Unfolding Pictures: Fan Depicting Claudia Proving Her Innocence, 1740

Fan Depicting Claudia Proving Her Innocence
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click Image to Enlarge

Fan Depicting "Claudia Proving Her Innocence"
Italian, 1740
Kid Leather, Pierced Ivory, Mother-of-Pearl
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Claudia Quinta was a Vestal Virgin. Her job was to tend the fire at the Forum which had been brought by Aeneas from Troy to Rome—as one does with fire. As was often the case with those wacky Vestal Virgins, there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding her virtue and she ended up being accused of adultery. One would think that with all the fire-tending, she wouldn’t have had the time for other pursuits, but there you have it. Claudia was forced to prove her innocence. And, she managed to do it with the help of the Goddess Cybele. Fair enough. You see, she proved her chastity by pulling a ship with the strings of her girdle. Now, how that shows her to be chaste, I’m not sure. If anything, it proves she had a strong midsection and nothing more, but nevertheless, the elders saw this miraculous bit of naval and navel fortitude to be evidence enough that she wasn’t an adulterous, but rather a freakishly strong, happy little Vestal Virgin. Imagine what she could have done if she had Spanx.

This fan with pierced ivory sticks and mother-of-pearl guards sports a kid leather leaf painting with a scene of Claudia as she moves the ship, aided by Cybele. Created in 1740 by an unknown Italian fan-maker, the fan was a favorite of Princess Charlotte, the daughter of King George IV. When Princess Charlotte died in childbirth, many of her belongings were bequeathed to her dresser/friend, Mrs. Louis. Upon Mrs. Louis’ death on Easter Sunday of 1838, this fan and a number of other personal mementos which had belonged to the Princess were given to Queen Victoria. Victoria put this fan on display because she believed it to be quite fine and attractive. And, it truly is.

Finely painted with beautiful workmanship in the sticks and guards, the beauty of this fan has not faded in over two centuries.

Sculpture of the Day: A Wax Bust of Queen Victoria, c. 1837

The Victoria & Albert Museum

Wax has been a favorite medium for centuries due to its ease of use and versatility. Portraits in wax portraits became quite fashionable in the Eighteenth Century in Britain. As opposed to the life-sized wax figures seen at waxworks such as Madame Tussaud’s, miniature figures and busts were often created as keepsakes. The tradition continued well into the Nineteenth Century, especially before the advent of photography.


These miniature figures were modeled from the life. The waxes were not only quite portable, but due to the nature of the medium, they had an attractive, naturalistic look which was warmer than figures in stone or metal. Often, these waxes were tinted and embellished with textiles, seed pearls or colored glass eyes, to augment the life-like appearance of the portrayal. Best of all, for a more permanent figure, a mould could be made from this initial model, from which further copies could be cast in bronze or spelter.

Here, we see a wax bust depicting Queen Victoria who is shown turned to the right wearing a V-necked dress with sleeves decorated with ribbons and a sash. This figure was created in 1837 upon Victoria’s accession by sculptor William Le Grand. Not much is known of Le Grand and it’s unclear if he not only sculpted by published copies of such waxes.

Painting of the Day: “Comical Dogs” by Edwin Landseer, 1836

Comical Dogs
Sir Edwin Landseer, 1836
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Known for his depictions of animals, especially dogs, Sir Edwin Landseer was Queen Victoria’s first choice to paint official portraits of her many beloved pets. Landseer also enjoyed painting dogs in allegorical and even humorous circumstances. Take this painting entitled “Comical Dogs” for example. Painted in oil on a wooden panel, the painting shows a scene of two dogs, one wearing a white bonnet who appears to be smoking a pipe as he sits back on his hind legs with both front paws extended, while the other dog wears a woman’s Scottish tam on his head. The wire-haired terrier in the Scottish bonnet has in his possession a ram's horn snuff container.

Terriers were a favorite subject of Landseer’s. One critic observed that Landseer, “gives them all the intelligence of the canine nature but never plays with the falsehood of a fanciful or humanised expression.”

Mastery of Design: A Bracelet from Queen Victoria's Silver Jubilee, 1862

This bracelet of gold, with enameled decoration, is set with an almandine garnet and pearls and was shown by the Bragg firm at the International Exhibition of 1862, where it was purchased by the Victoria & Albert Museum.

This bracelet coincided with the Silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria and also showed the influence the Queen’s personal style had upon the fashions of the day. This was the sort of jewelry favored by Prince Albert who often designed pieces for his wife in earth-tones and materials which reflected the couple’s love of the country.

Unfolding Pictures: Queen Adelaide’s Fan, 1830

Queen Adelaide's Fan
English with French leaf, 1830
Leaf by Alphonse Giroux
Gold Guards by Rundell, Bridge & Rundell
Leather, wood, ivory, gold, rubies, amethysts.
The Royal Collection

This magnificent fan of painted sheep’s leather, gilt wooden sticks and gold guards studded with amethysts and rubies, once belonged to Queen Adelaide, consort of King William IV and aunt of Queen Victoria. Clearly in the English style, the gold-work on the guards, with ciphers of A.R., is most likely the work of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. The leaf, however, was imported from France and is the work of Alphonse Giroux who was known for his elegant painted fan leaves. The leaf is painted in an Asian style and has applied ivory faces on the figures. Curiously, the heads have Western features, showing that they were most assuredly European in origin.


Queen Adelaide, upon the death of King William IV, was known as the Dowager Queen. Since none of her children had survived into adulthood, the throne passed to her niece, Victoria. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were extremely fond of Adelaide and made sure that she was well cared for. Upon her death, most of her personal possessions were bequeathed to Queen Victoria—including this fan. 

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

Mastery of Design: The Thirteen Miniatures Gold Box, 1850-61

God Box with Thirteen Miniatures
Commissioned by Queen Victoria
The Royal Collection

This glorious gold presentation box was set with thirteen miniature paintings by William Charles Bell (1831-1904), William Essex (1784-1869) between 1850 and 1861.
The miniatures show: Queen Victoria; Princess Victoria (×2); Prince Albert Edward; Princess Alice; Prince Alfred; Princess Helena (×2); Princess Louise (×2); Prince Arthur; Princess Beatrice; and Prince William of Prussia

Each is rendered in enamel. They are mounted on a rounded rectangular gold box with hinged lid. The whole of the box is covered with etched tendrils and Tudor roses on a trellis.

Each enamel miniature was given as a gift by Queen Victoria to Prince Albert in commemoration of their wedding anniversary, 10 February 1859. They were mounted on the box after the Prince Consort’s death in 1861.

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

Click on image to enlarge.

The Art of Play: The Duke of Connaught Doll, 1850-51

Doll
Prince Arthur
1851
Made by the Montanari Family
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here we have a baby doll with shoulders, head, lower arms and hands of poured wax, a body of stuffed, white-glazed cotton with wax, and composition legs. The doll is embellished with blue glass eyes, and inserted blond human hair.

Though sometimes infants’ fashions of the Nineteenth Century make determining the child’s gender rather difficult, in this case, we know that the doll is meant to be a boy. He is dressed in a chemise, barracoat (a robe-like, outer gown), petticoat, long gown (beneath the barracoat), lace sacque jacket, lace bonnet, knitted wool bonnet and knitted wool socks. I am astounded that babies were dressed in that many layers without being strangled, but judging by the amount of people on the earth, clearly some babies from the Nineteenth Century lived to grow and reproduce.

This doll is by the The Montanari family—celebrated as among the best known of the UK producers of wax dolls in the Victorian era. (Richard) Napoleon Montanari (born circa 1813) was a wax modeller and responsible for the heads and hands. Napoleon’s wife, Madame Montanari, (nee Charlotte Augusta Dalton) was a dollmaker known for creating elaborately dressed dolls. Later, their eldest son entered the business as a wax modeller and doll maker.

The Montanaris often made dolls representing royalty. This particular example made in the year of the Great Exhibition (1851) depicts the seventh child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, later the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who was, at that point, the most recent addition to the Royal Family.

Antique Image of the Day: The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, 1887

The Victoria & Albert Museum

This color-lithographed invitation card was designed for celebrations for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The main image depicts Windsor Castle set in landscape, top right. Images of peoples of the Empire fill the lower left corner set against a backdrop of coconut palm-tree. In two roundels, top left and lower right, are portraits of Queen Victoria at the time of her accession in 1837 and in 1887, respectively.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Miniature of the Eye of Princess Victoria, 1857

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

We’ve looked at a variety of miniature eyes. This beautiful example is attributed to Sir William Charles Ross (1794-1860) and depicts the eye of Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901), the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The Princess Royal would later become Empress Frederick III of Germany.

This watercolor on ivory miniature is laid on card and mounted in a gold pendant set with a ruby. The Royal Collection lists the creation of the piece as 1857 and notes that it was commissioned by Queen Victoria.

Typically these miniature eyes were given as tokens to a male suitor. The date of creation puts this piece smack dab in the middle of the engagement of Victoria and Albert’s daughter to the Prince Frederick of Prussia (The German Emperor and King of Prussia) who were engaged in 1856 and married in 1858. It’s a safe bet that this miniature was intended for the future Kaiser Frederick III. Whether or not he received it, I don’t know, but it’s back in the Royal Collection.

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

Click Image to Enlarge

Royal Gifts: A Ruby Ring Given to Queen Victoria at her Wedding, 1840

Ruby and Diamond Ring
French, 1840
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Little is mentioned about Queen Victoria’s half-sister, Feodora, Princess Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Feodora was the second child of Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and her first husband, Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen.


Despite the differences in their lineage, Victoria and Feodora enjoyed a very close relationship. On the eve of Victoria’s wedding to Prince Albert, Princess Feodora presented her sister with this attractive ruby and diamond ring. The gold band is inscribed with “Unis à jamais” (‘united forever.”) and features a ruby which signifies love and a diamond representing eternity.

The Queen wore the band on her right hand and was said to have cherished it until the end of her life. We can see by the wear pattern that it was a much-loved piece of jewelry. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Lace Program from Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 1887

Program for Victoria's Golden Jubilee
English, 1887
The Victoria & Albert Museum

I’m always looking for these unusual pieces of history that were made with no intention of permanence. To me, these objects speak volumes about the moment they were made and give us a little window into a particular era.

Here we see a program from an 1887 Golden Jubilee soiree in honor of Queen Victoria’s fifty years on the throne. The program is of blue plate-printed silk satin edged with bobbin lace. The central cartouche of oak leaves depicts Queen Victoria as Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India. The design also includes six flags, a lion, tiger, kangaroo and beaver. The animals represent Africa, India, Australia and Canada. The back of the program shows depicts Windsor Castle. It is inscribed with “Wanstead Young Men's Association” and “Jubilee Soiree.”

The inside of two pages lists the entertainment for the evening in two parts with piano, violin and vocal turns and recitations to be performed by a number of individuals, both male and female. Prizes, apparently, were to be awarded for the best recitation.

The Wanstead Young Men's Association was just one of a number of local Victorian working class organizations with a strong interest in the performing arts. Such groups allowed young people to enjoy some artistic freedom and they were very much supported by the Queen.

Unfolding Pictures: Fan Depicting Claudia Proving Her Innocence, 1740

Fan Depicting Claudia Proving Her Innocence
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Click Image to Enlarge

Fan Depicting "Claudia Proving Her Innocence"
Italian, 1740
Kid Leather, Pierced Ivory, Mother-of-Pearl
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Claudia Quinta was a Vestal Virgin. Her job was to tend the fire at the Forum which had been brought by Aeneas from Troy to Rome—as one does with fire. As was often the case with those wacky Vestal Virgins, there was a bit of a kerfuffle regarding her virtue and she ended up being accused of adultery. One would think that with all the fire-tending, she wouldn’t have had the time for other pursuits, but there you have it. Claudia was forced to prove her innocence. And, she managed to do it with the help of the Goddess Cybele. Fair enough. You see, she proved her chastity by pulling a ship with the strings of her girdle. Now, how that shows her to be chaste, I’m not sure. If anything, it proves she had a strong midsection and nothing more, but nevertheless, the elders saw this miraculous bit of naval and navel fortitude to be evidence enough that she wasn’t an adulterous, but rather a freakishly strong, happy little Vestal Virgin. Imagine what she could have done if she had Spanx.

This fan with pierced ivory sticks and mother-of-pearl guards sports a kid leather leaf painting with a scene of Claudia as she moves the ship, aided by Cybele. Created in 1740 by an unknown Italian fan-maker, the fan was a favorite of Princess Charlotte, the daughter of King George IV. When Princess Charlotte died in childbirth, many of her belongings were bequeathed to her dresser/friend, Mrs. Louis. Upon Mrs. Louis’ death on Easter Sunday of 1838, this fan and a number of other personal mementos which had belonged to the Princess were given to Queen Victoria. Victoria put this fan on display because she believed it to be quite fine and attractive. And, it truly is.

Finely painted with beautiful workmanship in the sticks and guards, the beauty of this fan has not faded in over two centuries.

Sculpture of the Day: A Bust of Young Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria
Marble Bust 1843
The Victoria & Albert Museum

We tend to always think of Queen Victoria as the Dowager Queen in her mourning dress, looking quite grim. Though she was never heralded for her enormous beauty, the Queen, as a young woman, was quite handsome, and images of her such as this one remind us of that.

This marble bust of Queen Victoria shows her in the simple, feminine attire she favored. Her royal status is indicated by the royal coat of arms on the front of the plinth.

The bust is the work of Johann Jacob Flatters (1786-1845), a German sculptor known to Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Paris, under the French artists Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) and Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). It is believed that Albert commissioned the bust of his beloved young wife. 

Masterpiece of the Week: The Thirteen Miniatures Gold Box, 1850-61

God Box with Thirteen Miniatures
Commissioned by Queen Victoria
The Royal Collection

This glorious gold presentation box was set with thirteen miniature paintings by William Charles Bell (1831-1904), William Essex (1784-1869) between 1850 and 1861.
The miniatures show: Queen Victoria; Princess Victoria (×2); Prince Albert Edward; Princess Alice; Prince Alfred; Princess Helena (×2); Princess Louise (×2); Prince Arthur; Princess Beatrice; and Prince William of Prussia

Each is rendered in enamel. They are mounted on a rounded rectangular gold box with hinged lid. The whole of the box is covered with etched tendrils and Tudor roses on a trellis.

Each enamel miniature was given as a gift by Queen Victoria to Prince Albert in commemoration of their wedding anniversary, 10 February 1859. They were mounted on the box after the Prince Consort’s death in 1861.

Unusual Artifacts: The Fabergé Parasol, 1896-1903

Parasol
Mikhail Perchin
Bowenite, Gold, Enamel and Diamonds
1896-1903
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Parasols were designed to shield a lady’s delicate skin from the sun, certainly, but they also served a more social purpose, creating another means to draw attention to a lady and display her wealth, taste, fashion and standing in society.

This parasol, designed by Fabergé between 1896 and 1903, while certainly affording a utilitarian purpose, existed mostly as a means of showing off. The handle of bowenite is both practical and beautiful. The hard stone, in hot weather, would have cooled a lady’s hand while showing her sense of taste. The collar with its trelliswork borders and yellow enamel, resembles the Imperial Coronation Egg (now in the private Vekselberg Collection) and a Fabergé box with similar visual characteristics which can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Each triangular section of the pommel’s collar is set with a central diamond.

Fabergé’s Mikhail Evlampievich Perchin (1860-1903), created this parasol. It was commissioned, actually, to be used during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, however, records show that it was probably not finished in time and was not completed until 1903. 

Sculpture of the Day: The Prince and Princess, 1845-1850

Princess Victoria and Prince Edward
Staffordshire, 1845-1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Staffordshire figures often depicted popular people of the era. As we know, when these figures were first produced in 1840, the first subjects were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, so it’s only fitting that their children would also find themselves to be the subjects of these colorful porcelain sculptures.

Here we see a figure group of lead-glazed earthenware depicting Edward, Prince of Wales and his sister, Victoria, the Princess Royal—the first two children of the Queen and her consort. The Princess Victoria was the first born and was heiress presumptive to throne until the birth of her brother who, being male, took precedent in his place in the line of accession—later becoming King Edward VII.

Princess Victoria is riding in a carriage drawn by a horse on which the Prince ridden by the Prince. The oblong base is decorated by a scrolled front picked out in gilding, and inscribed “PRINCE AND PRINCESS” in black.

Her Majesty's Furniture: The Beautiful Sky of Italy Table, 1845

 

The Beautiful Sky of Italy Table
Michelangelo Barberi, 1845
The Victoria & Albert Museum




This masterpiece of micromosaic and furniture-making was made for Francis Needham, Earl Kilmorey, and was exhibited in London at the Great Exhibition of 1851 where it received a Council Medal, the highest honor awarded.

Made in Rome in 1845 by Michelangelo Barberi (1787 -1867), the circular micromosaic tabletop depicts a central group of four genii floating in the open sky—each bears the attributes of painting, music, architecture and sculpture. Around the circumference of the table are eight views of Italian cities: Piazza del Duomo, Milan; St. Mark's Square, Venice; Piazza della Signoria, Florence; St. Peter's Square, Rome; the Coliseum, Rome; the Riviera di Chaia, Naples; St. Rosalia, Palermo and the Harbor at Genoa. The table base is gilt bronze and is made up of four legs surmounted with rams heads.

More than just majestic sites in Italy, the views depicted on this tabletop are those that were visited by Tsar Nicholas I on his Italian tour of 1845. In 1846 the Tsar commissioned a tabletop directly from Michelangelo Barberi who referred to the composition as “Il bel cielo d'Italia” (the beautiful sky of Italy). The original table made for Tsar Nicholas I, showed a central composition of a group of putti holding a portrait of the Tsarina Alexandra. That work is now at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Barberi next made this similar table for the Earl.

Michelangelo Barberi was known as “Cavaliere” and was the leading micromosaicist of the Nineteenth Century. One member of a celebrated family, his brothers were painters and his father Camillo was an architect, painter and designer who served as Director of Fortifications and Prisons for Italy following his meeting with the Emperor Napoleon in Milan in 1804. This illustrious family lived in Paris for a spell, but later returned to Rome during the reign of Pius VII (1800-1823).

The Art of Play: The Duke of Connaught Doll, 1850-51

Doll
Prince Arthur
1851
Made by the Montanari Family
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here we have a baby doll with shoulders, head, lower arms and hands of poured wax, a body of stuffed, white-glazed cotton with wax, and composition legs. The doll is embellished with blue glass eyes, and inserted blond human hair.

Though sometimes infants’ fashions of the Nineteenth Century make determining the child’s gender rather difficult, in this case, we know that the doll is meant to be a boy. He is dressed in a chemise, barracoat (a robe-like, outer gown), petticoat, long gown (beneath the barracoat), lace sacque jacket, lace bonnet, knitted wool bonnet and knitted wool socks. I am astounded that babies were dressed in that many layers without being strangled, but judging by the amount of people on the earth, clearly some babies from the Nineteenth Century lived to grow and reproduce.

This doll is by the The Montanari family—celebrated as among the best known of the UK producers of wax dolls in the Victorian era. (Richard) Napoleon Montanari (born circa 1813) was a wax modeller and responsible for the heads and hands. Napoleon’s wife, Madame Montanari, (nee Charlotte Augusta Dalton) was a dollmaker known for creating elaborately dressed dolls. Later, their eldest son entered the business as a wax modeller and doll maker.

The Montanaris often made dolls representing royalty. This particular example made in the year of the Great Exhibition (1851) depicts the seventh child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, later the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, who was, at that point, the most recent addition to the Royal Family. 

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Drawing of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, 1882

Duke of Connaught and Guards Brigade Entering Alexandria
Melton Prior, 1882
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Today, we’ll get a look, in honor of little George Alexander Louis, at some other famous princes.  Let's begin with the son of Arthur, the Duke of Connaught, also called Arthur (styled as Prince Arthur of Connaught). Like his father, Prince Arthur of Connaught enjoyed a distinguished military career and served as a valued aid to his cousin (another of Victoria’s grandson’s) King George V and Queen Mary (Mary of Teck).

However, in many ways Prince Arthur of Connaught was always in the shadow of his celebrated father, the Duke who outlived his son by four years. The Duke of Connaught was doubtlessly a military hero and the subject of many works of art.

Here’s one. This drawing from the Victoria & Albert Museum shows the Duke of Connaught in 1882 (a year before the birth of his son and namesake) as he enters Egypt with his troops. The drawing is entitled, “The Duke of Connaught and Guards Brigade Entering Alexandria.” Rendered in 1882, this pencil drawing is heightened by white accents and is the work of the famed Melton Prior.