Gratuitous Bertie Dog Picture: John Gruff

"I know you two think it's fun to pass an afternoon looking into an empty stew-pot, but, I really need
something a little more stimulating to do."

Image: John Cuff, Creator: Johan Zoffany (Frankfurt 1733/4 - London 1810) (artist), Creation Date: Signed and dated 1772, Materials: Oil on canvas, Acquirer: George III, King of the United Kingdom (1738-1820), when King of Great Britain (1760-1800), Provenance: Purchased by or painted for George III.

Crown Copyright, The Royal Collection via The Royal Collection Trust.  The original image is courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

To learn more about this masterpiece, visit the entry for this painting in the online catalog of the Royal Collection Trust.

You, too, could have a cup of tea with Bertie. Or, you could wear his picture proudly. Visit our online store to see our range of Gratuitous Bertie Dog products.

Mastery of Design: A Gold and Enamel Bracelet from Paris, 1880

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This flexible gold chain bracelet is punctuated by a square enamel plaque decorated with a musical instrument and flowers. Four bars in blue enamel with a delicate scrollwork decoration further adorn the bracelet.

The theme of the bracelet is one of everlasting love as evidenced by the symbols depicted in the enamel. It is the work of the jeweler Auguste Perette who had a brilliant reputation in Paris.

Bertie's Pet-itations: Biological Clock Logic

Here's Bertie's weekly opportunity to share his ideas for creating our new "Beautiful Age."  Bertie's advice, I'm sure, can be applied to many different areas of our lives.

And, so, I happily hand the computer over to him.


Bertie says:

Even though I can't tell time, I still have a schedule that I like to keep.  Letting me keep it helps me feel safe and happy because it means I get to listen to what my body is telling me to do.

History's Runway: A Walking Dress Ensemble, 1817-20

Walking Dress
1817-1820
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This day outfit dates between 1817 and 1820 and echoes military uniform in design, givimg it a decidedly masculine flavor. Passementerie (trim) in the form of crescent-shaped moulds, looped cord and balls covered in floss silk replace the gilt or silver buttons which would have adored the similarly-styled men's regimental coats. The tassels on the collar ends and cuff bands evoke the tassels which adorned boots, hats, sashes and cap lines of military accessories.

Military styles were worked into ladies' fashionable dress in Britain largely due to the influence of the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815). The uniforms worn during this period were some of the most elaborate in the history of military dress with bright, vivid colors, frog (clasp) enclosures, braid and tassels.  These uniforms fueled the imagination of fashion designers for years to come.

"A Recipe for Punch" will Continue Tomorrow

Hello all,

Today, we're going to have to have a brief hiatus from "A Recipe for Punch," however we'll pick up with the next chapter tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, we'll have "The Treat of the Week," and some other fun stuff for Friday.  So...I'll see you then!

Joseph

Unusual Artifacts: A Needlework Portrait by Mary Knowles, 1779

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

We’ve looked at the famed needlework portraits of Miss Mary Linwood. However, Linwood wasn’t the only person recreating painted portraits in embroidery. This needlework picture, commissioned by Queen Charlotte (Consort of George V), in wool dates to 1779 and is the work of Mary Morris Knowles.

Mary Morris Knowles was born of a Quaker family in Rugely, Staffordshire, and was celebrated as much for her intellect as for her skill with the needle. Knowles is now considered to be an important early protagonist of the feminist viewpoint in English cultural life. Ahead of her time, Knowles was an early supporter for the abolition of slavery.

In 1771 Knowles was introduced Queen Charlotte at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace), forming a friendship which would last over the next thirty years. Following that first visit in 1771, the Queen commissioned Mrs. Knowles to make a copy of Zoffany’s portrait of George III in needlework or ‘needle painting’ as it was also known.

So pleased with the result, Queen Charlotte showed off the portrait to all of her friends. Eight years later, Mrs. Knowles embroidered this companion picture for Queen Charlotte. It is a self portrait of the artist as she created the needle-painting of George III.

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

Object of the Day: A Trade Card for Clark's Mile-End Spool Cotton

Click image to enlarge.

I think that the Coats Thread Company and the Clark Thread Company (now merged as Coats and Clark) were responsible for the majority of the trade cards printed in the U.S. in the Nineteenth Century. No matter what, every lot of ephemera that I buy has a huge amount of Coats and Clark cards scattered throughout.

Here’s another one which I recently acquired. It’s typically odd. A poor, deformed man in mustard yellow pants is being tormented by a child with a skin condition who just happens to have access to an enormous spool of Clark’s Trade Mark Mile-End Spool Cotton. The lad, in his wee plaid suit, has tied one end of the spool to a stick and, stretching it across a sidewalk, is using it to bloody the knees of the hairy-faced ginger fellow.

Let’s see what the reverse says and if it incites children to violence.

Nope. No violence implied.

It reads below the Clark’s logo.

BEST SIX CORD 

ALL NUMBERS from No. 8 to 100.

THE COLORS are especially dyed to match 

ALL SHADES of Dress Goods and can be
               used
INSTEAD OF SILK by Dress makers and
               Families.
THE BLACK is Strong and Smooth, and
               of the
PUREST DYE. It will retain its very 

DEEP BLACK hue as long as Silk Fabrics. 

                The White, Black and Colored
IS THE STANDARD for us upon all 

          SEWING MACHINES.