In England, during the second half of the nineteenth century, painter, writer, textile designer and social activist William Morris (1834-1896) became the motivational leader of a revival in arts and crafts that encompassed all the visual arts, especially architecture and interiors.

The Arts and Crafts movement he led in England had ramifications world wide. Morris believed in a Utopian style of socialism and his affinity with natural handcrafted wares was doggedly pursued.

Like many of his peers William Morris was trying to help people find their way in a world moving forward at a very fast pace. He said ‘The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life’.

During  his lifetime Morris produced hundreds and hundreds of designs for textiles, including tapestries and hand woven carpets. His inspiration for their composition was both nature and the medieval world.

He wanted to find a way out of industrial ugliness, back to the joys of creation experienced in the ‘Golden Age’ of English history, which was perceived, romantically, as being a much simpler time.

Challenging industrial age leaders to produce handcrafted goods was indeed a lofty ideal.

However their was two realities. One was that it was profit driving the market for William Morris products being sold through Morris & Co, which he founded in 1861.

The second was that the aims he and his peers (like art critic John Ruskin and designer Auguste Welby Pugin) extolled ended up being an example of hypocrisy because so many manufacturers were producing a superior ‘hand crafted’ product in dirty, overcrowded sweatshops, where most of the workers were children.

The exploitation of working class children as cheap labour was vital to the economic success Britain enjoyed during the nineteenth century. For many working class families, it was far more important for a child to bring home a wage than to have an education. The combination of dangerous working conditions and long hours meant that children were worked as hard as any adult, but without laws to protect them. Children were cheaper to employ than adults, and easier to discipline.

With the tide of public opinion changing government legislation in 1844, 47, 50, 53 and 1867 regulated that no one could employ children under 8. In 1867 8 – 13 year old workers had their hours reduced so they could receive 10 hours education per week, again exploited. It would not be until the closing years of the century that the majority children began to be treated as children, not miniature adults.

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In 1858 Morris’s friend and colleague architect Phillip Speakman Webb built the Red House for he and his family. When it was completed in 1860, it was described by British Pre-Raphaelite Painter Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) as ‘the beautifullest place on earth’.

Today the house retains many of its original features including furniture by Morris and Philip Webb, ceiling paintings by Morris, wall-hangings designed by Morris and worked by himself and his wife Jane, furniture painted by Morris and Pre-Raphealite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and wall-paintings and stained- and painted glass designed by Edward Burne-Jones.

It was designed to reflect a man’s house was his castle and,  for its time, it was completely revolutionary.

To complete the Red House Webb borrowed handmade red bricks from the Tudor period, inserted circular windows from the Italian Renaissance period, as well as small-paned sash windows from the English Georgian age. Many of the windows are surmounted by pointed Gothic (relieving/set back) arches as described in the treatise of first century Roman architect Vitruvius and used by sixteenth century architect Andrea Palladio.

Its steeply graded roof is reminiscent of chateaux in France and its hand laid roof tiles are made of natural slate. They acted as an electrical insulator, were fireproof and had an extremely low water absorption rate. The roof allowed water or melting snow to run into wide gutters and be recycled via a ‘well’ in the garden, which symbolically and practically became the ‘font’ of the house.

His ‘middling’ English house was, at least for Morris, a place ‘after his own heart’ a most noble work…more a poem than a house…but an admirable place to live in to’. It was refreshingly simple and Morris was well pleased with it. It was a kind of moral architecture if you like, paying tribute to England’s ‘golden age’, while reflecting the needs of a contemporary middle class citizen and craftsman such as himself. The Arts and Crafts styled building symbolized warmth and shelter, informality and welcome.

Between the wars the Arts & Crafts style burgeoned out into the suburbs of busy, bustling cities around the world calling upon rural traditions too, which signified order and stability.

St John’s Cathedral at Brisbane, Australia is the last Gothic Revival Style Cathedral in the world to be completed (2006) In the precinct is a number of buildings influenced by Arts and Crafts architecture, which was well underway in England when it was first being built (1906).

They included St Martin’s House, whose style was inspired by the philosophy of arts and crafts movement and The Red House. Built following World War I of red brick, relieved by detailing in stone, it has a slated high sloping roof, Georgian style sash windows, Italian Renaissance touches, including a Juliet balcony. There are also some delightful fanciful turret style chimneys at the roofline.

It has the addition of an extended room surmounted by medieval battlements. Originally the main operating room of the hospital, it was converted into an office for the current Dean of the Cathedral, whose desk is sited over the main plumbing grate. Set into an Italian terrazzo floor (now covered by carpet) this is where they hosed the blood after an operation. One could have a lot of fun with that…but we digress.

Morris and his associates introduced a new dimension to the reform of design and decoration. He explored, in particular, the techniques of traditional country furniture because it was not only the debased quality of contemporary furniture that alarmed him, but also the decline of ancient skills needed to produce a quality product. They produced a line up of furniture designs that were a distinct breakaway from anything else the industrial era had offered.

In America Gustave Stickley was a self appointed standard-bearer for the arts and crafts movement. Through his factory stocked with everything needed to create the home beautiful he promoted and extended Morris’s principles in both an artistic and socialist sense. He targeted the average American homeowner, whose limited budget called for a subtle marketing technique. He offered to ‘substitute the luxury of taste for the luxury of costliness’… employing those forms and materials made for simplicity, individuality and dignity of effect. His magazine The Craftsman evangelized through articles submitted by influential guest writer’s on such issues as style, home décor, urban landscapes and architecture. It was all about the home beautiful, and he supplied everything needed for those seeking to embrace the future in comfort and style.

All his life Morris tried to recreate the idyllic, almost medieval life; self sufficient, financially secure, practical in close contact with nature.  Morris described the Cotswold village of Bibury in Gloucestershire as ‘surely the most beautiful hamlet in England’. In this he was both inspired and supported by art critic John Ruskin, whose thoughts had a profound influence on Victorian attitudes.  Morris tried to make his vision of beauty, an actual part of everyday life. He saw modern mechanical industry destroying ‘mans natural purpose and sense of life’

John Ruskin said he believed that working with the hands and producing arts and crafts were essential to the moral fibre of the home. Objects were meant to be fashioned with great pride, integrity and attention to beauty. He sincerely feared without such a focus the quality of family life would be severely degraded and diminished.

Morris agreed. He said “If I were asked to say what is at once the most important product of Art, and the thing most to be longed for, I should answer, a beautiful House. And that included everything and everyone inside it.

By now Morris and his family had a retreat in the countryside at Hammersmith overlooking the Thames. Kelmscott Manor is where he established the Kelmscott Press, the last great enterprise of his life.

Between 1891 and 1898 it produced 53 books (some 18,000 copies). The books Morris produced were modeled on books of the fifteenth century, such as those of printer Nicolaus Jenson of Venice, whose examples inspired the Roman ‘golden’ font Morris used.

Noteworthy for their harmony of type and illustration, the main priority was to have each book seen as a whole, re-awakening the early ideals of illuminated book design. He wanted to inspire other printers in standards of production at a time when the printed page was generally at its poorest.

Numerous other presses were set up to perpetuate Morris’ aims, including the Doves, Eragny, Ashendene and Vale Presses. The enterprise was the culmination of Morris’s life as a craftsman in many diverse fields as he set out to prove the high standards of the past could be repeated – even surpassed – in the present.

William Morris died before the end of the century and did not live to see the success that the Arts and Crafts philosophy of he and his peers had on both sides of the Atlantic and in British colonies like Canada and Australia.

By 1901 the population of the United Kingdom was 41.5 million with twenty percent living in poverty. Emmelline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 and it became a focus for militant action in the campaign for women’s suffrage. It was not until 1904 that the Children’s Act of 1904 officially banned employment of children between nine PM in the evening and six am in the morning.

A reaction to the  de-humanizing affect of late nineteenth century industrialism revived the artisan guild system, which was similar to that of medieval times. Its members were promoted as being merry and jolly and the offered an interesting role model for those searching for a panacea to escape the ills of the age.

The remedy lay in creating and constituting a new philosophy of life for the worker and so a traditional hero was revived. Britain’s great legendary medieval hero, Robin Hood, who had championed the working class man and his honest labour.

Robin was merry, his men were merry and, putting him forward to project an image of artisans happy at completing a days hard work, was instantly appealing.

His  popularity and merry image was re-affirmed when a movie emerged from the new glamorous, Art Deco loving capital of America, Hollywood in 1938 in a world torn asunder. Australian born Errol Flynn starred as the romantic hero Robin Hood romping through the movie, with his merry men and the lovely Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marion.

They both smiled a lot, as did his men,  and his merry disposition was completely infectious. In the movie the virtues of hearth and home in Sherwood Forest were about Spartan design and not only would this help reinforce the attitudes and philosophies, fashions and passions of the Arts and Crafts movement as it continued its merry way, but it would also help everyone survive the global conflict to come.

‘We are here to lead you back to the realities of life’, Morris had said, ‘to show you how to use your hands and your heads, which machines have already made over half of the population lose’.

The social ideal of the arts and crafts movement is ongoing. It was “The Art that is Life”.

Carolyn McDowall August 2010

Watch the trailer of Robin Hood, it should give your day a ‘boost’

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Modernism is a term the art and design community of the contemporary western world has adopted to describe a diverse range of architectural and interior decorative styles, as well as applied and graphic arts, which were created between 1880 and 1940 on an international scale.

Modernism demands that there is a distinction between interior architecture and decoration and a preference for open planned living. Modernist interiors are meant to be devoid of applied decoration. they seek to concentrate solely on geometry, uninterrupted lines and form.

In our WHAT IS Series we deal with each style of the Modern Movement separately (see below). However, it is always good to remember design styles overlap each other at their creation and, at their demise. They are

Arts and Crafts 1875-1915
Art Nouveau (1880-1910)
Wiener Werkstatte (1903-1933)
Bauhaus (1919-1933)
Art Deco (1920-1940)

International Style – Le Corbusier

Modernism historically
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain’s manufacturing power was threatened by rivals America, Germany and Japan. At home industrial unrest, growing feminist and socialist movements were part of a general, and protracted crisis.

The population of the United Kingdom was 41.5 million in 1901, twenty percent living in poverty. Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 and it gained an international focus for militant action in the campaign for women’s suffrage.

In Britain the Children’s Act of 1904 finally banned employment of children between nine at night and six in the morning This was a decade where the expansionist and imperialist features of the previous century were displayed to excess, one in which the political tensions and economic frailties of the present century before World War I became apparent. Radical change was required.

At the great International Exhibition of the Decorative Arts held in Paris in 1925. (The Exposition Des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels – Art Deco for short). Swiss born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965) known as Le Corbusier, expressed a view that architecture had lost its way. “We must start again from zero,” he proclaimed. Le Corbusier preached his own doctrine and defined his own recipe for a new style of architecture.

Spanish draughtsman, painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso’s first wife Ukranian-Russian dancer Olga Stepanovna Khokhlova  (1917) is only one of the many women who shed their restricting corsets, cut their hair, raised their hemlines and set out to find what feminine freedom was all about following World War I.

Olga and Corbusier both wanted to be an integral part of this brave new world.

Significant Dates for Modernism
Compiled by Frances Laverack for the
Australian Academy of Design and Decorative Arts
Sydney (1992 – 2000) Brisbane  (1997-2005)
The Culture Concept (2005 – )

Image: Sensational Glass Table by courtesy Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

1851
Great Exhibition in London.
William Morris and John Ruskin in England
Violet-Le-Duc in France rejected the excess materialism on display and laid the foundations of the Aesthetic and Arts and Crafts Movements.

1859
Thonet Bros. of Austria first produced the “No. 14″ bentwood chair.

1873
“Principles of Design” published in England by Christopher Dresser.

1874
Emile Galle takes over family glass and faience works at Nancy, Alsace  -Lorraine, France-

1875
Liberty & Co. established in Regent Street, London.

1882
Antoni Gaudi begins the Sagrada Familia Church, Barcelona.

1888
Guild of Handicrafts founded in England by Robert Ashbee

1889
Emile Galle triumphs with his first major glass and furniture exhibit at the Paris Universal Exposition, showing cameo-cut glass for the first time.

1892
Georg Jensen exhibits his first silver pieces in Denmark.

1893
“The Studio” magazine begins publication in England.

1894
Louis Comfort Tiffany creates the “Magnolia” vase for the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Rene Lalique exhibits his first jewellery at the Paris Salons.

1895
Samuel Bing opens “L’Art Nouveau” shop in Paris. “L’Ecole de Nancy” begins to function as a group.

1897
Charles Rennie Mackintosh begins work on the Glasgow School of Art.  Munich Werkstatte founded. Archibald Knox begins work for Liberty with his “Celtic Revival” metalwork. Founding of the Vienna Secession with Gustav Klimt as president,

1899
Darmstadt’s Artists Colony founded in Germany with Peter Behrens and Josef-Maria Olbrich as founders.

1900
Parisian Exposition Internationale acts as showcase for French art nouveau designers. Hector Gulmard designs Metro entrances for the Paris system.

1902
Turin International Exhibition features Vienna Secession, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and fantasy room by Carlo Bugatti of Italy.

1903
Wiener Werkstatte founded by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser           (extant until 1932).

1904
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple opens in U.S.A. – the first building designed entirely for poured concrete construction. Emile Galle dies.   Georg Jensen opens Copenhagen shop. Wiener Werkstatte exhibition in Berlin. Otto Wagner designs Post Office Savings Bank in Vienna.

1905
Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstatte begin work on the Palais Stoclet in Brussels. Samuel Bing dies. First Fauvist Exhibition in Paris.

1906
Founding of Wiener Keramik under Michael Powolny.

1907
First Cubist painting – “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” by Picasso. Founding of Deutscher Werkbund. Eileen Gray settles in Paris.

1908
Rene Lalique begins glass production with perfume bottles for Coty.

1909
Diaghilev founds “Ballets Russes” in Paris. Peter Behrens designs AEG Electrical’s factory and appliances in Berlin. First Cubist exhibition at Parisian Salon d’Automne.

1910
Austrian Werkbund founded.

1911
Atelier Martine opened by Paul Poiret in Paris, using untrained talent of schoolgirl designers. Maurice Marinot begins glass production.

1913
William Moorcroft leaves Macintyre Potteries and starts his own factory at Cobridge in the English Midlands.

1914
Outbreak of World War 1. Walter Gropius conceives the idea of the Bauhaus in Germany.

1915
Suprematist Manifesto published in Russia by Malevitch. British Design and Industrial Association formed.

1916
Le Corbusier designs the Schwab house in Switzerland.

1917
Gerrit Rietveld designs the red-and-blue “De Stijl” chair in Holland.

1918
War Ends. Spanish Influenza sweeps through Europe and in Austria kills Otto Wagner, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Koloman Moser.

1919
Bauhaus founded in Wiemar by Walter Groplus. First Parisian exhibition of African Art.

1920
Marcel Breuer joins Bauhaus.

1921
Maurice Dufrene sets up “La Maitrise” studio boutique at Galen’es  Lafayette in Paris.

1922
Tutankhamen’s tomb opened in Egypt,

1924
Bauhaus moves to Dessau.

1925
Parisian “Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et industrials Modernes” acts as showcase for “art deco”. Two pavilions, the Russian Constructivists and Le Corbusier’s “L’Esprit Nouveau” show the first public glimmerings of Modernism in France.

1927
Colonial Exposition in Paris.

1928
Le Corbusier, his brother Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand design their tubular, chromed steel adjustable chaise longue exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris.

1929
Mies van der Rohe’s “Barcelona” chair first shown at the Barcelona International Exhibition,in the Modernist pavilion he designed for the Bauhaus.

1930
The French Modernists band together and form the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM). Initial members included Rene Herbst, Robert Mallet -Stevens, Raymond Templier. The Chrysler Building was completed in New York.

1932
The “Normandle” launched – lighting and glass panels by Lalique, lacquer -by Jean Dunand, murals by Jean Dupas and Paul Jouve, furniture by Jules Leleu.

1933
Bauhaus closed. Many designers, including Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, move to the United States.

1935
Clarice Cliff Exhibition at Beard Watson’s, Sydney.

1936
Surrealist exhibitions in London and Paris.

1937
Paris International Exhibition acts as showcase for “surreal classicism”.

1939
Outbreak of World War 11.

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We’re delighted to announce that for a limited time only, we’re offering the first six parts of our acclaimed course of study, the EVOLUTION OF ART, DESIGN & STYLE to you and your friends absolutely free.

This survey includes the intimate world of the fashionable from classical antiquity to contemporary times.

The following are the outlines for the six FREE online videos, which we also recommend you watch in chronological order.

A. Defining Civilisation – Part 1 & 2
The survey begins with an overview of the emergence of ancient societies and their progress discussing the development of architecture, gardens and costume. We highlight the ancient Egyptians who were pioneers in the art of adornment.

Click here to view Part 1 | Click here to view Part 2

B. An Arcadian Ideal – – Part 1 & 2
Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322) said ‘the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance’. He noted temples, sculpture, and paintings reflected the individual tastes of their creators and patrons, an idea that opened the way for their being considered ‘works of art’ rather than just religious ritual or political images.

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C. Precincts of Power and Glory – – Part 1 & 2
The advancement of classical disciplines under Roman rule, highlighting the reign of first century Emperor Augustus when Rome became a civilizing force for the western world. We discuss the treatise of architect Marcus Pollio Vitruvius and what it reveals about Roman design and construction. Caught in a time warp, Herculaneum and Pompeii have revealed a great deal of fact about living and lifestyle in Ancient Rome.

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Click here to Read the full Course Outline

The Culture Concept Circle reserves the right to postpone, cancel or change any part of the published program

The course is designed around setting aside one day a week to watch 2 x 20 – 30 minute on line video parts on your computer
Learn while you enjoy an array of sumptuous imagery and beautiful music.

The course surveys the development of architecture, interiors, gardens, painting, sculpture and objet d’art in their relationship to historical events, philosophical and intellectual ideas and social change.

© The Culture Concept 2010

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On ev’ry shelf a Joss divinely stares,
Nymphs laid on chintzes sprawl upon our chairs;
While o’er our cabinets Confucius nods,
Midst porcelain elephants and China Gods *

Blanc de Chine - Ming Period. Surely the most beautiful of all Chinese ceramics are its most simple

According to an old Chinese adage “Knowledge comes from seeing much” a particularly relevant comment for those studying art, especially ceramics.

Chinese ceramics became known to the wider world from the Tang Dynasty (618- 907) onward;  the word ‘China’ eventually became the generic name for porcelain so successfully had its potential as an export trade ware been exploited by the west at the end of the nineteenth century.

The enthusiasm the English, European and American trade market displayed for oriental goods from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries inspired the invention of porcelain in the west and established the whimsical stylistic language known as Chinoiserie, which affected designs for architecture, interiors and gardens.

For the most part using the dating period of Chinese Dynasties or the ruling period of an Emperor to assign dates to Chinese ceramic wares and their development is more than difficult. At all stages during their stylistic and technical development there was a good deal of overlapping and copying of previous dynasties designs.  Reproducing a previous dynasty wasn’t at first a commercial objective, it was the intention to honour ancestors, but as time passed and China opened to the commercialism of the west, that would, and did change.

Founded upon a prosperous economy, the Tang Empire witnessed a great flowering of creativity; science and technology, art, music, painting, pottery, calligraphy, literature and religion – it was a golden age. Chinese potters discovered that when stone wares were fired at higher temperatures they changed their characteristics and the progression to what are now regarded as wares made from ‘true porcelain’ was a gradual process.

Ding Ware Northern Song Dynasty - The unobtrusive decoration is of incised lotus and sagittaria sprays that is incised into the body that has been ennobled by a mellow ivory-white glaze and the rim is protected by a metal cap 11th - 12th century

From the very first during the reign of the Tudors in England, when the west accessed wares made of so- called ‘hard paste, or true porcelain’, it was seduced by them. They were magically translucent, resonant when struck, impervious to liquid, considered refined and aesthetically pleasing in both proportion and style, as well as having great beauty of form.

The material used was a fusion of fine white ‘china clay’ [kaolin, named for the hill in China called Ko-ling where it was discovered] and powdered feldspathic rock [petuntse], which when fired together at an intense heat [about 1450° C] produced a new type of ware that would captivate the world for centuries.

From the beginning of the ceramic industry in China to set up a large kiln there needed to be plenty of natural quantities of heavy clay, plenty of natural fuel to power the kiln, including water and a cost effective way of taking the products to a ready market.

Once a kiln had been installed generations of artisans flourished with each area becoming renowned for the style and techniques of decorating the wares they developed.

A kiln atmosphere heavily charged with carbon monoxide is termed ‘reducing’. Its effect is to profoundly modify colours yielded by certain metallic oxides, particularly iron and copper. Chinese potters achieved the desired concentration of carbon monoxide by feeding their furnaces wet wood.

The dexterity and skill of the potters in controlling the way that a glaze was fired also meant they were able to crackle it deliberately. This style of decoration more than likely came about at first by accident; however the potters found the effect so aesthetically pleasing they spent a great deal of time learning how to bring it about intentionally. This was achieved by using the differing coefficients of contraction and expansion and by submitting the piece to rapid cooling after firing.

Northern Song (960-1127) 11th century Porcelain-like stoneware with céladon feldspathic glaze H: 20.5 cm Musée Guimet

Beginning with the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) and during the Tang (618-907 A.D.) Sung (960-1279 A.D.) Yuan (1279-1368 A.D.) and Ming (1368-1644 A.D.) dynasties large quantities of pottery and porcelain were exported from China to the eastern and western world.

There are many romantic attributions for the term Celadon. It became a generic term for ceramics finished with a glaze ranging in colour from olive-green to sea-green first developed as a protective coating for stoneware.

Celadons were sought by the Persians during the Northern Song Dynasty 960-1112 because they believed they would break, or change colour if poisoned food was placed in them.

Chinese porcelain factories catered to their Middle Eastern customers and because of both religious and cultural bans on the representation of human and animal figures most porcelain sold in Islamic markets featured floral designs.

The Chinese dynasty known as Ming seems relatively near and modern in the long context of Chinese history. In 1368 when it began, many of its scholars consider the supreme periods of the major arts, such as literature, calligraphy and painting had already passed.

Blue and White Plate Yuan Dynasty 1279 - 1368

In the European experience the word Ming is almost inseparable from porcelain, which was beginning to arrive in the west in increasing quantities. However it was considered by the Chinese of the Ming period only one of its minor arts.

The use of cobalt as a blue colouring agent was considerably developed in connection with porcelain wares in China from the Yuan Dynasty (1260-1368) onward. The artist who painted a fish swimming through aquatic plants on this very early plate proved his worth at managing cobalt decoration by rendering the scene with great skill, dexterity and vitality.

It was during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that the use of cobalt oxide would reach a crescendo in painting, style and technique. Cobalt has an ancient history and was known as a colouring agent in other centres such as Persia, Syria and Egypt 2000 years before Christ.

Native minerals on their own had impurities that resulted in a dull or greyish colour producing often an unstable patch blue termed, heaped and piled decoration, one of the main characteristics of Ming Blue and White painted decoration. Hui hui Ch’ing or Mohammedan Blue exhibited very rich colour when mixed with a native material discovered at this time, as it had a distinct tendency to run when used on its own and the porcelain painters needed to be quick and their brush strokes very deft and sure.

Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) Mid 14th century Porcelain with cobalt blue decoration H:33.6 cm

The Ming period in China [1368 to 1644]  is considered by many historians as the last great dynasty that was truly Chinese. From the middle of the 17^th century when Chinese influence on western culture really began to intensify, it was ruled by the Manchus who invaded from Manchuria (north eastern China) and were considered by the mainstream population, the Han Chinese, as usurpers.

We are looking at a typical mei p’ing vase used to display blossom branches brought indoors in the warmth and forced into blossom for the celebration of New Year. This specimen has a baluster body; it is high shouldered with a small mouth. New Year was an important festival that generally fell around February, or late winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Blue & White Jar Ming dynasty, Xuande mark and period (1426-1435)

There was a resurgence of Chinese nationalism under the Ming Dynasty when the ancient barrier between East and West was reaffirmed. By far and away the most splendid wares of the Ming period were made for the Imperial Court, as well as the more exacting home markets of China.

To quote Hobson, an English authority on Chinese ceramics ‘Ming shapes are often distinguished by a certain rugged simplicity, and always by the directness and strength of an art, which is still young and virile’.

Ming porcelain generally has a fine grain body is white in colour and tinged buff on the unglazed footring. Thick glazes are often slightly uneven, with a bluish tinge due to traces of iron which also confer the buff colour on the footring.

The texture of the glaze surface exhibits what the Chinese call ‘chicken skin’ with ‘pinholes’ in the glaze surface. Also this is only a general rule, to which there are always exceptions.

Jar Ming Period of Emperor Jiajing 1521 to 1567

The most prized of Ming period porcelains were made in the Hsuan Té period (1426-1435) noted for its painting in cobalt blue and copper red under the glaze. Potters finally mastered both of these capricious materials, ensuring that the wares reached a high standard of technical and decorative achievement.

Copper red particularly, was very difficult to control and they eventually abandoned it for an iron red enamel glaze painted over the glaze.

Rim of Imperial Yellow and Cobalt Blue Plate

Yellow glazes in various nuances appeared in the late Ming period and continued until the nineteenth century.

The use of Imperial yellow during the reign of the Emperor Xuande (1426-35) was based on iron, was very brilliant and served as a ground colour for a design painted in blue under the glaze.

Flowers [plants and trees generally] are used very widely in the decoration of porcelain in the Far East, and there is an elaborate symbolism attached to most of them. Eg. The seasons are represented by the prunus [Winter], the tree peony [Spring], the lotus [Summer], and the chrysanthemum [Autumn].

The most important innovation during the reign of Ch’eng Hua (1465-1487) was the introduction of the tou ts’ai or contrasting colours, a combination of underglaze blue with enamel colours, the latter laid on top of the glaze within the outlines of the underglaze blue.

So-called Chicken Cup

Excellent examples of this particular group are the so-called ‘chicken cups’, which became very popular again when copied during the C18.

Portugal was considered one of the most adventurous of the European sea faring nations and it reached China in 1517. From Macao they traded Chinese, and other Asian goods for spices in Europe.

The Society of Jesus founded at Rome in 1534 also sent missionaries to East Asia. From the 1540’s onward Jesuit Priest Matteo Ricci, along with his colleagues learned Chinese, mastered the canon of classic Confucian texts, dressed as mandarins, demonstrating to Chinese intellectuals that the west had far superior skills in some areas the Chinese recognized as vital, like cartography and astronomy.

Burghley Bowl

When Emperor Wan Li, the last ruler of the Ming Dynasty sat on the Throne of Heaven ruling over the Middle Kingdom in the Forbidden City from 1573 to 1620 in England Elizabeth 1 was contending with Mary Queen of Scots and many other thorny issues.

The earliest accurate record we have of Ming porcelain in the west was pieces specified in the will of Elizabeth 1. From the inventory compiled following her death, we can deduce they were highly prized and very precious like the bowl belonging to the Cecil family of Burghley who served the Queen well.

It was the year 1600 when Queen Elizabeth 1 of England granted a Charter for her seafarers to challenge the Portuguese monopoly of the spice trade followed by the Dutch Vereenigde Oost-indische Compagnie 1602 and the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales) 1664 and by the middle of the seventeenth century a lively trade for lacquer, silk and other small objects to European Courts was in full swing.

Porcelain painted in underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome enamels.

An important innovation was the appearance of the so-called ‘Wucai’ (five colour) decoration during the Jiajing period (1522-1566). A method was developed where cobalt blue was painted under the glaze and then after being fired the potters then overpainted the glaze with polychrone enamels before firing it again. Fish were often used because they were an important symbol as they symbolized the wish for wealth.

By the late Ming Period c1573-1644 there were new developments in the ancient arts of calligraphy and painting. In the Songjiang and Jiaxing regions the literati strove to surmount petty struggles by devoting themselves to creative artistic activities.

They concentrated on heightening an awareness of the individual, his position in the world and his relationship with his fellowman. This led to a simultaneous blossoming of all art forms and through mutual discussion and creative interaction the works they produced would attain a high level of artistic merit tinged with extreme, poetic elegance that reflected a healthy attitude toward art and society.

The years surrounding the fall of the Ming dynasty and founding of the Qing dynasty in China were uncertain and foreign trade suffered. The first Manchu Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), was a patron of classical studies, a poet and calligrapher. He was also vigorous and reforming and during his reign China’s exports and industries, boomed. In 1682 he ordered the reconstruction of the kilns at Jingdezhen, partly destroyed during the early troubled years of the dynasty.

From the beginning of the seventeenth century trade with Cathay (China) was always, seemingly, far more important to Europeans than it was to Chinese rulers who prided themselves on their nation’s self-sufficiency. It is often said Ming wares lacked the precise finish of the porcelains of the later Ch’ing dynasty. However they were made to cope with the hazards of transport by ship, or camel caravan and their continuing appeal has meant a demand ever since by both European and Asian collectors and connoisseurs.

Taking Tea in Fine Style

Charles II was restored to the throne in England in 1660 with the accompanying surge in, and a delight of, new fashions. He and his wife Catherine of Bragazna would set a style for the taking of tea.

Taking tea was first recorded in 1660 in the diary of English Naval Administrator and Member for Parliament Samuel Pepys who sent for his first cup of this ‘China drinke’…and in the most well to do families, tea was drunk in the Chinese manner out of Chinese porcelain.

A typical feature of Kanxi porcelain was the paste, which was often sandy and gritty on the surface and on the glaze. Painting in cobalt reached new heights of artistic and technical achievement, the colour having an almost luminescence quality while the techniques attached to rendering the decoration both over, and under the glaze, were further refined.with an assorted assemblage of wares used for the ceremony and in England imports of tea alone multiplied 40 times between 1723 and 1830.

sang de beouf Vase with over painted decoration

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi technological advances allowed for splendid decorated and coloured wares. The rich blood-red glaze was developed using copper oxide in the formulation and firing the climbing kilns in a smoky, reducing atmosphere. It was highly unpredictable, and the result by no means a foregone conclusion. It still is so today, red glazes are the bane of a potter’s existence. Ming emperors were highly discerning, and anything not measuring up to their expectations was rejected. A literal mountain of rejected and wasted pieces exists outside of Jingdezhen where archaeologists have had a field day. This red glaze is sometimes called ’sang de beouf’ (literally, blood of the ox in French).

A description of the manufacture of porcelain written in 1713, by French Jesuit priest Father D’ Entrecolles a resident in Peking at that time describes the seeming magic connected with the firing of blue and white porcelain ‘a beautiful blue colour appears on the porcelain after having been lost for some time. When the colour is first painted on, it is pale black; when it is dry and the glaze has been put on it, it disappears entirely and the porcelain seems quite white, the colour being buried under the glaze. But the fire makes it appear in all its beauty, almost in the same way as the natural heat of the sun makes the most beautiful butterflies, with all their tints, come out of their eggs’

In 1731 a fifteen year monopoly was also granted for a Swedish East India Company to trade in the East. By that time too Chinese officials were realizing the monetary potential of Europe’s expanding interest and started to increase the access of increasing numbers of European traders to their wares, with porcelain gradually becoming the largest, and most desirable, of all Chinese manufactures, shipped in bulk and great variety. It was packed into tubs and wooden boxes cushioned with rice or marketable goods such as pepper, sago, or tea and packed into the bottom of the ships for ballast.

A Fleet of East India men at Sea by Nicholas Pocock 1802

The China Trade would flourish for two centuries. It was a risky venture. Taxes, tributes, bribes and deceptions were rife. Storms, pirates, disease and rival traders were a constant threat during the two-year round trip voyage to and from Europe. Most went well but sometimes disaster struck – and wrecks are still being found with marvelous porcelains still intact, such as the Longquan found in 1996 loaded with superb celadons, although since much of its cargo has been lost or destroyed by fishing trawlers.

Despite the risks, traders made huge profits for their companies, themselves and their countries. England’s East India Company, popularly known as John Company, was the most powerful commercial enterprise of its day.

Plate decorated with the Arms of the East India Company

Based in Leadenhall Street, London, the English East India Company presided over the creation of British India, founded Hong Kong and Singapore, employed Captain Kidd to combat piracy , established tea in India, held Napoleon captive on St Helena and its products were the subject of the Boston Tea Party. Its red and white horizontally striped flag, more than likely inspired the design for the American Flag, however, initially it made little impression as it could not establish a lasting outpost in the East Indies.

In the western world from classical Greece and Rome onward the fashioning of a human identity was an ever evolving process. During the late and high Middle Ages in England and Europe elite members of society, whose circle was expanding rapidly, fashioned themselves according to what they believed were ideal patterns for living. These consisted, not only of good manners, but also were an expression of what was considered good, and in the eighteenth century, correct aesthetic taste. These precepts satisfied their own internal adornment while manifesting themselves externally in bodily ornaments that reflected the fact that their possessors belonged to a certain unique aspect of society, one everyone was clamoring to emulate, or join. One of these outward symbols was a coat of arms; quite literally a linen or silk surcoat worn to protect armour from the sun’s heat, dirt etc…on to which each knight or noble had his Heraldic arms embroidered.

Plate decorated with Heraldic Arms A pattern for this plate survives, the only complete design for an armorial service to be recorded. It was made for Leake Okeover, whose arms are impaled with those of his wife, Mary Nichol; their conjoined monogram, LMO, appears in cartouches on the rim. The service was shipped from Canton to England in two instalments in 1740 and in 1743

Traditionally in heraldry the Coat of Arms consists of a Shield at its centre, crowned often by a Helmet which is in turn surmounted by a Crest, a decorative ornament meant to afford protection against a fatal blow. Added to this group was the Mantling; i.e. ornamental drapery flanking or accentuating the central shield which again in turn is flanked on each side by a pair of standing figures known as Supporters.

The demand for Chinese decorated armorial porcelain increased from the mid seventeenth century onward in Europe and during the eighteenth century thousands of services were ordered. Drawings of individual coat-of-arms were dispatched to China to be copied as faithfully as possible. Some were lavishly painted in polychrome enamels and gilding, covering much of the surface, while others, particularly those toward the end of the century, might simply incorporate a small crest or monogram.

Crests, like arms, were sometimes allusive. Grey of Wilton used a gray, or badger; Lord Wells had a bucket and chain. In the early days of the crest it was confined to persons of rank, but in later times it has been included in every grant of arms. A high degree of understanding between Private trader and the Chinese Merchant who placed the order was important if a good result was to be achieved for the client at home in Europe. Sometimes this went massively wrong and while today examples of what happened affords us much amusement, to those literally waiting for years to receive services for the East only to have them arrive wrongly painted must have been frustrating beyond belief. How it happened is that the families in Europe or England would record their instructions re colouring or about the design in English and these along with the design were faithfully copied by Chinese workers who had no English. Why did the private trade in armorial wares at this time in history prove so popular? The Emperor Ch’ien Lung a noted patron of the arts was also interested in Western culture, and there is no doubt he more than likely encouraged the making of many pieces based on the design of French articles sent as presents to Peking from the King of France, or ordered from Paris by the Jesuits at the command of the Emperor.

The technique of painting porcelains over the glaze in the famille rose palette of opaque and semi-opaque enamels was perfected at the Jingdezhen kilns of Jiangxi Province in the eighteenth century, during the reign of the Qing-dynasty Yongzheng emperor (1723-35).

The terms famille rose and famille verte were first coined by Albert, I JACQUEMART, 1808-1875, and Edmond LE BLANT, 1813-1897 in their work Histoire artistique, industrielle et commerciale de la porcelaine.

Published at Paris by Techener, 1862. Famille, meaning family, was meant to describe an enamel palette with one predominant base colour developed for use on porcelain in the second half of the seventeenth century. These included rose, verte, jaune, or noir porcelains and are still sought after by collectors

I went to dine
With a friend of mine
Who dined off porcelain plates
Of a kind so rare
That it stirred your hair
To think of their possible fates

For some were Ming
and others were Ch’ing
(Whatever those names may be)
And the food was divineAnd the wine, the wine
Intoxicated me

There were ices – those
were of famille rose,
and coffee of famille noire
and a choice dessertof famille verte
Preceded a choice cigar.

But alas for the end
Of dinner and friendFor he happened his eyes to raise
As I started to rub

The burning stub
On a bit of his finest glaze.

He was perfectly nice,
But as cold as ice,
As he rang for my coat and hat,
For Ming is a thing,
And so is Ch’ing,
That mustn’t be used for that **

View of the Western Hongs of Canton. Oils on fine linen

Throughout the C17 and C18 Dutch East Indian ships plied their trade at Boston, New York and up the Hudson River to Albany, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Williamsburg and Charleston in the Americas.

Initial contact was at New Amsterdam and the first Williamsburg settlement as early as 1620.

A considerable volume of porcelain was bought at auction in Europe by China wholesalers and shipped to flourishing cities on the East Coast, where they adorned many a fine table and the distribution point for ‘China’ became one of the causes of complaint leading to the War of Independence in 1775. Of all the wares traded those that catered to the new craze for tea were the most popular.

China Trade Dinner Service for the American Market

By the eighteenth century two varieties of tea dominated the trade. Bohea, a black tea originally the choicest grade until the turn of the eighteenth century when Hyson, which translates to “Flourishing Spring“, then became the luxury tea. (Green tea is made from the steamed and dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, a shrub native to the mountainous regions of Asia. Black tea is also made from this plant, but unlike green tea, is made from leaves that have been dried and fermented.) Tea mania swept England, as it had earlier in France and Holland, and tea imports rose in weight from 40,000 pounds in 1699 to an annual average of 240,000 pounds by 1708. Hyson was so highly favoured during the eighteenth century the British Tea Tax was levied at a higher rate for it than any other variety.

All was mayhem when on April 1, 1774, a posse of Bostonians, greatly deplored at the time even by George Washington, disguised themselves, not too convincingly, as Mohawk Indians and merrily dumped cargoes of Hyson tea into Boston Harbour and

The waters in the rebel bay
Have kept their tea leaf savour
Our old North Enders in their Spray
Still taste a Hyson flavour…

Boston Tea Party from an engraving by Currier

The mood that moonlit night was jubilant. One merry maker exclaimed, “Boston Harbor a teapot tonight! Hurrah!” But the morning after was sobering. The party was over and to give up their beloved, ancient tea, made of cured dried Camellia sinensis leaves, posed a practical problem: what to drink instead? After all, wrote Samuel Johnson, the average colonist, including himself, was “a hardened and shameless tea-drinker’ and forsaking the ritual and comfort of a nice cup of tea was sure to be difficult

‘Thank God for Tea! What would the world do without tea. How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea’ and the fine china cup to drink it from.

Carolyn McDowall 2010′

Poetry

* British Poet 1756  James Cawthorn – On Taste

** Anonymous poem inserted into an C19 Publication on Ceramics by Carolyn McDowall 1997

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Detail Chippendale Period Carved Giltwood Side Table Courtesy Mallett, London

What is a Masterpiece? My understanding is that it is something wonderful created by an individual with extraordinary talent in one field, or many. A work of art, a tour de force, a magnum opus, a masterwork completed by such as Leonardo da Vinci the first person who always springs to my mind as his was certainly one of a genius +.

In facing the crisis of the global economic downturn a brave group in London have come up with a whole new way of marketing fine quality wares. Masterpiece London will be showcasing the most covetable objects in the world: traditional and modern, old and new, from the finest of fine and decorative art to the best of wines, classic cars, jewellery and contemporary design.

It is indeed a clever concept. A 26th dynasty 600 BC bronze head of a Cat will be displayed next to a rare Pink Diamond of over seven carats,  a fabulous Torse masculine du ‘Je suis belle’ by C20 French sculptor Auguste Rodin or a Russian Faberge Cane Handle for a walking stick made of smoky quartz on a gold mount set with diamonds made in St Petersburg c1900.

The fair will feature six world-class restaurants, numerous bars and state-of-the-art stand design. The object is to make a visit to Masterpiece an exceptional cultural, culinary and social experience for its clientele. It is all about valuing creativity in any age and in all cultures and replaces the former Grosvenor House Antiques & Art Fair that lasted for 75 years.

The change of location to the Former Chelsea Barracks is a stroke of masterly public relations. This former British Army Barracks has been a matter of comment and controversy since 6 September 2005 when the British Secretary of State for Defence, John Reid announced it would be sold. Since then many applications for redevelopment have failed reputedly because Prince Charles used his position in society to encourage healthy public debate on the issue, which has indeed been fierce. How shocking that he should use his influence for the greater good instead of for a greedy few.

As a result at the end of 2009 a Masterplan team was appointed and has been working with the community to resolve all the issues associated with this historic site since January, 2010.Residing opposite the prestigious Royal Hospital Chelsea and ideally situated in the heart of central London, Masterpiece London will be held in a Stabilo-designed bespoke structure on the site.

Some of the Exhibitors include  A La Vieille Russie (USA), MacConnal-Mason, Marchant, SJ Phillips, Peter Finer and the Tomasso Brothers, Anthony Woodburn, Cahn International (Switzerland), Offer Waterman, Galerie Steinitz (France), Vanderven & Vanderven (The Netherlands) and Wartski.

An Important Chippendale Period Carved Giltwood Side Table Courtesy Mallett, London

These illustrious names, amongst others, will be exhibiting alongside established founders Mallett of London and New York, Ronald Phillips, Apter-Fredericks and Asprey as Masterpiece London seeks to showcase some of the greatest works on a scale not seen in the capital since the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Should be quite a bash, so if you are visiting London later this month this would seem to be the place to see and be seen, let alone enjoying yourself looking at major works of art and design and then indulging in some fabulous cuisine by world class chefs and wine from some of the world’s greatest vineyards.

Wish I could be there.

Fair location:
Former Chelsea Barracks
Chelsea Bridge Road
London SW1

Preview 23rd June
On View 24th – 29th June

Tickets GBP 20

Masterpiece London
142 New Bond Street
London
W1S 2BS
+44 (0)20 7499 7470
contact@masterpiecefair.com

A very important mid 18th century carved giltwood side table of large proportions. The finely carved and pierced frieze formed of continuous scrolls and foliage hung with garlands of leaves, fruits and flowers, standing on deeply curving cabriole legs, boldly carved and moulded with acanthus leaf edges and scrolling feet; the table retaining its original Sienna marble top of magnificent colour and markings.

Read Result of Opening Day Sales

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STOP,  SMELL THE ROSES – JOURNEY THROUGH THE ARTS OF OUR CULTURE

Adapted for Online Video Presentation, the groundbreaking course of study, the Evolution of Art, Design & Style is illustrated by sumptuous imagery and backed by marvelous music.

The Culture Concept Circle offers this extensive course in an all new On Line Video format. It allows you to be entertained and learn at a speed that suits you.

There are four segments for the course each consisting of ten days each.

Each day is divided into two parts for your convenience.

This course was a life transforming process…said lawyer Dixie Ann Middleton ...and I endorse the program to all who have an enquiring mind and an interest in human endeavour’… Dixie Middleton and Associates, Lawyers, Brisbane Qld

This unique course of study looks at how western culture,  its attitudes and philosophies, its fashions and passions, developed for over two millennium in relationship to historical events, intellectual and spiritual ideas, other cultural influences and societal change.

The course is presented by Carolyn McDowall, founder of The Culture Concept , who has been lecturing for the last 20 years in Australia, to corporate and not for profit community groups and societies, as well as arts academies

During that time literally hundreds and hundreds of people have attended Carolyn’s courses, gaining not only wisdom, but an appreciation of the contribution of art, design and culture to our modern day life.

Many have gone on to fulfilling careers in the creative and cultural development world.

To Read the Course Outline Click Here

You can access the course by becoming a Member of The Culture Concept Circle

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Author Carolyn McDowall

Woman of Influence - Empress Josephine

The very arresting beauty, and quite remarkable Marie Joséphine Rose Tascher de la Pagerie de Beauharnais (1763-1814) was imprisoned in the Bastille with her husband General Vicomte de Beauharnais during the French Revolution.

He and the men under his command had been caught out ‘whoring’ instead of carrying out the urgent and vital duties assigned to them.

At this time his punishment fell on the whole family and they were all incarcerated in the Bastille.

Marie Joséphine Beauharnais and her two children narrowly escaped death because her friend the Comtesse Thérese de Fontenay protected her.

Thérese’s husband Jean Lambert Tallien was a key figure in the revolution. He was also responsible for bringing about the downfall of the Deputy of the Committee of Public Safety the so-called dictateur sanguinaire Maximilien Francoise Marie Isidore de Robespierre, whose particularly gruesome death by guillotine face up ended the horrors of the ‘Reign of Terror’.

Within days of the event he had Marie Joseph Rose released to face a new world and a new life. Two years later she married the dashing young Corsican General Napoleon Bonaparte whom she had met in the Tallien’s influential salon.

An impressive woman in her own right, Josephine (as Napoleon decided she should be known) would aid, through her influence and abilities, Napoleon’s route to power and have a profound influence on the future of horticulture.

You may also like to read Women of Influence: Diane de Poitiers

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To find out about Membership and the Online Course…Click Here

Since the late 1980’s Carolyn McDowall, founder of The Culture Concept, has been lecturing on the Evolution of Art, Design & Style to clubs, corporate and community groups and societies, as well as at arts academies.

Over the last 20 years hundreds and hundreds of people have attended Carolyn’s courses, gaining not only wisdom, but an appreciation of the contribution of art, design and culture to our modern day life. Many have gone on to fulfilling careers in the arts and cultural development world.

The Culture Concept Circle offers Carolyn’s amazing course in an all new On Line Video format. The course will be presented as a series of video lectures commencing with Defining Civilization. There will be 40 sessions in all, each divided into two, easy to watch parts, allowing you to be entertained and learn at a speed that suits you.

On our On Line Video Course Carolyn’s extensive knowledge and personal insights will take you on an exploration of design, the arts and music as a powerful expression of culture. The survey includes the intimate world of the fashionable from classical antiquity to the courts of Europe and on to the founding cities of America and Australia today.

Backed by sumptuous imagery and beautiful music the course surveys, from antiquity to the contemporary age, the evolution of western architecture, gardens, interiors, including paintings and sculpture,  furniture and furnishings, costume, jewellery, textiles, ceramics and beautiful objet d’art in chronological order of their development and in their relationship to other cultures – intellectually, philosophically and spiritually.

We are offering this outstanding course as part of our new Culture Concept Circle Membership. For a small monthly fee, you can access not only the Evolution of Art, Design & Style Online Video Course, but will also receive our monthly newsletter, exclusive member discounts & offers, and with more to come.

To find out about Membership of The Culture Concept Circle – Evolution of Art, Design & Style Online Course…Click Here

Join us and the world will never look quite the same again.

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Presented with sumptuous imagery and beautiful music, in an exciting new On Line Video format, we aim to open a window on a whole new world.

This is a survey that includes the intimate world of the fashionable from classical antiquity to the courts of England and Europe in the Middle Ages and during the advent of humanism and exploration, which led to the founding of cities in both America and Australia.

The Course examines, in chronological order the changing fortunes of both cities and cultures. We will discuss artistic taste and how it has fluctuated throughout the centuries and look at how wars, politics, religion, social customs and fashion all impacted on art and design and their development.

We will also discuss the many characters who expressed their individuality by being creators or conquerors, their lives and lifestyles, diversions and entertainments and, in some instances the reforms they made.

The survey includes architecture, paintings, sculpture, photography, interiors including furniture and furnishings, textiles, carpets, gardens, ceramics, glass and objet d’art all discussed in their relationship to intellectual ideas and social change. Over the next year we will release a session on an approximate schedule of every ten days.

Join us on line, and the world will never look quite the same again

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Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously…pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us …Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1811

William Hallett and Elizabeth Stephen by Thomas Gainsborough, courtesy National Gallery at London

Author Jane Austen lived in one of the most eventful, colourful and turbulent epochs in the history of England and Europe. The scenes of this extraordinary  time were well recorded by many talented painters and sculptors of the day, and in England this included renowned painter Thomas Gainsborough.

In 1785, when Jane Austen was just 10 years old, he captured William Hallett and Elizabeth Stephen stepping out in style together for a morning walk . They were an elegant young couple, both 21, bound by their social status and the rules it imposed, very much in love and due to be married in the summer of 1785.

They epitomize the stylish quality people who starred in Jane’s novels. He is discreetly dashing in a well fitting black velvet riding coat, an aspect of a gentleman’s costume that reflected his desire to be seen as ‘informal’, approachable, someone in touch with the political scene and social set of his day. He has the quiet confidence of a compleat gentleman. She looks lovely in her softly floating silk dress, a smart black band accentuating her small waist and balancing perfectly with the simple black straw hat tied with a ribbon and feathers and then placed at a jaunty modern angle on her hair. Strolling happily through a woodland landscape with an adoring dog at the lady’s heel they appear full of hope,  eagerly looking forward to their marriage in July and a happy life together into the new millennium.

By the close of the eighteenth century archaeological investigations in Europe and Egypt were revealing more and more about the ‘antique’ past. The expansion of knowledge about antiquity revealed that ancient artists and writers had been accustomed to free expression in their work, with religion and honour paramount to any society’s daily existence.

This revelation began changing social and moral values and concerns of the many English, American and European societies now ardently in search of the truth. One of Jane Austen’s peers, renowned Scottish author of romantic novels Sir Walter Scott (1771 – 1832) said of Jane (1775-1817) that he believed the secret of her success was that she had chosen to write about ‘ordinary people doing things that happen in every day life’.

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