Print of the Day: The Sailor's Uniform, pre-1886

Print
Illustrated by Alfred Concanen
pre-1886
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Illustrated by Alfred Concanen (1825-1886) and published by G. Heybourn, this color portrait depicts a man in a sailor’s uniform. This is what would be called a “proof between letters” wherein the image is examined and corrected (if need be) before the layer of type is added.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Captain Newman-Newman Ring, 1811

Mourning Ring
Made in Honor of Captain Newman-Newman
Britain, 1811
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This handsome piece of jewelry commemorates a tragic naval event.  In 1811, as senior captain in the Baltic fleet, Captain Newman-Newman was ordered to escort home the ships: The St George , The Defence, and The Cressy. In a gale off Jutland, Newman’s ship, The Hero, went aground and was lost with Newman-Newman and all but 12 of her ship's crew.  A similar fate befell the “St George” and the “Cressy.”

This tragedy was the greatest shipwreck disaster ever known on the west-coast of Jutland and was a serious loss for Royal Navy which is remembered to this day. A century and a quarter  years after the event, the Danish press took the initiative to raise a memorial stone to commemorate the disaster.  The stone was unveiled at a ceremony in 1937 and still stands on the Thorsminde Tongue facing the position where the “St George” was lost.

This gold ring is actually a piece of mourning jewelry in honor of the disaster. The ring is enameled in black, white, red and blue with an oval bezel with the Union jack surrounded by a serpent. The piece, made in England in 1811—just after the tragedy--is inscribed on the reverse:

 Captn. James Newman Newman lost off the Haak in the Hero 74. Dec. 24, 1811, aged 46.

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Mastery of Design: The Sailor's Hat Brooch, 1900

Reverse Crystal Intaglio Brooch
England, 1900
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A reverse crystal intaglio of a sailor's hat with the ribbon inscribed: HMS MINOTAUR is the central jewel of this brooch. The intaglio is set on a gold bar brooch. The piece was made in England in 1900. 

Not much is known about the piece. Most likely, it was made to commemorate the naval service of a loved one for whom the brooch was made. 

Mastery of Design: The Sailor's Hat Brooch, 1900

Reverse Crystal Intaglio Brooch
England, 1900
The Victoria & Albert Museum

A reverse crystal intaglio of a sailor's hat with the ribbon inscribed: HMS MINOTAUR is the central jewel of this brooch. The intaglio is set on a gold bar brooch. The piece was made in England in 1900. 


Not much is known about the piece. Most likely, it was made to commemorate the naval service of a loved one for whom the brooch was made. 

Print of the Day: The Sailor's Uniform, pre-1886

Print
Illustrated by Alfred Concanen
pre-1886
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Illustrated by Alfred Concanen (1825-1886) and published by G. Heybourn, this color portrait depicts a man in a sailor’s uniform. This is what would be called a “proof between letters” wherein the image is examined and corrected (if need be) before the layer of type is added.

Mastery of Design: The Phoebe Traquair Necklace, 1905

Necklace
Phoebe Traquair
1905
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Scottish artist Phoebe Traquair was known in the early Twentieth Century for her embroidery, murals and illuminated manuscripts as well as her masterfully painted enamels.

Traquair distinguished her own work between what she called “epic” (large-scale) work such as tapestries and wall painting, and “lyric” (small-scale) work. In 1901, she began her apprenticeship in enameling to Lady Gibson Carmichael at Castlecraig and she discovered that enameling would quickly surpass book illustration as her favorite small-scale medium.

She created vivid foiled enamel scenes--typically of mythical or spiritual subjects—which were strongly influenced by medieval and Renaissance examples which had then recently been discovered. Traquair’s jewelry, triptychs, caskets and mounted cups and covers were all based on historical pieces and artifacts.

Here, with this necklace from 1905, she has set enameled plaques in gold.  They are connected by gold chains.  The plaques depict a mermaid and ships. The central plaque is signed, and dated 1905 on the reverse.  It was made in Edinburgh.

The Art of Play: Voyage of Discovery, 1836

(A) Voyage of Discovery/The Five Navigators
Lefevre & Kohler, 1836
The Victoria & Albert Museum

“Voyage of Discovery” was considered a “race game” wherein five players followed different tracks that had dangers and advantages incidental to sailors. Each track is marked as a different color and the players/”sailors” must stay on the path of their own designated color.

Instructions are printed in circles along the tracks. Islands, seas and ships form the background to the game board.

This was made in 1836 in London by William Spooner (1795-?) for Lefevre & Kohler.  The board is hand-colored linen mounted on board.  The game is also known as "The Five Navigators."

Gifts of Grandeur: The Captain Newman-Newman Ring, 1811

Mourning Ring
Made in Honor of Captain Newman-Newman
Britain, 1811
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This handsome piece of jewelry commemorates a tragic naval event.  In 1811, as senior captain in the Baltic fleet, Captain Newman-Newman was ordered to escort home the ships: The St George , The Defence, and The Cressy.  In a gale off Jutland, Newman’s ship, The Hero, went aground and was lost with Newman-Newman and all but 12 of her ship's crew.  A similar fate befell the “St George” and the “Cressy.”

This tragedy was the greatest shipwreck disaster ever known on the west-coast of Jutland and was a serious loss for Royal Navy which is remembered to this day. A century and a quarter  years after the event, the Danish press took the initiative to raise a memorial stone to commemorate the disaster.  The stone was unveiled at a ceremony in 1937 and still stands on the Thorsminde Tongue facing the position where the “St George” was lost.

This gold ring is actually a piece of mourning jewelry in honor of the disaster.  The ring is enameled in black, white, red and blue with an oval bezel with the Union jack surrounded by a serpent. The piece, made in England in 1811—just after the tragedy--is inscribed on the reverse:

 Captn. James Newman Newman lost off the Haak in the Hero 74. Dec. 24, 1811, aged 46.

`

Sculpture of the Day: A Bust of King George V in Naval Uniform, 1914

Bust of King George V
in Naval Uniform
James Stevenson, 1914
The Royal Collection

This bust from 1914 is the work of the celebrated sculptor James Stevenson and depicts King George V looking quite sturdy in his Naval uniform as Britain was gripped by the chaos and tragedy of the Great War.

James Stevenson, who was known for his portrait busts, was trained in sculpture at the Royal College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. This particular bust of the King was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1915. Stevenson often signed his works in a peculiar way. This is evidenced on this bust which shows the sculptor’s usual signature MYRANDER. The word is a conflation of his wife’s Christian name and his own second Christian name.