Mastery of Design: The Ashbee Peacock Necklace, 1902

The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the early 1900s, C.R. Ashbee, one of the earliest Arts and Crafts designers of jewelry, designed nearly one dozen peacock brooches and pendants. Ashbee began designing jewels in the 1890s and will forever be remembered for contributed one of the key points of the Edwardian middle-class jewelry trade--that the value of jewelry lay in its design, not in the monetary value of the materials used. Personally, I like the expensive materials and a good design both, but I’m more Victorian in my mind-set.

Ashbee strove to design jewels that could be affordable to those not in the aristocracy. Take this pendant for example. Though this peacock pendant is one of Ashbee’s more extravagant creations, it would have been quite modest in price when compared with the heavy diamond-set jewelry of the peerage, gentry and nobility.

Always an admirer of the Renaissance of the Fifteenth Century when the “arts and crafts were one and indivisible,” Ashbee looked to Renaissance artists who were goldsmiths as well as painters, sculptors or architects for inspiration. In 1898, in fact, Ashbee published a translation of the two treatises of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) on gold-smithing as well as sculpture.

For some reason, Ashbee had a weakness for peacocks. But, many of his period did. He wrote that, “the poor peacock of the Arts and Crafts with its proud tail exploding in fireworks” was a favorite subject because it was a bold, proud, bird which stood out against a drab and hostile world.  Here, he's rendered the bird in silver and gold, set with blister pearls, diamond sparks and a demantoid garnet for the eye, with three pendent pearls.

Sunday Morning Special: Gypped in Egypt, 1930

Today’s Sunday Morning Special comes to us from 1930 and features the, sadly, relatively unremembered “Waffles and Dan.” “Gypped in Egypt” follows the adventures of the mismatched duo as they freak themselves out in Egypt. It’s a Van Beuren Cartoon, so you know it will be odd. 


As with all cartoons of the 30s, expect lots of knee-bending and muttering.  Enjoy! 

Painting of the Day: A Still Life with Fruit, Lobster, Monkey and Silver Vessels, 1660-70

Still Life with Fruit, Lobster and Silver Vessels
Willem van Aelst, 1660-1670
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This is about as Dutch as a still life can get. The Dutch (and the Flemish), especially in the Seventeenth Century, had a love of canvases of scenes of tables laden with dead animals, overripe fruit and shiny objects. Sometimes these scenes would be given an added dimension by including living figures—usually animals—interwoven within the foodstuffs. Here, dating between 1670 and 1680, we have a still life with fruit, flowers, lobster, dead birds, shells, fine porcelain and silverware on a creased red and blue tablecloth. The scene is adorned by the presence of three living animals--a dog, a parrot and a monkey—and is further heightened in drama by the presence of a rather vulgar grimacing man behind a very Dutch window in the background.


This is most likely the work of Willem van Aelst (1627-1687) who was born in Delft where he trained with his uncle, Evert van Alest (1602-57), a celebrated painter of similar still life works. Willem went to France and Italy where he worked as a court painter, returning to the Netherlands in 1656 where he taught until his death.

Willem had a flare for rendering glassware, precious silverware, fruit and flowers and was celebrated for the symmetry of his compositions. 

History's Runway: The Harrods' Tassel Bag, 1790

This beautiful item had been collected by the Messrs Harrods Ltd. Who donated it to the Victoria & Albert Museum. This Bag or pocket features drawstrings and is embroidered with flowers coming out of a Grecian or Roman urn with a parrot motif in the center. It takes its name from the pink tassel and pink tassel string straps.

The bag is important historically in that it shows the transition between hidden pockets and the external reticule. Though it is embroidered for show and is closed with drawstrings, the bag still resembles a pocket.

Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square will Continue on Monday

Tragedy shook No. 65 as its inhabitants tried to process the shocking death of Jenny.  Ethel, who had carried the girl home, was so grieved that she could not speak except to wail for her friend.  Therefore, no one was sure what had happened though Punch and Robert certainly suspected Orpha's hand.

As planned, Mr. Donnan and Mr. Stover arrived to discuss Orpha with the Duke and the Doctor.  Mr. Donnan had clearly changed and seemed bent on penance.  Johnny even seemed genuinely saddened by Jenny's death, and, later, as he and Mr. Stover waited downstairs for the Duke, the usually mute Mr. Stover indicated that he saw Jenny as an "angel."

In the nursery, Gamilla expressed her fears to Gerard and finally confessed to him that she wished to be his wife.  Gerard proposed and Gamilla accepted though neither knew if they could legally marry.  At least, this bit of happiness came in the wake of Jenny's murder.

As Lennie cared for Ethel, Punch and Robert met with Mr. Donnan and Mr. Stover.  The Duke and the doctor grew annoyed with Johnny's self-indulgent need for forgiveness.  The conversation concluded with the Duke asking Johnny to "kill" Orpha.

Now, what does that mean?  Even at his "Punchiest," Mr. Punch is not keen on seeing anyone killed.  Have he an Robert reached such a point that they would resort to ordering Orpha's murder?  Or, do they have something else in mind?

How will Mrs. Pepper react to a new kitchen maid, and furthermore, how will the household function without Jenny?  Meanwhile, Ethel's in a bad way.  She'll find comfort in the strangest of places.  And, Gerard and Gamilla begin to realize that their path to wedded bliss is much rockier than they imagined.

Come back on Monday as Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square continues.  If you've missed any chapters, you can find a link to and summary of each in the Chapter Archive.

Thanks for reading!

Royal Pets: Princes Ernest and Edward of Leiningen, 1839

Princes Ernest and Edward of

Leiningen, 1839

Sir William Ross

Watercolor on Ivory

The Royal Collection

Queen Victoria’s step-nephews (the sons of Charles, Third Prince of Leiningen, Victoria’s half-brother) visited the Queen in 1839 and took great pleasure in tearing around the Royal residences. Queen Victoria wrote in her journal during their visit, “‘The two dear (though very naughty) boys came and stayed in my room till near 12, alas for the last time.”

Princes Ernest and Edward of Leiningen were quite taken with the Royal animals—particularly Victoria’s favorite Skye Terrier, Islay and a parrot known as The Great Macaw. The Queen commissioned artist Sir William Ross to paint a miniature on ivory of the two boys. They are forever captured in play with Islay and the macaw as Ernest offers the parrot a biscuit which seems to also be the object of Islay’s desire.

Though we don’t know exactly when the two boys sat for Ross, we do know that the miniature was completed by the end of 1839.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Meissen Parrot, 1742

The famous Meissen modeller, and my personal favorite, J.J. Kändler was recorded in historical annals as having visited the menagerie housed at the royal Saxon hunting palace of Moritzburg briefly after joining the celebrated porcelain factory in 1731.

Kändler took great care in copying from life the rare and unusual creatures that were housed in the menagerie. The menagerie's magnificent aviaries afforded him an opportunity to produce models of all kinds of parrots, parakeets and cockatoos among the more vicious birds of prey which had been collected.

In the Eighteenth Century, exotic birds were admired not only for their exotic beauty, but their rarity. Such birds could only be seen in zoos or in the collections of very wealthy families. Therefore, these animals were considered symbols of extreme wealth. Rare birds were often included in artistic compositions to indicate vast riches and the wonders of the world.

So, it's only natural that Meissen would encourage Kändler to produce figures of the birds he had studied. Here we see one of these endeavors in this hard-paste porcelain parrot. It is very realistically modeled as it sits perched on a white tree stump with applied leaves and nuts or seeds. Its glorious plumage is painted in green, yellow, blue, puce and red enamels.