Mastery of Design: The Egyptian Fez Ornament, 1800-72

Fez Ornament
1800-1872
Egypt
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The 1851 Great Exhibition inspired a series of “London International Exhibitions” which took place in South Kensington in 1871, 1872, 1873 and 1874 in order to showcase fine arts and scientific inventions.

In the 1872 Exhibition, one emphasis was on jewelry, including so-called “peasant jewellery.”  The Exhibition Commissioners arranged with the South Kensington Museum (later the V&A) to create a massive collection of peasant jewelry from “all parts of the world, which should become public property, for exhibition in the Museum after the close of the Exhibition.”

This ornament is part of that collection. The piece was described in the future-V&A’s register as an “ornament for the top of a fez or tarboosh” (a tarboosh is a round brimless red felt hat) from Egypt.

The jewel is comprised of a silver disc from which hang seventeen chains and pendants. The pendants appear to represent common domestic Egyptian objects including: a hammer, an axe, a sword, a coffee pot and a frying pan.  It was made in Egypt between 1800 and 1872.

Painting of the Day: Life in the Hareem, Cairo; An Inmate of the Hareem, Cairo, 1858

Life in the Hareem
John Frederick Lewis, 1858
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in 1858, “Life in the Hareem, Cairo” appears, at first glance, to be another so-called “Orientalist” painting with no obvious or relevant story behind it.   However, this image relies on the then-popular “Language of Flowers” to tell its story. 

The posy of flowers held in the lap of the main figure is a love letter, in the language of flowers.  This device was a favorite of the artist, John Frederick Lewis, and he  often incorporated it into his work.

The painting shows a view of the interior of the women's quarters of a Mamluk house in Cairo, as an ornately-dressed woman, reclining on cushions, holds a bouquet of flowers and another woman brings a tray with coffee cups.

Lewis completed this watercolor painting in Walton-on-Thames, England though it is based on his many years living in Egypt.

Print of the Day: A Poster for Coffee by Cappiello, 1924

Poster for Cafe Martin
Leonetto Cappiello, 1924
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This handsome poster for a particular brand of coffee was created by Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942).  From 1903, Leonetto Cappiello began producing fantastical creatures in his posters which would become associated with the product being advertised and, thus, became an early form of mascot.

Cappiello became associated with a style of drawing figures which appeared to be leaping or dancing out of their plain backgrounds towards the spectator.  Some of his designs were used repeatedly for decades.

This particular example dates to 1924.

Sunday Morning Special: Cupid Gets His Man, 1936

Between 1934 and 1936, Van Buren Studios produced 27 animated shorts known as “The Rainbow Parade.”  Here’s one of them.  In this short from 1936, entitled “Cupid Gets His Man,” we get a glimpse into the global Cupid enterprise as the love-loving babes try to unite a familiar-looking spinster (Edna May Oliver) with a grumpy gent who looks a lot like W.C. Fields.

Enjoy this pre-World War II weirdness.

Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square will continue on Tuesday

The luncheon with Prince Albert had gone smoothly, if not quickly.  Mr. Punch and Robert Halifax were pleased to have that chore behind them and were happy to be on their way back to their son, their staff and their luxurious townhouse at No. 65 Belgrave Square.  That is, until their carriage pulled up to the house and they saw the beaten corpse of Robert’s old “friend,” William Stover.

Hutchinson, the driver, went for the beadle.  The Constable was relatively understanding, but seemed suspicious of Robert who lied to the copper about the time of death.  You see, Mr. Stover had been killed hours before and moved to the front of the house.  Robert fudged the details a little.  After the body had been removed, Punch and Robert tried to explain what had happened to the staff.  Luckily for them, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert kept the press silent.  Everything seemed to be settling down until a scream from downstairs sent the whole household into a panic.

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It seems that Roger Barrett, brother of the Duke’s governess, Ellen, had gotten into the house and was hiding in the scullery where Ethel found him.  Worse still, he was covered in blood and bits of hair.  Robert concluded that Roger had killed Mr. Stover, but Ellen protested.  Punch managed to calm the mentally-disturbed man down and soon saw that Roger was badly injured—hence the blood.  Who had hurt Roger?

Perhaps it was the same person who killed William Stover.  And/or, perhaps it was the same person who attacked Gerard who was found in the area with a gash to his head.  While Robert patched up Gerard, Mr. Punch and Mrs. Pepper bonded and Charles and Ellen went to investigate the suite of rooms where Roger usually stayed.

Charles and Ellen returned with little to report except that Roger’s caretaker appeared to have left without any trouble, leaving Roger to escape.  And, what of Gerry?  Gerard had no idea what had happened to cause him to be uninjured  This, of course, wouldn’t have surprised Charles who was the only one who knew that Gerard had been sneaking medicine from the doctor.  The fact that Robert gave Gerard another bottle of the stuff isn’t going to help matters.

With the household mostly quiet, Punch and Robert went to bed.  The two argued about the fate of Roger.  Punch contended that Roger was innocent, but Robert insisted that they pin the Sotver murder on Ellen’s brother.  Robert’s fear was that, otherwise, he would be blamed for it and would run the risk of being separated from Punch and Collin.  As Punch convinced Robert to protect Mr. Barrett, visitors arrived downstairs.   Hortence, Eudora Stover and Tom arrived to find out what the Duke and the Doctor intended to do about the death of William.

This coming week promises to be explosive.  Don’t miss a chapter!  You can catch up on any you might have missed in the Chapter Archive. 

We’ll be taking Monday off, but Chapter 48 of Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square will be posted on Tuesday.  Here’s wishing everyone a peaceful Memorial Day.  

The Home Beautiful: The Bow Porcelain Coffee Pot, 1760

Coffee Pot
Bow Porcelain Factory, 1760
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This ornate pot was for intended for making and serving coffee.  In the Eighteenth Century, when this coffee pot was made, coffee was usually drunk with milk, and often sweetened with sugar. At the time, Britain was importing approximately 3,000,000 lbs of coffee beans per annum, and nearly two-thirds of that came from plantations in the West Indies with the remainder from Arabia.

Coffee pots very similar to this one were made at the Niderviller faïence factory in Lorraine on the edge of eastern France.  This example, from c. 1760, was made in at the Bow Porcelain Factory, London.  Both the Bow and Niderviller pieces were possibly copied from an original pot which was made at the Italian Doccia porcelain factory near Florence.

The Bow factory use a porcelain making technique which strengthened the material with bone ash, making it suitable for tea- and table-wares.  Bow  was primarily concerned with utilitarian wares,  but every so often, they’d create a special luxury piece like this one.

The pot is baluster shaped and it is modeled with a Rococo scroll and shell motif.  The piece has been painted with exotic birds; with scrolls picked out in puce, blue and gilding.

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

The past few days, we've celebrated the birthdays of Queen Victoria and Queen Mary, but the most important birthday of all is today--the birthday of my mom.  Not only is my mother the genius behind the "Treat of the Week," she's an all-around wonderful lady.  So, join me and Bertie (and Mr. Punch) in wishing a very "Happy Birthday" to the best mom anyone could ever want!