Painting of the Day: The Misers, 1548-1551

The Misers
A Follower of Marinus can Reymerswaele
c. 1550
Acquired by Queen Anne
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Historians believe that Queen Anne (the second daughter of King James II) added this handsome and strange painting to the Royal Collection. The scene was painted between 1548 and 1551 by an unknown student artist who is believed to have been a follower of Marinus van Reymerswaele (c. 1490/95-c. 1567). Painted on board, the painting also mimics a 1440 work by Jan van Eyck which depicted a banker in conference with his client. While this painting by van Eyck is believed lost, it is credited as having launched a genre of works which showed businessmen in Fifteenth Century dress engaged in money matters. Of the sixty variations of the scene, most of them are composed in a style which hints at a strong Dutch influence. Most of these compositions can trace their stylistic roots to the works of van Eyck. Still, others are clearly inspired by the paintings of van Reymerswaele and, also, another Dutch master Quinten Massys.

Let’s take a closer look at this piece which is entitled, “The Misers.” This follower of van Reymerswael has taken great pains to show the nature of the men. Their faces are masks of avarice and greed and their claw-like hands nod at the common conception of those involved in the changing of money. The scene is meant to be amusing and the visages of the men purposefully lean toward caricature. Despite the piles of coins in front of them, we’re reminded that this wealth will not aid them for long. The brevity of life is suggested by the candle which burns near them—it is almost spent, just as their lives are. 

What I find most interesting about this work is that the ledger on the table has been inscribed in French, indicating that this piece was likely a copy by a student—commissioned by a French patron who much admired the original by van Reymerswaele.

Gifts of Grandeur: The ‘Queen Anne’ and ‘Queen Caroline’ Pearl Necklaces

Pair of Pearl Necklaces
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II

These two necklaces are part of the private collection of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The first, a string of forty-six pearls once belonged to Queen Anne and, the next, a necklace of fifty pearls was owned by Queen Caroline.

They are always worn together and were given by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present in 1947. Prior to the wedding, they were cleaned and serviced by Garrards who has looked after the pearls since 1896.

The Art of Play: Queen Anne and her Children Doll Group, 1835-1850

Queen Anne and her Children
1835-1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Since the Eighteenth Century, wealthy families—especially the English—had a distinct love of enlcosing decorative artifacts in glass-fronted frames and boxes. This paractice reached the height of fashion in the 1850s.

Aside from souvenirs, artifacts, religious relics, personal items and memorials, these cases often held delicate playthings such as this group of dolls which is housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The name of this group of dolls is “Queen Anne and her Children” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and has long been considered rather mysterious.

As the curators of the V&A put it, “Queen Anne (reigned 1702-1714) had such a tragic experience of motherhood.” The group of dolls shows three adult females in addition to the queen. Even if the three additional figures are ladies in waiting, or the governesses of the Queen’s young children, at no point did Queen Anne have children who survived to the ages represented here.

Queen Anne married Prince George of Denmark in 1683 and had at least thirteen miscarriages or stillbirths. Five surviving children each died young - Mary and Anne under the age of two, and George and a second Mary a few hours after birth. The longest surviving of her children, William, died of smallpox in 1700, at the age of eleven.

Another mystery is the figure of the queen herself. The doll is fair-haired whereas Queen Anne was dark. Similarly, the costumes are from 1835-50, rather than 1684-1700 when the Queen was at her height. While this may be artistic license such as that of painters like Charles Robert Leslie, the queer costumes are hard to overlook. And so, the group does not match its historical counterparts at all. Why it is so named, no one knows. Yet, the name has stuck for almost two hundred years.

The group of dolls—eight in all—rests in its original fronted wooden box which is covered with white and gold-colored paper and lined with red and gold paper. The whole is trimmed with gold tinsel and imitation pearl ornaments. The dolls have cotton bodies and limbs, and leather hands with separate fingers and thumbs. Their costumes are of silk trimmed with lace, artificial flowers, pearl beads, metallic lace, gold foil and mother-of-pearl.

Two panels of red velvet, edged with mock ermine adorn the Queen who wears a crown of metallic lace decorated with beads and gold foil and holds an orb and sceptre. 

Gifts of Grandeur: The Union of England and Scotland Box, 1707

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click image to enlarge.

A circular box of tortoiseshell, this object boasts a cover with concave sides inset with a silver medal of Queen Anne in profile to the left.  Her Majesty wears regalia and a crown.  The medallion is inscribed, "Anna Dei Gratia Mag. Britan Fra. et Hib. Regina."  

The box and medal were made to commemorate the union of England and Scotland in May of 1707.  The reverse of the medal depicts a figure of Britannia engraved "Novae Palladium Troiae."

King Edward VII (1841-1910) was presented with this treasure by a now unknown party in 1907.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click image to enlarge.

Mastery of Design: The Union of England and Scotland Box, 1707

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click image to enlarge.

A circular box of tortoiseshell, this object boasts a cover with concave sides inset with a silver medal of Queen Anne in profile to the left.  Her Majesty wears regalia and a crown.  The medallion is inscribed, "Anna Dei Gratia Mag. Britan Fra. et Hib. Regina."  

The box and medal were made to commemorate the union of England and Scotland in May of 1707.  The reverse of the medal depicts a figure of Britannia engraved "Novae Palladium Troiae."

King Edward VII (1841-1910) was presented with this treasure by a now unknown party in 1907.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click image to enlarge.

Gratuitous Bertie Dog Picture: Princess Anne, Bird Catcher

"That's it...coax her in, nice and easy."

Image:  Queen Anne When a Child, Creation Date: 1668, Materials: Oil on canvas, Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), First recorded in the reign of Queen Anne, This portrait was probably painted in c.1667-8 when Princess Anne was around 3 years old. The great tit bird appears to have been painted over the curtain and might have been added later by one of Lely's assistants.  Crown Copyright, The Royal Collection, Image via The Royal Collection Trust and courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

To learn more about this important portrait, visit its entry in The Royal Collection.  

You know you want to have a Bertie Dog mug, tee-shirt, tote bag or water bottle. You know you do. So, take a look at our online store. 

Painting of the Day: Bogdani's Birds and Fruit in a Landscape, c. 1708

Birds and Fruit in a Landscape
Jakob Bogdani, 1708-1710
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection 
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Jakob Bogdani (c. 1660-1720) created this lovely and colorful painting between 1708 and 1710 either for King William III or Queen Anne. The piece is done in the Dutch style. In Holland, Melchior de Hondecoeter (1636-95) had established the fashion for large-scale paintings devoted to showcasing exotic birds in the setting of a formal garden. Soon, the fashion spread and was emulated by artists like Bogdani for important aristocratic or royal clientele.

Bogdani was born in Hungary and moved to Amsterdam in 1684. There, he saw first-hand the works of Melchior de Hondecoeter and learned from the artist. Soon Bogdani had perfected his own specialty-- the depiction of plants, birds and animals. By 1688, Bogdani settled in England, where, according to George Vertue, he was "much encouraged” by Queen Anne as well as hired to work as a court artist for William III.

This piece is actually one of a pair of bird scenes created at the same time by Bogdani. Some say they were for Queen Anne, but they could have easily been commissioned by William III. The existence of the paintings was first recorded in the “Painted Staircase” at Kensington Palace during the reign of George I. On the left of this canvas, a large cockatoo is perched on a stone near a large tree trunk. Meanwhile, to the right, parrots and passerines gather around a cluster of peaches, grapes and fruits.

Sculpture of the Day: A Wax Relief Plaque of Queen Anne, early 19th C.

Polychrome Wax Relief
Samuel Percy, early 19th C.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We’ve looked at other bas relief wax tablet portraits before.  There’s something interestingly odd about this one which is said to depict Queen Anne.  We see the Queen, rendered in polychrome wax, wearing an alarmingly low-cut gown trimmed with ermine and bands of gold across the corsage. The dress is further adorned with the representation of a chemisette of lace.  Queen Anne’s ebony hair falls in curls on her shoulders, and she wears a crown with applied loose pearls on the front arch as well as an applied string of pearls around her neck,

The wax is set within folded drapery of real puce velvet within an oval black frame.  The collection notes’ call the velvet, “purple,” and it may have been at one time, but it seems to have faded to a puce-like taupe.   The curators of the V&A state that, “The purple velvet mounting and possibly the oval frame are modern. The velvet probably replaces the wax draperies generally used by Samuel Percy.”

And, this makes sense.  Originally, when this portrait in wax was created, the background was surely also in wax.  For some reason—probably due to damage—when the tablet was re-framed, the original polychrome wax background was replaced by actual fabric drapery.

This is almost certainly the work of Samuel Percy (1750-1820) who seems to be responsible for the majority of these wax relief portrait plaques.  His style seems to have become more confident over time and this figure from later in his life and career is far more successful than some of the crude portraits of his early life.  

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Misers, 1548-1551

The Misers
A Follower of Marinus can Reymerswaele
c. 1550
Acquired by Queen Anne
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Historians believe that Queen Anne (the second daughter of King James II) added this handsome and strange painting to the Royal Collection. The scene was painted between 1548 and 1551 by an unknown student artist who is believed to have been a follower of Marinus van Reymerswaele (c. 1490/95-c. 1567). Painted on board, the painting also mimics a 1440 work by Jan van Eyck which depicted a banker in conference with his client. While this painting by van Eyck is believed lost, it is credited as having launched a genre of works which showed businessmen in Fifteenth Century dress engaged in money matters. Of the sixty variations of the scene, most of them are composed in a style which hints at a strong Dutch influence. Most of these compositions can trace their stylistic roots to the works of van Eyck. Still, others are clearly inspired by the paintings of van Reymerswaele and, also, another Dutch master Quinten Massys.

Let’s take a closer look at this piece which is entitled, “The Misers.” This follower of van Reymerswael has taken great pains to show the nature of the men. Their faces are masks of avarice and greed and their claw-like hands nod at the common conception of those involved in the changing of money. The scene is meant to be amusing and the visages of the men purposefully lean toward caricature. Despite the piles of coins in front of them, we’re reminded that this wealth will not aid them for long. The brevity of life is suggested by the candle which burns near them—it is almost spent, just as their lives are. 

What I find most interesting about this work is that the ledger on the table has been inscribed in French, indicating that this piece was likely a copy by a student—commissioned by a French patron who much admired the original by van Reymerswaele.

The Art of Play: Queen Anne and her Children Doll Group, 1835-1850

Queen Anne and her Children
1835-1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Since the Eighteenth Century, wealthy families—especially the English—had a distinct love of enlcosing decorative artifacts in glass-fronted frames and boxes. This paractice reached the height of fashion in the 1850s.

Aside from souvenirs, artifacts, religious relics, personal items and memorials, these cases often held delicate playthings such as this group of dolls which is housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The name of this group of dolls is “Queen Anne and her Children” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and has long been considered rather mysterious.

As the curators of the V&A put it, “Queen Anne (reigned 1702-1714) had such a tragic experience of motherhood.” The group of dolls shows three adult females in addition to the queen. Even if the three additional figures are ladies in waiting, or the governesses of the Queen’s young children, at no point did Queen Anne have children who survived to the ages represented here.

Queen Anne married Prince George of Denmark in 1683 and had at least thirteen miscarriages or stillbirths. Five surviving children each died young - Mary and Anne under the age of two, and George and a second Mary a few hours after birth. The longest surviving of her children, William, died of smallpox in 1700, at the age of eleven.

Another mystery is the figure of the queen herself. The doll is fair-haired whereas Queen Anne was dark. Similarly, the costumes are from 1835-50, rather than 1684-1700 when the Queen was at her height. While this may be artistic license such as that of painters like Charles Robert Leslie, the queer costumes are hard to overlook. And so, the group does not match its historical counterparts at all. Why it is so named, no one knows. Yet, the name has stuck for almost two hundred years.

The group of dolls—eight in all—rests in its original fronted wooden box which is covered with white and gold-colored paper and lined with red and gold paper. The whole is trimmed with gold tinsel and imitation pearl ornaments. The dolls have cotton bodies and limbs, and leather hands with separate fingers and thumbs. Their costumes are of silk trimmed with lace, artificial flowers, pearl beads, metallic lace, gold foil and mother-of-pearl.

Two panels of red velvet, edged with mock ermine adorn the Queen who wears a crown of metallic lace decorated with beads and gold foil and holds an orb and sceptre. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The ‘Queen Anne’ and ‘Queen Caroline’ Pearl Necklaces

Pair of Pearl Necklaces
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II

These two necklaces are part of the private collection of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The first, a string of forty-six pearls once belonged to Queen Anne and, the next, a necklace of fifty pearls was owned by Queen Caroline.

They are always worn together and were given by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present in 1947. Prior to the wedding, they were cleaned and serviced by Garrards who has looked after the pearls since 1896.

Painting of the Day: The Misers, 1548-1551

The Misers
A Follower of Marinus can Reymerswaele
c. 1550
Acquired by Queen Anne
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Historians believe that Queen Anne (the second daughter of King James II) added this handsome and strange painting to the Royal Collection. The scene was painted between 1548 and 1551 by an unknown student artist who is believed to have been a follower of Marinus van Reymerswaele (c. 1490/95-c. 1567). Painted on board, the painting also mimics a 1440 work by Jan van Eyck which depicted a banker in conference with his client. While this painting by van Eyck is believed lost, it is credited as having launched a genre of works which showed businessmen in Fifteenth Century dress engaged in money matters. Of the sixty variations of the scene, most of them are composed in a style which hints at a strong Dutch influence. Most of these compositions can trace their stylistic roots to the works of van Eyck. Still, others are clearly inspired by the paintings of van Reymerswaele and, also, another Dutch master Quinten Massys.

Let’s take a closer look at this piece which is entitled, “The Misers.” This follower of van Reymerswael has taken great pains to show the nature of the men. Their faces are masks of avarice and greed and their claw-like hands nod at the common conception of those involved in the changing of money. The scene is meant to be amusing and the visages of the men purposefully lean toward caricature. Despite the piles of coins in front of them, we’re reminded that this wealth will not aid them for long. The brevity of life is suggested by the candle which burns near them—it is almost spent, just as their lives are. 

What I find most interesting about this work is that the ledger on the table has been inscribed in French, indicating that this piece was likely a copy by a student—commissioned by a French patron who much admired the original by van Reymerswaele.

Painting of the Day: Bogdani's Birds and Fruit in a Landscape, c. 1708

Birds and Fruit in a Landscape
Jakob Bogdani, 1708-1710
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Jakob Bogdani (c. 1660-1720) created this lovely and colorful painting between 1708 and 1710 either for King William III or Queen Anne. The piece is done in the Dutch style. In Holland, Melchior de Hondecoeter (1636-95) had established the fashion for large-scale paintings devoted to showcasing exotic birds in the setting of a formal garden. Soon, the fashion spread and was emulated by artists like Bogdani for important aristocratic or royal clientele.

Bogdani was born in Hungary and moved to Amsterdam in 1684. There, he saw first-hand the works of Melchior de Hondecoeter and learned from the artist. Soon Bogdani had perfected his own specialty-- the depiction of plants, birds and animals. By 1688, Bogdani settled in England, where, according to George Vertue, he was }much encouraged” by Queen Anne as well as hired to work as a court artist for William III.

This piece is actually one of a pair of bird scenes created at the same time by Bogdani. Some say they were for Queen Anne, but they could have easily been commissioned by William III. The existence of the paintings was first recorded in the “Painted Staircase” at Kensington Palace during the reign of George I. On the left of this canvas, a large cockatoo is perched on a stone near a large tree trunk. Meanwhile, to the right, parrots and passerines gather around a cluster of peaches, grapes and fruits.

Sculpture of the Day: A Wax Relief Plaque of Queen Anne, early 19th C.

Polychrome Wax Relief
Samuel Percy, early 19th C.
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We’ve looked at other bas relief wax tablet portraits before.  There’s something interestingly odd about this one which is said to depict Queen Anne.  We see the Queen, rendered in polychrome wax, wearing an alarmingly low-cut gown trimmed with ermine and bands of gold across the corsage. The dress is further adorned with the representation of a chemisette of lace.  Queen Anne’s ebony hair falls in curls on her shoulders, and she wears a crown with applied loose pearls on the front arch as well as an applied string of pearls around her neck,

The wax is set within folded drapery of real puce velvet within an oval black frame.  The collection notes’ call the velvet, “purple,” and it may have been at one time, but it seems to have faded to a puce-like taupe.   The curators of the V&A state that, “The purple velvet mounting and possibly the oval frame are modern. The velvet probably replaces the wax draperies generally used by Samuel Percy.”

And, this makes sense.  Originally, when this portrait in wax was created, the background was surely also in wax.  For some reason—probably due to damage—when the tablet was re-framed, the original polychrome wax background was replaced by actual fabric drapery.

This is almost certainly the work of Samuel Percy (1750-1820) who seems to be responsible for the majority of these wax relief portrait plaques.  His style seems to have become more confident over time and this figure from later in his life and career is far more successful than some of the crude portraits of his early life. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The ‘Queen Anne’ and ‘Queen Caroline’ Pearl Necklaces

The Royal Collection

These two necklaces are part of the private collection of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The first, a string of forty-six pearls once belonged to Queen Anne and, the next, a necklace of fifty pearls was owned by Queen Caroline.


They are always worn together and were given by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) to Princess Elizabeth as a wedding present in 1947. Prior to the wedding, they were cleaned and serviced by Garrards who has looked after the pearls since 1896.

Unfolding Pictures: The Battle of Worcester Fan, 1715-1730

Fan
Paper Leaf, Ivory Sticks
1715-1730
The Victoria & Albert Museum

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.

The Art of Play: Queen Anne and her Children Doll Group, 1835-1850

Queen Anne and her Children
1835-1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Since the Eighteenth Century, wealthy families—especially the English—had a distinct love of enlcosing decorative artifacts in glass-fronted frames and boxes. This paractice reached the height of fashion in the 1850s.



Aside from souvenirs, artifacts, religious relics, personal items and memorials, these cases often held delicate playthings such as this group of dolls which is housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The name of this group of dolls is “Queen Anne and her Children” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and has long been considered rather mysterious.

As the curators of the V&A put it, “Queen Anne (reigned 1702-1714) had such a tragic experience of motherhood.” The group of dolls shows three adult females in addition to the queen. Even if the three additional figures are ladies in waiting, or the governesses of the Queen’s young children, at no point did Queen Anne have children who survived to the ages represented here.

Queen Anne married Prince George of Denmark in 1683 and had at least thirteen miscarriages or stillbirths. Five surviving children each died young - Mary and Anne under the age of two, and George and a second Mary a few hours after birth. The longest surviving of her children, William, died of smallpox in 1700, at the age of eleven.

Another mystery is the figure of the queen herself. The doll is fair-haired whereas Queen Anne was dark. Similarly, the costumes are from 1835-50, rather than 1684-1700 when the Queen was at her height. While this may be artistic license such as that of painters like Charles Robert Leslie, the queer costumes are hard to overlook. And so, the group does not match its historical counterparts at all. Why it is so named, no one knows. Yet, the name has stuck for almost two hundred years.

The group of dolls—eight in all—rests in its original fronted wooden box which is covered with white and gold-colored paper and lined with red and gold paper. The whole is trimmed with gold tinsel and imitation pearl ornaments. The dolls have cotton bodies and limbs, and leather hands with separate fingers and thumbs. Their costumes are of silk trimmed with lace, artificial flowers, pearl beads, metallic lace, gold foil and mother-of-pearl.

Two panels of red velvet, edged with mock ermine adorn the Queen who wears a crown of metallic lace decorated with beads and gold foil and holds an orb and sceptre.