Unusual Artifacts: Devonshire Villas, 1900

Devonshire Villas No. 3
England, 1900
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This isn’t a dollhouse. It’s actually a replica of an actual house that stood in Kilburn, North London in the Devonshire Villas. The house, No. 3—now long gone—was once the home of Mr. Samuel Loebl who commissioned this model as a gift for his daughter, Cecy, so that she would have a record of her childhood home. The model was made in 1900 and it passed from Cecy to her own daughter who donated it to the V&A in 1972.

The model, like the real house on High Road in Northwest London had been, is decorated in the height of early Twentieth Century fashion—much in the Art Nouveau style--and includes a host of “modern” amenities, including a fitted bathroom with a double sink in the kitchen. The bathroom walls are outfitted with "sanitary" wallpaper—paper coated with a special material which allowed it to be washed, a new concept at the time. The nursery, almost an exact replica of the real thing, was filled with miniature toys and a colorful frieze.

The most interesting thing, perhaps, is that the model contains a small telephone. The six room replica also depicts the house’s conservatory (separated from the drawing room by a beaded curtain). The hallway of the model also replicates the handsome stained glass window of the original house.

Cecy Loebl even had a hand in the decorating of the model. She made the carpets, lampshades and furniture upholstery to match those of the real house’s bedroom and drawing room.

The replica was exhibited at a 1925 Toy Fair in Frankfurt where it was wholly praised for the fine replication of the original house.

Print of the Day: The Ghost of Benjamin Binns, Twentieth C.

The Ghost of Benjamin Binns
Twentieth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Keep your seat if you please, and don't be afraid, 

I am only a ghost, a poor harmless shade;

I would not hurt any one here if I could, 

And you couldn't do me much harm if you would.

“The Ghost of Benjamin Binns” was written and composed by Harry Dacre. This sheet music cover from the early Twentieth Century depicts music hall star Harry Randall in character as he sang the song. The music was published by Francis Bros & Day and printed by H.G. Banks. 

History's Runway: The Mirman Amoeboid Cocktail Hat, 1950

Cocktail Hat
Simone Mirman, 1950s
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The famed English Simone Mirman designed custom-made hats to coordinate with any dress or ensemble. Additionally, her boutique offered a vast array of ready-to-wear evening and cocktail hats in various unusual shapes which would have not only been versatile accessories for any sort of outfit, but would have sat neatly upon the popular sleek hairstyles of fashionable women.

Mirman was inspired by mid-Twentieth Century scientific discoveries. Her fascination with science of the day--atoms and cell structures—served as a muse for patterns and original forms such as the shape of this bejeweled silk cap which was inspired by the undulating shape of an amoeba.

Mirman created this clasp hat of beige embroidered silk twill, lace and beads in the early 1950s as part of the line of amoeboid-shaped pieces offered in her boutique. 

The Home Beautiful: The Fennia Vase, 1900-1920

Vase from the "Fennia" Line
Arabia Company, Finland
1900-1920
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made at the Arabia Company in Finland, this cast white earthenware vase takes a cylindrical form with a wider circular foot. It’s adorned with wholly early Twentieth-Century patterns of diamond shapes. These are both printed onto the vessel as well as hand-painted with an overglaze of red, black, yellow, buff and green.

This vase was part of a range called “Fennia” which was the result of a 1900 commission from an American importer who wished for designs by a “Famous Finnish artist.” The importer got his wish, but, the name of the “famous” artist was never revealed. Some speculate that the design is the work of Armas, one of three of the most famous Finnish architects of the early Twentieth Century. The range included thirty designs and was discontinued in the early 1920s. 

Unusual Artifacts: Devonshire Villas, 1900

Devonshire Villas No. 3
England, 1900
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This isn’t a dollhouse. It’s actually a replica of an actual house that stood in Kilburn, North London in the Devonshire Villas. The house, No. 3—now long gone—was once the home of Mr. Samuel Loebl who commissioned this model as a gift for his daughter, Cecy, so that she would have a record of her childhood home. The model was made in 1900 and it passed from Cecy to her own daughter who donated it to the V&A in 1972.

The model, like the real house on High Road in Northwest London had been, is decorated in the height of early Twentieth Century fashion—much in the Art Nouveau style--and includes a host of “modern” amenities, including a fitted bathroom with a double sink in the kitchen. The bathroom walls are outfitted with "sanitary" wallpaper—paper coated with a special material which allowed it to be washed, a new concept at the time. The nursery, almost an exact replica of the real thing, was filled with miniature toys and a colorful frieze.

The most interesting thing, perhaps, is that the model contains a small telephone. The six room replica also depicts the house’s conservatory (separated from the drawing room by a beaded curtain). The hallway of the model also replicates the handsome stained glass window of the original house.

Cecy Loebl even had a hand in the decorating of the model. She made the carpets, lampshades and furniture upholstery to match those of the real house’s bedroom and drawing room.

The replica was exhibited at a 1925 Toy Fair in Frankfurt where it was wholly praised for the fine replication of the original house.

Object of the Day: Adams' Tutti Frutti Gum

Click on image to deal yourself in.

Since it’s Halloween and children, and adults, around the world will be spending the evening in pursuit of candy, I thought I’d show you a card from my collection which advertises for Adams’ Tutti Frutti Gum.

The front of this early Twentieth Century card shows a bold graphic image of a card game. We’re told: 

CHEW ADAMS’ TUTTI FRUTTI CHEWING GUM. 

EUCHRE 

CLUBS TRUMP 

WHICH WINS? 

The hands of each gent remind us to “Chew Adams’ Tutti Frutti Gum.”

On the reverse we see quite a detailed account of:

WHAT IS SAID OF 

ADAMS’ 

TUTTI FRUTTI 

CHEWING GUM. 

     It is a well-established fact in chemical science that the saliva
is an active and necessary agent in aiding digestion.
     The chewing of the substance of which your Gum is composed
excites an abundant flow of saliva.
     As this is swallowed ot co-operates with the other fluids in the
digestive tracts in accomplishing the chemical changes which pre-
pare our nutriment for assimilation.
     I know of the cases where the chewing of your Gum for a short
time before and after each meal has given relief to certain forms of
dyspepsia. I am warranted in giving my opinion that the use of the
Gums manufactured by you, and which I have critically examined, is
not only harmless, but beneficial.
                                          R. OGDEN DOREMUS, M.D., LL. D.
     Chemical Analysis show its ingredients to be pure and healthful.
                                                      THE AMERICAN ANALYST
     Adams & Sons’ Tutti Frutti Chewing Gum is entitled to especial
praise and recognition. THE AMERICAN ANALYST.
     Chewing Gum before eating and between meals increased the
flow of saliva and aids digestion.
               AMHERST COLLEGE GYMNASIUM DIRECTIONS
     This Chewing Gum is made from the Sap of one of the finest
Fruit Trees in Mexico (the Chico-Zapoti) consequently it is purely
vegetable in substance.
     It is a guardsman to defend you against coughs and colds, and is
admitted to be one of the best purifiers of the breath by all refined
people of this and other large cities. It is a delicious preparation.
                                          THE NEW WORLD                            Adams + Sons 

Sold by all Druggists and Confectioners.                    NEW YORK

Mastery of Design: The Child & Child Serpent Brooch, c. 1900

Brooch
Child & Child, c. 1900
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Since Queen Victoria’s serpentine engagement ring revived the ancient theme of snakes in jewelry, the idea of incorporating the little slithery beasties into works of precious metals and gems remained quite popular well into the dawn of the Twentieth Century. In fact, there’s been a recent snaky resurgence of late.

Made around 1900, we can see from this brooch that the snake was alive and well as Victoria was about to close her reign. The brooch was made by the firm of Child and Child (marked with two Cs with a sunflower). Brothers Walter Child (1840-1930) and Harold Child (1848-1915) founded their jewelry concern in Seville Street, London, in 1880 and quickly impressed London Society with their artistic designs. Child and Child was popular with such celebrated luminaries as Queen Victoria herself, King Edward VII, King George V, my pal Queen Mary, the late Empress Frederick of Prussia, and the Tsarina of Russia.

Just looking at this handsome brooch of gold, silver, amethyst, enamel and a pearl tells us why the brothers’ works were so popular with the elite of London. It’s truly a masterpiece, and, best of all, it doesn’t bite. 

Mastery of Design: The Dawson Iris Brooch, 1900

Click image to enlarge.
Brooch, 1900
Edith and Nelson Dawson
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We’ve examined the fine enameling work of celebrated early Twentieth Century jeweler Nelson Dawson (1859-1941) before. Dawson learned the art from the distinguished enameller Alexander Fisher and, later, taught the skill to his wife, Edith (1862-1928), a talented watercolor artist in her own right.

Edith would soon take over the enameling in their joint work. Together, they made their first showing in 1899 to much acclaim. Their work is typified by botanical themes and subtle colors. This brooch of painted enamel and silver depicts an iris and demonstrates their combined sensibilities. Made around 1900, Edith created the delicate central panel while Nelson designed the structure of the piece. 

Print of the Day: The Ghost of Benjamin Binns, Twentieth C.

The Ghost of Benjamin Binns
Twentieth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Keep your seat if you please, and don't be afraid, 

I am only a ghost, a poor harmless shade;

I would not hurt any one here if I could, 

And you couldn't do me much harm if you would.

“The Ghost of Benjamin Binns” was written and composed by Harry Dacre. This sheet music cover from the early Twentieth Century depicts music hall star Harry Randall in character as he sang the song. The music was published by Francis Bros & Day and printed by H.G. Banks. 

Drawing of the Day: Hassall's Punch and Judy Show

Click Image to Enlarge--go ahead, it's pretty.Color Illustration on Paper by John Hassall
After an earlier, larger painting
Twentieth Century
The George Speaight Archive
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Created in the early Twentieth Century by John Hassall (1868-1948), this illustration depicts a crowd of people watching a Punch and Judy Show. 


Hassall actually created this color illustration on paper as a copy of a larger painting which he had finished earlier.  It's an interesting image--set in the Eighteenth Century, but drawn with facial features and expressions clearly out of the 1920s.  A young man, perhaps a teen, acts as the professor while an older man stands by as the bottler.  We see the young man in the fit-up, from behind, as he performs.  A real Dog Toby waits patiently, wearing his ruff and a jumbled basket of puppets awaits use.

History's Runway: The Mirman Amoeboid Cocktail Hat, 1950

Cocktail Hat
Simone Mirman, 1950s
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The famed English Simone Mirman designed custom-made hats to coordinate with any dress or ensemble. Additionally, her boutique offered a vast array of ready-to-wear evening and cocktail hats in various unusual shapes which would have not only been versatile accessories for any sort of outfit, but would have sat neatly upon the popular sleek hairstyles of fashionable women.

Mirman was inspired by mid-Twentieth Century scientific discoveries. Her fascination with science of the day--atoms and cell structures—served as a muse for patterns and original forms such as the shape of this bejeweled silk cap which was inspired by the undulating shape of an amoeba.

Mirman created this clasp hat of beige embroidered silk twill, lace and beads in the early 1950s as part of the line of amoeboid-shaped pieces offered in her boutique.

Painting of the Day: Ballroom at the Shire Hall, 1940

Ballroom at the Shire Hall
Bayes, 1940
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This relatively modern watercolor painting dates to 1940 and depicts the grand English tradition of an opulent ball. Here, we see a luxurious celebration in the County Room of Chelmsford's Eighteenth-Century Shire Hall.

This is the type of scene which would have been readily seen at the Shire Hall--men in white tie and tails and women in elegant evening dresses. However, there are strong, individual personal scenes of interaction as well. For example, in the left foreground, a woman in a green gown appears to be either shouting at someone or laughing loudly—not uncommon in either case at such an event.


Designed in the Neoclassical Style, the County Room in Chelmsford's Shire Hall was a frequent location for balls throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Here, the artist Walter Bayes depicts the sort of event which characterized the location.

Shire Hall is also famous for being the scene of one of the strangest events in Early Twentieth Century Society history. In 1938, a woman departing such a dance was killed when her crinoline caught fire on the steps. Curiously, the Coroner's inquest was unable to find the cause of the fire and under subsequent tests, the same dress failed to ignite. Thankfully, we don’t see that scene depcited here.