Gifts of Grandeur: Painted Silk Velvet Panels from a Reticule, 1820-1830

Silk Velvet Panel
England, 1820-1830
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Painted between 1820 and 1830, these silk velvet panels were intended to be used in the construction of a reticule (also known as “indispensibles”). Ostensibly purses, reticules were used in the early Nineteenth Century by women to carry necessities such as smelling salts and a handkerchief. A lady might often make and decorate her own reticule at home using a store-bought lightweight frame of silver or steal with chain handles.

Amateur artists often painted onto silk velvet pieces which could be incorporated into a variety of projects. The painted velvet, owing to the pile of the fabric, afforded an appealing sense of depth and richness. It was also an interesting visual counterpoint to the preferred method of the Eighteenth Century—painting on silk taffeta.

These panels were surely painted at home by a now unknown lady. Both show a lively scene of flowers and butterflies against a ground of gold silk velvet. The shape suggests that they were meant to be sewn onto a reticule frame, but, it somehow never made it. Perhaps they are preserved because of it.

History's Runway: An Ivory Button Painted with a Butterfly, 1880

Painted Ivory Button
India, 1880
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here we see the first of a set of twenty-six buttons which were painted with an image of a butterfly. Made in India about 1880, for an ivory button like this to be painted with a naturalistic subject is quite unusual for the time. Most often, Delhi miniatures like this were painted with scenes of Indian monuments and portraits of Mughal emperors.

The painting is preserved under a glass disk which would have prevented wear to the image as the button was used.

History's Runway: An Ivory Button Painted with a Butterfly, 1880

Painted Ivory Button
India, 1880
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here we see the first of a set of twenty-six buttons which were painted with an image of a butterfly.  Made in India about 1880, for an ivory button like this to be painted with a naturalistic subject is quite unusual for the time.  Most often, Delhi miniatures like this were painted with scenes of Indian monuments and portraits of Mughal emperors.

The painting is preserved under a glass disk which would have prevented wear to the image as the button was used.

Unfolding Pictures: The Jacobite Fan, c. 1715

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Click image to enlarge.

Folding fans with paper or fabric leaves originated in Japan and weren’t introduced to Europe until the second half of the Sixteenth Century as European makers adopted the technique of the Japanese while introducing their own style of adornment.

This simple folding fan dates beween 1715 and 17230 and was made in England with plain, un-carved ivory sticks, and a paper leaf painted with gouache (opaque watercolor), with accents of gold paint.

The painted leaf symbolizes Jacobite support for the Stuart Royal Family after George I, Elector of Hanover, succeeded to the British throne in 1714. Depicted on the left is Charles II who is shown hiding in a tree after his defeat by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

He is joined by Queen Anne who is depicted as ascending to heaven after her death in 1714, while beside her a lady mourns the loss of the crown. On the right of the leaf, we see the Stuart arms, with a white rose and two rosebuds below. The rose, a symbol of the House of Stuart, is notable in that it represents the son of James II, James Francis Edward ('James III' or the 'Old Pretender'). The two buds are his sons, Charles Edward and Henry Benedict.

The leaf, overall, is painted in a dark-toned gouache, with a brown and green ground, and is edged with a formal, gilt, scalloped border filled with floral decoration. The reverse of the fan is adorned with a stiffly naturalistic floral spray on a silver ground. The initials “L” and “I” are written in ink on the top left border.

To Serve and Project: An Oak Coffret, 1300-1400

Coffret
England, 1300-1400
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This coffret, or casket was made to hold valuables and jewels. As such, it was as elegantly appointed as the objects it was meant to protect. During the medieval period, when many traveled for pilgrimages of various types such a casket was quite important as a means of containing what amounted to the lion’s share of a person’s important possessions. While at home, a coffret such as this one would have been proudly displayed, not only as a symbol of the household’s wealth, but also because it was attractive in its own right.


Such caskets would have been considered a suitable gift for a future bride or a couple about to be wed, and also would have been given as a gift of courtship between future bride and from. Often, the coffret was inscribed with a message of love or adorned with a scene of courtship.

For example, this coffret must have been given as a token as affection. The leather veneer is worked with a courting scene and emblazoned with love inscriptions. A lady and gentleman are depicted amongst flowers and a border of ribbons and branches. On the lid, we see a scene of knights mounted on griffins with two nudes who are holding clubs and shields. Typically such a combination of images implied that the giver of the casket meant to fight his primal desires to pursue a chaste and honorable courtship. 

The leather over the rounded oak carcase has been colored and gilt. The legend reads, “du bon du,” “mo naves,” “du bon du Coeur,” and “mon couer vous avez.” In short, that the knight meant—“with good willing”--to deliver the lady from being captured by savages and that she had his heart.

At some point, likely the 1960s, the thing was coated with shellac, which did it no favors. Still, we can imagine how brilliant it must have been when made in the 1300s. 

Gifts of Grandeur: The Harrods Shoe Snuffbox, c. 1870

Snuffbox, 1870-1880
The Talbot Collection at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Nineteenth Century, boots and shoes were symbols of good luck. So, it was only natural that trinkets and personal objects should take the form of footwear. This snuffbox, dating between 1870 and 1880, is an excellent example of that phenomenon. The box is made in the shape of a fashionable Victorian lady’s button-boot of the 1860s. It is even adorned with metal studs just like the real thing would have been. The top of the boot forms the container for the snuff.

It’s a sure thing that this box was made in England, but other similar examples were imported from France at the time. The lid of the box is missing, but it’s still quite attractive. While most collectible snuffboxes were made of golf, hardstone or precious metals, some—like these novelty boxes—were made of wood. The mahogany box has been carefully hand painted, partly ebonized, and adorned with brass stringing, brass nails in the sole and heel, and brass and mother-of-pearl buttons.

Now part of the V&A’s Talbot Hughes Collection, the box was originally donated to the V&A by Messrs. Harrods of London in 1913. 

Sculpture of the Day: The Dacre Ram, 1507-1525

Click Image to Enlarge

The Dacre Beasties
1507-1525
England
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Dacre Beasts are a group of figures which were made as heraldic ornaments to represent one of the most powerful families of Sixteenth Century Northern England. The group consists of a griffin, a bull, a dolphin (which looks rather like an angry trout) and a ram.

The wealth and power of the Dacre family (of Naworth Castle, Brampton, Cumbria) was expanded in 1317 when a member of the influential and land-rich de Multon family married a Dacre family. The marriage resulted in a union of two enormous plots of land and strengthened the Dacre’s hold on Northern England. The figure of the ram, seen holding a banner, represents the de Multon family ( originally spelled 'Mouton,' the name is French for “sheep,” and, hence the ram). The banner is emblazoned with the family coat of arms.

The Dacre Beasts, commissioned by Lord Thomas Dacre (1467-1525) were crafted by unnamed local craftsmen from, as the story goes, a single, large oak grown on the family estate. The figures were painted and gilded and adorned with mounts of tinned copper. The group was restored in 1844 after being rescued from a major fire at Naworth Castle. Testing of the pigment shows that they’ve been repainted several times over the centuries. It’s likely that these are the only recorded surviving original heraldic beasts of an English Renaissance noble family. 

Unfolding Pictures: An Italian Piqué Fan, 18th C.

Italian Hand Fan
Naples, 18th C.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Folding fans, like the one pictured above, were highly costly luxury items which became popular throughout Europe in the mid-18th-century. In Paris at the time, there were almost two hundred master fan makers working at any given moment. However, equally impressive examples were created in Italy and Britain during the Eighteenth Century. Let’s take a look at this one which heralds from Naples, Italy.


The leaf of this example is supported by tortoiseshell sticks which are inlaid with tiny gold pins and strips (an artistic technique which is called piqué). Piqué was originally a specialty of Italian workshops who produced such stunning examples for export throughout Europe.One side of this fan’s lead is painted with a fishing woman adorned in elaborate Rococo dress. The reverse depicts the goddess Diana who is accompanied by three maidens.

Unfolding Pictures: Queen Victoria's Pastoral Fan, c. 1850

Hand Fan
Presented to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert, circa 1850

Queen Victoria once favored this painted paper fan with carved and gilded mother-of-pearl sticks and guards.

The fan was a gift to the Queen from Prince Albert circa 1850. The obverse boasts a central cartouche which has been hand-painted with a lush scene of a lady with a sewing box. Flanking this are two pastoral scenes and symmetrical ovoid-roundels painted with floral scenes.

The verso is painted with an elegant and delicate depiction of flowers and a butterfly with Rococo tendencies.

The guards terminate in a metal pin set with a diamond paste.

Unfolding Pictures: The Georges Barbier Fan, 1912

Hand Fan
Georges Barbier and Madame Paquin
French, 1911
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Georges Barbier (1882-1932), a celebrated Parisian fashion illustrator of the early Twentieth Century, collaborated with the most avant-garde fashion designers in France at the time. Barbier worked with such famous names as Paul Poiret and Madame Paquin (1869-1936) whose elaborate oriental costumes for the Ballets Russes tremendously influenced fashion in the 1910s.

Madame Paquin and Barbier worked together to design a series of fans on that Eastern theme. This decorated fan of printed and hand-colored paper and hand-painted silk is an example of the collaboration. Looking ahead to the designs which would dominate the Art Deco ideals of the 1920s, the fan features sticks and guards of bone which have been adorned with painted grapes and butterflies. Tassels of mulit-colored silks hanf from the gold rivet. A woman is also depicted. She wears a headdress which is identical to one which was designed by Madame Paquin. When folded, this fan, made in 1911, displays a zig-zag pattern between the guards.  

The Home Beautiful: The Monnoyer Painted Mirror, 1710-20

Painted Mirror
Antoine Monnoyer, 1710-20
The Victoria & Albert Museum

For a painted mirror such as this to survive for centuries is nothing short of miraculous.   The mirror glass is fragile and the surface paint easily chipped or stripped away during cleaning.   Furthermore,  such mirrors were often built into an interior and many examples were destroyed when the room was altered or redecorated.

This mirror is the work of the French artist Antoine Monnoyer who was born in 1672--the son of the artist Jean Baptiste Monnoyer, who worked for Louis XIV.  Coming to England in 1683, the Monnoyers, both father and son, painted flowers from all seasons of the year, achieving a decorative effect that would have been impossible with fresh-cut flowers. According to the V&A, “Jean Baptiste did a mirror closet at Kensington Palace for Mary II. Apparently she was so fascinated by his skill that she watched him while he worked.”

This mirror was painted in England and includes the coat of arms of the Duncombe Family, thought it is speculated that this was probably added later. This example may have been an overmantel in a room which was thickly hung with tapestries.

Queen Mary, consort of King George V, was a fan of this style of mirror and, as such, hoped to restore the similarly-painted mirror closets at Kensington Palace.  She ordered such fashionable painted glass to be installed, but it does not survive.

The Home Beautiful: The Tristan and Isolde Casket, 1350-1370

Click images to enlarge.
Jewel Casket
1350-1370
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in the Fourteenth Century, the carved figures on the lid of this jewel casket depict a scene from the fabled medieval romance of Tristan and Isolde. In the story, the adulterous lovers arrange a clandestine rendezvous at a fountain where they are spied upon by Isolde's husband, King Marke, and a dwarf who are hiding in a tree—as one does.

The sides of the casket are adorned with hunting scenes as well as depictions of a lady and a “wild man,” and a couple playing chess.

When this casket was purchased by the Museum in 1855, it had been over-painted in a dark color which obscured the original bright colors with which the figures were painted. It took twenty years to strip away the layers of dark paint to reveal the original polychrome color scheme which was, remarkably, well-preserved beneath.

Such a jewel casket, in the Fourteenth Century, would have been presented to a bride as a wedding gift. They often were emblazoned with scenes of courting and affection. This one, with its cautionary tale of adultery, is quite unusual.

The Home Beautiful: A Seddon & Sons Chair, 1790

Chair
Seddon & Sons of London, 1790
Seen here without its cushion.
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Once part of a large set of drawing room furniture, this delicate satinwood chair with its hand-painted polychrome flowers and feathers must now represent its lost brethren. Made in 1790 by the English firm of Seddon & Sons, the chair was owned by the wealthy Tupper Family of Hauteville House in Guernsey, England, who had furnished their opulent drawing room in the light, painted and marquetried style which was popular at the time.

Seddon & Sons was, at the end of the Eighteenth Century, undoubtedly the largest furniture concern in London. The shield-shape of the chair’s back was, likely, inspired by the designs of George Hepplewhite which had been published in his book The Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Guide of 1788.

The original bill of sale accompanies the chair and notes that it was one of eighteen which had been ordered by Daniel Tupper for Hauteville House. Three of the set were armchairs.

The bill reads:
George Seddon & Sons,
J. Shackleton

18 Satinwood Elbow Chairs round fronts and hollow can'd seats neatly Japanned - ornamented with roses in back and peacock feather border @ 73/6 ea. £66.3.0.

The Art of Play: German Toy Birds, 1850-1910

German Toy Birds
1850-1910
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Germany, this pair of toy birds could date anywhere between 1850 and 1910. This is one of a group of German traditional toys which is housed in the V&A’s Museum of Childhood. Some of the group were made in the mid Nineteenth Century while others were made in the 1900s based on earlier designs.

At each end of the crosspiece, a hummingbird figure is mounted with a leather bellows. When the upright piece is moved from side to side, the bellows are engaged and produce a whistling sound.

History's Runway: A Pair of Painted Spanish Gloves, 1800-1820

Gloves
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This pair of women's gloves of cream kid leather is printed with a neo-classical design printed in black outline which was then and hand-painted. The gloves come from Spain and date to between 1800 and 1820. Probably made for export to the U.K., the gloves epitomize the trend of the era for neoclassical iconography.


Furthermore, gloves of this style were very fashionable in England at the early part of the Nineteenth Century. Many such gloves originated in Spain. The origins of this pair are clear by the caption beneath the image which reads, “'Venus y las tres Gracias.”

As the name would suggest, the image depicts Venus and the three Graces (Thalia, Aglaia and Euphrosine) together with Cupid and reminds the wearer of the idea that beauty and love will disarm and triumph over force.

Gloves were a customary gift and one of the few tokens that etiquette decreed a gentleman could, with propriety, present to a lady who was not his wife.

Gifts of Grandeur: Painted Silk Velvet Panels from a Reticule, 1820-1830

Silk Velvet Panel
England, 1820-1830
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Painted between 1820 and 1830, these silk velvet panels were intended to be used in the construction of a reticule (also known as “indispensibles”). Ostensibly purses, reticules were used in the early Nineteenth Century by women to carry necessities such as smelling salts and a handkerchief. A lady might often make and decorate her own reticule at home using a store-bought lightweight frame of silver or steal with chain handles.

Amateur artists often painted onto silk velvet pieces which could be incorporated into a variety of projects. The painted velvet, owing to the pile of the fabric, afforded an appealing sense of depth and richness. It was also an interesting visual counterpoint to the preferred method of the Eighteenth Century—painting on silk taffeta.

These panels were surely painted at home by a now unknown lady. Both show a lively scene of flowers and butterflies against a ground of gold silk velvet. The shape suggests that they were meant to be sewn onto a reticule frame, but, it somehow never made it. Perhaps they are preserved because of it.

The Home Beautiful: The Henry Holiday 'Aspasia in the Pnyx' Window, 1886-1890

Aspasia In Pynx
Henry Holiday, 1886-1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Henry Holiday (1839-1927) was a renowned designer of stained glass, and painter, who, between 1863 and 1891, worked as a freelance designer for the glass makers Powells at Whitefriars in London. In 1891. Holiday set up his own stained glass studio through which he took on some of his most impressive commissions.

This piece was one of the last Holiday created for Powells. It was completed between 1886 and 1890. The image on this panel was probably taken from the painting “Aspasia in the Pnyx,” which Holiday painted between 1886-8. Aspasia was the mistress of Pericles, the great and controversial Athenian leader of Greek antiquity. “The Pnyx” refers to an area of land where the Greek popular assembly met.

The original painting was included in Holiday’s book “Reminiscences of My Life” which was published about 1914. Miss Kathleen Douglas-Pennant (later Lady Falmouth), daughter of Lord Penrhyn, was employed as the model for Aspasia.

Here, Holiday has incorporated his painting into a quatrefoil panel of clear and colored glass, which has been painted and stained.

The Home Beautiful: The Tristan and Isolde Casket, 1350-1370

Click images to enlarge.
Jewel Casket
1350-1370
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in the Fourteenth Century, the carved figures on the lid of this jewel casket depict a scene from the fabled medieval romance of Tristan and Isolde. In the story, the adulterous lovers arrange a clandestine rendezvous at a fountain where they are spied upon by Isolde's husband, King Marke, and a dwarf who are hiding in a tree—as one does.

The sides of the casket are adorned with hunting scenes as well as depictions of a lady and a “wild man,” and a couple playing chess.

When this casket was purchased by the Museum in 1855, it had been over-painted in a dark color which obscured the original bright colors with which the figures were painted. It took twenty years to strip away the layers of dark paint to reveal the original polychrome color scheme which was, remarkably, well-preserved beneath.

Such a jewel casket, in the Fourteenth Century, would have been presented to a bride as a wedding gift. They often were emblazoned with scenes of courting and affection. This one, with its cautionary tale of adultery, is quite unusual.