Archibald Knox and Liberty of London are names inextricably linked, especially when we consider the up swell of indigenous British design at the beginning of the twentieth century.  “Advanced” design (as it was referred to at that time – we call it Modernism), stemming from the historical revivalist principles of William Morris, the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Aesthetic Movement, was starting to appeal to a wider audience. Arts and Crafts Movement designers and the Guilds were happy to provide for them. Into the centre of this expansion stepped Arthur Lasenby Liberty, a far-sighted and hard-headed businessman with a flair for sniffing out new artistic trends and capitalising upon them. By 1875 his emporium on London’s Regent Street was already brimming with Oriental metalwork and lacquer, exotic Eastern fabrics and “mediaeval” German pewterware.

He was certain he could do better by manufacturing and designing at home, and cast around for suitable designers. In his net he caught Archibald Knox, and a great partnership was born, albeit one rarely acknowledged publicly. Business was business for Liberty, and his designers were not expected to have a profile themselves. This, however, suited Knox – a man of extreme self-effacement and with a dislike of public attention. Knox was a Manxman, born in 1864. His life on the Isle of Man, a stronghold of Celtic lore, was to have the most profound effect on his life as a designer.

Time, an enemy for us all by Archibald Knox

As a child, and a budding artist, Archibald Knox was powerfully impressed by the illustrative aspect of Celtic culture: the fine carved stone crosses scattered over the island; the intricate “lacing” and colour of illuminated manuscripts such as Ireland’s ninth century Book of Kells; the entrelac sinuous twistings of ancient Celtic metalwork like the famous Tara Brooch and the Ardagh Chalice, viewed on visits to Dublin.

Rare Liberty & Co Pendant by Archibald Knox

He was a solitary boy, but made friends with an artistic circle of much older local painters. At Douglas Grammar School, he was introduced to archaeology and the study of earlier cultures. Picking up sea-tumbled semi-precious stones on local beaches – jasper, greenstone, coral – led to his later inspiration to set these simple stones into his silverwork.

Despite its small size, the Isle of Man was fortunate to have a vigorous and “venturesomely modern” Art School in Douglas. Archibald attended from 1878, when he was 14, until 1884. He specialised in the study of the “Design of Historic Ornament”, and passed with such distinction that he remained as an Art Master until 1888.

For the next 11 years, Knox occupied himself with illustrations for articles, many written by himself, which expanded knowledge of the Isle of Man’s history and its Celtic ornament. He sketched and painted watercolour landscapes prolifically, although these charming paintings were for his eyes only. In an interesting early collaboration, Knox worked with Baillie-Scott, an English designer recently moved to Douglas, who was to gain a reputation as a major arts and crafts architect and furniture designer. This contact linked Knox to a much wider exposure to European design and, perhaps as a direct result, in 1897 he accepted a teaching post at Redhill School of Art in Surrey, on the mainland.

In the same year that he moved from his island home, Knox also began designing for the Silver Studio, run by the young Rex Silver in Hammersmith, West London. From the Silver Studio, Knox’s first designs for Cymric silverware were sold to Liberty’s.

By 1900, Knox had become the principal designer for all of  Liberty’s “Celtic Revival” metalwork and jewellery ranges. The Cymric line was for silver, and the Tudric stamp was reserved for pewter pieces, but both metals were treated by Knox in a similar manner. His characteristic knotted, entrelac, soft-edged designs (often embellished with enamels or polished stones) became one of Liberty’s mainstays. The fluidity and daring of some of these marvellous objects produces a strong, almost visceral response. These are not designs of the intellect, despite their careful and controlled planning.

It is the soul which responds, recognising the fundamental connection with Nature potently expressed through Knox’s stylised designs. His pieces become instantly recognisable after only a short association.

By 1909 it seemed that the prevailing Liberty style was on the wane, since cheap copies by other firms were detracting from its initial impact. In any case, Knox was by this time teaching full-time at Kingston School of Art. He resigned abruptly in 1912 after criticism of his teaching methods. His life then became a rather sad series of displacements – from Philadelphia, to other parts of Pennsylvania, and to New York, searching for suitable employment and never really settling.

The years of the Great War saw him back in his beloved Isle of Man, working as a censor in an Alien Detention Centre. He returned to his old school in Douglas to teach in 1920. Painting and travel to Italy consumed his spare time until his sudden death in 1933 at the age of 69. His tombstone, naturally, is of his own design – a glorious interweaving of flowing lines around a Celtic cross in the cemetery at Braddon.

© Frances Laverack 1994 – 2012

Related posts:

1. Modernism – Innovating Design Styles in the 20th Century
2. Preserving Liberty and Law during the Enlightenment @ London
3. What Is: Art Nouveau, more than a tendril in time?

Since the beginning of civilization humans have sought to adorn and decorate themselves, and the Chinese were no exception. Inspired by the beauty and variety of the birds and animals around them they sought, from the very earliest times to emulate these seemingly perfect creatures by first adorning themselves with their pelts and plumes. Then with increasing sophistication to embellish the clothes and accessories they wore, finally establishing by the time of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) a highly-stylised and visible social and political hierarchy. This was based upon their perception of the intrinsic characteristics of these creatures and famously epitomized by the bird and animal rank badges of that era.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, headgear and hairstyles evolved in the most spectacular manner, and the crests and head plumes of the birds the Chinese encountered provided inspiration over the centuries for an astonishing variety of hats, crowns, tiaras, hairstyles and hair ornaments. Drawn by their iridescent beauty, many races and peoples have used feathers as adornment or accessory, and the earliest humans, including the Chinese, probably initially sought to decorate themselves using entire feathers from the bird; we are all familiar with pictures of races right up until modern times such as the Papua New Guinean tribes, which continue to do so.

It is only the Chinese however who evolved beyond this to discover a way to incorporate the colour and sheen, which they so admired in the beautiful feathers, into something far more wearable, sophisticated and elegant (Hartman, R., 1980, p80). The most highly-prized of all as seen in the short poem above were the flashing iridescent turquoise and blue feathers of the little halcyon, or kingfisher bird, at that stage plentiful in China and in fact, in most of Asia. As can be deduced from the date of Ch’en Tzu-ang’s poem, the use of kingfisher feathers appears well-established at that stage and they were clearly already highly valued as much, if not more, than gold.

Excavations of T’ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) tombs have revealed tiny kingfisher jewellery pieces, which were probably used more in the manner of gems or decorative items, and there are descriptions of a dying king from the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) detailing his private chamber in which there were “kingfisher hangings on jasper hooks” and “bedspreads of kingfisher all seeded with pearls”(Hartman, R., 1980, p76), apparently from the manner of their description not necessarily unusual objects for the time.

Beverley Jackson in her extensive book on the subject of the use of kingfisher feathers recounts a marvelous episode where the indefatigable English author Oswald Sitwell is musing upon the glory that was Angkor Wat, and concludes, somewhat amazed, that such glories in a country with few resources such as ancient Cambodia must have been provided by one thing only – the enormous trade in kingfisher feathers for the insatiable Chinese market (Jackson, B., 2001, p5). This rather startling observation provides some insight into the ubiquity and popularity of the exquisite objects, and certainly no museum collection of Chinese dress is without at least one or two examples of this art

Indeed kingfisher feathers were employed with dazzling effect in a large variety of items for personal adornment including not only hair ornaments but crowns, wedding head-dresses, bracelets, nail guards, brooches, earrings, pendants and occasionally even larger objets d’art such as screens and tableaux. Although it is evident that kingfisher decorative items had existed for many centuries, they were at their most spectacular when used to decorate women’s hair ornaments, and this was an art form whose artistic culmination was reached in the Qing dynasty when the Manchus took control of Imperial power.

Although they sought to enforce Manchu customs and language from the beginning of their reign in 1644, by the time of the Qianlong Emperor (c 1736-95) the ruling Manchus were increasingly concerned that not only were the ethnic Han Chinese continuing with their own style of dress, they were also influencing Manchu style. Subsequently in 1759, the “Illustrated Precedents for the Ritual Paraphernalia of the Court” (Huangchao liqi tushi) was published, ostensibly in an effort to unify the country but in reality of course to control and impose their rule upon the Han(Garrett, V., p10). Under this system, clothing was divided into official and non-official wear, seasonal wear, styles, and colours, all based on rank. As women held no official role in the court (other than occasionally acting as regent, most notably the Empress Dowager Cixi) their rank was determined by their husband’s⁴.

Subsequently their dress, hairstyles and even their hair ornaments were very formalised so combined with the immense wealth and leisure time these women enjoyed, the art of dressing the hair and ornamenting the subsequent confection reached new heights – literally in the case of Manchu women, who sought to develop increasingly towering styles. Combined with her extra physical height, floor-length robes and 4-6” platform shoes, the Manchu court female was an imposing figure, and made the shorter-statured, bound-footed Han Chinese woman look girlish and doll-like by comparison(Johnson, B., 2001, p61).

Naturally in this era no woman of rank or wealth, Manchu or Han, did her own hair; in the case of the Manchu woman if a hat was not being worn for an official occasion, the preparations for this coiffure could take some hours, especially with the higher ranking princesses and empresses of the court(Princess Der Ling, 1911, p67). In order to keep the elaborate structure in place, a gel-like substance was used called pao bua, derived from soaking fine wood-shavings from a special tree in hot water until a sticky jelly was obtained. This was then combed through the hair which was then styled. In the case of Han women, unless their husband was a mandarin at the Imperial court this style would have simply been in the fashion of the day, often a simple coil or two braids at the nape of the neck; very few ornaments were used, often just fresh flowers or a couple of small pins.

In the case of Manchu women however it was a much more complex process and the gelled and combed hair was then wound around elaborate frames made of horsehair; according to the dictates of her rank a number of different types of styling followed, the best known of which is the liangpa tou “two handle ends” seen in many portraits of the day including the Empress Dowager. Against this towering backdrop (further augmented in the late Qing by a similar structure made of black satin), numerous beautiful objects such as sheng (combs), zan (hair slides), chai (hair pins) and buyao (hair ornaments) could be displayed, along with fresh and artificial flowers, pompoms and tassels (Garrett, V, 1997, p76, Hartman, R, 1980, p90, Jackson, B, 2001, pp61-63)

The hair ornaments themselves could be functional or decorative, serving to either help hold the hair in place in the case of the very large hair slide known as bianfang which essentially supported the two side buns and was often decorated on one side with a large hanging tassel which swung as the wearer walked, or in the case of smaller pins and ornaments be displayed entirely for their beauty and workmanship. The variety of materials used along with the kingfisher feathers included gold or silver (depending on wealth and rank), pearls, precious and semi-precious stones notably unfaceted rubies and sapphires, tourmalines and carnelians, the highly-valued Peking glass, coral, jade or jadeite, mother of pearl, and sometimes in the case of dangling hair ornaments (liusu) brass figures such as fish.

The ornaments themselves came in a huge variety of shapes including birds, animals, insects, flowers and other plant life including fruit and gourds, children or small figures, auspicious symbols including the shou “long life” and shuangxi “double happiness” symbols, shapes such as the Eight Precious Objects and even in the case of larger crowns and tiaras, small still life scenes depicting court life or famous scenes, however the most popular themes were butterflies, bats, dragonflies, grasshoppers, fish and gourds(Garrett, V, p19-35, Hartman, R, 1980, pp76-80, Jackson, B, 2001, p97) The reason for these choices was several-fold, for apart from their intrinsic charm and beauty these motifs held another type of significance. The Chinese language is rich with homophones, words that sound like one another but have different meanings, with the result that saying one thing can evoke something entirely different, sometimes humorous or for the superstitious Chinese, auspicious.

Well-known examples of this include “happiness” fu and “bat” bianfu, “prosperity” yu and “fish” yu, or interesting combinations such as “butterfly” and “gourd” guadie mianmian creating a rebus meaning “offspring for eternity”. Other motifs had their own inherent meanings, such as peaches and pomegranates (fertility), paired ducks (marital happiness) cranes (immortality) and lingzhi mushrooms (longevity). Because of this there resulted a strong visual vocabulary, almost a type of ‘visual shorthand’, so that the use of certain animals, insects or symbols would result in a piece that was not only able to be admired for its exquisite workmanship, but also had great meaning for the wearer and all those around her and usually connoted her wish for a happy and fulfilled life, preferably with many sons (Hartman, R, 1980, pp76-80).

It can be understood in the light of this that the Chinese of this era wore jewellery for different reasons to us today, usually more for aesthetic reasons or the enjoyment of the wearer, or as a practical means of storing their assets, rather than actually showing off wealth. In addition, the choice of background metal was again stipulated by formal decree, and gold was generally only permitted for ornaments for the ladies of the Imperial court or the very wealthy.

Whatever the metal it was wrought into an astonishing variety of shapes, often three-dimensional, and was frequently worked as filigree; quite frequently design elements such as stems, branches and leaves were fashioned with a springy copper ball so that they trembled when the wearer moved or walked, adding to the charm and beauty of the final picture(Jackson, B, 2001, p85).

While it is certainly acknowledged that the art of working with kingfisher feathers is one of China’s traditional handcrafts (Yuan, H, 2006, p97), the actual construction of the pieces themselves has been the subject of some conjecture. What is known is that thin sheets of gold or silver were formed into the desired shape with the appropriate ridges in the design being fashioned with a tiny hammer and a surrounding lip then being attached, much in the fashion of cloisonné(Hartmann, R, 1980, p76). The pieces of feather were then painstakingly laid in place and then affixed with adhesive or glue.

The method of fixation may have been variable depending on the way the piece was constructed and has been variously describedas eithercovering the entire finished product with a glue-like substance(Jackson, B, 2001, p53-54) or affixing each piece individually, as in a fascinating eye-witness account of the timedescribing how individual feather filaments were dredged through the glue before being laid flat upon the metal surface(Jackson, B, 2001, p50) What is agreed upon is that the glue must be invisible, and not discolour the feathers at all.

The exact composition of this glue is not precisely known although it was most likely a combination of adhesives derived from both animal (hide) and plant (seaweed) sourceswhich would have been plentiful and readily available at the time. The feathers themselves also appear to have been used in a couple of different ways to create the jewellery. One technique, by far the slowest and most painstaking and most likely that used for the Court jewellery, involved the method described above whereby individual feather filaments were laboriously attached side by side until the piece was covered and a solid lacquer-like effect was achieved.

Alternately and possibly as demand for these objects grew, a different and no doubt slightly more efficient technique was employed with larger sections of actual feather being attached. This may also have been used for larger pieces. What is certain is that with the inevitable intermingling of the ruling Manchus and the Han Chinese women, demand for these pieces grew as every women in China wanted one of these covetable and fashionable items. In addition the increasing influx of Western visitors combined with the aesthetic of the Art Nouveau movement in Europe made these pieces desirous beyond Chinese shores, and demand eventually outstripped supply with the eventual hunting to extinction of the little kingfisher bird in China.

Fashions then changed and with the advent of the sweeping social changes that were to befall China, this art, like so many others, was lost. The last factory producing these items commercially closed in Canton in 1930(Hartman, R, 1980, p78), and although reproduction items are still produced in China and the Philippines today, the items are generally inferior and do not use genuine kingfisher feathersbut rather dyed feathers from other birds(Jackson, B, 2001, p53).

What is so remarkable then is that the appreciation of, and delight in these beautiful little objects endures in both China and the West, and even in such a changed world as ours the fact that we can still admire and desire these little gems, and the very fact that so many pieces of this extraordinary art form still survive today is a tribute to both the skill of the artisans and the timeless beauty of the pieces themselves.

Guest Author: © Dr Sheena Burnell Shanghai 2009 – 2012 **Ch’en Tzu-ang (661-702) Translation by Paul W. Kroll

Dr Sheena Burnell is an anaesthetist currently living in the East. She began collecting Chinese objet d’art and Japanese ukiyoe (wood block prints) in the 1980s. Her shift in focus to Chinese dress accessories dates from her first visits to Hong Kong in the early ‘90s. This led to an expanding interest in women’s and children’s dress accessories in general and more recently kingfisher hair ornaments. Sheena appeared on the Australian ABC program ‘Collectors’ in 2007, with her collection of bound feet shoes and related objects.

Related posts:

1. Collecting Chinese Snuff Containers
2. Chinese Ceramics – ‘Knowledge Comes from Seeing Much’
3. The Mistress and the Consort, Paying the Wages of Beauty

New Style Steel Casements Crosby Street Hotel - photo by Suzanne deChillo

Windows are not something we really think about on a daily basis. They are just there and we take them for granted. They let the light in, reveal the sun shining, reflect relentless rain when it is falling and the ever changing colour of the sky as well as the multitude of events continually happening on the street or the water outside. Evolving from a slit in the wall of a formidable defensive stone Keep to shoot arrows at enemies, ‘wind eyes’ as they were known in ancient times, have evolved through a series of interesting varieties to offering us an eye to the whole world within our vision, and all that lies beyond.

It was with interest that I read an article in the New York Times claiming that casement windows have now become a classic. And, that they are being installed in many new and renovated New York apartments as part of a contemporary architectural revival, which pays tribute to pre-war World War II buildings. NYTimes journalist Jonathan Vatner reported ‘that it was mostly down to one guy, Cary Tamarkin an architect and developer sometimes referred to as “the window guy,” because of use of distinctive casement windows in the apartments he develops’.

Although typically more expensive than conventional windows Tamarkin also said casement windows are ‘rooted in traditions of authenticity.’, which is a most intriguing statement or is it simply spin? It seems most of the window guy’s projects are in neighborhoods filled with warehouse buildings, that he converts into apartments and sells for over two million a pop so that people can “live comfortably amid their settings.” We all have choice and if what he is providing fits your dream and needs then it is certainly about the art of fine living. The fact remains however it happens, or why, the fact that someone is bravely reverting to quality opening windows must surely be good news. And if they are casements, then they are an attractive option.

Typical early English Tudor casement windows - great handmade red brickwork too

Casements are a window that allows the flow of air to be regulated easily and are a very pleasing feature, if well made. Casement windows that opened out were the norm in Europe and England for centuries, that is until the up and down style of sash window was invented around 1670.

They usually contained leaded glass in small panes at first, which became larger as time went on and glass making techniques allowed for larger panes to be produced. They were more usually hinged on the side, and opened inward allowing the occupant an uninterrupted view of the world.  The windows were also covered by functional exterior shutters, which opened outward.

This productive pair was a winning combination for centuries allowing air to circulate easily while keeping the heat of the sun out on a stinking hot day.  Casement windows made a come back in the late 20′s and 30′s in Art Deco pleasure palaces and skyscrapers but then they went out of contention following World War II with the re-emergence of the sash and all new fixed ‘picture’ (plate glass) windows.

Just the fact they are putting windows that open into any new multi storied building structure again anywhere must be a plus. For those living in apartments, or working in buildings where windows are fixed and rely only on air conditioning, it must be a liberating thought. I don’t know personally how they stand it.

French style casements and window boxes in Bleecker Street at New York where they have traditional curved 'stone headers'. Photo by Benjamin Norman

Sleeping or living with fresh air circulating for me is an absolute, but then here in Australia we are blessed with a good quality of air, even in out largest cities, which many other countries of the world don’t enjoy. And, for that we should always give thanks.

If we are to cut down on our use of energy so that it is effectual, in terms of the environment, then surely windows that open, like casement windows, must come back into contention with contemporary developers and fixed windows and air conditioners phased out.

Sara Lopergolo, a partner at Selldorf Architects in New York remarked to Vatner  at the New York Times ‘that the casement window was of interest today because “it breaks down the scale of a window opening. It frames views.” “It has a resonance with people, a character that people retain as something that belongs to an old world,”

Architects need to take responsibility by considering the way a view faces, the trajectory of the sun, winter and summer, as well as study the prevailing winds a little more before they make a decision on what windows to include in any buildings, not just high rise. There are many gurus of design blithely guiding all our futures so we must not be complacent but vigilant and, give them hell if they stuff up.

Stegbar Casement Windows Australia

Part of the reason for the resurgence that has made casements a classic (of acknowledged excellence) is obviously a romantic view, as well as the fact that once again in the last five years especially, window technology has improved yet again and, significantly.

Quality steel casements are now being manufactured with the label ‘energy efficient’, which means they stand up to rigorous tests relating to building codes.

New French style casements, that were historically wooden,  grace a building in Bleecker Street, New York and are made from quality steel. The design origins of the building are based in European classical architecture and so the casement windows suit it well architecturally, with its detailed curved stone headers, deep overhanging classical cornice and, the French essential projecting attic rooms.

But manufactures warn windows are complicated devices, made ever the more complicated by the fact recommended window types vary by climate.

Prior to ordering any sort of window, a classic or otherwise, you need to inform yourself about what kind of window is right for both your climate and your needs. It is no use having a fashionable French number that you cannot open simply because it faces the way gale force winds blow in your part of the world.

Claude Monet's Window at Giverny, courtesy Elizabeth Murray

If they face the more gentle breezes and the ideal north east in the southern hemisphere and south west in the northern, then a casement window, which goes from ceiling to floor, that is hinged on the outside, has no center mullion and when open allows an unobstructed view is certainly a very attractive option. Especially when you can open them up and easily attend to your herbs planted in a window box outside.

Casements + fresh herbs + French cuisine will obviously improve quality of life.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2010 – 2012

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1. Peabody Essex Museum at Salem – Opening Windows on the World
2. CLASSIC: Artists & Artisans – Renaissance to Restoration
3. Classic Architecture, is it more than a Column?

Roman fresco with banquet scene from the Casa dei Casti Amanti (IX 12, 6-8) in Pompeii

In western society we are inheritors of a legacy from Ancient Greece and Rome that despite the passing of over 2500 years is still potent. Through their ideas the desire to capture the essence of fine living was born. Today that art of living has evolved since the development of the domus in European antiquity to a residence in America and Australia, through a diverse and special mix of peoples and their cultures.

Ancient Greek gastronomy developed out of a practice of sacrificing domestic animals to a variety of gods. Afterwards, as one would expect in a democracy, the carcasses were equally proportioned and sold at market. During the fifth century before the Christ event herbs, spices and honey were added to heighten taste.

As documented in the literature of this period, cookery was considered a very important skill, because the Greeks understood it to be one of the basic arts that sustained human life. Romans of the first century embraced Greek ideas and art forms with great passion. Roman orator Cicero [106 BC -43 BC] believed that ‘to style the presence of guests at a dinner table’ lay at the heart of Roman civilised life ‘because it implied a community of enjoyment, a convivium, or ‘living together’.

Reconstruction of the Octagonal Room - Emperor Nero's Domus Aurea

Following the decline of the Republic and ascent of the Empirical system at Rome a shared meal became a vehicle for display, ostentation, rank, hierarchy and for flattering and influencing people, in a setting they could exercise the art of conversation. Roman Emperor Nero (37-68) enjoyed fine living with great gusto. When he entered his just completed residence, the Domus Aurea (or Golden House, built in 64 AD, he is said to have proclaimed, as he gazed upon its many splendours, words to the effect, ‘now at last I can live as a human being’.

Author of a first century best seller Satyricon, Gaius Petronius (27-66 A.D.), was Nero’s advisor in all matters of luxury and extravagance (his unofficial title was arbiter elegantia). He described guests arriving at a banquet as being requested to remove their shoes at the door, have their hands washed in iced water, no mean feat prior to refrigeration, while their toenails were trimmed to the sounds of a chorus singing. Perhaps today we may consider the last just a little excessive.

We do know that Nero’s guests reclined, along with their host, on couches enjoying conversation and cuisine prepared by chefs, who achieved some fame. His vast banqueting hall revolved in harmony with the rhythms of day and night, the ceiling opening to reveal the heavens as perfume and gifts showered onto guests.

The advent of Christianity created a challenge for those at the top because by now there was a well-established tradition of fine living throughout the Roman world.

The Apostle Paul struggled to attend gatherings where rich men and their friends were served different food and drink to those of a ‘lower status’. It was a dilemma he felt he could not resolve so in the end he decided the wealthy had better eat privately.

Paul advised the Corinthians [1 Corinthians 8: 9, 10] when asked should they eat meat sacrificed to idols by suggesting they should be careful about exercising freedom of choice in case it became a ‘stumbling block to the weak’. And, that if what he ate caused his brothers to fall into sin then for his part, he would never eat meat again. Powerful words with a meditative deep inner meaning that reflect Paul’s strength of mind and purpose.

There is a huge gap of reliable documentation from the fall of the Roman Empire in the fourth century, when the demise of eating in a reclining position also came about, until about the fourteenth century in Europe. Communal living by Christian monks and nuns meant communal eating, often to strict rules of silence, with an aim of feeding the soul.

Prolonged periods of peace also meant the aristocracy gentry and merchants could establish great houses in the countryside and along with it invented the concept of ‘eating outdoors’ or, having picnics, which became something new and exciting as described by fourteenth century French nobleman Gaston Phoebus Gaston III of Foix and Gaston X of Béarn (1343-1391).

He summarized his life’s achievements: “I have delighted all my days in three things. The one is arms, the next is love, and the other is hunting.” He added, “There have been far better masters of the two former than I am.” Such humility, is definitely to be applauded.

For Kings and noblemen of the fourteenth century hunting was so much more than just a sport. It was a game of chance in which the thrill of the chase was far more important than the desire to put food on the table.

An artful aristocratic diversion, the hunt ended with man proving he held power and sway over the animal kingdom. A complex event involving strategizing for success with highly valued, well trained dogs and fighting fit falcons hunts were often held on religious days.

They started with a feast for breakfast, as well as an analysis of the droppings of the potential prey to ensure it was both fit and worthy to be hunted at all. Then the hunt was on. The glorious day ended with everyone joining together in a celebratory meal and fittingly Phoebus himself died, as he should, during a bear hunt.

Fifteenth century Florentine author and philosopher Marsilio Ficino 1433 – 1499 revealed his thoughts about a meal that it ‘embraces all the parts of man, for it restores the limbs, renews the humours, revives the mind, refreshes the senses and sustains and sharpens reason’.

Throughout the fifteenth century in Italy dining at table was strongly symbolic of a good society one in which strong social relationships were forged, ideas exchanged and mutual respect established.

In England by the sixteenth century the head of a powerful household sat at the head of his table facing a fanciful portal crowned with trumpeters who heralded the exact moment the food, led by the marshal of the hall carrying a white staff appeared.

At the grandest banquets, a household officer on horseback emerged from underneath a screen that protected guests from draughts from the doorway and rode into the hall to announce that dinner was served. What fun.

At Hatfield House, home of the famous Cecil family, the ornately carved screen was crowned with the Cecil crest and family motto Sero Sed Serio “late, but in earnest’, surely one of the best mottos of all time.

Its painted decoration and a great panoply of decorative devices had been plundered from Turkish rugs and old Medieval manuscripts imposing a visual richness.

If a house during the Tudor period in England, included a Long Gallery hung with portraits of the family, famous patrons or friends it was the mark of a settled and civilized house; an Elizabethan magnate could contemplate their character or otherwise be inspired by their virtues. Owning such a house became important to practicing the art of fine living.

By the beginning of the seventeenth century the French court changed its philosophy from an ideal based on chivalry to one of refined manners.

The most influential teacher of architects in France during this period was Germain Boffrand. He revealed ‘the character of the master of a house…can be judged by the manner in which it is arranged, decorated and furnished’.

By now the art of fine living embraced a well-planned sophisticated garden as well. At Vaux le Vicomte Louis La Vau 1612-70 [architecture] Charles Le Brun 1619-90 [interiors] and Andre Le Notre 1613-1700 [gardens] spent five years building a chateau designed by the three for the glory of one, their patron and illustrious client the Minister for Finances, Nicolas Foucquet. It is at his Chateau, Vaux le Vicomte, that the French classical style was born.

Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Notre created this extraordinary ‘palace of the sun’ as described by the ancient Latin poet, Ovid for his patron, Apollo, The Sun King.

Here at last was the perfect place for a man of substance and his family to dwell; large, imposing, but not huge; with painted wood panelling, colourful carpets, painted illusionary ceilings, carved and gilded furniture, fabulous ceramics, superb textiles all made for the most splendid of man-made environments.  I know that when I visited to view its splendours I could have easily moved straight in. It was not over ambitious, but comfortable, cleverly disposed and in keeping with its times.

At Vaux le Vicomte Foucquet practiced the art of fine living well, eating his meat from a service that included a new fancy fangled invention called the fork, without fearing the accusation of depravity still associated with that practice only a few years earlier.

The publisher Charles de Sercy described Vaux’s gardens in 1652 as the place where ‘Foucquet made art and nature engage in a pleasant contest’. The genius of Le Notre lay not only in his invention of a new style, but in his absolute mastery of a repertoire widely used, at least in its many parts.

It was bringing them together in a controlled harmonious form that was not only pleasing but also a perfect place in which to practice the art of seduction.

Vaux was built for the enjoyment of the countryside while not giving up the pleasures of the city…something England did not emulate at this time as they concentrated on building country houses for sport and display, rather than as a place to practice the art of conversation.

The Baroque style from Vaux le Vicomte became a potent force that influenced the whole of the western world when guided by Louis XIV, he began expanding his father’s hunting lodge nearby the village of Versailles using the combined talents of Le Vau, Le Brun and Le Notre.

The Kings of France lived in the chateau of Versailles, which became a centre for political life from 1682 until 1789. It is today an amazing place to visit with its some 2,300 rooms and over 60 staircases. In its day it cost the equivalent price of what we would pay now for a modern city airport. It was an object of universal admiration in its time, enhancing French prestige on the world stage.

France’s appearance and way of life changed forever during the reign of Louis XIV the Sun King. Many great towns throughout France underwent metamorphosis and the landscape altered forever as Louis XIV devoted himself energetically to all his building projects. Today little remains of his other splendid palaces at Saint-Germain and Marly?

Well cursed as an extravagance when it was under construction, and accused of having ruined the nation at the time of the revolution, the chateau at Versailles stands today as a monument to French achievement and the many milestones reached in its historical and cultural journey.

Over the years since it was finished the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles has reflected many great moments in the history of the world. At the time Colbert, Louis’ 1^st Minister and master of ceremonies used it to launch the Royal Mirror Company. Its success gave considerable momentum to the glazing industry in France and increasingly the public became aware of the decor possibilities of a mirror. They enhanced the art of living well.

Despite all of the work Louis was to complete at Versailles it was always called le Chateau, (which means Gentleman’s seat) never le Palais, remaining the home of a young man, grand without being pompous, full of light, air and cheerfulness just like a large country house.

According to the Oxford Dictionary the term enlightenment means to be free of prejudice, ignorance or superstition. Grand Tourists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe were busy discovering the ruins at Rome and an expansion of knowledge revealed that ancient artists and writers had been accustomed to free expression, with religion and honour paramount to society’s daily existence.

This revelation affected the social and moral values of many European societies who were travelling in ever increasing circles in ‘search of the truth’. They began striving for aesthetic perfection wanting to emulate a new ideal; classical perfection.

As a result small temples in a landscape became focal points for those wanting a place of ease and repose.

By the turn of the nineteenth interiors as described by Jane Austen in her novels, presented an image of a sublime world. China, glassware and silverware displayed the family coat of arms proving to those who sat at table with you that your lineage was not only important, but also could be traced to ancient (the inference was more important) times.

Simple white starched linens with drawn thread work were surmounted by elegant vases made of glass, filled with fresh flowers picked from the garden loosely, but consciously arranged and placed on great tables. These were made from the new rage timber, mahogany with their elegantly fluted legs inspired by the columns from a Greek classical temple.

Women’s dresses emulated Greek statuary although some, endeavouring to appear like the goddesses on Greek temples by wetting their dresses, succumbed to pneumonia… because by now death was preferable to not being seen as part of a fashionable scene involved in the art of fine living.

William Morris (1834-1896) self-professed leader of the modern movement 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’.

Building a house in the country made to appear as old and as venerable as the countryside itself, was what everyone was striving for. If you couldn’t build one you clamoured to be acquainted with those who owned a wonderful old pile. The aim was to affect an invitation to join a country house weekend where the art of pleasure was a very serious business and the art of fine living practiced with confidence and style.

‘Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality’ said English author and art critic John Ruskin 1819 – 1900. He resented social injustice and the squalor that was a direct result of the ‘greed is good’ mentality that accompanied the unbridled capitalism of the Industrial Revolution. His influence on the next generation of artists and craftsmen who led the way toward establishing Le Style Moderne was to be profound.

The agricultural depression of the late nineteenth century removed land as the chief source of wealth in England and by 1901 the money to pay for a country house had to be made in urban centres of trade or, somewhere else in the Empire, like Australia, where the English style and way of life had been transported. World War 1 marked a great divide in the age of the moderns bringing artists face to face with an alternative; either a clean sweep or hope of a reformed society, or alternatively the retention of a privileged art in the service of an elite and moneyed class.

After WWII a focus on art and design coming together again was rejuvenated. At Sydney, the unofficial capital of Australia, a quiet revolution in the art of living well has meant that its interior designers have finally come into their own. Stunning textiles instead of paintings are appearing on the very best walls. Smart eye-catching antique carpets are teaming brilliantly with wide plank nailed timber floors.

Despite the GFC, storm and tempest, floods and fire most owners remain optimistic. Good old Petronius, with his eye for detail and best in life, would have loved the whole concept of a one stop shop and having access to a fabulous design resource like Residence Australia.

During the last decade those who have set the scene for an art of fine living have reinterpreted late nineteenth century European Modernism with great enthusiasm, making it appear all brand new.

Great interiors today are innovative, convenient, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, technology savvy and above all energy efficient. Sustainability, recycling and quiet elegance have become hallmarks of an interior that will both inspire and nurture its occupants, so that they can enjoy an art of living well.

Carolyn McDowall, ©The Culture Concept Circle 2011, 2012

*Quote by Aristotle (384 – 322 BC)

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Gustave Klimt, leading artist of the Vienna Secession - Judith 1901 Oil on Canvas

The industrial revolution of the nineteenth century as it progressed rapidly changed the face of the western world. By the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe, England and America immense wealth generated a youthful society, one who had very different priorities and objectives than their parents or grandparents. They were clamouring for the best that life could offer. Their aspirations and expectations were different, their views less dogmatic, manners much smoother, prose lighter and morals and codes of conduct easier. At the time England was indisputably the greatest and richest nation in the world with no rivals seriously threatening its trade and industry. The upper and middle classes were enjoying supremacy.

Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality author and art critic John Ruskin 1819 – 1900 declared. A moral guide or prophet, if you like during the latter years of the nineteenth century in England Ruskin resented social injustice and the squalor that was a direct result of the ‘greed is good’ mentality that accompanied the unbridled capitalism brought about by the Industrial Revolution. His influence was profound on his both his contemporary colleagues and the next generation of artists and craftsmen. They would lead the way towards establishing Le Style Moderne.

Window from Hill House by Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Vienna’s art world in the latter years of the nineteenth century, finally accepted the leadership role of the United Kingdom. in the world of innovation and design. Arts and Crafts leader William Morris and Scottish creative Charles Rennie Mackintosh fought to combat goods produced by machines by championing hand manufacturing. Charles Rennie Mackintosh cultivated a rigorous formal economy of design, which appealed to members of the newly established Viennese Secession.

They were a group of primarily young artists, painters, sculptors and architects in Vienna who seceded from the prestigious Kunsterhaus (Artists House) to set up a Society of Austrian Artists – the Vienna Secession. in I897. It included painted and illustrator Gustav Klimt. His brilliant individualism would dominate the era and his paintings set a stylistic tone that would resonate in far off places. His paintings lining the grand ascending staircase of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum reveal his movement towardthe hallmarks of a style that would become known as Art Nouveau.

The Secession staged their first exhibition in March 1898. Their aims were purely aesthetic and founded in Coffeehouse culture and the decorative arts magazine The Studio, which was devoured in all the capital’s stylish cafes.

Detail of the Secession building in Vienna, constructed by Joseph Maria Olbrich. It is one of the best known examples of Secessionist style of modern architecture.

Members of the Secession Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffman and Josef Maria Olbrich were so impressed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s austere aesthetic they invited him to come to Vienna and exhibit at the eighth Vienna Secession exhibition, which he did to critical acclaim.  Secession artists by their very nature were all fierce individuals striving to create a new style, one that would inform and help to imagine the future.

Vienna was struggling to leave behind its reputation for conservatism and the impact of the repressive political climate of their immediate past. Its citizens eagerly sought to embrace contemporary ideas and change under the influence and leadership of its artists, intellectuals and scientists.

Josef Hoffman in 1905-11 designed the Palais Stoclet in Brussels for Belgian industrialist Alfred Stoclet. It was a Villa built for a private financier who ‘wanted a large house, he loved the arts and gave us an entirely free hand’ said Hoffman.

It has been described as a universal, complete, flawless masterpiece of a thousand years of architectural history.

Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffman combine to produce the design and style of the Palais Stoclet's Dining Room

Modernism demanded a distinction between interior architecture and decoration and a preference for open planned living.

Modernist interiors were meant to be devoid of applied decoration. They seek to concentrate solely on geometry, uninterrupted lines and form.

At the Villa Stoclet the Dining Room contained murals by Gustav Klimt and furniture by Josef Hoffman. Harmony governed every facet of this total work of art and it became the extreme statement of Viennese avant-garde design.

It was ambitious, an accomplished achievement of the Wiener Werkstatte, (Vienna Workshops) founded by Hoffman in 1903. A strange astonishing edifice it might have come from another planet, it was in fact transposed far from the city of its conception to a setting, which is still alien to it. It exemplified in embryo the major features of the coming Art Deco movement of which it was one of the great founding monuments.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century rivals America, Germany and Japan threatened Britain’s manufacturing power. 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. Emmelline 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.

A most profound influence in the UK and in America would be that of the long established system of French education in design and architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts at Paris. Its style of education was introduced into Britain amid scepticism, resentment and open hostility early in the twentieth century. Rejected previously, the Ecole’s approach to architecture laid heavy emphasis on distinct, formalized planning.

This is a school of design education founded that had no parallel in any other European country. It aimed at being and became a centre for intellectual debate about architecture during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Its teaching program was conceived as a preparation for the design of public buildings.

Tutors taught architects to work up their designs through a series of project stages. They employed the classical orders in the required ‘correct proportions’, but only once the plan was fully developed. The aim of every student was to win the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome established by Napoleon through the Academie des Beaux Arts, so they could spend a year studying in that city.

In England the Ritz Hotel on Picadilly is in the ‘Beaux Arts’ style. In America, the Biltmore Estate (pictured) was designed by the first American educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts at Paris, Richard Morris Hunt. His ‘French Chateau’ style house for George Washington Vanderbilt II, ate up much of the family fortune, installing such new innovations as electricity, which at the time was not even in the area.

The population of Britain in 1800 was 10 million. In 1881 it was 31 million and by 1911 there would be 11 million more to house, and the resultant prosperity was enjoyed most of all by the affluent middle classes. Within the years from 1895 to 1906 more buildings were built than ever before in Britain’s history. Speculative developers, who employed both run of the mill, designed houses, hotels, offices and factories and talented architects in an attempt to invent a new sought after British style. They were the ones who held sway.

Idealists such as William Morris in the latter part of the nineteenth century had championed good design for the poor and had been overwhelmed by the fact it was only those of affluence who could afford to buy what he had to offer. Would that he was in Inala at Brisbane in 2002, to see part of his vision achieved in the revamping of 50′s housing commission bungalows.

The King Edward VII Galleries at the British Museum are the most elegant of all the Beaux Arts influenced Edwardian classical buildings at London. They won a knighthood for their architect Webb J.J. Burnet. While great public buildings were passing through the decade of the High Baroque the Neo Georgian style in architecture was also being revived heavily in the suburbs.

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.

Spanish draughtsman, painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a dominating figure of early twentieth century French art. He, with French painter Georges Braque (1882-1963) founded classical Cubism. Braque working with Picasso from 1908 to 1914 to explore cubism thorough its various phases. When their association ended Picasso designed costume and sets for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. He was above all an innovator.

His portrait of Olga avoided illusionist realism, which he achieved by flattening the figure against its background. Picasso’s first wife Olga Stepanovna Khokhlova was a Ukrainian-Russian dancer.

She is one of the many women who shed their restricting corsets, cut their hair, raised their hemlines and set out to find what feminine freedom and being modern was all about following World War I.

World War One marked the great divide in the age of the moderns. The upheaval of war brought artists face to face with an alternative, either a clean sweep or hope of a reformed society, or alternatively the retention of a privileged art in the service of an elite and moneyed class. The streamlined success of the style Art Deco would be one answer, at least until World War Two, which would change the face of the world forever.

At London in the year of the second Olympic Games held in England the Victoria & Albert Museum, undoubtedly the world’s greatest museum of art and design, is hosting an important exhibition that encompasses the period between the first ‘austerity’ games held in London in 1948 and the games of the all new austerity age in 2012.

Innovation in the Modern Age (31st March – 12th August 2012) will explore British design in the interim and the tension in England between tradition and modernity, conservatism and contemporary design and the economic, political and cultural forces that have shaped its evolution.

Vienna also has many plans for 2012, namely to inspire its guests from all over the world with harmonious diversity.

They have announced 2012 is their Gustav Klimt year and there are two exhibitions of his works opening in February.

Klimt´s key paintings will set the stylistic tone for his world-famous work from about 1900 onwards. They are at the center of a show “Gustav Klimt at the Kunsthistorisches Museum“.

“Klimt: Up Close and Personal. Images, Letters, Insights” at the Leopold Museum will focus on the artist´s numerous travels as well as the the fact that he incorporated his impressions and observations during his travels into his paintings.

The styles that made up the Modern Movement are known as:
Arts and Crafts 1875-1915
Art Nouveau (1880-1910)
Wiener Werkstatte (1903-1933) and Bauhaus (1919-1933)
Art Deco (1920-1940)

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

NB: The dates are but a guide as all styles, as they rise and fall, overlap each other.

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Fete de la Musique Brisbane 2008 - Musical Chairs - courtesy Brisbane City Council - Photograph Antoine Matarasso, Studio Matarasso

Access Arts at Brisbane provide support and encouragement so that people with disabilities can be involved at ever level of both corporate and community life, including providing practical advice to bands and dance teams. The popular TV show GLEE out of America is helping by providing an invaluable role model for the up and coming and contemporary generation for that of ensuring that the arts sector is, and will always remain inclusive.

In 2002, during its annual School Holiday Children’s Program, organizers at St John’s Cathedral at Brisbane provided a Braille Trail for children to learn about and understand how it would feel to be blind. Putting on a blindfold, and following the trail only by touch, was a very humbling experience for all who participated. The volunteer team running the event encouraged mums and dads and grandparents, as well as the volunteer Cathedral guides and staff to take part. The guides, who introduced people to this stunning international tourist attraction until this point had not really come to terms with how to go about delivering a tour inclusive of everyone in the community.  It made them think about how they would deliver a tour in a magnificent stone built Gothic style cathedral filled with awesome architectural features and brilliantly coloured stained glass to someone unable to see. And, they learned a great deal about how to make the stories they were telling come to life through words and touch alone. It was a great challenge for them to understand and know how to be inclusive.

Well known Brisbane based vision impaired performer Peter Vance often sings with Brass Roots live

Access Arts are both professional and experienced, able to help us all understand how to provide practical help and assistance for those suffering from disability or disadvantage without patronizing them or, treating them any differently than anyone else. With over twenty years of experience the social profit organization Access Arts is based in Brisbane. It works in partnership with Queensland arts and cultural organizations to support a high level of accessibility and disability awareness within the arts and cultural sector.

Access Arts encourages equal access to the arts for all people. They offer flexible training programs and consultancy services to both corporate and community groups. They also provide support and encouragement so that people with disabilities can be involved at ever level of both corporate and community life, including providing practical advice to groups like bands and dance teams. Popular TV show GLEE out of America is helping by providing an invaluable role model for the up and coming and contemporary generation for that of ensuring the arts sector is, and will always remain inclusive.

Watch GLEE – Its My Life Confessions Video and Read on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og_8Trt_nTs

Kids drawing to the sound of music in Queen Street Mall, Brisbane 150 Celebrations Big City Draw 2009, courtesy Brisbane City Council - photograph Antoine Matarasso, Studio Matarasso

Who should participate and would benefit the most from a disability training awareness program?

• artists and arts and cultural workers
• educators delivering arts and cultural programs
• customer service staff – in all areas of delivery
• CEOs, producers, managers and administrators working in arts and cultural organizations
• architects and developers and their construction teams

Training is delivered by people with disabilities wherever possible. This is because having lived the experience they can go beyond the theoretical providing practical insights and information so that your organization can ensure you can ensure access to all peoples.

Participant feedback suggests these strategies increase enjoyment and relevance for all.

Benefits include

• increasing the confidence of artists, arts workers and customer service staff
• asking questions of experienced trainers who have a “lived” experience of disability
• receive information on a range of disabilities and practical tips on how best to assist
• an excellent team-building exercise.
• increases your capacity to deliver inclusive arts and cultural projects and events
• ensuring programs are relevant to your individual needs

Drawing to music with Brass Roots Live Queen Street Mall, Brisbane 150 Celebrations Big City Draw 2009, courtesy Brisbane City Council - photograph Antoine Matarasso, Studio Matarasso

Disability awareness programs are delivered quarterly by Access Arts at Brisbane-based venues.

Meetings with corporate clients such as architects and developers can also be customized.

Commission an Audit and be Aware

Access Arts will come into an existing workplace or event venue and provide a comprehensive analysis and audit to ensure that everything is in place for you to help those experiencing disability and disadvantage have a good experience.

Access Arts CEO Emma Bennison, captivating hearts and singing out loud to help those experiencing disadvantage and disability

This unique organization has a compassionate CEO Emma Bennison who has a broad range of experience in managing key arts and cultural projects in partnership with organizations and communities across Queensland, nationally and internationally.

In 2007, Emma established Inclusion Fusion (IF), an A Capella quintet comprising Access Arts staff as a means of enabling her staff to remain connected to their artistic practice whilst promoting the talents of professional artists with disabilities.

Emma,  a professional singer/songwriter has a Bachelor of Music from the University of Queensland. She performs with her husband in a piano/vocal duo and has released a CD containing original compositions and covers. Emma is also a composer, arranger and private vocal teacher and facilitates vocal workshops.

Together with her team of excellent workers and volunteers at Access Arts, Emma is removing barriers to arts and cultural participation for those experiencing disability. They are providing excellent Training Programs for you and your teams to participate in at very reasonable rates. The money expended is tax deductible, but more importantly is an investment in the future of all Australians.

Access Artsis proudly supported by the Queensland Arts Council.

Angela Jaeschke, an angel and General Manager at Access Arts

Queensland Arts Council - creative in communities serving a statewide network of community organizations and providing access to funding, advice and resources

General Manager Angela Jaeschke arrived in Australia in August 2004 as a student placement. Angela was tour manager of the Sound Circles tour to Japan in September 2005, taking 13 people to run Sound Circles workshops over 21 days at the NGO Village of World Expo, Aichi, Japan. With a background in music, Angela plays the double bass in the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra and was a member of the Queensland Youth Orchestra for a number of years. Angela has a degree in Social Science (Human Services) from QUT.

Your Community or Corporate group can benefit by working with Access Arts. Be sure to call today.

Contact CEO Emma Bennison or General Manager Angela Jaeschke
Nationally on : 07 3844 5897
Local on: 1300 663 651

ACCESS ARTS
ABN: 82 066 160 761
Queensland Arts Council Building, 8 Lochaber Street, Dutton Park Q 4102  www.accessarts.org.au

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Interior details in a Workers Cottage- for me an interior should invite you to come in. The huge delft style plate on the wall was very large and very rare

Today there are many publications people can look to if they are planning inspired and original interior decoration. And, with a dash of savoir-faire you can push the boundaries of design and composition in many different ways and employ all types of styles. Fabrics like Toiles de Jouy; French printed cottons are once again coming back into vogue. When they were first the rage in 1770 Jean Francois Bimont wrote that they ‘serve to make furnishings of taste convenient and pleasant to the eye’. Such a lovely phrase.

When I went into business for myself as a practicing interior designer in the 80′s in Australia, it was the culmination of a dream that began as a child. At Authentic Decor what was available to purchase on the Australian market was significant in being able to render interiors that were both comfortable and convenient. The world was expanding, the dollar doing well against other currencies, and Europe and England a mecca for making cost effective purchases.

Long will I remember the time that I was in London and Europe when an Australian dollar = an English pound. It enabled me to purchase, some very special pieces including a lovely small antique Edwardian lounge, to be used to great effect in a bay window of a Paddington terrace I was renovating at the time. Then there was a handsome pair of late Regency early Victorian Chesterfields with a serpentine shaped front. They were found in an old barn at Tring, a small market town in Hertfordshire. The dealer was John Bly, one of the original presenters of the Antiques Roadshow. Covered in a heavy black faille, which is a finely ribbed woven fabric made from cotton and silk or manufactured fibres, they were shipped to Australia for the same price as an equivalent quality modern lounge suite would cost here at the time. Another purchase was a fine antique tea table of satinwood from Martyn Cook Antiques, which was superb in both its colour and patina aa was a superb gilded French clock. All such lovely things.

A great wall of knowledge is always inspiring, especially as here in a renovated worker's cottage interior. The superb woven contemporary textile has a delightful design of musical instruments together with flora.

Attention to detail, quality and imagination are good starting points if you are passionate about where you live and work and want your space to reflect who you are, and what you are on about. My interiors must be design convenient and aesthetically enriching. How to plan a living environment has certainly been integral to my life’s journey. Books are an important aspect of any room that I personally work or live in. Without them my life’s journey would have been very different indeed. There is nothing more inspiring than a great wall of knowledge, especially when it is combined with wonderful textiles chosen for their varying tactile and graphic qualities.

I particularly love unexpected colour combinations and beautifully woven fabrics. Weavers during the Middle Ages, early Renaissance in Italy and seventeenth century France and England imbued their work skilfully with crispness and abundant detail. Tapestries particularly have a wonderful depth of tone, richness of colour and exquisite gradations of tint and as such can add richness to a room whether its architectural style is traditional or contemporary.

Detail of corner of a client's living room

As my mother liked to recollect in later years, re-arranging the Federation flat our family lived in during my childhood was about trying to create more space and give everything and everybody living in it a little boost. This happened often during my teenage years. It was always about the shapes, the atmosphere and how the main living area could be changed dramatically by arranging different layouts with the existing furniture and furnishings. Change for the family was as good as a holiday.

Resources were always limited as there was seven children with twenty years between first and last and all brought up on one salary, at least until I was in my teens. When I commenced working for a building firm during the early sixties at Sydney the architect/estimator became a very special mentor and teacher. The firm sent me to complete a diploma in interior decoration, the only qualification possible at the time because in 1962 university courses were still a way off.

Three  years of on the job practical experience helped me to put my best foot forward, increasing my colour sense and technical knowledge. The firm was renovating a great many turn of the twentieth century grand old houses on the eastern suburbs waterfront at the time and visits to job sites were daily occurrences, a practice I kept up throughout my own working life.

Superb textiles...for a caring client

They were fabulous architectural spaces, which were all receiving a much need face lift and having bathrooms and ‘family rooms’ added, to bring them up to date with overseas trends. At the time my role included typing up the specifications for the fit out and helping with the costings. I was the personal assistant to the architect, who estimated the cost of jobs right down to the nails and battens used in every wall in every room. He took each room apart bit by bit to ensure that he didn’t forget to cost anything.

The firm prided themselves on never charging clients for one extra thing once the job had been quoted. This was invaluable experience for me in later years when renovating houses for my own family, and others. The budget was the budget, accurate and complete. And, we did not start until it was complete. A 15% contingency was always a must, to allow for unforeseen calamities. When the firm could return that to the client unused, well we knew we were doing our job properly.

Gaining a wide-ranging group of experiences by working with, and coordinating many different trades on the job, was of enormous help. Having two brothers-in-law in the industry was also an advantage. One was a plasterer and the other worked for one of the biggest textile distributor firms in Australia. Learning about different types of cement render and how long they needed to cure was valuable information, especially as I was on job sites on a daily basis with the architect/estimator. He also helped to grow my knowledge about how each trade needed to be managed, to save both time and costs.

When I did take on my first professional client, during the initial consultation a huge saving made to the layout was only possible because of the invaluable experience gained by working with the trades for over ten years on many different types of development sites. Once I started taking on projects of my own, working on renovations for an investment consortium meant happy times.

Most of these were period blocks of flats in and around the eastern suburbs beach area where I grew up. We would tidy them up, fix missing architectural details (lost picture rails and the like) and upgrade the facilities (kitchens and bathrooms) then paint and sell them on. In the 70′s it was possible to make good profits doing this, and the results were always pleasing for all involved.

Layering different types of textiles, such as faille and damask worked well in a Paddington terrace at Sydney during the early 90's. The chimney board reflects my love of books and was commissioned from John Quirk, a gifted trompe le'oil artist. The clock is antique French, early nineteenth century purchased through Martyn Cook Antiques, as was the glorious satinwood tea table and neoclassical silver teapot on its original stand. The lounge in the Bay is a restored Edwardian piece and there was a pair of Chesterfields, handsomely buttoned and covered in black faille

Space saving was always high on my agenda, having lived in a flat for my whole life. Creating a lot out of nothing was another skill, developed through years of helping my mother find ways of scrimping and saving to purchase a few yards of material to brighten our flat.

Just love a flat, which is very different to an apartment in that it has a back door, just like a house. So it was easy for my brother and I to fantasize as kids that we lived in one. The back door usually led to a fire escape, or if you were on the ground floor as we were, to a service yard of some description. Today renovated heritage flats are high on many people’s lists because of their high ceilings, architectural detail and those lovely back doors.

Attending a brush up course for old decorators in the late eighties at London’s Inchbald School of Design was illuminating, as so many new technologies were upgrading their standards. Massive changes in types of lighting and allowances for computers in the home were now important. The history of design, which I was teaching at home in Australia was also an invaluable tool to aid designers working on buildings based on heritage styles.

The Inchbald School of Design in the 21st century has become one of the most influential interior design schools in the world. Being taught by, then meeting and dining with legendary designer founding Director Michael Inchbald at his home was a rare treat. He had long been high on one of my most admired designers.

Summer interior with an 'impressionist' style chintz covering a pair of lounges. They had spare covers to add in winter, that provided a richer, warmer look to a room that was well lived in

He had worked on the Houses of Parliament and QEII when she was launched, so was an expert at space saving, which always was, and has remained, a special interest of mine.

At his charming home in London a tiny octagonal library with books to the ceiling had been fashioned from an old laundry, cupboard and toilet being re-located. He used mirrors very cleverly too, with great subtlety and charm. Reflections that went off into infinity. The dinner there with some of the teachers from the Inchbald, and a few of his friends. was one of the special experiences of my life.

It has always been important for me to attain a fine balance between traditional and contemporary design, especially when clients request that service. However many clients insisted on attaching secrecy clauses to the contracts, so showcasing any of those I was working on was often difficult. They did however enjoy the fact that I didn’t sweep in and want to clear everything away and start again.

In the interests of the environment, dispersing quality pieces or objects goes against my grain, especially if they can be recycled to another purpose. When buying furniture and the other necessary accoutrement’s of life, flexibility of use is important.

Having a personal passion for antiques and art led to my gaining further qualifications in the decorative arts and design history, which added another dimension to my interior design and lecturing experiences.

Working within the antiques industry as a dealer added yet another layer of information and expertise.

Detail Chinese lacquer screen

A one year course in the archaeology of ancient Greece and Rome at Sydney University was an indulgence I treasured. This came about because I had always loved the whole idea of going on a dig from extensive reading in childhood. I was also on a committee for years raising funds for the university treasure, The Nicholson Museum. This is where I met a friend who encouraged and supported my later efforts to found an academy teaching, among other things the history of design in architecture, interiors and gardens and how to design and complete interiors.

When we were adding furnishings to any house for a client I used to love hunting about for, and finding old ‘case’ furniture that would serve as a wardrobe in one house, a container for cups and saucers in another, or clothes in yet another. It was a friend who called me a second hand rose, a lovely term of endearment. This was because, apart from towels and fitted bottom sheets for the bed (what a wonderful invention they were) nearly everything else I ever purchased for my home during my adult life was second-hand.

Choosing quality, so it that could be sold if not required any more or when times were tough, was always a goal. That mindset comes from living through and experiencing first hand the rationing to riches phase following World War II. A lovely example is a folding screen.

Now screens are generally not something used by designers or decorators much in Australian interiors. In my lifetime I have owned two, one an early nineteenth century antique Chinese screen beautifully decorated on both sides with quite fine enameled work which is now sold. The other was a dusky old English Victorian model with painted decoration. Interestingly, this was the one other people around me always coveted the most and the one I love and have kept close, despite it weighing a ton. They didn’t skimp on wood in those days.

To my mind its simple really, nothing too flash about it and it didn’t cost more than a hundred dollars at the time. Painted with a black background it has five leaves, hinged to go both ways. It is evident to me however that someone poured their heart and soul into rendering the painted flowers upon it, all of which were popular plants in gardens at the time.

The flowers are beautifully rendered by hand and scattered and strewn delightfully across the top third of its surface. They provide an air of gentleness and relaxed harmony to any room, whether modern or traditional.

In the time I have owned this screen it has been a room divider, disposed in a corner to hide storage boxes, used as a dressing room screen and at present, with two leaves folded back, it has become a delightful bed head. For me it is one of the special ‘things’ I hope that I will enjoy until the end of my days.

Just love the way experienced architects, prior to World War II endeavoured to have main rooms facing north east in Australia, to catch the breezes, to minimize the sun in summer and to maximize it in winter.

The Turret Apartment, St Martin's House Brisbane

When I lived in ‘The Turret’ of St  Martin’s House at Brisbane, nearby St John’s Cathedral, the apartment faced north east and had casement windows. It was a truly delightful place to be, full of light and fresh breezes and in the five and a half years I lived there I never needed to use a heater once in winter. The afternoon sun was just low enough in the sky to penetrate the main living areas and warm up the thick walls so that it was warm all night.

A corner of my office...the framed textile is an antique sleeve from a nineteenth century Chinese robe and the books, well they are the essence of any interior I live or work in, as is that tapestry

Planning living spaces should be about enhancing the joy of life. As it should, the architecture of any space will dictate some of the terms when deciding how to complete your interior. It is always good to remember to be bold and to take risks. Large pieces of furniture can work well in small spaces as do rows of bookcases. Many people would shy away from using a large tapestry in a small space. Not me, I just love covering a whole wall with one, as I have in my current daily working environment.

There are no boundaries and no rules really when it comes to designing interiors, only guidelines that should always remain both flexible and practical. And, if it is for yourself, then its decoration must come from the heart.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle January 2012

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A portrait of Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton (1790-1851) by Sir Henry Raeburn

London during the second half of the eighteenth century was a place where extremes met. It was full of things to do and see, of people, of excitement and, it was at the heart of affairs both great and small. By 1800 the population had passed the million mark, and provincial industrial cities, although growing fast, were all under a 100,000 people. The British Navy controlled the seaways; industry was flourishing; the new manufacturing class was prospering;  In London sensibility was flourishing, politeness was valued and there was a distinct elevation of interior sentiment, feelings of the heart and a value of intimacy. The city’s environment was being reshaped, new streets, new squares with open vistas and clear classical lines that were pleasing to the eye. As well there was a great variety of both public and private gardens.

England, Europe and America in the early years of the nineteenth century was entering a period of extraordinary political change, of reform and revolution, scientific and botanical discovery, dazzling artistry, literary excellence, military milestones and political and social scandal. London was now the largest city in western Europe. Not only more populous, it offered a different quality of life. Nowhere else in Britain was so urban; no other city so exciting or so shocking! This was an era dominated by men and also an age of paradox, one in which serious government reforms were achieved, including the abolition of black slavery with Amazing Grace through the extraordinary efforts of William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833)

A portrait of Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton (1790-1851) by Sir Henry Raeburn was exhibited in a show the Royal Academy at London in 1821. It is full of concentrated energy, its intensity suggesting that while we are in the presence of a quieter hero, he is nevertheless acquainted with the reality of drama as the red lining of his cloak suggests. The subject is a man western history may not have celebrated very much, but one who contributed much to its growth, intellectually, socially and practically.

British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade William Wilberforce, who was convinced of the importance of religion, morality and education

Born in 1790 by the 1820’s, having completed his obligatory grand tour of Italy, Compton was a respected connoisseur of the arts and literature, particularly poetry. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. 1810, and was created Doctor of Law in 1835. The Member of Parliament for Northampton 1812-20 he involved himself in both politics and cultural life. He sat in the House of Commons where he held an ‘honest independence, and was often called impracticable and crotchety’ by his colleagues. He was connected with Sir James Mackintosh a criminal law reformer and also supported his parliamentary colleague William Wilberforce for the abolition of the slave trade. In his lifetime Compton campaigned vigorously for law reform because he believed in liberty and justice for all.

Our understanding of the meaning of both liberty and justice is at the very heart of the establishment of today’s modern western culture. Justice has many guises and in reality its theory is constantly challenged. It constantly changes its shape based on contemporary societies mores and concerns.

At its essence Justice embraces moral righteousness and truth. Its theories were originally based on ideas and values inherent in concepts of ethnicity, nationality and religion. It ardently believes in punishing those who breach the ethics of society.

Liberty, the freedom to think or act without being constrained by necessity or by force is about freedom from captivity or slavery and the political, social and economic rights belonging to citizens of a state. It is one of the most potent of all western democracies ideas.

Both concepts were honed and refined during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially when Spencer Compton was an active advocate for the law in England. This was when society demanded that everyone who had committed crimes against the people and the state be brought to trial and judged for their misdeeds by a jury of their peers.

For centuries Continental monarchs had ruled absolutely, whereas in England for both good, and not so good reasons, the King’s council had always attempted to circumscribe monarchical power by parliamentary institution.

Visiting Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure wrote of his experience at the court of St James’s early in the century where he found the first of the Hanoverian sovereigns, George 1 (1714 – 1727) was only acknowledged at his morning celebration the gentleman’s ‘levée’ by the inclination of the head rather than the sort of grovelling that went on at the French King’s morning rising ceremony.

Artist William Hogarth's London

The London Saussure encountered on his visit was one of great contrasts. With a population bordering on ¾ million he also found that many an English merchant was richer than the sovereign princes of Europe.

…malice, rapine, accident conspire.
And now a rabble rages, now a fire;
Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay,
And here a fell attorney prowls for prey;
Here falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female Atheist talks you dead.

London was at this stage of its cultural development not a place to be ambushed by thugs or diddled by lawyers.

French author Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694 – 1778) after a short spell in the Bastille for daring to challenge a French nobleman, lived in England from 1726 to 1729 where he was totally astonished by its people and their many freedoms. He found it completely amazing Englishmen were able to virtually say and publish what they liked without fear of prison or exile. He was further astounded there was no torture or arbitrary imprisonment and that noblemen and priests were not exempt from certain taxes.

Debate, a formal framework in which people, without violence, can discuss and determine their differences and disputes as part of a democratic system of government

In England he discovered it was the poor who enjoyed exemption from taxation whereas at the same time in France it was the rich.On top of all of that he discovered that different religious sects were allowed to flourish.

In France Louis IV in 1685 had revoked the Edict of Nantes, a document put in place by his predecessor Henry IV The Great (1553-1610) that granted religious toleration to Protestants living in Roman Catholic France.

Meanwhile in England the Toleration Act of 1689 allowed Protestant non-conformists their own places for worship and teachers etc. They were subject to swearing certain oaths and declarations that ensured they would not act against the crown or Parliament. Any further restrictions in place for Roman Catholics were finally removed in England in 1829.

Gaining enlightenment...

The so-called Enlightenment is one of those rare historical movements that managed to name itself. Certain thinkers and writers, primarily in London and Paris, believed they were far more enlightened than their compatriots. So armed with only self-confidence they set out to enlighten everyone else.

They believed that human reason, the power of intelligent and dispassionate thought, or of conduct influenced by such thought, should be used to combat ignorance, superstition, and tyranny in order to build a better world. Debate, to deliberate about differences and consider someone else’s point of view was honed in the parliament.

In the main they were very successful. Their principal targets were religion, embodied in France in the Roman Catholic Church, and the domination of society by a hereditary aristocracy in both Europe and England.

The wider expertise and experience that Voltaire gained while he was in England meant that his works and ideas became the embodiment of European ‘enlightenment’. Although he died some time before it was established, he irrevocably laid the foundations for the French revolution in the minds of his peers.

He wrote in his Travel Notes about England that it was ‘the freest country in the world’. He made no exception and called it free because the sovereign, whose person is controlled and limited was unable to inflict any harm on anyone.

George III was the third of the Hanoverian Kings and the first to speak English. He had a sense of duty to his country, moral family life, was sincere in his Christian faith, held a diverse range on interests, and was about charitable giving. His life was marred by mental illness.

During the reign of George III (1738-1820) in England the reign of the monarch was altered dramatically. In the second half of the seventeenth century the Whig junto, a self-appointed committee with political aims whose members constantly surrounded and supported the King. They had gradually assumed positions of power distributing the resources of the crown in the form of places, pensions and perquisites and further circumscribing the power of the monarch.

Ultimately the monarchy became about being skillful in managing delicate political and social situations, the embodiment of national morality and a role model for the people.

By the second half of the eighteenth century the King at London was being treated as a human being. Once that had happened something quite unique began to take place, high culture, an integral aspect of the court began to move out of its narrow confines to become an attribute of its people.

During the lifetime of Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, 2^nd Marquess of Northampton’s England’s so-called Westminster system of government honed through debate and experience became by the end of the nineteenth century, the envy and admiration of both European and American people, philosophers and thinkers. It was about dispensing justice and preserving liberty under the law.

Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle 2012

* Heraclitus, Greek philosopher (540 BC – 480 BC)

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Amazing Grace was a movie released in Australia in July 2007. For some reason at the time I missed, it although I am not sure how.  Recently I was privileged to watch it and was very moved. It was all about the British idealist, philanthropist, and British politician William Wilberforce (1759-1833), who manouvered his way through Parliament for years endeavouring to end the British transatlantic slave trade. It starred the dashing TV hero Captain Horatio Hornblower himself, Welsh Actor Ioan Gruffudd. Wilberforce’s conversion to Christianity had happened in 1785, and led him to devoting his life to reform. He collaborated with another English abolitionist Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846), played by Rufus Sewell, and the former slave and author Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797), played by Youssou N’Dour, to achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act.  Clarkson was another active key speaker of their time against the trade. As well as the Slave Trade Act of 1807 Wilberforce survived to see the passage of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, a few days before his death.

Wilberforce was best friend to his reforming Prime Minister, William Pitt (The Younger) played in the movie by Benedict Cumberbatch, pre Sherlock fame. He was in private a lonely, isolated figure who was the most prominent British politician of his day. He dominated Parliament for twenty years seeking to reduce the national debt, reform the government of Canada and reorganize the East India Company. He was only 24 when he became Prime Minister, an office he was to hold until 1801 when he resigned in protest after George III blocked his Bill for Catholic emancipation.

When William Wilberforce had been a teenager, slavery was a profitable business that many powerful people became dependent upon. Over 50,000 people a year were shipped across the Atlantic. He observed “So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the trade’s wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition. Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.” In the movie when trying to inspire others to follow him, Wilberforce leaped onto a table and sang the marvelous hymn to freedom, Amazing Grace. It was a power packed moment.

Pitt returned in 1804 to fight the great wars against France and Napoleon. Tragically he died in 1806 aged only 46 after suffering ill health all his life. Pitt’s main preoccupation while he was in office was the long war with France. Britain feared invasion and he organized the coalition with Russia, austraia and Sweden and greatly strengthened the British Navy.

Bills introduced into Parliament by William Wilberforce were defeated in 1791, 1792, 1793, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1804, and 1805 but he did not give up. Vilified, targeted by hypocritical allies he fought on until finally he saw it through.

This  is a very inspiring production, one that makes you pause and think about how events in history have been so much bigger than any one individual, but in the end it is the power of one that prevails. Especially if it is a social justice cause, as here, that is worth fighting for. The Slave Trade period in world history surely must be one of humankind’s most shameful, profiting from the misery of others.

Barbara Spooner, the woman behind the man in this powerful movie is played by British actress Romola Garai, who has recently triumphed in the BBC TV series ‘The Hour’. Her sensitive performance is always moving, and her face illuminating. She is the soulmate who shares his struggle and inspires him to victory.

English poet and clergyman John Newton (1725–1807), played by Albert Finney in the movie, published his memorable hymn Amazing Grace in 1779. It had a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible, regardless of the sins people commit, and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God.

Interestingly Newton had grown up a non believer, but being pressed into the Royal Navy service at the time and actually participating in the slave trade put in motion a chain of events that led him being ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1784.

Il Divo‘s rendition of Amazing Grace, this wonderful hymn to freedom is probably the most beautiful I have heard. They are a multinational operatic pop vocal group I first encountered singing live some moons ago at a fund raising event at Brisbane.  The blending of their ‘divine male performer’s’ voices is particularly poignant in the version of John Newton’s powerful hymn when they sang it in the ancient ruins of the Roman Coliseum at Pula in Croatia in 2008.

Today “Amazing Grace” is one of the most recognizable and most sung hymns in the English-speaking world. You can catch the song and the movie on iTunes.

Watch the Movie Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Cv5P9H9qU

Watch Il Divo Singing Amazing Grace

Video: Il Divo “Amazing Grace” na GenSpot.com

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Knight farewelling his Lady by Edmund Blair Leighton (1852 - 1922)

Dr Nicholas Perkins the exhibition curator said: ‘It’s a great pleasure to open up the Bodleian’s wonderful collections for this exhibition. They are of huge importance in telling the story of romance, and include some of the most spectacular books from medieval Europe. They have also offered inspiration to those captivated by the Middle Ages as a time of romance and wonder… the Library has nourished both scholarly and imaginative engagement with the medieval for centuries.’

Except for ‘rock and roll’ The Middle Ages at least on the surface, seems to have had it all. Art and life in the age of chivalry was all about Knights on Crusade, handsome Knights rescuing fair maidens, Courtly love, merchants at Venice and Padua involved in family feuds and matters of the heart. Then there were merry monks and monarchs, Queens locked up in towers or at court, tons of people dashing about on passionate pursuits, not to mention those languishing about in gardens of love. Then there was straight out uncomplicated sex, chastity and piety, not necessarily in that order.  Seriously, the beginning of democratic freedoms started at this time, as well as technology and developments in printing, engraving, metallurgy and designs for ships of war and firearms.

Highlights of the exhibition include: The Song of Roland – the earliest copy of France’s national epic (mid-12th century), exquisite ivory carvings from France (14th century), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – one of the most precious manuscripts of Middle English poetry. On loan from the British Library (c.1400), The Red Book of Hergest – amongst the most important books written in Welsh, containing The Mabinogion and many other texts, on loan from Jesus College, Oxford (c.1400), William Caxton’s The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye – a copy of the first book ever printed in the English language (1473/4). There is a draft illustrated page from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1946), Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Terry Jones’s own working copy of the screenplay for the film, never shown to the public before (1973).

Manuscripts and early printed books from the ‘Romanz’ period of the Middle Ages, lavishly illustrated volumes about King Arthur or Alexander the Great as well as personal notebooks and fragments saved by chance are also on show. The exhibition examines how stories from this period inspired writers and artists across the centuries, including William Shakespeare, Ludovico Ariosto and Miguel de Cervantes in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Sir Walter Scott, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris in the nineteenth century, as well as JRR Tolkien, Philip Pullman,  the Monty Python team and JK Rowling during the twentieth century.

Medieval Christianity embraced every aspect of life during the Middle Ages.  “The House of God’ was like the trinity, divided into three. It was a frontier society, fragmented, fearful and fortified against itself. Feudalism rested equally on lord and castle, peasant and hut, the monk and his church – those who prayed, those who went to war and those who worked the fields.

Europe’s social equilibrium depended on these three groups happily co-existing. Taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience helped determine a pattern for medieval living. During this period towns, in the true sense of the word ceased to exist with fortified castles and the protection of a lord under a feudal system, the only security for everyone.

During the eleventh century books about the practice of medicine by important Muslim physicians like Ibn Sina (980-1037 CE) and al-Razi (864-930 CE) were translated into Latin and brought into European universities, which had been established by the Christian church. They were used for centuries. They included an understanding of hygiene and the importance of cleanliness, which meant separate wards for different diseases. An established system of medical care was open to all. Hospitals set up in Spain by Andalusian physicians included great gardens with running water as part of their natural therapies. Doctors had a concern and care for their patients, treating them with great kindness and dignity.

Out of the carnage and chaos of the Crusades to the Holy Land all was not loss and destruction. Crusaders brought back to Europe and England positive influences such as enlightened thought in theology and spirituality; a great deal of plant material and methods of horticulture that enlivened and enlarged that known in Europe until that point in time.

There was a great deal of influence also on architecture, including the introduction of the brick and decorative brickwork into England via France, as well as into the design of churches and castles. Illumination of manuscripts was another direct result, a graphic expression of the priceless jewel contained in the Scripture of God’s revelation to man. It became considered highly appropriate to embellish books that contained his words. This also allowed for an additional, worthy thought, that of aesthetic pleasure and monks in monastic libraries kept alive the light of learning and enlightenment with their creativity.

During the twelfth century advances in philosophy and science imposed themselves and the nature of the individual was held up to scrutiny. This “Twelfth Century Awakening” refers to an outpouring of extraordinary intellectual inquiry and discovery that took place just as Cathedral schools and universities being established in England and Europe through the influence of the powerful Islamic influence on thought.

The Knight in medieval times was an absolute master of his castle, and his wife. A contemporary description gives us a glimpse of Norman knights ‘riding ‘through the meadows and gardens – happy and joyful on their horses, cavorting hither and thither. Expressing personal feelings in relation to the beauty and bountiful joys of women was the province of troubadours, who were both composers and performers of lyrical poetry. They roved about visiting castles and their communities to deliver the latest ditties in song. The themes favoured were chivalry and courtly love.

Courtly love was a cult that refined the manners of many a knight, while it encouraged marital indiscretion. It glorified the relationship of a knight to his chosen lady, which meant any lady but his wife. In the Garden of Love, knights and ladies exchanged amorous banter to the songs of a troubadour. ‘Lady take me body and heart, and keep me for your love’.

The most famous literary celebration of gardens from the Middle Ages was the Romaunt de la Rose printed in 1277. In it the lover, possibly a knight, goes in search of the desirable symbolic rose. The lover wanders into an outer garden where he is confronted by a high wall with a door in it. He cannot enter until the door is opened by Lady idleness; he enters the inner garden where the trees are set at exactly equal distances and have their tops so inter-woven that the sun’s rays cannot penetrate. He finds himself in a place belonging to the spirit to make him happy and full of joy’. In this representation Adamant the lover is being led into the garden by idleness, and narcissus is studying his reflection in the well.

The origins of courtly love can be traced to the court of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine one of the first troubadour poets as well as leaders of the first crusade in 1101. Born on the wrong side of the blanket, William was the son of his father’s third wife whom the Roman church did not recognise.  An anonymous biography written in the 13th century said of him…

‘The Count of Poitiers was one of the most courtly men in the world and one of the greatest deceivers of women. He was a fine knight at arms, liberal in his womanizing, and a fine composer and singer of songs. He travelled much through the world, seducing women’.

He was the earliest troubadour some of whose work still survives as a testimony to his romantic adventures. He loved scandal and shocking everyone but was known for being kind and generous. We could be generous too and say that he genuinely shared the love around….

This is a time when the classical revival and the new and exciting literature for leisure appeared. It was defined by the use of the Latin word Romanz, as distinct from what was known as ‘real’ literature, which was ironically written in Latin. With its captivating themes of love, ladies and passion in the courts of Europe it was not long before it became known as Romantic literature.

The exhibition at Oxford also highlights works by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400), who is known today as the Father of English Literature and widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages.

In graphic art singers from the Middle Ages are shown often with strained expressions, their furrowed brows and exaggerated mouth positions suggest perhaps Chaucer was right when, in his fourteenth century Canterbury Tales when he described singing as being ‘intoned through the nose’.

The Book of Hours, contained ‘painted prayers’, that were appointed for various hours of the day, based on monastic practice.

For over 300 years they were best sellers, one of the most famous belonging to the Duc du Berry, a French nobleman. They are today a wonderful source for illustrative representations of gardens as well as important cultural artifacts from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries.

Sir Walter Scott’s stories of the knights of the crusades such as Ivanhoe helped to fuel the Gothic Medieval Revival in England during the nineteenth century. They were romantic, gallant and inspiring, influencing all aspects of design and the decorative arts. Sir Walter Scott as well as being an author had a great passion for reading at a time when libraries became an integral part of every educated person’s way of life. They offered a peaceful place for study and hours of quiet contemplation.

The Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford form the largest university library system in the United Kingdom. They include the principal University library—the Bodleian Library—which has been a library of legal deposit for 400 years; major research libraries; and libraries attached to faculties, departments and other institutions of the University. The combined library collections number more than 11 million printed items, in addition to 30,000 e-journals and vast quantities of materials in other formats.

The Romance of the Middle Ages @the Bodleian Library
Opens 28th January – Runs until 13th May, 2012
Exhibition Room, Bodleian Library, Old Schools Quad, Catte Street, Oxford
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday 9.00 – 17.00
Saturday 9.00 – 16.30
Sunday 11.00 – 17.00

Free Lectures – Time: 13.00 – 13.30
Convocation House, Old Bodleian Library (Entrance Old Schools Quad)
1st February : Before Tolkien: Manuscripts, Audiences and Readers of Middle English Romance – Dr Alison Wiggins (Senior Lecturer in English Language, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow)
15th February: The Birth of Romance in England – Dr Laura Ashe (University Lecturer and Tutor in English Literature, Worcester College, Oxford) Wednesday, 15 February
7th March: Medieval Romance and the Gift of Storytelling – Dr Nicholas Perkins (University Lecturer and Tutor in English, St Hugh’s College, Oxford; Curator of Exhibition)
23rd March: Shakespeare and Medieval Romance – Professor Helen Cooper (Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature, Magdalene College, Cambridge)

Exhibition website: http://medievalromance.bodleian.ox.ac.uk

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