Precious Time: The Roman Charity Watch and Case, 1680-1700

Watch and Case
Switzerland, 1680-1700
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This watch is housed in a copper gilt case which, along with the timepiece, has been enameled with a variety of Italian scenes including “Roman Charity” and “Lucretia.” Made in Geneva, Switzerland, the movement is signed “Baccuet.” Created between 1680 and 1700, the enameling was done by the family team of Jean Pierre (1655-1723) and Ami Huaud (1657-1724). Their competent enamel work on the scene of “Roman Charity” was based on an engraving by Claude Mellan which itself was after a painting by Simon Vouet. 

Masterpiece of the Week: Children Playing with a Lamb, 1840

Children Playing with a LambSwiss, 1840
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The painter Barthélemy Menn (1815-1893) was born in Geneva where he studied with some of the greatest Swiss and French painters of the Nineteenth Century.  Menn later studied with the famed Ingres and followed him in Rome where he produced portraits and landscapes similar in style to those of the school of Barbizon.

This 1840 painting, “Children Playing with a Lamb,” is a great example of Menn's transitional style when he ceased historical painting in favor of a freer approach based on natural themes. 

The genre scene depicts two women and two children playing with a lamb, which may be understood as a symbolic representation of the traditional image of Mary and Anne with the Infants Jesus and St John the Baptist.

It’s very Easter-y.  So, there you are.  

This painting was part of the collection of Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend whom we know largely for his important collection of jewels.  The work was listed in the 1868 post-mortem register of the contents of his villa in Lausanne as “Oil on millboard. Children playing with a Lamb. By B. Menn. In frame. Signed. Swiss. Present century.”  It was bequeathed by Townshend to the V&A in 1868.

Unfolding Pictures: The Birdcage Fan, 1780-1790

Hand Fan
Painted by Johannes Sulzer
Switzerland, 1780-1790
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The leaves of hand fans provided yet another surface to introduce popular artistic themes to the public. Hand-painted fans were treated with as much seriousness as any oil painting, and fan painters enjoyed the opportunity to present contemporary compositions in a different format.

One of the most exuberant fan painters of the Eighteenth Century was Swiss artist Johannes Sulzer (1748-1794) who, unlike most of his contemporaries, took to signing his fans. Above, we see a good example of Sulzer’s work—painted during a time when “Conversation Pieces” were quite the fashion. He’s given us such an intimate scene, depicting a couple engaged in a conversation with a young woman knitting. The reverse of the fan shows another popular late Eighteenth Century subject—an elegant house with a formal garden.

Sulzer has included images of two bird cages—one open and the other closed--flanking the miniature painting of the grand country house. These bird cages were a favorite subject for the artist and, more often than not, appear somewhere on his fans—acting almost as a signature of their own. 

Sulzer painted this fan of gouache on paper in Switzerland between 1780 and 1790. The whole is given shimmer with a silver wash. It is signed, “Peint & monté par J. Sulzer au Rossingnol à Winterthur.”

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: "Fishing" by François Bocion, 1855

Click image to enlarge.
Oil Painting
Bocion, 1855
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Would you guess that a fellow named François Bocion (1828-1890) was French? Well, he wasn’t. He was Swiss. So there. Bocion was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and trained as a painter under Christian Gottlieb Steinlen (1779-1847) and François Bonnet (1811-1894) .

Bocion would move to Paris in 1845 where he entered the atelier of Louis-Aimé Grosclaude (1784-1869) and later that of Charles Gleyre (1806-1874). There, he struck up a friendship with the famed Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and other painters of the Realist movement.

Around 1849, Bocion left Paris to return to his native Lausanne where he became a teacher at the “Ecole moyenne et industrielle.” He stayed there, teaching, until he died. During that period, however, he took a place as one of the era’s most prolific artists, and, also took some time out to travel to Paris, Vienna, Anvers and London. Still, he preferred Switzerland above all other places. There, he aided in founding the Swiss Society of Watercolourists in 1884.

If you ever wanted to see a perfect example of Bocion’s compositions, especially those post-Paris masterpieces he created after his return home—this is it. Bocion took his inspiration from all walks of life and reveled in capturing daily moments in a realistic way. Here, he shows us a fisherman, rendered in the palette of muddy, purple hues which Bocion favored in the 1850s.

The male figure in his working clothes sits, bare-footed, on a rock at the edge of a lake. The deep tones of the shadows are balanced by the white sails of a boat to the man’s left and the glow of the light on the water.

The painting was bequeathed to the V&A by the Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend in 1868. 

Mastery of Design: A Swiss Garnet Necklace, 1800-1870

Choker of Garnet Beads
Swiss, 1800-1870
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Choker or collar necklaces like the one pictured above were originally worn both in Austria and Switzerland for the practical purpose of hiding a goiter--a disfiguring disease caused by lack of iodine, a condition which was endemic in the high Alps.

Though the designs vary from valley to valley, usually, these chokers were constructed of loose chains of silver links, or beads of garnet or coral, sometimes, even, punctuated with plaques of delicate silver filigree. Traditionally, and for comfort, these necklaces were worn over a thin scarf of black silk. Such chokers were generally termed “Halsbätti” which literally means a rosary worn on the neck. This was because the beads resembled rosary beads, but I want to emphasize that these pieces never were assigned any religious meaning.

This example consists of six rows (originally seven) of faceted garnet beads (actually, they may be garnet-colored glass) with four rectangular plaques, each covered with filigree tracery. The two-part clasp is made of matching filigree, with rosette over the central hook. It was made in Schwyz, Switzerland between 1800 and 1870.

Mastery of Design: A Swiss Enamel Necklace, 1860

Enamel Necklace
Switzerland, 1860
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Swiss enameling of the early Nineteenth Century was celebrated throughout the world and served as a fashionable souvenir for tourists.  This necklace is an example of the quality of Swiss enamel.   It is decorated with painted enamel miniatures of women wearing the traditional costumes of carious Swiss cantons.  On the reverse, it is adorned in green, blue and pink.  

The necklace is comprised of enameled gold links with four enameled  panels and was made in Switzerland around 1860.

Precious Time: The Roman Charity Watch and Case, 1680-1700

Watch and Case
Switzerland, 1680-1700
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This watch is housed in a copper gilt case which, along with the timepiece, has been enameled with a variety of Italian scenes including “Roman Charity” and “Lucretia.” Made in Geneva, Switzerland, the movement is signed “Baccuet.” Created between 1680 and 1700, the enameling was done by the family team of Jean Pierre (1655-1723) and Ami Huaud (1657-1724). Their competent enamel work on the scene of “Roman Charity” was based on an engraving by Claude Mellan which itself was after a painting by Simon Vouet. 

Painting of The Day: Catching Frogs, c. 1840

Click on the image to catch some froggies.
"Catching Frogs"
Switzerland, c. 1840-1847
The Victoria & ALbert Museum

Created in Switzerland between 1840 and 1847, this genre painting is the work of Barthélemy Menn (1815-1893) who studied with Ingres and followed him on his journey to Rome. Though he started with historical compositions, Menn is best remembered for his lush landscapes and handsome portraits in a manner similar to that of the Barbizon School—quite a departure from the influence of Ingres’ shiny Manneristic approach.

Take this painting, for example. We can clearly see the hand of Corot and the school of Barbizon guiding Menn’s brush. Executed in a broad style, this combination landscape and genre painting, entitled “Catching Frogs” neatly demonstrates Menn’s admiration for the rising Realist movement of the 1840s in France.

Hey! Guess what? Guess who bequeathed this painting to the V&A. Go on… I’ll wait.

Yes! It was our old friend, The Reverend Chauncey Hare Townshend. Shocking. 

Unfolding Pictures: The Birdcage Fan, 1780-1790

Hand Fan
Painted by Johannes Sulzer
Switzerland, 1780-1790
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The leaves of hand fans provided yet another surface to introduce popular artistic themes to the public. Hand-painted fans were treated with as much seriousness as any oil painting, and fan painters enjoyed the opportunity to present contemporary compositions in a different format.

One of the most exuberant fan painters of the Eighteenth Century was Swiss artist Johannes Sulzer (1748-1794) who, unlike most of his contemporaries, took to signing his fans. Above, we see a good example of Sulzer’s work—painted during a time when “Conversation Pieces” were quite the fashion. He’s given us such an intimate scene, depicting a couple engaged in a conversation with a young woman knitting. The reverse of the fan shows another popular late Eighteenth Century subject—an elegant house with a formal garden.

Sulzer has included images of two bird cages—one open and the other closed--flanking the miniature painting of the grand country house. These bird cages were a favorite subject for the artist and, more often than not, appear somewhere on his fans—acting almost as a signature of their own. 

Sulzer painted this fan of gouache on paper in Switzerland between 1780 and 1790. The whole is given shimmer with a silver wash. It is signed, “Peint & monté par J. Sulzer au Rossingnol à Winterthur.”

Painting of the Day: "Fishing" by François Bocion, 1855

Click image to enlarge.
Oil Painting
Bocion, 1855
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Would you guess that a fellow named François Bocion (1828-1890) was French? Well, he wasn’t. He was Swiss. So there. Bocion was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and trained as a painter under Christian Gottlieb Steinlen (1779-1847) and François Bonnet (1811-1894) .

Bocion would move to Paris in 1845 where he entered the atelier of Louis-Aimé Grosclaude (1784-1869) and later that of Charles Gleyre (1806-1874). There, he struck up a friendship with the famed Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and other painters of the Realist movement.

Around 1849, Bocion left Paris to return to his native Lausanne where he became a teacher at the “Ecole moyenne et industrielle.” He stayed there, teaching, until he died. During that period, however, he took a place as one of the era’s most prolific artists, and, also took some time out to travel to Paris, Vienna, Anvers and London. Still, he preferred Switzerland above all other places. There, he aided in founding the Swiss Society of Watercolourists in 1884.

If you ever wanted to see a perfect example of Bocion’s compositions, especially those post-Paris masterpieces he created after his return home—this is it. Bocion took his inspiration from all walks of life and reveled in capturing daily moments in a realistic way. Here, he shows us a fisherman, rendered in the palette of muddy, purple hues which Bocion favored in the 1850s.

The male figure in his working clothes sits, bare-footed, on a rock at the edge of a lake. The deep tones of the shadows are balanced by the white sails of a boat to the man’s left and the glow of the light on the water.

The painting was bequeathed to the V&A by the Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend in 1868. 

Mastery of Design: A Swiss Garnet Necklace, 1800-1870

Choker of Garnet Beads
Swiss, 1800-1870
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Choker necklaces like the one pictured above were originally worn both in Austria and Switzerland for the practical purpose of hiding a goiter--a disfiguring disease caused by lack of iodine, a condition which was endemic in the high Alps.

Though the designs vary from valley to valley, usually, these chokers were constructed of loose chains of silver links, or beads of garnet or coral, sometimes, even, punctuated with plaques of delicate silver filigree. Traditionally, and for comfort, these necklaces were worn over a thin scarf of black silk. Such chokers were generally termed “Halsbätti” which literally means a rosary worn on the neck. This was because the beads resembled rosary beads, but I want to emphasize that these pieces never were assigned any religious meaning.

This example consists of six rows (originally seven) of faceted garnet beads (actually, they may be garnet-colored glass) with four rectangular plaques, each covered with filigree tracery. The two-part clasp is made of matching filigree, with rosette over the central hook. It was made in Schwyz, Switzerland between 1800 and 1870.

Masterpiece of the Week: Children Playing with a Lamb, 1840

Children Playing with a LambSwiss, 1840
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The painter Barthélemy Menn (1815-1893) was born in Geneva where he studied with some of the greatest Swiss and French painters of the Nineteenth Century.  Menn later studied with the famed Ingres and followed him in Rome where he produced portraits and landscapes similar in style to those of the school of Barbizon.

This 1840 painting, “Children Playing with a Lamb,” is a great example of Menn's transitional style when he ceased historical painting in favor of a freer approach based on natural themes. 

The genre scene depicts two women and two children playing with a lamb, which may be understood as a symbolic representation of the traditional image of Mary and Anne with the Infants Jesus and St John the Baptist.

It’s very Easter-y.  So, there you are. 

This painting was part of the collection of Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend whom we know largely for his important collection of jewels.  The work was listed in the 1868 post-mortem register of the contents of his villa in Lausanne as “Oil on millboard. Children playing with a Lamb. By B. Menn. In frame. Signed. Swiss. Present century.”  It was bequeathed by Townshend to the V&A in 1868.