realised .£420; a view of
Tlw Doge's Palace, Venice, 23 A in. by 38 in., by B.
Caneletto, .£630; and a picture entitled Mischief, 14J in.
by 1 1 in., by N. Lancret, representing a youth blowing
smoke into the face of a sleeping girl, ,£882. The two
highest prices of the day were realised by Raeburn's
Portrait of William Darnell, Esq., of West Shields,
Durham, 49 in. by 38A in., which brought ,£1,365, and
a Rembrandt, Portrait of a Man, in dark brown dress,
holding a Gun, 29! in. by 245 in., exhibited at Burlington
House, which fell to a bid of ,£1,312.
Ix the print market for the month the most interesting,
if not always the highest priced, items were examples of
modern work. While the engravings
Engravings by the masters of the nineteenth
century and earlier are gradually
assuming the position of gilt-edged stock, generally
appreciating but showing no violent fluctuations, those
by living men have recently shown a phenomenal dis-
position to rise quickly, and it is no uncommon matter
to find a print retailed at a guinea or two within the
last five years being run up in the auction room well
over the three-figure mark. This rise, unfortunately, is
not general, being for the most part limited to original
modern etchings and mezzotints in colour. At Messrs.
Christie's, on December nth, an illustration of the
appreciation of the latter was afforded by the dispersal
of a set of Sidney E. Wilson's works, which, considering
that it was not a specially well attended sale, realised
remarkably high prices. They comprised the following,
all licm, proofs in coloui : Alter Sir Joshua Reynolds,
.Waste/ flare, £g 9s.; Lady Elizabeth Taylor, £7 7s.;
Lady Smyth and Children, .£20 Ss. ; The Ladies II aide-
rave, /,iS 7s. 6d. ; and Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante,
£9 9s. Alter G. Romney, J//;. Musters, £io 10s. ;
Lady Hamilton as " Circe," £<) 9s. ; Lady Hamilton as
" Nature" £2\ ; Mrs. Canning and Child, ,£15 15s. ; and
Mrs. litres ford, £\o 10s. After Sir T. Lawrence, Miss
Croker, ,£24 7s. ; and Lady Julia /'eel, £& 8s. After J.
Hoppner, Miranda (half-plate), ,£16 16s. After T.
Gainsborough, Lady Sheffield (half-plate), £\b 16s.
After J. B. Greuze, Nina, ,£39 i8s. ; and after Madame
Le Brun, Madame L.e Brun and Child, ,£15 15s.
Among original etchings the following are worthy of
note: — By Muirhead Bone, Ossett, Yorkshire, ^31 10s. ;
South Gate, King's Lynn, ,£39 18s. ; The Colonnade.
Glasgow Exhibition, ,£42 ; The Posse, Lincoln, £39 18s. ;
Glasgow Harbour, £63 ; Somerset House, £6$ 2s. ;
The Prison, Ayr, £92 8s. ; St. John's Wood, £33 12s. ;
Leeds, .£44 2s. ; and Near Chichester, £2% 7s. By Frank
Brangwyn, The Bridge of Sighs, .£48 6s. ; Browning's
House, ,£15 15s.; and Santa Maria, from the Street,
.£15 15s. By D. V. Cameron, Yvon, £3^ 14s. ; On the
Our/he, £19 19s.; La Roche, £27 6s.; and Street in
Cairo, £$6 14s. By Hedley Fitton, The interior 0/
Charlies Cathedral, £2% 7s. ; Hevil Castle, ^,"22 is. ;
Joint Knox's House, Edinburgh, £32 lis.; Portal del St.
Zaccaria, Venice, £23 2s.; and London Bridge, £42.
By Axel Haig, Upsala Cathedral, £9 19s. 6d. ; and The
Basilica of St. Giles, at Aries, £9 9s. By J. M. Whistler,
The Fish Shop, Chelsea, £2% 7s. ; and by Sir F. Seymour
Haden, Calais Pier (second state), ,£37 16s. ; and Break-
ing up of the Agamemnon (first state), .£21.
The prices realised by reproductive work were not
nearly so satisfactory. A few remarque proof etchings
after Meissonier, such as Confidences, by H. Vion, ,£17
17s.; The Portrait of the Sergeant, by Jules Jacquet,
,£23 2s. ; and Picquet, by A. Boulard, ,£22 is., did fairly
maintain their values, but in all other directions there
was a woeful fall. To those who remember the high
prices which proofs after Sir Edwin Landseer realised in
the closing years of the nineteenth century, the sale of
artists' proofs of The Deer Pass, by Tom Landseer, for
£ I I s., and Cousins's Piper and a Pair of Nutcrackers for
£3 3s., seems little short of sacrilege. In the same
piping times Macbeth's version of Fred Walker's Harbour
of Refuge generally brought well over twenty guineas ;
an artist's proof now fell to a bid of £3 3s. ; while an
artist's proof of Lsobel, by Thomas Appleton, after
Raeburn, which used to near, if not exceed, the twenty-
guinea mark, now only brought £2 2s. On the other
hand, an artist's proof of The Boy and Rabbit, after the
same artist, by J. C. Webb, in bringing £7 7s., showed
an appreciation on published price.
In the sale of modern etchings and engravings held
at Messrs. Sotheby's on December 13th there were many
subjects identical with those already mentioned, and
which, bringing very similar prices, need hardly be
recorded. Among the remainder the most important
/;/ the Sale Room
item was a fine impression of the second state of Mcryon's
L'Abside of Notre Dame de Paris, which brought .£230 ;
while an early impression of the same etcher's St. Etienne
du Mont, before the workman's arms were re-etched,
brought ,£25. Taking the work of other etchers repre-
sented in alphabetical order, the following represent
the principal lots : — By A. F. Affleck, St. Jerome and
Durham Cathedral, £$ 5s. each. By Muirhead Bone,
Building, ,£SS ; Liberty's Clock, £^% ; Hove, .£30 ;
Oxfordshire, £\\ ; Ballantrae Road, £56; Ely Yard,
£i\ ; Strand, £36 ; Ayr Beach, ,£40 ; Kulross Roofs,
£,- ; East Blatchington, ,£38 ; Dunimarle, .£43; Chis-
wick Mall, £3^ ; Demolition of St. James's Hall — Interior,
£6$ ; and Ship-builders, Whiteinch (first state), ,£30.
By D. Y. Cameron, Still Waters, ,£43 ; Mar's Work,
Stirling, £35 ; John Knox's House, £36 ; Robert Ley's
Workshop, ,£47 ; and Illustrated Catalogue of his Etched
Work, by F. Kinder, 191 2, one of the first hundred
copies, £17. By Hedley Fitton, St. Merri, Paris, £21.
By Sir Frank Short, A Wintry Blast on the Stourbridge
Canal, £8 ; and by A. Zorn, Zorn and his Model, £30.
At the same sale an artist's proof of The Frankland
Sisters, by H. Scott Bridgwater, after Hoppner, brought
.£17; The Generals in the Snow, by E. Boilvin, after
Meissonier, .£14 10s. ; and In the Enemy's Country and
The Watcher on the Hill, both by Herbert Dicksee,
£9 and ,£10 respectively.
Turning to the works of the earlier masters in black
and white, perhaps the most important sale of the month
was that held at Messrs. Sotheby's on December iSth.
It included such rarities as a first-state proof of The
Gower Family, by J. R. Smith, after Romney. This
was, unfortunately, mutilated by having the inscription
space cut, otherwise it would have realised very consider-
ably more than the ,£210 for which it finally fell. A
proof before all letters of Lords George and Charles
Spencer, by \V. W. Barney, brought ,£205, and a fine
impression of Sir Walter Scott, by C. Turner, after
Raeburn, ,£170. Among other interesting items were
the three plates after Rembrandt, Woman Plucking a
Fowl, by R. Houston, proof before all letters, ,£74 ;
Portrait of an Old Lady wearing a white cap and ruff,
etched letter proof by C. Hodges, £92 ; and Rembrandt's
Mother, by J. MacArdell, engraver's proof (cut), ,£38;
Henri Laurens, President of the American Congress,
1778, by V. Green, after J. S. Copley, etched letter proof,
^56; Charity, by W. Smith, after J. Barney, open letter
proof printed in colour, ,£53 ; The Salad Girl, by W.
Ward, after J. Hoppner, £70 ; the pair of A Ghost, after
R. Westall, and The Mask, after Sir J. Reynolds, both
by Schiavonetti, proofs in colour, with titles cut, ,£129;
Mrs. Arbuthnot, by S. W. Reynolds, after J. Hoppner,
first-state proof with untrimmed margins, .£130; Mrs.
Robinson, by J. R. Smith, after G. Romney, ,£70 ; Miss
Cumberland, by and after the same, impression before
the engraver's address was removed, ,£100; Miss Sarah
Campbell, by V. Green, after Sir J. Reynolds, ,£56 ; and
Expectation (Le Baiser Envoye), by C. Turner, after
J. B. Greuze, ,£115.
At a sale held by the same firm on December 16th, a
proof of the etching of The Little Lagoon, by Whistler,
brought £62, and one of Sir F. Short's Wensleydale,
after P. de Wint, ,£11.
The sale by Messrs. Christie, held on December 16th,
of engravings of the Early English School, included the
following -.— The Duchess of Bedford,by S. W. Reynolds,
open letter proof (2nd fifty), ^75 12s.; A Visit to the
Child at Nurse, by W. Ward, after G. Morland, etched
letter proof, ,£46 4s. ; Mrs. Jordan as " Hypolita," by
J. Jones, after J. Hoppner, printed in colours, £105 ;
Sir Samuel Hood, by G. Clint, after J. Hoppner, £48 6s. ;
Lady Elizabeth Foster, by Bartolozzi, after Reynolds,
,£i6S ; and Feeding the Pigs and The Return to Market,
by J. R. Smith, after G. Morland, printed in colours,
,£i73 5s-
Among the book sales for December there were
included no collections of importance, though several
individual items were
noteworthy. Thus,
at a sale at Messrs.
Sotheby's on Decem-
ber 20th, a tall and
well - preserved copy
of Walton's Complcat
Angler, I s t edition,
1653, mor. ex. by G.
Herring, realised
^500, while another
lot in the same sale was a copy of the even rarer, but by
no means so valuable, Lovelace's Lucas/a Posthume
Poems, 1st edition, 1659-60, with the three scarce plates,
i2mo, orig. cf., gt., which brought ,£98. No perfect
copy of this is known to have been sold within the last
twenty-five years. A copy of the and edition of Othello,
1630, measuring S in. by 5i in., which had undergone
some washings and repairs, realised £85 ; while a copy
of Boileau's CEuvres, Paris, 1740, 2 vols., cf, derived
most of its value, which was apprised as .£68, from it
having been Lord Byron's copy and containing his sig-
nature in both volumes and a 3-page MS. in the poet's
autograph. The most important Byron memento, how-
ever, was a presentation copy of his Fugitive Pieces,
one of the four known to have survived the holocaust to
which the poet consigned the entire issue on the advice
of the Rev. John Belcher. The copy contained the
poet's autograph and autograph corrections throughout,
some of which were extremely interesting. The work
was published in 1806; the present copy, in the original
paper covers, uncut, stained and some of the margins
torn, brought .£445. While to descend from poetry to
prose, a set of The Times, from August 1st, 1828, to the
present, in 283 volumes, bound in boards, realised ^106.
The Ponsonby collection of book-plates, which were dis-
posed of in the same sale, consisted of 8,700 examples,
bound in 13 folio volumes, vel., gt. edges, by J. Leighton,
and were sold in one lot for ,£560.
The well - known Fanshawe Papers, comprising the
bulk of the correspondence of Sir Richard Fanshawe
The Connoisseur
i ■■ ■;-■ 1000 « lulr Amli.i . a.loi lo Spain and Pol tugal
(1661-1 666), were offered foi sale by a descendant of the
worthy baronet, through Messrs. Sotheby, on December
18th and uuh, but hardly realised the prices anticipated,
an attempt to realise the collection as a whole proving
a failure. A Royal Sign Manual, by Charles I., Instruc-
tion to R. Fanshawe to repair into Spain, \\ pp.,
folio, and dated Hampton Court, 9 October, 164;,
brought ^.'59. It was of exceptional interest as being
one of the last diplomatic acts of the King before be-
. oming a prisoner at Carisbrooke. A number of letters
from Sir Edward Hyde ranged in price from £$ to
£\~ ios., and one from Lady Ann Fanshawe to her
husband, full of homely gossip, dated February 12,
1666, 2 pp., folio, brought ^50. Three of George
Meredith's manuscripts, the property of Mr. Frank Cole,
formerly gardener to the novelist, on The Revolution,
21 pp., 4to, Napoleon, 57 pp., 4to, and Alsace-Lorraine,
50 pp., 4to, brought .£100, £92 and ,£95 respectively!
a historical letter of Charles I., bearing the King's signa-
ture and with his holograph postscript, 1+ pp., folio,
dated Hampton Court, the nth of January, 1641, to the
Earl of Newcastle, .£54 ; the ballad of Lucy's Birthday,
in Thackeray's autograph, consisting of three verses of
eight lines each, 1 page, 8vo, ^33 ; the autograph score of
Wagner's Rule, Britannia, overture, 41 pp., folio, dated
1837, ,£295 ; an autograph manuscript, The Guises,
46 pp., folio, by Thomas Carlyle, ^126 ; a series of
21 autograph letters from Sir Walter Scott, ^121 ; a
series of autograph letters from George Meredith to the
Rev. Augustus and Mrs. Jessopp, from 1861 to 190S, and
covering in all about 1S5 pp., .£445 ; and nineteen auto-
graph letters from Charles Lamb to John Rickman,
written between 1S01 and 1833, in all about 44 pp., folio
and 4to, ,£950.
Among other book sales during the month was one at
Messrs. Christie's on December 16th, which included an
interesting Newmarket collection, comprising J. P. Hore,
The History of Newmarket, 3 vols., 8vo, 1886, inlaid to
folio size, and extended to six by the insertion of 450
extra illustrations, including many valuable original
drawings and documents, together with Markham's
Masterpiece, sm. 4to, old calf, William Wilson, 165 1, and
Blundevell's Horsemanship and Art of Riding, black
letter, illustrated, sm. 4to, old calf, Henrie Denham,
1580-84, the two latter works being contained in a narrow
folio case to match The History of Newmarket. The
7 vols., bound in half levant, mor. ex., g.e., by Riviere,
were sold as one lot for .£400. Messrs. Puttick & Simp-
son disposed of an interesting collection of books on
December 4th, and Mr. Dowell, of Edinburgh, of a large
library of books in antiquarian, law, and general literature
on December 16th, 17th, and iSth. Though in both
instances good prices were realised, there were not any
individual items of great importance.
On December 5th Messrs. Christie sold the decora-
tive furniture, porcelain and pottery the property of Sir
Horatio Davis, K.C.M.G., deceased,
Furniture, etc. and from various sources. A pair of
James 1 I. oak chairs, with cane seats,
shaped backs, on carved baluster legs with X -shaped
stretchers, brought .£105; an old English work-table,
with painted octagonal top, 14 in. wide, .£63 ; and a
Charles II. walnut-wood day-bed, carved with cherubs,
etc., with cane seat and ends, ,£54 12s. On December
1 8th the sale of the collection of Lady Caroline Lindsay,
deceased, included the following items: — a Sevres egg
boiler of rectangular shape, the upper part octagonal,
painted with figures, flowers, etc., on panels with gilt
scroll borders on gros bleu ground, 9 in. high, by
Gomery, 1769, £315 ; a Dresden figure of a girl playing
guitar, 5J in. high, ^1 10 5s. ; a Louis XVI. mahogany
secretaire, mounted wirh ormolu headings, and borders
chased with foliage and rosettes, and surmounted by a
white marble slab with ormolu gallery, 59 in. high by
37 in. wide, ,£262 ios. ; and a set of three Flemish
tapestry panels, circa 1600, depicting scenes in a woody
country, with borders of flowers and fruits (sizes 8 ft.
high by 1 2 ft. wide, 7 ft. 9 in. high by 6 ft. 2 in. wide,
and 7 ft. 9 in. high by 5 ft. 6 in. wide), ,£262 ios. In a
sale on December 19th, a Sheraton commode, with three
drawers, inlaid with a vase of flowers, festoons, etc., in
satin and other woods, 44 in. wide, brought ^105 ; a
Chippendale mahogany cabinet of architectural design,
with folding doors in upper part, mounted with panels of
looking-glass, the whole richly carved and mounted with
metal gilt handles, etc., 9 ft. 6 in. high by 7 ft. wide,
^273 ; and an oblong panel of early seventeenth-century
Brussels tapestry, representing Alexander with Roxana,
after a cartoon by Raphael, with borders of flowers,
fruit, and foliage, 12 ft. 8 in. high by 17 ft. wide,
,£819. Some interesting pieces of English china, the
property of J. H. H. V. Lane, Esq., of King's
Bromley Manor, Lichfield, came up for sale on Decem-
ber 1 2th. A Worcester tea service, painted with birds
and insects in circular and fan-shaped panels on powdered-
blue ground gilt with foliage, comprising twenty-seven
pieces, brought .£236 5s. ; and an old Worcester dessert
service, painted with exotic birds in landscapes, in dark
blue borders gilt with scrolls, square mark, was split up
into several lots, which sold as follows : — Three circular
dishes, 9! in. diam., ,£141 15s. ; a pair of ditto, 9 in.
diam., ^78 15s. ; two oval ditto, ioi in. wide, .£60 18s. ;
a pair of plates, 7! in. diam., ,£44 12s. ; and seven plates,
with views in centre, £1 15 ios.
Alma-Tadema
THE dominant
Alma-Tadema
exhibition at the
Royal Academy
is a feeling of won-
derment at the
prodigious indus-
try of the artist.
Here are assem-
bled a hundred
and thirty comple-
ted pictures and
eighty or ninety
studies — less than
a third of his life's
work. Had the
whole of the lat-
ter been included,
the walls of Bur-
lington House
would scarcely
have contained
them — an output
which, having
regard to the tech-
nical excellence
and marvellous
elaboration dis-
played in all Sir
Lawrence Alma-
Tad e m a's e x-
amples, is hardly
to be matched by
that of any other
master. As to the
value of the work,
there are contrary
opinions. Ad-
vanced modern
critics deplore in
it an absence of
personal revela-
tion and vitality,
which, in their
eyes, reduces it
impression one carries away from the
"hush! she sleeps" by sir Lawrence alma-tadema
in the possession of messrs. maple and co.
exhibited at the winter exhibition at burlington house
from art to craftsmanship, superlative of its kind, but
still only craftsmanship. A revelation of personality,
some vital force
from the artist's
mind, transmitted
through his crafts-
manship into his
work, is, indeed,
a necessary ele-
ment of art ; but
it is obvious that
the more perfect
th e craftsman-
ship which serves
as the medium,
the more absolute
will be the trans-
mission ; and so
one is loth to be-
lieve that Alma-
T a d e m a , u n-
r i v a 1 1 e d in his
command of the
grammar of form
and colour,
should have failed
to give utterance
to that which he
had it in him to
say. Something
of the idea of his
imperfect revela-
tion arises, I sus-
pect, from its too
clear enunciation.
In this age of
innate egotism we
require art less
to be the utter-
ance of the artist's
emotion than the
sounding - board
of our own. There
are times when
the thin shrilling
of a boy's penny
JI3
7 he C ^annoisseur
whistle will evoke in us more heartfelt passion than an
by Beethoven, oi the foolish inanities of a Post-
[mpn indscape than a chef (foeuvre by Turner;
master artists are egotists as well as'we. If
our mood chime not with their utter. m, es, we i annot altei
it to suit our needs, but had West seek for some less
■ on into w hose nebulous speech we
can re.nl what meaning we will.
Alma fadema 3 artistii personality was narrow, and he
it with singular clarity and preciseness. He
belonged to thai < lass oi artists who transmit the material
rather than the spiritual vision. The pleasant aspei is ..1
lite ,1]. pealed to him. but of these not main. He liked
things which were beautiful in themselves— handsome
men and lair women, sumptuous and graceful apparel,
richl) tinted blossoms, gleaming marbles, and perhaps,
above all, the genial brightness of southern sunlight.
Mis vision was microscopic rather than broad in its
range, anil so. like some of his Hutch progenitors, he saw
nature in detail instead of in masses, like Velazquez and
Rembrandt. These likings dictated the province of his
an: he found congenial subjects in the records of ancient
Greece and Rome, and with Hutch thoroughness brought
to bear on them a wealth of exact and minute archaeo-
il knowledge. This summary hardly embraces the
record ot his earlier years, yet as the work then done,
though of sterling merit, was more in the nature of
exploration to find his true metier and acquire full com-
mand of craftsmanship, it is well to pass it over lightly.
Earliest of all the examples shown is (88) a little
chalk study of a caterpillar and some leaves, done when
he was four years old. In the firmness of the pencilling
and the minute observation of nature — qualities which
always distinguished Alma-Tadema's work — it reveals
wonderful precociousness. There are other drawings of
a similar character which trace his progress to maturity ;
but his earliest picture — an autograph portrait painted
when he was sixteen — shows him as a full-fledged artist.
It is hard and unidealized, but painted with strength and
directness. To some the undisguised effort of this earlier
work ma}- appeal as revealing more sincerity than the
facile and suave craftsmanship of the later days; but this
is not so. Ease of expression is a prelude to sincerity of
utterance ; the musician with well-tutored voice will
give full volume to the high note over which the amateur
quavers breathlessly, and there is less of truth in breath-
less art than ineffectual striving to attain it. Even
among the earlier examples of Alma-Tadema there is
little of this breathless art ; he generally reserved his
efforts for problems well within his strength, and if some-
times he did not wholly succeed, it was not his crafts-
manship that failed him, but that he had ventured
beyond the scope of his temperament. He was wanting
in dramatic instinct, and in feeling for movement and
bustle. When he painted nature quiescent, as in the
beautiful studies of old Hutch staircases and court-
yards of 1S54, 1855, and 1856, he showed himself a
master; but The Inundation of 1421 (1857) and The
Ambuscade (1S62) reveal him as lacking not in the
knowledge of what to put in, but what to leave out.
In painting the effect ol rapid motion is gained almost
as nun h bj omission as by expression. The eye
cannot comprehend objects in quick movement in full
del. ill ; and so Alma-Tadema by expressing the latter
has failed to realize the former. The Inundation
shows a baby and a cat in a cradle borne away by
the swift current. The storj has it that the cat pre-
ened and kept the cradle atloal by jumping from side
to side as the water reached its feet. Alma-Tadema's
1 at is merely statuesque, and his raiders in The
Ambuscade, if in the attitudes of violent action, are
hardly more animated than the figures in a coloured
has relief.
Though Alma-Tadema occasionally ventured into the
realms of tragedy, he was not specially fitted for their
exploration ; he lacked the dramatic instinct, and had a
wholesome dislike for dirt and ugliness — and tragedy has
a knack of containing both. His most touching picture
in this metier is The Deat/i of t lie First-Born, not the
partial version of 1858, presented to the Johannesburg
Art Gallery, of which the mutilated composition make
it appear that there are two heads belonging to one
body, but the perfected work completed in 1872. It is
restrained and decorous, destitute of theatrical or vulgar
sentiment, and attains its impressiveness through its
linear arrangement and full, low-toned, beautifully har-
monized colour, conveying to the spectator little of the
terror caused by the advent of sudden, mysterious and
appalling death, but affecting him with a pleasing and
sympathetic sadness like the playing of a solemn requiem.
The Ave, Cusar .' To Saturnalia, is less tragedy than
grim serio-comedy, the most poignant note being the
contrast between the trembling craven who is hailed as
emperor, and the majestic calm shown in the sculptured
features of his deified predecessors, whose therms are
ranged in a line with his person, and whose deistic
powers he is supposed to have already assumed with the
purple. To make the picture pure tragedy one would
want the corpses in the foreground less becomingly
arranged, and the crowd of ruffians who are saluting
Claudius as emperor showing more signs of their
savagery, more visible tokens of the stress of conflict
and unreined passion. These things would not be
beautiful in themselves, and Alma-Tadema in his later
work clung more and more to the minute expression of
the beautiful, avoiding the realization of anything that
was disagreeable and uncouth, and this trait deprived
those of his pictures which were concerned with historic
events of much of their narrative value. Thus in his
Women of Ampliissa he represents the Chyads — women
sacred to Hionysos, who, in a frenzy induced by their
religious rites, had wandered aimlessly through the night
and sunk down exhausted in the market-place of
Amphissa, a town belonging to their enemies — as a bevy
of beautiful maidens, unworn by vigil and unstained by
travel, awakening from their slumbers with the placidity
of denizens of comfortable feather beds. Similarly in
The Roses of Heliogabalus, the guests of that profligate
madman — with whom to banquet was to court death
— are not greatly discomposed at the descent of that
114
Current Art Notes
avalanche of roses which
was to suffocate not a
few of them under its
weight of fray ranee.
Alma -Tadema slurs
over all that is disagree-
able in the episode by
treating it as a mild
practical joke at a deco-
rous dinner-party, rather
than the tragic climax
nt a riotous debauch.
With the desire to
avoid the presentment
of the tragic or disagree-
able in Alma-Tadema's
art came also the crav-
ing for bright colour —
for themes which were
sumptuous with marble
and blossom and re-
dolent with sunlight.
His progress towards
maturity may be traced
by the growing absence
of dark colours from his
work — his portraits and
landscapes only ex-
cepted. In the artist's
Dutch period he shows
strong chiaroscuro,
making his lights tell out
against dark masses of
shadow ; the transition stage is shown in pictures like
the well-known Picture Gallery of 1874, one of the
largest pictures he ever painted, and also one of the
most completely satisfying. It has not the heaviness ot
tone which mars some of its predecessors, while the
strength and solidity of the darks keep the composition
better together than is the case in some of his last
examples, where the light is transfused all over the
canvas almost without contrasting shadow. Of Alma-
Tadema's fondness for light and exquisitely rendered
detail the Caracal/a and Geta may be cited as an
example. It is a view of a segment of the Coliseum in
full sunlight, with every figure in the crowded audience
rendered separately, and every detail visible to mortal
eye set down in its full pictorial value. There is no
cause to say that the art of Alma-Tadema is wrong
because he did not see the scene, as Mr. Sargent would
have done, in masses of light and shade. Both visions
are equally correct, for nature, with her unlimited range
of colour and tone, combines both in the same scene ; the
detail is all there, but massed by atmospheric gradation
into unity and breadth. The artist, more restricted in
his means, has to make a partial sacrifice of either detail
or breadth ; Alma-Tadema chose to sacrifice the more
important. His minute execution justified his choice,
yet not altogether, for the Caracalla and Geta and some
of his other large works almost verge on the monotonous
THE HONEYMOON BY SIR LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA
IN THE POSSESSION OF MESSRS. MAPLE AND CO.
EXHIBITED AT THE WINTER EXHIBITION, BURLINGTON HOUSE
from the splendour ol
their elaboration. There
is not sufficient contrast
of light and shade to
afford relief ; the eye
glances from point to
point without finding
rest, and the effect be-
comes tiresome. These
pictures, which are
generally among the
artist's more recent pro-
ductions, must be looked
upon as experimental —
attempts to execute on
a large scale what he
had already successfully
essayed on a smaller
one; for some of the
little genre work-, giving
effects filled with sun-
light are among his hap-
piest productions. His
best works are undoubt-
edly his purely genre
pictures ; one does not
even except his por-
traits, though among the
latter are examples
which, in technical exe-
cution and characterisa-
tion, would hold their
own with anything but
the finest examples of modern art. But in his genre paint-
ing Alma-Tadema achieved a unique position ; his
themes were simple, almost homely in their sentiment,
yet expressed so perfectly, and wrapped about in such
a beautiful setting, that the only adjective wmich ade-
quately describes them is lyrical — using the word, not
as describing a hastily dashed-off piece of work, broad
and sketchy in execution, but in its literary sense, as
describing a poem dominated by a single idea in which
every word and accent must be carefully chosen both to
elucidate the meaning and contribute to the melody of
the whole. To construct such a piece is like making a
delicately patterned mosaic from jewels, and such a
simile would not inaptly convey an idea of the exquisite
elaboration of Alma-Tadema's pictures. Where there
are so many and of such level quality one can only
mention a few as typical examples — the Honeymoon, of
1867, with its charming sentiment, or that equally
beautiful rendering of domestic life, "Hush .' she Sleeps " :
the little Priestess of Apollo, or the fine Parting Kiss :
the exquisite study of the nude, The Tepidarium, or the
ever-popular Kiss. One could multiply the list indefi-
nitely. They are works not, perhaps, of the greatest art,
but nevertheless of all but the greatest. They are filled
with joyous and healthy sentiment, beautifully expressed,
and in every one the artist gave us ot his best, and his
best was good indeed.
"5
7 lie Connoisseur
THE NEW GEORGIAN ROOM IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, DUBLIN
Water-colours
of the West
Highlands,
by Finlay
MacKinnon, and
Modern Miniature
Sculpture
The water-colours of the West Highlands and Skye,
by Mr. Finlay MacKinnon, at the Fine Art Society's
Galleries (148, New Bond Street),
were generally somewhat laboured,
and showed a pronounced tendency
to that superficial surface finish
which, though attractive to buyers
of topographical records, is destruc-
tive of all autographic feeling in art.
In the examples in which he most
avoided this, such as A Moorland Bur//, or the spirited
representation of Boor Burn, Mr. MacKinnon showed
that he could paint with force and directness, while his
Scur-na-Gillian ; Evening ■was marked by good colour.
In the adjoining room was gathered together a fairly full
representation of what may be styled the "miniature
work" of British sculptors during the last few years.
There were nearly a hundred examples contributed by
half that number of artists. To examine such an array of
work in detail would be hardly possible in a limited space,
and indeed hardly necessary, for while it all maintained
a high standard, and in some instances a superlative one,
the great bulk of the examples had been previously on
view. Such an exhibition is a novelty for a private
gallery, but one whose success should induce many
future repetitions. The little gems of the sculptor's art
which are dwarfed into insignificance by being crowded
among the larger examples at one of the great exhibitions
were here seen to full advantage, and the beauty and
significance of such work should appeal to many an art
patron who has hitherto passed over sculpture as being
generally too large and cumbersome for the limited space
of an ordinary modern dwelling-house.
THE exhibition of drawings and studies by Old Masters
at the Dowdeswell Galleries, New Bond Street, was,
perhaps, of not such a high general
standard as some of the displays
held there recently. The most attrac-
tive feature was a group of Gains-
borough's drawings, which showed
that fascinating artist to rare
advantage. Among them was an
exquisitely wrought study for the
National Gallery picture of Mrs. Siddons, another of a
girl holding up her skirt (one would think drawn from
one of the painter's own daughters), a graceful group of
a charming trio of maidens, and a masculine portrait
of a captain of a Dutch trading vessel at Amsterdam,
besides several landscapes. French art was represented
by a score of portraits belonging to the school of Clouet,
and a spirited drawing in sanguine from the nude by
Drawings by
Old Masters,
and Paintings
and Drawings
by Ernest S.
Lumsdcn,
A.R.E.
116
Current Art Notes
THE APOLLO CEILING IN THE NEW GEORGIAN ROOM IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, DUBLIN
Boucher. Among the Italian examples was a spirited
sketch by Tiepolo for his picture of The Education of the
Virgin : while the Dutch and Flemish work included a
fine study of horses by Albert Cuyp.
At the same galleries Mr. Ernest S. Lumsden exhibited
a series of paintings and drawings of India and a collec-
tion of portrait studies. The first-named were marked by
refined and harmonious coloration, always quiet in tone,
and, in a few instances, were reminiscent, though not
imitative, of Whistler. In his pencil work the artist
generally used a broad point, and showed a great power
of suggesting form, colour, and atmosphere with a few
deftly placed strokes. His portraits were strongly
characterised, while his architectural drawings were
remarkable for their delicacy and precision.
At Messrs. Walker's Galleries, 11S, New Bond Street,
Mr. Charles Dixon had an attractive exhibition ot
drawings, all of which were concerned
with the sea and shipping. The
artist possesses the art of using bright
and effective colour, and has a
thorough knowledge of his subject.
Among his most effective works were
the strongly painted In the Days of
Oak and Hemp, representing one of the many fierce
conflicts in the long-drawn struggle between the Dutch
Drawings by
Charles Dixon,
R.I. ; Paintings
by Mary Ethel
Hunter and
Olive Anderson
and English for sea supremacy, and the quieter toned
but equally pleasing Port Glasgow. A collection of
pictures by the Misses Mary Ethel Hunter and Olive
Anderson, largely dealing with landscape and architec-
ture, were shown at the same gallery. Both artists
handled their pigments in much the same manner,
producing broad and direct work, marked by consider-
able strength of colour. One of the best of Miss
Hunter's works was Rain, Rain, Go Away, representing
two children looking out of a window, in which the
lighting was admirably managed; while some of Miss
Anderson's views of Versailles showed powerful, well-
sustained, and harmonious colour. Earlier on an exhibi-
tion of etchings and aquatints, in colour and monochrome,
by the Misses Hilda Porter, M. J. Cleminshaw, and
Louis Thomson, was also held. Miss Porter's aquatints
were chiefly confined to landscape and animal studies.
The latter were executed with spirit and freedom, while
her landscapes were poetical in feeling and marked by
a sense for delicate colour. The etchings by Miss
Thomson owed some of their inspiration to Frank
Brangwyn ; well drawn with a crisp, succinct touch, and
marked by real artistry, they displayed great promise.
Miss M. J. Cleminshaw was more varied in her themes,
producing a number of seascapes as well as architectural
subjects. In the latter she perhaps showed to the best
advantage. An etching of The Sphinx, though on a
117
The Connoisseur
small scale, realized the solemnity and mystery of the
nt monument, while othei i ol Venice, the Nik-, and
>i> a nes, were highlj effective.
Mr. Joseph Penneli > etchings and lithographs the
latter more especially serve to remind one of Shelley's
saving that London is a citv urv
Lithographs and 1]U. hrll Substitute for London
Etchings by . , . , ,
T , ° ,, the great centres oi industry and
loseph rcnncll : , . . . ,
_ . , commerce, and it gives one a vivid
Drawings by . . , ' . , ,
MD „ , , impression (. I the ctuvt piodueed bv
arcus B. Huish ' ' '
Mr. Penneli s work. It is to the
infernos of modern life he introduces us ; places where
there is never-ending tumult, and in which peace and
tranquillity have no part. With sentient pencil the
artist pictures the Panama Canal being hewn through
mountains of living rock by hordes of pigmy labourers ;
he shows us the manufacturing cities of America, England,
and the Continent, with their myriad chimneys blotting
out the heavens with their smoke, and the titanic
buildings of New York towering skywards like the teeth
of a broken comb from amidst a babel of bustle and con-
fusion. This aspect of modern life is perhaps not the one
that the artist desired to depict, but he has drawn truth-
fully what he has seen, and it is how it appears to an
unprejudiced observer. From Mr. Pennell's bustling
work it was a relief to turn to the atmosphere of calm
and quietude shown in Mr. Marcus B. Huish's drawings
of Sussex, Scotland, and the Continent. Mr. Huish
modestly apologises for his work on the plea that it has
been produced "during holidays separated by long
intervals," and yet it is perhaps to this very fact that the
drawings owe their most poignant charm. They are
permeated with a feeling it is difficult to describe, the
feeling that a busy city man, whose heart is in the
country, entertains towards it during his unfrequent
visits. He enjoys the country with keener zest than the
native, and its most ordinary scenes are precious in his
sight. It is this keen enjoyment that is reflected in the
work of Mr. Huish ; pieces of Sussex downland, stretches
of Scottish moor, and the ever-varying aspects of the
countryside are set down with a zest, sincerity, and
reverence for nature that impresses the spectator with
something of the same enjoyment with which they were
undoubtedly painted.
< >u> Dublin has been so fast disappearing of late
under the devastating hand of utilitarianism that Irish
. „ ... antiquaries have begun to express
A Ceiling at . .
t -u grave anxiety about the preservation
Iracton House, ' '
,-n ... of some of the noble domestic interiors
Uubiin
of the early Georgian period, especi-
ally those which still contain those beautifully moulded
old ceilings so delicately wrought by the imported Italian
artificers of the mid-eighteenth century. It is satis-
factory now to learn that owing to the successful carrying
out of a happily conceived project, all relics of the old
aristocratic mansions cannot possibly disappear. The
authorities of the National Museum of Ireland have just
availed themselves of the demolition of Tracton House,
in St. Stephen's Green — a time-honoured edifice, dating
from [746 to acquire, partly by purchase and partly by
gift, all the permanent characteristics of an eighteenth-
century drawing-room. For the realistic housing of
these, a special room has been built in the Museum,
henceforth to be known as the Georgian Room. As one
stands in this, the imagination goes back instinctively to
the golden days of the Grattan Parliament, when Dublin
was .1 live capital and a liberal patron of the arts. All
the various features of the room, from the magnificent
Apollo ceiling to the white and sienna marble mantel-
piece, are strictly of the early Georgian period. Little
difficulty was experienced in removing the doors, windows
and panelling from Tracton House, but the taking down
of the ceiling and cornice without injury to the superb
moulding presented a problem which demanded the
exercise of many minds to solve. Eventually by sawing
through the surmounting floor and cutting out the ceiling
in thirteen carefully mapped-out sections, the thing was
successfully accomplished. Dublin is to be congratu-
lated on the enterprise displayed by Count Plunkett, the
erudite director of its National Museum. — W. J. L.
Drawings which show individuality of feeling, a keen
sense of tone and colour and handling, which, while
,_, , never finicky, always impress the
Water-colours . , .
spectator with a sense of complete-
ness, never fail to secure a welcome,
and so the exhibition of water-colours
by Miss Emily Patterson, R.S.W., now on view at the
McLean Galleries (7, Haymarket), in which these charac-
teristics are present, should be assured of popular
favour. Since her exhibition at the same galleries two
years ago, the artist has broadened her outlook, and
gained a more assured ease with her brushwork. Her
themes range from ecclesiastical interiors to snow-scenes
and seacapes.
AMONG the numerous art exhibitions which have
taken place lately in Scotland, or are going on at
present, there are three which transcend
in urg : ^e ranj£ an(j ^ an[j accordingly merit
The Arts and , ., ., , . . ..
notice here, these three being one at the
Crafts Club, „,■ , . ,, ,. , . .
„„ „ . , Edinburgh College of Art, one at the
Scottish Gallery composed of works by
by Miss Emily
Patterson
Mr. G. Denholm Armour, and one held
Mr. Denholm
Armour, and
the College
r . by the Edinburgh Arts and Crafts Club
at their own picturesque quarters in
Belford Road. This club is a comparatively modern
institution, its age being little more than a dozen years ;
but already the members have done some remarkable
work, aiding thereby in bringing" about that resuscitation
of craftsmanship which has been so badly needed ever
since the early- Victorian age. To speak first of the
bookbindings, perhaps the member who displays most
ability is Miss J. E. Pagan, a pupil of Mr. Douglas
Cockerel!, one of the ablest binders alive ; while the
Misses Cheyneand Macleod both exhibit some engaging
volumes, the best by the former being one in seal
leather diapered with stars, and Miss Macleod's finest
118
Current Art Notes
being likewise in seal, and garnished with an old Celtic
design. Miss J. Andreen is less praiseworthy, for,
though her actual workmanship is good, she makes a
fatal mistake in trying to use leather as a medium for
reproducing famous pictures ; but this exhibitor is seen
to advantage in the lace section, while further members
who show fine work herein are the Misses Balfour,
McGibbon, and Tompkins, some pieces of "Honiton"
and " Cluny " by the last-named being truly memorable,
and comparing not unfavourably with the beautiful lace
of the Stuart period. Turning to the department of
metal-work, here too one rinds much to admire, in
particular various things by Miss Helen Hay, some
made of brass or silver, and others ot copper. Every
one of these is well finished, but not unduly so, while in
none of them has the design that obtrusiveness which
often vitiates modern craftsmanship. Miss Hay, indeed,
bases most of her work on time-honoured patterns, yet
everything from her hand reflects a quite personal style.
This personal note is a quality one misses in Mr.
Denholm Armour — misses alike in his Punch drawings
and in his water-colours — nor is this his only salient
limitation. To be amusing, and at the same time- really
distinguished, is no doubt very difficult; yet Phil May
achieved this often, while there is scarcely a single
drawing by Charles Keene but might hang beside a
Rembrandt etching, and suffer nothing by the com-
parison such juxtaposition would inevitably provoke.
Hogarth's satires, again, all delight even more by their
aesthetic value than by their wit ; but Mr. Denholm
Armour would seem to be a humorist first and an artist
only second, while he never reflects that emotional
impulse which makes George du Maurier perennially
charming. In short, he must not be ranked in the
forefront of those artists who trade in mirth ; yet his
technical ability is undoubtedly high, and that is what
makes his exhibition interesting. He knows how to use
bare spaces well, how to make them seem an essential
part of his picture ; while in his dogs and horses one can
hardly detect a muscle which is inert, and occasionally
one finds him solving a problem which has baffled
many painters, the problem of painting a man in a
bright red coat without making this prominent at the
expense of the other items. His colour, in fact, is prob-
ably his forte ; and especially in his illustrations to that
classic of the chase, Hundley Cross, he sometimes
attains a very sound harmony of shades ; while a large
drawing done for a poster, Gone Away, nearly tempts one
to cancel some of the above strictures. Its strong reds
and blacks would have charmed Rubens, and the bold
draughtsmanship reminds of the best poster-designers of
recent years, Mr. Hassall and the Beggerstaff brothers.
Technique like this is conspicuous by its absence from
the College of Art show, which consists of pictures by
some of the more notable pupils there ; but then, in
studying an assemblage of this sort, it behoves to look
for promise rather than fulfilment, and certainly a
tolerable share of the former is discernible. One sees
it in Mr. James Chalmers' landscape, /2 Cloud, and again
in Mr. A. R. Crosbie's portrait, The Gipsy, while it is
salient in Mr. J. A. Turnbull's Fantasia, a study of some
Geishas. There is plenty promise, too, in sundry things
by Mr. H. C. Paterson, and there is more than promise
in the output of Mr. A. D. G. Mackay. His drawings
of heads are exceptionally clever, while some of his tiny
seascapes in pencil — things no bigger than a post-card
— have a feeling of space and atmosphere one might
search for in vain in many huge canvases. It is a really
native gift that one marks in this artist and in Mr. Pater-
son— the gift of the boy who does a good caricature of
his schoolmaster, and not the mere journeyman ability
which is all that an art-school can teach — while another
young man who evokes interest, at least, is Mr. C. N. R.
Wright. His full-length portrait, An Arrangement, is
done in a style redolent of contemporary France, the
colour blazing and the figure boldly outlined in black ;
and, though the treatment of the face leaves vast room
for improvement, the picture is indubitably a striking
one. The question is, however — is Mr. Wright indulging
in bravado, or is he a genuine post-impressionist at
heart, expressing an individual vision ? And that
question is one which must not be approached till the
artist has shown some further work.
The eighteenth annual Landscape Exhibition at the
galleries of the Royal Water-Colour Society (5A, Pall
Mall East) was not on a par with its
immediate predecessors. Its greatest
failing was the lack of a uniting ideal
among its eight exhibitors ; when the
latter are so few and their work,
moreover, hung in separate divisions,
there should exist a common sympathy to weld it
together into a homogeneous exhibition ; but there was
none, so the result was eight exhibitions instead of one,
and eight exhibitions which, while individually generally
monotonous, clashed stridently with each other. Mr.
A. K. Brown's few yards of wall-space were occupied
with a dozen landscapes, seen with delicacy and refine-
ment, but too little varied in tone and colour ; for this
reason A Peat Moss, more positive in its contrasts and
crisp in its handling than its companions, was easily the
most attractive. Mr. H. Hughes Stanton, too, would
have gained with greater variation of theme, his contri-
butions nearly all resolving themselves into the problem
of expressing trees in shadow against a sunlit sky ; yet
this he mastered with such ease and assurance and
directness of expression that each of his well-designed
landscapes— all broad, fluent, and spontaneous in their
handling — was individually delightful. Mr. Joseph
Farquharson's most artistic contribution was the Weary
Waste of Snow, which was less highly coloured and
more harmonious in tone than its companions. Mr.
James S. Hill evidently owes not a little of his inspira-
tion to Constable, not in the sense of directly imitating
that master, but in cultivating a similar broad and direct
handling and rich and deep-toned colour, relieved by
silvery greys and whites. Among his best examples were
A Mill at Tewkesbury, From Greenwich Park, and one
or two finely rendered flower-pieces. The work of Mr.
Landscape
Exhibition at
the Royal
Water-Colour
Society
119
The Connoisseur
E. A. Walton revealed him as halting between two
opinions — a co-mingling ol desire for realism and purely
decorative effect. A.s it was, he achieved neither, and
his work, while showing good colour, was unconvincing.
Mr. Leslie Thomson displayed similar dual inclinations,
but reserved their exposition for different pictures. His
chief decorative theme was A Dream of the Solent,
marked by some delicate and beautiful colour, yet failing
of the highest excellence, because the artist had not
wholly accepted the limitations of decorative art. His
other contributions, while good, hardly attained special
distinction. Mr. Lindsay G. Macarthur's wall-space
appeared like a corner of a farmyard, so sedulously did
he keep to the same theme— the painting of poultry and,
occasionally, pigs among sun-flecked straw. He did it
with considerable technical attainment, rather weakened
by too laboured surface finish, but the continued repe-
tition was tiresome. Of Mr. Arthur G. Bell's eight
contributions, the April Snow, marked by truthful
perception, well composed, and affording scope for an
effective contrast between the winter blacks and whites
and early spring greens, was decidedly the most attractive.
Water-colours
by
Wynne Apperlcy,
R.I., at
Mr. Walker's
Galleries
MR. WYNNE APPERLEY is among those younger
artists who combine with rare promise something more
than meritorious performance. His
Impressions of the Riviera, Pan's,
and England, shown at Mr. Walker's
Galleries (118, New Bond Street),
struck a poignant personal note ;
they were permeated with a feeling
of joyousness and vitality which
was most exhilarating. His colouring was always good,
bright without being garish, and set down with purity
and freshness. His work bore the impress 01 being
painted in the open air, and was handled with singular
freedom and directness. Mr. Apperley, if he is sufficiently
ambitious, should go far, as an artist with his power of
expression should be able to paint larger and more
important works than any he has yet essayed. At
present he appears to command a far greater facility in
water-colour than in oil ; the one or two examples in the
latter medium which wete included in the exhibition
being quite out-shone in brilliance and strength by their
companions.
BY J. A. TURNBULL
AT THE EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART
M? II ART L E Y
lull.?' i I l..i ■: ;r, '',-,".,, I, > llirkinlbli fc Willful] V/i.,:. Wv lioml Slrccl
f ti//rr/ /•*•// /•// //.■. / /iA/ ///•/! .
" Shakespeare,
Bacon, and the
Great Unknown "
By Andrew Lang
(Longmans,
Green & Co.
os. net)
THE perennial controversy as to the authorship of
the plays and poems of Shakespeare, whether by " the
vagabond actor of Stratford" or
the delinquent Bacon, or some
other Great Unknown — a dazzling
meteor, unrecognised and unrecog-
nisable from his day to ours, who
blazed into the literary firmament
and then blazed out again, leaving
no trace behind and no clue — is
proceeding merrily enough. Mr. Greenwood, who wrote
a book with the object of rejecting the two known men,
and applied his scholarship to build up an apparently
convincing case, drew from Andrew Lang the reply now
under discussion, so remorselessly logical and so perfectly
informed, that the whole structure of The Shakespeare
Problem Re-stated comes clattering down like a house of
cards and leaves its author buried beneath the debris.
This is not the place wherein to discuss the literary
side of the problem, delightfully elaborated throughout
a dozen chapters ; but the thirteenth, that on Shake-
speare's monument and portraits, comes within our scope.
The champions of non-Shakespearean authorship find it
necessary to their argument to remove or explain away
the evidence afforded by the monument and bust in
Stratford Holy Trinity Church that the man of Stratford
was the real Simon Pure, and, apart from declaring that
alternatively it is a bust of Bacon, they assert that what
we now see is not the "original," which, on the basis
of the grotesquely drawn caricature engraving of it in
Dugdale's History of Warwickshire (1656), shows the
figure pressing a cushion — which they say means the
Woolsack ! — against his stomach. Of course, the answer
is that the illustration is a monstrous, obvious perversion
— just as his two other illustrations are perversions.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Stopes — an enthusiastic supporter
of the Shakespeare claim, an earnest student in research,
but strangely lacking in judgment and logical deduction
— has, under obvious misapprehension, accepted the
theory of renewal and substitution in 1 748, when ,£12 10s.
was collected to " repair and beautify the monument."
As if a new monument of alabaster and marble and
a half-length statue of stone could have been provided
or £\z ios., and not a word said about the substitution !
Mr. Lang shows, as we all knew, that the present work
is pure Jacobean, while the plate in Dugdale is rococo —
a style not introduced till thirty years after Shakespeare
died, but already prevalent in Dugdale's day. These
points Lang elaborates, but he missed giving the coup
de grace, which is this: the present bust shows Shake-
speare wearing a mantle ; the Dugdale engraving shows
none ; Mrs. Stopes, in search of an explanation, says
that a mantle was added.'— -(if to the bust before us, that
is impossible, for mantle and body are in one piece of
stone). But she has overlooked Dugdale's descriptive
text — engraved on the very plate she upholds as truthful
representation — in which we are told that the figure of
Shakespeare is wearing a mantle — which does not appear
in the traitorous representation of it! The Baconians,
also ignoring this smashing point, are concerned to
maintain the absolute trustworthiness of Dugdale's
testimony. Very well : then Dugdale, if credible, swept
them right out of court on the crucial question whether
or not " the man of Stratford," the actor, was also author.
For further on we have Dugdale's own emphatic
declaration that " the antient town gave birth and sepul-
ture to our late famous poet, Will Shakespere." Is it
not extraordinary that this conclusive declaration has
nowhere been proclaimed ? The dethronement of the
actor-poet must be effected on some more trustworthy
evidence and more solid grounds than have hitherto
been advanced.
The Van Eycks and Their Art, by Messrs. W. H.
James Weale and Maurice W. Brockwell, is practically a
revised and slightly curtailed edition
of the monumental work on the
same subject issued by the former
writer in 1908. The curtailments
are few, being almost wholly con-
fined to the portions of the biblio-
graphy and of the documents
reprinted concerning the artists ; and nothing is omitted
which could be of value to the general student. On the
other hand, the chapters concerning " Lost Painting-.,"
" Drawings," and " Observations " on the general character
" The Van Eycks
and Their Art,"
by W. H. James
Weale and M. W.
Brockwell (John
Lane, 12s. 6d. net)
The Connoisseur
Edition limited to
^50 copies (The
Cuala Press,
Churchtown,
Dundrum)
o( the works of th : brothei-s have been largelj amplified,
the arrangement ol the book has been simplified, and the
fii al "ii of the picture n i leai [j defined. To
i'ho ' read) pos e the original sumptuou : edition
the present book «ill prove a desirable supplement, while
to oilier-, nut so fortunate it will be something more than
" ,i reliable and h md) work of reterence for the next few
to come," which the authors modestly claim as its
cine; for it would be better described as the best, most
complete and authoritative book on the subject vet
produced.
I hi little volume of Selections from the Writings of
Lord Dunsany does credit to the work of the Cuala
Press, and incidentally calls attention
"Selections from ,„ the great literary and artistic
the Writings of revival which is transfiguring
Lord Dunsany" ireland at the present moment.
The Cuala Press itself is an in-
stance of this. Instituted as a
village industry, it is now producing
work — of which the Selections is
an example — which in the artistry
of the printer's craft rivals that of any of the London
firms. Lord Dunsany's writings are worthy of such a
setting. They are the fruit of an exuberant and fertile
imagination, and are clothed in stately and dignified
diction. His style is somewhat archaic — wilfully so —
but it is lighted with happy imagery and pregnant
turns of expression. He is still engaged in fashioning a
vehicle for his stories 01 what happened in the youth of
the world ; one removed from the colloquialisms of modern
speech, so that the heroes of long-gone days shall not
appear as Wardour Street impostors, masquerading in
strange garbs, but acting and speaking like present-day
Englishmen. He has succeeded in this part of his
endeavour, but at the cost of some of that vitality which
comes of writing in a living speech. In the future he
may manage to avoid this failing and still retain the
remote, old-world atmosphere which constitutes so much
of the charm of his work.
SURELY' one of life's little ironies is the cruel treatment
often meted out to geniuses during their lives, and the
praise and applause which is accorded
She Stoops to them when they are in their graves.
An irony it certainly would be if some
The Mistakes of
a Night," by
Oliver Goldsmith
of our dead poets and authors could
see their works published in such
an elaborate manner through the art
Illustrated by
TT . _, of the colour-printer and letterpress
Hugh I homson . .
.„- I* ,, printer of our days — an ironv it would
(Messrs. Hodder r ....
. c. i. be which carried with it more bitter-
and Stoughton
I^s net) ness than joyful satire, for their
works were too often born out of
poverty and wretchedness, and written, in some cases,
on waste paper.
If the son of a poor curate could now see the pro-
duction of one of his labours which comes from the
firm of Hodder & Stoughton, he could scarce forbid to
smile. This man, who, to quote Thackeray, "touched
nothing that he did not adorn," has had his own literary
labours adorned. One of the latest adornments is this
volume, illustrated by water-colour drawings and sketches
by Hugh Thomson, of Goldsmith's bright little comedy,
" Sin- Stoops to Conquer." Besides many sketches
tastefully dispersed throughout the publication, the
illustrations in colour number no less than twenty-five,
and are executed with no little skill by a characteristic,
delicate touch ; but the artist fails in his delineation of
character in the faces of his studies. There is too much
sameness, if one may be privileged to use the word,
about his drawings. The plates are all of indoor scenes,
and when the play offered an opportunity of a pleasing
variety in the scene where Tony and his mother meet
at the back of the garden, the illustrator has not shown
what he can do in this direction, though there was more
occasion for a comedy scene than in many other incidents
he has chosen to put in colour. This is remarkable, for
several of the drawings illustrate passages which occur
in conversation, and these drawings are therefore not of
scenes actually seen in the play. This is naturally
a little misleading to even those who know the comedy
in its entirety. There is a strong tendency in a play
of this kind, which has been performed on so many
thousands of occasions in London and the Provinces,
for a play-goer, when this play is presented to him in a
well-illustrated book, to look among the illustrations for
the significant scenes he has seen on the stage, and
when he sees several coloured drawings of scenes he
does not remember, and a scene by its very humour he
well remembers is not illustrated, he fancies something
must have been deleted from and several things added
to the production he witnessed.
It must be admitted — and this is no slight upon the
artist — that he has not been wholly successful in his
drawings of the outstanding character of the comedy,
Tony Lumpkin. This clumsy oaf is no easy task to
draw, and it has been said with no little truth that Tony
has been better impersonated on the stage than de-
picted in any colour or pencil drawing. Comment must
also be made on an oversight on the part of the artist
made in several of the plates. In Act I., Scene I,
between old Hardcastle and his daughter, the latter
appears in the illustration in a costume of blue and
white, while in the next plate to the same act and scene,
Miss Hardcastle not having left the room, she appears in
a pale green costume, and the backgrounds in each of
these illustrations seem to be of different interiors. This
is a little amusing as regards the illustration of the scene
between Miss Neville and Miss Hardcastle, in which
scene the latter asks, "Tell me, Constance, how do I
look this evening? Is there anything whimsical about
me ?" and Miss Neville's reply, "Vet, now I look again
— bless me ! — sure no accident has happened among the
canary birds or gold fishes? Has your brother or cat
been meddling?" Certainly the artist by the license of
his art has, in his meddling, whimsically changed the
colour of the dress of Miss Hardcastle in a few minutes.
This error has been repeated in two of the illustrations
1-4
The Connoisseur Bookshelf
PORTRAIT OF A LADY UNKNOWN BY RODOLPHE BELL
FROM "PORTRAIT MINIATURES OF FIVE CENTURIES"
(HODDER AND STOUGHTON)
in Act II., Scene r, where young Hastings' pink coat
changes in the next plate to yellow, and Hastings,
according to the play, has not left the room. These
errors might be overlooked on trivial grounds if the
artist had not given such characterless features to the
faces of his subjects, especially to the faces of his
womenfolk. It must be held, however, that Hugh
Thomson's work in this book possesses a certain charm
of refinement which is exceedingly pleasing to the eye-
IN Staircases and Garden Steps Mr. Guy Cadogan
Rothery shows the evolution of these necessary features
of domestic architecture from the
rude examples outside the cave-
dwellings of primitive man to their
present multiform varieties. The
preoccupation of the ancient archi-
tects was not so much to make their
staircases easy of ascent as to render
them either defensible or easily destructible in case of
the advent of an enemy. Thus in the mysterious Round
Towers of Ireland the staircases have entirely disap-
peared, being probably little more than ladders, which
could be drawn up to the doorways— always many feet
above the ground— when danger threatened. Mr. Rothery
might have added that similar instances occur in some
of the older of the church towers in England. This
practice to a certain extent was followed by Norman
castle builders, the staircases often placed on the outside
being planned so as to afford as little assistance as
"Staircases and
Garden Steps,"
by Guy Cadogan
Rothery
(T. Werner
Laurie. 6s. net)
possible to an assailing enemy. It was not until the era
of domestic warfare was over that staircases became an
architectural feature of the interior of a building. Mr.
Rothery takes a comprehensive but somewhat hurried
survey of the various ^t\les of staircase planning, and
also the details of their planning. His is a useful work,
but suffers rather from the desire to tell too much. It is
difficult to adequately comprehend some of his brief
descriptions, and one feels that he would have better
served his purpose if he had omitted many of the
examples and treated on the others more fully.
The sumptuously mounted volume on Portrait Minia-
tures of Five Centuries, by M. E. Lemberger, may
perhaps prove a disappointment to
those who have trained their taste
too exclusively on the fascinating
and highly finished art of Cosway,
Downman, Engleheart, and their
English contemporaries, for the
author has gleaned his illustrations
from wide and varied sources, and
though all the plates possess sufficient artistic merit to
justify their inclusion, some of them, especially those
belonging to the foreign schools, are only moderately
beautiful in the subjects they depict.
Though the wealth of illustration is the chief raison
d'etre, Mr. Lemberger's interesting introduction to the
subject is fully adequate, and gives much valuable infor-
mation concerning Continental artists little known in
England. The reproductions of the miniatures illustrated
"Portrait Minia-
tures of Five
Centuries," by
Ernest Lemberger
(Hodder and
Stoughton
2 guineas net)
KING GEORGE III. OF ENGLAND BY RICHARD COSWAY
FROM "PORTRAIT MINIATURES OF FIVE CENTURIES"
(HODDER AND STOUGHTON)
125
The Connoisseur
Who," "The
Writers' and
Artists' Year
Book," etc.
(A. & C. Black)
are executed with a perfection of technical accuracy that
has rarely been exceeded, the delicate charm of the
originals being fully suggested and preserved.
In tin- choice of subjects we feel convinced that the
authoi must have been seriously handii apped in .1 '.can h
for beauty by the necessity of selecting subjects to illus-
trate the different periods and phases of the art, and,
perhaps on account of his nationality, lie devotes a
disproportionately large space to the miniature art of
Germany. Nevertheless, the work is a highly valuable
contribution to the literature of the subject, and, from the
profuseness and high quality of the illustrations, should
prove a most useful consultant to those desiring to
identity the style and period of a particular miniature.
What are the books that count ? Mr. W. Forbes
Gray has compiled a record of 5,500 of them, with a
bird's-eye view of their respective
"Books that contents, all said to be standard
Xho's works and of utility to the general
reader. This is such an excellent
idea that one wonders it has not
been carried out before ; but to have
been thoroughly well done the task
should have been entrusted to a
committee rather than a single individual, however
well qualified. A list of Mr. Gray's omissions would
constitute a formidable volume in itself, a perfunctory
glance through his work reveaJing the absence of such
varied writers as Walpole, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu,
Evelyn, Malory, Fanny Burney, Napier, Richard Jeffreys,
Disraeli, and Herrick, while his section on art is woefully
imperfect. No work dealing with engravers or engraving
is included, the biographies of artists given are rarely
the standard authorities, and even such an indispensable
work as Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers
is conspicuous by its absence. Probably in another
edition of the work such oversights will be remedied,
and it will become as valuable and useful a compila-
tion as those indispensable annuals issued by the same
firm, Who's Who, The Englishwoman's 1 'ear Book, and
Tlic Writers' and Artists' Year Book. The first-named
publication comes this year in a somewhat altered form,
the height of the volume having been increased to make
space for the ever-increasing number of names of celeb-
rities— major and otherwise — about whom the general
public desires information. The above publications,
while offering no fresh features, in their current issues
afford the most exhaustive information on those themes
which the experience of past years has proved to be
most essential.
When Garrards was moved from the Haymarket to
Albemarle Street it meant the transfer of one of
London's oldest landmarks, for this
"Garrards, historic firm— court jewellers and
i, " " , goldsmiths during six reigns — had
(Stanley Paul , . , , ,
, „ ' been established at the corner of
and Co.) _ _ , ,
Panton Street for nearly two centuries.
To commemorate the event an interesting octavo volume
has been issued, profusely illustrated with reproductions
from old prints and maps and photographs of some of
the more celebrated . iiran jewels. The work deals not
only with the history of Garrards, but also with that of
the two localities with which they have been connected.
Interesting as are the records of the Haymarket and
Albemarle Street, the most fascinating port'on of the
volume is that concerned with Garrards itself. The
firm was founded by George Wickes in 1721. His first
Royal customer was Frederick, Prince of Wales, who
appears not only to have bought plate from the gold-
smith, but also to have frequently had some on loan for
the royal entertainments. This custom of borrowing was
by no means confined to plate. When George III.
was crowned he was decked out with diamonds worth
,£375,600, hired from the firm for £15,024. This
practice was not adopted in any of the succeeding
coronations ; though Garrards, to whom the crown jewels
were sent for re-setting, had much work to do in connec-
tion with them. The Koh-i-Noor, which they re-cut
in 1S52, was, perhaps, the most celebrated of the historic
jewels which have been entrusted to them, though in
point of size this gem is eclipsed by each of the two
Stars of Africa — portions of the huge Cullinan diamond
which they fitted into the King's Sceptre and Crown.
The book has been written with care and erudition, and
forms an interesting and valuable contribution to Court
and social history of the past two centuries.
The art of Ancient Egypt, the latest specimens of
which are divided from us by an interval of 1,500 years,
hardly possesses the same imme-
' gyp 1 diate appeal as the arts of England
1 tl Tiff-. A ' °
or France, which have continued to
develop until the present time, or
by G. Maspero
(" General History
of Art Series")
/•w;n- u • that 01 Northern Italv, onlv sepa-
(Wilham Heine-
mann. 6s. net)
rated from us by a century or so,
and still influencing and inspiring
modern ideals. It is for this reason that Art in Egypt,
by Professor G. Maspero, the Director-General of
Antiquities in Egypt, is hardly so attractive as its pre-
decessors in the "General History of Art." There are,
besides, other handicaps in the author's path ; the raison
d'etre of European art is well comprehended ina general
way by the orthodox reader ; the influences which gave
it birth are still alive, and a few words of explanation
will suffice to make him acquainted with their early
variations, but with Egyptian art it is different ; the
religion which gave it birth has been dead for twenty
centuries, and the outlook of the ancient Egyptian is as
strange to us as if he were the inhabitant of a distant
planet. Moreover, the duration of Egyptian art was
prodigious, existing for nearly as many centuries as that
of France and England have existed decades, and all the
time maintaining a huge output, which to the uninitiated
eye seems to show little variety or development. It
will be seen that Professor Maspero had an almost im-
possible task in attempting to trace within the compass
of a single volume the rise and development of an art
so novel in its point of view to European minds, so long
126
TJie Connoisseur Bookshelf
THE GREAT PYRAMID AND THE SPHINX
continued, and so prodigal in its productions, and yet
make his theme perfectly understandable. That he has
wholly succeeded it would be impossible to say, but that
he has produced a book which in its comprehensiveness,
its wealth of knowledge on the subject, and its erudite
scholarship has yet no rival, may be readily acknow-
ledged. Its faults lie in presupposing the reader pos-
sessed of at least a general acquaintance with the outlines
of ancient Egyptian history, and unless he has acquired
THE TWO COLOSSI ON THE SOUTH SIDE AT ABl S1MBEL
inspiration from a single source, it was split up into
distinct schools, who, while drawing everywhere upon a
common fund of general ideas, gave distinct manifesta-
tions of them.
The work, as usual with the books of this series, is
exhaustively illustrated, while type and setting are
everything that can be desired.
DIADEM OF KHNEMIT
this, he is likely to become confused by the mention of
various dynasties to whose date or duration little clue is
given. Apart from this, the work is clearly expressed,
and traces the various phases of the subject fully and
minutely. The author clearly shows that in the course
of centuries Egyptian art underwent developments and
radical changes far more important than has been
generally assumed, and that instead of drawing its
\i
(MUSEUM, CAIRO)
The Essays of Francis Bacon, Lord VeruMm, will
always remain one of the stately
and dignified monuments of Eng-
lish prose. Such a work, not
meant for hasty scanning, but for
leisured study, appears to demand
a seemly setting, and this is afforded
n the new edition of the work, edited by Mr. Sydney
" Bacon's Essays,"
edited by Sydney
Humphries
(A. & C. Black
6s. net)
THE CROUCHING SCRIBE (THE LOUVRE) THE GREAT CHEPHREN AT CAIRO
The illustrations on this page arc from "Art in Egypt" (Heinemann)
127
The Connoisseur
Humphries, which l»:i - just beenissued by Messrs. Black.
Not too cumbersome for easy handling, but of sufficient
substance to give the shelves of a bookcase an additional
importance ; clearly printed in type of a boldness and
clarity to ensure easy reading, and well set up, it appears
to be a marvel of cheapness at the price at which it is
issued. The work is prefaced with a portrait of the
author, and is furnished with a translation of all the
Latin and foreign quotations given in the work, with
full identification of their origin.
"Choffard,"by
Vera Salomons
(John and Edward
Bumpus, Ltd.
30s. and 18s.)
Pierre-Philippe Choffard is one of those greal
artists in little whose fame rests on the accomplishment
of work small in compass, but in-
finitely beautiful in execution. He is
among the most exquisite of French
illustrators, and his work gives an
additional grace to the literature of
his period. Miss Vera Salomons has
performed a commendable task in giving a catalogue of
the most important books illustrated by the artist, and
its extent shows the prodigious amount of work which
this gifted artist achieved. His most characteristic
performance really belongs to the domain of decorative
rather than illustrative art, for the charm of his produc-
tions often lies as much in the elaborate and tasteful
framework with which they are surrounded as in the
presentments of the subjects depicted. Miss Salomons'
attractive volume is illustrated with a large number of
excellent reproductions from characteristic works by the
artist. It is prefaced with a well-written introduction
giving the few facts which are known concerning his
life, while the catalogue of the works he embellished is
full and amply descriptive. Altogether the book may
be recommended as a desirable addition to the library
of anyone interested in French eighteenth-century art.
" The English
Fireplace and
its Accessories,"
by L. A. Shuffrey
(B. T. Batsford
£2 2S.)
Fireplaces, in the form we know them, were intro-
duced comparatively late into English domestic life. The
early types, which persisted until long
after the Norman Conquest, were
only slight improvements on the
primitive form as a fire — wood or
peat, kindled on the earth or a slab
of stone in the midst of the principal
living apartment, the smoke escaping
from a hole in the roof. Similar types, though some-
what less elementary in their construction, remained in
vogue in ordinary dwelling-houses until well on in the
sixteenth century, and it is only since then that the fire-
place has become the prominent feature of domestic
architecture which it now remains. Mr. L. A. Shuffrey,
in his admirable book on the subject, traces the develop-
ment of the fireplace and its accessories from its earliest
days until the close of the eighteenth century, by which
time the various distinctive styles of its design had
become fully elaborated. It is to the Normans that we
owe the origin of our present-day fireplace, for in their
castles built of two or more storeys the central position
was impracticable, so the fire was placed in a shallow
recess under an arch in the side wall of the chamber.
The back of the recess sloped in its ascent, and finished
with a hole lor the escape of the smoke carried through
the outside wall. This means of escape for the smoke
docs not appear to have been successful, and was
gradually superseded by a flue carried up in the wall,
and finished with a tall cylindrical chimney. These
early forms of the side fireplace were not recessed, but a
hood was constructed oxer the hearth to collect the
smoke. From this to the recessed fireplace was a step
which was easily taken, and all that remained was to
.ulorn the room face of the latter with suitable orna-
mentation. Of the projecting fireplaces there are few
ornate remains, this form being generally used in fort-
resses where beauty was less of a consideration than
strength, and being much earlier abandoned in England
than on the Continent. Theie are also comparatively
few survivals of the recessed fireplace constructed in
purely Gothic style, as Renaissance influence became
prevalent in England soon after this form was generally
used. It is on this account that the specimens at Tatters-
hall Castle, which were recently rescued from the hand
of the spoiler by Lord Cutzon, are of such exceptional
interest, though, as Mr. Shuffrey points out, removed
from their original surroundings, for which they were
specially designed, they lose the greater part of their
architectural effect.
Many of the earlier Renaissance mantelpieces were
either imported from abroad or made by foreign crafts-
men, and are consequently out of feeling with their
decorative surroundings. But this phase was a tran-
sitional one, for the English speedily showed themselves
as capable craftsmen as their foreign rivals, while their
work was conceived in proper architectural relation to
the apartment it was designed to occupy. Belonging to
this period are many pieces which, though showing
Renaissance influence, are merely Gothic in the character
of their ornamentation. This mixed style, which was
often strikingly picturesque in its effect, gradually gave
way before the purer forms of Renaissance and classical
architecture, the latter form coming into vogue when
the sway of the brothers Adam and William Chambers
had superseded that of Inigo Jones and Wren. The
work, like most of the books emanating front Messrs.
Batsford, is illustrated by plates fully expressive of all
the ornamental details, the understanding of which is so
necessary to students of architecture.
A singularly full catalogue of naval prints calculated
to suit the pockets of all grades of collectors, and com-
prising portraits and views of naval
"Catalogue of engagements, battle and merchant
Naval Prints, , . , , ,
, ships, yachts, and maritime towns,
Paintings," etc. , , , , .. TT
._ IT ° , has been issued bv Messrs. T. H.
(T. H. Parker „ , . ,,,, . ,
_ . Parker hros. (45, \\ hitcomb Street,
Bros.)
E.C.). It contains nearly 4,000 items,
including 70 portraits of Nelson, ranging in value from
is. to /17 ios., 30 plates of the Battle of the Nile, the
same number of views of Liverpool, and other subjects
of a like character in similar abundance.
128
The Connoisseur Bookshelf
U 1
CHIMNEY-PIECE AND GRATE IN BALL-ROOM AT STRATFORD HOUSE, STRATFORD PLACE
FROM "THE ENGLISH FIREPLACE" (BATSFORD)
"Little Songs of Long Ago"
In the review of this work published in our last
number, the price was given as 75. 6d. net. It should
have been 5s. net.
"The Story of Old
Whitehall," fay
Austin Brereton
(The Gordon
Hotels, Ltd.)
The Story of Old Whitehall, written by Mr. Austin
Brereton, makes such interesting reading that one would
wish that it had been issued in a
more elaborate and permanent form.
The author traces the history of the
district from the time when Wolsey
built his sumptuous palace — then
styled York House, but re-christened
Whitehall when Henry VIII. took it over— to the present
day. It is a stirring story, for Whitehall since the days
of the great Cardinal has been the hub of England, and
nearly all the noteworthy personages in the last four
centuries of English history have been associated with it.
Readers of Mr. Brereton's book will find it an admirable
guide to all the associations of the neighbourhood.
To keep a diary may thrust upon one a posthumous
immortality. The genial Pepys, who
well deserves to be remembered on
account of his share in the founding
of English naval supremacy, would have languished in
Messrs. Letts's
Diaries
semi-oblivion had not his diary, written for his own
enjoyment, and without any thought of publication,
ultimately come to light, and secured for him a fame
which is hardly equalled by the greatest literary giants
of his period. Messrs. Letts's varied publications should
tempt many of the present generation to emulate the
famous diarist, for among them may be found diaries in
such multiform and attractive variety as to suit all tastes.
Mr. H. B. Walters, in his book on the Church Bells
of England, has essayed a theme which should be of
more or less universal interest, for
though few are directly concerned
with the science of campanology,
the historical and sentimental
associations connected with bells —
more especially church bells — pos-
sess a general appeal. The subject has already produced
a voluminous literature, yet one can extend a warm
welcome to Mr. H. B. Walters' addition. He knows
his theme thoroughly, and treats it in all its phases
with fulness and accuracy ot fact, dealing with the mak-
ing of bells and belfries from the earliest times until
the present day, the methods of ringing bells, their
uses and the customs affecting them, their dedication,
decoration, weights, and sizes, the inscriptions recorded
"Church Bells of
England, "by H.B.
Walters, M.A.,
F.S.A. (Henry
Frowde, 7s. 6d.net)
129
The Connoisseur
"Ballads Weird
and Wonderful,"
with Twenty-
five Drawings by
Vernon Hill
(John Lane
2ls. net)
on them, and the \ arious found] ie ■ at which they are pro-
duced. Incidentally he gives much quaint and curious
lore concerning old customs, some of which. are now
extinct but man) ol »! ch still survive, of whose origin
and purport the average man know-, nothing. The work
is well illustrated, and furnishes, with exhaustive indexes,
a full list of English bell-founders and a good biblio-
graphy o( the subject.
Mr. Vernon Hill's art is original, highly imagina-
tive, and replete with that charm which comes from an
unconventional outlook — a way of
eeing things in a strange and un-
pected manner. This being so,
he would seem well qualified to
illustrate a selection of the most
eerie and weird of the old ballads —
those concerned with black magic,
the spirits of the departed, and the
denizens of the nether -world — yet his latest work, a
collection of designs on such themes, though beautiful,
is not an unqualified success. These creations rather
charm the fancy than convince the imagination ; none
of them compel one with the feeling that in this way,
and in this way only, could the scene have happened.
The literary interest throughout is subordinated to the
artistic, and we are less concerned with the happenings
that are depicted than in Mr. Hill's accomplished
manner of depicting them. The artist's imagination is
indeed too empyrean for his subjects. These, despite
their supernatural
incidence, are yet
firmly connected
with the mother-
earth, and are set
forth with a direct-
ness and particu-
larity of phrase that
leave no doubt of
the narrator's in-
tentions that they
should be regarded
as the stories of
real events ha p-
pening to real per-
sonages. Mr. Hill
hardly catches this
feeling in his crea-
tions ; they are ex-
pressed with much
power of rhythmic
line and an e x-
quisite sense of
decorative arrange-
ment , but they
serve more to tickle
our .esthetic sensi-
bilities than to
ACCOUNT OF FREDERICK PRINCE OF
atmosphere of the from " garrards. 1721-1911"
border ballad, stern, grim, and surcharged with poignant
crudity of elementary emotion.
The collection -or rather collections which the late
Mr. Frank McClean bequeathed to the Fitzwilliam
Museum, Cambridge, are of national
importance. He was an amateur
of nice discernment, with clearl)
defined views, who formed his
accumulations of ancient coins,
manuscripts, early printed books,
enamels, ivories, and other objects
of art not in a haphazard way, but
according to an ordered plan, to
trace the history and evolution of
art. This makes them of great
educational importance, and it was
fortunate for the world of art that,
instead of allowing them to be dis-
persed at his death, he bequeathed
them to the museum of his former
university. Two scholarly and erudite catalogues raisonee
have now been issued, describing a portion of the
bequest, Dr. James, Provost of King's College, dealing
with the manuscripts, and Mr. O. M. Dalton with the
mediaeval ivories, enamels, jewellery, and miscellaneous
objects. Both works are worth)- of the university from
which they were issued and the collections which they
describe. Mr. Dalton prefaces his work with a valu-
able introduction concerning the origin and develop-
ment of the various
Fitzwilliam
Museum
McClean Bequest
" Catalogue of
Manuscripts,"
by Montague
Rhodes James
(25s. net), and
"Catalogue of
Ivories, Enamels,
and otherObjects,'
by O. M. Dalton
(7s. 6d. net)
Cambridge
University Press
'WSL
,. J...' Jr.'-, r-f
/ " J/
a
I / .«£( I'i lU L'
6.\6
WALES AT i.ARRARDS , 1735-6
(STANLEY PAUL)
forms of art illus-
trated in the col-
lection, which is
marked by sound
know ledge and con-
servative and well-
established views.
Dr. James, while
not prefacing his
catalogue with any
foreword, except a
short account of the
career of the testa-
tor of the collec-
tion, describes each
item with singular
fulness, in many
instances devoting
several pages of
letterpress to a
single manuscript.
Both catalogues
are well illustrated
with collotype
plates, and form
from the authorita-
tive nature of their
contents, valuable
works of reference.
130
CORRESPONDENCL
Special Notice
Enquiries should be made upon the coupon which will be found in the advertisement pages. While,
owing to our enormous correspondence and the fact that every number of The Connoisseur is printed a
month in advance, it is impossible for us to guarantee in every case a prompt reply in these columns, an
immediate reply will be sent by post to all readers who desire it, upon payment of a nominal fee. Expert
opinions and valuations can be supplied when objects are sent to our offices for inspection, and, where-
necessary, arrangements can be made for an expert to examine single objects and collections in the country,
and give advice, the fee in all cases to be arranged beforehand. Objects sent to us may be insured whilst
they are in our possession, at a moderate cost. All communications and goods should be addressed to the
" Manager of Enquiry Dept., The Connoisseur, 35-39, Maddox Street, YV."
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
Mahogany Wardrobe. — A6. 420 (Penrith). — The old
English gentleman's mahogany wardrobe is apparently in bad
condition, and in any case it is not sufficiently old to be of any
great value. A plain piece of this kind realises about eight
guineas by auction.
" Lord Burleigh," after Wissing.— A6.445 (Stamford).
— Your print of Lord Burleigh was engraved by J. Smith ; but
it has been so much trimmed that it would not realise more
than 10s. to 15..
"The Tragedies of ,-Eschylus."— A6.454 (Alexandria).
— The copy of The Tragedies of A-'sJiylus belongs to a class
of work for which there is now very little demand, and it would
only realise a few shillings.
Armour.— A6,467 (Tamworth). — It is generally very difficult
to judge armour from photographs, but there is little doubt that
the pieces represented arc not genuine. They have the look of
specimens which have been got up finely fir decorative purposes.
From this point of view they are of little value. If you have
good reason 1.. suppose they are old (say late 1 6th century), we
should advise you to send up a piece for examination.
Books. — A6,473 (Penmaenmawr). — As a whole the books
on your list are comparatively unimportant, and few, if any,
would realise more than is. or so per volume. The Chase and
The Turf, by Nimrod, is not an original edition. If in good
condition, it might realise 10s. to 15s. As regards Brads/taw's
Railway Guide, the rare first edition is dated 1839.
Engravings.— A6, 481 (Cullercoats).— On the list you send
the most notable is The Bird Catcher, by Gaugain, after Barney,
which, if a genuine impression, may be worth £$ to £6. Its
value entirely depends upon the quality of the impression. As
regards the engravings by Woollett, none of these would be
likely to realise more than IOS. to 25s., while the two prints
after E. M. Ward are only worth a very small sum, the demand
for such prints having practically ceased.
Portraits Engraved by Bartoloz2i.-A6.4S5 (South-
ampton).— The portraits of the Duchess of Suffolk and Holbein's
wife by Bartolozzi, as they are uncoloured, would be unlikely
to realise more than 7s. 6d. each. The etching by Rembrandt
we should have to see before giving an opinion.
" Madox," by Robert Southey.-A6.4S6 (Torquay).
— Yom copy of Robert Southey's Madox would be unlikely to
fetch more than 5s. to 7s. 6d.
Silver Plate.— Ao, 491 (Cork).— Itis quite impossible for us
to give any opinion regarding your old silver plate unless we
have a description of each piece, photographs if possible, date-
letter and maker's name, marks, and the weight.
Coloured Prints. — A6, 496 (London, YV.). — The London
Views, by Sayer, would only realise a few shillings apiece.
Portrait by Raeburn. — A6.499 (London, W.). — The
only portrait by Raeburn known to us of a Macdonell of Glen-
garry is that of Alastair Macdonell, Chief of Glengarry, which
is lent to the Scottish National Gallery by John Cunningham of
Balgownie. It was painted about 1S00.
" The Country Dowager " and " A Peasant
Returning to his Family."— A6, 501 (Braintree).— As
your coloured prints, by Westall. have been trimmed to fit the
frames, their value has, of course, been much depreciated. II
really fine impressions they should still be worth two or three
guineas each.
" Lavinia," after Gainsborough.— A6, 503 (Weston-
super-Mare). — A fine impression of Lavinia, by Bartolozzi,
after Gainsborough, in colours, is worth anything from ,£15 to
,£40, according to its quality and general condition, but as your
print lacks the margin, its value would be considerably less.
We cannot place a definite value upon it without seeing it.
Pair of Lamps. — A6.507 (Horsham). — It is evident from
the phot. .graphs that these lamps are of a type in vogue fifty
or sixty years ago. They were used for burning heavy oils,
such as colza, but they would not be considered of any use-
now for that purpose, having been superseded by lamps burning
the more convenient mineral oils. The lamp arrangement is,
of course, English, but the vases are Chinese, and are not
probably much older than the lamps, and are therefore not of
the collector's period. The vases might be used, stripped of
the lamps, as decorative items, or they might be adapted for
modern lamps, electrical or otherwise, and for that purpose the
saleable value should be about £4.
"The Times."— Ao, 512 (kyde).— If your copy of / i.
Times containing an account of Nelson's death is the original
issue, it would realise about 2-. od. ; but it is more than
probably a reprint, the value of which is practically nil.
Cabinet and Clock. — A<>, 515 (Rotterdam). — The
mahogany and inlaid cabinet with tambour door i, Sheraton,
and, so far as one can judge from the photograph, its value is
from 12 to 15 guineas. The old English bracket clock, by
Clay, of London, is worth from 18 to 20 guineas. Clay was
working in London about 1770.
Autograph Letter. — A6,Si5 (Christchurch. N.Z.). —
Nelson's letters are now fetching very high prices, and it is
impossible to say what such a good letter of hi- would obtain
just now. Letters written with the right hand are more valu-
able than those with the left hand. Unfortunately the lettei
from which the photograph is taken is only a copy of a fine
letter. The writing bears no resemblance to Nelson's, and as
Nelson lost his right' arm in 179!), and this letter is dated 1S05,
and written with the right hand, it cannot be Nelson's writing.
L3I
HE CONNOISSEVR.
GENEALOGICAL AND
LDIC DEPARTMENT
CHANCERY PROCEEDINGS.
As we pointed out in our article dealing with
this subject in the May, 19 12, number of The Con-
noisseur, Chancery proceedings were by no means
confined to the rich ; in fact, as often as not some poor
person would file a bill in Chancery making charges
against someone more fortunate than himself, in hopes
that the latter might be frightened into paying him a
sum of money. In searching these records one will
often find a plaintiff described as a labourer, or some
other occupation of the same standard, which in itself
shows that the use of this court was not confined to
the privileged classes.
The pedigree printed on this page gives another
very good example of what may be obtained from
these suits.
We may here mention, in case it should interest
other readers, that we propose to make another search
of defendants to Chancery suits, as set forth in the
May, 191 2, number, and we shall be very glad to hear
from others interested.
Arms on Pewter Dish. — We can find no English family
entitled to the arms as represented on your dish; from the
general appearance we are rather inclined to think that it is
purely an imaginative representation.
Murden of London. — One Joseph Murden, of London,
made a large fortune, amounting to about ^40, 000, as a
merchant, and, as was very often the case in the eighteenth
century, after his death numerous bills were filed in the Court
of Chancery in connection with his estate. The pedigree printed
below was extracted from one of these suits, dated 23rd October,
173S. (Sewell, 1714-58, Bundle 129, No. 2.) A further search
in connection with this family would be interesting.
I
.... Murden
Joseph Murden, of London,
I 1. Will dated 23 July,
172S ; died in June, 1729.
1
\\ illiam Murden, executor to
his nephew Joseph, whom
he predeceased.
Robert Murden, executor to
his nephew Joseph.
I
Robert Murden.
Will dated 15
June, 1736; died
S Oct. following.
Sarah
William Home,
of Chertsey, co.
Survey, Gent.
I I
\\ illiam Murden.
John Murden.
Christopher Brooks,
first husband.
Mary = William Thompson,
of Nicholas Lane,
London, mariner.
1
dementia = Samuel Tunstall.
I
Martha, =
m. 1736;
died 23
April,
173S-
James Holworthy.
I
Clement ia.
Elizabeth.
Queries.
HARPER. — Can any reader supply the connecting link between
the families of Sir John Harper of Swarkeston, co. Derby, and
Nicolas Harper, vicar of Berryn-Arbor and Combemartin, co.
Devon, about 1580?
According 10 the Herald's Visitation of Devon, Nicolas
Harper was a younger son or brother of Sir John ; but the
History of (he Harpers of Swarkeston does not mention
Nicolas.
HaWKES Family. — Any reference to this family, of co. Cork,
Ireland, will be very gratefully received.
(Several queries relating to arms we are holding over until
the next number).
132
L 'INDISCRETION
AFTER LAVREINCE
BY JANINET
IP?!)
March, 1913.
Mr. Fritz Reiss's Mezzotint Portraits
By C. Reginald Grundy
Part III.
To adequately describe a collection like that
of Mr. Fritz Reiss's would entail an extended survey ol
the whole field of British mezzotint portraiture — a de-
lightful task in itself, but one unfortunately debarred
to me, for much
of the ground
has already been
covered by pre-
vious writers in
The Connois-
seur, most of
the plates which
constitute Mr.
Reiss's chief
treasures hav-
ing been already
i Uustrated.
Hence at the
beginning of my
final article I
feel myself bur-
dened with the
consciousnes s
that in the de-
sire to avoid
subjects already
treated my ac-
count of the col-
lection has done
it but scanty
justice, and I
have omitted as
much that is
worthy of men-
tion as what I
have recorded.
I will begin
with a brief men-
tion of some of
LADY ACLAND AND CHILDREN
BY SAMUEL COUSINS, AFTER SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE
these omissions. There is William Doughty, the pupil
of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who, if he derived little
benefit in painting from his master's teaching, at least
imbibed enough of his feeling to produce that sentient
mezzotint of
his, Dr. John-
son, now one of
the most sought
after of men's
portraits, which
is here in com-
pany w i t h his
fine Admiral
Keppel. < lains-
borough D u -
pont is repre-
sented with the
QueenC harlotie,
after his uncle,
Richard Earlom
by about a score
of characteristic
examples, while
J. Jacobe, G.
Marchi, G.Spils-
bury, Charles
Spoons r, a n d
Caroline Wat-
son are all
shown in choice
exam ]iles. Of
Johnjonesthere
are some of his
most attractive
plates after Rey-
nolds and Rom-
n e y , and of
James Walker
his beautiful
Vol. XXXV.— No. 139.— i 135
{Copyright by J. T. Herbert Baily in the United States of America, May. 1901]
The Connoisseur
THE LITTLE COTTAGER
BY CHARLES TURNER, AFTER THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH
Miss Frances Woodley and Lady Isabella Hamilton,
and the portrait of Robert Burns. But in writing of
Walker I am introducing a mezzotinter who flourished
well on into the nineteenth century, and there are
many earlier engravers of whom I have still to write ;
first, however, mentioning Walker's contemporary,
Henry Meyer, equally distinguished for his stipple-
work as for his mezzotint, who is illustrated with his
charming Boy with Kitten, after W. Owen, perhaps
not the most valuable of his several examples in the
collection, but one of the least generally known.
When the nineteenth century opened mezzotint was
still at its zenith, though mezzotinters were financially
in low water. Valentine Green was drifting into
bankruptcy ; John Raphael Smith, though still en-
graving, was reducing his staffof assistants preparatory
to his retirement into the country ; and two of the
most capable of those assistants, now working on
their own, were finding that independence brought
with it much unprofitable labour and little increase of
affluence. These two were the brothers William and
lames Ward. In Mr. Fritz Reiss's collection William
Ward is hardly seen at his best ; his brother, on the
other hand, is finely represented in all the phases of
Mr. Fritz Reiss's Mezzotint Portraits
INTERIOR OF A COTTAGE
BY CHARLES TURNER, AFTER THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH
his mezzotint art. My own sympathies somewhat
coincide with this arrangement, for I hold the younger
man the better of the two, and shrewdly suspect that
William was far more deeply indebted to him than is
generally supposed. In urging this view I have twice
incurred the courteous censure of Mr. Malcolm C.
Salaman, first in his delightful book on Old English
Mezzotints, and later in the new edition of Mr.
Whitman's Print Collector's Handbook, the utility of
which he has doubled by the large amount of addi-
tional information he has incorporated. My offence
is that I claimed for James Ward, on his own
authority, the plates of The Travellers and The
Cottagers, and some of the delightful renderings of
'37
The Connoisseur
A VISIT TO THE GRANDFATHER BY I
child-life after Morland engraved about the same
period. I cheerfully bow to Mr. Salaman's authority
as a print expert, hut this is less a matter of expertism
than of evidence. The testimony in favour of the
claims of James Ward is set forth in my Life of that
artist, and in an article of mine which appeared in
The Connoissfair for July, 1909. Mr. Salaman
DAYES, AFTER J. R. SMITH
combats this with the statements that James being
vaiii and his brother generous, the latter allowed the
claim to pass unchallenged, his reputation standing
so high that he could afford to let his imprint on the
disputed plates speak for itself. Further, he com-
pares me with "people who will not allow . . .
Shakespeare to have written his own plays." Now
138
Mr. Fritz Reiss s Mezzotint Portraits
THE FAIR NUN UNMASK D
BY JAMES WILSON, AFTER HENRY NORLAND
Mr. Salaman's position, as I understand it, is some-
what analogous to those critics — if any now exist —
who accept Shakespeare as the author of those various
apocryphal plays like "Sir John Oldcastle " and the
" London Prodigal," simply because the poet's name
is printed on the title-page as author. Imprints
cannot be accepted as a decisive authority. James
Ward's original plate of the Fern Burners bears the
legend that it is by J. R. Smith, after Morland ; his
Lord Ashburion, etc., in the early states, is said to be
after Lawrence instead of Reynolds ; while the late
Alfred Whitman did not hesitate to transfer eighty-six
plates, inscribed as the work of S. W. Reynolds, to
Cousins, on the latter's unsupported statement. As
to Mr. Salaman's other contentions, James Ward's
vanity may be acknowledged. But it was not the kind
of vanity to lead him to claim another man's work, nor
did he need to borrow from his brother's reputation :
139
The Connoisseur
his own, n hen he
made th claim,
was far th
et ol the i « o.
Thiswasin 1807 ;
he had then "put
aside the scraper
1 1 ide\ otehimsell
almost entirely to
the brush," and
w.is merely look-
ing back with
urablepride
on his past
achievements.
M r. Sal a 111 an
— possibly
through a print-
e r ' s error —
makes the date
of this abnega-
tion later by ten
years. The point
is an important
one. If the writer
is under the im-
pression that the
engraving of
James Ward's
sixty or seventy
mezzotints was
spread over a con-
tinuous period of
twenty-live years,
he may be for
thinking that at the beginning of the time his art was
still immature, and regarding him as then being under
his brother's tutelage. Take away ten years from the
time, of which at least half was devoted to painting,
and one sees that, even from the beginning, he must
have been a proficient and rapid worker. One suspects
that he owed far more of his craftsmanship to J. K.
Smith than to his brother, and that the conduct of
the latter hardly bears out Mr. Salaman's tribute to
his generosity. James had been working for Smith
over twelve months when William took him over as
apprentice. The elder brother, nevertheless, exacted
from the younger a year's extra service as payment for
his tuition, which he was careless in giving, leaving
him alone in his lodgings for weeks at a time. In
1786, by which time James had been learning his
craft for four years, J. R. Smith discovered his abilities
and utilized him as an assistant along with William.
Exceptionally quick at learning — he taught himself
THE OYSTER WOMAN
paint 1 ng 111 six
months lie de-
clares that In' was
a finished crafts-
man in 1 788;
bet we 1 11 then
and 1 792 all his
work, with the ex-
ception of what
he did lor J. K.
Smith, was pub-
lished under his
brother's signa-
ture. Is it un-
reasonable to
believe thatsonie
of these plates
were practically
the production of
theyoungerman?
James's after
career supports
the inference.
Directly he had
finished his ap-
prenticeship,
S i m p s o 11 , t h e
publisher, gave
him com m is-
sions for similar
subjects, his own
Rocking Horse
and Rustic Feli-
city, which show
in the technique
of the engraving as finished craftsmanship as any of
the disputed plates. Two years later — in 1794 — he
was appointed mezzotinter to the Prince of Wales ;
his brother had to wait until 18 13 for the same dis-
tinction. Before the end of the century he had ousted
William from his position of principal engraver to
Hoppner, and had the pick of that artist's woiks.
Hoppner ranked him as the greatest mezzotinter of
the day, and promised to secure his election as
Associate Engraver to the Royal Academy if he would
consent to put up for election. James declined, as it
would debar him from becoming a full Academician,
engravers not being eligible for the higher distinction.
At about this time William was soliciting from his
brother a junior partnership in the publishing firm
which the younger brother had started : he himself
was not destined to be elected an A.R.A. until 1813,
when he secured that distinction largely, one would
suppose, through the younger brother's influence, to
BV P. DAWE, AFTER HENRY MORLAND
I40
Mr. Fritz Reisss Mezzotint Portraits
MOSS. MASSON,
THE TENNIS PLAYER
whom in the meanwhile had been accorded the task
of supporting the widowed mother of the two men.
I am not recording these facts to depreciate William
Ward's abilities, but only to show that Mr. Sala-
man's picture of him in 1807, as a generous elder
brother benevolently extending the regis of his high
reputation over a less distinguished aspirant for
fame, is — to say the least of it — not in entire
accordance with the actual state of affairs.
BY ROBERT BROOKSHAW, AFTER J. H. MORTIMER
Mr. Reiss's collection contains eight or nine ex-
amples of James Ward, which in point of period cover
practically the whole of his career. The most valuable
of these is a magnificent impression of the rare plate,
Mrs. Michael Angelo Taylor as "Miranda" the only
copy I know possessed of a margin. This work
was never published, but two states of it are known
to exist, for on Lord Cheylesmore's copy, now in
the British Museum, the late Mr. Alfred Whitman
141
The Connoisseur
discovered part
of a sera
ins. i ipi ion, the
major portion of
which had
cut away, which
set forth that the
plate was " En-
graved b y J .
of my / it e o
II a i d will re-
in e in be r that,
owing to some
misundersl and-
ing, the copper
was taken from
him and an at-
tempt m ade to
induce another
engraver to make
some "whimsi-
cal alterations"
which would
have spoilt the
plate. One may
suppose that this
quarrel is the
cause of practi-
cally all the few-
known i in pres-
sions from t he-
plate being bereft
of their margins, the mutilation being effected to re-
move the name of the offending engraver. Mr. Reiss's
proof has escaped as being before the inscription ;
it is not unlikely that it is the identical copy
which Ward had in his house at Newman Street.
From the engraver's descendants came the portrait
of Wright of Derby, after himself; the interesting
engraver's proof of Lord Ashburton, Lord Shelburne,
and Lord Barre, and the line first state of the
Centurion Cornelius, taken from Rembrandt's picture
in the Wallace Collection, now known as the Un-
merciful Servant. The plate was a commission from
Michael Bryan, who owned the picture, and was
always regarded by Ward as his finest work, though
the criterion of the sale-room does not endorse his
predilection. More to modern taste is his earlier
production, variously inscribed as Sunset: A View in
Leicestershire, or A Boy employed in burning the weeds,
according to whether the publication date is 1773 or
1779. Mr. Reiss's copy has the earlier date, but is
in the rare state before any title. Another interesting
WRIGHT OF DERJ3Y
plate is lames
Ward's own por-
trait, a work
which I was in-
duced, on the
strength of family
tradition, to cata-
logue as being
after John Jack-
son,R. A., Ward's
son-in-law. Since
then, however,
I have seen a
pencil drawing
by Ward himself,
apparently the
original study
for the portrait,
which rather
induces me to
adopt the more
generally accept-
ed theory that
the engraving is
an original work
by Ward. It was
probably execu-
ted about 1820,
a period when
the failure of his
Waterloo picture
induced the
artist — with little
pecuniary success, however — to try and secure com-
missions for painting portraits and subsequently
mezzotinting them. This and the Dr. Busfield were
his last plates.
Mr. Reiss has generally limited his collection to
portraits, a choice which eliminates all William Ward's
delightful reproductions after Morland from its scope.
But this accomplished craftsman is shown in some of
his works, among which are an interesting engraver's
proof of Miss Bowles, after Reynolds ; the same artist's
Fortune Teller m\& Earl of Carlisle, and a choice proof
of Henry Beaufoy, after Gainsborough.
A worthy though younger rival of the brothers Ward
was Charles Turner, who, born in 1773, missed con-
tact with the earlier generation of the great eighteenth-
century portrait painters ; nevertheless, some of his
finest plates are executed from their work, among
which must be ranked The Little Cottager and Lnterior
of a Cottage, after Gainsborough, and his reproduc-
tion of the charming Miss Bowles of Reynolds.
Illustrations of the two former are reproduced, but
BY JAMES WARD, AFTER WRIGHT OF DERBY
H2
Mr. Fritz Reiss s Mezzotint Portraits
the latter must
be omitted, as
the subject has
already appeared
inTHE Connois-
seur ; for the
same reason one
cannot include a
plate of the en-
graver's magnifi-
cent rendering of
Raeburn's Lord
Newton. This
plate is one of
the finest trans-
lation s, repro-
ducing the
breadth and
strength of the
original with
great power.
Less attractive
from the artistic
standpoint is the
same engraver's
rendering of
Napoleon on
board the Belle ro-
phon, after that
formerly over-
rated painter, Sir
Charles Eastlake. The work, however, commands a
unique interest as being, perhaps, the most faithful
likeness of the emperor we possess ; the great French-
man being accustomed to have himself painted, not
as he was, but as he wished to appear. Mr. Reiss has
also an early impression of that charming plate, The
Masters Arbiitluwt, after Lawrence. Turner's great
contemporary, S. W. Reynolds, is less strongly repre-
sented, though some of his animal subjects, after
Northcote, and his interpretation of one of Sir Joshua's
autograph portraits, are fine pieces of scraping. Until
comparatively recently the reputation of Reynolds was
overshadowed by that of his well-known pupil, Samuel
Cousins, whose later work — brilliant, but hard and
superficial — commanded popular admiration. In this
he reinforced mezzotint with stipple line and etching,
a combination which our present-day taste regards as
illegitimate, and now it is only in his earlier works —
those executed in practically pure mezzotint — that he
is greatly sought after by collectors. His first im-
portant plates, after he parted company with S. W.
Reynolds, were Lady Acland and Children and Master
Lamoton, both after Lawrence, and both engraved in
THE SHEPHERDESS
BV J.
1826 ; these, with
La Surprise,
a f t e r Dub uffe,
engraved in the
following year,
mark the high-
water mark of his
achievement. Of
the first - named
Mr. Reiss pos-
sesses two choice
impressions, one
being in the
rare state before
the border was
added, while
early proofs of
the two other
plates, together
with a score or
two of examples
of the best of the
engraver's sub-
sequent works,
are included in
the collection.
Cousins had
natural abilities,
probably not ex-
ceeded by those
GROZER, AFTER R. WESTALL, R.A. Q jr any 0f his
predecessors, but his talents were used to debase
mezzotint, by the introduction of alien methods, into
that hybrid form now generally styled Cousins's mezzo-
tint, which is not mezzotint, line, or stipple, but a
combination of all three. Its advantage was that it
permitted the substitution of steel plates for copper,
and so ensured a far larger number of impressions
than could be struck from the softer metal. Cousins's
genius contributed largely to the popularity of the
method, and he attained in it a meretricious brilliancy
which partly compensated for the lack of depth and
refinement. He should not be too severely blamed,
however, for his innovation ; his patrons demanded
it. Had he only practised the legitimate method, he
would probably have died in a workhouse, as did
David Lucas, his fellow-pupil under S. W. Reynolds.
In pursuing the careers of Reynolds and his pupils
one has neglected to notice the work of some of his
contemporaries and predecessors, seen to advantage
in the collection. One of the earliest of these is
Philip Dawe, not to be confused with his son George,
who, like him, was both a painter and engraver, and
also a close friend of the Morland family. Philip is
142
The Connoisseur
said i" have been a connection of Henry Morland,
and some ol his best plates were executed -after the
latter. \.mong those belonging to Mr. Reiss are
unlettered proofs of Th Oyster Woman and The
Laundry Maid, Another subject after the elder Mor-
land is The Fair Nun Unmask'd, by that Little known
engraver, lames Wilson. The plate was published
by Robert Saver. Inn the omnivorous John and
fosiah Boydell appear to have secured it, and in
their catalogue of 1S03 impressions are priced at
2s. 6d. each. Wilson was an extensive copyist of
other men's plates, but this fact was probably less
owing to bis want of talent— for in his Fair Nun he
shows craftsmanship of no mean order— than to a
lack of capital, for it must be remembered that during
the eighteenth century— the earlier part especially
the most nccessful engravers had to publish their
own works toa large extent, and so were able to avoid
falling into the hands of the hack publishers. Another
engraver who appears to have been somewhat simi-
larly circumstanced was Robert Brookshaw, whose
plate ol Monsieur Masson," The Tennis Player" 'after
1. II. Mortimer, is a brilliant piece ol scraping. In
man} cases these engravers, whom we now loosely
class as minor, suffer from their plates — worked to
death by the publishers— being represented by worn
impressions; and it is only in collections like Mr.
Reiss's, where nothing is admitted that is not in pris-
tine condition, that one gets a fair idea ol their hand]
work. Of Joseph Grozer practically the only record
is to be found on the publication lines of his plates,
which show that he must have begun practising his art
a little earlier than J. R. Smith, and continued working
until practically the close of the eighteenth century.
Mr. Reiss possesses his Miss Frances Harris and
Lady Dungannon, after Reynolds, and Romney's Lady
Charlotte Legge, all prints that have made their mark
in the auction room. Less hackneyed and equally
characteristic is his broadly treated rendering of West-
all's Shepherdess, which has accordingly been selected
for illustration. Another attractive print which does
not come under the heading of mezzotint portraiture
is A Visit to the Grandfather, after J. R. Smith, who
was equally facile with the brush as with the scraper.
BOY WITH KITTEN
BY HENRY MEYER. AFTER W. OWEN
144
•;
m
EARLY PORTRAIT OF QUEEN VICTORIA
FROM A MINIATURE
Forrer's "Dictionary of Medallists" Vol. V.
(Reviewed)
The new volume (vol. v., R-S) of Forrer's Dictionary
of Medallists, now before us, offers humiliating evidence
of the immense superiority of the Fifteenth and Six-
teenth century medallists to the modern exponents of
the art. Of course there are exceptions. The best work
of Roty, for example, which gets sympathetic and ample
notice in the present volume, not only lifts him into the
front rank of contemporary medallists, but would hold
its own even in comparison with most of the Quattro-
cento Italians, though lacking the spiritual charm of
the supreme masters. The only modern for whom even
this saving clause would not be necessary is our great
countryman, Alfred Stevens, whose name, singularly
enough, finds no place at all in the volume. The omis-
sion is remarkable, and much to be regretted. Stevens
is surely the fore-
most English
sculptor of mod-
ern times — per-
il a p s of any
period — and his
medallic work,
though rare, is at
once the envy
and admiration of
his artist corn-
temporaries. A
wax model, for
the reverse of the
National medal
for the Depart-
ment of Science
and Art, is one of
the most valued
treasures of the
South Kensington
Museum, where
also is deposited
the plaster cast of
his beautiful de-
sign for the Local
medal of the
sameDepartment.
The roundels, in Viennese laundry-maid
his equally fine coloured design tor a majolica plate,
exhibit all the essential characters of the art, though
they do not, of course, come under that category.
Doubtless, Mr. Forrer will supply the omission in a
future edition, and introduce us, both by text and illus-
tration, to other examples of the master.
We have spoken of the early Italians, and the fact that
Riccio, Spinelli, Sperandio, Sansovino, and Romano are
all included in the volume gives it an importance all its
own. The St. Jerome of Riccio, an oblong bronze plaque
in the Dreyfus collection, is an admirable production.
The figure of the old scholar-saint is a pathetic blend-
ing of asceticism, intellectuality, and spiritual fervour,
and the accessories of the composition are beautifully
balanced. A larger plaque in the same collection, The
Entombment of
Christ, is marked
by strong cha-
racterisation,easy
grouping, natural
and spirited
movement, and
carefully studied
detail. The por-
trait model of
himself, believed
to be from his
own hand, pre-
sents to us a
powerful — almost
negroid head,
covered with a
mass of close-
cropped curly
hair.
The illustra-
_,, tions to the article
on Sperandio of
BY ANTON SCHAKFF
: Biograp n al
D i c t i o n a ry of
M. (a llists, by L.
I -■!. Spink &
Son, Ltd. 30s.
per vol.
M7
The Connoisseur
JOAN 0] VRC
BY L. O. ROTY
Mantua [1425— (?)
1495] show this artist
at his best and worst.
His 111 oil al lion ol
Federigo Montefet
tro is a poor thing,
hardly better than a
tradesman's token ;
but the bust oi Count
Grati is full ol
nobility, and marked
withal by a simple
strength of treat-
ment which leaves
was Jacopo San ■<>
vino (1486-1570), Of
whom, however, Mr.
Konvv tells us little.
Sansovino's best
work h's, indeed, in
the more important
fields of sculpture
and architect tire ;
though his plaquet
Us, as might be
expected, arc in the
first rank. Beautiful
beyond expression
JOAN Ol' AUC
BY L. O. ROTY
nothing to be desired.
Mr. G. F. Hill finds
Sperandio "preten-
tious and vulgar" in
many of his pieces,
and complains of his
work as careless,
-not only in sheer
erroneous drawing,
but also in roughness
of execution." Spinelli
belongs to the same
period as Sperandio,
and, in spite of a lack
of imagination and
certain deficiencies in
technique of draughts-
manship, is regarded
by Bode_as worthy to
raru-Tas a portrait-
modeller beside Anto-
nio Pisano. Spinelli
was a prolific artist,
who sought much of
his inspiration in the
antique, from whence,
also, the designs for
\'X
^
\
\n'Nr^v
"i
*s
MRS. HUNTINGTON
CAMILLA RUGERI
BY G. A. SIGNORETTI
<b
'<>
\
vW-\Xi
I f-G
'V v.
the reverses of many of his medals were taken. Some
of his portraits (there are upwards of twenty reproduced
in Mr. Forrer's
volume) are
extremely fine,
not the least
pleasing being
the bust of
Nonina Strozzi,
the study of
which might
have give n
their inspira- .
tion to the Pre-
Raphaelite
Brotherhood.
A later and
a greater artist
BY T. SPICER-SIMSON
Last of
the names
above
cited is
Romano,
pe rhaps
the great-
est ot the
group.
There is
a subtle
beauty
and a ten-
derness of
sentiment
in his ma-
ture work
which is
is the high relief which
has been chosen for
illustration, a plaque
of the Ascension,
which shows the
Christ surrounded by
winged Innocents —
charming little figures,
one of whom is pre-
senting to the Saviour
the cup which He
was to " drink in His
Father's kingdom."
Sansovino was the
architect of the
Library of St. Mark
and of the Palace Cor-
naro at Venice, and his
eminence in his own
day may be gathered
from the story that,
on the imposition ot
a certain tax, he and
Titian were the only
persons to whom the
Venetian state granted
exemption.
NONINA STROZZI
BY N1CCOLO DI FORZORE SPINELLI
I48
Forrer s "Dictionary of Medallists"
< ° v
SIR RICHARD SHELLEY, 1 577
nowhere else to be found in
the medallic art of the time.
His women are etherealised,
and his men are gentle-
men in the true and primal
meaning of the word.' The
Lucrezia Borgia, with wings
appended, would make an ex-
cellent model for the Angel of
Peace; and the Julian II. —
the " Papa terribile " of history
— is a genial monk carrying a
Fort una tus's purse of good
sentiments under his brown
cassock. How delicately
finished, how dainty, how full
of childish grace and inno-
cence is the reverse of the
Borgia medal, a bound and
blindfolded cupid under a
laurel-tree ! There is more
BY BERNARD RANTWIC
medallions, yet his best work
is only mediocre. We could
have dispensed with half of
the illustrations could their
place have been supplied by
examples of the work — say of
the Sesto family, or of San-
quirico, of whose portrait
medallions Mr. Forrer speaks
in high praise ; or, again, of
Giorgio Rancetti, who seems
have been more at home
in his portraits than in the
designs for the reverses of his
medals. Rancettrs bust of
Clement VIII., which forms
the obverse of the Civita-
Vecchia medal, has sterling
merit. A larger number of
examples of Ruspagiari's
work would also have been
ENGELKEN TOLS
BY STEPHENS OF HOLLAND
NAVAL REWARD, 1653
BY THOMAS SIMON
than mere sweetness
in this charming
design. Underlying
all is the strength of
a great artist, and a
tenderness only to be
found in strong and
noble natures.
Francesco da
Sang alio, a some-
what later man than
Romano, is also fully
dealt with in the
volume, and there
are ten good
illustrations of his
acceptable. His por-
trait medallions of
himself, and an ex-
tremely fine bust
medallion of a lady,
whet our appetite for
more.
The other medal-
lists of the Renais-
sance, not Italian,
dealt with in the
volume, are numer-
ous, and probably
Mr. Forrer has cap-
tured almost every
name that has come
NAVAL REWARD, 1653
BY THOMAS SIMON
149
The Connoisseur
down to iiv Hans
Schwai i !, the Augs
. receives
full and worthy ti
, and block ol
some of his m osl
famous works havi
been pi essed into the
ol the text.
i \{ these, the Hans
Burckm'ayr pleases
us most, though the
Pentinger medal is
full of character and
tine drawing. Then
there is Bernard
Rantwic, also a < ler
man, but whose chief
was done in
London. Among bis
productions is a
charming portrait
medal 1 ion of Sir
Richard Shelley,
an ancestor of the
famous poet, a
specimen of which
fetched £28 5s. od.
in the Murdoch sale
produced the Berlin
the Mecklenburger,
exponents of their art
Rapusch's medal of
John Georgeof Bran-
denburg and Con-
sort, but, we think,
without sufficient
reason. Probably he
is speaking from a
knowledge of the
medal itself, while
our o w n more fa-
vour a b 1 e view is
based upon the illus-
tration, which may
do it more than
justice. Of Reimer
he has a higher
opinion, which we
heart i ly endorse.
None but a very ac-
complished medallist
could have produced
the striking portrait
medal of Albert of
Bavaria (p. 75), nor
the jewelled medal-
lie badge, with its
s t e r n - f a c e d bust
of (?) the Emperor
PORTRAIT MEDAL OF PAOLO GIOVIO
BY FRANCESCO DA SANGALLO (OBVERSE)
The same country and period
medallist, Heinrich Rapusch, and
Hans Reimer, both distinguished
Mr. Forrer speaks slightingly of
REVERSE OF ABOVE MEDAL
Rudolf 1 1., depicted
on page 74.
Switzerland at this
period gave to the
art - wo rid Hans
Stain pier, of whom
his countrymen are
justly proud. His
portrait medal of
Wilhelm Froehlich
is magnificent, and
we are glad to meet
with a good print of
it in M r. For rer's
volume. How splen-
did, too, in design
are both the obverse
and reverse of the
Swiss States medal
presented to Henry
II. on the christening
ot Princess Claudia
(1547) ! In richness,
in balance, in beauty
of modelling and line,
and withal in sim-
plicity of treatment
— could anything be
better or more satisfying? Stampfer was also an excel-
lent coin-engraver. His designs of Swiss thalers, half
and double thalers, etc., are unexcelled, and have
been largely imitated by coin engravers of later times.
Coming nearer
home, the name of
David Ram age
meets us early in the
volume. Ram age
was of Scottish
origin, and was
" farthing maker in
the Tower" in Crom-
well's time. M r.
Forrer is inclined to
follow Henfrey in
attributing to this
moneyer the farthing
which bears the in-
scription "Thus
united invincible" on
the obverse, and
"God direct our
corse " on the re-
verse. Ram age
passed through many
vicissitudes of for-
tune, and died in
1662. His contem-
porary, Tho m a s
Rawlins, almost rubs
shoulders in the same
15°
Forrer's "Dictionary of Medallists"
volume. "An excellent
artist but debash'd fel-
low," Evelyn calls him.
Rawlins was an ardent
Royalist, and designed
the famous" Juxon med-
al," an unique pattern for
a five-broad piece which
was supposed to have
been given by Chailes
on the scaffold to Bishop
[uxon as a mark of
appreciation and attach-
ment. It was bought at
the Montague sale for
,£770 by Messrs. Spink
& Son, the enterprising
publishers of the work
under review, and has
now found a permanent
home in the British
Museum. Rawlins was
a dramatist as well as
Walpole said that he
was supposed to be in
love with the queen,
whom he attended on
her visit to Louis XIII.
On this occasion his odd
appearance led to his
arrest as a suspicious
person while he was
trying to model the king
from the gallery of the
Royal Chapel. His in-
dependence of character
is illustrated in the story
of his wax medallion of
the Duke of York, which
the sensitive artist de-
liberately destroyed in
his patron's presence
because the duke wished
to pay him less for the
medallion than the
king had paid him for
portrait medallion of
lucrezia borgia
by g. romano
(enlarged)
a simi-
lar one.
m oneyer,
and, like
most dra-
matists of his
time, was
often in
de s perate
straits. In
1657 he was
i mpr isoned
Abraham
Simon's
portrait
medal-
lions re-
flect in a
r e m a r k-
able way
LOUISE DE ijUIROUAILLE
DUCHESS OF PORTSMOUTH
BY J. ROF.TTIERS
for debt in "the Hole in St.
Martin," a low sponging house,
from whence he made a pathetic
appeal for help to John Evelyn,
the amiable diarist and author of
Sylvia.
More interesting in every way
than Ramage and Rawlins are the
brothers Abraham and Thomas
Simon. Both men were accom-
plished medallists. Abraham, the
elder, "was a little man, ' of a
primitive philosophic aspect,' and
always wore his hair and beard
long. His eccentric dress excited
derision in the street, but he
was an excellent artist." Horace
PORTRAIT OF JOSEPH ROETTIERS
'5i
DELLA ROBBIA S BUST OF
SAVONAROLA
what one might call the tempera-
mental conditions of the time.
They are like the pen-portraits in
Walton's Lives, and suggest an
altogether Pepysian faithfulness.
Thomas Simon, the younger and
better known of the two brothers,
holds a very high — perhaps the
highest— place in English medallic
art. His Dunbar and Lord Pro-
tector medals, with their fine por-
traits of Cromwell ; his Petition
Crown, with its equally fine portrait
of Charles II. ; and numerous
other works, establish beyond con-
troversy his right to this position.
The Petition Crown is probably his
The Connoisseur
THE ASCENSION
HIGH RELIEF BY JACOPO SANSOVINO
masterpiece, and was produced, says the writer in the
Dictionary of National Biography, "as a sample of his
abilities." The petition is engraved in minute letters
round the edge, and runs thus: "Thomas Simon most
humbly prays your Majesty to compare this, his tryall
piece, with the Dutch [i.e., John Roettiers' crown], and if
more truly drawn & embossed, more gracefully order'd,
and more accurately engraven, to relieve him." The
poor man does not seem to have been heard in his
petition, and John Roettiers, whose father had lent
money to Charles during his exile, and been promised
employment for his sons, was granted letters patent
appointing him engraver (or one of the engravers) at the
Mint. His two brothers were pushed into similar posts.
The nationality of yet another Roettiers (the family
seems to have been as numerous as the "sisters, aunts,
and cousins" in a famous opera) is certainly^puzzling.
We refer to James Roettiers II., who, though born in
Bromley, Kent, and a son of James Roettiers I., also
of British nationality, is described as Flemish !
This, however, as indeed the few other blemishes that
we have pointed out, are small matters ; and the wonder
is that, in a work of so much labour and research,
mistakes are not more numerous. In every compilation
errors are inevitable, and a spirit of censoriousness would
be manifestly out of place. The duty for a reviewer is
to recognise the good and solid work and the infinite
pains by which such excellent results have been attained.
This we cheerfully do, and at the same time heartily
congratulate Mr. Forrer that he has at last entered
upon the concluding volume of his arduous, long, and
eminently useful work.
i5z
Poirelai
Floral Painting on Porcelain : English School By W. Turner
To deal with British ceramic decoration as a
whole would be an immense task ; there is such a
variety of modes, from the sprawling slipware of the
early potters to the pate sur pate of Solon. There
are the applied ornaments of Elers and the fine under-
cut figures of the Wedgwood period. There are the
raised flowers of Chelsea, Coalport, and others, the
Camaieu and conventional style of painting, and that
of the transfer-print. But all these modes and styles
of more or less artistic ceramic ornamentation will
be ignored in this attempt to define another form of
decoration, and that is the painting of flowers upon
English porcelain. The originality of the British
artist in ceramic work has been passed over too much,
as being inferior, until, perhaps, the last quarter of the
nineteenth century.
Therefore it is proposed to call attention to some
of its salient aspects to show that our men were not
mere imitators, but displayed initiative to a very large
degree. In doing so it will be my object to confine the
question to floral decoration on porcelain, excluding
figures, except where the latter may be accompanied
with flowers. Another point is to trace the develop-
ment of this school of colouring in four stages from
the first half of the eighteenth century to the present
time. It has often occurred to me for many years
past, that, roughly speaking, there were periods of
from forty to fifty years when an evolution, as it
were, took place in the English style of floral decora-
tion on porcelain. Of course, there was overlapping.
There always is when new inventions push out the
old, and the older art still keeps pottering on in
obscure corners.
No doubt, at our earlv English factories of Bow,
NO. I. CROWN DERBY JUG / IN.
FLORAL DECORATION, EARLY STYLE
NO. II. — CROWN DERBY MUG 7 IN.
FLORAL DECORATION, EARLY STYLE
!53
The Connoisseur
no. iii. — bristol cut and saucer
cup, ;
FLORAI
IN. HIGH ;
DECORATION, EARLY STYLE
SAUCER, 5 IN. DIAM.
TRURO MUSEUM
Chelsea, Derby, and Worcester, in the middle of the
eighteenth century, we see the influence of foreign
artists. French, German, Chinese, and Japanese were
imitated. It is conspicuous in the so-called Imari
(Japanese) style, so much patronized at Derby, and
also the more freehand mode in imitation of Kaki-
yemon, the potter-artist of Japan. Then there was
the underglaze blue hand-painting at Bow and Wor-
cester, which is clearly a close imitation of Nankin.
After these and perhaps, pari-passtt, we have the
raised flowers of Dresden imitated at Chelsea and
Derby, and the wreaths and academic little roses of
France largely adopted at Chelsea.
The English potter was then only feeling his way.
NO. IV. — DERBY PLAQUE
NATURALISTIC STYLE
ROSES BY BILLINGSLEY
CARDIFF MUSEUM
NO. V.
DERBY PLAQUE FLORAL DECORATION
NATURALISTIC STYLE
'54
Floral Painting on
Porcelain
He had not even got a
knowledge of true porce-
lain. He was ignorant
of the virtue that lay
in the china clay and
china stone of Cornwall.
Cookworthy had not
yet made his great dis-
covery, and the potters
of the English porcelain
factories were mixing
many different ingredi-
ents in order to imitate
the body of true porce-
lain, but only succeeded
in making an artificial
kind, which had much
of the brittle nature of
glass. So it was with
the decorations. Vet
it must be conceded,
under all the difficulties
of introducing a new
business to the country,
that our potters suc-
, , ■ , • NO. VI. — COALPORT PLAQUE
ceeded in choosing
appropriate examples to begin with. Little is known
of the artists. There were Frye and Craft at Bow,
and, it is said,
Donaldson
and O'Neil at
Chelsea. We
know, how-
ever, that they
distinguished
themselves at
Worcester.
Probably the
Rodney jug was
painted shortly
after Lord Rod-
ney's fa m o u s
victory of 12 th
April, 1782,
and perhaps
before the jubi-
lation which
followed the
victory had
subsided. It
is a fine speci-
m e n o t the
potter's and the
painter's art. No.
The floral design has
the trick characteristic
of the period, in the
water -colour school as
in ceramics — that of
leaving the high light
out from the ground,
without being touched
up by paint. It was
an important piece, as
shown by it bringing
112 guineas at the late
Mi. William Bemrose's
sale, where a smaller
copy, also painted by-
Withers, reached 60
guineas. A replica is
in the British Museum.
The original was made
for a benefit society at
Derby, principally sup-
ported by the ceramic
artists at the old factory
in Nottingham Road.
As it was produced in
naturalistic or derbv style 17S2, it might be termed
a Chelsea-Derby piece, and was a striking specimen
of the premier stage of British ceramic painting. As
an illustration
thereof see
Nos. i. and ii.
They are two
Crown Derby
pieces, evident-
ly decorated
by Edward
W it hers, for
they resemble
his mode of
painting as dis-
played on 1 he
Rodney jug.
Observe the
rose on each,
and how the
ground white
of the porcelain
is left to form
the high light.
There is also a
prevailing hard-
ness of outline
governing the
Y 11 -COALPORT PLATE, FLOWERS AND FRUIT NATURALISTIC, BUT FLAT, STYLE whde boUqUet.
The Connoisseur
\\ ithers left Derby, it is
supposed, during the eighth
decade of the eighteenth
century. He was recorded
in the poll-book there in
1 775, an d (1 i scovered at
Caughley in 1 795, accord-
ing to Llewellynn Jewitt.
The jugand mug are marked
with the old blue Crown
Derby crown and D under-
neath, but without the
crossed ami dotted batons,
fixing an early date. They
are in the collection of Mr.
Norman, of Cheltenham.
Another specimen of the
same style of decoration is
that of a Bristol cup and
saucer (No-, hi.). They are
of Champion's hard paste,
marked with the imitation
Dresden cross - swords.
Champion's factory lasted
from 1770 to 1777, there-
fore the time corresponds
with our first stage of floral
ceramic painting (from
about 1745 to 1785). Ob-
serve the treatment of the
rose, showing the ground
colour and the hard outlines
of the foliage and flowers.
Of course there was over-
lapping in this matter; there
always is where innovations
take place.
No. iv. is a fine example
of Billingsley's roses. It
is an undoubted plaque of
Derby porcelain. It was
painted by him and given
to his favourite pupil, George Hancock, in whose
family it came down. I traced and verified its history
many years ago.
No. v. is also a Derby porcelain plaque, decorated
after the second or naturalistic style. If not by
Billingsley, it is a close imitation of his style or
mannerism, and a fine illustration of the point I am
now endeavouring to enforce. The impression on my
mind is, that it is not by Billingsley. It lacks the
softness of his mode of treatment, but has evidently
been touched up and refired several times.
No. vi., a Coalport porcelain plaque, is in the
No. YI1I. — COALPORT
PERIOD AS NO. VII
possession of Sir Alfred
I [aslam, of Derby. It also
was thought by the owner
to be Billingsley's work. I
was doubtful, and my doubt
was confirmed by an old
gilder who knew the decor-
ator— a man called Horatio
Evans, who was an able
painter, but itinerated much
from factory to factory —
often at Derby and as often
at Coalport. There is little
doubt but that it was decor-
ated by Evans, who was
originally taught at 1 )erby.
It teaches the same idea of
having been painted by a
disciple and lover of the
new naturalistic school.
No. vii. is a Coalport
plate decorated by William
Cook, who joined the Coal-
port factory about the year
1836. He died in 1876. It
is very characteristic of his
mannerism, which he ac-
quired in London at Ack-
erman's, the colourman,
who simply wanted to ad-
vertise his paints. The style
is naturalistic and effective,
but cheaply turned out. It
has not that elaborate re-
touching and refiring of the
Derby school, and hence
was called by potters the
" flat " style. I was told by
an old gilderat Derby, many
years ago, that it was James
Rouse who introduced what
he (the gilder) called the
"flat" style. Rouse was employed at Derby, and
migrated to Coalport in 1823. He served there till
1865, and was mostly employed on crest and figure
painting. From what I have seen of his flower
painting at the Derby Art Gallery, it scarcely could
be called "flat," and might be said to be between
the two styles, with a peculiar severity of finish
quite his own. The credit of introducing the new
mode was due principally to Cook, who worked at
Coalport for about forty years. The plate illustrated
was in the possession of the Coalport firm at their
warehouse in King Street, Manchester, where it was
VASE, SAME STYLE AND
, BUT MORE FLORID
'56
'j0*.
11SS HART1NGTON
SY SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, P.R.A.
Floral Painting on Porcelain
NO. IX. — DOULTON VASE, MODERN
SCHOOL, GARDEN SCENE,
SHOWING ATMOSPHERIC EFFECT
identified as Cook's work.
One of the painters at Coal-
port was Arthur Bowdler —
trained under Cook. No. viii.
is a specimen of his work. I
have been in the house of the
artist's widow, and have seen
a number of specimens of
his art. He was a clever
decorator, but, of course, had
to paint to suit the orders of
the firm. The one under
notice is an example of what
he could do. It is naturalistic
in style and more florid than
Cook's work, but is not
finished by elaboration and
much retiring in the enamel
kiln to make it a cabinet
piece. The public taste must
NO. XI. — DOULTON VASE ' IN.
ROSE DECORATION, MODERN STYLE
MODERN
No. N. — WORCESTER VASE
SCHOOL, SHOWING CLOUDY EFFECT
159
Lie catered for, and if the
average citizen wants a "cot-
tage " specimen — cheap and
effective — such an order is
accomplished in the " flat "
style of ceramic naturalistic
decoration.
We come now to the fourth
stage, and which might be
called the triumphant one of
British ceramic art. No. ix.
is a splendid specimen of the
new school. I obtained the
photograph of it from the
collection of Mr. Nixon, of
Cheltenham. It is 34 inches
high, and produced at the
Doultonfactory, Staffordshire.
The figure subjects were
painted by Mr. Buttle, and
The Connoisseur
the flowers and atmos-
phere 1 \ Mr. K
Som ■ fourteen years
ago I became ac-
inted with this new
development oi cera-
mic art. Hut was at
1 1. rby. But, in order
to get at its initial
stage, 1 wrote to thi
An Director of Doul-
ton's. He replied thus :
"The style was first
produced at this fac-
tory, and was started
on the work for the
Paris Exhibition of
lSSo. As you are
aware, pottery painters
at all the classic fac-
tories worshipped the
god 'Stipple.' The
brush with the finest
NO XII —CHELSEA PLATE, EARLY OUTLINE STYLE
ANCHOR MARK TRURO MUSEUM
9 IN. DIAM.
point was the only one
used fOl finish. In this
impressionist style,
however, the ridmess,
the breadth, the atmos-
phere and colour, are
all obtained with the
broad. Hat wash. The
colours are all trans-
parent, and can only
lie obtained by con-
tinued re firing one
thin glaze over the
other." Thencwschool
has now spread itself
to all the other leading
factories.
In No. x. we have the
reproduction of the
same idea, only on a
cheaper scale. It is
a porcelain vase, six
inches high, produced
N'O. XIII .—TWO VASES. CHAMBERLAIN WORCESTER
160
FLORAL DECORATION IN NATURALISTIC STYLE
Floral Painting on Porcelain
XO. XIV. — COALPORT VASE 6j IN.
SNOW SCENE, MODERN STYLE
at the Hadley section of the Royal Porcelain Works
at Worcester. The decoration consists of lilac and
other flowers — an open-air study — surrounded with a
cloudy atmospheric effect. The result well illustrates
the advance made by the ceramic artist of our day.
No. xi. is a Doulton porcelain vase, having a fine,
thin gla/e, giving that peculiar cloudy effect as if
painted in the open air. This practically concludes
the illustrations of the four stages of our study.
There are, however, a few other photographs in my
possession which may further elucidate what has been
said.
No. xii. is illustrative of the first stage of our
present inquiry. The interlacing border scroll indi-
cates continental influence, but the festoons around
the central vase show the tendency to imitate the
Japanese. This is evident in the peculiar treatment
XO. XV. — WORCESTER VAS'E 24 IN.
CATTLE SCENE, MODERN STYLE
of trailing wreath, which has the flower buds or berries
painted in outline.
No. xiii. represents two vases from the collection of
Mr. Norman, Cheltenham. One has the address mark
of <•. 1S00, and the other that of 1820. They are
beautifully decorated after the style of our second or
naturalistic school, and show that even Worcester was
early following in the footsteps of 1 >erby.
No. xiv., which represents a Coalport vase, is not
strictly a floral decoration, except where trees, etc.,
are suggested, but it displays that indefinable effect of
open-air impression.
No. xv. illustrates how the modern ceramic artist
gets an atmospheric effect and points the "moral7'
which I am trying to enforce.
The subjects of Nos. x., xi., xiv., and xv. are in the
collection of Mr. Nixon, Cheltenham.
n. 1
S^TES
QUER/eJ
[The Editor invites the assistance of readers of The Connoisseur ivho may be able to impart the
information required by Correspondents. ,]
Unidentified Painting (25).
I (ear Sir, — I should be glad if any of your readers
could assist me in ascertaining the painter and subject
of the painting of which I enclose a photo.
Yours truly, A. li.
Unidentified Painting (26).
1 (ear Sir, — I am sending you a photo of a picture
supposed to be by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The size
is 1 1 .'. in. by 9 in. This oil painting is old and in
a good state.
I bought it
second-hand,
and should
Like to ex-
change it for
old furniture,
engravings in
colours, or any
old art pieces,
because I do
not collect
English pic-
tures. I can
send you this
picture for ex-
amination, and
a 111 almost
sure that this
work is not a
copy. If y ou
can make any
e x c ha n g e, I
shall be very
grateful to you,
and also glad it
you can give me
an approximate
value of this
work.
Yours faith-
fully,
Joseph d e
Werner. (25)
Unidentified Painting (27).
Dear Sir, — Could any reader give me any in-
formation regarding the picture of which I send
photograph ? Yours truly, Enquirer.
Unidentified Painting (28).
Dear Sir, — I enclose photograph for insertion in
the " Notes and Queries" page of your magazine.
The canvas of this painting measures 30^ inches
broad by 25^ inches deep. It was bought six years
ago at an auc-
tion sale, and
is said to be
by Domeni-
chino(Domeni-
co) Zampieri.
Can you or any
of your readers
confirm this?
I am anxious
to know what
the scene repre-
sents, and par-
ticularly what
the temple-like
structure is at
side of lake,
and also the
obelisk on left
hand.
Respectfully
yours,
Thomas
McLaren.
Unidentified
Painting (29).
Dear Sir, —
The little water-
colour of which
I enclose a
photograph
is, I believe, a
UNIDENTIFIED PAINTING
162
A V
&4
16:
J'/ic Connoisseur
copy ol a Reynolds. 1 should like to know ii this
case, where the picture is. and what ii is sup-
pos d i isent.
C. L. P.
I N1DENTIFIED PAINTING.
Sir,—] should like to know through your paper, if
. ii any reader knows ol a picture called The
1.' a Gt f, by Henry Bunbury, or prints of it in
stipple, in colours, by E. Scott, date about 1780. I
should be glad to trace it. I believe the three ladies
were sisters — three Miss Mitchells.
Yours truly, Rosamond S. Foster.
Unidentified Portrait (No. 19).
January, 1913.
Dear Sir,— I have an old engraving after same.
Size, 29 in. by 14J in. Ann Carache, Pinxt. Fr. de
Poilly, Sculp. The only difference, the figures on my
engraving are going the reverse way. All figures, etc.,
t xact.
Yours faithfully, T. P. Bell.
Unidentified Painting (No. 19).
January, 191 3.
Sir, — This is, of course, a copy. The original is
the fresco by Annibale Carracci, in the Farnese Palace
in Rome, and represents The Triumph of Ariadne.
Reproductions of it are to be found in nearly every
good book on art history, and in the collection of
photo.-- by Alinari. It may interest you to hear that
there is another copy, on a large scale (I think about
15 ft. large), in the staircase of that "unidentified"
country house (page 191, vol. xxiv., pages 55 and
112, vol. xxv., of The Connoisseur), which is the
"Pariljoen" in Haarlem, and built about 1800 by the
banker Hope.
I am, yours truly, K. Si.uyterman.
Unidentified Painting (No. 19).
January, 1913.
1 Iear Sir, — In reply to Mr. Otto Popper's enquiry,
I have pleasure in sending a photograph of a scarce
old etching bv " Petrus Aquila," after the celebrated
painting by " Annibal Carraccus " at Rome, inscribed
Annibal Carraccus pinx in Edibus Farnisianis, and
upon comparison it will be seen that this and Mr.
Popper's picture are almost identical.
"Petrus Aquila" (a monk) was not only a great
engraver and etcher, but also a painter of repute.
Yours faithfully, William H.Williams.
Unidentified Palniing (No. 20).
January, 1913.
Dear Sir, -Seeing this in your January number,
I at once recognised it as the same as one in my
possession, the only difference being that my man is
silting and the other standing. This painting (about
the same si/e) has been in my family for the last
hundred years, and the tradition was that it was Pope
Clement XI., painted by Carlo Maratti. But this
cannot be so, as the subject wears red robes, and is
therefore a Cardinal. 1 understand that there is a
portrait of Cardinal Cerri, by Maratti, in the National
Gallery, and it might be worth your correspondent's
while to go there and see if he can identify it with
his. 1 believe there is a picture of the same man in
Na/.areth House Convent, Hammersmith.
I am, yours faithfully, A. SoPPITT.
Unidentified Portrait (No. 20).
January, 19 13.
Dear Sir,— There is in the Warrington Museum
an oil painting which is apparently a copy from the
same original as No. 20. It is described as a portrait
of Cardinal Ganganelli (Clement XIV.), by Rigaud,
but its history is not known.
Yours faithfully, Charles Madeley, Director.
Unidentified Painting (24).
February, 19 13.
1 )EAR Sir, — I am a little bit interested in the
unidentified painting, No. 24, in this month's
Connoisseur, and, unfortunately, I cannot help you
in tracing its origin. On reading the article relating
to it, the thought occurred to me: Was my great-
grandfather a son of Thomas Stallard of Little Birch ?
My great-grandfather, Thomas Stallard, came to Tip-
ton about 1790 from Ruardean, in Gloucestershire
(not a long distance from Little Birch). He was mar-
ried at Tipton Church in 1795, and in the Registers
(which I have just transcribed for the P.R. Soc. ) he
is described as Thomas Ta/lani, evidently a mistake
of the clerk in filling up the certificate, and probably
caused by the want of a pause when giving the
Christian and surname. He was a " Marksman,"
signing the register with ax. All his issue were
registered as Stillard, probably from the manner in
which the name was pronounced. He died in 1836,
aged 66, leaving a fair estate. He left three sons,
Thomas, William, and Joseph, and several daughters,
the last of which, my grandmother, died fifteen years
ago, aged 91, ajul she used to say that Mr. Stal-
lard of Worcester, who was in the wine trade, was
her cousin. If my great-grandfather was a son of
164
Notes and Queries
(28) UNIDENTIFIED PAINTING
Thomas Stallard of Little Birch, can you explain
how the one was located at that place and the other
said to come from Ruardean ? I am sure you will
pardon me for troubling you with this letter, my
interest in genealogy being my excuse for writing it.
— Yours faithfully, Wji. Brown.
(29) UNIDENTIFIED PAINTING
l6«i
Some years ago, in a remote part of North-West
Cumberland, the contents of an old manor house
were sold. In the collection of
An Eighteenth- antique furniture, pictures, china,
century an{j otj10r curj0S) the miniature
Miniature . , , , . ...
eighteenth - century warship illus-
trated herewith appeared. Tradition
says that at one time a member of the family who
Warship
owned the manor was a captain in the Royal Navy.
Three pictures in the collection illustrated a naval
engagement between three vessels. Apparently the
British ship — said to have been commanded by the
above captain — was successful, and took a French
ship as a prize. Amongst the prisoners was an officer
who, it is alleged, made this model. This may only
be a variant of the many stories told of miniature
AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MINIATURE WARSHIP
I 66
Notes
ship models which are attributed to the French naval
prisoners taken during the Napoleonic wars. Who-
ever made it, it remains a monument to superb skill
and craftsmanship.
The model is that of a 90-gun French battleship,
companion-ways, ladders, etc., are delicately wrought,
but perhaps the marvel of all is the exquisite work-
manship shown in the stern-walk and the cabin
windows. All the doors and windows are made in
true proportion, and the latter are glazed and fitted
THE BELMOUNT HALL PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE
and although measuring only l\ inches in length,
every detail is given in exact facsimile and propor-
tion. Unlike many small models, it has been built
on the lines of the original, commencing with the
k'_-el and working upwards. The hull is of wood,
and is entirely sheathed in burnished copper up
to the first gun-streak. The decks are beautifully
lined to imitate planking, and the perfectly modelled
brass guns, although only three-sixteenths of an
inch in length, are bored, and have their touch-
holes. Their tiny carriages are on wheels, which
require the aid of a strong magnifying-glass to be
seen. Such deck fittings as the wheels, casks, bell,
IN THE POSSESSION OF J. M. P. MUIRHEAD, ESQ.
with tiny green blinds. Under the quarter-deck the
doors and windows are similarly fitted.
The rigging is well seen in the photograph. The
rattlings are gossamer-like. The minute blocks and
dead-eyes, also the carving on the fighting-tops, all
show marvellous patience and skill in execution.
Owing to the main top-mast having met with an
accident, the model needed overhauling, and I was
singularly fortunate in discovering that the local
shipyard model-maker was capable of making a most
sympathetic restoration; and now the little ship
reappears in its glory of burnished copper hull, black
and white topsides, and blue and white deck fittings.
167
The Connoisseur
" The Bclmount
Hall Portrait
of Shakespeare '
By J. M. P.
Muirhead
In THE CONNOISSl i R I"' I1' '" i". I'll*. Mi'- M- H.
Spic.-lm.mn deals somewhat full) with this picture, and
arrives at the conclusion that it is a
ition. 1 le makes kindly and
courteous reference to myself, and
it is very unfortunate that the copy
of The Connoisseur which Mr.
Spielmann says he forwarded me
never arrived, and I was entirely unaware of the existence
.•I his condemnatory article until after I returned to
England some months ago.
1 am in no sense whatever an art critic, and feel
considerable diffidence in venturing to question for a mo-
ment the decision of so competent an authority as Mr.
Spielmann, especially on a subject he has made so much
his own : still, as I feel that he has not proved his case,
at any rate to my satisfaction, I may be pardoned for
explaining the reasons of my apparent presumption.
Let me first, however, correct two inaccuracies. In Mr.
Spielmann's article dealing with the matter, he states
that I publicly exhibited the picture in Cape Town. In
this he is entirely misinformed. He further states that
Miss Owen, of Belmount, desired to purchase the picture
from me, but I preferred to retain possession of it. This
is news to me, as I have never had any communication
from Miss Owen, neither has any offer ever been made
me for the picture.
With regard to Mr. Spielmann's criticism of the picture
itself, it must be borne in mind that when he wrote the
article he had never seen the picture at all, or he would
hardly have described a canvas painting as "on panel."
There are two main points to be considered : — (a) the
pictute, and ( ' b) the Garrick inscription.
With regard to the picture, Mr. Spielmann's statement
that it is " poor in handling" is perfectly correct ; indeed,
it has no intrinsic "art value"; but his assumption that
it is "Zinckian" is apparently largely based on Mr.
Zincke's capacity to transmogrify old pictures, or make
new ones into antiques. He does not say which course
Mr. Zincke adopted in this case; presumably the point
was a minor one, and left to the choice of the intelligent
readers of The CONNOISSEUR, though it does appear to
me somewhat important.
It would, however, appear, presuming that Mr. Spiel-
mann is correct in his conclusion, that Mr. Zincke in this
instance adopted the gentle art of transmogrification, as
the picture was an antique without having to be created
one. Indeed, the best authorities in London place the
date of the picture at from i68oto 1720. They are also of
opinion that in two places the picture may have been
added to, viz., the head has apparently been touched up,
and the sprig of mulberry added at a later date. It must,
therefore, have all along been a portrait of Shakespeare,
and Mr. Zincke must be accounted fortunate in having
so very little to "transmogrify." Mr. Spielmann states
that even in the photo of the picture he can detect
what appears to have been letters in the upper right-
hand corner of the picture, "just where we may expect to
find them in Zinckian productions" (the italics are mine).
As there is really no trace whatever of any such thing, I
am afraid Mr. Spielmann must have been just a little too
anxious to find proof of his most interesting theory. It
states in the inscription that Garrick had the picture
framed in mulberry wood ; alas, I am informed that the
frame is not of mulberry, and must in all honesty give
Mr. Spielmann this one more conclusive proof of the
elaborate fabrication! Of course, to ordinary people
like myself, it does appear indiscreet on Mr. Zincke's
part to be so very foolish as to forge an inscription
stating that the frame was mulberry, and then spoil the
ship for a ha'porth of tar and use deal. A skilful forger
would surely be clever throughout; and if Mr. Garrick
paid for it to be framed in mulberry, and the wicked
framer stuck to the mulberry and used deal, it is surely
regrettable, but not, human nature being unfortunately
what it is, entirely unreasonable. These being the only
alternatives, I am afraid I prefer the theory of the Wicked
Framer to Mr. Spielmann's theory of the Clever Forger,
who really wasn't clever at all. Now for the inscription,
which so reputable a scholar as Jonathan Taylor, Chief
Librarian of Bristol, attested, to Mr. Spielmann's ever-
lasting and pained astonishment. Mr. Spielmann proceeds
to prove that the inscription is not in Garrick's writing, ergo
— he had nothing to do with it, even though the " D. G."
is "not unlike." Mr. Spielmann is here flogging a dead
horse. The writing of the inscription and the " D. G."
are manifestly in two different handwritings, and as the
" D. G." was meant presumably to be genuine, the rest
of the inscription could never have been claimed as
having been actually written by Mr. Garrick. Mr.
Spielmann for once, and only once, I think, is less than
fair when he says " the D. G. is not unlike " ; it is so like,
so absolutely identical with Garrick's initials, that the
British Museum authorities believe it to be Garrick's,
and even would, like the reputable Jonathan Taylor,
attest it, but that they are not proof against forgery, and
it may be a forgery. Again we have two alternatives —
either Mr. Zincke went to the trouble of forging two
handwritings, one with a most amazingly intimate know-
ledge of how Garrick signed his initials, or Garrick
dictated the inscription to someone else, and then
initialled it.
I am not going into any further details. Here is a
picture which the National Portrait Gallery tells me
was painted about 1700, though it may since have
been touched up, and which every artist who has seen
it regards as undoubtedly pre-Garrick. It bears an
inscription signed " D. G.," which the best possible
authorities regard as genuine, and in Mr. Garrick's
writing.
Admitting all Mr. Spielmann says about the un-
satisfactory history of the picture, I still think in my
ignorance that the picture is an old portrait of Shake-
speare at one time in the possession of David Garrick,
and with all diffidence think that Mr. Spielmann set
out to prove a pet theory, and succeeded — to his own
entire satisfaction.
168
Notes
Mr. Spielmann's
Reply
I REGRET, for Mr. Muirhead's amiable sake, that I
am unable to modify my opinion in any sensible degree
of the " Belmount Hall,'' or so-called
" Garrick," portrait of Shakespeare.
It will be convenient if I take his
several points in order. When I said that Mr. Muirhead
had exhibited the picture in South Africa, I was misled
by the statement, as I understood it, of an artist friend
of his who introduced the matter to me on his return
to England, and who placed in my hands a printed
pamphlet relative to the picture's history, which seemed
to confirm the fact which Mr. Muirhead informs us is
erroneous. I regret the misstatement, while wondering
why the pamphlet was printed. I did not say, as he
thinks, that Miss Owen, of Belmount Hall, desired to
purchase the picture from him. It was to the niece
of Mr. Whittaker the previous owner) — the lady who
became Mr. Muirhead's wife — that Miss Owen, as she
informed me, made her offer. These points, however,
are of but slight importance. The slip as to the picture
being painted on panel came to me with the description
of the picture, which, as Mr. Muirhead truly says, I
had not at that time seen : only a large and tell-tale
photograph had been placed in my hands.
I afterwards examined the picture itself, and am
satisfied that my estimate of its nature is correct — not
because it is my " pet theory," for I have no pet theories,
but because I am forced to that conclusion. That is to
say, it is a fake, not wholly painted by Zincke, but is
one of that confessed fabricator's numerous concoctions
— an old portrait altered into Shakespeare.
Mr. Muirhead tells us that the best authorities are of
opinion that the picture, painted from 1680 to 1720 [it
could not then be a life-portrait of Shakespeare], " may
have been added to in two places" — the head and the
mulberry-sprig. I prefer his own report to me of their
statement — that " the head had certainly been over-
painted, probably made more ' dome-like '" [my italics];
'* also the ' sprig of mulberry : would appear to have
been added more recently.'' Surely this proves my
contention that the alterations are the positive means
whereby an early picture was faked into a Shake-
speare portrait. Consider. If it had all along been a
portrait of the poet, as Mr. Muirhead would like to think,
why should anyone have troubled to add the dome-like
head and mulberry-sprig to establish its identity or
fancied resemblance? I cannot followr Mr. Muirhead's
reasoning that the portrait was already Shakespeare,
for it was clearly the "additions" that made it Shake-
speare. My own belief is that the re-painting was much
more extensive.
It is hardly surprising if there is no inscription on the
background ; but it is damning. One of the labels,
alleged to be Garrick's, on the back of the picture,
asserts it to be no longer legible on account of previous
cleaning. Doubtless a second cleaning would have
removed the remains of it, if it was a recent addition, so
far as the human eye is concerned, though by the camera
they might still be traced. I am ready to accept the
statement that " there is really no trace whatever of any
such thing " — and possibly there never was. In that
case, to what alternative conclusions does the " Garrick "
label testimony compel us? Either that the painted
inscription never was there— and the label a false witness ;
or that it was, and disappeared under cleaning. If the
latter be true, it shows that the inscription was a recent
addition, otherwise it would have stood firm with the rest
of the paint under the hand of the cleaner.
Mr. Muirhead's belief that the forger was not clever
at all is well founded ; but he was quite clever enough
in his day, as history shows, to make a living by his
nefarious trade of portrait fabrication.
Taylor's (alleged, but unproved) attestation of the
written inscription on the labels is openly thrown over
by the British Museum and Mr. Muirhead (as previously
by myself), so that it is difficult to appreciate Mr. Muir-
head's citation of the librarian's supposed credulity. In
any case, the present owner centres his hopes on the
genuineness of the initials " D. G.," which I said were
''not unlike," because they are not identical with certain
undoubted signatures of David Garrick which I have
examined. Even if genuine, they could not attest the
genuineness of the picture. But such simple letters the
veriest tiro could imitate ; a man like Zincke who could
forge a picture could forge the script D. G. And
remember — slips of inscribed paper were similarly stuck
at the back of the Thane and Booth (Zincke) portrait
of Shakespeare : and we have, besides, references to
mulberry in other forged Zinckian Shakespeare portraits.
In view of Mr. Muirhead's admission that the
inscription itself was not written by Garrick, no question
can arise that " Zincke went to the trouble of forging
two handwritings.''
Mr. Muirhead leaves untouched the other arguments,
presumably unanswerable (as they appear to me), against
the authenticity of the portrait, and there I am content
to leave the matter. I can assure him that it is no
"• satisfaction " to me to destroy the reputation of any
picture save where the desire for the truth compels it :
and greatly do I regret it if the property of so courteous
an adversary has suffered by the evidence I have adduced.
— M. H. Spielmann.
The mahogany tallboy chest often drawers illustrated
is of the Chippendale period, and measures 3 ft. 7 in.
in width. The frieze of the cornice
'.p^e" * * and canted corners are overlaid with
fretwork of a characteristic Gothic
design. The handles and escutcheons,
which are original, are distinguished for their fine
chasing. The piece is in the collection of Mr. Roger
Ford, of Bristol.
169
The Connoisseur
Our Plates
I'm frontispiece to the present number is a repro-
duction of the famous Castle Howard Adoration
of the Kings, by Jan Gossaert of
Mabuse. Now in the possession
of the Nation, it was only acquired through the
magnanimity of Rosalind, Countess of Carlisle, the
generosity of the contributors to the National Art
Collections Fund, and the ready response made by
the Government to the appeal of the National Gallery
Trustees. Though the purchase price, ,£40,000, is a
large sum, it by no means represents the present
market value of the picture, which is undoubtedly
the master work of the painter and a superb example
of craftsmanship. It was painted in 1500, just eight
years before Mabuse went to Italy in the suite of
Philip the l'.astard. An interesting plate is an
hitherto unpublished miniature of Queen Victoria
when a child, while another child portrait is the virile
and characteristic representation of Miss Hartin^ton,
by Sir Thomas Lawrence, now at the Edward Gallery,
King Street, St. James's. The dignified portrait of
William Ferguson of Kilsie, by Sir Henry Raeburn,
is distinguished for the unaffected and natural pose
of the sitter and the subtle gradation of the light.
It was exhibited at the Raeburn Exhibition in 1876
and at the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1901.
The portrait is in the possession of R. C. Munro-
Ferguson, Esq., M.P.
Two examples of a modern exponent of miniature
— Miss N. II. Edmunds — are included, one a portrait
of Eileen, daughter of Henry Marshall, Esq., and the
other a portrait of an anonymous sitter, entitled Doris.
Books Received
Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture, two vols., by T. G.
Jackson, R.A., £2 2s. net. (Cambridge University
Press.)
Catalogue of Dutch Painters, vol. v., by Hofstede de Groot,
25s. net. (Macmillan.)
The Luxembourg Museum : Its Paintings, by Leonce Benedite,
ios. 6d. net. (T. Fisher Unwin.)
The British School, by E. V. Lucas. 2s. 6d. net. (Methuen.)
MAHOGANY TALLBOY CHEST
CHIPPENDALE PERIOD
I70
WILLIAM FERGUSON', OF KILSIE
BY SIR HENRY RAEBURN, R.A.
[Photo. Annan
L^CONHOISSEVB. I
THE sale season, so far, has included the dispersal
of no important collections, and the chronicle of picture
prices comprises only
items which, though
interesting to the
connoisseur of moder-
ate means, raise no
thrills in the breasts
of the general public.
Messrs. Christie did
not commence their
season until the latter
part of the month.
At a sale of modern pictures, the property of W. J.
Thompson, Esq., and Charles F. Southgate, Esq.,
deceased, and from other sources, held at the King Street
galleries on January 24th, the fare provided was of a
comparatively humble character. The highest individual
price of the day was realised by The Poacher's Widow,
49$ in. by 75 in., by Briton Riviere, R.A., which brought
,£220 ios. This work, which was exhibited at the Royal
Academy, 1879, was formerly included in the permanent
collection at the Birmingham City Gallery, but was
exchanged by the Director for another of the artist's
works. Other of the more important included: — W.
Mulready, R.A., The Carpenter's Shop, 39A in. by 29 in.,
,£105; Marcus Stone, R.A., Stealing the Keys, 1866-9,
21J in. by 29! in., ,£105 ; E. Verboeckhoven, 1843, The
Frightened Flock, 60 in. by 78 in., ^178 ; and P. A.
Rysbraek, Peacocks and Domestic Poultry, 59 in. by
74 in., ^120 15s. None of the drawings sold attained
the dignity of three figures, but the following may be
taken as typical examples by their respective artists: —
T. Collier, The Denbighshire Hills from near
Dolwyddelan, 13J in. by 20J in., £-]\ 8s.; Birket Foster,
Peasant Children and Geese, 5J in. by 8J in., ,£59 17s. ;
R. Thorne-Waite, Dover from St. Margaret's, 13 in. by
35i 'n-i £60 iSs. ; and E. J. Gregory, R.A., Will He Come,
I3i in. by 8j in., ^56 14s.
A similar but generally less important accumulation
of modern works, this time chiefly in water-colours, was
dispersed by the same firm on January 31st. In this,
however, were included two of J. M. W. Turner's
drawings for the " South Coast " series — Margate, 6 in.
by 9 in., engraved by G. Cooke, 1S24, which brought
,£462, and Teignmouth, reproduced by the same engraver,
1S15, .£273. Other drawings included C. Fielding, 1833,
A Lake Scene, with cattle and sheep, ,£94 10s., and
Birket Foster, A Landscape, with a /lock of sheep on a
road, 4f in. by 7 in., .£67 4s. Among the oil paintings
were W. Shayer, sen., A Peasant, with a white pony,
conversing with a pedlar and his -wife, circular, 24 in.
diam., ,£105 ; P. Nasmyth, 1824, A Highland Lake Scene,
26 in. by 34 in., £yZ 15s.; J. Linnell, sen., 1S46, The
Young Blood, on panel, 21 J in. by 27 in., ,£73 10s. ; and
F. D. Hardy, 1S63, The Doctor, on panel, 21 J in. by
295 in., /S4.
Messrs. Puttick held a sale of pictures and drawings
by old and modern artists at their galleries, 47, Leicester
Square, on January 3rd, when fair prices were realised,
though none of the individual items were of special
interest, and the same remarks also apply to the sales of
old and modern engravings by the same firm on the 16th,
17th, and 23rd of January.
The two days' sale of books held by Messrs. Puttick
on January 23rd and 24th included the contents of the
library of Mr. Herbert
Fry, the writer on
London, and a friend
of Charles Dickens.
There were a number
of items relating to
the novelist, but none
of those raritieshaving
especial value in the
eye of the collector.
As a rule, the fir=t
editions of this author's popular works were so large that
copies from them, unless marked by some exceptional
feature, are of comparatively little value. One of the
scarcest is Oliver Twist, 1838, a copy of which, orig. cloth,
uncut, brought £4 2s. 6d.; while one of Nicholas Nicklcby,
1S39, old hf. cf., loose, only brought £1, by virtue of being
extra illustrated. Higher figures were reached by some
of the original illustrations for Dickens's works. H. K,
Browne's version of Madame Mantalini introduces Kate
to Miss Knag, with the title in the author's autograph,
brought j£2l ; four others by the same artist, but without
this addition, realised from ,£9 to £\o 10s. each; three of
Charles Green's for the Old Curiosity Shop only varied
173
The Connoisseur
from £i 5s. i<> £8 [03. ; while eight of J. Mahoney's for
The Battle 0) ' ranged from .£4 15s. to £7 for various
vignettes, while a full-page illustration brought £15 15s.
\ , opj oi ihr pirated edition oi ?<a won Cruso, Mariner,
cf., formerly in Lord Townsend's library, brought
Vndi 0 \ v Book, etc., of Free and
Accep is, folding front, etc., isted., 1738, cf., with
orrigenda leaf at end, .£1 1 5s. Presentation copies of the
first editions of Swinburne's A Sluav of Shakespeare,
1SS0; Studies in Song, [880; ami .•/ Midsummer Holiday.
1884. all in cloth, and with autogiaph iiwriptions from
the poet, the recipient's name being erased in each case,
brought £11 5s., £10, and .£10 5s. respectively; R. L.
Stevenson, Prince Otto, tst ed., orig. cl., 1885, a pre-
sentation copy with autograph inscription, £,tz ; J. Gould,
Birds of ureal Britain, eld. plates, 5 vols., in 25 parts as
issued, fol., 1862-73, .£26 ; the same author's Monograph
of the Trochilidce, or Humming Birds, eld. plates, 5 vols.,
in 25 parts as issued, fol., 1849-61, ,£20 10s. ; and Mammals
of Australia, eld. plates, 3 vols., in 13 parts as issued, fol.,
1S45-63, ,£iS 10s. ; Sporting Magazine, 1792 to 1842
vol. v. missing), 99 vols., hf. cf., and Sporting Review,
1847 to 1S64, 36 vols., hf. cf. (not uniform), ,£107 ; and a
presentation copy of the first edition of Isaac Walton's
Life of Dr. Sanderson, mor. g.e., 1678, with an initialled
autograph inscription to the Earl of Clarendon by the
author, .£40; while the Holograph Manuscript of Six
Sonnets, by Oscar Wilde, written on 6 folio leaves, with
title Impressions du Theatre, leather bound, realised .£63.
Messrs. Sotheby's sale of books and manuscripts on
January 13th, 14th, and 15th, comprising 1,115 items,
realised the substantial total of .£2,150. The result was
attained not so much in large sums by individual lots, as
a general consensus of fair prices; the most noteworthy
exception to the rule was an illuminated Persian MS. of
the Five Metrical Romances of Nizani of Ganjah, enriched
with 33 miniatures, and dated 936 A. H.(= 1 529-30 A. D.), fol.
cf., with portions of an old Persian binding inlaid, which
swelled the total by the substantial sum of ,£275.
Among other interesting items were:— H. Fielding,
Dramatic Works, 1st collected ed., 3 vols., cf., rebacked,
Svo, 1755. .£24; Locher, Recueil de Portraits et Costumes,
Suisses, etc., 32 eld. plates, n.d., c. 1S00, 4to, .£31 ;
R. H. D. Barham, Martin's Vagaries, being a sequel to
A Tale of a Tub, illustrated by G. Cruickshank, mor. ex.,
gt., wrappers bound up, 1843, ,£11 5s. ; J. A. Symonds,
Renaissance in Italy, 7 vols., Svo, 1880-86, ,£10; and
Ackermann's History of the University of Oxford, 2 vols.,
large paper, plates on India paper, with a set of the
original etchings of the plates inserted, orig. bds., uncut,
fol., 1814, £11.
Mr. Dowell, of Edinburgh, on January 20th, 21st, and
23rd, dispersed a large collection of books belonging to
the late Sheriff Bell and others, which included a set of
Session Cases, in 86 vols. (16 vols, cf., remainder hf. cf.),
1821-1911, which realised ,£50.
Antique Furniture
and China
A r the -.airs of furniture and china which occurred
during the month, what may be termed utilitarian pieces
— those which would tempt the
householder rather than the ad-
vanced collector- strongly pre-
dominated. Among the more noteworthy items were
the following: A 1 Messrs. Christie's on January 22nd
and 23rd: an old Worcester oval dish, painted with a
river scene and flowers, in turquoise, iii in. wide,
£24 3s. ; an old Worcester teacup and saucer, painted
with exotic birds in panels with gilt foliage and trellis-
work holders, on mottled-blue ground, £25 4s.; a pair
of old Worcester oval dishes, painted with flowers in
scroll panels with gilt borders, on dark-blue scale pattern
ground, 12 in. wide. £46 4s.; a Chinese Kang-He
bamboo-pattern vase, enamelled with flowers in famille
vote on vari-coloured ground, 8t in. high, ,£94 10s. ;
a suite of Adam furniture, carved, painted partly white
and partly gilt, consisting of a settee, six armchairs
and six chairs, ,£152 5s.; a seventeenth-century clock,
by Edward East, London, in tall walnut-wood case, the
hood mounted with festoons in chased metal-gilt, 6 ft.
high* ,£50 8s. ; a Persian rug with a conventional design
of foliage, etc., in polychrome on ruby centre, and dark
blue and white border, 9 ft. by 5 ft. 7 in., ,£89 5s. ;
a Toby-Filpot jug, 9J in. high, ^50 8s.; a Delft octa-
gonal plaque, painted with pastoral scene in blue and
border in polychrome, 1 1} in. square, ,£54 12s.; a
Louis XVI. clock, by A. Coliau, Paris, in ormolu case
with figures at sides and a bust of Louis XVI. on top,
18 in. high, £152 5s.; a Louis XV. library table, veneered
with tulip-wood, with king- wood borders, mounted
with ormolu handles, etc., 71 in. wide, £304 10s. ; and a
Directoire gilt fauteuil, elaborately carved, the seat and
back covered with Aubusson tapestry with floral design,
,£262 10s. On January 30th, at the same rooms, a Delft
bowl with escalloped lip, decorated with vases and
flowers in polychrome, 12 in. diam., brought £120 15s.
Messrs. Knight, Frank & Rutley, on January 29th
and 30th, disposed of the contents of 2, Carlton House
Terrace, which included a large proportion of antique
furniture. Two Louis XVI. pattern gilt settees, carved
in floral decoration, each 2 ft. 8 in. wide, brought £50 8s.
each. Of three cut-glass electroliers, one with 36 imita-
tion candle lights and 18 others, with lustre pendants and
festoons, brought ,£94 10s. ; one with 21 lights, ,£39 iSs. ;
and one with 12 scroll candle branches and 36 electric
lights, £89 5s. ; a Chippendale mahogany pedestal
writing-table, with carved mouldings and fluted columns,
6ft. 7 in. by 3 ft. 10 in ., ,£138 12s. ; a Sheraton mahogany
wardrobe, inlaid, with ormolu handles, 8 ft. 3 in. wide,
,£131 5s. ; while of two gilt carved wood side tables in
the style of William Kent, with massive marble tops on
scroll supports, etc., one, 2 ft. ioj in. high, 3 ft. deep and
10 ft. 5 in. wide, brought £73, and another, 2 ft. narrower,
£77 I4S-
174
URREBT ART
MODERN critics of art sometimes speak as if it were
susceptible to a prodigious and continuous development
like science. This idea, by placing the
The Tendency . . , . ,
r -. , . artistic achievements ot past ages, not
ot Modern Art , , , , r
as goals to be passed before greater
results can be attained, but rather as way-marks already
left behind, is responsible for much that is unsou'nd, outre,
and even immoral in the newer phases ot painting and
sculpture. It is based on false reasoning, for art and
science are essentially different in principle, and occupy
essentially different spheres. The latter is the accumu-
lation of applied knowledge ; so long as any secrets of
earth, air, water, or the sideral system remain unrevealed,
further additions can be made to the store. Thus the
sphere of science, so far as can be appreciated by human
understanding, is practically infinite. That of art, on
the other hand, is circumscribed and little capable of
extension ; it is confined to the interpretation of nature
2
COUR Dll DRAGON, PARIS
FROM AN ETCHING BY ALFRED BENTLEV, AT THE FINE ART SOCIETY
J75
The Connoisseur
through human emotion; and humanity and nature are
..illy unchangeable. Homer and Shakespeare
were as well equipped for the task as is Mr. Bernard
Shaw, whereas the scientific knowledge "t Sit 1 aa<
Newton can be bettered by that of a schoolboy who has
mastered a modern primer.
The scientist ol to-daj has no practical interest in the
problems olved by his prede rs, whereas the artist
is still essaying the same problems as confronted the
thic carver of mammoth tusks. In the intervening
the technique of art lias been advanced, thus
enabling the modern, who has mastered it. to express
himself with greater certainty, explicitness, and direct-
ness than his pri predecessor; otherwise their
positions are the same. It is only by making the teeh-
nique of art still more perfect that we can hope to
achieve greater things in art than have hitherto been
accomplished. Now, technical mastery comes only by
intelligent application and study. The artist has not
only to learn the use of his materials — the way to mani-
pulate brush, chisel, or graver — but also by the study
oi the work of other artists to learn how to apply his
knowledge, which in itself is only the spelling and
grammar of art.
It may be urged that the study of the work of other
men tends to destroy individuality ; but the reverse is the
case. The most individual among the older English
masters were Reynolds, Romney, Raeburn, Gainsborough,
Turner, and Constable. The three first-named journeyed
to Italy to study the pictures there. Gainsborough copied
pictures by the great masters — Van Dyck more especially
— whenever he had opportunity ; Constable did the
same ; while Turner successively studied and emulated
every previous master of landscape before he developed
his own individual style. It is, in fact, only by the study
of how other artists expressed themselves that an artist
can hope to master the art of self-expression, unless in
a very limited sphere. A knowledge of grammar and
spelling will enable the average educated man to write
an entertaining letter, but not to compose a good book,
or indeed to express himself at length, lucidly and ex-
plicitly, on any complicated subject. In the same way
a knowledge of the grammar and spelling of art may
enable a painter to make suggestive sketches, but not to
express the same subjects with the fulness and explicit-
ness that is demanded by an important picture. The
ability to produce a completed work constitutes the line
of demarcation between artists and amateurs; both can
sketch, but only the latter can paint pictures.
Now, in all great pictures it is essential that the means
of production shall not be too palpably apparent. If the
theme is worth painting, it is the theme which should
compel the painter's attention, and not the manner in
which it is put upon canvas. With a sketch it is different.
One can tolerate, and even admire, the sentient rough-
ness of a piece of rapid work, in the same way that one
enjoys the picturesque effect of the roof-beams showing
out through the sides of a humble country cottage ; but
similar construction in the case of an important building
like St. Paul's would be altogether unsightly.
Pictures and
Drawings by
Professor C. J.
Holmes
Tills distinction between pictures and sketches is
apparently being altogether abandoned by the latest ex-
ponents of modern art, and they are
not only filling the minor exhibitions
with sketches, but also showing large-
sized canvases which are nothing
but sketches on an exaggerated
Scale. I Mie may take the exhibition of pictures and
drawings by Professor C. J. Holmes at the Carfax
i rallei ies (24, Bury Street, Si. James's) as an example of
this tendency. One does this, not because the professor's
work is the least worthy of admiration, but that he is an
accomplished artist and an acute critic, who has assumed
his present style from profound conviction, and is quite
capable of producing highly pictorial and elaborated work
if he thought it desirable. If this new theory of art is
correct, it should receive its highest exemplification in the
work of one so accomplished and animated by such high
ideals. If, on the other hand, as one believes, this theory
is not only mistaken, but, if generally adopted, will result in
the destruction of the British school of painting, then there
is no worthier object of attack. Twenty-seven pictures
and drawings were shown in the exhibition, every one of
which bore evidence of high intention, but only one of
which could be said to be carried to full completion. This
was the Saddleback from the South- West, a canvas which
has already been described in THE CONNOISSEUR, and
which was not so much a picture as a piece of well-
balanced and harmonious decoration. One does not
wish to decry this work, which was excellent ot its kind.
But is its kind of the highest order? Is there not a
possibility that a Japanese screen painter, trained in such
art from his boyhood, could not produce a similar and
equally convincing piece of work at the cost of a few
hours' labour ? Professor Holmes's other examples of oil
were not so satisfactory ; they halted on the borderland
between decorative and realistic art without showing a
striking affinity to either. They were merely statements
of elementary fact set forth in flat tones, and conveying
little or no knowledge to a person who was not already
informed on the subjects they depicted. One may ask,
what is the utility of such work ? A schoolboy would not
have been able to compass such decorative feeling,
imperfect though it was; but a schoolboy with a penny
box of paints could have informed us with almost equal
facility that a mountain side was green, the sky blue, and
water white. If the aim of the pictures was decorative,
then a square of Turkey carpet would have provided us
with a more luscious feast of colour ; if realistic, then a
photograph would have better served our turn ; and if to
impress us with the beauty and majesty of nature, then
the slightest sketch of a similar subject by Turner would
have told us more of the massive grandeur of the eternal
hills, of the infinite gradation of form and colour in sky
and cloud, and of the mighty force of flooded water-
courses.
In his water-colours and drawings Professor Holmes
was less ambitious and more successful. They possessed
the simple form of sketches, but lacked the verve and
spontaneity which makes a sketch delightful. One had
176
Current Art Notes
FROM AN ETCHING BY A.
CHATEAU D AMBOISE
F. AFFLECK, AT MESSRS. J. CONNELL AND SON'S
the feeling that these were not frank transcripts of
nature — several, indeed, were purely decorative in their
motifs — but that their effect was attained by a careful
and studied elimination of all that the painter considered
non-essential to his work. Such a course is to some
extent justified, but it must be remembered that it is not
the greatest art which conveys to us the fewest facts, but
the most. It is possible that the artist's message may
become confused by overloading it with detail ; but it
is the most perfect art which records both details and
essentials, subordinating the former to the latter in such
a manner that they shall amplify and make stronger the
latter.
At the same galleries there were shown a number
of paintings and drawings by Mr. Donald Maclaren. Of
the former, all of which were landscapes, it can only be
said that there were notes of colour somewhat crudely
and clumsily expressed and showing little attempt at
delineation of form. The drawings were decidedly
better : they were portrait studies, well modelled and
marked by considerable power of characterisation.
Drawings by
Ilbery Lynch and
Hugh L. Norris,
and Etchings by
Alfred Bentley,
Henry C. Brewer,
Col. R. Goff, and
Herbert Hillier
The tendency of modern art to sketchiness is a phase
of the development of that artificial naivete with which
this most blase of blase generations
is trying to awaken long-dormant
elementary emotions. Another
phase of it is to be found in the
unconventional and, one must add,
irreverent expression of religious
subjects. A number of works of
this character were included among
the drawings by Mr. Ilbery Lynch,
shown at the Fine Art Society's Gallery (148, New Bond
Street). In saying that these works were irreverent, one
does not wish to imply that the artist was inspired by
irreverent motives. He may have been, and probably
was, influenced by the desire to make his themes more
realistic and poignant, and, to effect this, entirely dis-
carded the conventional forms of portrayal, introducing
modern Western costume and surroundings. Such form
of treatment demands the highest artistic talent to en-
sure success. We can accept as satisfying the orthodox
'77
The Connoisseur
tmenl ol a sacred character, even though it be
ig in tmpressiveness and powei ; for the halo,
traditional robes, and other time hallowed emblems with
which the figure is invested nuke it symbolii j we accept
it not foi what it is, but what u stands for. Discard
these emblematic trappings, and only the loftiest nobility
of conception will make upfoi theii absence. Mr. Lynch
ha fa led to realise this; he has descended not merely
to realism, but to caricature. The Entry into J erusa
. i ted .is though the dramatis persona were a hedge
preacher and a small crowd of attendant rabble, the
, La arus is depicted in an aspect that is more
ludicrous than soul-moving, and in the Adoration of the
the three kings appear under the guise of street
strollers. Such conceptions are both false and mis-
chievous, and tend to degrade our ideas of the spiritual
and material aspect of the great sacred drama.
The same artist's illustrations to The Rubaiyat and
other books, and many of his sketches, showed decorative
feeling, and in some instances powerful and fluent line.
If Mr. Lynch would strive less for originality and more
for truth and sentiment, he would probably achieve far
greater work than he has yet accomplished.
To turn from Mr. Ilbery Lynch' s works to the water-
colours of Mr. Hugh L. Norris was a refreshing change.
The latter did not attempt to awaken our intellectual
faculties, but was content with affording us sensual
gratification. Very delightful were his presentments of
English scenery, set down in atmospheric and delicate
colour and filled with idyllic charm. Almost cloying in
their tender beauty were a few of them, and one would
have liked occasionally a more resonant note ; but tar
worse omissions than this might have been forgiven Mr.
Norris, so full of quiet loveliness were the scenes to which
he introduced us— verdant water meadows, leafy brooks,
and bluebell-carpeted woodlands— all set down without
a jarring or tumultuous note to disturb their exquisite
and refined harmony.
At the same galleries were shown a collection of new-
etchings by Messrs. Alfred Bentley, Henry C. Brewer,
Herbert Hillier, and Col. R. Goff, practically all of which
were concerned with architectural motifs. This phase of
subject is, perhaps, over popular at present, and nearly
every etcher, so far as theme is concerned, seems desirous
of following on the lines long ago made popular by Alex.
Haig. This, however, does not imply that the moderns
see nature from his view-point, or express their vision in
the same manner. Mr. Bentley uses his needle with
much power ; his Cour du Dragon, Paris, simply and
succinctly set down, was alive with animation and sun-
shine. Very effective, too, were some of his other
Parisian scenes, and the dry-points of The Bakehouse
Close, Edinburgh, and Stirling Castle. His solitary
mezzotint, the Luxembourg Gardens— a. night scene— if
truthful in general tone and sentiment, could have done
with a little more relief. Mr. Henry C. Brewer's work
was generally larger, and he depended less upon his
power of line than on tonal contrast. In his Toledo
Cathedral he had taken full advantage of the picturesque-
ness of his subject and made a well-balanced and effective
composition; his view of the West Front of the same
building was also highly effective. The dry-point of
Westminster ffall,hy Mr. Herbert Hillier— an unusually
[ai [i essay in this method -showed a somewhat formal
llbject, which by the arrangement of light and shadow
makes .1 plate full of interest, set down in free, forcible
line. In the Malines the etcher had given an impres-
sive rendering of the cathedral, backed by a lowering
sky. The contrast of light and shade in The Astro-
logical 0/ Catherine de Medici, though effective, was
somewhat unduly forced. Col. R. Goff s works were not
limited to architecture, and included some vigorous
renderings of landscapes and seashore.
ETCHINGS were also in evidence at the Dowdeswell
Galleries (160, New Bond Street, W.), where a complete
collection of the works of Sir J. C.
Etchings by Sir Robinson were on view. Sir Charles,
J. C. Robinson who ;s nQW jn his eighty-ninth year,
Drawings by ]s an amateur ;n the best sense ol
Miss Frances the wQrdj for whi]e he is fu„y accom.
Drummond ^^ [q ^ knowledge of his art]
he works purely for his own delectation. His work
showed much originality of conception, and was strikingly
different in outlook and method from that of most of his
contemporaries. He showed a decided preference for
concentrating the high lights in the centre of his works,
not infrequently introducing the sun in the middle of
his compositions, as in the Sunlight and Mist, Swanage
Down, a sentient and finely composed piece of work.
Equally effective was the Newton Manor from the
Tarheel; Hills, with its grand cloud-forms and vivid
suggestion of falling rain. Other works which should
be mentioned were Brown Down Trees, with its strong
contrast of trees in shadow against a luminous sky, and
the Space and Light, Sierra de Almaden, Spain, with
its daring expression of the sun's rays. Miss Frances
Drummond showed forty garden and woodland scenes
at the same galleries, which were refined and harmonious
in colour and displayed much decorative feeling.
AT Messrs. James Connell's Galleries (47, Old Bond
Street, W.) etchings, too, were to the fore, a very
_ . . interesting collection by some of the
Modern Etchings , , ... ,, ,.
best-known workers with the needle-
point having been gathered together. Mr. A. F. Affleck
was perhaps the most strongly represented. His work
is gaining in strength and richness of chiaroscuro, and
though sometimes he is apt to over-accentuate the con-
trast between his lights and shadows in his works, like
Chateau d'Amboise and the Gateway at Burgos, he
attained a wonderfully impressive effect. Not so strong
but more atmospheric was the same artist's rendering
of the interior of Toledo Cathedral, full of architectural
detail but broad in its treatment. More wholly depend-
ent on their power of pure line were the Dutch scenes
by Mr. William Walker, in which the subjects were set
forth with the accuracy of a topographical draughts-
man, yet so poignantly and tellingly expressed that they
were among the most interesting and autobiographical
178
Current Art Notes
DRAWING FOR THE EOOK OF JOB
BY R. T. ROSE
AT THE SOCIETY OF SCOTTISH ARTISTS
works in the exhibition. Mr. William Strang's Farm
in Brittany and La Guimorais were powerful in their
directness and simplicity of execution, while Messrs.
Ian Strang, Fred A. Farrell, Martin Hardie, and Tom
Maxwell were all seen to good advantage.
Original Etchings
fay Rembrandt
and his
Contemporaries
Of distinct educational value was the exhibition of
original etchings by Rembrandt and his contemporaries,
shown at Mr. Gutekunst's gallery
(10, Grafton Street, Bond Street).
In some respects it was the more
valuable because it was not ex-
clusively confined to the picked
work of the best artists, but it included typical examples
by men who are scarcely to be numbered among the
greater masters of the needle. Comparing it with the
work of the present time, one could not say that any
examples, with the possible exception of those by
Rembrandt, surpassed that of our best living etchers ;
yet the exhibition was decidedly more interesting than,
say, an average display by the Painter-Etchers. The
reason of this is, not because of any technical deficiency
on the part of the moderns, whose mastery of poignant
line is hardly to be matched at any earlier period of
the art, but to the clarity and lucidity which distinguished
the works. These old masters were concerned with
what they had to express ; the moderns are concerned
less with the subject than how they express it, with the
result that a display of their powers becomes the
predominant object of their art — a display which often
becomes as tiresome as the undue emphasis of a high
note in singing. In the works displayed, Rembrandt,
though only represented by three examples — the Jan
Lutma, Clement tie Jonghe, and The Three Cottages —
showed supreme mastery, he alone being able to vary
his style to suit the exact expression of his subject,
and to express it with full detail without losing breadth,
and give full value to the light and shadow without
descending into exaggeration. Van Dyck, in his Jan
Breughel, shows equal powers of characterisation, but he
is less supple and direct in his line. Nearest of all in
point of style to Rembrandt is his pupil, Ferdinand Bol ;
his Woman holding a Pear, though not quite so certain
in it^ draughtsmanship, and with the blacks and whites
a little over-emphasised, will yet challenge comparison
with the works of his master. Among other masters
represented were Van Dyck, Claude, du Jardin, A. van
Ostade, D. Stoop, N. P. Bergem, and J. Lievens.
The director of the National Museum of Wales at
Cardiff may be congratulated on the high quality of
the retrospective loan exhibition
of paintings now on view in its
galleries. In the preface to the
catalogue it is stated that the exhibition "has been
rendered possible by the generosity of a few friends
interested in art, who desire to remain anonymous. They
have lent their treasures and defrayed the expenses of
the Exhibition and the Lectures connected with it in the
hope that the Welsh people will derive pleasure and
profit from them." This public-spirited and well-timed
action should exert a great beneficial influence on the
future of the Museum. An inaugural exhibition in an
institution of this kind not only sets a standard for its
National Museum
of Wales
179
The Connoisseur
successors, but also serves u> point out .the charactei
of the works winch should be accumulated in the
merit collection. It is therefore of importance that
il should consist ol work ■ of serious import 1>\ competent
That this result has been attained can be seen
an inspection of the sixty exhibits, representative ol
hat number of artists, nearly all ol the lattei being
irld-wide celebrity. Anion- the English painters,
Turner is seen to the greatest advantage, no less than
seven of his work- being included, all of which belong
to his latest and most expressive period. Chief among
, ,1 :, the famous Ro iets and Blue Lights, lent by
\1 . Duveen Brothers, one of the finest impressionist
pictures of all time. Of Romney there is an interesting
m oi /. i.iv Hamilton as "St. Cecilia" and h\sPortrait
■ r. Newbury; while Raeburn's Mrs. Douglas, shown
some little time ago at the French Gallery, is an adequate
ital re of that artist. Other English artists shown,
not always inimportant, but always in characteristic works,
are Burnc-Jones, D. Y. Cameron, Constable, Murray
Smith, Grosvenor Thomas, Whistler, and Wilson.
Of foreign artists, those belonging to the French and
modern Dutch schools are chiefly in evidence, Millet
and Corot each shown in half a dozen fine examples, and
Monet, Rodin, and many others being represented by
one or more characteristic works.
At Messrs Walker's Galleries ( 1 1 S, New Bond
Street, W.) Miss L. E. Pierce exhibited a series of
drawings illustrative of John Keats
and Omar Khayyam and impressions
of England and the Continent.
Among the best of her works were
the Low Tide, Southend, expressed
with crispness and decision ; the Egg Market, Holland,
in which a strong note of blue was introduced with good
effect ; and the Fountain, Rome, the latter being marked
by powerful but somewhat heavy coloration. The
drawings by Mr. R. Purvis Flint, at the same galleries)
depicting Scotland, England, and Holland, showed little
differentiation of locality, but were all marked by
delicacv and refined colour.
by Miss L. E.
Pierce and
R. Purvis Flint
Post-Impressionism was strongly in the ascendant
at the exhibition of the Friday Club at the Alpine Club,
Conduit Street. Now, as regards
The Friday Club p0St-Impressionism, I am a Philis-
tine. I lack that exquisite sensibility which enables one
to find a rhythmical flow of line in drawings destitute of
draughtsmanship, and rhythmical harmony in pictures
whose crudity makes the crimson of a pillar-box look
quiet and unobtrusive. My vocabulary, too, is deficient,
for Post-Impressionism, being above all forms of orthodox
art, cannot be adequately criticised in the orthodox art
terms, and one must needs reinforce the latter with the
phraseology of music, science, and poetry. A well-turned
phrase, culled from a contemporary writer, is the "music
of the paint"; one does not know exactly what it means,
but applying it to Mr. Mark Gertler's Furrier, one
would say that his paint had the- volume and strength of
a full-powered German band. His Woman Resting was
depicted with phenomenal arms and hands; the picture
might possibly be the embodiment of the mental vision
which a small boy, undergoing corporal punishment,
conceives regarding the weight and strength of the limbs
oi his casligalor. Mr. Hamilton Hay's Still Life pure
might have been the visualised recollection of a dyspeptic
old gentleman of one of the surreptitious feasts of his
youth. A cut melon — or was it a Dutch cheese ? — was set
forth on a draught-board patterned table-cloth in com-
pany with some emerald green apples. The former looked
an embodiment of indigestion, the latter were suggestive
of acute colic, while the obtrusive chequered table-cloth
was possibly intended to symbolise the chequered happi-
ness of boyhood — the pleasure of the feasting, and the
pangs suffered in taking nauseous medicine to alleviate
its after-effects.
THE trio of exhibitions at the Baillie Gallery (13, Bruton
Street, W. ) comprised one of water-colours and pastels
by Mr. J. W. Herald, another of oil
Pastels by landscapes by Mr. Charles Martin
J. W. Herald, Hardie, R.S.A., and a third of etch-
Pictures by ings and water.coiour sketches by Mr.
Martin Hardie, A. R.E. Lest con-
fusion should occur in the minds of
visitors between the identity of the
last-named exhibitors, a note in the
catalogues explained that they are
respectively uncle and nephew, Mr. C. M. Hardie being
a Scottish landscape artist of repute ; while his nephew,
who is perhaps the better known of the two south of the
Tweed, is an official at the South Kensington Museum,
a writer of valuable books and criticisms on art, and
an accomplished etcher. It is chiefly in the latter guise
that he appears in the exhibition, forty-three of his
etchings being shown against nine water-colours. As
regards the latter, one is inclined to agree with the
preferences expressed in the forenote to the catalogue
by Sir F. Short, who singles out the High Noon in tiie
Boat-yard, Rye, and Dulieiis Pig Farm, for special
commendation. The first-named, a skeleton of an
unfinished boat, expressed with thorough and certain
mastery of line, has been seen before, but the Pig Farm,
together with Studland Bay, Martello Towers, Hythe,
In tin- Weald of Kent, and A Bend of the Rhine, are
among the artist's latest work, all of which show his
command over poignant line and effective chiaroscuro.
Mr. Charles M. Hardie's pictures were distinguished by
fresh, pleasing colour and broad, direct handling. Among
the more effective were An Old Fife Jelly, Changing
Pastmes, and A Moorland Tarn. Mr. Herald's pastels
would have been both effective in colour and tone had
he not so resolutely persisted in keeping them in an
intensely minor key. As it was, his work appeared like
nature seen through the medium of a murky London fog ;
a lighter background than the dark-brown paper he is
so fond of using would probably remedy this defect.
C. M. Hardie,
R.S.A., and
Etchings by
Martin Hardie
A. R.E.
1 So
Current Art Notes
At the Leicester Galleries (Leicester Square) two
exceptionally interesting exhibitions were on view —
paintings, chiefly of the Cornish
Paintings by coas^ j^, Mf LouJs Sargent> and
Sienorina Emma . ... , ..
_ .. others, including many of Venice,
Ciardi and . „. . „ ' . ,. „,
. _ by Signorma Lmma Ciardi. 1 he
Louis Sargent , , ,
work of the two artists was ren-
dered more effective by the contrast of their methods ;
Signorina Ciardi seeing nature under an almost uniform-
ly grey aspect, while Mr. Sargent's work was replete
with strong and vivid coloration. The lady artist was
perhaps over-academic in her outlook, her inspiration
being largely derived from Guardi ; nevertheless, her
work was not wanting in individuality, and was marked
by the distinction which comes from assured execution
and an absence of straining for effect. Her colora-
tion, if somewhat uniform, was delightfully silvery in
tone. Mr. Sargent's work was impressionist in the sense
that he tried to interpret nature in the most direct and
forcible manner. Certainly he gave a more vivid and
poignant rendering of the wonderful coloration of the
Cornish sea-coast than has perhaps been vouchsafed
by any previous artist. His pictures were sketchy
and lacking in repose, but in their vehement strength
of utterance, sustained brilliancy of colour, and abso-
lute conviction they attained the quality of great art.
Among the best works were the Clodgy Rocks, St. Ives,
flashed with sunlight, When the Sea is out, and In the
Serpent Cove. Another phase of the painter's art was
shown in several nocturnes, of which The Meteor was
specially noteworthy for its decorative feeling and admir-
able composition.
The Society of Scottish Artists' Exhibition is much
better this year than last. The committee have seen
fit to add an applied art section, and
Edinburgh : , , ,- , , . •
. . thev deserve credit for this innovation.
The Society of , ., , . ,
. , '. while among the pictures there are
Scottish Artists a . , , , , , r
several considerably ahead of any
shown by the Society for several years past. To this
category belongs Mr. W. Y. Macgregor's Nethy Bridge,
a fine study of the rapid changes which nature presents
on a breezy day ; while Mr. C. Mackie's landscape with
figures, A Balcony at Venice, has a greater luminosity
than this painter usually achieves, and evokes a far
higher opinion of his capacity than the majority of his
previous canvases have done. Further good landscapes
are those of Mr. W. O. Hutchison and Mr. W. M. Glass,
while others, again, are Sunset on the Moray Firth, by
Mr. W. B. Hyslop, and .4 Spanish Village, by Mr. D. M.
Sutherland. Mr. Hyslop has missed the sleepy motion
of a calm sea — that motion which Josef Israels expressed
so well sometimes — but the light gleaming on the distant
headland is beautifully handled, and it is this same quality
of good treatment of light which chiefly glorifies Mr.
Sutherland's work. His whole picture is suffused by
the sun's rays, but, though everything is glittering and
brilliant, that stridency often marking art of this kind is
wholly absent. Turning to the department of portraiture,
two artists who impress one favourably are Mr. W.
Macdonald and Mr. A. E. Harley, the former repre-
sented by Lola and the latter by Portrait of a Lady.
Mr. Macdonald's canvas is original and intensely virile,
while the face certainly holds an abundance of life ; yet
the bare arm prominent in the first plane is depicted in
a slovenly fashion, and slapdash workmanship is equally
salient in various other parts of the figure. No doubt
this has been done with a view to concentrating the
spectator's gaze on the sitter's eyes, but when that
stratagem is employed it should not be allowed to be
obtrusive, as it assuredly is in the present instance, it
should be a servant rather than a suzerain ; and one has
only to recall how successfully it was used by Van Gogh,
and more particularly by Manet, to realise what a lot
Mr. Macdonald has still to learn despite his cleverness.
Mr. Harley 's picture, on the other hand, reflects less fire
yet remarkably sound technique, the modelling being a
very exemplar, and making all seem to stand backwards
into the canvas besides forwards ; while waiving portrai-
ture, a work of which it behoves to speak is Mr. S. J.
Peploe's Still Life, its subject a teapot, a melon, and
some other fruit. In delineating these things the artist
has eschewed rotundity as far as possible, making
angularity insistent instead, and, thanks to his utilising
this Post-Impressionist style, he has been fiercely criti-
cised. But is it not an old axiom in painting, a very old
one, that when a thing is drawn with curves it has a
feeling of softness, whereas when it is done with straight
lines and angles it acquires a look of solidity ? Prob-
ably, then, it is with intent to emphasise the solidity and
hardness of his subject that Mr. Peploe is painting in
this so-called new manner ; and, even allowing that his
recent works are less delightful than those on which his
fame rests, he is quite right in aiming at progress. No
master of the past but has done likewise, developing
various ideas of his predecessors.
In the water-colour room theie are many engaging
items. Miss O. C. Smyth's Dannsa Marbh is a clever
mutation of Chinese art, and Miss C. Walton's street
scene, Balloons, demonstrates this artist able to essay
a new line of action well, the picture being done in a
strong, simple fashion, comparatively foreign to Miss
Walton's productions heretofore. An analogous manner
is used by Mr. H. Lintott in Portrait Study, and used
to good purpose, while an arresting work is Mr. A.
Gamley's Little Housekeeper. The topic is a young girl
engaged in washing dishes, and, albeit these last prove
Mr. Gamley but a mediocre painter of still-life, and
although the girl's right hand is badly drawn, the picture
undoubtedly possesses a deal of that indefinable charm
which the old Dutchmen conferred on humble domestic
scenes.
The sculpture hall is fuller this year than usual, and a
good item here is Mr. H. Wilson's Christ Crucified,
while another exhibitor manifesting
ifts is Mr. L.
Deuchars, who shows two models for carved panels,
each executed in plaster from a design by Sir Robert
Lorimer, and the subject in either case being a series
of little heads. Their beauty would seem to lie in their
The Connoisseur
quaintness, and perhaps it is quaintness- again which
constitutes the charm of Mr, Pilkington Jackson's
Patriarchy a very life-like study of a rabbit. Passing to
lei the new craftsmanship section, some bookbind-
i gns b> Mr. D. S. McColl are disappoint-
ing. He is one of the best art critics alive, but his
bindings ai e destitute of sj nthesis : they betray a lack of
definite purpose on the designer's part, and sundry
volumes b) Miss J. E. Pagan are much more desirable.
Nevertheless, beautiful as these are, they cannot com-
pare with a numbei oi hand-printed books which have
been borrowed lor the exhibition, all of whi( h are listed
in the catalogue as emanating from Mr.Charles Ricketts'
Vale Press, but one of which, in reality, is the work of
William Morris, while two were printed at the Eragny
Pre i by Mr. Lucien Pissarro. It was a happy idea to
assemble these volumes, bat unfortunately, if Morris is
seen at his best, this is scarcely true as regards Mr.
Ricketts. His Daphnis and Chlo'e and Fair Rosamund,
neither of which is shown, are lovelier than anything"
by Morris, and likewise transcend all the efforts of the
Essex House, Doves, and Cuala presses. Along with
other things by the same hand they have proved a huge
source of inspiration to many concerned with book pro-
duction, as witness some of the tasteful printing of the
Tower Press, Dublin, and more especially a superb
volume decorated by Mr. Clinton Balmer, The Gate of
Smaragdus j and, if Mr. Ricketts' books have any rival,
this consists in the output of Mr. Pissarro. He also is
inadequately represented in the present collection, for it
does not include his masterpiece, a tiny volume of verse
by Judith Gautier, a daughter of Theophile Gautier ; but
at least his edition of Perrault's Deu r Contes is shown,
and few more delectable books than this exist. The
design on the title-page — a procession of female figures
— has a stately severity which recalls the vases of Douris ;
while no less beautiful is the pattern on the cover, also
the offspring of Mr. Pissarro's inventive genius. Lack of
space makes it impossible to offer him here the homage
he merits, but one must not conclude without mentioning
another literary treasure embraced in the display — an
edition of the Book of Job, printed in Morland type by
the defunct Abbey Press, and illus-
trated with pen-and-ink drawings
by Mr. R. T. Rose. This artist is
not a sound draughtsman in the
ordinary academic sense of the
term, yet he stands in the front
rank of contemporary illustrators. .
He has not the power of Mr. Austin
Spare, nor the delicate touch of
Mr. Laurence Housman, but he
always contrives to render the
essential spirit of the literature
with which he is dealing ; and, in
the drawings in question, there
is hardlv one but exhales surelv
DRAWING FOR TH
the weirdness and mystery by r. t
which permeate the Book of Job. at the society of
An Historical
Mansion
Household
Backgrounds
ONE of the oldest and most interesting of English
historical mansions St. Mary's, Bramber, Sussex has
been entrusted to Messrs. Harrods
for disposal. It is an unique speci-
men of Karly English domestic
architecture, dating from the reign of Ring John, and
being one of the finest examples of half-timbered work
still surviving. A feature of the mansion is the perfect
preservation of both exterior and interior, while its his-
torical associations connect it with Charles II. and other
English monarchs, the former staying there during his
flight from Worcester.
TO find a fitting and harmonious background for his
household gods is always a formidable task to the
aesthetic householder. It has, how-
ever, been considerably lightened of
recent years by the intelligent taste
shown by various manufacturers of wall coverings.
Among those who should be honourably mentioned in
this respect are Messrs. Sissons Brothers & Co., who
in their well-known "Hall's Distemper" provide an
inexhaustible range of artistic hues equally suitable for
decorating the living-room or domestic office, and, when
used with discretion, setting off pictures or objects of art
that may be in front of it like a simple frame sets off a
fine picture. The material has the advantage of being
inexpensive, washable, and sanitary. To those who like
more ornate backgrounds — ones which, instead of form-
ing plain settings to the household gods, unite with them
in forming a beautiful and composite whole — nothing
can be better than the finely executed reproductions of
old Chinese and Japanese wall-papers issued by Messrs.
Charles Rnowles & Co., Ltd. (164, Queen's Road, Chel-
sea). The Chinese were supreme masters of decorative
art, and their wall-papers were among their happiest
efforts. The reproductions by Messrs. Knowles embody
many exquisite arrangements of pattern and delicate and
subtle colour harmonies.
Important Art Sale
An opportunity is offered to connoisseurs by the sale
of the contents of 20, King Street, Portman Square, by
direction of Her Highness
Princess Victor Duleep Singh,
which Mr. Thomas Cubitt is selling
on March 17th and 18th. Amongst
the lots to be offered are several
sets of Chippendale chairs, carved
gilt and convex mirrors, Queen
Anne, Sheraton and Hepplewhite
furniture, and two grandfather
clocks. There are also some fine
pieces of antique silver, Wedgwood,
Worcester, Sevres, and Dresden
services and figures, and some
paintings by Herring, Baptiste,
Lely and Morland. Catalogues
ErBc.°eK °F J°B can be Stained from the auc-
scottish artists tioneer, 283, Fulham Road, S.W .
r.82
<
I
z z
-r 'J)
S w
o H
a <
5 1
j o
- a
o 5
In some of the educational works of a former genera-
tion it used to be stated that the
original idea of our lofty Gothic fanes
was borrowed from the straight stems
and meeting branches of the trees in
a forest glade. One would imagine
that this theory still meets with a
certain amount of acceptance among
the uninitiated, so little interest
is taken in those phases of archi-
Byzantine and Romanesque — which bridged
" Byzantine and
Romanesque
Architecture,"
by T. G.
Jackson, R.A.
(Cambridge
University Press
£2 2S. net)
the gap between the purely Classical and Gothic styles,
and from which the latter were immediately derived.
An important work on Byzantine and Romanesque
architecture from the well-informed pen of Mr. T. G.
Jackson is therefore to be welcomed as serving" to direct
the attention of the enquirer to the close connection
between the earlier styles of British and post-Roman
continental buildings, as well as to instruct him on
the genesis of Christian ecclesiastical architecture and
its subsequent developments for over a thousand years.
As Mr. Jackson truly points out, Roman architecture is
S.MARIA MAGGIORE-TOSCANELLA FROM "BYZANTINE AND ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURP
'85
IBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS)
The Connoisseur
the true source of all i em I uropean .styles j its greal
merit was "its admirable suitability to the purposes ii
: and also its powei oi adaptation to modern
requirements, in which quality it surpassed Greek an hi
, much as it was itseli surpassed by the styles
. it." Though the author is justified in
urging the student to study the Roman styles in prefer-
ence to the Greek, he appears to go unduly far in mini-
mizing the import ince of the latter. To class them with
of] pt, Vssyria, Persia, India, and China as alien
to our temperament and having no direct bearing on
rn use, is to ignore the undoubted influence they
havi exercised o\ er some of the most beautiful phases "I
eighteenth and early nineteenth century interior decora-
tion. The brothers Adam owed nun h to their inspiration,
while to cite an example of nineteenth-century Greek
architecture which is " not anion,- the most frigid and
desperately dull work of modem times," one need only
mention St. George's Hall, Liverpool. It is, perhaps,
unfair to laj so much emphasis on a point which, though
important in itself, hardly comes within the true scope of
Mr. Jackson's work. He traces in a masterly manner
the branching-off of Roman architecture into the Byzan-
tine and Romanesque styles, which, rising from the same
stem, gradually developed under the influences of Eastern
and Western environment into two independent styles.
That the former can be adapted to modern English
requirements is shown in the Westminster Cathedral,
while the latter— the Romanesque— inspired the building
of all our great ecclesiastical edifices, and indeed stone
buildings of any kind, until long after the Norman
Conquest. Mr. Jackson's volumes are based on a series
of lectures he gave originally to Cambridge University
students. This may, perhaps, partly account for the
remarkable clearness of their exposition and the well-
ordered arrangement of their contents. The writer brings
nothing before his readers which is not fully explained
and which cannot be perfectly understood by the hitter.
Every phase of architectural development is illustrated
with plates and plans of actual buildings, the former
being largely reproduced from drawings executed by
Mr. Jackson and his son. Such drawings, executed by
experienced architects, are far more helpful to students
than photographs as allowing the salient features of
each building to be duly emphasized and the decorative
detail given its proper importance.
There is no hint in Ayrshire Idylls to guide us
whether the title refers to Mr. Neil Munro's letterpress
or the illustrations by Mr. George
"Ayrshire Idylls," Houston. If to the latter, it is not
by Neil Munro, misapplied, for these dainty colour-
LL.D., illustrated printS) redolent of fresh air and
by George sunshine, are thoroughly idyllic,
H°"St_!n.'AJR presenting, as they do, some of the
most beautiful of Ayrshire scenes
under their most charming aspects.
On the other hand, Mr. Neil Munro's
stories are not idyllic ; they are concerned less with the
country than with some of the chief personages who
(Adam and
Charles Black
ios. 6d. net)
have lived there, and the latter are portrayed rather in
a satirical than a sympathetic spirit. Dr. Johnson is,
perhaps, fair game to a Scotsman; the sketch of him
.1 panying Boswell to the house of the hitter's father,
presented in / rsa Major, is undeniably clever, but the
caricature is somewhat broad, and tin- doctor is made to
talk, not in the racy Anglo Saxon which he habitually
spoke, but in the l.atinisms he used when writing, some
of his sayings, actually recorded as having been made
during the visit, being translated by the writer into more
pompous phrase. The sketches of Bums are conceived
m a more serious spirit, yet perhaps on this account are
even less satisfying. To revivify the great dead and
make them act and speak naturally, and so as to impress
the spectator with a sense of their greatness, is a feat
which demands transcendent powers; it may be questioned
whether even Shakespeare would have succeeded if the
personages he depicted had not been so far removed from
us in period that we have little conception of what
they were like, and so have no preconceived notions of
our own regarding them to hold up against his portrait-
ure. M r. Munro's other sketches are better, because they
concern people either not so well known or entirely
imaginary, and so one can accept the author's conception
of them without question. These are well written— as
indeed are all the stories— and are generally threaded
with a vein of tragedy.
Kinglake was a partial disappointment in literature.
His Eotken, published in 1844, seemed to prophesy a
distinguished career for its author;
"Eothen," by but> though he lived until 1891, he
A. W. Kinglake, produced only one other work, the
illustrated by lengthy Invasion of the Crimea,
F. Brangwyn, yM€a, full of brilliant passages, is
' ' T at the same time so interminably
(Sampson Low, , .
„„ or prolix that now it is not read, but
Marston & Co., 1
Ltd. 12s. 6d. net) on!>' <luoted from- hot/u'"^ on ,he
other hand, has become a minor
classic, and to judge by the numerous editions issued
of recent years, it enjoys a wider popularity than when
written. In the latest one, a handsomely mounted
volume published by Messrs. Sampson Low & Co., the art
of Mr. Frank Brangwyn, A.R.A., is called in to elucidate
and embellish the highly polished though artificial style
of the writer. The contrast between the methods and
personalities of author and artist is so complete that one
would expect their work to clash rather than harmonize ;
but the combination proves most happy, Mr. Brangwyn's
illustrations suggesting all the feeling of the glamour
and mystery of the East which the clear-cut and precise
utterance of Kinglake fails to convey wholly. The
coloured plates are finely reproduced, and show the artist
111 full command of those rich and poignant harmonies
which he expresses with such perfect ease and directness.
Even better in their way are the black-and-white
illustrations ; these have all the charm of the artist's
etchings, and gain in spontaneity from being executed
on a smaller scale. Mr. S. L. Bensusan prefaces the
volume with a well-informed introduction, and altogether
186
7 lie Connoisseur Books he/f
it constitutes
what is un-
doubtedly
the most
attractive
edition of
Eothen yet
issued.
"Ddla
Robbias in
America,"
by Allan
Marquand
(Princeton
University
Press
20s. net)
The ex-
tent to which
the artistic
treasures o f
Europe are
finding their
way across
the Atlantic
is illustrated
in the cata-
logue of Del-
hi Robbias
in America
which has
been com-
piled by
Professor
Allan Mar-
quand, of
Princeton
Uni versi ty.
In 1SS4 only
one example
ofDellaRob-
bia work was
known to be
i n America ;
by 1902 the
f * x
\\
THE CAMPANILE, LE PUY
number had increased to ten ; now it amounts to over
seventy — a substantial proportion of the total amount
which has been suffered to leave Italy, where the bulk of
the productions of the Delia Robbia school still remain.
The examples catalogued by Professor Marquand are
allotted to the various members of the Delia Robbia
family as follows : — eight to Lucca, whose work is the
most seldom found outside Florence; twenty -eight
to Andrea; and seventeen to Giovanni; the remainder
have been loosely classified into groups not yet definitely
distributed among the other members of the school —
Fra Ambrogia, Fra Matteo and Lucca di Andrea della
Robbia, and Bendetto and Santi Buglioni. The cata-
logue is a valuable addition to Della Robbia literature,
Prof e s s or
Marquand
having ex-
haustively
compared
the Ameri-
can exam-
ples with the
known speci-
men s el se-
where simi-
lar i n style
and compo-
sition, and so
con s tituted
a reliable
guide to the
various
phases of the
art, the more
i nst rue tive
because of
the large
n u mber of
excellent
plates with
which it i s
ill us t rated.
The w o r k
would have
been i 111 -
proved had
the measure-
ments of the
various
pieces cata-
logued been
recorded,
and rendered
more handy
for reference
if a list of
owners had
been added,
otherwise it
is difficult to
see how it could have been bettered. Professor Marquand
is now engaged on a general catalogue of Della Robbia
work, and will be grateful to readers who will kindlydirect
his attention to specimens which are unknown to him.
William Blake's illustrations to Thornton's "Pastorals
of Virgil." Enlarged fac-similes in platinotype from
the scarce original edition by Frederick H. Evans.
Royal 4to. Edition limited to 25 numbered copies.
(£2 2s. net)
It is frequently to be considered one of the misfortunes
of the illustrator that he is compelled to restrict his work
within the space allowed him by publisher and author;
and indeed only too rarely is he given a voice in the
FROM BYZANTINE AND ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE
(CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS)
187
The Connoisseur
question as to what form ami ^i/e a book shall take that
In- sets out to beautify. When William Blake was com
oned to illustrate Ambrose Philips's Imitation o)
<,' Eclogue, and, eagei to show what vitality
and power could be expressed b) a neglect of conven-
procedure, undertook to cut the wood-blocks
himself, he had to confine his energies within a space
of three by one-and-a-half inches for each design.
rhese seventeen cuts form Blake's solitary attempt at
engraving; but the) display some of the most
irkable features of his art, aiul are deservedly
famous. To see how well these enlarged reproductions
are justified, one needs to compare them with the original
prints in the shabbily produced but valuable little octavo
Dr. Thornton published in 1S21. Blake's lack of skill
a- a wood-engraver is, of course, emphasized by the
enlargement of his errors; but even were this a dis-
advantage, it is quite counterbalanced by the additional
force and beauty they gain. The accompanying text
has been printed by hand at the Temple Sheen Press ;
and we could wish that Mr. Evans had thought fit to
print the whole of the Eclogue, instead of merely those
passages directly related to the cuts. He would have
spared the sensitive reader some uncomfortable jerks
and left him better satisfied.
I 1 would be a nice question whether the iconoclast or
the restorer has done most damage to the rich wealth
of medieval figure sculpture for-
" Medieval Figure meriy existing in England. How
sculpture in vast ;t was may ^e inferred from
England." the statement made by Professor
By EdwardS. Edward s. Prior and Arthur
Prior, M.A., „ , iT_ . , .1
' Gardner in their great work on the
and Arthur , . , . ,
„ , „„ . subiect, that scarcely more than one
Gardner, M.A. ,
,.-, , . . percent, of it has come down to us.
(Cambridge r
University Press This relatively small salvage, how-
£? is net) ever, has left a huge number of
separate items ; the authors, who
modestly confess that they have not exhausted their
theme, have had over three thousand photographs of
different objects from which to select the illustrations
for their work, while more than thrice that number of
pieces have been brought to their notice. The work,
like most of the examples of medieval art, was practically
wholly used for ecclesiastical purposes, and almost
invariably employed in conjunction with architecture,
being originally an offshoot of the latter. The period
covered by the book is, broadly speaking, the four
hundred years from 1130 to 1530, when Gothic archi-
tecture, of which sculptural ornamentation formed such
an important element, was dominant. Earlier pieces,
which, though not numerous, include some works of
the highest importance, are noticed, as are also a few of
always inspired by high ethical
ideals but never rising beyond the
the later pieces- those recumbent monumental effigies
which retained their Gothic style until well into the
seventeenth century ; but for the main part all the work
described was executed in the period mentioned. The
volume is a highly valuable addition to the records of
ancient English art, throwing light on a phase of it
which has not hitherto been adequately explored or
sufficientl) appreciated. The authors have conclusively
shown that medieval England, far from being an
inartistic nation, developed to the highest degree one of
the most beautiful and sentient forms of artistic ex-
pression, and that if the hands of reformers had been less
heavy, our ancient sculpture would have vied in quantity
as well as in quality with that of France. Too much
praise cannot be given to the illustrations — 855 in num-
ber—which bring out the details of the carving, in the
subjects chosen, in a wonderfully explicit manner, and
add much to the value of the lucid, scholarly, well-written
and well-arranged letterpress.
The poems of Miss Eleanor Wheeler Wilcox perhaps
command a wider circle of readers than those of any
other Anglo-American author. Her
roems 01 tender sentiment and graceful fancy,
Passion and
Pleasure," by
Ella Wheeler
„.,, intellectual capacity of her audience,
WllcOX , , , , j r
„. , , have endeared her to thousands 01
Pictured by , ...
Dudley Tennant PeoP,e t0 whom the P**" llVln»
(Gay & Hancock) ma5teis of verse are merely nameS-
Both on account of their far-reaching
influence and their own intrinsic merits, Miss Wilcox's
poems are worthy of presentment in a guise more tasteful
and worthier of permanent keeping than is afforded by
the orthodox popular editions, and on this account the
issue of the sumptuously mounted volume of her Poems of
Passion and Pleasure, illustrated by Mr. Dudley Tennant,
is thoroughly justified. The artist has interpreted her
themes with sympathetic insight, and shows in his treatment
of them the high qualities of colour and draughtsmanship
which usually distinguish his work. Some of the more
successful plates are those concerned with Miss Wilcox's
charming fancies concerning child-life, such as "The
Beautiful Land of Nod,'' or " Babyland," but Mr. Tennant
displays even higher qualities in some of his more serious
conceptions— therichly coloured" Sunset," the pathetically
beautiful illustration to "War Sonnets," the glowing
" Love's Language," or the dainty idylls of " A Lover's
Quarrel." The artist throughout the volume, without
merging his individuality, has subordinated it to the
expression and elucidation of Miss Wilcox's ideas, so that
the letterpress and illustrations are mutually helpful,
instead of, as is too often the case nowadays, maintaining
complete independence of each other.
188
LE SEMEUR
A RARE LITHOGRAPH BY JEAN FRANCOIS MILLET
189
CHELSEA CHILDREN
AN ETCHING BY THEODORE ROUSSEL
190
ORRESPONDENC
gwr-s/ww-igc
Special Notice
Enquiries should be made upon the coupon which will be found in the advertisement pages. While,
owing to our enormous correspondence and the fact that every number of The Connoisseur is printed a
month in advance, it is impossible for us to guarantee in every case a prompt reply in these columns, an
immediate reply will be sent by post to all readers who desire it, upon payment of a nominal fee. Expert
opinions and valuations can be supplied when objects are sent to our offices for inspection, and, where
necessary, arrangements can be made for an expert to examine single objects and collections in the country,
and give advice, the fee in all cases to be arranged beforehand. Objects sent to us may be insured whilst
they are in our possession, at a moderate cost. All communications and goods should be addressed to the
" Manager of Enquiry Dept., The Connoisseur, 35-39, Maddox Street, W."
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
Milton's "Paradise Lost."— A6.465 (Norwood).— It
your Baskerville edition of Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise
AV;r<z/;/c-(/ are in good condition, they arc worth about £5.
Mezzotints. — A6,5Io (St. Mary Church). — If your mezzo-
tint of Mr. Tomkins. by C. Turner, after Sir J. Reynolds, is a
good average impression, it is worth about £}. Tin- print of
.Ariadne, by YV. Doughty, after Reynolds, would need to be
seen before an opinion could be given, as it is an engraving of
considerable value when in fine state.
"Lord Robert Manners." A051S (Hull).— The value
of this mezzotint, by Dickinson, after Reynolds, varies very
considerably, a tine proof, before any letters, having realised over
,£50, while other impressions sell for under ^10.
Coaching Prints. — A6,s2i (Condover). — Your set of
coaching prints, by Reeves and Rosenburg, after Pollard, are
worth from ^20 to ^30, if genuine, according to the quality of
the impression.
Book. — A6, 524 (Ferry Hill). — The Reviving of a Christian,
by R. Jenison, is of practically no interest to a collector.
Books on China. — A6.540 (Santiago). — We should recom-
mend the following : — Hayden's Chats on China (T. Fisher
Unwin), 5s. net; Hodgson's How to Identity Porcelain iC.
Bell), 5s. net; and Man';; on Porcelain, by Hobson, published
by Macmillan, 7--. 6d. net. The last-named work contains the
most comprehensive list vet published. For a more expensive
work we should advise the most recent edition of Litchfield's
Pottery ana Porcelain, published at the end of last year by
M ssrs. Truslove and Hanson, at one guinea.
Prints. — A6.549 (Bury St. Edmunds). — Your Art Union
prints have little or no interest 10 a collector of engravings.
Chest. — A6,5~o (Atherton, Manchester). — The photograph
you send i- very small, but so far as we can judge, the chest is of
raised carved work, and probably Italian. We fear we cannot
give any further information without seeing a better photograph.
" Feathered Tribes of British Islands."— .^6,576
(Ipswich). — This work, with two illustrations by Geo. Baxter,
realises about £1 under ordinary circumstances.
Octagonal Table. — A6,577 (St. Saviour'.-,, Jersey). — We
have referred your enquiry to our expert, and he is not aware
that Chippendale always built his fretwork of separate pieces.
He has seen many fine examples of Chippendale tables with the
fret in one piece.
Drug Jars. — A6,jSo (Edgbaston). — The drug jars shown
in the photograph are not Dutch delft. They are probably of
French fayence, and may be of the eighteenth century. The
French factories are very numerous, and very little is known of
many of the smaller ones. Such jars, not of known and celebrated
factories, are not readily saleable, but they might fetch 50s. 01
so the pair.
"Oliver Cromwell," by John Barnet.— A6.5S3 (Chi-
chester).— Your print is only worth a few shillings.
Sporting Prints. — A6. 586 (Brussels). — If your set of four
coloured prints of Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase, 1839,
are genuine good impressions, they are worth .£10 to £ 15 the set.
"Le Byron des Dames."— A6. 589 (Highland P. R.,
Conn.).— As your book is apparently a unique copy, we tear it
is not possible for us to place a value on it without seeing it.
China. — A6.S92 (Vienna). — None of the articles shown in
the photographs you send is of value from a collector's point ol
view, (i) The plate marked Copeland appears to be printed
ware, such as i- produced in quantities. A service would only
be of value for its domestic use. The firm is still in existence.
(2) The cup and saucer are of Davenport (Longport) manufacture,
made previous to 1S76, but not fine in quality. Though a service
would be saleable, an odd cup or saucer would only letch 5s. or
so. (3) The jug and bowl are modern French ware. They
might realise a few shillings, but it would be difficult to find a
purchaser.
Derby Vases.— A6, 611 (Pontypool). — The mark on the
vases was used from 17S0 to 1830. but the continuous landscape
in the decoration points to about 1S10. Judging from the
photograph, they are a good set, and should be worth about £2$.
Clock'.— A6,'o24 (Toronto).— There are two clockmakers
named Pattison recorded in Britton's Old Clocks and their
Makers: Robert Pattison, who was apprenticed to Thomas
Tompion, and ( leorge, who worked in King St.. Seven Dials, in
[835. If you carcVi send a photograph, we can give you an
approximate valuation.
191
HE CONNOISSEVR.
GENEALOGICAL AND
LDIC DEPARJMENT
Special Notice
Readers of The Connoisseur who desire to
take advantage of the opportunities offered herein
should address all letters on the subject to the
Manager of the Heraldic Department, Hanover
Buildings, 35-39, Maddox Street, W.
Only replies that may be considered to be of
general interest will be published in these columns.
Those of a directly personal character, or in cases
where the applicant may prefer a private answer, will
be dealt with by post.
Readers who desire to have pedigrees traced, the
accuracy of armorial bearings enquired into, or other-
wise to make use of the department, will be charged
fees according to the amount of work involved.
Particulars will be supplied on application.
When asking information respecting genealogy or
heraldry, it is desirable that the fullest details, so far
as they may be already known to the applicant, should
be set forth.
EPITAPH. — The curious epitaph to Mary, Lady Kingston, is
to be found in Leyton Church, on the south side of the chancel,
and is on brass ; it leads as follows : —
" If you wyll the truythe have,
Here lyethe in thys grave,
Dyrectly under thys stone,
Good Lady Mary Kingstone :
Who departyd thys world, the truth to say,
In the month of August, the xv day :
And, as I do well remember,
Was buryed honorably 4 day of September,
The yere of our Lorde, rekynd truly,
MY' fourty and eyght varely ;
Whos yerly obyte and anniversary
Ys determined to be kept surely,
At the costs of hyr sone Sr Henry
Jernynghame truely ;
Who was, at thys makyng,
Of the Quenes gard cheffe capteyn, 1557."
Lady Kingston was wife of Sir William King-ton, K.G., and
daughter of Richard, Lord Sr p.
Edward Jerningham, Esqr.
She had first married
KEMPSON. — The Rev. Gough Willis Kempson was son of
Willis Kempson, of Wolverhampton, co. Stafford, gent. He
was of Christ Church, Oxford, matriculated 17 June, 1770,
aged 18. B.A. 1773 '• M.A. 1779. lie died at Graisley, near
Wolverhampton, iS October, 1S25.
The Rev. William Henry Kempson, second son of the above,
matriculated at the same College 26 June, 1828, aged 18 ; took
his B.A. in 1S33, and died 25 October, 1836.
Coat of Arms on Porcelain. — The arms are Or, three
demi-lions rampant, and a chief or. for Fisher of co. Gloucester,
co. Hertford, and co. Stafford; impaling Ermine, three fusils,
conjoined, in fess, sable, for Pigott, and were used by that family
of co. Buckingham and Salop.
Colchester. — Sir Duncomb Colchester was knighted at
Whitehall 9 November, 1674. His pedigree was entered in
the Visitation of Gloucester ; the pedigree we give below is in
Le Neve's Pedigrees of the Knights (Harleian Society).
The arms are given as Or, a chev : betw : 3 estoils gu :
Crest — a demy lion proper, holding in its paws a like estoil
gu :, a confirmation of these arm- was granted to Richard
Colchester, father of Sir Duncomb.
Richard Colchester;
I
I
Richard Colchester =
of Greys Inne, gent.
Cursitor for London |
& M i d d s. in the I
Court of Chancery.
I
Sir Duncomb Colchester
of ye Wildern in Abinghale
p'ish com : Glouc. K,ci as
above liveing 1686.
Elizabeth dr
of S' John
Maynard, K'
Serjeant at
Lawe.
I
Henry Somerset
Colchester.
1 1
1 jane Maynard Colchester
2 Mary esq' a student in the
3 Dorothy Inner Temple 1683.
Queries.
[//V shall he pleased to insert two or three quel ies monthly, for
reader*, provided they are short, and are accompanied by the
name and address of the sender.]
Swymmer Family.— Any particulars relating to this
Somerset family will be gratefully received.
192
"History of Old Sheffield Plate"
By Frederick Bradbury *
(Reviewed)
Old Sheffield Plate has long waited its chronicler.
For a quarter of a century or more it has been gradually
reviving in popularity, until now it is as eagerly sought
for, and as highly prized by collectors, as old silver, old
china, and the other beautiful wares which our Early
Victorian progenitors lightly laid aside in favour of
the products of nineteenth-century machinery. Vet the
literature on the subject has hitherto been meagre in
quantity and lacking in authority, so that the collector
who sought for knowledge had to acquire it by experience.
Now at length in the History of Old Sheffield Plate
we have a book that is worthy of the subject, and one
that covers it so thoroughly as to leave little scope for
exploration by future writers. Mr. Frederick Bradbury
tells us in his preface that the object of his work "is to
extend a knowledge of the now highly valued specimens
of Old Sheffield plated wares ; to trace the origin of
the processes by which they were made ; to give some
particulars of the manufacturers and their factories, the
localities, the workmen and the methods employed ; with
other details that may be of interest both to collectors
and to those who deal in the products of an old-time
industry that has to-day fallen almost entirely into disuse.''
This is an extended programme, yet Mr. Bradbury has
largely improved upon it, or at least placed under the
modest heading of "other details " the contents of half —
and that not the least valuable half — of his volume. The
writer has indeed special qualifications — one might say,
all the qualifications — desirable for the performance of
his work. Himself a manufacturer of plated ware, he
comes of a family who have been associated with the
industry since its inception. There is no process in the
work with which he is not personally acquainted ; while
his prominent position in his native city has put at his
disposal a mass of information from public and private
sources and numerous specimens in private collections
which would not be available to an ordinary writer.
Added to this, the work has obviously been a labour of
love, and no pains have been spared to make it as
complete as possible.
An evidence of this is afforded by the profuse wealth
of illustrations. It is, of course, impossible to adequately
convey by means of these the peculiar qualities of Sheffield
* History of Old She/field Plate, by Frederick llra.11 any.
Two Guineas. (Macmillan.)
PIERCED ESCALLOPED TOP PIPE LIGHTER
193
DATE 1783
The Connoisseur
OVAL PIERCED AND CHASED MUSTARD POT, BY T. FOX
AND CO. DATE I7S9
the subtle delicacies ol
texture and finish, differentiat-
ing it in appearance from well-
made copies in modern electro-
plate, which are apparent only
to actual sight and touch and
are not to be transferred to
paper by any process blocks,
however excellent — but the
plate- throughout are of high
quality and fully expressive of
the form and detail of the articles
depicted. As to the selection of
the latter, there may be two
opinions. Mr. Bradbury has not
limited his choice to what may
be termed purely collector's
pieces, but has included a num-
ber of orthodox specimens not
specially distinguished either for
rarity or beauty of design. In
this we think he has shown dis-
cretion, for to omit from a work
of this kind the description of
anything but the exceptional—
the pieces which are generally out of reach of anyone but
the advanced collector— would be to greatly impair its
utility. Another point on which Mr. Bradbury may be
congratulated is that he has fully illustrated the various
processes of manufacture, showing the original ingot of
copper and silver before and after fusion, and lucidly
demonstrating all the subsequent stages through which it
passes, a feature which we do not remember to have seen
included in any previous work on the subject.
Old Sheffield plate, as the author explains, "is the
term used to describe articles of flat and hollow-ware for
table or domestic use made of copper coated with silver
by fu,ion " and hardened and strengthened by pressure
between rollers. The process was discovered in 1 743 b>"
Thomas Boulsover— Mr. Bradbury bringing forward con-
clusive evidence that this is the correct form of the name
instead of the more generally accepted spelling of " Bols-
over." The inventor was a button-maker, and at once
applied the discovery to the adornment of his wares, and
'■ it is noteworthy that the plated button, the very first
THE VICTORY INKSTAND,
AND CO.
article made by Boulsover, should have held its place
amongst the many productions from fused plated metal
more tenaciously than any other experimental articles."
Space does not permit us to follow the author into his
interesting account ol Boulsover's career, or to his com-
prehensive and instructive description of his method of
manufacture— a method still in use at the present day.
Collectors, or intending collectors, however, should closely
study this portion of the book, as an intimate knowledge
of the methods of manufacture will often save them from
purchasing spurious imitations of the Sheffield ware.
For many years after the invention, Sheffield plating
was almost entirely confined to the production of small
articles such as buttons and snuff-boxes. Mr. Bradbury,
though he includes some specimens of shoe-buckles among
his illustrations, is not inclined
to include these as among the
articles largely produced by
Sheffield platers, as he holds that
the process was not suitable for
such work, and that such ones
as were plated were generally
done by the earlier method of
close plating. Button and box-
making, however, both became
flourishing industries, though
the latter was ultimately trans-
ferred to Birmingham, the Shef-
field manufacturers chiefly con-
centrating their attention on the
production of larger and more
important articles. This did ni it
take place until some years had
elapsed. It is not until about
the year 1755 that there can be
found any real evidence of an
attempt to manufacture larger
articles for daily household pur-
poses. To that, year belongs a
very interesting example of a
BY DANI-. HOLY, PARKER
DATE 1 8O4
BRITANNIA METAL TEA CADDY, BY KIRKBV SMITH
AND CO. DATE I7Q7
194
History of Old Sheffield Plate "
saucepan. It is curious to note
that the silver coating of this
article is for use rather than
ornament, the plating being on
the inside and extremely thick.
The piece is one of Joseph
Hancock's manufacture, being
the earliest authenticated work
by this great pioneer ofthe Shef-
field plating industry. Among
his early contemporaries were
Thomas Law and Thomas
Leader. The latter had served
an apprenticeship with a firm of
London silversmiths, and his
education stood him in good
stead, for, joining in partnership
with Henry Tudor, he establish-
ed the first factory for the pro-
duction of Sheffield plate, and
the firm took rank as the largest
and most important makers of
the commodity. This firm is
now extinct, but another firm not
greatly inferior in point of an-
tiquity, that of the Bradburys,
is still in existence, they being
the successors of Matthew Fen-
ton & Co., the second firm
on the Sheffield books to regis-
ter as silversmiths. This was in
1 773, the first year in which the
local assay office was established.
1 let ween then and 1800 was per-
haps the finest period of Shef-
field plate. It embraced various
improvements in the manufac-
ture of the ware — the invention
of silver edges, soldering-in of
shields, and the introduction of
light cut engraving. The beauty
and delicacy ofthe designs made
during these years have not been
subsequently surpassed. They
were largely influenced by the
classical feeling which per-
meated England at the time,
and which, exemplified in the work of the
OLD SHEFFIELD PLATE COACH LAMP IN THE
ENTRANCE HALL AT KNOLE PARK
DATE l8l6
brothers
Adam, Chippendale, Sheraton, Wedgwood, and other
designers, gave to products of English contemporary
craftsmanship a dignity of form and a refinement of
ornamentation which is hardly to be matched since the
days of ancient Greece. It is to pieces of this period
and the years immediately succeeding it that one should
look for Sheffield plate in its most beautiful forms ; and
a study of the illustrations in Mr. Bradbury's book should
serve to correct the prevalent belief that Sheffield plate
consists of ponderous articles, chiefly candlesticks and
candelabra, with heavily gadrooned and florid silver-filled
mounts, and " copper showing through." It is, indeed,
curious how widespread is the
misconception that the artistic
triumphs of Sheffield plate in its
most glorious days are founded
on the production of the
George IV. and early Victorian
periods, and even on the atro-
ciously copied specimens with
which this country has lately
been flooded.
Among the workers ofthe best
period were Matthew Boulton,
of Birmingham, and Samuel
Roberts and Thomas Nichol-
son, of Sheffield, who each exer-
cised a marked influence on
the 1 raft. Boulton died in 1809,
so that little of his work came
under the influence of the sud-
den change of fashion which
occurred about the beginning ot
the nineteenth century. Every-
one then became weary of the
plain designs in silver and plated
ware, with the result that new
ones far more ornate and intri-
cate had to be substituted. The
result is that although after this
date we find even more wonder-
ful workmanship, there appear
gradual signs of artistic deterio-
ration, a decadence which con-
tinued until Sheffield plating
began to be superseded by
electro-plating, which occurred
shortly after 1840. The new
process was much cheaper, re-
quiring a smaller amount ot
silver and being far easier in the
working.
The great superiority of old
Sheffield work and designs over
modern electro-plate being ad-
mitted, it is a source of consider-
able surprise to many that Shef-
field does not resuscitate this
interesting industry, or, at any
rate, manufacture more articles from the old dies, many
of which undoubtedly still exist in the city. The ever-
lasting demand for low-priced goods is, however, the
chief obstacle. As Mr. Bradbury says, "we live in an
age when people who purchase plated wares enquire for
them in their cheaper forms." With reference to the
dispersal and destruction of the old dies, the following-
extract is of great interest : —
"Quantities of the dies, that must have cost hundreds
of thousands of pounds in the cutting alone (and would
to-day be invaluable for use under the prevalent reversion
from Victorian types of fashion), were melted down for
the mere value ofthe metal, and those few firms surviving
!95
The Connoisseur
SHEFFIELD PLATE DISH RING, BY TUDOR AND LEADER
and having any number of the ( Hd Sheffield dies only
too often find them incomplete
" From research it would appear that the period
between 1852 and 185S must be assigned as the approxi-
mate time of the dispersal and destruction of dies by
the surviving Old Sheffield plate makers. The Victorian
DVTE 1787
styles of electro-plated articles had then become generally
fashionable, whilst the method adopted of casting in Her-
man silver from models was gradually superseding the use
of stampings from steel dies in the making-up process.
" The factories in Sheffield were circumscribed as to
their space, and much more room was required for fresh
THE ARGANDA LAMP
DATE 1784
I96
WAX TAPER OR "BOUGIE BOX "
BY N. SMITH AND CO. DATE I S00
TINDER BOX WITH NOZZLE FOR TAPER
FIXED IN THE LID DATE 1 80O
TOBACCO BOX, BY J. YOUNGE AND CO. DATE I783
BRITANNIA METAL TEAPOT
BY J. VICKERS DATE 1828
ARGYLE IN THE FORM OF A JUG
BY M. BOULTON AND CO. DATE iSOO
197
The Connoisseur
SNIFFERS
DAT! [820
methods, appliances and models in connection with the
electro-plating process. The manufacturers appear to
have thought that dies cut between the years 1810 and
1S50 might some day once mure come into fashion, but
SNUFFERS AND TRAY, BY N. SMITH AND CO.
DATE 17/5
The remainder of Mr. Bradbury's work includes
valuable chapters on the "Locality of Manufacture,'''
"Advice to Collectors," "Ascertaining Dates of Speci-
mens," "Other Industries connected with Old Sheffield
CANDLESTICK, BY J. PARSONS AND CO.
DATE I784
as for those of the earlier periods, the chances of re-
introduction were remote. Therefore we find that the
' Adam ' and subsequently plainer patterns of dies were
those more particularly condemned to destruction."
Plate,'' and " Britannia Metal," and last, but not least.
a full and comprehensive list of makers and their
marks and the Sheffield assay office marks, the former
of which will be invaluable to collectors.
STEEL-BLADED TABLE KNIFE, WITH HANDLE OF FILLED SILVER
I98
Starkie Gardner
The present article is sug
through some of the shops of well
antique silver and Sheffield
plate. It will be of interest,
as affording some guide to
connoisseurs and collectors of
antique silver at a distance,
as to what may be seen and ap-
preciated, and, if desired, pur-
chased, on a visit to leading
gold and silversmiths of the
Metropolis.
In old days goldsmiths and
bankers were of one and the
same craft, not only supplying
their royal and noble patrons
with the tasteful works in gold
and silver for which collectors
now so eagerly compete, but
with many a loan in the times
of stress and storm, to which
even royalty itself was subject,
in the good old strenuous days
of Plantagenets, Tudors, and
Stuarts. This they found pro-
fitable, retiring not only with
vast wealth and civic dignity,
but becoming founders of many
noble families. Gradually
the two hitherto interwoven
branches — the creative and
speculative-financia 1 — sepa-
rated, some remaining gold-
beaters and craftsmen, and
others money-changers and
bankers. While the latter seem
to send a never-ending stream
of its votaries to swell the peer-
age and amass their millions,
the former sustain the dignity
;ested by a stroll
known dealers in
ELIZABETHAN TIGER-WARE JUG, IjSo
(MESSRS. GARRARD)
of their craft, and for reward should have the] pleasure
and credit of handing things of beauty, hall-marked,
to posterity, and their more
moderate fortunes.
First and foremost our pere-
grinations took us to the most
notable of these — the Crown
jewellers and goldsmiths and
almost historic house of Gar-
rard, founded so long ago as
I 72 1. They remained in their
original house in Panton Street,
Haymarket, for two long cen-
turies, save ten years, under
the sign of the King's Head,
enjoying and meriting intimate
royal patronage throughout
practically nearly the whole
of this period. But at last
the time comes when the
mysterious forces impelling
migration westward can no
longer be resisted, and albeit,
with some reluctance, they
commissioned Sir Ernest
George to design their present
mansion in Grafton Street
some two years since. This is
acknowledged to be the best
example of a business house as
yet erected in the West End,
dignified and reticent, and pre-
eminently adapted to its
purpose.
The antique silver room into
which one is ushered attracts
by its admirable proportions,
with its beautiful vaulted ceiling
and exquisite Adam mantel-
piece. But the show-cases,
199
The Connoisseur
CHARLES II. PORRINGER AND COVER, 1 669
(MESSRS. GARRARD)
beautifully fitted by White Allom, contain that for which
we search, and present a fascinating array of antique
plate for inspection and examination. Well lighted, care-
fully arranged, one sighs as one's thoughts irresistibly
wander to the magnificent Franks' bequest of antique
silver, still crowded and imperfectly labelled, in dimly
lighted cases in that anomaly and relic of barbarism the
" Gold Room " of the British Museum.
To make an entirely satisfactory selection from so much
requires nice discrimination and leisure; but the plunge
must be made. Bell salts are always of interest, and,
though familiar objects, are rarities for all that. They
possess a strong family likeness, yet within certain
defined limits they vary much, and seldom can two be
found precisely similar. One example, dated 1599, is of
average height, 9J inches, and though not presenting the
usual rich display of " flat-chasing," that is, embossing
and punching in low relief, it is a fine and valuable speci-
men. Their production was confined, it is almost needless
to say, though not strictly, to the last decade of the six-
teenth and first decade of the seventeenth centuries. Not
so very many years ago these could be picked up for
from ^200 to .£400, but now anything below four figures
is a lucky find. Equally familiar is the Elizabethan
Tiger-ware iug with silvri k1'1 and embossed cover and
1UEEK ANNE MONTEITH, I/O^
(MESSRS. GARRARD)
^fg0t:<
JAMES I. COCOA-NUT CUP, 1 6 1 t (MESSRS. SPINK AND SON)
mounts. Its date is 1580, and it is certainly a remark-
ably fine and typical example of the long-necked variety,
which succeeded a somewhat more squat form somewhere
about 1 570. It is 10 inches high, with acorn thumb-piece,
turned baluster knob, and embossed in high relief. This
is a distinguishing characteristic, though the mounts
are sometimes engraved only, generally with the strap
pattern of Edwardian and Elizabethan chalices, and still
more rarely with " flat-chasing." The next illustration is
a finely shaped porringer and cover of 1669, with gourd-
like embossing, so rare at this date, delicate dolphinesque
handles, and turned knob. It preserves its original gilding
in excellent condition, and its interest is heightened by
the engraved royal and a second coat of arms added
in the eighteenth century, probably to commemorate a
Antique Silver and Sheffield Plate
CREAM PAIL, BY EDWARD ALDRIDGE,
I77O (MESSRS. HEMING)
LEMON STRAINER, I763
(MESSRS. WILSON AND SHARP)
CREAM PAIL, BY ALDRIDGE AND GREEN,
I768 (MESSRS. HEMING)
royal gift. It is altogether a desirable piece, J\ inches
high. The Queen Anne monteith is also a perfectly
typical example,
worthy in every
respect the col-
lector's notice,
for it resembles
in nearly every
particular the
noteworthy ex-
amples at Clum-
ber and Range-
more, as well as
others regarded
as treasures by
municipalities,
city companies,
and some of
the colleges of
Oxford.
Another firm
with far-reach-
EPERGNE, BY THOMAS HEMING, I765
ing memories is
Messrs. Heming & Co., of Conduit Street. A former
member of it, Thomas Heming, the great-great-uncle
of one of the present proprietors, was silversmith to
George II. and goldsmith to George III. Included in
the large num-
ber of fine pieces
of antique silver
on view at the
Conduit Street
premises is a
remarkable ex-
ample by this
maker — an
epergne in
pierced work,
dated 1765, and
distinguished
by the chaste
beauty of its
design and the
perfection of its
craftsmanship.
There are other
examples by
different makers
worthy to bear it company, such as rare sugar bowls in
pierced work, by Burrage Davenport, 1777, P. Freeman,
,
PIERCED SUGAR BASKETS, I777, 1775, AND I780
(MESSRS. HEMING)
The Connoisseur
REPRODUCTION OF A GEORGE II. FRUIT DISH
BY MR. HENRY WATHERSTON
and Edward Aldridge, 1780 ; a cream pail of the
well-known vine pattern by Paul Aldridge and Green,
1768; and a superb example of the Adam period — an
unusually fine cup by \V. Holmes, 1777; all pieces of
the kind likely to prove a remunerative investment to
the collector.
Lambert's, of Coventry Street, is another of the firms
London may well be proud of, having been established for
much over a century. It is, in fact, the lineal successor and
direct representative, without a break, of the world-famous
Kundell and Bridges. Who can pass the quaint old-world
shop-front at the corner of Windmill Street without paus-
ing to inspect the large array of valuable antique silver so
temptingly spread out? One feels constrained to enter
and rummage in the expectation of finding many desirable
things to purchase in the well-stored show-cases. The
illustrations comprise a seal-top spoon of 1618 and an
Apo-tle spoon of 1641. Also a good typical porringer,
hall-marked for 1664, with embossed wreath of flowers
and foliage, and a fluted specimen with large scrolled
escutcheons for arms, dated 1 705. The low candlesticks
on shaped octagonal feet have the stems pleasantly and
*7it
artistically moulded, passing almost imperceptibly from
the round to octagonal, and dated 1732. The covered
tankard is of the sturdy English type of Queen Anne,
1707, and the'cylindrical coffee-pot is .1 fine example in
the iame taste, bul made under George I., 1 7 - 7- The
kettle and stand is a grand specimen of Peter Archambo's
work, produced in 174:, strongly influenced by the French
decoration of Louis XV., then so much in fashion.
Another house enjoying extensive royal and other
patronage is that of Elkington, which has upheld the
fame of English silver-work in almost every country
throughout the world. They are manufacturers on the
largest scale in that ancient metropolis of metal-work-
ing- Birmingham. It is hardly yet sufficiently known
GEORGE II. FRUIT BASKET, 1 7 54
(GOLDSMITHS' AND silversmiths' company]
GOODWOOD CUP. I- I
BY MESSRS. HUNT AND ROSKELL
that the firm now deals in antique silver and have a
room devoted to it at their Regent Street house. Two
Elizabethan pieces are selected as examples. Of these,
the fine chalice and paten, engraved 1571, within a year
of its production, is illustrated. The form, resembling a
beaker on balustered stem, dates back to the Protestant
days of Edward VI., but the earliest known with the
typical strap-work and arabesque engraving bears the
mark of the last year of Queen Mary. They remained
unchanged until nearly the close of Elizabeth, and are
remarkable for the similarity they bear one to another,
though traceable to a large number of different makers,
both in London and the Provinces. At that time most of
the shops of the gold and silversmiths in the Metropolis
Antique Silver and Sheffield Plate
jostled each other in Cheap-
side and its vicinity, and the
wares were exposed to the
gaze of every passer-by on
counters, in mere booths, un-
glazed, and only protected at
night by wooden shutters and
liars. Plagiarism was rife,
and only the provincial makes
differ from the London and
each other in minor peculiar-
ities. Equally fine is the
engraved beaker of 1607, re-
producing the identical strap
and arabesque border, with
a scroll drop, parcel gilt. The
spreading base is richly
gadrooned with a minutely
chased border of circles and
lozengesenclosing pellets. Of
JAMES I. BEAKER, 1607
(MESSRS. ELKINGTON)
EARLY AMERICAN TEAPOT, CIRCA 169O-I/OO
(•MESSRS. ELKINGTON)
MARK ON BASE OF ABOVE TEAPOT
far greater rarity is the curi-
ous and practical American
teapot, perfectly plain, with
ebony handle, except that a
rosette of "cut card" on the
lid attaches the knob, part of
which is removable to allow
steam to escape. The date
assigned to it is circa 1690-
1700. The latest in date of
the illustrations is the plain
and practical inkstand, made
by Gabriel Sleath, of Lon-
don, 1 72 1, with tray, inkwell,
sand-box, and bell. It is
extremely rare, less than .1
dozen being known, and the
engraved arms indicate that
it formerly belonged to a
burgomaster of Liibeck.
ELIZABETHAN CHALICE AND PATEN,
157O (MESSRS. ELKINGTON)
GEORGE I. INKSTAND, BY GABRIEL SLEATH, I72I (MESSRS. ELKINGTON
The Connoisseur
SET OK GEORGE III. DREDGERS, I775
Messrs. Spink, ol
Piccadilly, are
noted for choice
examples, and it is
at no time difficult
to select fine pii
for illustration from
their stock. It in-
clude i hi example
oi the 1 ire bell suit,
1 599, 7 i inch e s
high, remarkable
for the unus u a-]
decoration, a scale
d e sign in " flat -
chasing" on matted ground, and ovolo and lozenge
borders between the compartments. Their fine Steeple
cup, 1613, is an excellent example of this well-known
form. They cann- in with the beginning of the seven-
teenth century, and enjoyed practically a
monopoly in vogue till about 1630, during
the time that the obelisk was in high favour
foi architectural and other decorations in
the Italian taste. The decoration consisted
mainly of " flat-chasing,'1 with certain parts,
especially the roll over of the acanthus, which
generally occupies the lower part of the bowl,
brought out in more prominent relief. The
decorations of the bowls vary considerably,
the upper part in this instance being embossed
(MESSRS. WILSON AND SHARP)
with hunting scenes,
as well as the cover.
A guilloche border
separates this from
the part usually
g\\ en u i> to acan-
thus foliage, re-
placed here by
plainer scale-
shaped leaves. The
rest of the cup fol-
lows more usual
lines, and is alto-
gether a remark-
ably fine specimen.
The clou of the Spink collection, however, is the Drake
cocoa-nut cup, a fine standing cup with carved bowl,
mounted in silver, with the London hall-mark for 161 1.
The nut has been polished and incised with a strip
arabesque comprising the arms of England,
of the Earls of Devon, and Sir Francis
Drake, probably carved in the time of Eliza-
beth. The deep splayed rim and the curiously
decorated design on the hinged straps and
mount give the bowl a late Tudor look.
The open-work brackets of the stem are
most elaborate, and the foot is embossed
with marine monsters and escallops, quite
in the taste of the first decade of the
seventeenth centurv.
SHEFFIELD PLATE MUFFINEER.
PERIOD 1/86 (MESSRS. MAPPIN AND WEBB)
JAMES I. STEEPLE CUP, 1 6 1 ^
(MESSRS. SPINK AND SON)
SHEFFIELD PLATE MUFFINEER
(THE ALEXANDER CLARK CO.)
204
Antique Silver and Sheffield Plate
CYLINDRICAL COFFEE-POT, I727
(MESSRS. LAMBERT)
KETTLE STAND
BY PETER ARCHAMBO
AND LAMP, 1742
(MESSRS. LAMBERT)
FLAT-TOPPED TANKARD. I707
(MESSRS. LAMBERT)
Henry Watherston, the old-established firm, now of
Bond Street, is noted for its reproductions of fine ex-
amples of antique silver. The very beautiful specimen
of its work illustrated is a pierced and gilt oval dish
of trellis design, interlaced with foliage and birds, on a
high stand with claw feet of ogee outline, connected by
graceful foliage and festoons of drapery.
At Mappin and Webb's, so long and honourably identi-
fied with Sheffield, fine examples of the plate for which it
is famous should, if anywhere, be met with. Nor was our
visit disappointing, and we were able to select for illus-
tration several exceptionally fine pieces. The oval pierced
basket of shell and acanthus design, skilfully interwoven,
is most happy and graceful, and was produced in 1754. The
candlesticks on high bases, like our Nelson Column, but
with rams' heads and festoons in the " Adam taste," have
Ionic caps, dressed in gala fashion with laurels. These
were made by J. Winter and Co., 1768. The teapot on
a tray as foot dates from 1789, and is charmingly shaped
and decorated with an engraved riband border on a broad
band of silver, and rope edgings. The 17S6 muffineer is
also good. Sheffield, by the way, has been celebrated
by Chaucer, and in the Dragon of Wantley, an old folk
ballad, and so far back as Richard II., the De Smethes,
Del Smythes, John Locksmith, Farros, Trypets, and other
such names, leave no doubt as to the staple trade of the
town.
In Hunt and Roskell, now amalgamated with Ben-
son's, of Old Bond Street, we have another historic firm,
which was wont to employ the finest artists of the day.
Their stock is well worth inspection, but almost wholly
of their own make, and thus not coming exactly within
the scope of an article on antique silver. A single ex-
ample must suffice to convey an idea of the grandeur
and importance of their work, familiar as it has been in
every great exhibition since 1851. This is a massive
tripod vase, splendidly modelled and chased, the design
based on the well-known antique from Hadrian's Villa in
CHARLES II. AND QUEEN ANNE PORRINGERS, APOSTLE AND SEAL-TOP SPOONS, AND PAIR OF GEORGE II. CANDLESTICKS
(MESSRS. LAMBERT)
The Connoisseur
the British Museum, ["hisfirm has
employed the best available talent
to design for them foi ovei a hun-
I j ears past, including Flaxman,
Stothard, Armistead, and Carter.
among Royal Academicians.
but the advanced collector. An-
other firm deservedly celebrated
for its huge stock of modern work
is Messrs. Harrods, Brompton
Road, who are now, however,
largely developing their antique
SHEFFIELD PLATE TEAPOT, SUGAR BASIN, AND MILK JUG
(THE ALEXANDER CLARK CO.
Some of the most
beautiful forms of sil-
ver ware are to be
found in the guise of
Sheffield plate, which,
coming into vogue
during the palmy days
of the silversmith's art,
hardly survived long
enough to share in
the deterioration of the
late Victorian period.
Some delightful speci-
mens of this ware are
to be found in the
collection shown by
the Alexander Clark
Company, iSS, Oxford
Street, of which a tea
set and muffineer are
illustrated. Besides
its store of antique
i silver, this firm has a
' large number of finely
executed facsimiles
from old m o d e 1 s,
ELIZABETHAN STANDING SALT, I 599 which, though 1'iOt
(Messrs. spink and son) possessing the same
appeal to collectors, are as fascinating to the eye as
the originals.
Though perhaps
more famed for his
wealth of examples of
the latest and most
novel examples of the
jeweller's and silver-
smith's art, Mr. J. C.
Vickery, 1 79. I S t, 183,
Regent Street, \\\,
shows a large number
of specimens of retro-
spective work — beau-
tiful reproductions of
originals whose value
places them beyond
the reach of any one
3
department, so that
now a customer has
almost the same ex-
tended range of choice
in fine antique speci-
mens as in modern.
One may wind up
the list with that well-
known firm the Gold-
sm i ths and Silver-
smiths Company, 1 12,
Regent Street, whose
prolific stock of mod-
ern work should not
make collectors for-
get the many interest-
ing pieces of antique
silver to be seen at
their premises. As a
sample of these, one
may take the beautiful
George I I.fruitbasket,
dated 1754, in pierced
work, which is inter
estingly characteristic
of the period.
Princes Street, Edin-
burgh, with its fine
views and itsdramatic-
SHEFFIELD PLATE TEAPOT, PERIOD I789
(MESSRS. MAPPIN AND WEBB)
206
SHEFFIELD PLATE CANDLESTICK, BY
J. WINTER AND CO. DATE I76S
(MESSRS. MAPPIN AND WEBB)
ally historic associa-
tions, crisp a i r, and
interesting shops, is
probably the most de-
lightful street in the
world to lounge in, and
the best mart for an-
tique Scottish silver.
The illustrations are
of specimens pos-
sessed by Wilson and
Sharp, both uncom-
mon and tasteful, the
lemon strainer dating
from 1763, and the set
of dredgers 1775.
PORTRAIT OF DEAN COLET
tuc iamiiuri«u «r st. Paul's school
April, 1913.
The Royal Visit
TO
Stoke=on=Trent
It cannot be merely a coincidence that the
personalities of so many English monarchs are as
distinctively imprinted on their eras as are their
effigies on contemporary coinage. Political crises
occur, parliamentary majorities wax and wane, and
great statesmen rise and fall, without the general trend
of national thought being altered, whereas with each
new reign the national outlook changes; the personal
characteristics of the new monarch being apparently
adopted by the bulk of the nation as their exemplar.
The intense, narrow and sometimes mistaken patriot-
ism of George III. reflects itself on his era, to be
succeeded by the luxurious but rather superficial
elegance of George IV. The love of Queen Victoria
for the domesticity of family life, coupled with an
unflinching acceptance of the duties and responsi-
bilities of her high office, reincarnates itself in the
spirit of the Victorian age, when England, wrapped
about in her mantle of insularity, and busied in her
own concerns, still resolutely trod the thorn-strewn
path of empire. The wise cosmopolitanism of His
late Majesty King Edward VII. drew us into closer
fellowship with other nations, dissipated much of our
insularity, and broadened our outlook by encouraging
the influx of foreign ideas. Their present Majesties
King George and Queen Mary are only at the
commencement of their reign, yet their personalities
are already deeply impressed on the character of
the nation. One would say that the King's watch-
words are duty and efficiency. His call to England
to " wake up " has stirred the country like a trumpet
peal ; and the prodigious increase in the country's
trade since His Majesty's accession bears witness how
much his influence has quickened the national spirit.
The frequent visits of the King and Queen to the
Vol. XXXV.— No. 140.— n 209
[Copyright by J. T. Herbert Baily in the United States of America, May, 1901]
great manufacturing centres of the country are an
instance of the keen interest they take in the efficiency
of the national industries, and must be regarded in
the light of a commander's progress through the
divisions of his army to marshal and hearten them
for the struggle — the struggle in this instance being
against foreign competition, and the prize of the
bloodless but none the less keenly waged battle being
supremacy in the world's trade.
Nowhere is foreign competition experienced in a
greater degree than in the Potteries, which the King
and Queen are to visit on April 22nd, and it is partly
on this account that the royal visit is looked forward
to with such peculiar satisfaction. The English potters
are at the present moment more than holding their
own ; their wares have attained an unique reputation
in all quarters of the globe — such a reputation, indeed,
that much of the labour of their foreign competitors
is expended in directly imitating them. These imita-
tions sometimes attain a close superficial resemblance
to the originals, but in most instances the sterling
qualities of the latter are less successfully facsimiled
than the first makers' names and trade-marks. Foreign
competition, however, is by no means confined to
these dubious efforts, but extends to direct and honest
rivalry in some of the higher and more artistic phases
of the potter's craft. In these, unless he receives
more intelligent and general support, the English
maker is likely to be hard pressed. This more
especially refers to objects devoid of direct utility.
No intelligent Englishman is likely to buy modern
foreign table or domestic wares, for in these the
English maker is unapproachable ; but when the
English collector wants purely ornamental pieces, his
glance is turned to retrospective work. Instead of
The Connoisseur
encouraging tin- labours of the living, he almost
wholly confines his choice to the work of the past,
and often to work of very indifferent technical and
artistic merit.
Over and over again, during a recent visit to Stoke-
on-Trent, we found examples of modern ware which
rivalled in their beauty the choicest work of China in
hei best periods. The almost invariable reply of the
makers to our congratulations was, "We know it is
good ; we should like to produce more of it, but there
is absolutely no demand for such pieces." Such a state
of affairs is a reproach to England, and, unfortunately,
is almost unique to England. The principal countries
on the Continent try to cultivate public taste by
subsidising public factories, whose productions are
consistently maintained on a high artistic level. These
factories probably do not pay — probably never will
pay — but they serve their purpose by giving a higher
standard of technique and design to the wares of the
country, and many of the pieces made are exported
and sold in England. It may be safely said that at
the present moment there is no Continental ware pro-
duced which cannot be as well and more cheaply
made in the Potteries. Some of the best types, indeed,
originated in England, but were not persisted in
through lack of public support. One cannot suggest
that the government should follow the example of
Continental countries and directly subsidise the works ;
for here there are too many, and it would be im-
possible to discriminate between their claims. But
the government and the museum authorities of the
country generally might largely influence public taste
by purchasing fine pieces of modern work for the
national collections. Even more might be done by
individual collectors. Many of the finest specimens
of old English and Oriental china have left the
country for the other side of the Atlantic ; the others
that remain are now realising almost prohibitive prices.
If the collectors with moderate purses, instead of
competing for the waifs and strays overlooked by
multi-millionaires and their agents, turned their atten-
tion to modern work, they would find, at the present
moment, a multitude of superb examples rivalling the
best of the old in their beauty and technical perfection.
Is it necessary to wait until these wares acquire an
enhanced artificial value by reason of their age and
scarcity? Our museums of to-day are filled with the
contents of our grandfathers' china cabinets bought
from contemporary makers, and reflecting in their form
and pattern the taste of the period. Our present-day
cabinets will hardly form such a source of supply to
the museums of the future, for they are too exclusively
filled with work of past generations. We must mend
our ways, or otherwise posterity may say of our time
" that its art was great, but perished because the people-
were not worthy to receive it."
A Loan Collection of Eighteenth=Century English Glass at the
Victoria and Albert Museum By W. E. Wynn Penny
One can well imagine the delight felt by
those connoisseurs who, during the last few years,
have interested themselves in the productions of the
English glass manufacturers of the eighteenth cen-
tury, now that the bulk of the collection so patiently
and critically formed by Mr. and Mrs. Rees Price, of
Broadway, Worcestershire, may be seen by all at the
Victoria and Albert Museum. The best thanks of
all good collectors are due to the owners for a most
timely and acceptable exhibit.
The art-loving public hardly appears to have realised
NOS. I. AND II. — TRAILED PIECES
The Connoisseur
NOS. III., IV. AND V. — OPAQUE TWIST STEMS
how superlatively fine these specimens of eighteenth-
century workmanship are, and it is only well within
the last twenty years that there has been any appreci-
able number of collectors who have interested them-
selves in them. This is certainly the first time an
important and representative collection of English
glass has appeared in one of our London museums.
That it will stimulate interest in a hitherto somewhat
neglected quarter goes without saying.
One of the most striking characteristics of our wine
and other glasses of the eighteenth century is excel-
lence of proportion, broad feet tapering up gradually
to a good solid stem with a bowl that will not contain
sufficient to cause any top-heaviness when full ; while
if engraving or other decoration occurs, which it
frequently does, it is rarely excessive, and generally
beautiful and appropriate. It is when we compare
these features with contemporary Continental pro-
ductions, with their overloaded decoration and very
inferior proportions, that the simple beauty of the
English work appeals so strongly, with its subtle
charms lacking in the others.
The collection under review was started about
1890, and henceforth, whenever possible, no desir-
able specimens which came into the market were
allowed to pass. The growth was steady up to 190S,
when it nu nbered so ne hundreds of pieces; then a
most important addition was made, and through the
instrumentality ot the writer a portion of the well-
known collection formed by the late Mr. John Webb
Singer, of Frome, found its way to the cabinet of
Mr. and Mrs. Rees Price.
The Singer collection was started far back in the
last century, and contained several unique and many
superlatively excellent examples, in all about 700
specimens. Of these some hundred and fifty of the
most important found their way to their present
quarters. The Burlington Magazine of October
and December, 1903, contains a full account of this
collection.
Later, in 1910, the Trapnell glasses, when sold at
Sotheby's, contributed a few important additions, but
by this time the collection was un fait accompli, and
it was rarely possible to add types not already held.
In all some 460 to 470 pieces are now on exhibit,
and it will be seen the best has not been spared.
Fine glasses are scarce, indeed, nowadays, and pro-
curable only at very lengthy intervals. It may con-
fidently be stated that it would be an utterly hopeless
task, quite apart from any question of cost, to form
another .such collection. The day has passed by,
and one can only bitterly regret the totally inadequate
possessions of our national museums in this particular
province 1 with large collections of German and
Venetian work, our own delightful masterpieces are
hardly represented.
A Loan Collection of English Glass
NOS. VI., VII., VIII., IX. AND X. — AIR-TWIST STEMS
It is not the intention to enter into any digression
on that fascinating subject, the history of the English
glass industry ; the object of this short paper is rather
to give such assistance that both collectors and the
general public who may view the collection may
approach it in a methodical manner, resulting, it is
hoped, in a fuller appreciation of its importance and
beauty than might otherwise be gained.
It is not well to be dogmatic with regard to the
dates of English glass, but probably the earliest
examples in the collection are the two fine and
excessively rare trailed pieces, dating possibly from
the last quarter of the seventeenth century. Their
ornament is distinctive, and somewhat suggestive of
Venetian influence. The fine posset bowl with cover,
No. i., i\ inches high, stands on a foot with moulded
ribs; the bowl is decorated with pressed pattern at
the base and a band of trailed work around the centre,
while the cover, with its knob containing beads of
air, is treated in a similar manner to the bowl.
The striking goblet, also illustrated, No. ii., gi inches
high (purchased at the Trapnell sale), stands on a
broad folded foot, that is to say, the foot is of double
thickness around the edge to give greater solidity
and to prevent chipping. The bulbed stem is orna-
mented with rosettes, and contains a threepenny
piece of Charles II., while the bowl has pressed and
trailed work similar to the preceding example. Both
are blown in a heavy but softly gleaming metal of
great beauty.
Let us now, for the purpose of careful examination,
divide the collection into seven rough divisions: —
i. We have glasses of a capacity for wine, cordial
waters or punch.
2. Sweetmeat and champagne glasses.
Ale glasses.
Tankards, grog glasses and bowls.
Candle and taper sticks.
Engraved glasses of special commemorative
interest.
Glasses relating to the Jacobite cause.
The first group, comprising the greatest number of
specimens, contains such diverse types that a com-
prehensive classification becomes a matter of such
complexity that it will not be attempted here. The
feet, sometimes engraved, may be plain, folded, or
The Connoisseur
XOS. XI., XII. AND XIII. — DOUBLE OGEE BOWLS
domed. The stems usually contain spirals in end-
less design of air, opaque white, or coloured twists.
Occasionally we find varieties in which the air and
opaque twists are combined with charming effect ; or,
again, they may be of that bulbous nature known to
collectors as "baluster stems." Later examples are
sometimes decorated with faceted cutting.
For simplicity the bowls will be referred to in
accordance with their various contours as either bell-
shaped, straight-sided, ogee, or double ogee, and we
find them decorated with either engraved, enamelled,
or pressed work. The opaque white twist pre-
dominates, the commoner specimens being usually of
this type. They appear to have come into vogue
soon after the second quarter of the eighteenth cen-
tury. Their bowls of various shapes embrace capacities
suitable for the strongest cordial waters (so much in
vogue in those days) to the lightest of wines.
It must not, however, be imagined that this class
contains no beautiful or interesting examples. As a
matter of fact, it is difficult from such a wealth of fine
pieces to choose illustrations, but the two glasses,
Nos. iii. and v., one enamelled with a winter scene
and the other engraved with a rose and thistle, are
good examples of decorated ogee bowls ; while the
bell-shaped form is shown in the specimen, 6h inches
high, engraved with a six-petalled rose and two buds,
with a moth on the reverse. Visitors to the collection
should not fail to notice the fine colour and dextrous
manipulation of many of the twists, and the almost
endless varieties of decoration which appear on the
bowls.
It is impossible for an ardent lover of English glass
to speak with restraint of the range of air twists
exhibited. It is not only that many superb examples
at once stamp the collection as inimitable, but the
general standard is so extraordinarily high and the
subtle collector's instinct shown in its selection so
obvious.
The most frequent subjects of decoration are the
rose with bud and foliage, or grapes, leaves, and
tendrils of the vine, sometimes accompanied with a
bird or butterfly. Now and again a specimen occurs
with a landscape or marine scene. Nos. vi. and vii.,
the former engraved with honeysuckle design and the
latter with a ship and landscape, were obtained from
214
A Loan Collection of English Glass
the Singer collection, together with
a companion glass to No. vii., en-
graved with a lake, bulrushes and
swans, and a stem of surpassing
brilliancy. No. ix., with straight-
sided bowl, displays very unusual
decoration, a growing vine being
depicted, while Nos. viii. and x.
are of a type known to collectors
as drawn glasses, that is to say, the
stem and bowl are drawn from a
single piece of metal.
The fine range of plain but
shapely drawn glasses with clear
or air-beaded stems should not be
overlooked. The shape is a good
one, and with bowls blown more
thinly to suit the vintage wines of
the present day, this form of glass
might well be revived.
The group of double ogee bowls
is a very representative one, all
varieties of stem being shown. They
were found years ago in some pro-
fusion in the West of England, and
it has been suggested it was a type No- XlV-
particularly favoured by the Bristol manufacturers.
Three illustrations are given — No. xii., with cut stem
and pressed fluting at the base of the bowl ; and
Nos. xiii. and xi., with engraved bowls and opaque
twist and baluster stems respectively.
The combined air and opaque twisted stems should
be carefully looked for, as they are somewhat elusive,
though well worthy of attention. Their subtle charm,
however, does not lend itself to
reproduction, so no illustrations are
given. This is also the case with
the coloured stems, in which the
collection is particularly rich. Per-
haps they are hardly in such good
taste as the air or white opaque
stems, but as collector's pieces they
are eagerly sought for. Many of
the blue and white twists especially
are finely treated, and the more
ornate examples are easily distin-
guished from contemporary Conti-
nental examples by their superior
workmanship and greater depth of
colour.
With the baluster stem the first
large group of glasses is closed. It
is an early feature which continued
in use throughout the greater part
of the century. Large numbers are
shown with bowls of widely varying
shapes and capacities. They are a
very distinctive class, and, though
massive, are by no means without
.luster stem grace, with their frequently folded
feet and air-beaded stems. No. xiv. shows both these
attributes, while the straight-sided bowl is engraved
with the royal crown and cypher G.R. beneath it.
The broad, shallow bowl glasses, usually of double
ogee shape, used either for champagne or sweetmeats,
constitute our second division. Their stems follow
precisely the same lines noticed in the first group,
but the bowls are infrequently engraved, though often
XOS. XV. AND XVI. — SWEETMEAT GLASSES
XOS. XVII. AND XVIIL — ALE GLASSES
2I5
/ hi ■ Connoisseur
Xos. XIX., XX., AND XXI.
-TANKARDS AND GROG GLASSES
decorated with pressed designs, while the domed foot
is a constant feature. The bowls of some examples
are vandyked around the edge, unfitting them for the
purpose of drinking vessels, as in the case in No. xv.,
with its domed and folded foot and opaque twisted
stem. The early piece, No. xvi., shows unusual
decoration ; standing upon a wrythen stem, the bowl
is surmounted with a looped design terminating in
pressed bosses.
There can be no mistake as to the use of the series
of tall, graceful glasses engraved with barley and hops
comprising the third group. Their capacity is limited,
but no doubt the potency of their contents com-
pensated for that. Their range of stems presents no
new feature, but the enamelled bowl of No. xviii. shows
an unusual method of decoration in this class. The
rose and bud occurring in conjunction with the heads
of barley on No. xvii. is an unusual feature.
The tankards, bowls, and grog glasses form a
numerous and diverse group, including many of the
larger pieces, notably the capacious bowl on foot
(similar to an example in the Saffron Walden museum),
engraved with a Bacchus astride a cask with the
inscription, " Jove decreed the vine should bleed for
me," with the initials J.H. and vine decoration — a
rather late but handsome piece. Many tankards and
kindred drinking vessels are shown. The charming
little handled goblet illustrated, No. xxi., is inscribed,
" Joseph, Jane Burrowes," and well engraved with
vine and grapes — probably this is a betrothal glass.
Interesting and beautiful, the grog glasses form a
considerable group ; both the square and circular foot
are seen. The example illustrated, No. xix. (from the
Trapnell collection), shows a cutter with the quaintly
spelt inscription, "The Ann and Beesea," and in a
label, "James Oddie, Bromley." The boat looks a
speedy little vessel, somewhat suggestive of the con-
traband trade. The covered jar or tumbler (from the
Mayhew sale, 1898), No. xx., is engraved with a rose-
spray and inscription, "Success to the Britannia, Edmd.
Eccleston, 1774," and shows traces of oil-gilding.
Throughout the divisions of this series the varied
decorations and inscriptions are full of interest, and
the visitor will hardly fail to find something to rouse
his curiosity, particularly should nautical matters
especially appeal to him.
For the moment the drinking glasses must be left,
and attention given to the candle and taper sticks,
forming the fifth section. The earliest type shows
the baluster stem, then come the air and opaque
twists, and later the cut stem. No. xxii. shows an
example of the earliest form, 7 inches in height,
while the exceptionally fine specimen, No. xxiii.,
gh inches high, stands on a domed and ringed foot,
the white and deep red twisted stem terminating in
beaded knops of clear glass.
The later examples, with handsomely faceted stems,
should be carefully noticed. The workmanship and
quality of metal are of the finest description. Movable
nozzles are a frequent feature in this series, which
carries us to the end of the century.
Perhaps the commemorative glasses will appeal most
strongly to the average visitor, as they record events
of both national and local importance. Reference is
216
A Loan Collection of English Glass
made to a host of
matters — naval,
military and poli-
tical, convivial,
sporting, agricul-
tural,and masonic.
We see the names
of long - forgotten
\vorthies,\vith their
sentiments and
toasts engraved
upon the bowls of
the f r equently
filled and doubt-
less well-loved
glasses.
The cider glass
(from the Singer
collection), No.
xxiv., engraved
with apple-tree and
barrel and the
motto, "no ex-
cise," carries us
back to the politi-
cal disturbances in
the spring of 1763,
when t h e foolish
and unpopular
Chancellor of that
day, Sir Francis Dashwood, vainly sought to impose
a duty of 4s. a hogshead on the favourite beverage
NOS. XXII. AND XXIII. — CANDLE AND TAPER STICKS
of the West Coun-
try agriculturist.
with unexpected
and disastrous re-
sults.
The collection
also contains an-
other of these rare
glasses displaying
an oil - gilded en-
graving of a con-
ventional apple-
tree. On No. xxv.
is seen a ship with
the inscription,
" Success to the
Eagle frigate John
Knill, Command-
er." It was ob-
tained from the
Singer collection,
and probably hails
from the port of
Bristol.
The rare little
portrait glass,
No. x x v i i . , in-
scribed " Long
live George —
Prince of Wales —
1759," is particularly interesting; possibly it was a
counterblast to the Jacobite glasses of that date ;
NOS. XXIV., XXV.. XXVI., AND XXVII. — COMMEMORATIVE GLASSES
217
T/ie Connoisseur
while the scene displayed
iii oil-L^ i l t engraving on the
howl of No. xxvi. (from
the Hodgkin sale, 1903),
with the sentiment " Keep
it up," tells its own tale.
Many other glasses can-
nol fail to excite interest,
such as the handsome air-
twist goblet {circa 1763),
engraved with portrait
and military emblems, in-
scribed "The King ol
Prussia " ; the fine range
of Nelson glasses; the
beautiful " Britannia"
glass, wi t h its exquisite
engraving ; and the his-
torical and probably
unique specimen com-
memorating Admiral
Hawke's victory at Qui-
beron Bay, 20th Novem-
ber, 1759, engraved with
a figure of Britannia, and the inscription and date,
"Success to the British Fleet, 1759," perhaps the
earliest dated opaque twist known, not to mention
a host of others.
The wonderful group of twenty-four glasses relating
to the Jacobite cause calls for a more detailed account
Nos. XXVIII. and XXIX.-
than can possibly be given
here. From a historical
point of view, their inter-
est is unbounded ; from
a sentimental, they are a
revelation. The ordinary
visitor will certainly regard
them with surprised de-
light; but only the collec-
tor who has specialised in
this direction can realise
the amount of work and
enterprise necessitated for
the acquisition of such a
series. Some are pedigree
pieces of the utmost im-
portance ; all are of un-
doubted authenticity and
surpassing beauty.
Many of these glasses,
more particularly those
of small capacity, were
toasting glasses of the
jacobite toasting glasses seCret Jacobite societies
which flourished about the time of the '45 rebellion.
Probably they were used exclusively for the one toast,
" The King — over the water," and then removed to
a remote corner of the pantry, safe from the eye ot
any prying intruder.
The larger specimens and portrait glasses have
NOS. XXX., XXXI., XXXII., AND XXXIII.— JACOBITE GLASSES
2l8
MRS. SCOTT MONCR1EFF
BV SIR H1'\K\ RAEBURN
A Loan Collection of English Glass
always struck the
writer as purely per-
sonal and commemo-
rative. One can well
imagine a staunch old
Jacobite rejoicing in
a set for ceremonial
occasions, when all
his guests were of the
same political creed.
Xo doubt they were
used and prized by
their owners long
after the cause had
ceased to be anything
more than a romantic
sentiment.
Nos. xxviii. and
xxix. show the drawn
form of toasting glass.
The emblems dis-
played by the first are
a rose with two buds,
the oak leaf, the star
and "Fiat" (the word
of the cycle club);
the latter is similar
save that the star is missing. The
interesting little glassof similar shape,
with rose and two buds on bowl, and
two oak leaves in the foot, all oil-gilt,
should not be overlooked.
From the more unusual glasses of
medium capacity the following three
have been selected for illustration : —
No. xxxiii. (formerly the property of
the Rev. S. M. Mayhew), engraved
with Prince of Wales' feathers and
the word " Radiat," while the re-
verse shows the royal arms of
England and Scotland quarterly.
The emblems on No. xxxii. are the
natural rose with one bud, the star,
and a forget-me-not, the latter a rare
occurrence. No. xxxi. shows the
familiar six-petalled rose and two
buds, a star, and the pathetic word
"Redeat."
The fine bell -shaped example.
No. xxx., which, in addition to the
rose and buds, oak leaf, and "Fiat"
on the bowl, shows the Prince of
Wales' feathers on the foot, and the
lovely glass of similar shape engraved
NOS. XXXIV. AND XXXV.— JACOBITE GOBLETS
NO. XXXVI. JACOBITE MOTTO
PORTRAIT GLASS
with a thistle with star
resting upon its
plume, in addition to
the rose and buds (for-
merly in the posses-
sion of the late W. J.
Clement. M.I'.), are
well worthy of atten-
tion.
Two impressive
goblets are shown —
No. xxxv. (from the
Mayhew collection),
l\ inches high, with
air - twist stem and
ogee bowl engraved
with a bust of Prince
Charles Edward in
profile within a laurel
wreath flanked by a
rose and buds, also
with a thistle and the
cycle word "Fiat."
No. xxxiv. (from the
same source), S in-
ches high, with air-
twisted and knopped
stem ; the straight-sided bowl is en-
graved with a seven-petalled rose and
two buds, together with a star.
Even among such brilliant com-
pany No. xxxvi. is prominent on
account of its superb engraving and
striking full-face portrait in bonnet
and tartan, with cockade in the for-
mer and an order (a star) in the
latter. The star and rose with buds
are also seen, and above the bust the
motto, "Audentior Ibo," in capitals,
on a plain label. It was formerly
the hereditary possession of a For-
farshire laird.
One final word of entreaty to all
who love the rare and beautiful. No
description, however exact, no illus-
tration,however carefully reproduced,
can convey any true impression of
these lovely objects. An opportunity
now occurs of seeing them under
most favourable circumstances ; do
not let it be lost. They are the cream
of a collection of superlative merit,
and will generously repay a careful
and thorough examination.
Ceramic Trinketry
By M. Percival
Tkinkktry is a useful and comprehensive
word. It is simple and seemingly unpretentious,
though it has an ancestry going back to a more than
respectable antiquity,* and if in its original significance
it may have meant an ornament of metal, it is now
generally used for any personal ornament which is
hardly of sufficient importance to
merit the title of jewelry. For / k
" jewelry " seems to imply a certain ^ ■
value in the material apart from
the workmanship (though often it
may be proportionately small), but
the "trinket" relies on the hand of
the maker for its claims to admira-
tion. So we may find in these trivial
toys of a bygone day a particular interest ; for, though
sometimes they merely reflect a passing whim of
Fashion's ever-changing mood, there is often in them
an artistry all the deeper for being expressed in
materials of small pecuniary worth, such as steel,
ivory, or pottery.
We may also class with the trifling personal orna-
ments the less important of those little accessories of
EGYPTIAN DAISY BEAD
buttons and buckles, and perhaps the less valuable of
the watches and snuff-boxes. A complete collection
of trinkets, if it could be made, would show us as in
a mirror the tastes and fancies of those who have
gone before us. Alas ! many of the pretty things
were of too evanescent a nature to stand hard wear,
and much that we could wish pre-
served has entirely vanished, while
often that which remains shows
only a shadow of its former dainti-
ness. Gilding has gone, paint worn
V away, delicate carving and chasing
is chipped and scratched, and we
almost find these relics from which
the glory has departed a little
depressing. But among them the class of trinket
with which I am dealing remains nearly as fresh and
bright as when drawn hot from the kiln.
" Time does not wither nor custom stale " its
" infinite variety." From the days of the Pharaohs
to those of the Georges in time, and from China in
the East to Bristol in the West in space, the potter's
art has been used to fashion these fragile trifles in an
EGYPTIAN
dress and fashion which our ancestors called "toys,"
the dainty seals and watch-keys, tiny scent-bottles and
wee boxes, also the gewgaws and baubles, such as
"Trinket" and " trickery " are the same word (going back to
the Sanskrit taria, "twisted, "a "spindle," interlaced wire-work).
Both are also the same word as "torque," the Asiatic gorget,
one of which, taken from the neck of the Gaul he slew in single
combat, earned for T. Manlius and his descendants the honorific
surname of Torquatus. It is the same word as trousseau —
originally the bride's twisted bundle of garments and trinketry.
— Sir George Birdwood, Journal K.S.A., July 26th, 1912.
AMULET RINGS
endless series of designs, so the range from which we
may draw examples is a wide one.
When dealing with any of the arts and crafts, one
is almost sure to find its prototype among the ancient
Egyptians ; but of ceramic trinketry they were not only
the originators, but also the most perfect exponents,
for by no other people have such quantities of pottery
ornaments been made, with, moreover, such a wealth
of beauty in design and colour. We find in their
tombs and ruined cities an immense variety, and of
Ceramic Trinketry
these perhaps the most
interesting are the beads
and pierced amulets
used for stringing up
into necklaces. Great
numbers of them have
been found, generally in
coffin-cases, having been
hung round the necks
of the mummies. The
most beautiful are cer-
tainly those glazed with
greenish turquoise blue,
which is also the most
common colour. No
doubt its superior
beauty was recognised
by the Egyptians themselves. Red, yellow, and green
are also very plentiful. The best known beads are
the long tubes or bugles and the scarabajoid shapes,
but every kind of amulet, as well as minute figurines
representing the gods, were used in the same way.
'/
#- *ft^f
EGYPTIAN STRING OF BEADS IN FLOWER
AND-LEAF FORMS
in the case of beads,
their grouping for their
i lecorative effect.
The Romans made
use of pottery beads,
and so did the Anglo-
Saxons ; but afterwards
in England there is a
gap, till the Che 1m a
porcelain factory issued
its dainty wares.
From this factory
comes the first piece of
English porcelain of
which the origin and
date are absolutely cer-
tain. It is a jug dated
1745, and also inscribed "Chelsea." It was not long
after this that the delightful small pieces known as
" Chelsea toys " began to be offered for sale, the first
notice of them appearing in 1754."' Perhaps a few
words on what was meant by "toy" in the eighteenth
w
WEDGWOOD CAMEO
WEDGWOOD CAMEO
WHITE PORCELAIN BROOCH
There is a splendid collection of these beads at the
British Museum, where the different forms and ways
of stringing can be studied to great advantage. Breast
ornaments, rings, and bangles made of the same
material are also to be seen. Though these beads
are found genuine in 'considerable quantities, there
are, nevertheless, modern forgeries about, and buyers
should be on their guard against
them. Some of them are most skil-
ful and accurate copies, but others
may be known by the brilliant, cold-
looking lustre of the glaze and a
generally mechanical appearance.
Very few specimens of Egyptian
pottery ornaments appear to be in-
spired as to design by gold or silver
work. One of the rings illustrated
may be a copy of a stone-set original
of metal, but on the whole they rely
on the beauty of their colouring and,
PIN OF BUEN RETIRO
PORCELAIN
century may be of interest, now that the word has
been narrowed down so as to mean merely a child's
plaything. The term then covered almost any small
portable object of decorative character — anything, in
fact, which had no really serious use, but was valued
principally for its ornamental side. A " toyman "
was a seller of jewelry and bric-a-brac, and occupied
a very important place among fashion-
able tradesmen, as he supplied the
■■ From the Publit Advertiser: "To be
Sold by Auction, by Mr. Ford, at his great
Room in St. James's, Hay Market, this and
the following day " (Dec. 17th, 1754), "All
the entire Stock of Chelsea Porcelain Toys,
consisting of Snuff Boxes, Smelling Bottles,
and Trinkets for Watches (mounted in Gold
and unmounted in various beautiful shapes
of an elegant design and curiously painted
in Enamel), a large parcel of Knife Hafts,
etc. Most of the above in lots suitable for
Jewellers. Goldsmiths, Toyshops, China-
shops, and Workmen i n various Branches
of Business."
223
The Connoisseur
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Jill
■^ . ivl
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IT?'
. to
la '«
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CHATELAINE WITH PLAQUE
PAINTED IN MONOCHROME
beaux and belles not only with European
novelties, but also Oriental curios.
The tiny scent -bottles, seals, watch-
backs and charms made at Chelsea are
among the most fascinating productions
of that eminently dainty factory; the
mellow outline — perhaps a result of the
softness of the paste — is shown to per-
fection in these small pieces, wherein
a quaint fancy is expressed by delicate
modelling and most brilliant yet soft
colour. They are wholly delightful. Some
of them are tiny figures — there is a full-
length figure of Shakespeare among
these ; a masked cupid beats a drum on
a seal ; and a youth and rustic maiden
make love on a scent-bottle under two
inches high. Others are bunches of
flowers in high relief, of the well-known
Chelsea character. Many of them have
sentimental mottoes — often in French —
both painted on the porcelain and engraved
on the seal or gold mounting. The metal-work is
usually delicate and well made ; it is generally of
gold or gilt metal. These little pieces are much
sought after by collectors, and therefore the ubiquitous
CUT-STEEL CHATELAINE
OR WATCH-CHAIN WITH
BLUE PORCELAIN BEADS
AND PLAQUE
CHATELAINE OF STEEL BEADS AND DOUBLE
CAMEOS OF WEDGWOOD JASPER
forger has marked them as a field for his
wicked exploits, and unfortunately he is
fairly successful in his nefarious deeds.
The little imitations are really very pretty;
but though they are wonderfully exact
copies, there is a hardness about them
which distinguishes them when placed
by the genuine. Apart, they would
deceive anyone but an expert.
Of Meissen porcelain are some wonder-
fully modelled little groups of flowers in
their natural colouring, so fragile and
fresh in appearance that they might al-
most be real flowers. Sometimes each
blossom is separately mounted on a gold
wire for fastening to a neck-band of velvet,
or groups of flowers and leaves are arranged on a
solid base as pendants, earrings, and beads. Similar
pieces to the Chelsea toys were also made, such as
seals, scent-boxes, and etuis. From the Buen Retiro
224
Ceramic Trinketry
*»
SHOE-BUCKLE PLAQUE OF BLUE
AND WHITE JASPER
factory probably
issued some
charmingly mo-
delled little heads
and faces intended
to be set as per-
sonal ornaments.
They are, I think,
very scarce, in this
country at any
rate, as I have
only seen five or
six specimens,
all consisting of
heads and faces,
mostly painted as
if wearing black
masks. These are
mounted in gold as
pins or brooches,
and are quaint
and effective.
A whole cabinet
might easily be
filled with the con-
tributions from
Wedgwood's pot-
tery without ad-
mitting any speci-
mens from his
contemporary imi-
tators, and to me
these small things
are among his
most charming
productions.
They, of course,
frankly imitate the
style of old gems,
10 *jjT
BRACELET OF BLUE AND WHITE
JASPER
CHINESE GIRDLE HANGER OF GLAZED PORCELAIN
CHELSEA PORCELAIN WATCH-BACK
CHELSEA PORCELAIN SEALS AND CHARMS
225
EARRINGS OF BLUE AND WHITE
JASPER
but they are, after
all, much more
decorative than
the originals, and
when mounted, as
they were meant
to be, in finely-
chased steel set-
tings, they form
most exquisite
ornaments. I
have a set of five
double cameos
from a chatelaine
of the ordinary
white on blue,
which, while won-
derfully effective
as spots of colour
at a distance, dis-
close the most
delicate modelling
when looked at
under a magnify-
ing-glass. They
thus fulfil the
cardinal require-
ments of jewelry ;
the design and
w orkmanship
must be fine
enough to afford
pleasure when
minutely exam-
ined, and yet be
striking enough to
have a decorative
effect. The beads
are particularly
pretty. They are
The Connoisseur
CHELSEA FIGURE OF SHAKESPEARE
CHELSEA FIGURE OF A
MASKED CUPID
CHELSEA ETUI
seldom decorated with figure subjects, which do not
show off well on such rounded surfaces ; but the dis-
position of the white on the blue is generally singularly
happy, so that one derives great pleasure from the
simple patterns. These tiny cameos are found in a
multitude of designs, and of all sizes, from the very
small ones for chatelaines and rings to the large ones
intended for watch-backs and buckles, some of these
latter, which are shaped and curved to fit the arch of
the foot, being much larger than any others of those
intended for personal wear, shoe-buckles being worn
of enormous size at the time they were made.
V
*U->
CHELSEA GROUP OF LOVERS
CHELSEA GROUP
CHELSEA GROUP
!26
— fa/.
Sh#
£ £ i
The Connoisseur
TAPESTRY
The " Diana
Hunting"
Tapestries,
belonging to
Mr. Kennedy
Jones By
W. G. Thomson
From the earliest re-
cords of the ornamentation
of textile fabrics down to the present day, or almost
so. the chase has been a most popular subject. In
the first centuries of the Christian era the Coptic-
tapestry weavers gloried in the representation of hunt-
ing scenes, using them freely as dress decoration, and
it is difficult to find anywhere a more spirited render-
ing than their art affords in such incidents as that of
the hunter launching his spear at the wild beasts that
turn so fiercely upon him, or glide away as if appre-
hensive of danger. These weavings, however, are
small in size, and limited to two colours in the
majority of cases, and so cannot compare with the
grand storied cloths woven in Western Europe in
later times — say the fourteenth century, when the
tapestry weavers of Arras and Paris competed for
commissions to execute rich hangings of great size
for kings and princes, ecclesiastics, and rich mer-
chants. There is romance in the very titles of some
of these fourteenth-century tapestries — for instance,
the " History of a king who went to hunt with a
great retinue, but losing his followers and horses in
the wood, had a marvellous adventure with fairies.
229
TJie Connoisseur
who sentenced him to he turned into a stag," or,
" I Ik history oi youth and sport, called ' hunting the
Stag,1 " or again, the "History of I. onus Cuerin, who
hunted the wild boar." During the fifteenth century
the subjects were more definitely stated, as the hunt
of the bear, bull, unieom, slag, etc. What the hunt-
ing tapestries of the fifteenth century were like may
he judged by anyone who pays a visit to tin1 Central
Court of the Victoria and Albert Museum, where at
present are exhibited four grand hunting tapestries
from Hardwick Hall, the property of the Duke of
Devonshire, who has lent them to the Museum.
These large tapestries are decorated with figures the
size of life or thereabouts, and in them the landscape
is quite subordinate to the figures. In the succeeding
century a worthy representative of that class of hang-
ings may be found in the world-famous " Hunts of
Maximilian " at Fontainebleau and elsewhere, and this
traditional order of things is evident, although in a
greatly modified degree, in the "Hunts of Louis XV.,"
woven at the Gobelins, after Oudry's cartoons.
In the above examples the preponderating influence
lies in the figures, but in the 16th century another
style of hunting tapestry began to attain a well-
merited popularity. This was frankly a landscape or
verdure, with small figures engaged in the chase of
the lion, stag, wolf, boar, and other animals, and many
tapestries of this character are yet extant. With the
preponderance of landscape the tapestry gained in
pictorial interest, in many cases without injury to the
decorative effect as a whole; and in the 17th century
light and shade in landscape came to be more care-
fully studied, the drawing more refined, and a lighter
tone assumed. The subjects, too, adopted a classical
form in many instances : we find Diana depicted as
a huntress — as in the seven beautiful hangings belong-
ing to Mr. Kennedy Jones, which are at present
exhibited in the Waring Galleries in Oxford Street.
The human figure, especially that of Diana, who
is distinguished from her nymphs by the crescent
on her forehead, in these remarkable tapestries, is
excellently drawn and full of graceful movement. Of
foliage and flowers there is great variety, and the tree
masses are admirably disposed in the composition of
the various panels. The first scene shows Diana
setting out for the chase. In common with the
other panels, this scene is framed with a broad border
consisting of wreaths and garlands of roses, tulips,
pinks, and other flowers, having bunches of fruit
here and there, in orderly sequence, to give variety
and a magnificent richness to the whole. From the
middle of the upper border hangs a splendid bouquet
of flowers that impinges upon the sky.
The second panel represents Diana, followed by
two attendant nymphs, pursuing a stag, which has
taken to the water, from whence its retreat and flight
is cut off by dogs. Here the umbrageous trees and
the bed of iris by the water are beautifully rendered.
The chase of the wild boar forms a most spirited
composition. In middle distance the boar turns
round as if to threaten the dog who follows, while
Diana and her nymph burst into view from the right.
The landscape and flowers are admirable on the left.
In the next panel Diana is seen pursuing a hare.
The trees in this scene are disposed with wonderful
skill, and the flowers are no less beautiful. The
wolf-hunt has, however, more life than the preceding
sport. Two dogs are fastening on the wolf on the
right, while Diana follows with uplifted spear to give
the fatal thrust.
These tapestries bear the mark of Brussels, and were
woven there about the year 1670 by two tapissiers —
Albert Auwercx, whose signature a. avwercx and
a. a. appears on three panels : four are signed
g. v. l., for Guillaume Van Leefdael. The hangings
have a uniform height of 11 ft. 6 in., while in width
they vary from 9 ft. to 17 ft. 6 in. The weft is of
the finest wools and silks, and the texture is very fine,
reaching 19 to 22 warp-strings in the space of one inch.
The two master-weavers who shared between them
the making of this most beautiful set of tapestries
stood high in the aristocracy of the craft in Brussels.
Both belonged to well-known families of weavers, for
tapestry weaving runs in certain families to such an
extent that the art appears to have become hereditary.
This was due perhaps to the fact that special advan-
tages were accorded to the sons of masters when they
came to be apprenticed to the craft, the period of
apprenticeship being shortened in their case in most
of the tapissiers' guilds. This tended to keep the
craft in certain families, and in time these formed
little dynasties (such as the succession in the Leyniers
family), which lasted for three or four generations.
Albert Auwercx, Auwerckx, or Aurecx, as the name
is variously spelled, became a member of the craft of
tapestry weavers in the year 1657, and continued to
exercise his calling in Brussels into the early years of
the eighteenth century. He must have had a numer-
ous staff of assistants when the tapestries under review
were being woven in his workshop, for even in 1707,
when the Brussels ateliers, in common with other
tapestry manufacturers, were in a state of extreme
depression, he had five looms in working order, and
employed about fifteen weavers. Among these were,
in all probability, four members of his large family —
his sons Nicholas, Philip, Caspar, and William. One
of the most famous works that came from the shop
of Auwercx was the series of tapestries illustrating
w
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231
The Connoisseur
DIANA PURSUING A HARE
episodes in the life-history of Count Guillaume Ray-
mond, of Moncade, Lord of Airolo, in Sicily. The
set consisted of no less than twenty pieces, and was
signed by the maker.
There is a very fine set of tapestries, which also
bears the signature of Auwercx, in the Royal Austrian
collection at Vienna. The panels are after cartoons
by Louis Van Schoor, and represent, allegorically,
Monarchy, Wisdom, Fortitude, Commandment,
Magnificence, Fidelity, Simplicity, and Abundance.
Auwercx also wove some armorial tapestries.
It was not an unusual practice, even in the early
history of the craft, for tapestry weavers, when they
were pressed for time, to call for the assistance of a
brother-craftsman to enable them to complete their
commissions. In such cases, it appears that the
execution of the various panels comprising the set to
be woven was farmed out, and thus two or three
establishments participated in the manufacture. Such
was the case when the " Life of St. Paul " was ordered
from Albert Auwercx. He called in assistance from
William Van Leefdael, and that master has left his
signature on a hanging belonging to that series. From
this it is evident that their partnership in the manufac-
ture of " Diana Hunting " was not a unique experience.
William Van Leefdael also belonged to a family
of tapissiers. His father, John, possessed an atelier
in Brussels, from which came the set of tapestries
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233
77ie Connoisseur
THE WOLF HUNT
representing scenes from the " Life of Scipio " that
bears his signature. William Van Leefdael was even
more distinguished than his confrere, Albert Auwercx.
He soon rose to be one of the best masters of his time
in Brussels, and was also a person of importance in
the town, being elected to the Communal Council
in 1679-1680.
There is a set, having for subject "Antony and
Cleopatra," among the treasures of the royal family
of Spain, and we have seen another set of the same
title in nine hangings, of which three were signed
by Leefdael and others by Gerard Vander Streken.
One of his later efforts was the beautiful set, one of
which represents "Time enchained by Love," upon
a background which is a veritable carpet of flowers,
with a garland held by cupids. It bore the arms
of a ducal family, and in addition to the signature
of Leefdael, contained the inscription, " D. Teniers,
fee. 1684." And certainly not the least important of
Leefdael's achievements are three florid and powerful
tapestries after Raphael's cartoons, which are now
hung in the Madrid. Museum, to which they were given
by the Duchess of Villahermosa. The other panels
of the series bear the signatures of Gerard Vander
Streken and Everard Leyniers, and all are framed in
magnificent borders of fruit and flowers.
*34
The Connoisseur
AN INTERESTING ELIZABETHAN MANSION
When Nelson first set foot in England after
his victory at the Nile, he probably straightway
directed his steps to that ancient and reputable
hostelry, the " Star Hotel " at Great Yarmouth, of
which, during the course of his career, he was not an
unfrequent guest. In those bustling days, and for
some centuries or more earlier, Yarmouth was a
relatively greater port than at the present time. It
was, after Chatham, our chief station on the East
Coast, and the most advanced point of outlook from
which we could scan the doings of our quarrelsome
neighbours, the Dutch, or watch the shifting boun-
daries of our friends and enemies on the coasts of the
Baltic. From here there set off, in 1801, the great
expedition which was to humble the pride of Denmark
and win Nelson yet another title to fame as victor of
Copenhagen : and it was here he again landed in
triumph, to once more enjoy the shelter of the " Star."
The hotel, however, is not famous only on account
of its associations with Nelson, for other illustrious
persons have passed within its walls, and the archi-
tectural embellishments of the house, more especially
the beauty of the panelling and oak work of the
interior, make it regarded as one of the most interest-
ing show-places in the Eastern Counties. It bears
abundant evidence of having been erected in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, and affords a fine specimen
of the residence of a wealthy burgess at that period.
It was built by William Crowe for his own private
residence, and being one of the Merchant Adventurers
of England, he placed the arms of that company in
the principal apartment (Nelson Room). William
Crowe was probably one of those prominent and im-
portant men of Yarmouth who, by their independence
and commercial influence, helped to make matters
over warm for the barons of the Cinque Ports. He
THE NELSON ROOM
235
The Connoisseur
THE NELSON ROOM
ANOTHER VIEW
was a man of affluence, respected by his fellow-towns-
men, and was elected by them on two occasions to fill
the office of bailiff of the town — first in 1596, and
again ten years later. The particularly well-preserved
carving in oak of the arms of the Merchant Adventurers
is worthy of explanation, for it demonstrates the
importance of the position, as a member of their
Company, of William Crowe, the builder of this house.
The style in which its interior is fitted will be
familiar to those who remember the details of such
show-houses as Knole, Longleat, Burleigh and Hat-
field, Hardwick and Audley End. Its ceilings, its
panelling, its casements and stair-rails are all reminis-
cent of the more lavish decorations displayed in those
palaces, and are characteristic of the sixteenth-century
home of an opulent and prominent citizen.
Briefly told, the story of the house shows how two
generations of Crowes, father and son, possessed it,
until the brother-in-law of the latter, Thomas Bransby,
High Sheriff of Norfolk, inherited it, and on his death,
in 1682, it descended to his daughter, who became
Lady Astley, of Melton Constable. Remaining in the
possession of this family until 1740, it was bought
by a Yarmouth maltster ; thence it passed, still as a
private house, to families named Wilson and Brad-
shaw, and in the time of the latter it was converted
into the "Star Hotel." The change certainly took place
before 1789. In 1806 the hotel was conveyed to
Mr. William Wolverton, who, in 1824, sold it to Mr.
George Bennett, a favourite comedian attached to the
Norwich Company of Actors. By him the hotel was
sold to Mr. W. H. Diver, who in turn conveyed it to
Mr. W. Shales, in whose hands the hotel attained
to something of the important position amongst the
hostelries of the Eastern Counties which it occupies
to-day. Later owners have been Mr. Lane and Mr.
S. J. Ramsey, and in 1904 it was purchased by Mr. H.
Taylor, the present proprietor, who, it is understood,
has just disposed of the panellings and internal
decorations to Messrs. Greenlands, Ltd., of Hereford.
The exterior fronting the quay is built of smoothed,
squared flints with stone dressings, and is thoroughly
236
An Interesting Elizabethan Mansion
DETAIL OF CARVING AND PANELLING
typical of the craftsmanship of the sixteenth-century
masons, which is rarely equalled by those of to-day.
There is a balcony to the first floor supported on
pillars.
The entrance and the rooms on either side of the
ground floor are low, consistent with the common
practice at the period when this house was erected
to appropriate this part of the building for the
reception of goods and merchandise. Ascending by
way of the oaken staircase, which is broad and fleet
with a heavy balustrade, one reaches the glory of the
hotel, the Nelson Room. Although the approaches
to it are all antique, one enters the apartment to be
overwhelmed with the effect of the wealth of carving
all round, surmounted by a ceiling of perfect beauty.
The room is lined throughout with exquisitely carved
wainscotting, black with age. Square panels reach
to a height of about five feet, and are divided at
regular intervals by fluted pilasters which support
terminal figures, alternately male and female, between
which are a series of ornamental panels, richly carved.
The arms, previously described, of the Merchant
Adventurers, are over the handsomely proportioned
Elizabethan fireplace, which had long been filled up
so as to fit it for a small stove ; but, being relieved of
the modern woodwork which screened it, this orna-
mental chimney-piece of Caen stone, in all its original
beauty, is once more brought into its proper use.
Curious cupboards are concealed in the panelling,
and one may note the quaint arrangement of the door
on the left of the fireplace, which, like doorways in
that old Elizabethan house, Thaine Park, Oxfordshire,
237
The Connoisseur
ami in the gallery of Rockingham Castle, open from
.i small lobby cut om of the corner of the room — a
very curious and unusual treatment. The handsome
ant ceiling is divided into six compartments of
rich moulding and adorned with fruit and flowers.
Altogether, with its well-proportioned windows opening
upon the verandah over the quay, the Nelson Room
is acknowledged to he a very perfect specimen Of the
mode ol decorating domestic houses in the days of
Moml Oui en Bess. This hh.ui is historically interest-
ing, as during the civil war in the reign of Charles I.
t Hivei Cromwell visited the town, and it is supposed
that a meeting took place between Cromwell and his
officers at which the trial of the captive king was
arranged. John Bradshaw was president of the
( 'omniissioners
for the trial of
Charles, and on
January 27th,
1649, the
Court s e n -
tenced him to
death, and on
J anuary 30th
he was exe-
cuted.
One of the
owners of the
house in the
eighteenth cen-
t u r y became
connected by
h i s daughter's
marriage with
a Bradshaw,
descended
from the fam-
ous president,
" Broad brim-
med" Brad-
shaw.
Another in-
teresting room
is the smoking
lounge, a typi-
cal instance of
the handsome-
ly decorated
apartment of
its architec-
tural period.
It is the most
handsome of
its kind in the town, and the delight of visitors from
far and near, who turn in to see it with almost as
much curiosity as they do the more ornate Nelson
Room. In its present form the room does not retain
its full proportions, but has been dwarfed in order to
screen off a passage from the stairs to the kitchen and
Other apartments and to the courtyard. A beauti-
fully moulded ceiling extends into this passage and
also into the bar at the end of the room. It is one
of the most striking features of the apartment, having
ponderous pendants, of unusual size and beauty,
which are alternated with heavy clusters of fruit.
The ancient fireplace is in an excellent state of
preservation, its ample hearth being one of the
glories of this cosy room when the winter season
drives one to
the comfort of
the fireside.
O t he r evi-
dence of the
full extent of
the room is
found in the
position of the
original win-
dow— not that
which lights
the apartment
from the Row
— which is now
obscured by
the partition-
i n g of the
passage. It
had fourteen
lights in two
tiers, the six
centre ones be-
ing larger than
those on either
side, and the
heavy oaken
frame being
delicately
carved on the
outside. The
apartments
overhead this
noble room
have also a
similar window
of twelve lights
in two tiers.
EXTERIOR CARVINC
238
i
w \V7
A SALT-GLAZE OWL
USED AS A JUG, THE HEAD FOR A CUP
Historic English Potteries
The many generations of great potters to whom
the district now comprised in the enlarged county
borough of Stoke-on-Trent has given birth would impel
one with the belief that some vital element from the
pottery clays of the district must enter into the blood
of the inhabitants if the explanation of the phenomena
was not to be found in the more prosaic but more sound
scientific reasons of heredity and environment. Since
the days of the Romans, pottery-making has been indi-
genous to this district. Each generation is born with an
hereditary aptitude for the work, so that children fresh
from the schoolroom enter the pottery factories possessed
of an instinctive facility for the deft manipulation of the
clays ; for the even and harmonious laying on of colour,
which would come — if it came at all — to the people of a
region less impregnated with ceramic tradition only as
the result of much study and practice. As it is with
the workpeople, so it is with master-potters. The great
works have been built up by dynasties of proprietors,
each commencing his career with the accumulated
knowledge of his fathers, and each adding some fresh
discoveries of his own to descend to his children.
The result of these conditions is to be found in the
unrivalled excellence of the staple product of the district.
With the exception of a few foreign products, limited in
scope and utility, and whose peculiar qualities are derived
from the properties of the materials found in the neigh-
bourhood of their manufacture, English ceramic ware of
all kinds is undoubtedly the finest in the world. The
richest and most cultivated classes of the five continents
dine off English china, drink their tea or coffee from
English cups, and indulge in the refinements or neces-
sities of the toilet from English-made utensils. Nor in
the technical excellence of the work produced is the
rivalry of the past more to be feared than the competition
of the present. A few — a very few — secrets known to
potters of earlier times have been lost ; but for the most
part the glazes and pastes discovered by the Greeks and
Romans, the mediaeval potters, and those who founded
the great continental factories of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, have not only been emulated, but
carried to a far higher degree of perfection. Few secrets
known to Chinese potters have been left unsolved, while
many wares have been evolved equally beautiful as theirs,
but altogether unknown to them. In fact, paradoxical as
the statement may seem, it is the technical perfection of
the best types of modern English pottery which deprives
them of not a little of their fascination in the eves of the
PLAQUE BY WEDGWOOD
"HERCULES IN THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES"
24I
BY FLAXMAN
The Connoisseur
collector. The older potters
u ii'd to attain it, but their
knowledge was not equal
to the task, and so in their
wares failings often appear
slight variations in colour-
tones, surface inequalities,
ami « ant ot transparent y
in the glazes — which, first
sought for by connoisseurs
as evidence of the antiquity
of the pieces, have now come
to be rig aided as essen-
tial beauties. The modern
poller could produce all
these characteristics, but
they would not be tolerated
in contemporary work.
Modern English ceramic
ware, indeed, does not receive
a tithe of the attention from
the collector it deserves.
He utilizes it for his house-
hold requirements, but does
not introduce it into his cabinet — an oversight which
deprives him both of a fascinating pursuit and a profit-
able hobby, and handicaps the pottery-maker by pre-
venting him from fully developing the artistic side of his
craft. The collecting of the work of the past is a pursuit
full of interest ; but, nevertheless, it affords little oppor-
tunity for the exercise of original judgment, or of the
zest and fascination of exploration. It is but the treading
of well-worn paths ; the recording of history, not the
making of it. The patrons of Wedgwood and his con-
temporaries laid the foundations of the English pottery
industry of to-day, and enabled them to produce wares
which in quality rivalled anything that had gone before.
The most artistic of Wedgwood's purely decorative
pieces were equally sought after as his utilitarian wares,
and so he was enabled to advance from triumph to
triumph, calling in the greatest artists of his time to his
PLATE WITH VIEW-
BY CAUL-DON (BROWN-WESTHEAD, MOORE AND CO.) LTD
assistance, and finding his
efforts to evolve beauty highly
profitable. Unfortunately,
the same state of affairs does
not prevail to-day. Since
the advent of the motor-car,
with its inexhaustible outlets
for superfluous income, the
best of our table wares goes
abroad. The antiquary of
the future, when he seeks to
discover the most luxurious
and ornate examples of Eng-
lish domestic china produced
in the era of George \\, will
have to seek for them in the
Fifth Avenue mansions of
New York, or the palaces of
Oriental potentates. The
same rule holds good, to some
extent, with regard to the
purely ornamental pieces.
The Englis'h connoisseur's
glance is too retrospective ;
he is apt to collect the artistic triumphs of every age
rather than his own, and so he leaves the support
of what should be the highest branches of ceramic
art to people whose taste is not of a cultivated
character. The result is somewhat disheartening to
the enlightened potter. In the show-rooms of the
principal Stoke-on-Trent factories one sees pieces
which, in their fine simplicity of form and the lustre,
richness, and superb coloration of their glazes, approach,
if not equal, some ot the best examples of Oriental art.
For these, one is told, there is practically no demand.
They are not ostentatious enough for the ordinary pur-
chaser, who, when he buys expensive wares, wants
something the value of which is apparent to everyone ;
and the connoisseur to whom they should appeal seems
obsessed with the idea that age is the most necessary
attribute of beauty.
242
Historic
English
Potteries
Something of this
neglect for the
highest phases of
modern porcelain
and pottery perhaps
originates in the idea
that they are wholly
of mechanical pro-
duction— turned out
by machinery in
thousands and tensot
thousands of pieces ;
whereas machinery
plays a compara-
tively minor part.
The making of cera-
mic ware still re-
mains essentially a
handicraft, the
production of crafts-
m e n — if one may
include men, women,
boys, and girls under
such an appellation —
the quality of whose
work depends almost
wholly on their
steadiness of eye and
sureness of hand. In
the higher grades of
work — such as pieces
directly painted with original designs — the craftsman
becomes an artist, using the porcelain for his canvas, and
performing feats of greater difficulty than the orthodox
painter, for the materials he uses allow little opportunity
for revision or correction.
For examples of the products of modern ceramic art,
I am taking some of the typical wares in half a dozen
of the largest and more historic factories in the recently
extended county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. There
may be other factories equally worthy of mention ;
but these are typical. Their founders were among the
PARIAN FIGURE, IS64
men who have done-
most to elevate the
standard of English
pottery, and in trac-
ing the history of
their firms one is
giving the outline
history of the rise
and development of
one of England's
greatest and most
flourishing industries
— a beautiful and
pleasurable industry,
moreover ; one which
allows its skilled
workers to cultivate
deftness ot eye and
hand to the utmost,
and which initiates
in them a taste for
the refinements and
graces of sentient
line and pleasing
colour. There may
be — there probably
is — a seamy side to
the industry, but my
way lay not among it.
The firms I visited
LION IN LOVE" BY MINTON ,u„-o
are not among those
who make economies at the cost of suffering workpeople.
As I passed through room after room of industrious
workers, all seemingly happy in their varied occupations,
it appeared to me that their task of creating the beautiful
was amongst the most delightful that could be afforded
by any of our great modern industries.
At Messrs. Wedgwood's I was told that it was usual for
the workers to grow grey-headed in the service of the
firm, in whose fortunes they take a keen proprietary
interest, regarding the heads with the same affectionate
spirit that Highland clansmen felt for their chiefs.
FLAMBK MOTTLED VASES
The Connoisseur
Something of this feeling perhaps comes
from the way that the business has
descended from fathei to son for over
a century and a half. The Wedgwood
<1\ nasty is represented. It was founded
by the " great Josiah Wedgwood," as
Mr. Gladstone called him. Mr. Law-
rence Wedgwood, one of the present
proprietors, belongs to the fourth
generation, in direct descent from him ;
his partners, Major Cecil Wedgwood,
I'.S.O. — the first mayor of the new
county borough of Stoke-on-Trent —
and his brother, Mr. Frank Wedgwood,
to the fifth. Josiah Wedgwood himself,
however, is only the middle link in a
dynasty of potters, for his father,
grandfather, and great-grandfather all
belonged to the craft. His place in
the history of ceramic art is that of the
father of modern pottery ; the great
works he built at Etruria — held and
extended by his descendants — are the
cradle of the present great English in-
dustry. When he was born, in 1730,
the commonalty of England ate their
meals from wooden platters and the
coarsest of earthenware ; by the time
of his death, in 1 795, nearly every house-
hold was provided with clean, delicate,
and well-shaped wares, which owed their
origin almost entirely to his inventiveness, artistic taste,
and unremitting enterprise and industry.
The works at Etruria were not founded until Wedg-
wood's reputation and fortunes were well established.
This was in 1769, when he was thirty-nine, having already
packed the enterprises and achievements of a lifetime
into a career which had not nearly reached its apogee.
He had served a lengthy apprenticeship with his brother
Thomas; started business on his own account with
Mr. Harrison ; parted from him and joined forces with
Thomas Whieldon — their partnership lasting from 1754
until 1759; and
finally commenced
entirely on his own
at the Churchyard
Works, B urslem.
This business grew
with tremendous
rapidity. To cope
with its increase,
Wedgwood first took
additional premises
at I vy House, and
then started a third
factory at the Brick
House Works — re-
christened by his
e mpl o y ees as the
Bell Works, from centrepiece
LUSTROSA CHINESE BOTTLE-SHAPE
VASE
BY G. L. ASHWORTH AND BROS.
Wedgwood] having "started a bell to
call them to work. The settlement
at Etruria was designed to bring all
these separate establishments into one.
There was open country all around
when Wedgwood bought the site ; his
factory and the houses erected for
his workpeople made of it a little
town. Wedgwood was then thirty-nine,
and a master-potter of many years'
standing, having passed through the
pr el i m in a r y stages of thrower and
apprentice, and in conjunction with
Whieldon established a highly success-
ful business at Burslem, his native
place. In 1775 he transferred the whole
of this to Etruria, which since then has
remained the seat of the great pottery
factory controlled by his descendants.
The place, to outward aspect, has not
altered very materially since Wedg-
wood's time. New works have been
added and new machinery introduced;
but the latter is not visible unless one
search for it, and the former are smoke-
toned into complete harmony with
the buildings — and these, it must be
remembered, cover a colossal area —
erected by Wedgwood himself. His
house — the Old Hall — divided from the
works by the Trent and Mersey canal
and a stretch of still uncovered meadow land, is only a
furlong distant. But what seems to place one on terms
of closer intimacy with him is the museum in the midst
of the works, almost wholly filled with personal relics,
his moulds, casts, dies, and experimental trials, and an
unique series of some of his finest achievements. The
museum is in charge of Mr. Isaac Cooke, whose many
years of service with the firm, if they barely span half
the interval which separates us from Wedgwood's life-
time, have at least enabled him to speak with people
who saw the master-potter in the flesh.
The number 01
wares which Wedg-
wood produced is
eg ion ; but perhaps
the one most closely
associated with his
name is the famous
Jasper ware, in which
the subject is ren-
dered in white relief
— generally, but by
no means invariably,
on a blue ground,
for Wedgwood also
produced the ware
in various tones of
lilac green, black,
by copeland ~"^ anil v e 1 1 o w. The
244
Historic
English
Potteries
distinction of the ware lies not only
in the daintiness and purity of its
colour, but also in its fine body,
which has been pronounced as the
most beautiful substance ever intro-
duced into ceramic art. Wedgwood
only perfected this ware after 1770,
and his best pieces in it were pro-
duced between 1773 and 1793. To
this period belongs the famous
"Marriage of Cupid and Psyche,"
the subject of which was taken from
an antique gem in the Marlborough
collection. Wedgwood's plaque
from this — repeated in various sizes
— was executed in 1787, and two
years later he employed Flaxman
to design the exquisite " Sacrifice of
Hymen" as a companion piece.
Flaxman, indeed, was constantly
employed by Wedgwood, and the
most perfect expressions of his
genius are to be found in the designs
he made for the potter rather than
in his large monuments.
A well-known triumph of Wedg-
wood was his reproduction of the
celebrated Portland vase in the
British Museum, perhaps the most
difficult feat ever attempted by a
potter. In his black basalt ware he
found an excellent vehicle for the
reproduction of antique busts and
contemporary sculpture. Of his
other wares one can only mention
the famous Queen's ware — named in
compliment to Queen Charlotte —
with its delightfully warm but delicate cream-coloured
tone ; his agate wares, in which he attained the colora-
tion and quality of richly marked marbles ; and his
finely formed semi-porcelain or stoneware.
The progress of Wedgwood's, however, did not cease
with the life of its first proprietor; he only laid the
PARIAN FIGU
BY
foundations of the present business
— magnificent ones it is true. The
structure has been, and is still being,
enlarged by his descendants. Wedg-
wood, it will be remembered, attained
an unrivalled reputation for his table
wares, supplying them to the vari-
ous royalties of his day, among his
works in this phase of his craft be-
ing the celebrated dinner-set made
for the Empress Catherine of Russia,
which was recently rediscovered in
the Winter Palace, and of which
one or two sample pieces are in-
cluded among the treasures in the
museum. This reputation for beau-
tiful table wares has been retained
and extended by the present firm,
and their pieces go all over the
world, American millionaires, who
are the largest and most prodigal
buyers of anything that possesses
striking and apparent excellencies,
being among their principal custo-
mers. A dinner-set of recent date,
which will possess an historic inter-
est in the future, is that made for
Mr. Roosevelt for use at the White
House when he first became Presi-
dent of the United States. A
feature in many of the firm's pieces
is the introduction of wholly hand-
painted patternings. In most wares,
where the pattern is required to be
repeated, its outlines are first printed
on and then overpainted by hand ;
but in many of those of Messrs.
Wedgwood the preliminary printing is dispensed with,
and, with skilful work, a far greater individuality and
freedom of effect is attained. Some of these pottery-
painters — young women for the most part — attain a
dexterity and sureness of hand which is simply marvel-
lous. It appears a matter of course for a girl not far
RE SUMMER
MINTON
PLAQUE BY WEDGWOOD
BLIND MAN S BUFF
BY FLAXMAN
245
The Connoisseur
THE APOTHEOSIS OF HOMER
down her teens to
fble to take .1
cup or plate in one
hand and with the
other pai nt round
its body — not its
- a perfectly
straight line ol
even thickness
throughout without
any visible marks
to guide her, and
to do it. not with
one dexterous
sweep, but slowly
and systematically,
so as to secure that
the paint shall be
laid all round with
exactly the same
thickness. The
most elaborate pat-
ternings are repro-
duced with the
same sureness ; not
outlined in pencil
first, but painted
indirect with
brush, one slip of
which would mar the entire piece. Pressure of space
forbids one to linger longer with Messrs. Wedgwood,
whose show-room, containing samples of many of the
best ceramic wares evolved in England during a cen-
tury and a half, offers a variety of attractions that is
bewildering in its profusion.
When Whieldon was in partnership with Wedgwood
they had among their apprentices a young man destined
to be a rival to them both
with contemporary buyers
and in the attraction of his
wares to posterity. This
was Josiah Spode — the first
of the name, for it was
shared by his son and suc-
cessor, whose reputation is
as deservedly great as that
of his father. Spode the
elder was born in 1733,
and commenced to manu-
facture on his own account
in 1754, the same year as
his sons birth. He took
the works, forming the
nucleus of those of the
present firm of Copeland's,
late Spode, in 1770, which
had previously been carried
on by Messrs. Turner and
Banks. The first Spode
was not a man of great
BY WEDGWOOD, AFTER FLAXMAN
PLAQUE, WITH VIEW OF WINDSOR CASTLE
BY CAULDON (BROWN-WESTHEAD, MOORE AND CO.) LTD.
246
originality, but, he
had a talent for
producing excellent
wares, which his
son sold through
the medium of an
emporium they
opened in London ;
and it speaks vol-
umes for the grow-
ing reputation of
the firm that this
London branch, at
first conducted
through an agency,
and then in com-
paratively small
premises, had to be
finally moved to a
large warehouse.
The death of his
father, in 1797, re-
called Joseph
Spode, Junior, to
Stoke, and caused
him to admit Mr.
John Copeland —
who had been con-
cerned with him in
the London business — as a partner in the firm. Spode
was one of the greatest pioneers of the ceramic industry
in the nineteenth century, uplifting its entire standard.
He is popularly credited with having been the first to
introduce bone into the body of English porcelain; there
are, however, many other claimants to this distinction,
and his share in the matter is probably that he made a
commercial success of what had been only a tentative
experiment. He was, how-
ever, the first to use fel-
spar among its ingredients,
and thus increase the
beauty and transparency of
the ware, besides improv-
ing the quality of the body.
Another improvement he
effected was the introduc-
tion of transfer printing ;
by means of this he was
enabled to pattern his
pieces with more ornate
and better executed de-
signs, while one of the col-
ours he initiated — a beau-
tiful light blue — is still
unrivalled, and specimens
of his productions in this
tint are eagerly secured by
collectors. But Spode by
no means confined his
chromatic improvements to
Historic English Potteries
this single tint. He
borrowed ideas
from the richly
decorated porce-
lains of Japan, and
introduced beauti-
ful and original
styles of decora-
tion, in which reds
and blues and dark
cobalts predomin-
ated, richly embel-
lished with gold.
He died in 1827,
having raised the
reputation of Staf-
fordshire china to
the highest emi-
nence. His son
retired from the
business in 1835,
which then came
wholly into the
hands of Mr. W.
T. Cope land, the
son of the partner
of J os i ah Spode,
and the late Mr.
K. 1'. Copeland,
whose sons, Messrs. Ronald and Gresham Copeland,
now control the destinies of its present nine acres of
works.
Here, as at other of the larger works, the difficulty of
the chronicler is not what to find to describe, but which
of the many beautiful things he shall select from. There
are a wealth of pieces in the old Spode patterns, now so
popular ; wares which in their floral patternings recall
the chintzes of our grandfathers, others which are drawn
from Oriental motifs, and others in the beautiful blue
which was one of Spode's specialities. 1 if more modern
patterns there are an inexhaustible number, the ex-
quisitely white and transparent table ware for which
Copeland's are famous forming backgrounds to an
endless variety of simple or ornate designs— in some the
embellishment consisting of merely a few lines with the
royal crown or crest of some English or foreign potentate
finely painted on one side ; in others the white porcelain
being almost entirely covered with ornate and gorgeously
jewelled tracery, which looks as though it were executed
in gold filigree work and enamel. Such pieces as the
latter tax the potter's art to the utmost, on account of the
fineness of work with which they have to be executed
and the number of firings they require. A thousand
THE APOTHEOSIS OF VIRGIL
pounds or more is
no uncommon price
for a single dinner
service in such
style. Domestic
ware, however, by
no means exhausts
the scope of
Messrs. Copeland's
energies. One re-
calls that they fur-
in ished the tiles
which decorate the
nine cupolas of the
Imperial Library
in France, when all
the Continent was
ransacked in vain
for potters to
undertake such
a gigantic task,
36,000 tiles, each
forming part of an
elaborate design,
having to be fixed
all on the curve.
A later triumph
in France was the
award of a Grand
Prix at the last Paris Exhibition, a repetition of earlier
awards of the same character in previous ones. In
the early part of the Victorian era the firm shared
with Mintons the credit of discovering Parian, a sub-
stance composed principally from felspar, which, though
now somewhat unfashionable, is the best substitute
for marble that has ever been made, and which, unlike
marble, can be cast in moulds. One wonders why
tin-, beautiful ware is not more used at the present
moment for the reproduction of modern pieces of sculp-
ture. In its durability and its susceptibility for being
easily cleansed it is far superior to plaster; while, though
it hardly possesses such sculpturesque qualities as bronze,
the latter material is too dark to show to advantage in
the subdued light of an ordinary English reception-room.
BY WEDGWOOD, AFTER FLAXMAN
TEA SERVICE OLD LEEDS REVIVAL ON SPECIALLY DESIGNED AND REGISTERED SHAPES BY DOULTON
247
The Connoisseur
unlikely things may
en than that the old
ol (Mi ian ware repro
duced from the statuary
of Gibson, Theed, Foley,
1 'ower, and other sculptors
ms half a century ago,
will come within the proi e
nan< i ol the i ollector and
I ie eagerly sought after and
ed. Peril ips I should
dwell les "ii uh.tt, tor tin-
time being, is neglei ted
ware,than those wares which
.it tin- present moment are
most so ug lit after. The
tastehithertoprevailing has
been for pieces decorated
with sumptuous ornateness
and resplendent with gild-
ing and jewel-work. These,
to escape the reproach of
being tawdry, must be
conceived with taste and
refinement, and executed with great technical skill. A
failure in either respect would be fatal, for the difference
between good work of this kind and indifferent is as
great as between an elaborate piece of exquisitely hand-
wrought Renaissance jewellery and a modern machine-
made imitation. In its technical perfection Messrs.
Copeland's work of this character reaches the limits of
modern discovery, while the modern designs are conceived
and executed by some of the most able contemporary
PLATE B
BROWN-WESTUEAD.
ceramic artists and ( rafts
men, or reproduced in fac-
simile from beautiful old
designs. Vases of all sizes
and reminiscent of all
periods are shown, ranging
from dimensions so colossal
that they even dwarf what
is known as the " Forty
Thieves" type — so called
because of a supposed re-
semblance to the jars in
which those famous "Ara-
bian Nights'' characters
hid when in Ali Baba's
courtyard — down to exqui-
site little specimens in bleu
de roi, rose du Barri, and
turquoise ; while for those
who like beauty of form
unrelieved by colour there
are numbers of pieces in
delicate and softly trans-
lucent white wares.
In 1765, four years before Wedgwood established his
works at Etruria, another well-known potter, Thomas
Minton, was bom. Unlike Wedgwood, Minton was
neither a native of the district — first seeing the light at
Wyll Cop, Shropshire— nor did he enter the pottery
industry in the ordinary way as a thrower, but as
apprentice to an engraver at the Caughley China Works,
Broseley. Even had he remained an engraver all his
life, Thomas Minton would deserve to be remembered by
Y CAULDON
MOORE AND CO.
PAIR OF VASES MADE ABOUT 1 84O
BY MINTON
248
SPODE
CHINA.
iy Royal appoinfmeiu /
to His riajesfy
King G( /
Successors
W. T. Cooelnnd r, Snn^ ^t^b^.
An Tn/ant
Historic
English
Potteries
THREE PLATES BY WEDGWOOD
Cheadlt pattern^ designed
in style of "Old Rouen "
i lid Queen s
patter
posterity as having rendered the first English version
of that most popular of all ceramic decorations, the
well-known willow pattern. A more substantial repu-
tation attaches to his name as founder o.f the great
firm of Mintons. This enterprise was not initiated
until he had passed many years as an engraver, con-
tinuing at Caughley for some time after the termination
of his apprenticeship, then working for Joshua Spode
in London, and finally setting up as an engraver at
Stoke-on-Trent in 1789. Four years later he bought
a small plot of land and commenced the manufacture
of earthenware. Minton built up an excellent founda-
tion for a great business. He established a reputation
for the soundness and high finish of his wares ; but it
is chiefly through the genius and enterprise of his
second son, Herbert, born in 1792, that the world-wide
celebrity of Mintons originated. Herbert Minton be-
longed to the same class of master-men as Wedgwood —
originators who, not content to pursue the beaten track,
find the way to greatness along paths of their own
making. He came into control of the works in 1836,
and, aided by the talent of Mr. Arnoux, his art director,
he made their productions known throughout the con-
tinent. Not content with developing his business on
recognised lines, he added entirely new wares to the
" Rotn 11 1 ■ a
decoration replica oj an old
R.'irt-it pattern
potter's repertoire, and turned out pieces of a character
and size not hitherto attempted. The virile influence of
Herbert Minton's personality is seen in the widely
extended scope of the firm's work. Thomas Minton
had commenced in a humble way, making only earthen-
ware, and acting as his own traveller. The pattern-
books he carried — two slender oblong octavo volumes
filled with designs painted in water-colour — are still
preserved by the firm, and afford an interesting record
of some of the more popular late eighteenth-century
patternings. Not until 1821, when Herbert had been
fifteen years connected with the firm — he joined it as a
boy of fourteen — did it commence to ]make semi-trans-
parent porcelain ; a few years later china was added, in
1842 parian was added, and in 1849 Herbert Minton and
Arnoux succeeded in producing a hard porcelain, pro-
nounced to be superior to that of Meissen or Berlin.
One of the greatest feats was the inception and perfecting
of English majolica, a ware for which the firm still retains
an unique reputation. The idea was borrowed from con-
tinental sources — from the glorious painted majolica of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a ware which
originated with the Moors in Spain. Its special charac-
teristic is its opaque glaze, derived from the use of
oxide of tin. The failing of the continental ware is its
SFVRES STYLE PLA 1 I>
BY MINTON
-51
The Connoisseur
BERNE CANDELABRA AND CLOCK
BY COPELAND
brittleness and fragility, largely caused by the body
being made from calcareous clays, which require only
very gentle heat for firing. Mintons made their body
from the far less easily handled marl, found abundantly
in certain coal districts, and
which, when fired, turns to a
ware light buff in colour, of a
great density, and which stands
frost or rough handling better
than any other. Artists like
Marochetti, Carrier, Jeannest,
and others, were employed to
embellish the higher technical
qualities of the new ware with
decorative qualities which should
rival those of the best pieces of
the old. How well they perform-
ed this task was shown in the
1 85 1 exhibition, where the speci-
mens shown caused a great sensa-
tion, the Crown Princess of
Prussia (afterwards Empress of
Germany) securing the entire ex-
hibit. To recount subsequent
achievements of Mintons would
need a substantial volume. An
original ware which owes its per-
fection to the enterprise of Mr.
Campbell, one of the late part-
ners in the firm, and their former
art director, Mr. M. L. Solon,
is the celebrated Pate sur Pate,
which affords the highest artistic
possibilities. For their pieces in
the Sevres style the firm enjoys
a high reputation, as they have
command of enamels as techni-
cally perfect as those which
adorned the chef-tfa-uvres of the
reigns of Louis XV. and Louis
XVI. Their table wares, which
MASON WARE TOKIO VASE IN BLUE AND RED
BY G. L. ASHWORTH AND BROS.
once almost enjoyed a monopoly with old English county
families, more than retain their former reputation, and
most of the crowned heads of Europe, including the
English royal families, own services made by the firm.
The huge Cauldon factory
(Messrs. Brown - West head,
Moore & Co.) owes its establish-
ment to that stalwart Wesleyan
and master-potter, Job Ridgway.
He was born in the district — at
Chell, near Burslem — in 1759,
and always seems to have desired
to remain in it. Apprenticed at
Swansea, he returned to Stafford-
shire in 1780, when his indentures
were expired, but was driven by
lack of work to Leeds. After
two years' sojourn there, during
which he came under the influ-
ence of Methodism, he returned
again, this time permanently. He
and his brother William went into
partnership as master-potters,
separating amicably towards the
close of the eighteenth century,
when Job built the factory at
Cauldon Place, which has now
expanded until it covers eleven
acres, an area large enough to
contain St. Paul's Cathedral and
the Houses of Parliament. Job
Ridgway chiefly confined his
efforts to stoneware and blue
printed ware. His two sons, John
and William, who came into the
control of the business on their
lather's death, in 1S14, largely
extended its scope. John espe-
cially was responsible for the
development of the Cauldon
wares. Some of his fine pieces
252
Historic
English
Potteries
CAULDON WAKE
MADE BY CAULDON (BROWN-WESTHE AD, MOORE AND CO.) LTD. IN iXOs
— though hardly as many as one would like — are still
to be seen at the works, while many of his old patterns
— those free adaptations of Japanese motifs carried out
in rich, bright, but always harmonious colouring —
are even more popular to-day than they were in his
lifetime. He appears to have used untiring efforts in
the improvement and decoration of his wares. He
evolved a beautiful porcelain body, and, aided by artists
like Cutts and Speight, he applied to it a richness
and elaborateness of ornamentation which' had hardly
been attempted by his predecessors.
In 1S22 he dissolved partnership with his brother
William, and after this date, when he was free to use
his own initiative and enterprise without any conflicting
influence, most of his greatest triumphs were attained.
His blue printed
wares acquired a tre-
mendous popularity,
while his gold
work was especially
noteworthy for its
fine quality. He
executed many com-
missions for Queen
Victoria, to whom
he was appointed
royal potter. On
his death, in i860,
the business was
transferred to the
present firm, Messrs.
T. C. Brown-West-
head, Moore & Co.
Perhaps the greatest
claim which John
Ridgway has on the
gratitude of posterity
is the fine quality of
the porcelain paste
he evolved, which
was far superior to
that produced at the
factories of Bow and
Chelsea. The Caul-
don-ware body —
John Ridgway:s
composition im-
proved and perfected
REPRODUCTION OF A SEVRES V.
PAINTED PANEL. AND
by his successors — is characterised by a subtle warmth
of tone. Of its fine decorative capabilities hundreds of
instances are afforded in the variously patterned table-
ware samples of dinner sets which have gone to the
ttite among the civilised peoples in the four quarters of
the globe — European royal families and those of Asia,
Colonial and South American millionaires, and Wall
Street magnates. Among these may be found patterning-^
to suit an infinite range of tastes, varying from the
chaste simplicity of the decoration on the service sup-
plied for use on the royal train of the London and
North Western Railway, or of those used for the three
royal visits to India, to intricate combinations of gilt
and jewelled enamels which recall in their sumptuous
splendour the legends of the Arabian Nights. Many of
the pieces are in
white and gold only,
an exquisite com-
bination when, as is
here the case, the
gilding is woven into
delicate traceriesand
patterned so that its
rich splendour shall
contrast with the soft
whiteness of the
translucent porcelain
beneath. Acid gild-
ing, in which, after
the manner of etch-
ing, diapered pat-
terns are wrought on
the gold by the biting
away of the ground
beneath by acid, is a
novelty which has
been extensively
adopted by the firm.
On their h a n d -
painted wares — table
sets in which each
individual piece is
decorated with a
different theme — the
sen ices of some of
the best ceramic
artists of the day
DARK BLUE GROUND,
by minton have been utilised.
25.'
The Connoisseur
An interesting example oi one of the firm's earlj efforts
to produce pictorial representation ol high quality on
i hina is the * iew oi Windsor Castle, dating ba< k to the
time of John Ridgway, in which the elaborate frame,
equally with the body of the
picture itself, is composed
of porcelain. One of the
mote recent productions "i
the ( 'auldon factory is the
Shakespeare > .i-e. a centre-
in china, standing
iiver three feet high, which
was shown at the Chicago
exhibition.
This is only one of a
number of vases painted
by Boullemier, Sieffert,
Bernard, and other gifted
artists, with themes suffici-
ently varied in their scope
and treatment to meet the
predilections of all classes
of ceramic collectors. As
in other of the largest fac-
tories, the wares made at
Cauldon Place are by no
means limited to those of
an expensive character;
indeed, it would be quite
impossible to produce the latter by themselves on a
remunerative basis. They require special positions in
the pottery ovens, and if there were no pieces of a less
delicate character to be fired at the same time, the ovens
would be more than half empty. The lower-priced wares
are made with equal artistic insight and equal technical
ability as those of a more costly character. The higher
price of the latter is accounted for by the greater diffi-
culties attendant to their production, and the greater
limitation in the application of their designs.
The connection of Messrs. Doulton & Co. with Stafford-
shire is of more recent date than that of the other firms
mentioned in this article. Originating only in 1877, the
VASE IN REMBRANDT WARE
establishment then formed, which has since developed
into one of the largest in the Potteries, was, however, but
one of the offshoots of the parent stem, other branches
having already been formed at St. Helens, Lancashire,
and Rowley Regis, near
Birmingham. The parent
house was founded by
Messrs. John Doulton and
John Watts at Vauxhall,
London, in 1815, and
moved to its present site
in Lambeth in 1S26.
The production of artistic
architectural and horticul-
tural terra-cotta — a speci-
ality of the firm — and their
exploitation of the decora-
tive possibilities of smaller
objects made in salt-glazed
stoneware, by the addition
of colour and finish, might
prove more attractive
themes ; but the range of
products of this firm is so
large that one must, as far
as possible, confine oneself
to the description of a few
of the pieces made in the
works at liurslem, where
most of their finest china and earthenware is pro-
duced. Of all the pieces shown, my own fancy was most
taken with some specimens of flambe, which rivalled in
their coloration and quality the old Chinese specimens of
the same ware.
One would like to see the old and the new shown
together, side by side ; the exhibition would make
many collectors, who are now straining their resources
in the endeavour to compete with multi-millionaires for
fine examples of Chinese art, turn to these equally beauti-
ful and comparatively moderately priced works. One is
afraid to use the word "cheap." In these transmuta-
tion wares the potter makes nature his master-decorator,
BY DOULTON
IMPERIAL QUEEN S WARE
COMPOTIER PIERCED
AND RELIEF DECORATION
CHINA DESSERT PLATE
BARTOLOZZI PATTERN
BY WEDGWOOD
2 5 4
IMPERIAL QUEEN S WARE
FRUIT-BASKET PIERCED
AND RELIEF DECORATION
Historic
Ei/glis/i
Potteries
LUSTROSA CHINESE PRUNUS SHAPE VASE
BY G. L. ASHWORTH AND BROS.
fashioning for her handiwork vases of simple and beauti-
ful shape, which he coats with glazes cunningly arranged,
so that the heat of the furnace shall transmute them into
enamels glowing with vari-coloured tints, ranging trom
deep brilliant reds and flame-like yellows to the delicate
and tender modulations of peach bloom.
This flambe glaze has been pressed into domestic use,
and one can obtain beautiful rouge flambe tea-sets and
other pieces, while it has also been adopted as a ground
in decorated pieces, the deep-red coloration forming an
effective background to a multitude of well-conceived
designs, varying from simple patternings to freely treated
figure and landscape subjects. Another ware whose
effect is largely dependent upon the peculiar properties
of its glaze is lustre,
and many pieces
of fine quality are
shown. Then there
are innumerable
examples of china
vases on which the
full resources of
the modeller and
painter have been
lavished ; and it is
a matter of con-
gratulation that the
names affixed to
these works —
Messrs. Doulton mason ware Bruges bowl
LUSTROSA VASE. OLD CHINESE SHAPE
BY G. L. ASHWORTH AND BROS.
are among those who believe in their artists getting the
credit of their productions — are nearly all of English
origin. Mr. E. Raby's floral designs, naturalistic in their
standpoint but always conceived with an eye to decora-
tive effect, are among the most perfect of their kind ;
while among other artists who have achieved excellent
work for the firm are Messrs. G. G. White — with his
well-composed and delicately wrought figure subjects—
A. Eaton, J. Hancock, and D. Dewsbury.
In work of this kind, however, the effect attained by
the painter is largely dependent upon the appropriate-
ness of the setting, and thus the chief responsibility
rests upon the designer, who conceives the piece as
a whole. In Mr. C. J. Noke, the art director at
-, Burslem, Messrs.
k Doulton possess a
I des i g n er of tried
f ,i b i 1 i t y , whose
guiding motive is
to raise the artistic
standard of cera-
mic art and pres>
into its service the
best talent of the
time. His designs
for vases show an
inspiration derived
f r o m the great
trad it ions of the
hworth and bros. past, while in his
The Connoisseur
MASON WARE DINNER 1'LATE
BY G. L. ASHWORTH AND BROS.
figure subjects the work has a sculpturesque largeness
of feeling without any attempt having been made to
mimic in pottery effects which are only legitimately
attainable in marble or bronze. The pieces are not
merely statuettes coloured, but have been composed
specifically with an eye to their coloration and the
peculiar properties of the material in which they are
wrought. The same appropriateness of design is shown
in the pieces in china decorated with conventional floral
arrangements, which are among the most tasteful ex-
amples of modern ceramic art. Mention should also be
made of the rich Rembrandt wares painted with clay
upon clay. Of table wares the Royal Doulton factory
produces examples of every kind. They merit a most
lengthy description, but space does not permit ; and what
has been said regarding the technical perfection of the
wares of other great makers applies equally to these, whose
STELLA ROCOCO LAMP
BY COPELAND
PLATE PART OF DESSERT SERVICE MADE FOR THE
LATE KING EDWARD BY DOULTON
translucent and even-grained bodies and purity of colour
and gilding are of the finest.
The wares which graced the tea-tables of the ladies of
the eighteenth century were almost wholly of Oriental
make, but the import of them was almost stopped by
the heavy duties imposed on them, consequent upon the
outbreak of the great war with France. It was this
check to trade which caused that subsequently great
potter, Miles Mason, to turn his attention from the re-
tailing of ceramic wares to their production, and found
that well-known business which, after some vicissitudes
of fortune, has for many years been in the hands of
Messrs. George L. Ashworth and Brothers. Mason
belonged to a Cumberland family ; his Oriental china
business in Fenchurch Street, London, which came to
grief, was founded in 1780, and a little over twelve years
later he was installed as a master-potter at Middle
256
Historic English Potteries
PRESENT-DAY SERVICE
BY COPELAND
Fenton, close to Stoke-on-Trent. Part ot the inter-
vening time he had spent in acquiring the mastery of his
craft, first as apprentice to Duesbury
at the Derby works, which he left in
1792, and afterwards at Worcester.
His Oriental taste, if it did not actually
bring a new influence to bear on
English ceramic art, at least largely
favoured the introduction of Eastern
ideas, both in the making of the wares
and their ornamentation.
In the opening years 01 the nine-
teenth century he was producing what
is known as true porcelain — the same
porcelain as that of China, formed
without any admixture of bone among
its ingredients — and was thus one of
the first, if not actually the first, to
start its manufacture in this country.
He boldly advertised his ware as
more beautiful and durable than the
" Indian Nankin China," and offered
to "renew or match the impaired
or broken services" of the latter
belonging to "the Nobility or Gentry.
are often of great beauty, and are eagerly secured by
collectors ; but it was his son, Charles James Mason,
who exercised the more permanent effect on the trade
by introducing the manufacture of the well-known iron-
stone china, a process which he patented in 18 13. The
novelty of the ware was in the use, among its ingredients,
of a large proportion of scoria or slag of ironstone ;
hence the name by which it was christened. Charles
Mason was not content to use this material for table-
ware, but employed it for articles which would hardly
seem to come within the scope of china-ware, such as
posts for four-post beds, and mantelpieces. He also
fashioned from it immense punch-bowls and cisterns for
gold-fish, and also some enormous and highly decorated
vases, a fine specimen ot which is to be seen in the
Stoke-on-Trent Museum.
His brother, George Miles Mason, after their father's
death, was co-partner with Charles in the business ; and
the son of the former was George Heming Mason, A.R.A.,
the well-known artist, contemporary and artistic rival of
Fred Walker. Unfortunately, the artistic talents of the
Masons seem to have been more strongly developed than
their commercial instincts. Their productions touched
high-water mark between 1840 and 1845, but in 1S51
MODERN COFFEE-SET IN CHINA. WITH ACID GOLD DECORATION
BY MINTON
Mason's pieces
BLUE PRINT SPODE DISH AND BEAKER
PERIOD I77O-I80O
George, who had been left sole proprietor of the business
through his brother's retirement, was compelled to part
with it to Francis Morley, ot the Broad Street Works,
Hanley. The latter factory was originally built in 1720,
and so is one of the oldest establishments in the district.
It was there, so far back as 1S23, that a leadless
glaze was introduced, while in 1856 Mr. Morley gained
a first-class medal at the Paris International Exhibition
for his Mason ware. The business came into possession
of Messrs. Ashworth in 1858, and from them, in 1883,
passed to the present owner, Mr. J. S. Goddard. The firm is
to some extent a specialistic one, their output being largely
confined to the " Mason's Patent Ironstone China " ware,
which, after the lapse of a century — the present year is the
centenary of the patent— still retains its popularity as one
of the most durable and sightly wares known suitable
for every purpose to which pottery can be put.
The processes by which the ware is made have been
still further perfected since Mason's day, while the finest
of the patternings which he designed for it — those beau-
tiful adaptations of Chinese and Japanese floral motifs,
257
The Connoisseur
perfei tly spaced and characterised by rich, full coloration,
—are still in use, and are the most popular of the patterns
now in vogue. The artistic genius of the Mason family,
which was exemplified in one generation by the pictures
decorate, and in the tasteful shaping of the pieces to
forms calculated to display the patterns to best advan-
tage, they show what is perhaps the most essential
qualification of a potter the possession of perfect taste.
HISTORIC BEAKERS MADE BY ROYAL COMMAND
of George Heming Mason, had shown itself to nearly
as great a degree, though in an altogether different
sphere, in the pieces produced by Charles James
Mason. They were not original, just in the same way
that Wedgwood's reproductions of antique gems were
not original, but in the perfect appropriateness of their
patterns for the ware which they were intended to
BY DOULTON
In their " Lustrosa Ware " Messrs. Ashworth emulate
the feats achieved by the old Chinese potters with
transmutation glazes. Some of the pieces treated with
these glazes give the most wonderful effects in mottled
colour — delicate plum bloom, red and orange flambe,
green and white — which are jewel-like in their brilliance
and lustre.
THE HAKESPEARIAN VASE
BY CAULDON (BRO WN-WESTHEAD, MOORE AND CO.) LTD.
258
C/J
W
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o
>
—
p
<
o
§
g
(-1
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o
h
2
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S g
OTES
OXJER/^S
[The Editor invites the assistance of readers of The Connoisseur who may be able to impart the
information required by Correspondents^
Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots (No. 30).
Dear Sir, — I should be glad if any of your
readers could assist me to discover the locality of
the original painting of Mary Queen of Scots, of which
I enclose engraving.
Yours very truly, A. B.
Unidentified Painting (No. 29), March Number.
Sir, — I think I can so far assist your correspondent
in the March number of The Connoisseur with
regard to the unidenti-
fied painting (No. 29)
by telling him that it
is a copy of a picture
by Sir Joshua Reynolds,
called The Infant
Samuel Johnson, a work
which Sir Joshua paint-
ed to show what his
impression was of what
the great Dr. Johnson
might have looked like
as a child. I am afraid
I am ignorant of the
w hereabouts of this
work, although I have
seen it exhibited in Lon-
don some years ago. I
would recommend your
correspondent to consult
Sir Walter Armstrong's
large volume on Sir
Joshua, which has an
exhaustive catalogue of
his works at the end. I
have not got a copy here
now, but I rather fancy
there is a small engrav-
ing of the picture in that
work.
I am,
Yours faithfully,
Effingham. (30)
Unidentified Drawing (No. 29), March Number.
Sir, — I think the photograph of a baby is a copy
of a picture or engraving of a painting attributed to
Sir Joshua Reynolds, called Sir Joshua's idea of w hat
Dr. Samuel Johnson must have looked like when a
baby. I only saw the mezzotint in size like a pair to
Sir Joshua's Puck in the Boydell Gallery, I think a
proof before letters. I have no means of tracing, but
being a mezzotint, it must be known. It is about
forty years since I saw it, but I remember it perfectly,
and it was exactly the
pose of the print.
I remain,
Yours faithfully,
E. N. I'.
Unidentified Paint-
ing (No. 29),
March Numbb r.
Dear Si r, — Th e
original of this painting
is by Reynolds. The
engraved copy in my
possession gives The
Infant fohnson as the
title. Lord Lansdowne
is, or was, the owner.
Yours faithfully.
R. W. Roper.
Unidentified Paint-
ing (No. 19),
January Number.
Sir, — The unidenti-
fied painting (No. 10) in
the January issue of The
Connoisseur is a copy
of Annibale Carracci's
fresco in the famous
"Gallery" of the Palazzo
Farnese in Rome.
Yours respectfully,
C. F. Foerster.
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
26l
The Connoisseur
Engravings oi \ in Dyck's "St. Martin
Ol\ [DING His t'l OAK."
Pi \i. Sir, — I should be very much obliged to you
i could find out for me .v//.;/1 <m' Me best-knoivn
engravings of the picture bj Van Dyck ol .W«/
Martin dividing his Cloak, in the church ol Saventhem,
in Belgium.
I am, very truly yours, Charles Johnstone.
Unidentified Painting (No. 13), November, 191 2.
Dear Sir, — 1 wish to thank you. V. \V. S., and
particularly 1. Smith, for the courtesy you have all
shown me in the endeavour to identify No. 13 of
November's Connoisseur. I take it that J. Smith's
remark, viz., "From the original drawing in his col-
lection " (Frederick Taylor's), means that Frederick
Taylor possessed a drawing of The Chase, and painted
a water-colour picture of the same. Now, what I
desire to know is the name of the artist who drew the
original drawing, and the date of the water-colour, and
any other information on the subject would be appre-
ciated. As I told you in a previous letter on the
subject ( I believe), there is mention of a water-colour
drawing (in Lord Gower's book on Wilkie) possessed
by Edward Kerr (address unknown) of a Hunting
Party, by Sir David Wilkie, and of which no pic-
ture has been painted as far as I can ascertain.
Information from our libraries is not very good.
Since receiving Connoisseur, have been looking up
Frederick Taylor, R.W.S. Have found nothing undei
thai name, but under thai of Frederick Taykr, R.W.S.,
that he was born in 1802, and died in 1889. Have
tried to get information in regard to pictures painted
by him, etc., but have not succeeded. Will you
kindly let me have J. Smith's address, or write him
for me, asking the above questions or any other in-
formation he can furnish me with ; and I would also
like the book he mentions, written by the late Duchess
of Rutland, and lor which 1 will gladly pay cost and
expenses il he will send same to me.
Yours respectfully, (Miss) Louise Maas.
Unidentified Paintini; (31).
Dear Sir, — I am enclosing a print of a picture in
my possession, which, from the canvas and framing,
I would take to be undoubtedly of considerable age,
while the execution is more or less indicated in the
print figures themselves. The colouring is very
brilliant, but I can discover no trace of signature or
mark from which the picture's origin could be traced.
It has been in the hands of the present owner for
upwards of fifty years. Size of canvas, 27 in. by 16 in.
If you can see your way to give the print 111 your
coming or a subsequent issue, I shall be much
obliged.
Yours truly, J. J. SlMlNGTON.
(3D
UNIDENTIFIED PAINTING
262
Raeburn's Portrait of Lady Margaret Maclean
The characteristic portrait of Lady Margaret Mac-
lean, by Sir Henry Raeburn, is reproduced through
the courtesy of the owner, Mrs. Henry Maclean. The
subject of the picture was a daughter of John, 2nd
Earl of Hopetoun, by Lady Elizabeth Leslie, daughter
of the fifth Earl of Leven and Melville. She married
Alexander, 13th Laird of Ardgour. The Earl of Hope-
toun (Lady Margaret's father) was also painted by
Raeburn, also her sister, Lady Charlotte Hope.
LADY MARGARET MACLEAN
BY SIR HENRY' RAEBURN, R.A.
The Connoisseur
ready and suitable
Pottery, published
Old Leeds Pottery: Black Basalt Portrait
Medallions
I is always interesting to come across new matei ial,
vi n though fragmentary, but useful as a contribution
to the history or manufactures
of one of the old or extinct
potteries ; a recent example
being the notice of the Longton
Hall sale, published in lasi
1 >ecember's Connoisseur, and
which conclusively proved that
that factor) existed two years
beyond the date previousl)
given .is the termination.
This short article is intended
to illustrate the fact that black
basalt portrait medallions were
made at the Leeds Pottery.
Other writers have thought it
probable that such medallions
would be made there, as many
moulds, used for bas-reliefs, were
for the purpose.
The history of the Old Leeds
by Joseph R. and Frank Kidson in 1892, was so
thorough and complete, especially when we consider
that it was compiled at such a distant date from the
period written of, and as had previously appeared
from such meagre records, that it would almost seem
impossible to ever discover a side-
line of the works which had escaped
the vigilance of the above authors.
Undoubtedly, every likely source of
information had been sifted and
everything reliable incorporated.
Vet it is evident that they had not
seen or heard of portrait medallions
being made at the "Old Leeds
Pottery.'
In justification of this statement
the following extracts are taken from
the above standard history, the passages occurring
in the section devoted to the " Black Egyptian or
Black Basalt Ware":—
" It is rather surprising, considering the success
which attended Wedgwood's efforts in the direction
of vases, busts, medallions, and plaques in this body,
that the Leeds Pottery never appears to have made
any attempt in this particular form of ornamental
ware. The artistic ability was certainly not lacking,
as is evinced by their original designs for bas-reliefs
on their tea ware. We are, of course, not positive
upon this point, but up to the present, although much
IMPRESSED MARK ON LEEDS MEDALLION
OF NAPOLEON
IMPRESSED MARK ON LEEDS MEDALLION
OF CARLO MARATTI
1 eeds ware 0! all kinds has come under our notice,
nothing of this character has been met with. . .
It is scarcel) to be conceived that the Pottery failed
to make, at some period at least, experimental pieces
after Wedgwood's style. It is
quite likely that medallions were
produced in some small quan-
tity, as the moulds which had
been prepared for the tea ware
were ready at their hand.''
In the second art icle on
"Old Leeds Ware," by Henry B.
Wilson, in No. 3S, Volume X.
of The Connoisseur, is the
following reference to black
basalt ware : —
" Although Wedgwood made
vases, busts, and medallions in
this body, no more ornamental
pieces than articles of tea and
coffee ware were apparently made at the Old Leeds
Pottery."
It is now some considerable time since I first
noticed the above statement, which, so far as refers
to the medallions, is not correct ; but I am not aware
of any article describing such specimens.
Although this collection of medallions is small, it
is sufficient for the present purpose. They were
probably made in large quantities at
the Old Leeds Pottery, and likely
enough there are large numbers of
Leeds portrait medallions still in
existence, as I understand that most
of my specimens came from a
collection of about forty, perhaps
a dozen years ago.
The suggestion made by the
authors of the book, Old Leeds
Pot/err, that medallions might
probably have been made from the
moulds of the groups and figures (classical and other-
wise) which appeared on their tea and coffee ware,
is very much strengthened by the knowledge that
portrait medallions were made, and probably only
require identifying. There are nine specimens in
this collection, No. i. being in duplicate. The one
illustrated has the name "seueur" impressed below
the bust : on the other specimen no name appears.
This medallion is probably of Eustache Le Sueur,
the French painter, 1617-1655, who obtained from
his countrymen the name of the French Raphael.
Of the eight medallions illustrated, four have the
impressed mark " LEEDS ■ pottery" behind.
264
OLD LEEDS POTTERY
BLACK BASALT MEDALLIONS
265
The Connoisseur
Thi i spei miens .uv probably represen-
tative of the different series which would be
made — .is. for instance, the crowned heads
ol E urope, the Roman emperors, the
classic poets, and the old masters. Also
medallions would probably be produced
my popular or noted personage when
n ady sale might be expected in any
i ountry where the Leeds wans were being
sold.
The medallion of Napoleon Buonaparte
(No iv.) certainly allows a certain amount
of justification for this statement, as it also
shows that the black basalt was being pro-
duced ai the Leeds Pottery so late as
[833, most of the black basalt made there
usually being considered to have been
produced between 1S10 and 1820. The
inscription in relief around the inner edge
of moulding is rather indistinct, and reads
as follows: "Napoleon replace sur la
colonne juillet 1833 sous le regne de
Louis Philippe I.," and was evidently
Struck to commemorate the replacing of
the statue of Napoleon on the Vendome
Column, Paris. It is interesting to recall
that in 1 8 1 4 the original statue of Napoleon
was taken down by the Royalists and was
replaced by a monster fleur-de-lis. Louis
Philippe caused a statue of the emperor,
in a great-coat and three-cornered hat, to
be placed on the summit, as commemo-
rated on the medallion. Napoleon III.
caused this statue to be replaced in 1863
by one resembling the original figure. Im-
pressed mark, "leeds • pottery" behind.
No. ii., Carlo Maratti, Italian painter,
CLEPSYDRA, OR WATER-
CLOCK, AT NORWICH CASTLE
MUSEUM
l6:
W^-l-
He was honoured with the favour of six successive
popes, and on account of his numerous lovely
Madonnas, was named by Salvator Rosa, Carlo delle
Madonne. Impressed mark, " leeds ■ pottery "
behind.
No. hi., Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian
painter and sculptor, 1452-1519.
No. v., a very fine profile unnamed.
No. vi., Posidippus, who was an Athenian comic
poet of the New Comedy : a native of Cas-
sandrea, in Macedonia. He was exhibiting dramas
289 B.C.
No. vii. is stamped k. of Spain, and No. viii.
emp. gkr. These would most probably be made
about the end of the eighteenth century. Both have
the impressed mark, "leeds • pottery " behind.
The illustrations of the medallions are full size.
I'm accompanying photograph of a
clepsydra, 01 water-clock, is interesting for
comparison with the ex-
Clepsydra, or ample figured on page
Water-Clock , ., T
Vi ol the January issue
ol The Connoisseur. It was purchased
in Brighton, and the brass bands and
plate bear the inscription, " Parson, Nor-
wich, MDCX." The City Records of
about this date only describe one man by
the name, if Parson, and his trade is given
as that of a pinner. It is somewhat
curious that several of these water-
clocks, bearing various inscriptions,
should have been offered for sale during
the last ten years ; but whatever its his-
tory, it is interesting to find that such
an ingenious device for measuring time
should have been made in the city of
Norwich in 1610. The principle is the
same as that employed by the Greeks and
Romans, i.e., a brass tube and an hour-
dial fitted into an oak frame. The tube
was filled with water, which was allowed
to run slowly out at the bottom. A
cork, with pointer attached, floated on the
top of the water in the tube, and, as it
descended, the hour was indicated by the
pointer on the dial above.
Frank Leney,
Curator, Norwich Castle Museum.
Chest of Queen Katherine of Arragon
This is an antique wooden travelling
chest, covered in smooth dark brown Cor-
dova leather, studded with convex-headed
brass nails, set in straight lines and ornamental
designs, those on the lid showing the royal initials,
K. R., and royal crown, with four Tudor roses. At
the chest ends are iron drop-handles, with iron lock
and ornamental scutcheons in front to lid ; under-
neath are two drawers. The corners and top are
clamped with fine openwork brass clamps, and it is
lined with quilled red silk. The chest is a facsimile
of the one at Kimbolton in possession of the Duke of
Manchester, which is mentioned by Miss Strickland
in her Quee?is of England. She is, however, mistaken
in saying the chest is covered in velvet.
Portrait of Dean Colet
This picture belonged to Mr. Wilder's collection,
sold at Christie's in 191 1. It was catalogued as a
portrait of Dean Colet, the founder of St. Paul's School,
and was bought and presented to the school by Mr.
>66
Notes
Ralph Palmer, one
of the governors
of the school. Mr.
Leggatt, to whom
it was s e n t f o r
cleaning, regards it
as without doubt
a picture ofColet's
time, and other
very good expert
opinion has dated
it about 1530. It
has been suggested
that the brown fur
robe worn by the
subject is a Mer-
cers' robe — all the
Colets were Mer-
cers. The cap has
been compared to
the caps worn at
some continental
universities.
Comparison
with other portraits of Dean Colet, supposed to be
authentic, seems to lead to no certain conclusion, as
these portraits in any case represent him at a much
more advanced age. It is desired to obtain any sug-
gestions which may tend to establish the identity of
either subject or painter.
The portrait is on panel. Artists who have viewed
it differ as to the amount of " restoration," if any,
to which it has been subjected. It is in very good
condition.
One of the finest lead fonts existing in England is
that in Syston Church, near Bath. It is Norman,
and depicts the apostles and scroll-work
in the arches, and is in a fine state of
preservation. There are only seventeen lead fonts in
the country, and they are all very valuable.
Raeburn's beautiful portrait of Mrs. Scott Moncrieff
is already familiar to readers of The Connoisseur,
and is, indeed, one of the best-known
works of the artist, the original hang-
ing in the Scottish National Gallery at Edinburgh, and
having been several times engraved. The subject of
the picture was born Margaritta MacDonald, and
married Mr. R. Scott Moncrieff,' who afterwards as-
sumed the name of Welwood. The picture remained
in the possession of his family until 1887, when it
came by bequest to the institution which now contains
it. Two other paintings, also the property of the
Lead Font
Our Plates
nation, are The
Wood Gatherer,
by J. B. C. Corot,
and Watering
Horses, by Anton
M a u v e , both of
which were in-
cluded in the
splendid colli c-
tion which the late
Mr. George Salting
left to the National
Gallery. The pic-
tures show close
affinity in outlook
and feeling ;forthe
landscape artists
of the Hague
School, to which
Mauve belonged,
drew their inspira-
tion largely from
the work of the
Barbizon School ;
and in the tender greys and delicate tonal har-
mony of Mauve's picture one can trace the influence
of Corot and others of the Barbizon masters. Corot,
however, was as much poet as painter. His ren-
derings of nature were not merely transcripts, but
were idealised visions. In The Wood Gatherer we
have an exquisite lyric in colour, in which tone and
atmosphere are rendered in beautiful harmonic
cadence, similar in spirit to the word-weaving of a
poem. Mauve's art conforms more to the prose of
painting ; with his Dutch blood he inherited some-
thing of the feeling for simple realism which
distinguishes so many of his country's painters; and
so in Watering Horses there is more of imitative
realism and less of idealism than in Corot's work.
The plate of Colonel Bouverie, showing the ornate
uniform of the Royal Horse Guards in the period
1845-1853, is taken from an engraving in colour after
the painting by Dubois Drahonet in the Royal collec-
tion at Windsor Castle. The value and interest of
representations of military costume are largely de-
pendent upon their historical accuracy as well as their
artistic merit, and this plate, coming from such an
unimpeachable source, may be relied upon in the
latter respect, while it is thoroughly characteristic of
Drahonet — one of the best painters of military costume
of his period.
An interesting and unique pin e of English pottery,
specially suitable for illustration in a number so
largely devoted to the ceramic wares of this country,
.67
The Connoisseur
is the owl jug and cover, in salt glaze, in the private
i tion oi Mr. George Stoner, This belongs either
to the lattei part oi the sixteenth century or the early
part ol the seventeenth. Our other plates will be
i. mnd described in various articles in the magazine.
A couple of years ago tin- art world was agog with
tin saK into Americaol Rembrandt's Mill, one of the
principal gems of the Marquess of Lansdowne's col-
lection. It was being exhibited temporarily at the
National Gallery, and to the anxious inquiries of eager
visitors the custodians, facetiously inclined, would
answei " \ es, madam, this is Rembrandfs Mill; the
price is ,{,'60,000, including the frame." Then, after
its disappearance from London, it was announced in
a leading daily paper that Mr. Frick had bought it,
that that gentleman's nephew had had it cleaned on
its arrival in the Stales, and behold, the signature of
I [1 rcules Seghers
had come to light
in the corner. "An-
other Stupendous
Sensation!" Asa
matter of faet, Mr.
Widener was the
purchaser, and was
in Paris when the
thrilling a n -
nouncement just
mentioned was
made, and a friend
recounted it to the
gn at collector.
M r . W i d e n e r
smiled. The pic-
ture, he said, was
still in Europe, in
his strong-room; it
had not been
cleaned ; and he
had no nephew.
Collapse of the
morning paper.
But there was this
truth in the ru-
mour : that M r.
Frick had, indeed,
bought a Mill, and
that the name of Seghers was revealed upon it. Only
it was not Rembrandt's. It was another picture
Recently a copy of Rembrandfs Mill was put up
at Christie's. It is an excellent piece of work, as our
frontispiece will show. It was attributed to John
Bemay Crome, tin- son of tin- great Old Crome, a
very inferior painter, who made no mark, and who, as
far as we are aware, never quitted Norfolk. How,
then, could he have seen and copied the Dutchman's
masterpiece? It is more probable that it came from
the more distinguished hand of John Sell Cotman,
who, in 1834, was appointed drawing-master to
King's ( 'ollege, London. Cotman, we know, besides
a number of oil pictures of his own, made one or two
copies of old masters ; and we must not forget that
at the Norwich Society of Artists he had exhibited,
years before, his famous drawing, Draining Mill,
I. incolnsh ire,
which corresponds
so nearly and so
curiously to t h e
Mill of Rem-
brandt. It must
be admitted, how-
ever, that thirty
years or so later,
]. B. Crome had
also painted a
Drainage Mill at
Acle, Norfolk,
that was the year
before he died.
But it is not on
these points that
the argument in
favour of the Cot-
man authorship of
the picture before
us need be based :
but on the facture,
the manner both
of handling and
colour, and to no
slight extent on
the water - colour
treatment evident
throughout.
LEAD FONT IN SVSTON CHURCH, NEAR BATH
268
EVERARD WILLIAM BOUVERIE,
COLONEL OF THE ROYAL HORSE GUARDS, 1845-lSo3
From an Engraving after the Painting by Dubois Drahonet, in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle
PICT
RES
The most interesting picture sale of the month, and,
so far, of the season, was that of important works of the
Early English School
and by foreign Old
Masters, which took
place at Messrs.
Christie's on February
28th. Practically all
the items had never
before appeared in an
auction - room, but
they, nevertheless, in-
cluded many examples
of great interest, the 122 lots realising a total of nearly
,£40,000. The highest individual price was attained by
Romney's Portrait of Mrs. Heron, 49! in. by 392 in.,
exhibited at the Grafton Gallery, 1900, which brought
,£7,980. The work was painted in 1781, and represented
the lady in a white dress and grey cloak seated under a
tree. The companion picture, of the lady's husband,
Mr. Thomas Heron, of Childham Castle, Kent, Recorder
of Newark, brought .£1,218. There were several other
pictures by or attributed to this artist ; of these, the pair
of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Taylor, painted in
17S4, each 29J in. by 24A in., brought ,£756 and ,£1,470
respectively, the low price of the lady's portrait being
accounted for by the canvas having been largely re-
painted. An unidentified portrait of A Lady in classical
dress of pink satin, 234- in. by 191 in., realised .£1,071,
and one of Dr. Barklcy, exhibited at Burlington House
in 1883,^183.
Few important sales of Early English pictures are
held which do not include some Raeburns. This was
no exception to the rule, but the prices realised by the
works of the Scottish artist were rather disappointing,
which seems to indicate that too many of his canvases
have been placed on the market lately. The Portrait 0/
Harley Drummond, Esq., 94 in. by 58 in., exhibited at
the Memorial Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy
in 1S76, brought ,£3,832 10s., and that of Central
Macgregor, in his uniform as Captain of the 6th
Regiment, 34J in. by 26* in., .£1,732 10s. Four works
by Reynolds were included, all belonging to an early
period, and unrecorded in the Catalogue Raisonnc by
Mr. Algernon Graves. The following prices were
attained by these : — Lady Juliana Dawkins, in white satin
dress, open at the neck, and with short sleeves, 295' in.
by 243 in., .£2,887 '°s. ; Mrs. James Colyear Dawkins,
in white dress, embroidered with flowers, and with a blue
jacket, oval, 29 in. by 24J in., ,£1,995; Charles, second
Earl of Portmore, in blue coat, wearing the riband and
star of the Garter, 29 in. by 24^ in., ,£735 ; and William
Charles, third Earl of Portmore, when a boy, in blown
jacket and vest, with a dog, 29* in. by 24J in., ,£2,047 r°s.
An example by Gainsborough, the Portrait of Joint,
fourth Duke 0/ Bedford, oval, 29J in. by 24J in., of which
another version hangs in the National Portrait Gallery,
brought .£861.
Some substantial prices were brought by pictures by
artists whose works have been generally classed as belong-
ing to the second rank. The picture of Lydia, by the Rev.
M. W. Peters, R.A. , well known by the engraving by
J. R. Smith, and which was considered so risque at the
time it was painted that its purchaser was reported to have
hung a gauze veil in front of it, brought ,£1,522 10s.,
which, we believe, is a record for the artist. A fine
Kneller, the full-length portrait of Catherine Sedley,
Countess of Dorchester, in brown dress with white sleeves,
91 in. by 55 in., brought ,£1,050. Other works by the
same painter were Portrait of the Duchess of Dorset,
in white dress, with large blue scarf, 90 in. by 53J in.,
,£714; Portrait of Sir Charles Sedley, in plum-coloured
dress, 49 in. by 40 in., signed, and dated 1687, ,£378 ;
and Portrait of a Youth, in classical dress, with red scarf,
seated in a landscape, ,£325 10s. ; while Kneller's pre-
decessor in the office of Painter to the King, Sir Peter
Lely, was represented by a Portrait of the Duchess of
Portsmouth, in red and white dress and green robe, 49 in.
by 39 in., which brought ,£577 10s. No less than .£2,226
was realised by a fine Portrait of Henry Dawkins, in
pink coat and embroidered white breast, 254 in. by
2oi in., by Quentin de la Tour; and ,£451 10s. fir a
portrait by Gavin Hamilton of Lady Juliana Dawkins
as " Ceres," in a pink and white dress, 50 in. by 40 in.
Works by other English artists included F. Cotes, R.A.,
Portrait of Charles, second Earl of Portmore, in blue
coat and red vest, wearing the star and riband of the
Garter, 23} in. by \y\ in., ,£220 10s, ; Henry Morland,
Portrait of Lady Scarsdale, in blue and red robe, oval,
27 in. by 23J in., ,£110 5s.; R. Philips, A Portrait
Group at Weybridge, 39J- in. by 50 in., representing
Lady Charlotte Hamilton, Henrietta Countess of Pomfret,
Q 1
271
The ( onnoisseur
Lady Charlotte Scott, Lad) I abel ratton, Lady Guilford,
and Juliana Duchess ol Leeds signed, and dated 1731 —
ios. ; J. Wootton, Racing on Newmarket Heath,
d, and dated 1-2;, 37 in. by 50 in., £220 ios.;
Hor.-. Vemmarket, watched by King
George I. and his suite, 25 in. by 61J in., £220 10s.;
and .-/ Nobleman and his Racehorses, 25 in. by 4S in.,
£152 5s.; I. Russell, R..V, Blowing Bubbles, a pastel
enting .1 boy in red jacket with white lawn slei ve
and collar, with clay pipe and bowl, signed, and dated
1S00, ,£462; T. Beach, Portraits of Two Young Girls
with pet dog, j>)\ in. by 39J in., .£304 ios. ; J. Highmore,
Portrait of Louisa Greville, Countess of Mansfield, in
white dress with blue scarf, 49 in. by 39 in., £126; J-
Downman, A. R. A., a drawing of a Portrait of a Lady,
in white muslin dress with blue sash, signed, and dated
. oval, 7 J in. by 6} in., ,£262 10-.. ; and the companion
drawing of a lady, in white dress, with silver-coloured
sash, similarly signed and dated, .£241 ios.; and G.
Watson, P. U.S.A., Portrait of Lady Sinclair, in white
dress, with crimson scarf, 29J in. by 24?. in., ,£,220 ios.
Pictures by foreign masters included J. H. Fragonard,
Cupid with an Arrow sporting near a bed of roses, oval,
21 in. by \~\ in., .£735 ; P. Koninck, A Woody Landscape,
showing a road passing between large trees with an
old inn and figures beyond, 52 in. by 64^ in., .£1,575 ;
S. Van Ruysdael, A View at Nimeguen, signed with
initials, and dated 1645, 28§ in. by 42$ in., £1,837 ios.;
J. Van Ruysdael, A Waterfall, with trees, buildings and
figures in middle distance, and a church tower beyond,
26 in. by zo\ in., £630; Madame Vigee Lebrun, Portrait
of Marie The'rese of Savoy, Countess d'Arlois, oval,
2-) in. by 21A in., £210 ; A. Van Ostade, The Interior
oj a Tavern, with four figures, on panel, 10 in. by 8 in.,
£ 204 ; A. Cuyp, /'or/rait of a Lady, in black jacket and
brown skirt with white cap, on panel, 35 in. by 27 in.,
£262 ios. ; Lucas de Heere, Portrait of Queen Mary,
in black dress, holding her gloves in her hand, on
panel, 24.5 in. by 16A in., £441 ; Velasquez, Portrait of
Don John of Austria when a Boy, in grey and silver
dress, playing with a bird, 43 in. by 34 in., £577 ios. ;
and Bartel Bruyn, Portrait of a Gentleman, in black
embroidered dress and black gown, on panel, 2041 in. by
J5i in-. £4/2 ios.
The sale of pictures by Old Masters, from anonymous
sources, held by Messrs. Christie at their rooms on
February 7th, contained few lots of importance. A
J'ortrait of a Youth, in dark-green coat over a grey
tunic, and reddish-brown cap, 25 in. by 24 in., attributed
to Rembrandt, realised £357; The Fortune- Teller,
61 in. by 45* in., by Rev. M. W. Peters, R.A., £136; A
River Scene, on panel, 2ijin. by 29 in., by J. Van Goyen,
£315 ; and Portrait of Viscountess Falkland, 29J in. by
23! in., by C. Janssens, £1 10 5s. A pastel Portrait of a
Girl, by Zucchero, ib\ in. by 26 in., fetched £99 15s.
A sale of greater importance was held by the same
firm on February 14th, when the collections of the
pictures and drawings belonging to Win. Woodward, Esq.,
deceased, and Sir Horatio D. Davies, K. CM. G., deceased,
were dispersed. Among drawings of the British school,
Formerly in the possession of the first-named gentleman,
the following may be noted: — T. Sidney Cooper, R.A.,
Cattle at Sunset, 15J in. by 2l\ in., £S4 ; David Cox,
A View of the Romney Marshes, 10A in. by 14' in., £120;
Crossing the Bridge, 10 in. by 14' in., £idS; Early
Morning: Bolsover Castle, 8 in. by 10; in., £52 ios. ;
Returning from Market ; Sunset, 7 in. by 10 in.,
£52 ios.; and Crossing Ulverstone Sands, j& in. by
10 in., £131 5s. ; Copley Fielding, Loch Earn and Ben
Vorlich, Perthshire, 17.I in. by 24I in., £525, and Pen
Venue, from Loch Achray, 12.; in. by 2o| in. £241;
Birket Foster, The Grand Canal, Venice, 6J in. by 9! in.,
£63, and The Old Mill, 5 in. by 7 in., £65 2s.; J.
Holland, (hi the Giudecca, Venice, 14 in. by 204 in.,
£96 I2s., and Venice from the Lagoon, 1 ij in. by 20A in.,
£65 2s. ; W. Hunt, The Midday Meal, 15 in. by 10J in.,
^63 ; P. de Wint, On the Witham, Lincolnshire, 16 in. by
21 in., £294; The River Witham, 11J in. by 19J in.,
£78 15s.; The Thames at Richmond, 11. J in. by 17! in.,
£78 15s. ; and A Barge, 9] in. by 12A in., £78 15s. The
only noteworthy item among the pictures of the British
School was The Setting Sun, by David Cox, ioj in. by
14 in., which realised £204 15s.
The following were among the drawings of conti-
nental schools : — The Choir-stalls of a Cathedral, 2i| in.
by i6\ in., and The Transept of a Cathedral, 15$ in. by
12J in., both by J. Bosboom, £141 15s. and £231 re-
spectively; Washing Day, iif in. by 8J in., by Josef
Israels, £220 ics. ; Waiting for the Fishing-Boats,
19J in. by 16 in., £78 15s., and The Return from the
Fields, \o\ in. by 21 J in., ,£89 5s., both by Ph. Sadee.
The highest figure at this sale— £2, 100 — was reached by
The Departure, a fine drawing, 26 in. by 35 in., painted
by Josef Israels in 1S61 ; while ^588 was attained by
Cattle in a Meadow, 134 in. by 17 in., by E. Van Marcke.
Included in the lots were various pictures and drawings
from other sources. A drawing of / 'enice, 29J in. by 49J in.,
by Sir Alfred East, A. R. A., painted in 1890, fetched £147 :
and the following were the highest prices realised for
other drawings : — A Meadow, 14A in. by ioj in., by
Wm. Maris, £252 ; A Classical River Scene, 19 in. bv
25 in., by G. Barret, ,£220 ios. ; Strasbourg, by S.
Prout, 243 in. by 185 in., £199 ios. Amongst the
paintings were : — Making Harness in Seville, 33 in. by
43|in., by J. B. Burgess, R.A.,£i3i 15s. ; The Wye, 50 in.
by 40 in., by H. W. B. Davis, R.A., £189; Tigress
and Cubs at a Torrent, 20 in. by 26J in., by J. M. Swan,
R.A., £294 ; On the Dublin Mountains, 46 in. by 39 in.,
by W. Orpen, A.R.A., £220 ios. ; A Study in Black,
19J in. by 15J in., by W. Orpen, A.R.A., £99 15s.;
My Lady is a Widow and Childless, 42 in. by 28 in.,
by Marcus Stone, R.A., exhibited at the Royal Academy,
'§74, £99 15s. ; and A Spate on the Pummel, 19 in. by
294 in., by Peter Graham, R.A., 1876, £113 8s.
The following were included in the drawings from the
collection of the late Sir Horatio D. Davies, K.C. M. G. :
A Fisher-Girl on the Dunes, y\ in. by 4! in., .£89 5s. ;
and Fisher-Girls on the Seashore, in sepia, h\- in. by
9a in., £63, both by J. Israels. Two works by J. B. C.
Corot, The Hay-Cart, i6i in. by 23! in., and Confidences,
272
Iii the Sale Room
\2\ in. by 23 in. — from the artist's sale — realised £315
and ,£115 10s. respectively. Among several small
examples by J. L. E. Meissonier. the following attained
the dignity of three figures : — The Artist Riding at
Anlibes, on panel, 5 in. by t)\ in., painted in 1868,
ii_r [OS. : The Advance Guard of an Army, on panel.
4] in. by S in., .£420 ; and A Landscape, with two horse
men, on panel, 3f in. by 5J in., £\37 10s. ; while In
Fontainebleau Forest, 18 in. by zb\ in., painted by
X. Diaz in 1872, realised ,£131 js., and A Portrait of
the Artists Wife, 23 in. by 19A in., by J. F. Millet,
56 tos.
The remainder of the pictures and drawings belonging
to the late Sir Horatio Davies were distributed by
Messrs. Christie, but kw attained prices worthy of men-
tion. A Portrait of a Lady, in mauve dress with muslin
fichu, attributed to Richard Cosway, 29J in. by 24J in.,
brought £94 10s., while the only price running into three
figures was realised by a picture entitled Sisters, 28 in.
by 32 in., and catalogued "English School,'' which fell
to a bid of £252.
On February 21st the pictures and drawings belonging
to the late Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Bart., and from several
private sources, were dispersed by Messrs. Christie. The
most important item, Francois Boucher's Le Billet-Doux,
27J- in. by 22 in., realised ,£1,732. A Portrait of a
Gentleman, in black dress, with white lace collar and
black hat. 27 in. by 22 in., by Jan Ravesteyn, realised
.£388 1 os. , and another of William Wilberforce, 29 in.
by 24I in., by J. Wright, A.R.A., £lt&
At the sale of pictures and drawings by Messrs.
Christie on February 24th, the property of the late
George Smith, Esq., few works attained prices worthy of
note, but the following may be mentioned: — A River
Scene, on panel, 19! in. by 23* in., by A. Van Diest,
.£338 ios. ; A Scene in Windsor Great Park, on panel,
19 in. by 27 in., by J. Stark, ,£120 15s. ; Shipping off a
fetty and Shipping in a Breeze, a pair, iS^ in. by 16 in.,
by W. van de Velde, .£120 15s.; and A Cow, a Goat,
and two Sheep, on panel, 13} in. by 17? in., by T. S.
Cooper, R.A., painted in 1846, .£84.
At a sale by Messrs. Dowell in their rooms in Edin-
burgh on February 22nd, two works by Patrick
Nasmyth, Surrey Landscape, 17} in. by 13J in., and
A Wooded Scene, with figures and dog at a pool, 16 in.
by I2in., realised ^194 5s. and ,£168 respectively ; while
Over the Sound of Kilbrennan, z\\ in. by 15$ in.,
brought ,£100 1 6s.
Engravings
Several sales of prints were held during the month,
but they included few items of special interest to the ad-
vanced collector. Early English and
eighteenth-century French engravings
formed the bulk of the collection, from various sources,
dispersed at Messrs. Christie's on February 5th. The
following were some of the principal lots : — Love in
her Eyes sits Playing, after Peters, by J. R. Smith,
.£75 I2s. ; Richard Barwell and Son, after Reynolds
by \V. Dickinson, ^25 4s.; Lady Charlotte Greville,
after Hoppner, by J. Young, 1st state, ,£162 5s.; The
Soliloquy, by and after YV. Ward, printed in colours, ,£294 ;
The Moralist, after J. R. Smith, by W. Nutter, and A
Lecture on Gadding, after the same, by F. Bartolozzi, a
pair, printed in colours, ,£75 12s.; Cottager and Villager,
after a Lady, by P. W. Tomkins, a pair, finely printed
in colours, ,£120 15s. ; Summer and Winter, after James
Ward, by William Ward, a pair, printed in colours,
,£136 ios. ; The Soldier's Return and The Sailor's
Return, after F. Wheat-ley, by William Ward, a pair,
printed in colours, ,£1 15 ios.; The Ladies Waldcgrave,
after Sir J. Reynolds, by V. Green, first published state,
^472 ios.; The Countess Gower and Daughter, after Sir
T. Lawrence, by S. Cousins, first state, .£147; Lady
Heathcote, after Cosway, by J. Agar, printed in colours,
,£38 17s.; The Promenade in St. James's Park and An
Airing in Hyde Park, after E. Dayes, by F. D. Soiron
and T. Gaugain, a pair. ,£54 12s. Among the examples
of the French School were Le Catcher de la Mariee,
after Baudoin, by Moreau le Jeune, ,£37 16s. ; The Milk-
Woman and The Woman taking Coffee, by L. Marin, a
pair, printed in colours, ,£75 12s. ; L'Assemble'e au
Concert and L'Assemble'e au Salon, after N. Lavreince,
by Dequevauvillier, a pair, ,£46 4s.; Au mains soyez
Discret and Comptez sur mes Serments, after and by
Aug. de St. Aubin, a pair, ,£46 4s. : Le Petit four and
La Consolation de I' Absence after S. Freudeberg and N.
Lavreince, by X. de Launay, ,£69 6s. ; and Le Billet-
Doux and (Ju'en dil I' Abbe, after Lavreince, by N. de
Launay, a pair, ^58 16s.
On February 2f>th the same firm dispersed the collec-
tion of the late Dr. John Gott, Bishop of Truro, which,
though including a number of eighteenth-century English
engravings, was chiefly noteworthy as containing some fine
examples of the early continental masters, which realised
high prices. An impression of The Combat of the Ten
Nude Men, or The Gladiators, as it is variously called,
the master-work of that renowned Florentine artist,
Antonio del Pollaiuolo, of whom Yasari said that he
possessed a far more perfect knowledge of the construc-
tion of the human figure than all the artists who had
preceded him, brought £735. Other interesting items
by continental engravers included F. Yon Bocholt,
Saint Anthony, ,£82 ; A. Durer, The Prodigal Son,
£Zo; The Virgin with a pear, .£38 ; The Witch, £^2 ;
and The Large Passion, The Apocalypse, and The Life
of the Virgin, bound together in parchment, / 1S5 ;
H. Goltzius, Henry Goltzius, first state, ,£42 ; L. Van
Leyden, The Poet Virgil suspended in a Basket, £23 12s.;
Mair von Landshut, Saint Anne with the Virgin and
Child, £37 1 6s. ; A. Mantegna, A Combat of Marine
Gods, £131 5s. ; and Christ Descending into Limbo,
£37 16s. ; I. van Meckenem, The Passion, £273; and
Christ Disputing with the Doctors, £31) 18s. ; B. Mon-
tagna. Apollo and Midas, £li, 3s. ; Nielli, The Conversion
of St. Paul, £31 ios. ; Three Women Dancing, .£54 1 2S. :
and The Arms of the Benlivoglio Family, ,£31 ios. ;
Rembrandt, Rembrandt leaning on a Stone Sill, second
state, ,£70; The Marriage of Jason and Creusa, first
state, .£70; and The Mill (B. 233), .£125; Prince
Rupert, The Standard-bearer, ,£252 ; M. Schongauer,
273
'Hie Connoisseur
The Nativity, £34; The Death of the Virgin, £90;
A Bis -■ 18s. ; and Dirh van Staren, £28.
Among the works by later engravers were Prince
Rupert, after Sir P. Lely, by A. l>l<>oteliug proof before
any inscription), .£45 3s. ; Charles /.. re//// ///<• infant
Prince Charles, after Van Dyck, by A. Brown (proof
before any inscription1, t lie only one in this state, ,£10 [9 ;
Martin van den Baugart, after Rigaud, by G. Edelinck
(proof before any inscription, signed by the engraver),
£■48 6s.; a collection of 198 Portrait Heads, chiefly in
prooi states, and 12 others, by J. Houbraken, in folio,
.£■35; Portrait of Sir Godfrey Kneller, after Kneller,
l'\ John Smith (proof before any inscription), .£16 16s.,
and John Smith, by and after the same, in similar state,
/"ir 17s.; and Charles /., after Van Dyck, by Sir Robert
Strange (proof before any letters), £71 8s.
< If the English engravings the highest price was
realised by the state proof of Sir Jos/ma Reynolds as
President oj the Royal Academy, after himself, by
Valentine Green, which brought .£168. Other works
after the same artist included a second state of James
Boswell, of Auchinleck, by J. Jones, ,£23 2S.; a second state
of Lord Richard Cavendish,\>y J. R.Smith, .£21 ; a second
state of his own half-length portrait mezzotinted by
James Watson, .£21 ; and the portrait of Dr. Hunter,
engraved in line by W. Sharp (first state, with untrimmed
margin), ,£18 18s. A set of 313 proofs engraved by
S. W. Reynolds, from the artist's works, bound in three
volumes, crim. mor., gold tooled, by Bedford, brought
,£Si 18s. ; and etched letter proofs of A Fruit Pieee and
A Flower Piece, after Van Huysum, by R. Earlom, ,£48 6s.
Messrs. Sotheby dispersed on February 6th and 7th
a large accumulation of engravings, etchings, and draw-
ings, which included three nearly complete sets of the
Liber Studiorum, which, however, only fetched moderate
prices, as most of the scarcer plates were in late states.
The following were among the principal items: —
The Bridge in Middle Distance (first state), ,£8 5s. ; The
Hindoo Worshipper {fait state), ,£15 10s. ; Calm (proof
before the birds were introduced to cover marks in the
sky), ^38; Peat Bog, Scotland (first state), ^32 ; Chain
of Alps, from Grenoble to Chamouni (first state), ,£16;
Raglan Castle (second state), £8 15s.; Near Blair At hoi,
Scotland (first state), £9 5s. ; Woman at a Tank (second
state), £S 155. ; and Ben Arthur, Scotland (third state),
£S 105.
The same firm held a miscellaneous sale of engravings,
etchings, and drawings on February 17th and iSth. in
which 248 lots brought a total of ,£1,322, the most
substantial contributions to this amount being afforded
by the following : — Mary, Duchess of Rutland, after
Reynolds, by V. Green, impression cut close, .£100;
/ tews on the Rhine, 1S12, after Schutz, ten large-
coloured aquatints, ,£4: ; The Effects of Early In-
dustry and Economy, and The Effects of Idleness and
Dissipation, by W. Ward, after G. Morland, a pair in
colours, with the inscriptions cut off, ,£45 ; The Fruit
Barrow portraits of the Walton family), after II.
Walton, by J. R. Smith, cut close sides and top, ,£48 ;
and Painting, by and after J. R. Smith, ,£48.
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson disposed of a part <•! the
stock of Mr. (,11st, n Lauser on February 14th, but none
of the items call for special mention.
Books and
Autographs
THE collection oi books, engravings, and drawings
formed by the late S. M. Milne, Esq., of Calverley
Mouse, Leeds, and sold by Messrs.
Sotheb) on February 24th and the
three following days, was wholly con
cerned with military subjects, and included a numbei "I
rare and desirable items, the total realised for the 691
lots dispersed during the four days' sale amounting to
,£5,062 i8s. Among the more expensive t ks were the
following : — R. Ackerman, Costumes 0) the British
Army, 1X40-54, the series of 6l coloured plates, with six
others added, showing variations "I" costume, together
with The New Series of Ackerman' s Costumes, 1855-58,
15 plates and 4 extra ones, all but one coloured, the
whole bound into 3 vols., cl., sm. fo., 1S40-5S, .£160;
R. Cannon, Historical Records of the British Army,
[834-53, complete set, 68 vols. , with the exception of 1 vol.
in hf. mor., all in orig. cl. or bds., 8vo, .£4-; E. Daves,
A Series of Eighteen different Prints of the Foot Guards,
1650-60, on nine sheets, engraved by T. Kirk, all in
colours, 1792, in 1 vol., sm. fob, ,£69; E. Dayes, Another
Scries of Eighteen Coloured Costumes, engraved by
T. Hodges, 1792, in 1 vol., sm. fob, £66; D. Dighton,
The Lance Exercise in Three Divisions, drawn by Dennis
Dighton and etched by Richard Dighton, 25 coloured
plates, orig. bds., leather back, label on sides, sm. fob.
T. ATI. can, 1825, £47; Michael Angelo Hayes, The
British Army (costumes and incidents of various regi-
ment, , displayed in 51 coloured plates. W. Spooner,
1844, the whole mounted and bound in 2 Mils., obi. fob,
,£115; W. Heath, Military Costume of the British
Cavalry, 14 coloured plates only fa complete copy should
have 16), hf. mor., t.e.g., 4to, J. Watson, 1820, ,£46;
W. Heath, A Series of Twenty-one Coloured Costumes,
chiefly Cavalry Officers, published by S. W. Fore, between
1S27 and 1829, mounted and bound in a volume, cl., fob,
.£85; E. Hull, The Costume of the British Army in
1828 [-30], lithographed by M. Gauci from original draw-
ings, a set of 72 coloured plates [the costume, of the
Navy], a series of 12 coloured plates, Nos. 1-12, together
with the addition of 30 of the military costumes in dupli-
cate, making 114 in all. diced cf. ex., sm. fob, £128;
L. Mansion and St. Eschauzier, Military Costumes of
the British Army, 60 plates (1 slightly torn in margin ,
orig. hf. mor., leather label on side, fob. W. Spooner.
1S31-3, £135 ; Henry Martens, R. Ackerman's Costumes
of the Indian Army, 33 coloured costume plates, with
3 extra, 36 in all, mounted, in 1 vol., cl., sm. fob 1 \:.
etc. , £+<>; and H. Martens, A Collection of Sixty-five
Original Water-Colours of the Costumes of the Cavalry
and Infantry of the British and Indian Armies, being the
originals for many of Ackerman's Military Costumes,
mounted and bound in 2 vols., mor. ex., bev. bds., g.e.,
fob, .£345-
The library of R. A. Potts, Esq., of 14, St. lames'.
Terrace, N.W.,sold by Messrs. Sotheby on February 20th,
274
/// the Sale Room
included many first editions oi standard authors, but not
many rarities. One of the premier prices in the sale
was attained by a copy of the first edition of Edward
FitzGerald's version of Omar Khayy&m, mor. , inside
dentille borders, g.e. , by Riviere, original covers bound
in, with the author's book-plate inserted, sm. Jto, B.
Quaritch, 1859, which brought /'62 ; an autograph
presentation copy of the same author's translation of
Salaman and Absal, from the Persian of Jdmai, ist
ed., blue cl., sm. 4to, J. W. Parker, 1856, brought ,£35.
Charles Lamb's Essays of Elia, first series, 1823, and
The Last Essays of Elia, 1S33, each with an autograph
letter of the author inserted, and both uniformly bound,
by Riviere, rus. git., g.e., sm. Svo, ,£46 ; W. Blake's
America: a Prophecy, iS 11., engraved text and plates,
1793, and Europe : a Prophecy, 17 11., engraved text and
plates, 1794, both printed by Blake at Lambeth, in 1
vol., cf., fol., ,£66 ; Young's Night Thoughts, with the
engravings by Blake, coloured by hand, \ mor., uncut,
imp. 4to, 1808, ,£50 ; and Designs to a Series of Ballads,
by YVm. Hayley, drawn, engraved and published by W.
Blake, with the ballads annexed (Ballads I. 'to III. only),
mor. git., inside dentille borders, g.e., 4to, 1802, ,£29 ;
The Germ, the four original numbers, orig. wrappers, in
1 vol., levant mor. git., t.e.g., by J. Larkins, Svo, 1S50,
.£23 ; P. B. Shelley's The Cenci, 1st ed., cf. gt., t.e.g.,
Svo, 1S19, ,£34; and Epipsychidon, 1st ed., unbound,
Svo, 182 1, ,£30.
Some interesting autograph letters and documents were
included in a sale held by the same firm on February 19th.
I If these a series of family papers of Henry Fielding, the
novelist, brought /300; thirty-eight original letters relat-
ing to the war of the Spanish Succession, of which 19 were
from the great Duke of Marlborough, ,£200; a series of
thirty-four letters of Philip II., King of Spain, addressed
ti 1 I vdro Mendoca, his minister in ( lenoa, .£130 ; a manu-
script order book of 216 pp., 4to, of General Wolfe,
,£126 ; a letter of Cardinal Wolsey, 1 p., 4to. sub. and
S., written in 1520, ,£75; a signed letter of Edward IV.
to the Chancellor of Charles the Bold, 1 p., 4to, .£100;
a letter, signed and subscribed by Henry VIII., to
Madame de la Ferte, ,£55; the royal sign-manual of
Edward VI. to a letter addressed to the Chamberlain of
the County of Chester, dated March 13th, 1547, and
bearing the signatures of the whole of the Council of
Regency, ,£250 ; an interesting and unpublished auto-
graph letter, signed, from George Washington to Samuel
Powell, 3 pp., 4to, .£250 ; another, containing over
1,100 words, from the same to James Mercer, 3 pp.,
lge. fol., ,£101 ; a signed autograph letter from Sir
Walter Raleigh, 1 p., fol., dated December 30th, 1591,
to his half-brother, Sir John Gilbert, ,£180; one from
Major Andre, 3 pp., fol., 4to, dated 9th June, to Lieut.
H. C. Selwyn, ,£111 ! an indenture, signed by Queen
Elizabeth and sealed with the Great Seal of England,
completing the purchase of the Lordship of Denbigh,
etc., from the Earl of Leicester, ,£80 ; a series of eighteen
autograph letters from Charles Dickens to W. Hepworth
Dixon, the founder of The Athenaum, .£76 ; the
holograph MS. of the original version (unpublished) of
Mendelssohn's Surrexit Pastor, dated Coblentz, August
1 4th, 1 S37, 1 3 pp., 4to, ,£85 ; the original autograph MS.,
with corrections, of Tennyson's poem, On a Spiteful
Letter. £6\ ; an autograph letter, signed, 6 pp., 4to,
from Lord Byron to R. C. Dallas, dated October nth,
[811, £ 50; and a lengthy and interesting autograph
letter, signed, from Rubens to Pierre Dupuy, dated
February 18th, 1627, ,£120.
275
mUotcmpnefCntu
nam* cCTct ^yiUxti
imnuuYn
9
b°okshelf
" Masterpieces of
the Sea: William
T. Richards
A brief outline
of his life and
art," by Harrison
S. Morris
(J. B. Lippincott
Company
as. 6d. net)
THE life nl William T. Richards, one of the leading
American marine painters, is not without local interest
to English people, for Richards paid
frequent visits to this country —
some of them of long duration — and
towards the end of his career was a
fairly regular exhibitor at the Royal
Academy, being represented there
by 1 7 works. This phase of his
career is little touched upon in the
biography of the artist which has
been written by Mr. Harrison S.
Morris, the United States
Commissioner-General to the Roman Art Exposition of
191 1. It is not what may be termed an official biography,
but is more in the nature of a warm appreciation written
by an intimate friend. Mr. Richards's career is well
worth recording, for his art was sincere and unaffected,
and seems in its straightforward and unassuming qualities
to have truly reflected the nature of the artist. His
career was chequered by poverty at the beginning, but
his talent presently won him recognition, and his way
was henceforth assured. He died in 1905, in his seventy-
third year, universally respected both as an artist and a
man. The volume is illustrated with a portrait and
adequate reproductions of some of his best pictures.
The district poetically described as la Cote d " Emeraude
by Mr. Spencer C. Musson is not, he tells us, to be found
" La Cote
d'Emeraude,"
painted by
J. Hardwicke
Lewis, described
by Spencer C.
Musson, 7s. 6d.
net; "Paris," a
Sketch-Book, by
Eug. Bejot,
Is. net
(Adam and
Charles Black)
on the map, but is the "deep em-
broidered border of orchard, field
and town, golden beaches and iron
cliff, round the edge of the great
Gulf of St. Malo." The author is a
pleasant guide to the district ; he is
not merely content with describing
its beauties, but recounts in pleasant
and interesting strain old legends,
curious pieces of history, and quaint
local customs and ideas. As the
traditions of the district are largely
concerned with its relations to
within easy view of the coast, the account possesses a
piquant interest, compatible to that with which one listens
to a true version of one's next-door neighbour's opinions
on oneself. The drawings of Mr. Spencer C. Musson, to
which Mr. Lewis's letterpress is an accompaniment — the
positions might well be reversed — are pleasant and well
coloured, often possessing considerable charm, and giving
a good idea of the beautiful coast and its immediate
hinterland. The work is decidedly one of the best of the
series of beautifully illustrated books that Messrs. Black
have yet published.
From the same publishers comes the dainty Sketch-
Book of Paris, by M. Eug. Bejot, who in his mono-
chrome drawings renders some of the most striking and
picturesque features of the ancient city, not avoiding
often rendered themes, but giving them from fresh view-
points and under conditions which invest them with the
charm of novelty.
" Forged Egyptian
Antiquities," by
T. G. Wakeling
(Adam & Charles
Black, 5s. net)
England, whose outposts, the Channel Islands, are
THE British occupation of Egypt has given rise to
a new and flourishing industry in that country — the
manufacture of spurious antiquities
to be foisted on to unwary tourists.
One must not waste too much
sympathy on the latter. The
treasure - trove of Egypt, accord-
ing to the law of the country, is
Government property, and most of the purchasers of
these modern forgeries buy them under the impression
that they are assisting the finders in evading the
Government decree. Of course, there are many in-
stances when the purchases are made in a legitimate
way, and to all sufferers from such transactions one
cannot do better than recommend them to read Mr.
Wakeling's book, a perusal of which should prevent
them from easily becoming victims in the future. Mr.
Wakeling is a thorough expert on his theme, but this
does not prevent him from writing in a manner which
makes his book thoroughly interesting to even the cimuI
reader. Many of his exposures of the guiles of the
forger are told in the guise of amusing anecdotes, and
though a substantial amount of information of the most
solid character is given, there is hardly a dull page, and
176
The Connoisseur Bookshelf
certainly not a dull chapter, in the work from start to
finish. A feature of the volume which deserves special
commendation is the excellent series of illustrations, the
majority of which are in colour, which give some
hundreds of different types of forgeries, with accompany-
ing letterpress, pointing out the characteristic signs
which distinguish them from genuine pieces.
PHOTOGRAPHY has nowhere enlarged the sphere of
human knowledge to a greater extent than in the domain
of natural history. The camera gives
Wild Lite, more full and accurate record of the
an Illustrated habits and movements of animated
Monthly nature than can be attained by the
1^ most patient observation. A new
Publishing Co. .,, . , , , . , , ,.
° illustrated monthly which embodies
2s. 6d. net) , ' .
some of the best ot these records in a
beautiful, permanent, and inexpensive form is to be wel-
comed, and these qualifications appear to be attained
in the first number of Wild Life, which, as its name
implies, pictures birds, beasts, insects, and fishes in their
natural environment and under natural conditions. The
publication contains well-reproduced plates — in many
cases several — of over sixty different species, accom-
panied by explanatory letterpress. Among the themes
illustrated are fish and birds under water, birds nesting,
and a wide variety of other forms of wild life. The
magazine is certainly wonderful value, and no more
interesting way of learning natural history can be found
than by studying its attractive pages.
" Nova Scotia "
ByBecklesWillson
(Constable & Co.
7s. 6d. net)
It is a curious tact about immigration in America that
in the rush of the newly arrived settlers to the Further
West they often entirely pass over
better lands which are awaiting
occupation nearer to the resources
of civilisation and to the markets in
which they have to dispose of their
crops. One of the countries so neglected is Nova Scotia —
the Acadia of Longfellow's poem. It is adjacent to the
seaboard, possesses a climate tempered by the proximity
of the Atlantic Ocean, and is one of the earliest settled
provinces in America. Yet there is a large amount of
unoccupied land in the country awaiting the arrival of
suitable immigrants. In a thoroughly well written and
attractive book Mr. Beckles Willson gives us the history
of this beautiful province and describes its varied resources
and industries. It is a fascinating theme, for Nova Scotia
— for long time the battleground between the English
and the French — possesses a stirring past, and, when its
great natural resources are fully developed, should attain
a great future. The author has done full justice to the
capabilities of his subject, and the well-illustrated volume
makes highly interesting reading.
" A Summary of and Index to Waagen," by Algernon
Graves, F.S.A. (Issue limited to 125 copies at
£10 10s. net)
To uninitiated laymen, old picture catalogues are of
less interest than out-of-date telephone directories, and
yet it is almost wholly from old catalogues that every
fact of value in the history of art is chronicled. Criticism
— even the best-is only of ephemeral value. What con-
cerns us now in the Lives of the Painters, by Yasari, is
not what the author thought of the merits of their
pictures, but the details he gives us respecting their
works ; in the same way Walpole's criticisms in his
Anecdotes of Painting act practically worthless, but the
book lives because of what might be described as its
catalogical information. A greater critic than Horace
Walpole was Dr. Waagen, who is well known to art
collectors as the writer of an account of the Treasures of
Art in Great Britain, which he brought out in three
volumes in 1S54, followed by a supplemental volume in
1857. Though his opinions were based on wide know-
ledge and good judgment, the artistic standpoint has so
changed since his time that they no longer carry the
weight they formerly did ; yet his book is of inestimable
value as constituting a census of the contents of the
principal art collections of Great Britain in the middle of
the nineteenth century ; and so it is that in tracing the
pedigree of an English-owned picture one instinctively
turns to his pages as a starting-point. Unfortunately,
the index of the four volumes is confused and imperfect,
and to find an individual item, unless one has some
previous clue to its ownership, is often like searching for
a needle in the proverbial bundle of hay, for Waagen
mentions altogether over 9,000 individual works of art.
Mr. Algernon Graves, F.S.A., whose works on similar
themes have already earned him the gratitude of all
those whose labours are concerned with the history of
art and artists, has now put them still further in his
debt by the issue of an admirably arranged and carefully
compiled index and summary to this important book.
Part of the work is in duplicate, for Mr. Graves has not
only tabulated all the pictures recorded, with details of
their ownership under their artists' names, but has a
separate list of the portraits under the heading of their
subjects ; while an indexed list of owners gives every
facility for cross reference. Paradoxical as the statement
may seem, Mr. Graves's Summary and Index to Waagen
is of far greater utility to the practical worker than the
four volumes of Waagen itself. The latter is full of
information, but of information that requires searching
for, whereas Mr. Graves extracts everything that is
essential, and puts it in a form accessible to immediate
reference; hence the possession of Waagen's work is by
no means a necessary prelude to enjoying the advantages
of Mr. Graves's handy volume. To show the importance
of the latter, one may mention that among the 9,200
pictures chronicled are over 435 by Van Dyck, 160 by
Rembrandt, 250 by Reynolds, and the same number by
Titian, many of which, alas !--and those some of the
finest — have since left the country. It would have been
highly desirable if Mr. Graves could have given the
changes of ownership of the pictures in his lists, but such a
record would have prodigiously swelled the dimensions of
his book, and, moreover, he has promised us a publica-
tion which, though not primarily intended as a sequel to
Waagen, will in some sense serve that purpose. This is
277
The Connoisseur
an index to .ill the important Exhibitions of Old Ma tei
which have been held in England from the time that
public exhibitions were started up to the end of 191 2.
As in the Waagen, all the works shown will be tabulated
: their arti >l - name >, full pai tii ulai - <>i owner-
ship and place ol exhibition being added. This work
has been spoken of as a sequel to the Summary ami
Index to Waagen, but it would be more correct to
describe it as .1 structure embodying the record of
English ami English-owned examples of retrospective
art, of which the Waagen forms one of the bases. To
show the gigantic nature of the undertaking, one may
mention that the records of 1,825 exhibits of the works
of Sir Joshua Reynolds will be included, 1,151 of Cams
borough, 556 of Romney, 645 of Rembrandt, and nearly
200 of Raeburn, while those of other well-known artists
are approximately as large.
" The Adulteress
before Christ,
by Rembrandt "
By Charles
Sedelmeyer
(Charles
Sedelmeyer)
RAR1 1 \ has any book been published concerning the
authenticity of a single picture in which the facts are
set forth so minutely and illustrated
by such a wealth of plates as in
M. Charles Sedelmeyer's defence
of his Adulteress before Christ, a
picture which the owner and most
great European authorities
ascribed to Rembrandt, which
attribution is disputed by the
learned Dr. A. Bredius, of the Hague. Dr. Bredius is
one of the greatest living authorities on the master's
works, but it is as well to remember that in aesthetic
matters as well as in points of law the judgment of no
single individual is infallible. It is possible that a fair
proportion of the important works, lacking perfect pedi-
grees, in European and American galleries, are not by
the artists to whom they are universally attributed. Not
all the works by great masters are great, and occasionally
followers or imitators, in a lucky moment of inspiration,
will produce others that are finer and more characteristic
of them than their own poorer efforts. How these
poorer works by great masters, and good ones by their
followers — always supposing that their pedigrees are lost
— must in the end be a matter of luck rather than judg-
ment ! To show how even the best informed experts
may fail in giving correct judgment, one may cite the
instance of Sidney Cooper, who, it is well known, rejected
as spurious several of his own works sent him for exami-
nation, which were subsequently fully authenticated and
acknowledged by the painter. If it is possible for an
artist to make such mistakes regarding his own work,
the opinions of experts concerning pictures painted
two or three hundred years ago, and possibly subjected
to repainting and rough handling since, must be received
with a certain amount of reserve.
M. Charles Sedelmeyer, not content with defending
his own picture, begins his work, to which he modestly
give i the sub-title of " An Open Letter to Dr. A. Brediu i
"I the Hague," by .1 vigorous onslaught on some of the
lattci's recorded judgments on other of Rembrandt's
pictures, and shows that several of these are contrary
to the weight of evidence. For the authenticity of
The Adulteress before Christ he makes out an almost
unanswerable case. The picture formerly formed part
of the celebrated Blenheim collection, having been pre-
sented to the great Duke of Marlborough, with several
works by Rubens, by the Government of the Nether-
lands. This was at the beginning of the eighteenth
century. Between that time and the dispersal of
the collection it hung in the same room as Raphael's
Ansedei Madonna, now in the National Gallery. While
hanging at Blenheim no doubt was ever cast upon its
genuineness ; it was unreservedly accepted by all the
experts who saw it there, including Smith, the author of
the Catalogue Raisonni of Pictures of the Dutch and
Flemish Schools, Dr. Waagen, and Dr. Bode. When
the picture was put up at Christie's, in 1886, it was in a
dirty state, and was adversely criticised, with the result
that it was bought for a comparatively small amount by
Sir Charles Robinson, himself an expert of no mean
capability. M. Sedelmeyer purchased it from him in
1891, and sold it to Consul Weber in 1895. In the
meanwhile the picture had been cleaned, and Dr. Bode,
who had the opportunity of seeing it immediately after-
wards, again pronounced without reserve that it was an
original by Rembrandt. It was sent, on invitation of
the committee of which Dr. Bredius was president, to
the great Rembrandt Exhibition at Antwerp, and while
there the doctor wrote an article in a German magazine
impugning its authenticity. The essential difference
between the picture and those of similar works by
Rembrandt is in the composition, the six figures, which
are its principal feature, being all half-length, and, though
beautifully grouped, over large for the canvas. The
original design by Rembrandt for the picture has,
however, now been found, which shows that the existing
work is only the central portion of a larger canvas ;
so that these defects are wholly owing to its mutilation.
Such evidence, by doing away with the only tangible
objection to the authenticity of the work, and showing
beyond doubt that such a picture was designed by
Rembrandt, would, one would think, be sufficient to
establish the work. But M. Sedelmeyer has gone far
beyond this; he shows, by means of over sixty repro-
ductions of portions of the picture and other of Rem-
brandt's works, that every figure in it is thoroughly
characteristic of the master. The publication amply
serves its purpose ; but, altogether apart from the
question of the authenticity of The Adulteress before
Christ, it throws so much light on Rembrandt's technique
and method of working that it will possess a permanent
value long after the vexed question which gave it birth
has been finally settled.
!78
WEDGWOOD PLAQUE.
Penelope and Maidens.
Designed by John Flaxman, R.A.
1 '
Women's
International
Art Club
The distinction of woman's sphere in art from man's
might be thought an argument in favour of holding
separate exhibitions of the works of
the two sexes, but the practice resolves
itself into an unintentional advertise-
ment of the superiority of man's
attainments. The leading lady artists rather.avoid those
displays from which the works of the stronger sex are
excluded ; they are generally marked by a low standard
of admission, and tend to form a haven for the work of
indifferent artists rather than a field of display for the
accomplishments of strong ones. The Women's Inter-
national Art Club is one of the exceptions to this general
rule. It is not fully representative — even of English
women's art ; but at least the standard of admission rules
as high as that prevailing in the more important of the
societies open to both sexes. The fourteenth annual
exhibition held at the Grafton Galleries was perhaps
above the average of its predecessors. If no exception-
ally good works were shown, there were none — with the
exception of a few weak essays in Post- Impressionism —
which were altogether bad. If anything, the pictures
generally were
marked by too
much consci-
entious effort,
shown in the
attempts by
artists to tram
their talents
according to
preconceived
ideals instead
of letting them
fiower natur-
ally. The work
of Miss Ethel
Walker ap-
pears suffering
fro m the ef-
fects of such
misdirected
e f fo r t . One
would say that
her ambitions
at the present
ETCHING OF NORTHOLT
AT MESSRS.
time are too much directed towards the attainment of
broad brushwork — desirable as the means to an end, but
not an end in itself. Her most successful works shown
were her two sketches — perhaps the artist herself would
not agree with the designation — the Portrait of Miss
May and Miss Effie Creamer and A Summer Crowd.
These looked to be frank transcripts from nature, and
were fully satisfying as giving a vivid and artistically seen
impression of the subjects depicted ; but when the same
treatment was transferred to canvases of larger dimen-
sions it failed to be adequate. The portrait of Miss
Anna Rateson was merely an exaggerated sketch ; the
leading characteristics of the sitter's face were noted, but
scarcely anything else. Even the colour of her hair was
not set down with any decision, while what the meaning-
less brushwork constituting the background was intended
to suggest remains an unsolved enigma. The Woman
Holding a Rose was even less explicit, while the pleasing
colour and dainty conception of A Portrait Sketch was
marred by the heavy dabs of paint about the eyes.
Ladies seem over afraid of having their work described
by the now contemptuously used adjective of " pretty,"
though pretti-
ness is not a
crime unless
united with
pettiness. Pos-
si bly some-
thing of this
feeling i nf 1 u-
enced M. A.
Bell (Mrs.
E a s 1 1 a k e )
when she made
the face of the
little girl who
forms the cen-
tral figure in
The Wila
Goats the least
attractive and
most roughly
executed por-
tion of the pic-
ture. Techni-
cally, the work
BY MR. STANLEY ANDERSON
JAGHI AND OBACH'S
28l
The ( oimoisseitr
was excellent, good in colour and draughtsmanship and
floodei unshine, the brightness of which was
realised without undue forcing. Prettiness and this
time the adjective is used without any derogatory mean-
ing— was the characterise ol the charming and freely
handled stud) by Miss Gertrude Des Clayes. Miss E.
I Rawlins contributed several landscapes, showing con-
siderable skill in their arrangement and coloui ichemes,
the most effective being //; the Pyrenees, where the
straight stem- ol ;omi upright trees in the foreground
effectively framed and contrasted with the horizontal
lines formed by a range of mountains and the roofs of an
intervening village. Anion- other works by living artists
which should be mentioned were Miss Mary Hagarty's
exquisitely coloured drawing oi The Blue Clock, Venice;
Mademoiselle Alice Ronner's finely realised still-life
painting, Le Plateau de Lac Rouge ; a rather heavy but
cleverly arranged decorative landscape, T/ic Top of the
Hill, by Miss E. Fothergill Robinson ; A Study of a
Tiger, by Mis- E. M. Henderson; and a crisp rendering
of Florence from the Piazza Michelangelo, by Miss
K. Temple- Bird.
In the small retrospective section the Portrait of a
Young Monk by Sofonisba Anguiscola and the Portrait
of a Man attributed to the same artist were neither of
great interest, both showing the respectable technical
attainment and lack of inspiration which generally
characterised the Italian schools in the latter half of
the sixteenth century ; while Madame Bonheur's well-
known water-colour of Tlie King Watches failed to
arouse the admiration it once evoked. This artist is seen
to better advantage in the engravings after her works
than in the originals. As in the present instance, her
composition was always good, but her colouring was
monotonous, and her brushwork heavy and giving little
suggestion of textural values.
One perhaps is inclined to doubt the possibility of many
of the more remarkable feats of swordsmanship described
in the pages of historical novels until
Japanese Swords Qne payg a ^ tQ a collection such
and Masks ^ ^ of o]d japanese SWOrds now
on view at Messrs. Yamanaka's Galleries (127, New Bond
Street). These belong to the styles known as " Katana "
and " Wakizashi," corresponding roughly in their use to
the Scottish sword and dirk ; the old Japanese warrior
wielding both weapons at the same time ; the wakizashi —
a weapon not unlike an European sword in shape and
dimensions— in his left hand, and the more formidable
katana in his right. The latter is a murderous-looking
weapon, straight and narrow like a long-bladed knife,
broad and weighted at the back, and tapering down to
an edge of razor-like keenness, and so perfectly balanced
that even a slight blow with it would come down with
terrible effect. In length it varies from five inches to
five, six, or even seven feet. What differentiates it even
more than its shape from the European weapon is the
curious markings and coloration of the blade, its back
part dully black like iron and its edge gleaming with the
brightness of polished steel, the line of demarcation
between the two tones being clearly distinct and some-
times patterned into a floral design. These marking
give a hint at the processes used in the making of the
sword. It 1- in real it) of iron and steel hammered
together in thin layers. After this composition is
thoroughly welded together, the edge is tempered by
being exposed to extreme heat, from which the back part
is protected by clay. The result is to give the sword a
cutting edge of the finest steel, while the body of the
blade is a combination of iron and steel, and so of far
greater toughness than if made of steel alone. The
value attached to these swords by the Japanese in former
days may be gauged by the fact that as much as i,ioo
bundles of rice — each about the size of a wheat-sheaf —
was bartered for one with its maker. With the swords
there is being shown an interesting collection of Japanese
theatrical masks.
At the galleries of Messrs. Paul 1). Colnaghi and
Obach an interesting collection of original drawings
(almost entirely in monochrome),
Modern Drawings '. . . , .. . , ,
° etchings, and aquatints by modern
and Etchings . , ., ~
artists was shown. Mr. George
H. Rose was perhaps the most prolific contributor of
drawings, his dozen or more examples, chiefly executed
with pen and sepia, giving a similar effect to that of
Turner's Liber Studiortnn plates. In these he strove
more for colour effect than for expression in line, often
with marked success. His etchings of A Sweep o the
Wind and Nine Elms and a Rick-yard, though expressed
with delicacy and precision, were too slight to be fully
satisfying, the large expanse of uncovered paper making
the line-work look thin and meagre. Mr. A. E. Howarth
had a number of architectural themes executed both with
pencil and etching point. The latter were decidedly the
more interesting, the most successful being a rendering
of Rosliu Chapel, an effective arrangement of light and
shade. Of Mr. Frank Mura's numerous examples, the
most fascinating were the couple of soft-ground etchings
Group of Trees, Sompting, Sussex, and In the Fields,
Lancing, which were delightfully spontaneous in their
feeling. Mr. D. Murray Smith's Hammersmith was
among the most effective of his contributions, being
characterised by strong line and a well-balanced distri-
bution of light and shade. Some aquatints by Mr. C.
H. Baskett showed considerable tonal quality, but this
medium is hardly adapted for effects demanding con-
siderable depth of chiaroscuro, and the effect produced
is apt to be that of a rather flat mezzotint. Northolt,
by Mr. Stanley Anderson, though a little black in the
shadows, was a poignant piece of work ; while Messrs.
P. F. Gethin, W. P. Robins, Francis Dodd, and E. A.
Verpelleaux were all strongly represented.
Societe Internationale de la Peinture a l'Eau and
Mogul Miniature Paintings
WATER-COLOUR painting is not one of the things
they do better abroad. The art has never been under-
stood or appreciated on the Continent to the same
extent that it has been in England, and the result is
Current Art Notes
ETCHING OF HAMMERSMITH
AT MESSRS. COLNAGHI AND OBACH's
that continen-
tal workers in
the medium
are apt to
handle it like
oil pigment,
thus elimi-
nating some
of its most
beautiful and
characteristic
qualities. This
was shown in
the exhibition
of works by
the members
of the French
" Societe In-
ternationale
de la Peinture
a l'Eau," held
ies of the Fine
Art Society
(148, New
Bond Street). The drawings shown were contributed
by artists of undeniable ability. There was probably
not a single example which one could describe as bad
art ; but the majority of the effects attained could
have been rendered with equal fulness, equal facility,
and more appropriateness in either oil or pastel. This
failing was not so marked in the work of the English
members of the Society, who are still guided to some
extent by the old traditional respect for lightness of
touch and transparency of colour. Mr. John Sargent's
Flannels was again on view, accompanied by an out-
door portrait study, entitled Sketchers, of an elderly
lady, with a younger one seated by her side. The
latter was painted with Mr. Sargent's usual adequacy
and something more than his usual sympathy. The
characterisation of the old lady's face — benign, placid,
and pleasant — was marvellously conveyed— not merely
suggested — in a few deft touches, and the blacks in her
costume were set down full of life and brilliance. Miss
Clara Montalba's work is too little seen nowadays ;
she is one of the few lady artists who possesses a
thoroughly individual style of her own, which she has
perfected by consistently confining her efforts to the
perpetuation of a single theme — the gorgeous coloration
of Venice. Her two examples here were distinguished
by glowing brilliance of harmony and transparency of
tone ; one could not call them Turneresque, inasmuch as
they were not directly influenced by Turner's work, but
they had strong affinity in inspiration and feeling to the
golden visions of the master. Mr. Walter Gay's interiors
were well seen and well painted, but their truth of vision
and clever technique hardly atoned for the poverty of
interest in their subjects. The Symphonic en blanc pre-
sented the corner of a room as it might be shown in
a decorator's catalogue ; it was more artistic and better
BY D. MURRAY SMITH
realised than
the decorator's
design would
have been, but
the difference
was rather one
of quality than
of kind. Turn-
ing to the for-
eign work, one
saw a prodi-
gious amount
of talent ex-
pended in in-
troducing the
quality of oil
or pastel into
water-colour
work. M. Alex.
Marcette's Le
Passeur be-
longed to the
latter.Thetone
was delicate,
the colour har-
monious ; but one looked in vain for any suggestion of
transparency in the latter — it was merely heavy and
opaque. Good colour was the essential quality of the
Bosquet dc I ersailles, by M. Gaston La Touche ; but there
was a want of definition in the foliage occupying a large
portion of the drawing, hardly justified by any compensa-
ting interest to be found in the remainder. The Retour
tin Marche was a strong, direct, and well-coloured work,
set down with the strength of oil painting. Much the same
criticism might be passed on M. F. Luigini's L'Estacade,
though this was more sombre in tone. The Homme a la
Bec/ie, by M. Alfred N. Delaunois, was reminiscent of
Millet; while the Maternite of M. Frantz Charlet owed
something to the inspiration of Israels, though the latter
would scarcely have been guilty of introducing such an
ugly woman as the central subject of one of his works.
Though it is a standing article of faith with the moderns
that ugliness can be transfigured into beauty through the
medium of art, one may venture to doubt it. The dwarfs
of Velasquez, despite, or perhaps because of his superb
portrayal of them, remain monstrosities, and some of the
disease-marked figures in Rembrandt's portraits are as
painful to look at they would be in nature. M. Charlet
may justify the choice of his principal figure by saying
he desired to show how maternity elevates even the
lowest type of womanhood ; but most of the advanced
moderns who favour ugly themes apparently do so from
inclination, in the same way that the average small boy
likes to walk into every mud-puddle he comes across.
The racing subjects of M. Frantz Charlet were set down
in sparkling colour with verve, ease, and precision, while
M. Fernand Khnopt was adequately represented with
one of his mystic themes, UOffrande, an Alma-Tadema-
like composition, treated with austerity of coloration and
little attempt at imitative realism.
28-
The Connoisseur
At I here was also hown an in-
i 'ii i 'i Mogul ( liiiln I v ian I miniature
paintings, largely belonging to the besl period of the
art, the latter part of the sixteenth and the first half
of the seventeenth century. Some of the works were
o tte charai tei . espec ially those of
military operations, which were filled with multitudes
of figures, .ill wrought with the must minute detail.
Another favourite theme was the mysteries of an Eastern
lady's toilet, "t which a number of versions were given.
The exhibit-, showed great artistic craftsmanship, and
many were distinguished by rich and beautiful colour.
I'm Scottish Gallery has been graced lately by a
collection of etchings the work of men of several
different lands, and the inclusion of
Edinburgh: \c cc • 1
__ a Oorot is m itself sufficient to make
Etchings, Wood- . , ., . . ,.
the exhibition an outstanding one.
cuts, and some , ., . _ , .
_ . . Like his contemporaries Daubigny
Paintings , „ -,•,,,
and Rousseau, Corot had a fondness
for doing " glass prints,'' and his works of this kind are
often mistaken for etchings ; but in reality it was only
on a few occasions that he handled the latter medium,
the plates he produced numbering hardly a score. They
have, then, the additional interest of rarity, while how
fine were the master's gifts in this field is evinced amply
by the example seen now. Souvenir d 'Italic It is a
tiny woodland scene, and it has a certain freshness, a
semblance of spontaneity, such as pertain but seldom
to anything which has passed through a reproducing
process. The Swedish artist, Anders Zorn, also shows
himself able, though in smaller ratio, to preserve in his
etchings the charm of actual sketches ; while this is
notable in several things by that versatile Frenchman,
M. Steinlen. Less powerful than he but also talented
is Mr. James McBey, an Aberdonian who has followed
in the steps of his famous townsfellow, John Philip,
going to Spain in quest of subjects, and finding these in
the bull-fight ; while no mean skill is shown, too, by Mr.
Malcolm Osbourne, especially in a little portrait called
Margaret. Nevertheless, it is obvious that this etcher,
inking his block freely, gains his effects to some extent
in the course of printing; and herein he betrays a
limitation, for etching is essentially the art oi line, and
all etchers of the highest order — Sir Seymour Haden,
for instance — use ink sparingly, and achieve their results
purely by draughtsmanship and not by typography.
But if Mr. Osbourne is culpable in this respect, and if
Mr. D. Y. Cameron is apt to err in the same way, the
exact reverse is true of Mr. E. S. Lumsden, whose
various plates almost vie with any by Haden himself;
while there is another man who exhibits work of excep-
tional excellence, and that is Mr. William Strang. He
was long a keen disciple of Holbein, and was even prone
to imitate him, but his discipleship certainly taught him
a style of drawing eminently suitable for an etcher.
He is seen to particular advantage in a portrait of Mr.
Thomas Hardy, a work which easily transcends his
familiar likenesses of R. L. Stevenson and Mr. Rudyard
Kipling, and must be ranked as probably the best thing
the artist has done iince his memorable illustrations to
fan: ,<' Shunter, reproduced some years ago in one of
the beautiful hand printed books of Mr. C. R. Ashbei
Essex House Press. At the same time, on seeing any
portrait of Mr. Hardy, it is impossible to avoid contrast-
ing u mentally with the various studies of the novelist
by Mr. Will Rothenstein ; and, fine as Mr. Strang's
etching is, it must not be compared with these.
With the dispersal of the etchings the gallery has
become the scene of another exhibition, its nucleus con-
sisting of a large array of water-colours by Mr. K.
Abercromby. He lately won an important scholarship
at the Edinburgh College of Art, and his technique docs
honour to his Alum Mater, his handling of perspective
being especially sound, lie has, besides, a keen eye for
the most subtle nuances of colour ; but, unfortunately,
his works lack that indescribable touch of idealisation
which is indispensable in good art. This precious ele-
ment is salient, however, in some of the further pictures
shown, notably one by Mr. Lawton Wingate, R.S.A., a
seascape composed chiefly of divers gentle greys. Mr.
Wingate has sometimes been styled the Scottish Corot,
and, though that is extravagant, this canvas undoubtedly
marks him as worthy to be called the Scottish Dupre ;
while a landscape by Mr. E. A. Hornel, its subject a
wood suffused with sunlight, is little inferior to the many
analogous essays from the brush of Monticelli. Mr. C.
Mackie also shows an engaging work, while one by
Miss Walton reveals a happy vein of fancy, and is
wrought throughout with a touch of the rarest daintiness,
a butterfly touch like Jacquemart's or Clouet's.
Few pictures so good as this last are to be seen at
the show of ladies' work at Messrs. Doig, Wilson and
Wheatley's gallery, but the assemblage embraces some
remarkable things withal, the best of them being a study-
in the female nude by Miss R. M. Fraser, and a number
of woodcuts by Miss York Brunton. The latter aie
manifestly done in emulation of the Japanese masters
of the Ukiyoe school, and daring as the attempt is, it
is wonderfully successful ; for, though it were absurd to
liken Miss Brunton to Toyokuni or Utamaro, there are
pleasing memories of Hiroshige in her colour — that
strong, bright colour of the Orient which has at last got
a footing in Occidental painting, and bids fair to reign
for a while. It is by its lovely colour, again, that Miss
Fraser's picture mainly attracts, and by the subtle dis-
tinction between the flesh-tints and the white sheet on
which the model is seated ; but the design has great
qualities too, while, though one of the wrists is too thick,
in general the draughtsmanship is good, holding as it
does some of that rhythmic element of which Ingres is
the acknowledged high-priest.
IT is Lamb who confesses, " When I go to see any
great house, I enquire for the china closet and next for
the picture gallery." He excuses the
order of preference by saying that while
he can call to mind the first play and the first exhibition
he was taken to, his taste for china was of so ancient a date
that he is not conscious of a time when china jars and
Artistic China
284
Current Art Notes
saucers were
introduced into
bis imagination.
The last fact
applies to all of
us. From our
birth we live
with china uten-
sils ; they be-
come as m u c h
part of our en-
vironment as
the air we
breathe, and so,
because of this,
we are rather
apt to take them
for granted, and
fail to realise
that their con-
stant presence
before our eyes
is insensibly in-
fluencing our
aesthetic taste,
and that our
feeling for line
and colour is
being formed by
the comeliness
-or reverse —
of their de-ign
and decoration.
China and pot-
tery ware, too,
are among the
first articles
which attract
the attention of
the embryo collector. Children, even before they have
begun to accumulate postage stamps, have generally
started the nucleus of a ceramic collection with a mug,
cup and saucer, or bread-and-milk bowl, which is their
own exclusive property, and in which they take keen
proprietary interest. Later on, perhaps, the collection
is extended with mementos of various places visited,
until it becomes one of some bulk and great reminis-
cent interest. Subsequently, if funds are ample, and
taste and predilection propitious, it may be extended
on lines that will ultimately bring it within the sphere
of Christie's.
('.lancing over the catalogues of a dozen typical firms,
one finds enumerated a variety of choice which should
afford satisfaction to the most exacting tastes and require-
ments. Taking them up promiscuously, 1 find that the
Soho Pottery, Ltd.. of Cobridge, Staffordshire, specialise
in all kinds of general earthenware. Among them is
Delft dinner ware. The name Delft recalls up visions
of that old blue and white pottery the manufacture of
which was introduced into Lambeth by refugees from
LE REVE
the N e t h e r-
lands. Pieces
of it may have
graced Queen
Elizabeth's din-
ner-board. It
was eminenth
picturesque, and
the patterning —
in blue on a
white ground —
if often rudely
executed, never
wanted in effect.
The Soho Pot-
tery Delft —
" Solian Delft
Ware" it is
called — is a
t ran sfigu red
version of this.
1 1 s fineness of
body and glaz-
ing, its smooth-
ness of surface
and symmet] \ of
shape, are better
than anything
that the old
Lambeth pot-
ters would have
c o n c e i v e d it
possible to pro-
duce ; while its
patternings re-
call the artistic
feeling of the old
designs. There
are other Soho
Pottery wares which in their approach to translucenc/j
almost bridge the interval between earthenware and porce-
lain. These are fashioned according to various designs.
The nomenclature of the latter is somewhat arbitrary.
The "Toronto" pattern is chastely classical in feeling,
the "Fife" smacks more of the Further East, and the
names " Empire," " Imperial," and " Venice " give little
clue to the well-designed patternings they designati \
ware entirely destitute of patterning is the White Spiral
Fluted Ware, whose tasteful shaping and simplicity
ensure it a lasting popularity.
I have descanted on the advance made in the new
wares over the old : now let me say something of the
merits of the latter, the catalogue of Messrs. Plant's
" Tuscan China" affording an apposite text to the theme,
for Tuscan china is limited in its range to finely rendered
reproductions of English porcelain up to the beginning
of the nineteenth century, and French eighteenth-century
and Chinese porcelains. With all the early European
china factories — and none of them commenced until the
eighteenth century — the leading idea was that porcelain
BY ROSE M. FRASER
285
The Connoisseur
was such .1 rare material that it must be exquisite!)
ii bioned and decorated. These factories did not try
to produce merely utilitarian pieces; their tea set-; and
dinner services were as artistically designed as their
statuettes and vases, and, like them, more intended for
the cabinet than the table. The result was seen in the
comparative!) short life of the majority of the early
factories. Sevres and the greater continental factories
survived because they were State-supported; but Bow,
started in 1745, Chelsea, started at about the same date,
and Plymouth and Bristol, which came into being about
twenty years later, were all closed down before the end
of the century. Science has enabled the modern potter
to produce fine porcelain at a comparatively moderate
expense ; and so it is that in the Tuscan ware one can
have the beautiful old designs repeated with a perfei tion
and at an expense that would have gladdened the hearts
of our forefathers. Besides the wares already mentioned,
many of the beautiful forms and decorations of Chinese
porcelains are perpetuated, and also those of other English
factories like Lowestoft, Nantgarw, and others, which
lasted over the beginning of the nineteenth century.
One hardly needs to describe Goss china. Few of us
have not some time or other bought a piece as a memento
of some visit to the seaside or elsewhere, of one's native
town or old college or school, yet probably few know in
what a number of varied forms this dainty ware is shaped.
The Goss Record, a publication compiled for the benefit
of Goss ware collectors, gives a list of nearly two hundred
special shapes — that is to say, reproductions modelled on
ancient pieces, pottery and other antique forms — besides
which there are at least as many more ordinary shapes.
The " Goss " collector can form an interesting col-
lection of beautiful forms, each recalling some ancient
piece, and decorated with heraldic blazonry that, when
interpreted, gives a part of the country's history.
Another book before me, that is not a catalogue, is a
history of a firm of potters whose origin is lost in the
mists of medievalism, the firm of William Adams & Co.,
of Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. The Adams dynasty may
be traced without a break to William Adams, of Burslem,
whose descendants are still carrying on his business.
The historic Brick House factories, in which the firm
carried on business for nearly 1 50 years, passed out of
the occupancy of the family during the minority of
the William Adams, 1745-1805, who was destined to
be one of Wedgwood's most formidable rivals, being
let, curiously enough, to Wedgwood himself. Among
other things he succeeded in producing a Jasper ware
which rivalled in its quality and beauty of design that
of Wedgwood himself, and is now eagerly secured by
collectors. This ware, entirely hand-made, is still
produced in its full range of colours in the present
factory along with several other beautiful specialities,
such as Egyptian black ware, Grecian red ware, a fine
vitreous stoneware (ivory in colour and relieved with
brown), Etruscan ware, and Royal Ivory ware, besides
the more ordinary forms of china and pottery. The
beauty and artistic feeling of the original Adams designs
are perpetuated in the modern pieces, which, made from
similar moulds and by similar processes to those the
great potter originated, are as effective, from a decorative
and utilitarian point of view, as pieces made under his
own supervision.
From the reproduction of old English wares, the next
catalogue — from Mr. A. Harley Jones, of Fenton,
Stoke-on-Trent -carries us to the perpetuation of even
older phases of ceramic art — that of the Chinese. The
Chinese were the master-potters of the world ; they
originated more wares of a beautiful character than any
other single nation, either before or since, and among
the most beautiful of these wares — to many collectors the
most beautiful of all — is the renowned Powdered Blue of
the Kang-Hsi period. In the Harley ware — for that is the
title given by Mr. Jones to his ceramic productions — the
forms, coloration, and designs of the Kang-Hsi Powdered
Blue, and a few of those of the Famille Rose, Famillc
Verte, and Ming Blue and White, are practically fac-
similed. One does not say that they would deceive an
experienced collector — they are not made with that
intention ; but for decorative purposes — to light up a
room with the splendour of their jewel-like enamels —
these pieces are to all intents and purposes equal to
the originals, and form a highly artistic and delightful
addition to the range of beautiful objects within the
range of a moderate purse.
The next catalogue, that of Messrs. Bishop and
Stonier, Limited, of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, the manu-
facturers of Bisto china and earthenware, for the most
part takes us back to more purely utilitarian regions of
articles for use on the table or for the toilet. Utility,
however, does not proscribe comeliness of shape and
pattern, and the designs in Bisto include many, both
reproduced from pieces of early periods or originated
during the present time, which are marked by good taste
and appropriateness, pleasant harmony or piquant con-
trast of coloration, and effective patterning. Some of the
shapes, such as that of the wide-mouthed Marie water-
ewers or the round Peony table-dishes, are both uncon-
ventional and decidedly attractive, qualities which it is
not always easy to combine. Among some of the most
effective of the new Bisto wares are a freely adapted
version of Cloisonne, the Rambler Rose pattern in blue
and white, and other of the revivals of old English
pattern of the best periods which were originally inspired
rom Oriental designs. Among other styles of china
which are produced are Sevres, old Crown Derby, and
old Delft earthenware.
One of the greatest dangers attendant on the well-
being of the pottery-worker is the use of lead glazes, for
lead in a soluble state becomes absorbed in the systems
of those who handle it — a slow and insidious poison. All
sorts of precautions have been taken against this evil ;
and yet, I suppose, the most effectual precaution of all is
to cease the use of metal in a soluble state, or to use it
in such small proportions that its effects are harmless.
This ideal has been attained by Messrs. Keeling & Co.,
Ltd. (Dalehall Works, Burslem), in their " Losol " ware.
They announce in their catalogue that its glaze contains
less than one per cent, of soluble lead — less than one
286
Current Art Notes
part in every hundredth — such a minute proportion that
the Government has no necessity to enforce the regula-
tions regarding the making and use of lead glazes in this
case, for a baby could handle it in perfect safety. The
ethical triumph of its production does not appear to be
counterbalanced by any aesthetic loss in the appearance
of " Losol " ware. The dinner services made in it, ranging
from the chaste severity of Adam form and patterning to
the most elaborately decorated pieces, the toilet wares,
the wide range of shapely and tastefully coloured vases,
and the hundred and one other forms in which it is
presented, lack nothing of the purity of coloration,
translucency of glaze, and completeness of finish of their
most lead-laden competitors.
In the catalogue of Messrs. John Aynsley and Sons
(Portland Works, Longton, Stoke - on - Trent) one
encounters pieces whose intention is mainly utilitarian,
however ornamental their appearance. Yet, though 1
should feel no qualms about using in the orthodox way,
for table or toilet, their semi-porcelain wares — for semi-
porcelain most of the early English potters would have
said porcelain — I must confess that I should feel some
qualms in hiding the beauties of some of their delicate
table china beneath such gross matter as ordinary beef
or mutton, while even the more luscious colouring and
picturesque forms of fruit would hardly reconcile me to
the concealment of the surface of the dessert plate on
which it lay. patterned with beautiful floral design or
some naturalised reminiscence of the Orient, or some
well-coloured and well-drawn picture. My own pre-
ference would be to set up such pieces in a cabinet ; but
the modern taste for beautiful luxury decrees otherwise,
and these charming pieces — some frankly modern in
treatment and spirit, and others finely reproduced from
fine old pieces — gratify this taste to the full.
One of the charming reproductions from the wares of
a hundred years ago in the Silicon china of Messrs.
Booths, Ltd. (Tunstall), has already been described in
The Connoisseur. This was the "Exotic Bird"
pattern, taken from the old Worcester ware and set forth
in all the glowing and jewel-like coloration of the
original. In Silicon china one finds a wide range of
such patterns, and an equal variety of those quaint,
tasteful, and exquisite shapes which made beautiful the
china-closets of our great-grandmothers — that is, such
of our great-grandmothers who were in a position to
possess wares more costly than silver plate. Now one
can buy their replicas at a price which does not make
each breakage of a careless servant the cause of heart-
burning ; and there are plainer designs of all kinds,
ranging from a simple band of Mazarine blue enlivened
with gold lines. Some of the other designs, like the
"Real Old Willow Pattern," the " Indian Tree,"' or the
parrot perched on an overhanging bough, bring back
memories, to those of us old enough to have them, of
visits paid to old country houses in our childhood, when
we spooned up our rice-pudding with more eager zest
than usual to uncover the pictured tale of the flight of
the two lovers on the willow -patterned plates, or the
glories of the tropical birds and foliage on the others.
Nowadays we who are heirs of all the ages are
grasping all the beautiful from the past as well as all
that our present-day designers can create. So when I
look at the examples of Burleigh ware issued by Messrs.
Burgess and Leigh iMiddleport Pottery, Burslem), I am
not surprised to find that, as in the case of most of the
other great makers, some of their newest designs are
also the oldest — adapted into new uses perhaps, and the
prices of their production certainly cheapened. Their
" Old Nankin Blue " ware is an instance. The old
forms are reproduced — those of vases and beakers, such
as one may see at the British Museum and South Ken-
sington— and they are decorated with old Chinese pat-
terning, some of it of a delicate shade of the colour
which favourers of Cambridge flaunted on boat-race day,
and others in the blue which betokened partisanship of
the rival university. Then there are chintz patterns,
gay with floral designs which are bright and tasteful
without being aggressive. The range of " Burleigh
Wares" is somewhat overwhelming. One would like
to descant on the beauties of dinner and tea sets, of vases
and toilet utensils, of flower-pots and salad bowls, and
the other varied forms under which it appears, but the
task is over great. I must content myself with saying that
it was all distinguished by purity of glaze, evenness of
surface, and purity of colour.
The factory of Messrs. J. A. Robinson & Son (Stoke-
on-Trent) has been an Aaron's rod among potteries,
absorbing no less than three other separate and important
businesses— those of Wardle, Charles Ford, and Henry
Alcock. Each of these potteries, as well as that of
Messrs. Robinson themselves, produced a separate range
of wares, all of which are still produced by the present
firm, so the result is a plethora of good things. Messrs.
Wardle were makers of art pottery— that is to say, of
ornamental wares thoroughly modern in spirit even
though some of the forms in which they are perpetuated
are borrowed from the best types of classical art. These
wares are marked by richly-coloured glazes— such as
rouge flambe, brilliant blues, purples and pinks, some-
times left without enrichment and at other times over
painted with well-conceived designs. The productions
of Charles Ford and Messrs. Robinson are well known
under their respective names of " Swan China " and
" Carmen Ware," while their variety extends to all things
requisite for the table or toilet and to many objects of
a purely ornamental character, among which may be
mentioned heraldic pieces and dainty miniatures in ivory
body, while the Alcock wares are more exclusively
utilitarian.
With the productions of Mr. Samuel Radford (High
Street, Fenton), I find myself back again on the theme
of tea sets and table ware. I wish I could treat it
with the same variety that Mr. Radford's designers
treat the patterning of his tea or coffee cups, but the
resources of the scribe are more limited than those of
the artist, for language— at least I find it so — cannot be
so deftly modulated as pigment ; and the theme is over
large. If I praise the deep blue panelling enriched with
gold and shaped into a hundred harmonious curves which
287
The Connoisseur
sets ofl a design of rose-sprays, 1 am neglecting patterns
I attract ve delicate traceries in gold, ( onventional
floral designs, borrowings from China and Japan, reminis-
ol old English designs and what-not. And then
again there are the shaping and varieties of the wares to
'.c described, delicate cups and saucers for drawing room
afternoon teas, more substantial ones for the household
and nursery, yet the most inexpensive ol them possessing
echnical qualities which Palissy would have burnt a
second household of furniture to emulate.
Messrs. Wiltshaw & Robinson Carlton Works, Stoke-
on-Trent) produce in their Carlton Ware a large variety
of different kinds of earthenware and china. Some of the
designs are not without historical associations : a plain
but tastefully-coloured and well-shaped teapot and hot-
water jug, with handle, spout, and upper portion in dark
green on a lighter green — almost white — body, duplicate
similar pieces that were bought by the late Queen Vic-
toria : while a richly-patterned punch-bowl, in the dark
rich blues and reds, and a wealth of gilding embodied in
conventional floral design of Oriental origin, which is
popularly associated with Old Crown Derby, is an exact
replica of the Carlton Ware bowl belonging to His late
Majesty King Edward VII. Other styles range from ex-
amples recalling Wedgwood's Jasper ware, dainty pieces
emblazoned with heraldic devices, and beautiful vases
and flower bowls, down to dinner and tea sets of the
simplest character.
Jacobean Furniture
THOUGH fine old Jacobean furniture of undoubted
pedigree is a possession denied to most of us as being
beyond the scope of our purses, a substitute of equal
decorative value may be found in well-made modern
replicas of characteristic old pieces. The aesthetic quality
of such inn k is largeh di pendent upon the spirit in which
it is carried out. A frank copy of a good old piece in
which the character, design, and workmanship of the
original is intelligently repeated, is a much more satis-
factory possession than a damaged old piece of indifferent
merit largely made up by the restorer; while lower still
come the modern "fakes," in which the greatest effort
has been made to simulate the age rather than the beauty
of the originals. At Messrs. Whiteley's (Westbourne
Grove) there is now on view a well-chosen collection
of carefully-made replicas of characteristic and richly-
carved Jacobean pieces, which have been carried out in
the same spirit as the replicas of the French seventeenth
and eighteenth century pieces included in the Wallace
collection. Among them are chairs, settles, tables, and
other articles of great beauty of design, and, in some in-
stances, of highly elaborate workmanship and decoration.
The great disadvantage of most white pigments
used for process work is that, when photographed for
reproduction, they rarely come out
Process White as Pure white in the prints, generally
showing up either lighter or darker
than the paper on which they were laid. We have
experimented with a bottle of Messrs. Winsor and
Newton's " Process White "—sent for trial — and find it
entirely free from this defect, while it has the advantage
of being of good covering power, easily manipulated
with either the hair-brush or in the ordinary way. It is,
moreover, claimed for it that it is entirely free from lead
— a great consideration to workers using much of such
pigments.
'-?
..'
ONE OF THE FIRST ADAMS POTTERIES AS IT APPEARED IN I/sO
FOUNDED BY JOHN ADAMS, I<>;~
Special Notice
Enquiries should be made upon the coupon which will be found in the advertisement pages. While,
owing to our enormous correspondence and the fact that every number of The Connoisseur is printed a
month in advance, it is impossible for us to guarantee in every case a prompt reply in these columns, an
immediate reply will be sent by post to all readers who desire it, upon payment of a nominal fee. Expert
opinions and valuations can be supplied when objects are sent to our offices for inspection, and, where
necessary, arrangements can be made for an expert to examine single objects and collections in the country,
and give advice, the fee in all cases to be arranged beforehand. Objects sent to us may be insured whilst
they are in our possession, at a moderate cost. All communications and goods should be addressed to the
" Manager of Enquiry Dept., The Connoisseur, 35-39, Maddox Street, W."
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
"The Bride," by Finden.— A6,63i (Leamington).—
Your engraving, The Bride, by Finden, would be unlikely to
realise more than a few shillings. The other print of The
Blind Beggar we must see before we give an opinion.
Artist. — A6,640 (Stone. Staffs.). — We are unable to trace
any artist of the name of J. Buraa, and fear his name will carry
no weight in the value of your picture.
Dutch Tiles. — A6.643 (Devizes).— We know of no work
of reference dealing with Dutch or other tiles.
Jugs and Plaque. — A6,66o (Carnarvon). — (1) The single
jug shown in the photograph is not Delft, but German stonev, arc.
usually known as "Ores de Flandres. " A great deal was
made for the English market, and the " G. R." may refer to
George I. or George II. The jug is of a common type, and,
the handle being broken, it cannot be valued at more than 25s.
to 30s. (2) The set of three jugs is English, of a poor type
and period. They are about seventy years old. They would
only fetch a couple of pounds. (3) The plaque evidently
represents Psyche and Cupid. If in marble its value should
be worth about £\o, but as a representation in plaster it is
worth comparatively little.
Engravings.— A6,6o7 (South Croydon).— Neither of the
engravings, Queen Victoria, after A. E. Chalon, and Prince
Albert, after G. Patten, would be likely to realise more than
10s. to 155.
Hogarth's Works. — A6, 702 (Kensington). — Your edition
of Hogarth's Works is not of particular rarity, and we should
not place its value at more than £l, or 30/- at the most.
Sketch of Napoleon.— A6, 712. —The little sketch of
Napoleon is in all probability quite genuine, but it is unim-
portant, and its chief interest lies in its having belonged to
Theodore Hook. The price it would realise would depend
entirely upon the conditions under which it was sold, and it is
not possible to place a definite value upon it.
"The Gleaner's Child," by M. Bovi.— A6.725.—
A fair average impression, in colour, "f The Gleaner; Child,
by M. Bovi, would realise .£4 to £■•,.
English Clock, by Rimbault, London.— A6, 733
(Valencia). — There was a family of clockmakers of this name
who flourished from about 1700 to nearly the end of the
century. Stephen Rimbault worked in London between 1 760
and 1781, and Paul Rimbault worked in the same neighbour-
hood from 1779 to 1785, and your clock is probably the work
■ if one of these two makers.
Engravings.— A6, 73$ (Belfast).— Your engraving, Life
and Death, by Sir Frank Short, after Watts, would realise £i,
to £s : and The Passing of Arthur, by Gerald Robinson,
after Frank Dicksee, between £2 and £3.
Print, after Gerard. — A6,742 (Surbiton). — Under or-
dinary circumstances your print would not realise more 111. in
£1, being of little interest from the collector's point of view.
Engravings. — A6,75o (Thornton-le-Fylde). — The only
one of the prints mentioned on your list which would have any
interest to a collector would be Bolton Abbey in the Olden
limes, and this only presuming that the plate is in the first
state. The artist's proofs of this formerly fetched ^40 to ^50
each, but they can now be obtained for a fifth or a sixth of this
sum.
Prints. — A6,75S (Bergen). — Your prim, Ceres, by Barto-
lozzi, after Angelica Kauffman, if a fair average impression,
would realise four to five guineas. Gathering Fruit, by
Meadows, after Morland, is one of a pair which, when fine, are
of considerable value. There are, however, numerous repro-
ductions of little value.
Tea Caddy.— A6,76o (Macclesfield).— Tea caddies of the
type shown in your sketch were first used at the beginning ol
the 19th century. Your specimen is probably of mahogany or
rosewood, and its value should be about £3 10s. If it lias the
original tea boxes and cut-glass sugar basins, it might fetch ^5.
Etchings and Engravings. — A6,763 (Toronto). — The
two soft-ground etchings after Morland form part of a set of
eight, and are only of small value. Mrs. Bouvcrie and Sophia
Western, if originals, are worth a considerable sum, but we
should have to see them before naming any sum. There are
numerous reprints of both subjects.
James Ward. — A6,764 (Manchester). — James Ward used
a shorthand which is said to be of his own invention, and he
made notes on many of his drawings from nature of the details
of colour, etc.
"Mrs. Siddons and her Son." — A6, 778 (Bannock-
bum). — Your print of Mrs. Siddons, by Caldwell, after
Hamilton, if of the original issue and in good state, would
realise £3 to £\. There is, however, a re-issue which is ol
considerably smaller value.
"The Library Shakespeare." — A6, 781 (Putney
Heath). — The Library Shakespeare is of little or no value to a
collector. A large edition was issued, and it never attained
any special value.
"Awaiting an Audience."— Ao, 782 (Hastings). — In-
formation regarding this picture can doubtless be obtained from
the Curator of the Liverpool Art Gallery.
Clockmaker. — A6,796 (Birchington-on-Sea). — James
Gavelle was a member of the Clockmakers' Company in 1683,
and there is a record of a clock made by John Gavelle at Moor-
fields in 1705. The only other maker of this name that we
can trace worked in Paris in 1820.
289
HE CONNOISSEVP^
GENEALOGICAL AND
LDIC DEPARTMENT
Special Notice
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take advantage of the opportunities offered herein
should address all letters on the subject to the
Manager of the Heraldic Department, Hanover
Buildings, 35-39, Maddox Street, YV.
Only replies that may be considered to be of
general interest will be published in these columns.
Those of a directly personal character, or in cases
where the applicant may prefer a private answer, will
be dealt with by post.
Readers who desire to have pedigrees traced, the
accuracy of armorial bearings enquired into, or other-
wise to make use of the department, will be charged
fees according to the amount of work involved.
Particulars will be supplied on application.
When asking information respecting genealogy or
heraldry, it is desirable that the fullest details, so far
as they may be already known to the applicant, should
be set forth.
Cobbold.— The Revd. Thomas Cobbold, M.A., died 12
August, 1S31, in his 90th year. He was Rector of Wilby for
sixty-four years, ol Woolpit for fifty years, both in Suffolk : and
Perpetual Curate of St. Mary at the Tower, Ipswich, for fifty-
three years. He was a native of Harwich : was educated at
Bury School, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gradu-
ated B.A. 1765, M.A. 1773. He was instituted to Wilby in
1767 ; »a. licensed to his church at Ipswich, on the nomina-
tion of his parishioners, in 1779 ; and instituted to Woolpit in
17S1 on his own presentation. He published a Sermon,
preached on the centenary of the Ipswich School, in 1809, and
" A Justificatory Reply to an article inserted in the Suffolk
tide, addressed to his parishioners, " 1S1S, 4to.
SHEBBEARE.— The following Monumental Inscription is in
Bromley Churchyard, Kent. Mary Ann Gayton, sister of
Caroline Shebbeare, taught Gladstone to read.
Caroline Shebbeare
wife of Robert Shebbeare, Esq"'' R.N.
Nat. : Oct. 30, 1786. Obt. : Apl. 16, 1S44.
Also
Elizabeth Gayton
mother of the above
Caroline Shebbeare
and widow of the late
Revd- George Clark Gayton,
Curate of Shinfield
and Swallowfield in the
County of Berks
(and forty-six years
a thankful inmate of
Bromley College).
Nat.: Nov. 12, 1735. Obt. : Oct. ... , 1818.
Also
Mary Ann Gayton
youngest daughter of the above
Revd- George Clarke Gayton,
Died March 13th, 1881.
Aged 85 years.
Partridge. — The arms of Partridge of Norfolk are :— Gules
on a fesse cotised or, between three partridges, with wings
displayed of the last, three torteaux. Crest— A. partridge, as in
the arms. Motto— Dam spiro spero.
This family are descended from Henry Partridge, Alderman
of London, who died in 1666.
Arms on Pewter Dish.— The arms represented on your
dish are those of the family of Skarlet, viz., Chequy or and
gules a lion rampant ermine.
Queries.
[ Wi shall be pleased to insert two or three quet ies monthly, for
readers, provided they are short, and are accompanied by the
name and address of the sender.']
[EWERS.— Any information relating to the family of Jewels,
of Surrey or Hampshire, will be gratefully received.
Friend. — Particulars of this Devonshire family will be
received with thanks.
2l)0
THE
»
A magazine: for collectors
Edited by J. T. HERBERT BAILY
JANUARY, 1913 ONE SHILLING NET Vol XXXV. No. 1
.A I
« ■-
Was
w
V
%
DANIELL
BY SPECIAL APPOINTMENT
TO H.M. THE KING
Decorators and Furnishers
in the Old Styles ::
ZlevaC/o/: of Chimney Piece &-i\u/l ' Jhnellmo .
/} /"'./ \ //. "/'''<-. ••Ill:'
■-■:■ tf 'l.h,;;,„,rr 5fn-' » .
An extremely fine old Oak Room from the Manor House, Oulton, Suffolk, on view. Circa 1550.
Schemes and Estimates submitted free.
Galleries
42, 44, 46, Wigmore St., W,
THE
CONNOISSEVK
AMAGAZINE FOR COLLECTORS
Edited by J. T. HERBERT BAILY
FEBRUARY, 1913 ONE SHILLING NET Vol. XXXV. No.
PRINCESS FREDERICKA SOPHIE WILHELMINA
DAN I ELL
BY SPECIAL APPOINTMENT
TO H.M. THE KINO
Decorators and Furnishers
:: in the Old Styles ::
A Very Rare Set of Four Fine Chinese Pictures on Mirrors in original Lacquer Frames, on view.
Schemes and Estimates submitted free.
\ Til 1 1 C'T'l GS
42, 44, 46, Wigmore St., W.
I THE
CONNOISSEVR
A MAGAZINE FOR COLLECTORS
Edited by J. T. HERBERT BAILY
MARCH, 1913 ONE SHILLING NET Vol. XXXV. No. 139
gmaannMinnwnmnnimm^
""•as*
DANIELL
BY SPECIAL APPOINTMENT
TO H.M. THE KING
Decorators and Furnishers
a •
in the Old Styles
Schemes and Estimates submitted free.
A VERY FINE OLD MAZER.
The following extract from Chaffer's hook on Gold and Silver Plate aptly describes this fine specimen, which
is in an excellent state of preservation : —
" Early Mazers had a rim above, and a small rim for foot below, being wide and shallow and generally having
an inscription round the upper rim." The rim of this one has the initials ' P.M.W.' engraved thereon. "The
latter ones are generally deeper and often mounted on high feet. Inside, in the centre, there is usually a flat
plate called the print or boss, often ornamented with a shield of arms or other design." In this specimen it
is a rose.
The date of this Mazer is probably about 1450, and it was secured privately from the family of a celebrated
authoress.
Galleries
42, 44, 46, Wigmore St., W.
The Connoisseur
1
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY