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Thomas Chippendale – Eighteenth Century English Furniture
An 18th century village master craftsman, who designed and made furniture in rural Yorkshire Thomas Chippendale (1718 – 1779) was a progressive ambitious chap
What is an Antique?
What is an Antique? An antique is something made in a previous era. However, according to antique dealers, their associations and the tax man, it is not really that simple at all.
Gertrude Jekyll & Edwin Lutyens – The English House & Garden
The agricultural depression of the late nineteenth century removed land as the chief source of wealth in England. By 1901 money to pay for a country house had to be made in urban centres of trade or, in the countries that made up the British Empire. Building a house in the country made to appear as old and as venerable as the countryside itself was the ideal. Stylistically they looked back to the English vernacular tradition, which had been modified in response to the differing requirements of affluent clients. In this creative climate of possibilities architect Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) and gardener Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) became names well known.
Lord Byron – A Rock Star Poet in an Age of Extravagance
For historians the Regency era in England is about romantics and revolutionaries, poets and princes, architects and artists. It was a paradox where extremes met
The China Trade Begins with Precious Cargoes from Cathay
Ceramic traditions since ancient times have undergone many cross fertilizations by their exposure to various cultures. The first stirring of what we now describe as the China Trade began when Europe was still emerging from the medieval period and would build momentum slowly peaking during the nineteenth century.
Australian Chamber Orchestra – Stylish Musical Conversations
The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) has inherited a fabulous legacy of music to perform in its established repertoire including stylish adventures in sound
Giuseppe Castiglione – Painter @ Court of Chinese Emperors
It was during the Yuan dynasty (c1260-1368) that knowledge of ancient Cathay (China) first filtered through to the west. Mongolian leader Kublai Khan gained the title Great Khan, by defeating his brothers and embracing Chinese culture. In 1260 Kublai Khan (1215-1294) set about rebuilding the city of Peking as his winter capital, governing along Chinese [...]
Alleluia Apollo, Vitruvius, Palladio, Mozart and Jenkins
Changes in the economic order and the social structure of society brought into favour in England and Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century a new style in architecture, literature and the arts. Today it has become more generally known as neoclassicism. Its tenets were based on the considerable legacy of the remains and ruins of the societies of ancient Greece and Rome. This sophisticated style of grace by and large, favoured simplicity of form over complexity. It had a taste for structural clarity and it is this emphasis that worked its way into the world of music, taking it forward towards a style in which melody was preferred.
Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs – Astrology and Humankind
Astrology, according to the dictionary, is a study of the positions and relationships of the sun, moon, stars and planets in order to judge their influence on human actions. Making a study of the sun and star signs for many is a hobby. But now and then there has been some really serious diviners out there. None more effective in my experience than America’s Linda Goodman 1925 – 1995 (real name Mary Alice Kemery) a former New York Times bestselling astrologer and poet.
Alexander the Great – God, Legend, Immortal on a Grand Scale
There has been much written about Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) since his death. Hero, adventurer, King and conqueror Alexander has achieved legendary, ‘godlike’ and immortal status on a grand scale.
Napoleon’s Desk – St Helena to Sydney, a Story worth a Smile
That someone in the Antipodes would end up sitting at, and using the same desk as he did would have given deposed French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte great cause to smile.
Désirée – Is This a Portrait of Napoleon’s First Fiancée?
A previously ‘un-identified’ sitter, in 1st Empire style dress is one of the great works of art in the David Roche Foundation Collection at Adelaide in South Australia. Could she be Désirée Clary, former fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte and later Queen Desidera of Sweden?
Art Nouveau – Was this Style More than a Tendril in Time?
At the turn of the 20th century Europe was inspired by the style Art Nouveau as artists and architects produced sensuous, sinuous lines far more eloquent than words
Jane Austen Revealed at Oxford – World Book Day 2012
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford in England will mark this year’s World Book Day on the 1st March with a series of events dedicated to legendary British writer Jane Austen.
The Arts in the Next Decade in Australia – Ideas & Outcomes
Helping to shape savvy citizens for a bigger society will be a business of the arts sector during the next decade. Australia is a creative nation, but there are tough times ahead and arts organisations will continually need to convince the public of the benefits they provide.
The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda
Author Michael Korda’s HERO is the story of an epic life on a grand scale: a revealing, in-depth gripping biography of the extraordinary, mysterious, and dynamic Englishman whose daring exploits, romantic profile, blonde sun-burnished good looks and flowing white robes, made him an object of intense fascination and famous the world over as “Lawrence of Arabia.”
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