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JUNE 2, 2021

EVERY WEEK

Collectors’ issue

A rare view of the National Gallery The secret kindness of book dealers Staffordshire pottery and ‘real’ rocking horses

Your indispensable guide to the capital

IS THIS LONDON’S BEST ALTERNATIVE TO A SUMMER HOLIDAY ABROAD?

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Eataly, 135, Bishopsgate, EC2 Londoners no longer need to wrangle with Government restrictions, multiple 7*9 [LZ[Z HUK \UYLSPHISL ÅPNO[ ZJOLK\SLZ for a long-awaited slice of la dolce vita, because Eataly—Italy’s beloved food THYRL[·OHZ ÄUHSS` Å\UN VWLU [OL KVVYZ [V P[Z ÄYZ[ <2 SVJH[PVU 0[»Z ILLU ^VY[O [OL ^HP[ -VY Z[HY[LYZ UV W\U PU[LUKLK [OL ZP[L P[ZLSM UL_[ [V 3P]LYWVVS

Street Station) takes up a gargantuan ZX M[ VM ZWHJL V]LY [^V ÅVVYZ Inside, 5,000 Italian food products jostle for your attention, alongside three YLZ[H\YHU[Z H IHY HUK ZP_ JV\U[LYZ [OL MYLZO WHZ[H Z[H[PVU ZOV\SK IL `V\Y ÄYZ[ WVY[ VM JHSS ;OLYL HYL HSZV YLN\SHY NYV\W cooking classes and tastings and private L]LU[Z JHU IL HYYHUNLK \WVU YLX\LZ[

At Pasta e Pizza, the restaurant specialising in Italy’s two culinary staples, dough for [OL ^VVK ÄYLK WPaaHZ PZ SLH]LULK MVY hours and, at La Terrazza di Eataly, seasonal dishes and the accompanying cocktail menu have been created in JVSSHIVYH[PVU ^P[O (WLYVS Visit www.eataly.co.uk for more information and to book

LONDON LIFE

News

In full bloom RITISH FLOWERS WEEK, a campaign run by New Covent Garden Market in Vauxhall, SW8, returns for its ninth year on June 14. The week will celebrate all things British flowers, foliage and plants, as well as British florists, growers and wholesalers.

To promote the event, the organisers are asking people to display a single stem or garden bouquet in their window or to decorate a shop façade with British blooms and restaurants are being encouraged to add edible flowers to dishes. The Duchess of Cornwall has agreed to show her support for the second year running.

Flowers in bloom this month include peonies, roses, sunflowers and marigolds.

The Gardens Museum, SE1, is also getting involved: five British florists have been asked to create individual and innovative floral installations, available to view between June 10–15, alongside an exhibition on the 20th-century doyenne of flowers Constance Spry, open now and available until September 26. Elsewhere, renowned florists Shane Connolly and Simon Lycett, among others, will be hosting virtual workshops and garden tours.

To find out more, visit www.british flowersweek.com and, to show support, upload pictures of your displays to social media, tagging @marketflowers and using the hashtag #BritishFlowersWeek

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Spotted: a 100-strong herd of lifesize elephants migrating across London towards the Royal Parks.

The lantana sculptures—50 of which are currently in Chelsea—have all been made by Adivasi communities in India to raise awareness of the animal kingdom’s depleting natural habitats. At the invitation of The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, the herd will come together on July 14 in parks across the capital and then each elephant will be sold. The money raised will help protect rural communities from increasingly common conflicts with wild animals and expand protected areas (www. coexistence.org)

Art for Mayfair’s sake SELF-GUIDED art trail has popped up in London’s Mayfair. The second annual, month-long (until June 27) art exhibition features works from local galleries, which have been placed along Old Bond Street, New Bond Street, Burlington Arcade, Grosvenor Square and more.

Visitors and passers-by are being encouraged to download the SMARTIFY app and scan the QR code next to each work to access information and an audio guide.

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Ready to take flight HE general public has voted to name the Tower of London’s newest and smallest resident—a baby raven that hatched in lockdown— Branwen, in a naming ceremony broadcast live on BBC Breakfast.

Branwen is a girl’s name of Celtic origin and means blessed raven.

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News

LONDON LIFE

Book now, go later • Following a run of soldout shows in 2019, a group of London’s top cabaret performers are back with Ashes to Ashes, a David Bowie song, dance, comedy and cabaret show. Tickets are available for performances on July 28 and 29 at Wilton’s Music Hall, E1, and proceeds will go to the London-based charity Cabaret vs Cancer (www.wiltons.org.uk)

As clear as a (refurbished) bell HE refurbishment of Parliament’s Elizabeth Tower is back on track, and the bells, including Big Ben, will ring again from early next year.

The giant clock tower has been largely silent since conservation work began in 2017 and the cost has spiralled somewhat out of control (thanks, in part, to Covid-related

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delays), rising £18.6 million from the first estimate to £79.7 million.

The Government recently confirmed that installation of the restored clock mechanism will begin this summer, that the scaffolding will start to come down in the autumn and that the bells will be reconnected early in the new year.

The lady’s lamp goes out EVELOPERS City & Country have released the first images of their latest project: a collection of one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, in the heart of southwest London.

The 1840, St George’s Gardens, formerly Springfield Hospital, is walking distance from Tooting and Wandsworth Commons

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and residents will have access to nine acres of private gardens, as well as 32 acres of adjoining public parkland. City & Country have retained plenty of the building’s original features, including the gabled roof, parapets and embattled towers.

Flats from £375,000; to register interest, visit www.cityandcountry.co.uk

Alamy; Getty

£1,000,000,000 The cost of delayed road-maintenance work on London’s roads, according to the London Technical Advisers Group fourth annual State of the City report

• Performances of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit show Hamilton return to the Victoria Palace Theatre, SW1, on August 19.

Tickets are available to book now (www.hamiltonmusical.com)

• An adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, starring Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell, opens at the Gielgud Theatre, W1, on September 23 for a nine-week run. Tickets are available now (www.themirrorandthelight.co.uk)

LONDON LIFE Editor Rosie Paterson Editor-in-chief Mark Hedges Sub-editing Octavia Pollock, James Fisher Art Heather Clark, Ben Harris, Steven Mumby, Sarah Readman, Dean Usher Pictures Lucy Ford, Emily Anderson Advertising Oliver Pearson 07961 800887 Email firstname.surname@futurenet.com

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LONDON LIFE

Clerkenwell

EC1

LITTLE BLACK BOOK Old Red Lion Theatre This theatre-pub flies the flag for the area’s thespian tradition, in the tradition of the 17th-century Red Bull and Fortune theatres (418, St John Street) Timorous Beasties From seaweed prints to graffiti, this is the place to come for unusual fabrics (44–46, Amwell Street) St John On the border with Barbican, this restaurant brought offal back onto the nation’s menu (26, St John Street) MagCulture A store with one of London’s largest and best selections of magazines (270, St John Street)

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All’s well in Clerkenwell Its renovated warehouse buildings feel thoroughly modern, but this creative district in the capital can trace its roots back to medieval times, finds Carla Passino

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MEDIEVAL well lies hidden inside a brick office block on Farringdon Lane. It may look little more than a hole in the ground, but it’s from there that Clerkenwell came to life. ‘The parish clerks from the City of London would come to perform plays and read from the Bible and, because they gathered around this particular well, it became known as the well of the Clerks,’ explains Mark Aston, localhistory manager for Islington Council, under

which authority Clerkenwell falls. ‘It’s not only water that sprung from it, but Clerkenwell’s name itself.’

The well originally belonged to the nunnery of St Mary, one of the many religious institutions that found their home in the parish, which, in the Middle Ages, was blessed with a sizeable river (the Fleet, now interred), fertile land, meadows and orchards. ‘Clerkenwell was right outside the London city walls, but close enough to it, so was ideal for monasteries.

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Clerkenwell

With four or five in the area, people came to serve them, shops opened and you had quite a nice little village.’

The Knights of St John followed in St Mary’s wake, founding their priory in 1144. But the Dissolution of the Monasteries sparked a series of vicissitudes that saw the complex turn into Mary Tudor’s house, return to the order during her Catholic Restoration, become the office of the Master of Revelry in Elizabethan times (when 30 Shakespeare plays were licensed there), and, later, suffer the ravages of neglect, falling attendances and wartime bombing. Now the site is once again home to the Order of St John, heir to the original knights: behind its 18th-century façade, the Priory Church hides the original 12thcentury crypt in its bowels (open by appointment) and, across St John’s Square, the Gate —built in Tudor times, although reworked by the Victorians—houses a museum tracing

the order’s history (www.museumstjohn. org.uk). In 2016, incumbent COUNTRY LIFE Editor Mark Hedges marked his 10-year anniversary inside the order’s Chapter Hall.

‘The prison was the setting of a devastating “gunpowder plot”, the Clerkenwell explosion’ Still, St John’s had better luck than St Mary’s, the site of which eventually became a prison.

In 1867, it was the setting of a devastating ‘gunpowder plot’, the Clerkenwell explosion, in which the Fenians tried to blow up the walls to free two prisoners. They failed, but killed 12 people in the process, sparking so much anger that the event is thought to have set back the cause of Irish home rule. Karl Marx,

LONDON LIFE

in London at the time, didn’t mince words, noting in a letter to Friedrich Engels that ‘the last exploit of the Fenians in Clerkenwell was a very stupid thing. The London masses, who have shown great sympathy for Ireland, will be made wild by it and be driven into the arms of the government party’.

Although he lived in Belsize Park, Marx was a well-known figure in 19th-century Clerkenwell, where the Marx Memorial Library stands today, in the very Green in which Dickens had the Artful Dodger show Oliver Twist how to pick pockets. The Marx Memorial Library, originally constructed in 1738, was used by a mattress-maker, a watchmaker and some printers, after a spell as a pub. By the mid 19th century, however, it had become associated with the radical movement that campaigned for universal male suffrage and social reform. It soon evolved into a meeting point for trade unionists and, in 1865, Marx gave 29

LONDON LIFE

Clerkenwell

two lectures there. His daughter Eleanor, a socialist campaigner, also worked at the building, which, by 1880, had become a print shop for the Social Democratic Federation, the Twentieth Century Press, of which William Morris was a key benefactor. ‘Eleanor would have helped to edit the newspaper that was produced there, Justice,’ explains Alex Gordon, the library’s chair. ‘In 1902, when Lenin came to London for the first time, he edited his own newspaper there: Iskra (which means the spark) was printed at Clerkenwell Green, then taken to the docks of London, so it could be smuggled into Tsarist Russia.’

Eventually, another artist, Clive Branson, bought the building and founded, in 1933, the Marx Memorial Library, which now houses a vast collection of radical pamphlets, books and letters, including the records of British and Irish volunteers that fought in Spanish Civil War (www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk).

Clerkenwell Green is to celebrate another revolutionary mind, suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst, with a statue that should be unveiled next year (www.sylviapankhurst.gn.apc.org).

A handful of years before Marx gave his lectures at what would become his library, Clerkenwell saw the arrival of two large waves of immigrants: the Irish and the Italians. The

former mostly worked on the railways and canals, and tended to move north, but the latter, says Mr Aston, became part of the local fabric. ‘They brought their skills, so you had organ-makers, ash felters, alabaster- and marble-workers, musicians and, of course, icecream makers. The community has dispersed now, but there still are pockets: a few delis, St Peter’s Italian church and, every year, there’s the procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It didn’t take place last year because of lockdown, but hopefully it will this year.’

‘The Victorian era brought new streets and the world’s first public underground railway’ The Victorian era also brought changes of a different kind: new streets (Rosebery Avenue and Clerkenwell Road) and the world’s first public underground railway, the Metropolitan line between Paddington and Farringdon, which opened in January 1863. ‘It was quite revolutionary: you had workers travelling through London and the rest is history,’ says Mr Aston. Harking back to those days, a new

THE UPS AND DOWNS

Residents love the atmosphere: ‘Clerkenwell still feels like a village, especially on a Saturday or Sunday,’ says local historian Mark Aston Residents like the many local pubs, such as the Crown, the tiny Jerusalem Tavern, the Harlequin and the Sekforde Residents could do with a little more green space

Tube line looks set to change Clerkenwell’s history once more: the Elizabeth line will stop at Farringdon station, which is expected to become one of London’s busiest stops.

This will make transport easier for the new trades—designers; creative agencies—that are taking over the old Victorian warehouses.

The Museum of London is also moving into part of old Smithfield, so it’s going to make the area even more vibrant,’ points out Mr Aston. ‘There’s a lot for Clerkenwell to look forward to in the future—but hopefully as well as keeping a foot in the past and remembering its history.’

At home in Clerkenwell

Amwell Street, £2.5 million

With four to five bedrooms, this Grade II-listed Georgian house is ideal for a family. The almost 1,900sq ft interiors make the most of original features, which have been paired with periodauthentic ones. Contemporary touches have been introduced, too, such as the kitchen with Sub-Zero and Gaggenau appliances, the bathrooms with walk-in rain showers and underfloor heating throughout. The paved garden is perfect for alfresco dining. Hamptons (020– 3369 4378; www.hamptons.co.uk)

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Britton Street, £3.25 million

Plenty of space awaits behind the blue door of this Grade II-listed Georgian house, which overlooks St John’s Gardens. The interiors span 3,235sq ft across five floors, some of which are connected by a glass lift.

A self-contained apartment takes up the lower ground floor, with an open-plan kitchen and dining area, office and reception rooms on the raised ground floor and the bedrooms on the top floors. Winkworth (020– 7405 1288; www.winkworth.co.uk)

Dallington Square, £3,532 pcm

An early-20th-century stable complex, Dallington Square was converted into mews houses in 1998 and this twobedroom, warehouse-style duplex occupies the ground and first floor.

The 1,228sq ft interiors, with their high ceilings, large windows and exposed brickwork, are split into a vast openplan kitchen, dining and reception area, with two bedrooms upstairs.

The property also comes with a small decked garden at the front. Dexters (020–7483 6369; www.dexters.co.uk)

LONDON LIFE

The great and the good

Seasonal suggestions Strong and sweet native lobster are usually pot-caught off the coast of the UK between June and September. Here’s where to go for a shellfish feast Best for big spenders J. Sheekey, WC2 (if you’re a couple, ask to sit at the bar; if you’re with friends, on the terrace; www.j-sheekey.co.uk) and Scott’s, W1 (where the lobster comes grilled, thermidor or with mayonnaise; www.scotts-restaurant. com), are reliable seafood favourites

Best for eating at home Buy your own at Billingsgate Fish Market, E14. There are more than 40 merchants trading at any one time, which keeps prices low Best for something different The executive chef at Claridge’s, Martyn Nail, is famous on Instagram for his whole lobster Wellington. It’s a work of culinary art (www.claridges.co.uk)

Here’s looking at

• The first red telephone box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott—the architect behind Waterloo Bridge and the original Battersea Power Station—in 1924. His first attempt, the K2, was considered too expensive for national use and was produced exclusively for London. Each box weighed twice as much as a grand piano. The K6 followed in 1935, to commemorate George V’s silver jubilee, and was installed across the country, as well as in Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar • Rarer designs include the K3 (cream-coloured; one still exists next to the Penguin Beach exhibit at ZSL London Zoo) and the short-lived K4 (a telephone, post box and stamp dispenser hybrid-box) • In 1980, British Telecom assumed responsibility for the boxes and announced that they were going to paint them all yellow. A national campaign, spearheaded by The Daily Mail, prevented such a thing from happening, but a large number were replaced with steel and glass designs (2,000 were listed and couldn’t be touched). In recent years, the original boxes have been repurposed into libraries, defibrillator booths and mini art exhibitions, thanks in part to BT’s Adopt a Kiosk scheme (www.business. bt.com/campaigns/communities/adopt-a-kiosk). One in Russell Square, WC1, even dispenses home-made tiramisu

Shop of the month

Roullier White

12 5, LORDSHIP L ANE , SE2 2

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Open Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 5.30pm, and Sunday, 11am to 5pm (www.roullierwhite.com)

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OULLIER WHITE stocks a selection of tableware and home accessories, but it’s best known for its impressive array of fine fragrance—for interiors (including hotels) and for the body. Founded by Lawrence Roullier White back in 2004, it is now run by his husband, Michael Donovan (White died in early 2017), who sends out a handy digital newsletter every week.

Mr Donovan is particularly excited about three new lines: a collection of bowls, plates and jugs in ‘golden yellow, blushing coral and sea green’, all handcrafted in Andalucia, Spain, by a ‘demi-god of a ceramicist’ called Juan; recycled-glass ‘grape’ lamps from Syria; egg coddlers, a favourite of his grandmother’s and the last Russian Tsar, reimagined by a Scandinavian designer. ‘I have been experimenting with mine and am utterly hooked.’

When it comes to fragrance, Mr Donovan recommends the shop’s own brand September in Sicily candles or Urban Apothecary’s Fig Tree for the kitchen and anything floral in the bedroom: ‘If one falls asleep to the scent of flowers (roses in particular), one never has a nightmare.’

Illustration by Polly Crossman; Getty; National Trust Images/Arnhel de Serra

Best on a budget Not quite the sea, but almost: The Grand Duchess, W2, is a seafood restaurant aboard a static boat in the Paddington Basin, with 90% of its fish from Cornish fishermen, including the lobster (www.londonshellco.com)

LONDON LIFE

M Y P L AT E O F V I E W

The Red Duck, 1, Ramsden Road, SW12

A green space FENTON HOUSE AND GARDEN, HAMPSTEAD GROVE NW3

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HE garden at Fenton House is truly one of London’s best-kept secrets: just up the hill from Hampstead underground station, this 17th-century merchant’s house, now owned by the National Trust, has high yew hedges and a tall brick wall to keep out prying eyes.

Only the roses tumbling over the top give

a hint of the delights within—and there are many, from the immaculately striped formal lawn, with its herbaceous border and pictureperfect topiary, to the sunken rose garden and the wildly romantic 300-year-old orchard.

Early June is one of the best times to visit, when the alliums are out, the echiums buzz with bees and the air is heavy with the scent of mock orange.

For more green-space inspiration, read ‘A London Floral’ by Natasha Goodfellow, out now (Finch Publishing, £ 8.50)

London curiosities ON THE FACE OF IT

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HE entrance to Doulton Pottery on Black Prince Road, Lambeth SE1, is a terracotta extravaganza designed by Stark Wilkinson in 1878.

The panel over the entrance shows the pottery studio and was modelled

by George Tinworth.

Psst... pass it on

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HEF, restaurateur and food writer Yotam Ottolenghi opens his fifth London deli this month, his first in six years, on Marylebone Lane, W1. Designed to look like an art gallery, the deli will have a walk-in communal dining area and rotating menu. Look out for the pistachio, rose water and semolina cake.

What is a neighbourhood restaurant?

The obvious answer is a restaurant in your neighbourhood. But The Red Duck, a contemporary Chinese headed up by Hakkasan’s Chi San, is in Balham and slightly sleepy, slightly smug Balham is definitely not my patch of south London. And yet, The Red Duck is definitely a neighbourhood restaurant—and more specifically, my neighbourhood restaurant. I feel as if we have a relationship. Ours was a long-distance one at first: it opened in January, so it was takeaway only to start with. Ordering became my Sunday-night tradition, a happy peak in the otherwise featureless landscape of early 2021—I don’t have many happy memories of that time, but taking the lid off a pot of The Red Duck’s salt and pepper tofu is one of them.

Finally, outdoor dining re-opens and The Red Duck opens, properly.

The staff greet people whose names, including mine, they recognise from the takeaway days like old friends. The restaurant has a handsome wooden terrace at the front on Ramsden Road that’s perfect for sitting out on with a bowl of prawn crackers (made with fresh shrimp and a special spice blend) and the wine list. Here, that’s as much of a draw as the food. Andreja Corokalo has put together a first-class lowintervention and organic selection; we pick a light, but spicy Dalmatian red that proves an ideal match for the bold flavours. Prawn balls are a take on sesame prawn toast, lent the most delightful crunch from panko breadcrumbs and served with chilli-pickled cabbage on the side. The char siu pork is a marvel, with meat from H. G. Walter that’s darkly barked without and juicy within, perfectly complemented by the umami depth of three-mushroom fried rice. Meanwhile, a zingy rice vermicelli, beansprout and peanut salad cuts through all the richness.

Next to us, a family is sharing a whole crispy aromatic duck and pancakes, as a couple are unselfconsciously gnawing on jasmine tea-smoked ribs.

This friendly, local bird is flying high— and it might even change my mind about Balham. Emma Hughes

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LONDON LIFE

The great and the good

June at a glance We’re all guilty of ignoring what’s on our doorstep, so we’ve made it easier for you. Here’s what’s happening this month

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Covent Garden is playing host to the world’s most extensive collection of the work of street artist Banksy

Somerset House/Kevin Meredith; Rickard Monéus

From top: The Forest for Change in the courtyard at Somerset House; the multi-sensory van Gogh exhibition; a delivery box from Provenance Village Butcher

HE sun is finally shining, which means that barbecue season is, at long last, upon us.

Provenance Village Butcher (multiple locations) has launched a same-day barbecue-box delivery service, which can include classic or themed pre-marinated skewers, ribs and side dishes, among other things. The company can even throw in a portable grill or selection of ready-to-drink cocktails (www.deliveries.provenancebutcher. com). Family-run delicatessen Colette (www.colette.co.uk) is also jumping on the bandwagon. Its latest store in Wimbledon Village, SW19, will stock pre-prepared barbecue meats, alongside the already popular beef wellington. If you need to brush up on grilling skills–no one likes a charred sausage–Marylebone’s Carousel restaurant, W1–home to a revolving line-up of guest chefs and workshops–is holding barbecue masterclasses on July 10, August 7 and September 4 (www. carousel-london.com). The only thing better than a well-fed person is a wellcultured one and public museums and galleries are now open. Snag a ticket to Yayoi Kusama’s glittery and immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms at Tate Modern, SE1, open until June 12, 2022, where you’ll also find 200 works by Rodin, many of which have never been seen outside France. ‘The Making of Rodin’ runs until November 21 (www. tate.org.uk). In Covent Garden, the world’s most extensive collection of street artist Banksy’s work is on display. The unauthorised exhibition is open to the public at 50, Earlham Street, WC2, until November 21 (www.artofbanksy.co.uk).

In Kensington Gardens, W8, a multi-sensory exhibition on Vincent van Gogh is open until September 26 (www.vangoghaliveuk.com).

And for the rest of June, Somerset House, WC2, is inviting visitors to reflect on the climate crisis: the stand-out installation is a 400-tree forest in the courtyard (www.somersethouse.org.uk).

A WALK ON THE

WILD SIDE ZSL London Zoo is open to the public once again. Eleanor Doughty was first in through the gates to greet some of the residents and go behind the scenes of the charity’s conservation programmes

LONDON LIFE

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T’S 9am on a Friday morning and I am being stared at by a gorilla. He blinks, I blink back, and then hastily look away, not fancying my chances against a great ape. This is a normal encounter at ZSL London Zoo, which re-opened in April after restrictions were lifted. Once upon a time, it had a bear pit, but the raucous crowds of the 18th century are long gone. Instead, a Covidcompliant one-way system is in action, guiding visitors decorously from penguin to post.

‘In 1828, the zoo had an orangutan, an Arabian oryx and a now-extinct thylacine on display’

ZSL/Dave Stevenson; Getty; Zoological Society of London/Bridgeman Images

The zoo was established in Regent’s Park, NW1, in 1826, by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, and the chemist Sir Humphry Davy. In April 1828, it opened for the first time to fellows of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), with an orangutan, an Arabian oryx, and the now-extinct thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial, among other creatures, on display. Given a Royal Charter

by George IV the following year, the zoo opened to the public in 1847. A list published in 1883 of ‘the vertebrate animals now or lately living in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London’ runs to more than 700 pages, listing an extraordinary array of creatures, from the yellow-legged herring gull to the crab-eating opossum. An official guide, published in 1911 and sold for sixpence, listed a ‘polar bears’ pond’, a ‘mouse-house’ and a ‘deer and cattle-house’.

Noble procession: the last time elephants were walked from the docks to the zoo, in 1923

In 1915, a female black bear called Winnipeg, or Winnie, who had been rescued by Lt Harry Colebourn, a member of the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps, came to live at the zoo. After the war, an up-and-coming writer called Alan Milne visited Winnie, bringing with him his young son Christopher. Various accounts exist of the young Milne’s reaction to Winnie, who was quite tame; the author Enid Blyton reported that ‘the bear hugged Christopher and they had a glorious time together, rolling about’. Not long after, both bear and writer shot to fame: Mr Milne as the celebrated children’s author A. A. Milne, and Winnie as his silly old bear Winnie-thePooh. A statue of Lt Colebourn and his bear now stands near the zoo’s war memorial.

Facing page: Asiatic lion Bhanu, whose name means ‘the sun’ in Hindi, is known to be ‘very talkative’. Above: Do not disturb: hipppotami Neville and Daisy bask in 1953

Today, there are more than 750 species, comprising about 20,000 animals, from Bactrian camels to organ-pipe coral. Nicholas Burnham is a zookeeper working with the 19 species of primates in the zoo—gorillas, gibbons, and macaques among them. His day begins at 8am: ‘You come in and feed the animals, check their health, clean the exhibits, and get them ready for the public to arrive at 10am,’ says Mr Burnham.

Gorillas, perhaps contrary to their appearance (and size, as males can weigh up to 200kg), are ‘one of the calmest great apes, and really fun to play with,’ says Mr Burnham, as five-year-old Gernot surveys us from above, smooshing his face against the glass.

‘They will just watch you,’ says Mr Burnham.

‘They don’t trust you straightaway—you’ve got to earn their trust.’ The gorillas’ indoor gym at the zoo is ‘reflective of the canopystyle environment in which they’d be found in west Africa,’ says the keeper.

London Zoo has nutritionists to manage the animals’ diets and vegetables arrive thrice weekly from New Covent Garden Market in Vauxhall, SW8. Alongside the giant fridges in the kitchen and a freezer containing brown bread (a treat for the okapis) stands a selection of perfumes and spices.

These are part of the animals’ enrichment.

‘Anything you can stimulate them with to keep them entertained throughout the day, we use,’ explains Mr Burnham. In hot weather, the gorillas have ice lollies, although not lollies we’d want to eat: ‘Squash with some pulses inside, perhaps some sweetcorn, peas, and chickpeas. And we’ll put a twig in it, so they can actually hold it like a lolly.’

Over in the lion enclosure, keepers spray 39

LONDON LIFE

Above: No dentist required here: the Tiger Territory is home to Sumatran tigers. Right: Magnificent lowland gorilla Mjukuu, known as Jookie, is mother to Alika and Gernot perfume on trees to stimulate the animal’s natural instincts. ‘Bhanu, our male lion, will follow the scent and spray his own on the trees.’ Chilli is given out in small quantities, but ‘the tigers prefer ginger,’ reveals Mr Burnham. ‘Any colognes you don’t want, please donate them because we will use them.’

‘In hot weather, the gorillas have ice lollies, although not lollies we’d want to eat’ More than one million people visited the zoo in 2019, but it is not merely a visitor attraction. Ticket sales help to fund global research into some of the planet’s most endangered animals. One of the zoo’s longrunning projects is the conservation of the Partula snail, native to French Polynesia.

Starting in 1994, the zoo has coordinated an international breeding programme and visitors can visit the Partula lab as part of the new ‘Tiny Giants’ exhibition, which focuses on the smallest animals on earth.

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Paul Pearce-Kelly has worked at the zoo since 1982, when he began studying mammals.

Today, he is the zoo’s senior curator, specialising in invertebrates. ‘I’ve been blessed, having this opportunity,’ he says. ‘In the past 30 years, we’ve developed more invertebratefocused work than pretty much any other collection in the world.’ Of course, the work goes beyond the lab; ZSL has been involved in conserving Siberian tigers in Russia since 2006, cheetahs in Africa since 2007 and angel sharks in Spanish waters since 2013. The zoo community, attests Mr Pearce-Kelly, is a special, global one. ‘Some 10% of the world’s population goes through the main zoos every year. If you can reach even a small percentage of those people, you can change policy.’

As well as research, the zoo has long been a place for quiet contemplation. Mr PearceKelly explains that, in the lead up to the First World War, minister for war and keen ornithologist Sir Edward [later Viscount] Grey would come to the birdhouse to help settle his mind. The zoo plays an important role in the city’s identity, he adds. ‘There’s a sense that it’s simply part of London—and I like that.

There is a collective cultural element to it.’

LONDON LIFE

Have you lived in Chelsea all your life?

I lived here all my childhood. I was born in a tiny Regency cottage in St Luke’s Street.

There was no bathroom and I was bathed in an old tub, so it was real old Chelsea. My mother had fallen in love with the area when she was an ATS [Auxiliary Territorial Service] driver at Chelsea Barracks during the Second World War, and the whole thing of it being full of artists attracted her.

After going to college and living in Florence, I spent 20 years in Hampstead. It was chance that brought me back to Chelsea, because Rick [Stroud, the film-maker and writer and Alexandra’s now husband] was living on a boat there. Author Esther Freud said to me: ‘You’ve fallen in love with a man—and a boat!’

‘One reason I love the Chelsea Arts Club is that it’s a little bit of old Chelsea’ How has the area changed?

It was incredibly exciting when the 1960s arrived. My mother had been at art school with Mary Quant and then Bazaar opened— the shop that changed the whole world with the mini skirt. My mother used to stop and chat to her. Watching all these glorious people walking down the King’s Road like peacocks was enthralling. And then, rather sadly, the bankers started arriving. One of the reasons I love the Chelsea Arts Club is that it’s a little bit of old Chelsea. Rick has been a member for even longer than me. He’s been the chairman and sings in the choir. In the summer, we love to sit in the garden there. It’s a very important part of our lives.

Do you belong to any other clubs?

I’ve been a member of the Groucho for more than 30 years and have spent many hours there. Bloomsbury is in Bloomsbury now, but it was in Soho for years. Quo Vadis is heaven—I eat lunch there a lot. I love the corner seat and the flowers and the chef 42

Small shops, such as John Sandoe books, are favourites

T H E C A P I TA L A C C O R D I N G T O ...

Alexandra Pringle The editor-in-chief of Bloomsbury Publishing and Chelsea resident talks to Flora Watkins about living on a houseboat and dining in Soho [Jeremy Lee] is wonderful. I like small dishes, so Polpo does me very well. We published [restaurateur] Russell Norman’s Polpo and Spuntino and the former, in particular, was a huge success.

I also have a very soft spot for The French House in Soho. My parents, in their bohemian youth, used to drink there, then I did, and then my son. Now, I’m past my pub phase of life, but I love eating upstairs.

back to life as well. It seems so large, but it’s full of villages and everybody is connected.

Which author best captures the spirit of London?

I think Esther does it very well. Her second novel, Peerless Flats, was brilliant at that, particularly the sort of harder, tougher bits of London. I published a biography of her father, Lucian Freud, by William Feaver, and his descriptions of Lucian’s life in London are enthralling and also bring my London

Houseboat residents took their landlord to the High Court over a huge increase in licence and mooring fees. Is your future secure?

At the moment, we don’t know what’s happening. It’s so sad and we try not to think about it. We’ll make a new adventure if we must, but I’d love to live here for as long as I’m physically able to stagger down the gangplank.

Any more favourite haunts?

It’s wonderful that the market culture is coming back, with all the farmers’ markets. We go to South Kensington and Duke of York’s Square.

I love John Sandoe, my local bookshop, and Daunt Books on Marylebone Road; also Lutyens & Rubinstein. I love small shops.

Getty; Neil Spence

What is it like living on a houseboat?

Waking up, particularly on a high tide, is really lovely and, of course, it’s always different because the tides alter every day and the light changes. You never quite know when the boat’s going to float. Sometimes, you wake in the middle of the night because the tide is coming in and the boat rocks a bit and kind of sings to itself.

VOL CCXVI NO 22, JUNE 2, 2021

Miss Amelia Duncan and Miss Milly Simmonds Amelia and Milly are the co-founders of Olive & Co, a table-design and events styling business, named after Milly’s daughter. Their debut tableware collection launches later this year.

Photographed by David Yeo

Contents June 2, 2021

‘We like to be/Heads down, tails up/dabbling free!’: mute-swan cygnets in Derbyshire echo Kenneth Grahame’s ducks a-dabbling

This week

The National Gallery, London WC2 (Will Pryce/ Country Life Picture Library)

Cover stories

84 Free for the nation As museums open again at last, John Goodall examines the architecture of the great National Gallery in London 90 You either love ’em or hate ’em Homely Staffordshire figures are still treasured for their humour and the stories they tell, discovers Catriona Gray 94 Dear reader...

Lovers of fine books need only visit a kindly dealer to begin their collection, reveals Huon Mallalieu 66

23 LONDON LIFE Exploring creative Clerkenwell, behind the scenes at London Zoo, red telephone boxes and living on the River Thames 78 Peter Sheppard’s favourite painting The Norfolk Churches Trust chairman on a Venetian scene 80 Good for body and soul Fiona Reynolds is enchanted by two astonishing Suffolk churches 82 The tranquil reaper June is the time of the sweeping, soothing scythe, muses Amy Jeffs 100 Jeepers creepers!

Adorning our hedgerows is a tangle of sweet scents and juicy berries. Simon Lester admires our wild climbers

108 The good stuff Hetty Lintell covets the queenly pearl, June’s lustrous birthstone 110 Interiors Investment pieces worth keeping, selected by Amelia Thorpe 114 Me old china English decorative ceramics are inspiring a new generation of artists, finds Arabella Youens 126 Back to the future Past and present are blended to perfection at Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire, finds George Plumptre 136 Adding insult to injury James Fisher looks ahead to the Test series against New Zealand

Every week 68 Town & Country 72 Notebook 74 Letters 75 Agromenes 76 Athena 118 Property market 122 Property comment 124 Properties of the week 125 In the garden 132 Art market 137 Bridge and crossword 138 Classified advertisements 142 Spectator 142 Tottering-by-Gently

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NaturePL

104 Come ride with me Rocking horses, especially if based on a real steed, are as popular with adults as they are with children, says Jane Wheatley

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Dog days H

E serves without servility; he has fought without enmity’. The ‘he’ in these lines is the horse of Ronald Duncan’s poem. Unfortunately, horses and other faithful animal companions have not always been accorded the same loyalty. However, later this month, the maximum prison sentence for animal cruelty in England and Wales will be increased from six months to five years, bringing it into line with Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as countries such as Canada, Latvia and India, through the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill. The perpetrator may now receive the same maximum sentence as a fly-tipper, which illustrates how overdue this change is.

For a country that started the RSPCA and The Brooke and which professes to be a nation of knowledgeable animal lovers, there have been some horrifying cases, after which judges have admitted they longed to have had a more drastic sentence to hand.

The sentience of animals—their ability to feel pain, starvation and distress—is PPA Magazine Brand of the Year 2019 PPA Front Cover of the Year 2018 British Society of Magazine Editors Columnist of the Year (Special Interest) 2016 British Society of Magazine Editors Scoop of the Year 2015/16 PPA Specialist Consumer Magazine of the Year 2014/15 British Society of Magazine Editors Innovation of the Year 2014/15

enshrined in EU law, but was not initially adopted back into the British system, partly due to fears that it would be hijacked by prejudice and politics. There are practicalities: most people agree with a ban on the export of livestock in hideous conditions, but we simultaneously need to restore the network of local abattoirs here. There must be scope to review wild-animal populations and, if necessary, cull them expertly and accurately. If only some of the activists who seek to thwart such processes would apply the same energy to preventing genuine cruelty.

Apart from the fact that the most sadistic treatment of animals—fortunately rare—is

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often aligned with violence towards humans, mental-health problems or poverty, unkindness is more usually inflicted through ignorance. During a constructive debate in the Lords, Baroness Mallalieu, president of the Countryside Alliance, noted that ignorance and misguided sentimentality are the key problems. Many dogs are being relinquished with the speed with which they were acquired during lockdown; equine charities report overwhelming numbers of abandoned horses.

Exorbitant puppy prices are driving irresponsible breeding and theft. Last week, it was reported that sentences for this crime may also be increased, to reflect the trauma to owners rather than financial value; there could be penalties for leaving dogs alone for too long—a looming issue as owners return to offices—and Defra is clamping down on sheep worrying. It really is all about education and not making animals political pawns.

To return to Duncan’s ode: ‘All our history is his industry; we are his heirs; he our inheritance.’ At times, that inheritance is shabby.

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Town & Country

Edited by Annunciata Elwes The Epsom Derby returns this weekend—an event often called the greatest Flat race on Earth that, for many, signals the beginning of summer.

Artist Elie Lambert’s Derby Week, Epsom captures the spirit perfectly. The former bloodstock agent and racing correspondent— who, in 2012, lived in a horse box at Goodwood when painting a giant canvas for The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee—loves to depict racehorses and the elegant crowds that gather to cheer them on, as reflected in his upcoming exhibition at Osborne Studio Gallery, London SW1 (June 14 to July 3)

A grey area MONG the multitude of responses to the Government’s new £500 million England Trees Action Plan (‘Best green foot forward’, Town & Country, May 19), the European Squirrel Initiative (ESI) has come forward with a major issue. Trebling tree planting rates to 7,000 hectares (17,297 acres) of new woodland in England per year by 2024 (and 30,000 hectares (74,132 acres) through the UK per year from 2025) is a fine intention, but the organisation wonders at the plan’s seeming omission of grey-squirrel control, without which new woodland and community forests, particularly broadleaf trees, would be undermined. In 2019, ESI research found that grey squirrels cost the UK economy about £40 million every year through stripping the bark of young trees; funding for ongoing studies into gene editing, which the organisation believes is the key, needs to be a factor.

As well as driving re ed squirrels to near extinction and predatin ng woodland birds, grey squirrels are ‘the number n one threat to lowland silviculture and a our broadleaf woodlands’ explain ns forester and ESI trustee Charless Dutton, a fact on which ‘a Royal Forestry Society [RFS] survey s in March supports ou r own

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research… If the Go overnment is serious abou ut the large-scale expanssion of growing trees to combat c climate change, it has got to get serious about grey-squirrel contro ol and help fund the research that is needed.’ d d ’ He H cites it the grant-aided tree planting of 1988–90 to replace oaks lost in 1987 storms; most of those trees were destroyed as a result of damage caused by grey squirrels.

RFS chief executive Christopher Williams adds that ‘creating new woodland and planting more trees is only the start of a decades, sometimes centuries, long journey that requires a multitude of skills’. He fully supports ‘plans to plant millions of new trees’, but says ‘long-term management skills and training [must be] central… The management of pests such as grey squirrels and deer needs to be part of that training training’..

In fact, responds a Defra group spokess person, ‘we are committed to en nsuring the wide-ranging impacts of in nvasive non-native species are reduced d… [as] invasive non-native species such Any discussion on tree planting must include controlling grey squirrels, say the ESI

ass grey squirrel and mu untjac deer threaten ourr native biodiversity and c cost the economy £1.8 billion a year.’ Defra also refers to the Invasive Alien Species S i O Order, d which came into force in December 2019, and points out that, as part of the UK Squirrel Accord—the 39 signatories of which also include ESI and RFS—the Government supports work to develop an oral contraceptive for grey squirrels and has contributed £244,000 to the Animal and Plant Health Agency so far. ‘We are undertaking a number of initiatives to curb the impact of grey squirrels, with our England Trees Action Plan to include an update to the Grey Squirrel Action Plan—and ongoing work to help support the recovery of native red-squirrel populations across the country.’

For all the latest news, visit countrylife.co.uk

Good week for Dog detectives Sniffer dogs are better at detecting Covid-19 infections than lateral flow tests, says charityy Medical Detection Dogs British Game Alliance £5 from every Game Fair (July 23–25 at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire) ticket sold using code ‘BGA2021’ goes to the not-for-profit organisation; 120,000 are expected Saved from the cooking pot Two rare orange lobsters have been rescued from a Leicester fish counter, after a discerning shopper spotted them. Only one in 30 million Canadian lobsters are orange

Is there something in my teeth? Six Californian sea lions new to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park’s lake were spotted enjoying a rare spell of sunshine last week by photographer Danny Lawson

The fishing industry Last year saw 1 million freshwater rod licences purchased, up 16%, a boom that has allowed the Environment Agency to spend more on stocks, biodiversity and habitats

‘Tensions calmées is infused with Kandinsky’s own distinctly musical and poetic sensibilities,’ says Helena Newman of Sotheby’s. The Abstract masterpiece will feature in the June 29 live-streamed Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale by the auction house, after being exhibited in New Bond Street from June 22.

For sale for the first time in nearly 60 years, it is a former Guggenheim acquisition and Sotheby’s has high hopes, with ‘the top three prices for the artist having been set in these rooms over the past five years’

Speak of the devil Seven baby Tasmanian devils have been born on the Australian mainme in 3,000 years land for the first time

Bad week fo or

The healing power of Nature HOSE with green fingers may be inspired to branch out with the launch of a new book, The Garden Apothecary: Recipes, Remedies and Rituals. As well as running folklore and foraging workshops, author Christine Iverson—who cites Pliny the Elder and 17th-century botanist Nicholas Culpeper among her inspirations and whose previous book on hedgerows achieved critical acclaim— teaches schoolchildren about medieval and Tudor medicine at the Weald and Downland Living Museum near Chichester in West Sussex.

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Trees and trains For every ticket booked through Trainhugger, a tree will be planted in the UK; the new service donates a third of its revenue to the cause

From agrimony to viola, her plant-by-plant guide weaves history and folk medicine together with practical advice.

‘Whether it’s in the hedgerows or in my own back garden, foraging gives me a real connection to Nature aand the changing seasons,’ she says.

‘It also ignited in me a real passion ffor discovering the folklore and ssuperstitions of our ancestors and how they used the plants around them not only for food, but for health and wellbeing, too. Best of all—it’s free!’ The Garden Apothecary is published on June 10 (£14.99; Summersdale).

Eating alfresco Inhabitants of Hen nleyon-Thames are be eing terrorised by red kite es, which swoop abou ut snatching hot crosss buns, biscuits from m children and steakks from barbecues Blushing academics After 23 years, Cambridge professor James Diggle has completed his 1,500-page Greek Lexicon, which boldly defines all ancient words, including the crude ones Top jobs Last month, chairs of both the National Gallery and the National Trust resigned—one over his role at the BBC during a Panorama interview and the other amid claims he was too ‘woke’

69

Town & Country

Do you know your polecats from your pine martens?

The Swiss-style Archery House is one of two follies to be restored at Brodsworth Hall

Ready, aim, fire!

VICTORIAN rose garden, an Eyecatcher ‘ruin’ and an unusual Swiss-style Target House are among garden features newly restored to glory at English Heritage’s Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire, after a year of conservation works.

Both follies were built in 1866 by the Thellusson family and the Archery House, as it was then known, was used as a shelter during archery tournaments. When the army requisitioned the hall during the Second World War, things moved swiftly towards modern weaponry, with the long avenue in front of the rechristened Target House deemed perfect for rifle practice. Now repointed and replastered, with slates and rotten timber replaced, it’s the ideal home for a new exhibition featuring historical photographs, bespoke illustrations and life-size graphic representations showing how Archery House was furnished.

The Eyecatcher, a focal point in the landscape from Target House and probably built using

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remnants from one of the older Brodsworth Halls, has also been repaired and is now surrounded by 1,000 British native ferns. Meanwhile, much work has gone into re-creating Brodsworth’s 19th-century rose garden, which now contains more than 200 ramblers, shrub and climbing varieties such as Rosa ‘Chapeau de Napoléon’, Rosa banksiae ‘Lutescens’ and ‘Souvenir de Mme Léonie Viennot’.

‘We’ve put a lot of time into investigative work… making sure that we follow the original bedding plans for the Target Range and the rose garden,’ explains head gardener Dan Hale. ‘We were very lucky in that we were able to look to historic photographs that revealed the historic planting schemes, enabling us to re-create the garden with accuracy. With 1,000 British native ferns planted around the Eyecatcher and roses that would have been popular during the Victorian period in bloom, walking through the range is now like looking through a little window into the past.’

A tricky inheritance Brodsworth Hall is perhaps most famous for its part in the furore caused by Peter Thellusson’s 1797 will, in which he left his fortune in trust to unborn descendants, provoking labyrinthine legal battles probably drawn upon by Charles Dickens in Bleak House, not to mention the Thellusson Act of Parliament in 1800. In the care of trustees for half a century, it eventually passed to Peter’s great-grandson Charles Sabine Thellusson in 1858, who swiftly demolished the Georgian building and built the Italianate-style hall that stands today.

Charles’s great-granddaughter gave the house and pleasure gardens to English Heritage in 1990.

Less famously, the hall is home to the mummified hooves of the 1855 Doncaster Cup winner.

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OR the first time in the 18-year history of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species’s (PTES) ‘Living with Mammals’ survey, volunteers are being asked to record sightings all year long. It started last month and the PTES hopes that, as record numbers took part last year—an increase of 250% —this new-found relationship with Nature can be built upon.

Footprints, droppings and sightings of wild mammals are all of note, from hedgehogs, foxes and hazel dormice to pine martens, bats and squirrels.

Rabbits are a concern, with sightings falling drastically; 10 years ago, 25% of sites recorded them, decreasing to 13% in 2019 and 8.5% last year.

This ‘insight into the lives of our wild neighbours [is] so important’ in calculating ‘where conservation action is needed’, says David Wembridge of PTES. ‘With access to this unique longterm database of population trends, we can spot when a species is in trouble and act.’ Visit https://livingwithmammals. ptes.org to take part and learn how to identify different species.

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Anyone can learn the difference between a polecat (below) and a pine marten (above) and help the PTES

Country Mouse Beginnings and endings GLASS of Campanian culture is to be served in the hills of Hampshire with a performance of Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia on July 3 and 4 by the young musicians of the Scherzo Ensemble (www. longhopesummeropera.com). This is our local event and will be the first live performance that we will have seen in almost 18 months. The Arts and the many people who make their living in the industry have had a terrible time due to the far reaching effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and it is important that we all try to support them wherever we live.

Hopefully, they will flourish again, but it has been clear that the devastation of ash dieback has left a terrible scar on the landscape. Once known as the Hampshire weed, it looks as if there will soon be none of these trees left, their dead limbs standing in stark contrast to the burst of leaf from the oaks and field maples.

This disaster needs a positive response and that means replacing the blighted ash with other types of trees. We need to saw and to sow, but the replanting is not happening at anything like the rate it needs to and we need to address that now. MH

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Andrew Osborne will be the man to lead the MFHA out of the pandemic

New man in the saddle HE way hunts have managed themselves through the pandemic is a testament to the strength and resilience of our community,’ says Lord Mancroft, who, after seven years, has stepped down as chairman of the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) and welcomes his successor, Andrew Osborne.

Mr Osborne grew up in Holderness country where his father was joint-master and his mother secretary. Stints as joint-master and huntsman of the Sinnington, Bedale and Cottesmore have coincided with running an organic farm and his current chairmanship of the trustees of the National Museum of Hunting. He’s been MFHA vice chair since 2019 and is on the Hunting Joint Committee with the Countryside Alliance, formed last year amid ‘challenging times’ that saw the suspension of trail-hunting on Forestry Commission and other Government-owned land.

‘Knowing first-hand the work—much of it voluntary—that goes into running hunts and how much our sport does for local communities, it’s a great privilege to be involved through this role and to work towards a sustainable future for the sport we love,’ he comments.

Nico Morgan; Alamy; Getty Images; PA Images; Sotheby’s; Country Life Picture Library; Richard Lea-Hair/English Heritage

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Town Mouse Bed building

As work commenced on a five-year, £5 million restoration project, conservator Matthew Nickels and master glazier Tony Cattle of York Glaziers Trust began their task of removing 600-year-old stained-glass panels from the St Cuthbert Window in York Minster—one of the largest surviving narrative windows in the world

How many did you find?

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VERY week, a ladybird perches on the front cover of COUNTRY L IFE ; for our May 19 sustainability issue, we went a step further and hid 30 of them throughout the magazine. We hope readers have not spent the past two weeks tearing pages out in frustration and now present the full, illustrated list of ladybird hiding places at www.countrylife.co.uk

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E have had lots of parcels delivered to the house over the past year, but none have been on quite the scale of the most recent. It’s a new bed purchased for one of the children after their previous one—admittedly small, cheap and battered by more than a decade of service—literally fell to pieces. Town Mouse is not a keen shopper and to my great frustration it took about an hour to choose a replacement on the internet; the complex debates over colour, shape and form made intractable by the seemingly limitless choices of bed available. Price added a further complication.

The bed arrived in two large and heavy boxes and that evening after school I had to fight off hands eager to rip off the packaging, as if it was a huge present. Enthusiasm to help thereafter faded away quickly and by the time we had cleared the room, laid out the pieces and disposed of reams of packaging, all the child wanted to do was to go to sleep. So we rolled out the new mattress on the floor and postponed construction.

Next morning, there were such enthusiastic accounts of the comfort of this arrangement that bed building was postponed further. Was it worth buying I wonder? JG

71

Town & Country Notebook

Edited by Victoria Marston Book of the week

1) Which Surrealist artist is known for his paintings of melting clocks?

2) Now extinct, aurochs are the ancestors of which modern-day farm animals?

3) If someone believes in antidisestablishmentarianism, what are they opposed to the disestablishment of?

4) To the nearest 50, how many calories does a McDonald’s Big Mac contain?

5) Which 1956 film starring Bing Crosby was a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story?

Word of the week Impudicity (noun) A lack of modesty

100 years ago in

COUNTRY LIFE June 4, 1921

Oh, the agony!

New agony aunt Mrs Hudson solves your dilemmas

You made your bed I am in a quandary of guilt because I have never known what polite society does with bed clothes when departing, a) when one’s hostess runs the house; b) when there are signs of a cleaning lady; or c) if there is a housekeeper. One so wants to do the correct thing to ensure another invitation is offered.

P. D., London

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Firstly, I should introduce myself. Once considered quite the starlet, I was recently advised to retrain by the Government and am yet to discover any kind of agony-aunt qualification, but it transpires that it really is who you know. Anyway—back to bed linen! Shall we take a moment to give thanks that we were born into a society where this might be considered a problem?

Housekeeper or no, if I were to find the bed stripped, I would assume there had been an incident.

Unless your inclination to be helpful is stronger than your desire not to be known as an adult bedwetter, I would simply make the bed in the morning (but not so well that it doesn’t look slept in, unless you want the bed-wetting rumours to be replaced by accusations of corridor-creeping).

When I have guests, I expect them to leave their room in more or less the state they found it, not to have polished the loo and done a load of laundry on the way out. If you’re that concerned about where your next free meal is coming from, I suggest a suitably ingratiating thank-you letter.

In need of advice? Email your problem to countrylife. letters@futurenet.com

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Time to buy An artistic beetle HE accompanying photograph shows the wonderful diagrams formed by the Scolytus destructor. This small, cylindrical, wood-boring beetle, about one eighth of an inch in length, lays its eggs in the bark of the elm, the grubs feeding on the soft, inner bark. The scolytus makes radiating galleries under the bark, leaving the tree exposed to other insects, and ultimately causes the destruction of the limb affected.—S.

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1) Salvador Dalí 2) Cattle 3) The Church of England 4) 550 (exactly) 5) ‘High Society’

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Botanical Art Notebook Set (Lemon, Chillis and Apples), £10.99, Bodleian Libraries (01865 277175; www.bodleianshop.co.uk)

A Cornucopia of Fruit and Vegetables, Caroline Ball (Bodleian Library Publishing, £15) By the age of 40, Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, a Bavarian apothecary, had made enough money to indulge his plant-collecting passion and subsequently commissioned a four-volume illustrated encyclopedia of plants, Phytanthoza Iconographia (1737–45).

Caroline Ball provides a tasting menu of the many botanical illustrations— including Buddha’s hand citrus— with an introductory essay that will leave the reader wanting more.

‘You young people are always so obsessed with truth. The truth is often over-rated’ The Hand That First Held Mine, Maggie O’Farrell

Snake Plant with pot and tray, £65, The Glasshouse (www.theglass house.co.uk)

The Lady with Lemons Candlestick, £175, Montes & Clark (07717 750540; www.montesandclark.com)

Getty; Alamy; Country Life Picture Library

Quiz of the week

Wines of the week Simple suppers Chocolate and raspberry torte • Melt 180g of chopped butter and 200g of goodquality dark chocolate together in a bain-marie.

• In a separate bowl, mix together three eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla-bean paste and 250g of caster sugar.

Combine this mixture

with the melted chocolate and butter, then add 115g of plain flour, stirring thoroughly.

• Line an 8in, round and loose-bottomed tart tin with foil and grease lightly, then pour in the batter. Push 150g of fresh raspberries

down into the tin, so they’re covered, and bake in a moderately hot oven for 30 minutes.

• Allow to cool slightly, then chill in the fridge.

To serve, dust the top with cocoa powder and cut into slices.

In the spotlight Tawny owl (Strix aluco)

It’s unfortunate for owls that mankind has, for millennia, mercilessly persecuted what are among the most charismatic and easily recognised of birds. Their nocturnal hunting habits—silence on the wing and sharp calls that pierce the night—have contributed to irrational fears. Yet owl iconography now appears routinely on household wares, from ceramics to cushions and bookends.

The tawny owl, with mottled camouflage plumage in streaks of toffee and pumice, is a woodpigeon-sized, stocky

inhabitant of woods, cemeteries and gardens, wherever there is sufficient supply of beetles and small rodents. Two to four chicks are raised, usually in a tree hollow, and the fluffy owlets remain dependent on their parents for a month or two after fledging. Until they’re able to fly, owlets go ‘branching’ (above), hopping from one to another, with a parent on watch. Come autumn, owl hooting will increase as territories are defended. The screechy tu-wheet is the female call and the hoo, hoo-hooooo is the male’s reply.

Let’s go outside Southill Park, near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. June 6, 2pm–5pm.

Admission £5, pre-booking essential (www.ngs.org.uk) Southill Park has been home to the Whitbread family since the 18th century. Sam Whitbread, founder of the brewery, continued the work of Capability Brown, who had been commissioned to design the garden and landscape around the house, which was built by Brown’s son-in-law, Henry Holland. Today, Southill retains the spacious elegance of the Brown original beyond flower gardens around the house.

Super-zingy lime citrus Waitrose, Loved and Found Elbling, Mosel, Germany 2019. £6.99, Waitrose, alc 12% This ancient German grape variety is related to Riesling and you’d be hard pushed to tell them apart. Completely dry, with super-zingy lime citrus, good acidity, purity and zestiness. It feels like having a morning shower with citrus body wash —guaranteed to wake you up.

A nose of spring Adnams, English Rosé, East Anglia, England 2019. £14.99, Adnams, alc 11.5% Sourced from the Crouch Valley in East Anglia, this is a charming English rosé with a nose of spring; fresh stone fruits and creamy red berries, plus a pinch of flint. Crunchy greenapple acidity refreshes the raspberry and lime zest fruits, followed by a clean, saline finish.

Blackcurrant leaf and coffee BPR, Escudo Rojo Reserva Carmenère, Colchagua Valley, Chile 2018. £16.99– £17.50, Harvey Nichols, Ocado, alc 14% Chilean Carmenère with a French accent from Baron Philippe de Rothschild. Aromas and flavours of blackcurrant leaf, coffee, black pepper and dark chocolate. This vintage has seen less new oak. Smooth, with good freshness, too.

Sicilian lemons Château Climens, Asphodèle, Bordeaux, France 2019. £26.50, Berry Bros & Rudd, alc 13.5% An enchanting second vintage from Château Climens. Apricots and peaches invite you in, bestowing you with gifts of Sicilian lemons and ripe tropical fruit. Pineapples and kiwis overlay a honeyed and ginger complexity. There is richness in the mouth, balanced by acidity and a grippy texture. The purity of fruit is allowed to express itself.

For more, visit www.decanter.com

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Letters to the Editor Letter of the week

Mark Hedges

The future’s bright DID enjoy the article with The Prince of Wales on going organic at the Sandringham estate (‘Farming for our futures’, May 19). It was particularly apposite as it preceded by a day the announcement of an impending free-trade deal with Australia. This was met by doom-mongers saying that farmers in this country would face ruin and it would change the very nature of the countryside. As long as the red tape forced onto us by the EU is removed, welfare isn’t compromised and goods are accurately labelled, British farmers will adapt, survive and prosper as they have always done when

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OUR photograph of the unidentified children and pony and trap (The Way We Were, May 19) is very recognisable to us because we have the same one here at Buckhurst. The young boy is my great-grandfather, Herbrand, the future 9th Earl De La Warr, alongside his two sisters, the Ladies Avice and Idina Sackville (the latter became ‘the Bolter’). Firefly was the De La Warr steam yacht, but also the name of the Shetland pony in the photograph. We know this because the pony appears in the South Park Stud Book as having been sold by the famous breeder Lady Estella Hope to Lady De La Warr. By coincidence, my mother—who was a great-niece by marriage of Lady Estella—now owns the South Park Stud; hence, there are photographs today of the present Sackville children with South Park ponies.

Lord Buckhurst, East Sussex

The writer of the letter of the week will win a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Réserve Champagne

The work of generations OUR article ‘Trees for tomorrow’ (May 19) couldn’t be more timely. We all recognise the role trees play in carbon capture, but don’t seem to grasp the time scales and management needed to plant and nurture young trees. We face a crisis due to ash dieback and merely to replace these lost trees will take a generation, let alone increasing overall numbers. The dear and useful ash tree—‘But ash wet or ash dry a king shall warm his slippers by’—will go into folklore unless we can cultivate the few that may be resistant.

Christopher D. Forrest, Devon

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Never count the cost WANTED to thank Jonathan Self for introducing me to the poetry of Sara Teasdale (left). Having read ‘Never mind the etchings’ (Spectator, May 19), I was intrigued by the lines he quoted: ‘Spend all you have for loveliness/Buy it, and never count the cost.’ The poem, Barter, is now a firm favourite and the lines ‘For one white singing hour of peace/Count many a year of strife well lost’ are very apposite.

Brian Harpur, by email

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In good form AM writing to ask if you might help me and my class thank our form tutor, Mr South, now the school year is coming to a close. Mr South brings his copy of COUNTRY LIFE in each week, so we can do the quiz and look at the recipes. It is the highlight of many of our weeks and has made a difficult year so much brighter. He would be ecstatic if we could surprise him with a few words in your magazine—he’d probably frame it, too.

Jessica Wraight and form 11S, Oxford High School

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Contact us

(photographs welcome) Email: countrylife.letters@ futurenet.com Post: We are sorry to say that we are unable to accept or respond to letters by post until such time as the COUNTRY LIFE offices re-open Future Publishing reserves the right to edit and to reuse in any format or medium submissions to the letters page of COUNTRY LIFE

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COUNTRY LIFE, ISSN 0045-8856, is published weekly by Future Publishing Limited, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA, United Kingdom. COUNTRY LIFE Subscriptions: For enquiries and orders, please email: help@magazinesdirect.com, alternatively from the UK call: 0330 333 1120, overseas call: + 44 330 333 1120 (Lines are open Monday–Saturday, 8am- 6pm GMT excluding Bank Holidays). One year full subscription rates: 1 Year (51) issues. UK £213.70; Europe/Eire €380 (delivery 3–5 days); USA $460 (delivery 5–12 days); Rest of World £359 (delivery 5–7 days). Periodicals postage paid at Brooklyn NY 11256. US Postmaster: Send address changes to COUNTRY LIFE, Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named WN Shipping USA, 165–15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at Future Publishing Ltd, Rockwood House, 9–16, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 3DH. Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. BACK NUMBERS Subject to availability, issues from the past three weeks are available from www.magazinesdirect.com. Subscriptions queries: 0330 333 1120. If you have difficulty in obtaining COUNTRY LIFE from your newsagent, please contact us on 0330 390 6591. We regret we cannot be liable for the safe custody or return of any solicited or unsolicited material, whether typescripts, photographs, transparencies, artwork or computer discs. COUNTRY LIFE PICTURE LIBRARY: Articles and images published in this and previous issues are available, subject to copyright, from the COUNTRY LIFE Picture Library: 01252 555090/2/3.

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Alamy; Simon Buck/Country Life Picture Library

We are family

faced with change. Some could follow The Prince of Wales’s lead and we may again see the gulls following the plough, as shown in the photographs.

Jim Bell, Herefordshire

The green, green grass of home

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ENJOYED ‘No mow May’ (Agromenes, May 19), as I abhor closely mown lawns. I thought some of your readers might remember the splendid musicals by Julian Slade of the 1950s, especially Free as Air. There is a song titled Let the Grass Grow: Let the grass grow under your feet, ’til it grows knee deep, Let the bright day amble along, ’til it ends in sleep.

A man’s life is very quickly over, Make time last by wandering through the clover.

Perhaps readers are already humming!

Annette Johnston, Oxfordshire

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AGREE with much of what Agromenes has to say. However, I find that selective mowing at different lengths is even more beneficial, offering a range of habitats and uses. I keep an area short enough for the grandchildren to play on; another, with the blades lifted a little, has seen violets and holly blue butterflies; higher again has encouraged cowslips and snake’s-head fritillaries, with all the associated insect life. Some areas won’t be mown at all until later in the year. The garden still looks cared for and is teeming with wildlife. That must be the way to go.

Graham White, Oxfordshire

JUNE 9

Best of Britain: our top 66 small businesses, wildlife to spot, The Archers, Hamlet, Cecil Beaton and The Queen Make your week, every week, with a Country Life subscription 0330 333 1120

Red-tape tangles

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ISASTER is beckoning in the world of agricultural schemes. Defra, the ministry charged with dealing with agriculture, the environment and adaptation to climate change, has a pretty difficult brief at the best of times. However, if you add to that Covid and Brexit, it isn’t surprising that things are tough.

A new farm-support regime was promised, based on farmers being paid for providing public goods. The deal was simple: do away with the old production subsidies and the EU red tape that went with them, and then introduce an easily operated green system. However, supposedly as a first step, Defra kept all the EU bureaucracy, but got rid of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) ‘greening’ arrangements, claiming they were unnecessary because its new Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) would be so much better.

This is all very well, except that we don’t have ELMS yet and, while we’re waiting, some farmers have cottoned on to the fact that, because they wouldn’t have to report or maintain their present CAP environmental arrangements, they could forget about biodiversity this year, plough up their field margins and then, when ELMS finally arrives, claim a grant for putting back what they’d purposely taken out.

They’ve also sussed out that, if they continued their current environmental programme, they wouldn’t be able to claim for it under the new system. Because Defra wanted a red-tapecutting gesture, this means that the taxpayer will have to pay twice for the same public good, once under the CAP and again under ELMS. Without a proper database, the new ELMS regulations could be open to all sorts of further chicanery. The idea is that farmers can be trusted with self-regulation and it’s been suggested that there will be ‘personal trainers’

to help in each one of 192,000 farm holdings so that farmers will understand how to do what the new system expects.

How can there be any checks without a record of the green steps already taken? There’s no baseline against which to measure what farmers claim they do in the future. Even the argument about red tape doesn’t make sense—there was really no work involved in reporting green measures because this year would have been a repeat of last year and, therefore, farmers had already made all the necessary calculations.

What has really annoyed everyone is that, the moment they had finished the pile of Defra paperwork and could get down to real farming, the agricultural census dropped into the letterbox—asking farmers the same questions they’d just answered on other forms and threatening prosecution if they didn’t fill it in. Is there no joined-up thinking?

Defra should use last year’s farming returns to identify the land that was set aside for environmental reasons and say that that land will have to be included in the new ELMS scheme in addition to any new claim, but they won’t be paying twice. In return for this, Defra should simplify reporting so that there is none of the present confusion and overlap and only ask for the information that is actually needed in a form that is consistent and lasting.

The ELMS system demands that UK farmers set a world standard in food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection. The Government must, therefore, stand by its promise that UK farmers will not be subject to unfair competition from countries that don’t meet the same standards. If that means no deal with Australia, so be it. No weasel words: only the acceptance that free trade means fair trade. British farmers have a right to demand that Boris Johnson stand by his solemn promise, even if it be to his own hindrance.

Without a proper database, the new regulations could be open to chicanery

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Athena Cultural Crusader

very boards he now chooses to criticise.

Moreover, although his rhetoric makes attractive reference to the independence of museums from politics, the events of the past decade suggest that the very reverse is actually happening.

Government and culture: It sounds as if he should the is tantalising us all twain meet? with cake, but intends HE resignation of Tony Hall as chairman of trustees at the National Gallery in London (page 84) comes at an intriguing moment. Only a few days earlier, Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), had declared his intention to improve regional representation on the boards of publicly funded cultural institutions.

As an aspiration, it’s hard to quarrel with.

After all, diversity of geography and background are clearly highly desirable if these institutions are going to serve the widest possible audience.

It is, however, disingenuous of Mr Dowden not to acknowledge the increasingly active role that recent Conservative governments have played in forming the

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to eat it himself Appointments to the boards of national museums and cultural bodies have always been formally made by DCMS. As with titles, there is a history of using such appointments as rewards. This transactional approach seems to have been taken to a new level, however, by the coalition government of David Cameron, which, from 2010, actively sought to exercise patronage wherever it could. In the process, No 10 started to use its privilege of formal approval to exercise authority over board appointments. Its grip over them has been steadily tightening ever since. Was it the interest of Chris Grayling in history or his party loyalty, for example, that secured

him a place as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery? Of course, politicians are easy to spot; party donors are less so.

There are now rumours of appointments being directly foisted onto the boards of cultural institutions over the heads of those who have been successful in the application and interview process. The truth or otherwise of these claims is hard to verify, but it does appear that procedure is being manipulated by the Government.

A few weeks ago, DCMS refused to confirm a second term for one trustee of the Royal Museums Greenwich, something that, in the past, might have been seen as a formality.

This is not, it should be said, an isolated incident. At Greenwich, the issue has been reported as if this was a skirmish in the current culture war with the trustee in question—Dr Aminul Hoque, a lecturer at Goldsmiths College—represented as a combatant. The fact that the chair of the board, Sir Charles Dunstone, founder of Carphone Warehouse, has resigned over the matter suggests it’s much more than that.

Mr Dowden sounds as if he is tantalising us all with promises of cake, but is intending to reserve the eating entirely to himself and those who see the world as he does.

Whatever your political perspective, that strikes Athena as an odd view of diversity.

The way we were Photographs from the Country Life archive

1938

Unpublished

The COUNTRY LIFE Picture Library contains 120 years’ worth of photography and articles from the world’s leading architectural and gardens experts. We are delighted to note that works are again available to license or purchase in print form, from £35 plus VAT. Please email mail enquiries to licensin ng@ futurenet.com

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Country Life Picture Library

The nursery of 5, Belgrave Square, home of the diariest Sir Henry (‘Chips’) and Lady Honor Channon, decorated for their only son, Paul, then about three. The wardrobes are decorated as a school and as a chemist (labelled in German, a notable reflection, perhaps, on Channon’s prewar political sympathies).

Note the careful distribution of toys by the photographer.

My favourite painting Peter Sheppard Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto

by Vittore Carpaccio

Peter Sheppard is chairman of The Norfolk Churches Trust, former chairman of the Catholic Herald and the owner of Wolterton Park in Norfolk

Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto, about 1496, 12ft by 12¾ft, by Vittore Carpaccio (about 1465–1525), Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy

I first saw this painting when I was 18 and I vowed that, one day, I would live in Venice. I bought a piano nobile in Cannaregio built only 20 years before this picture was painted. Venice has been the most profound influence of my life in design and architecture. It is a rare city that has retained its character, defying modern life. This richly painted work is a snapshot of Venice in 1496, with everyone beautifully depicted in their richly coloured apparel going about their business. Venice is not too dissimilar today

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N 1396, Philippe de Mézières (Filippo Maser), chancellor of the Kingdom of Cyprus and Jerusalem, presented a wood fragment from the True Cross, on which Christ was crucified, to the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni brotherhood in Venice. Venice eventually had several ‘grand schools’ or charitable and religious organisations for the laity. Unlike the governmental Great Council, restricted to nobles, the grand schools were open to all citizens. Typically, there was a prominent headquarters, with an affiliated hospital and church.

The True Cross fragment duly resulted in miracles. It became such a venerated object that, at the end of the following century, the San Giovanni brotherhood commissioned nine prominent Venetian artists—Carpaccio, Gentile Bellini and Perugino among them— each to paint a picture celebrating a specific miracle caused by the 78

relic. The series remained in the brotherhood’s principal hall until all but the lost Perugino were presented to the Accademia in 1820, after the Napoleonic occupation and fall of the Venetian Republic.

Carpaccio’s scene is distinguished by his characteristic and inexhaustible taste for pictorial stories, which made him a favourite choice of the brotherhoods. The work is also known as ‘The Healing of the Madman’, the Madman being seen in black confronted with the holy reliquary on the terrace of the left-hand building. Venetian cosmopolitanism is everywhere apparent in the busy market area by the Rialto Bridge: Armenians in black hats, turbaned Turks and Arabs, two African gondoliers, as the procession of white-robed members of the Scuola stretches back across the bridge and a distant woman shakes a carpet from a window.

Bridgeman Images; Christopher Horwood

John McEwen comments on Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto

A walking life

Fiona Reynolds

Good for body and soul Two beautiful Suffolk churches prove physically and spiritually nourishing T’S been a long, cold spring, but today is finally dry and warm, with a weak sun struggling through. I’m walking in the Blyth Valley, visiting two of Suffolk’s many hundreds of rural churches, each of which has its special story.

I begin at Huntingfield St Mary’s, which stands tall on a hill outside the village, with its high, square tower and red pantiled roof. I’m met by Emma, a church warden, who kindly unlocks the plain wooden door for me. Once inside, however, I’m assailed by a blast of colour from the richly painted Victorian re-creation of a 15th-century angel roof. Apostles, saints and inscriptions surrounded by intricate patterns in vibrant colours fill every inch of space.

From the rafters, more than a dozen brightly painted angels bearing crowns and banners appear ready to fly.

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It quite takes my breath away, even more so when I learn that this is the sole work of a Victorian rector’s wife, Mildred Holland, in the 1860s. Childless and unfulfilled, she dedicated years to designing and painting the ceiling by hand, lying painfully on her back on a suspended platform. A compelling book, The Huntingfield Paintress by Pamela Holmes, reimagines the event for those, like me, who are intrigued by this extraordinary story.

Reluctant to go, but needing to leave, I set off west, making a loop around Manor Farm and Towranna Farm, drinking in the quiet, gracious Suffolk architecture and gently rolling countryside. This is High Suffolk, good farming land on rich boulder clay, and I happily follow the tracks through the fields. When I have to join the road at Cookley, I’m delighted to find it’s a quiet country lane, only one car wide, with cow parsley bursting into flower around me and no traffic at all in the hour it takes me to walk to Walpole.

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One woman’s endeavour: Mildred Holland repainted the vivid angel roof of St Mary’s

Here, I’m meeting the Revd Bill Mahood, who chairs the Friends of Walpole Old Chapel. As he leads me in, I catch my breath again, moved by the still, simple interior of one of the oldest surviving non-conformist meeting houses in the country. It’s a large, 16th-century Suffolk farmhouse, converted in the 1690s to an independent chapel, and remains almost as it was when established.

Its rows of wooden benches on an upper level, with box pews below, surround the arresting canopied pulpit. Clearly, it’s still (pandemic apart) a much-loved place of worship. The interior is filled with morning sunlight, illuminating a big vase of deep blue bugloss and frothy cow parsley.

Revd Mahood tells me the chapel owes its origin to the 1662 Act of Uniformity, which required priests to conform to the Book of Common Prayer. Those who refused, some 2,000 highly educated, deeply spiritual men, were ejected from their livings and established the non-conformist tradition.

Walpole Old Chapel is both a deeply spiritual place and a remarkable historic building, set in its romantically natural

‘yard’, with graves nestled among the wildflowers. It has a wonderful atmosphere and there is impatience to begin hosting events again. I’m sorry to leave here, too.

My return to Huntingfield is via Heveningham Hall’s parkland, which is undergoing restoration to fulfil a Capability Brown scheme that was designed, but not implemented before his death. Crossing an elegant stone bridge over the newly created serpentine lake, my walk through the park is accompanied by the first cuckoo of spring and I get my feet wet in the watermeadows of the Blyth. There’s a last poignant reminder of Mildred Holland as I walk back to the church along the path by the stream—the route she’d have known so well.

This has been a moving day. However, it’s a rare walk in the English countryside that doesn’t allow you to take in a couple of churches and end the day spiritually, as well as physically, refreshed.

Fiona Reynolds is Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and author of ‘The Fight for Beauty’ @fionacreynolds

David Levenson; Alamy

Brightly painted angels bearing crowns and banners appear ready to fly

Labour of the month

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T was early summer in northwestern Spain and, as if it were a humid cousin of the Cotswolds, its hills were darkly forested and its fields green. One tranquil evening, I walked the lane that led from our B&B and saw a man mowing a hillside paddock with a scythe. How soothing his rhythmic dance: the way his hands gripped the asymmetric handles, creating a frame with his arms, the way his upper body swung in an arc.

The blade cut, the grass fell, he would step and swing again.

In a manuscript of about 1500, Death carries four scythes Medieval depictions of the ‘labours of the months’ are found most often on the calendar pages of books of Psalms. June often shows figures scything away at walls of golden grasses, with the zodiac image of the crab depicted 82

The tranquil reaper With the arrival of June, medieval peasants would take their scythes to the long golden grasses, says Amy Jeffs Illustration by Alan Baker nearby. Other labourers may be raking the hay and fastening bales. In one Flemish manuscript, the scything figure is dressed in nought but his underclothes and shoes.

In my home county of Somerset, the sight of fields being mown by hand is increasingly normal. I have a scythe-bearing neighbour who looms before the front door on balmy evenings (fully dressed) and offers with a grin to cut our lawn.

Imagine how many country people once spent their time scything the still summer evenings away, filling the air with the sweetness of cut grass. Although no historian should idealise the

life of a medieval peasant, in years when the weather was kind, mowing must have been a delicious seasonal task.

Scythes, of course, do have their dark side. In a manuscript from about 1500, Death is shown carrying no fewer than four of them, probably for good measure.

The association is easy to understand: death cuts down lives as if they were blades of grass and the tool’s curved edge is perilously sharp and long. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the great green villain is heard sharpening his axe in the cavern of the green chapel: ‘As one upon a gryndelston hade grounden a sythe.’ In the farmyards and

fields, such tools must have wrought their share of injuries.

There was one place in medieval Europe where scythes were no threat. June 9 (or five days before Ides) is the feast of St Columba, who founded the Abbey at Iona and died in 597. His earlymedieval Vita tells the story of a miracle in which the Irish saint, preoccupied with copying out a manuscript, agrees to bless a slaughter knife. Pointing his quill, wand-like, at the knife, Columba makes the sign of the cross. From thenceforth, the knife will cut neither man nor beast.

The monks melt it down and coat all the monastery’s sharp tools in the sacred metal, rendering them harmless to flesh.

That the miracle helped foster the vegetarian diet to which medieval monasticism aspired is undermined by the archaeological evidence that the Ionan community had a special penchant for prime cuts of beef.

However, the monks could at least mow the grass in their underwear without doing themselves a mischief.

Free for the nation The National Gallery, London WC2

To mark the re-opening of museums, John Goodall looks at the architecture of the National Gallery, its interior photographed by COUNTRY LIFE during lockdown

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Photographs by Will Pryce

ROM its commanding position above Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery is one of the defining landmarks of London. Curiously, the square, which was conceived by the architect John Nash as part of his planned redevelopment of the West End of London from 1813, just predates the institution. Nevertheless, the stories of both are inextricably linked.

Nash’s hugely ambitious proposals aimed to create a new processional way that would connect the garden suburb of Regent’s Park with Charing Cross, at the juncture of the Strand and Whitehall. In 1819, he suggested laying out a square at the termination of this route, clearing away the outer court of the Royal Mews that stood here and creating what he later described as ‘the finest site in London for a public building’.

The site Nash coveted was not—as the modern visitor might assume—the future site of the National Gallery. In 1819, this was the location of the most prominent of the Royal Mews buildings, the Great Mews, so called, designed by William Kent in 1731–32.

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Nor was it his intention to build a National Gallery; no such institution existed. Rather, he wanted to erect a Greek temple—modelled on the Parthenon—in the centre of the square, where Nelson’s Column now stands. It was to be a new home for the Royal Academy (RA).

Elsewhere in Europe, princely courts had naturally been centres of artistic patronage and, by the early 19th century, at cities such as Dresden and Berlin, their great collections were beginning to be formally housed and presented to visitors. In France, the Revolution and the ensuing centralisation of the state had created a collection at the Louvre in Paris that dwarfed comparison. Britain’s Hanoverian kings, by contrast, had no such collection to display and it was only through their connection with the RA that they performed a strikingly modest public, cultural role. That, incidentally, imposed very unusual dynamics on Britain’s artistic life in turn.

All this mattered because, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, Britain had unequivocally emerged as the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. London,

therefore, began consciously to assume the trappings of Imperial supremacy. The process harnessed government money (a fiercely contested source of funds), the hedonism of George IV and the enthusiasm of Britain’s wealthy merchant class. Cultural institutions were notable beneficiaries.

The collection of the British Museum, founded in 1753, started to grow exponentially (notably, with the government purchase of the Elgin Marbles) and, in 1822, work began on the leviathan new building for the

Fig 1 facing page: William Wilkins’s façade was placed to show St Martin-in-the-Fields. Fig 2 above: E. M. Barry’s 1870s octagon gallery institution designed by the architect Robert Smirke. Concurrently, the future architect of the National Gallery, William Wilkins, began work on University College London, the first university in the city.

Nash’s Parthenon was connected to this phenomenon. It celebrated the royal patronage of the Arts and implicitly proclaimed London to be a modern Athens. Indeed, it’s noteworthy that the new British Museum

and London’s university were designed in a Greek idiom, a style that was both fashionable and imbued with this happy undertone.

Until 1824, the new RA was intended to stand in prominent isolation, but in that same year, after several failed attempts, a National Gallery came into existence: the government secured £60,000 to purchase the art collection of a wealthy merchant of Russian extraction, John Julius Angerstein, together

with his house on Pall Mall. The building, which stood on the site of the Reform Club, was modestly improved as a gallery and opened its doors to the public on May 10.

It immediately proved inadequate.

Also in 1824, the operations of the Royal Mews were transferred to new premises designed by Nash at Buckingham Palace, making possible the creation of his square.

Two years later, in 1826, he presented more 85

Fig 3 left: The entrance hall. Note the figurative floor, 1928–33, by Boris Anrep. Fig 4 right: Gallery 51, with its Renaissance aesthetic ambitious plans for the scheme. These now included a new home for the National Gallery on the site of the Great Mews behind his RA building. In addition, he proposed a new road connecting the square to the British Museum.

Nash’s plans never came to fruition in the end (although—confusingly—his colleague Smirke did realise one block of his proposed square in 1824–27, now Canada House). The trustees of the National Gallery, therefore, continued to lobby for better accommodation.

Partly at their behest, various proposals were put forward from 1828 to create a new joint home for the RA and the National Gallery (as well as for the accommodation of public records) either re-using or replacing Kent’s Great Mews. In response, the government agonised over the costs involved.

The figure who broke the deadlock was Wilkins, who was also treasurer of the RA. He first commanded attention by promising to convert the Great Mews at the astonishingly low price of £33,000. Next, he asserted that he could build something wholly new on the site for a mere £41,000. The Treasury was sufficiently impressed by his cut-price offer to concede some visible enrichments, such as facing the building entirely in stone, rather than rendered brick. With the budget raised to £50,000, Parliament voted through 86

the first instalment of the money on July 23, 1832. As completed, the building actually cost more than £81,000.

Wilkins’s design underwent various modifications, but, in its final form, it comprised a single range 460ft long and 50ft deep. A central entrance and stair provided access to new accommodation for the RA in the east wing and the National Gallery in the west.

Wilkins asserted he could build something wholly new on the site for a mere £41,000 That combined use partly explains Wilkins’s decision to create a relatively narrow, central entrance portico with disproportionately wide, spreading wings. The building was raised on a basement to give it height and the top-lit galleries of both institutions elevated onto the second floor, their position outwardly indicated by a register of blind windows.

Wilkins attempted to enliven this emphatically horizontal façade with a central dome and two subsidiary aedicules, a token concession to the Romantic delight in busy

outlines that was now finding favour. In addition, he incorporated multiple changes of plane across the frontage. The most prominent is created by the projection of the central portico with its pediment.

This is flanked by two subsidiary porticos, originally the entrances to two passages cut through the frontage, one leading to a barracks behind the building and the other connecting to a street. Beyond these, like dying ripples on the surface of a pond, are two further façade projections that articulate the extremes of the wings.

The height and detailing of the building relate to those of the neighbouring church, St Martin-in-the-Fields. To make this muchloved building visible from Pall Mall, Wilkins was compelled by public demand not only to realign his new frontage, which was withdrawn 50ft from the square, but also to step it back at both ends (Fig 1).

In 1834, soon after construction had begun, Wilkins was offered some architectural and sculptural fragments to enrich the façade.

Elements from the front portico of Carlton House, the Prince Regent’s nearby London home abandoned in 1822, were worked into the side porticos and panels of sculpture from Marble Arch were inserted across it.

Disappointed at the effect, Wilkins had some

Fig 5: Barry’s top-lit Gallery 34 was completed in 1876. The painted lunettes contain the names of a pantheon of British artists of the latter removed and was reprimanded by the Treasury for the expense incurred.

In formal terms, Wilkins’s designs for this building bear striking resemblance to his earlier Greek Revival projects at Haileybury College (COUNTRY L IFE , February 24), and University College London (which anticipated the central dome). It’s curious to note that, in the 1830s, Britain’s cultural interests moved decisively from the Antique to Renaissance Italy; a National Gallery of the 1840s would undoubtedly have been in the economic Florentine palazzo style pioneered from 1829 by the neighbouring Travellers Club (COUNTRY L IFE , February 20, 2019).

The wings of Wilkins’s building were erected in advance of the central block. It was, therefore, before the central dome was completed,

that the RA rooms were first used for the display of competition designs for the new Palace of Westminster, after the fire of 1834.

Both institutions moved in and the National Gallery re-opened in its new premises on April 9, 1838. The same year, Hampton Court Palace also opened for free to the public.

By this date, Nash’s square had been named Trafalgar Square and, late that year, a competition was held to design Nelson’s Column.

Two years later, Charles Barry (architect of the Travellers Club), created the terrace and steps that give presence to the National Gallery and help it dominate the square.

The new building was not well received.

As early as 1844, there were proposals to enlarge the National Gallery’s exhibition space and, by 1848, in response to the quantity of

acquisitions, calls for a completely new building. An architectural competition was subsequently held for this, but the decision of the RA in 1867 to move to Burlington House meant that the National Gallery could subsume its former apartments. Since that time, the gallery has been repeatedly enlarged, with incremental additions being added on coherent axes to the rear of Wilkins’s frontage.

This process of enlargement began in 1872–76, when E. M. Barry created a series of opulent galleries (Fig 5) arranged around a central octagon (Fig 2) behind the eastern half of the building. A decade later, in 1885– 87, Sir John Taylor reconfigured the domed entrance hall (Fig 3) and the line of galleries opening beyond it. This rear expansion of top-lit galleries continued westward into 87

the 20th century, despite the creation of the off-shoot Tate Gallery for British Art in 1897.

By degrees, the interior decoration of the galleries became less strident in response to the taste for displaying things in neutral spaces. That approach was fully embraced in the North Extension, built in 1970–75 by James Ellis for the Department of the Environment. That neutrality was retrospectively imposed on the historic areas by cosmetic changes, such as the installation of false ceilings and the concealment of decoration.

A reversal of approach followed the celebrated controversies surrounding the extension of the gallery westwards beyond the line of Wilkins’s frontage in the 1980s. The winning design of a 1981 competition to redevelop this adjacent site was famously condemned

by The Prince of Wales in 1984 as ‘a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much loved and elegant friend’. The comment launched the only modern national debate about architecture and style; not even the wave of highrise building in London has done the same.

The eventual upshot of this intervention was the Sainsbury Wing of 1987–91, designed

by Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown. This incorporates the main entrance to the National Gallery today, as well as the great flight of stairs that is perhaps the defining modern interior of the building (Fig 6). The main galleries of the Sainsbury Wing—as opposed to its subterranean display spaces—are top-lit and strongly evocative in colour and treatment of such Florentine Renaissance buildings as the church of Santo Spirito (Fig 4). They also incorporate cleverly conceived vistas framing key pictures on what is in fact a slightly distorted plan (Fig 7).

Externally, the wing makes playful reference to Wilkins’s frontage (Fig 8).

The Sainsbury Wing heralded the return of a delight in style to the architecture of the National Gallery. As part of that, the past 30 years has witnessed the gradual and welcome restoration of the historic decorative schemes in the building (most recently the Julia and Hans Rausing Room).

Another driving concern has been the management of visitors. Wilkins’s portico, still seemingly the main entrance, is problematic for modern access requirements with its many steps. It was partly to help the flow of visitors from Trafalgar Square that Annenberg Court was completed in 2004 by Dixon Jones. The competition to re-order the Sainsbury Wing announced early this year is also concerned with providing adequate access and facilities.

For now, it’s hard to imagine a happier way of stepping out of lockdown than revisiting this free and superlative collection.

To book, telephone 020–7747 2885 or visit www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Fig 6 facing page: Wilkins’s building viewed from the Sainsbury Wing staircase. Fig 7 above: The architecture of the new wing ingeniously frames paintings on vistas. Fig 8 below: A playful pile-up of post-modern pilasters at the angle of the Sainsbury Wing

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You either love ’em or hate ’em Despised by minimalists, treasured by those with more eclectic tastes, Staffordshire figures bring humour and merriment wherever they’re put, believes Catriona Gray HETHER peering out from a crowded dresser or sitting proudly at each end of a chimneypiece, Staffordshire figures have long been a part of English interiors.

The most ubiquitous examples are the china dogs—solemn, upright King Charles spaniels from the reign of Queen Victoria—but they span a much wider period and an extraordinary breadth of subjects, from exotic animals to pastoral scenes and legions of long-forgotten celebrities. Despite their different forms and being made by a number of potteries, they’re curiously easy to spot. Their gaudy appearance, the lively expressions on both people and animals and their simple, earthenware shapes make them instantly identifiable.

In Marmite fashion, Staffordshire figures tend to divide opinions quite strongly—few people view them with ambivalence. Their popularity rises and falls, largely dependent on decorative trends. Minimalists, unsurprisingly, tend to loathe them—they are the epitome of a dust-catcher, serve no purpose other than to entertain and will look wildly out of place in a home that’s a shrine to grey or beige. Others love them—those who prefer a relaxed environment, their houses filled with armchairs, books and dogs, with chimneypieces busy with invitations and old wooden

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Below: An unknown scene; St George and his dragon; fashions of the day. Right: Lifelong collector Damon Revans-Turner

dressers brimming with collections of handme-down china. Here, the Staffordshire figure comes into its own, adding an element of humour and merriment wherever it is placed.

‘I’ve always loved Staffordshire,’ says the architect and interior designer Ben Pentreath, who has written two books on traditional English style. ‘Why is it, I wonder? The slight air of naivety, the over-scaled figures, the happiness of the china dogs and their lovely expressions? The way in which you instantly channel Victoriana as seen through a filter of Edward Bawden and John Aldridge? The sense of romance that derives from having a chorus line-up of Robert Burns and Flora Macdonald and Scottish Highlanders in bold kilts on our bedroom chimneypiece in Scotland? Or the vivid colours: orange, pink, clear sky blue and leaf green… I think it’s all of the above, plus the fact they are often fabulously cheap, junk-shop finds—although, from time to time (our pair of large, perfect-condition leopards, for instance), I have been known to go a bit mad and spend a small fortune.’

The earliest Staffordshire figures date from about the 1740s and were usually unpainted, their creamy surface relieved only by a few black dots to add detail to eyes, buttons and shoes. It wasn’t until about 1780 that what we now think of as Staffordshire figures really became popular, the output growing in line with the expansion of the Staffordshire pottery industry, which was beginning to ship its wares overseas, particularly to America.

These homegrown companies were inspired by leading porcelain manufacturers such as Meissen, which were producing finely detailed, refined ornaments aimed at wealthy buyers.

Their subject matter was similarly genteel— pastoral themes were popular, as were figures inspired by the classical world.

This all changed from about 1800, as advances in printing and engraving meant that books, periodicals and pamphlets began to contain far more illustrations of everyday scenes, allowing all people, regardless of status, to see pictures of fashions, celebrities

and monarchs. ‘These images democratised visual art and heralded a new era of visual literacy,’ confirms Myrna Schkolne, a leading collector of early Staffordshire figures. ‘This nascent visual culture inspired Staffordshire’s potters to capture in clay the people, sights and events of their day. The figures they wrought are not merely pretty knickknacks. Rather, they are fragile artefacts portraying life that otherwise would have gone unrecorded because photography had not yet been invented, making them essential components of our cultural history.’

Less illustrious scenes started to emerge that catered to more popular tastes, including depictions of bear-baiting, bull-fighting and bare-knuckle boxing. The exploits of popular fictional personalities started to be recorded, such as those of the constantly thwarted Doctor Syntax—the comic creation of the writer William Combe and cartoonist Thomas Rowlandson—whose ill-fated adventures were lovingly re-created by various potteries.

The Romantic poet Byron was another bestseller—in the early 19th century, he was one of the most sensational celebrities of his

Claire Wood; Courtesy of Myrna Schkolne

Above: Shelves of Staffordshire stories. Below: The goddess Cybele; bull-baiting group from about 1820; a sportsman and his dog

day, as much for his scandalous lifestyle as for his verse—and it was one of these figures that inspired Damon Revans-Turner to start collecting. ‘My family had inherited a fine seated figure of Lord Byron and it generated a curiosity in me from an early age,’ he remembers. ‘I’ve immersed myself in the study of Staffordshire pottery for most of my adult life.’

A dealer as well as a collector, he is regularly commissioned to hunt down rare pieces.

Some pieces popular with collectors were inspired by the news stories of the day, from coronations and military victories to rather more gruesome stories. There are quite a few versions of a scene with a couple standing outside a red barn—it might look bucolic, but it actually depicts a notorious 1827 murder case, of a farmer who killed his lover after arranging to elope with her and was hanged the following year. These grim tableaux are rare and more palatable subjects generally sold better, understandably, given that Staffordshire figures were relatively expensive purchases and would have been displayed in pride of place in the average home.

The figures portray life that would have gone unrecorded Even before the Victorian era, dogs were popular, although the breeds featured were curiously specific. ‘The stars of the canine world at this time were the hunting dogs: the pointers, setters, spaniels and greyhounds,’ explains Mrs Schkolne. ‘The law allowed only those with an income of at least £100 a year from land to hunt game and only these people could own hunting dogs, so the dogs we see in early pottery are the dogs of the landed classes. You don’t see a little bulldog unless it’s on something like a bull-baiting figure.’

By the 1830s, amid the Industrial Revolution, simplification and mass-production were the

Are you for real?

Modern reproductions of Staffordshire figures abound: here’s how to spot a fake • Original pieces have underglazed and overglazed colours. Only black and cobalt blue were used under the glaze; all other colours s were painted on top, often chipping or o flaking over time. Repro o figures have all the colours under the glaze e

holes made by the end of a paintbrush, about 5mm in diameter; fakes often have bigger ones, about 20mm • Study originals as much as possible— most modern reproductions don’t get the faces or the colours right • Check the measurements against an original piece. Replicas, if made m from a clay mould, will w often be smaller • The Staffordshire Figure Asssociation or a reputable dea aler will be able to offer advvice—try Damon RevansTu urner (0151–733 3071; www. s staffordshire-figures.com)

• A pre-1890 figure almosst never has makers’ markss • Check the air holes— — original pieces have

order of the day. The ‘flat-back’, a minimally decorated figure formed from a two-part mould, became a standard design—the logic was that, as these ornaments would be displayed facing outwards, there was no need to decorate the back of them. Their increased availability and affordability meant they grew more popular than ever. Today, Staffordshire figures are strongly associated with the Victorian period, perhaps because those iconic china dogs or ‘wally dogs’ were originally inspired by Dash, Queen Victoria’s muchloved pet. It was only at the turn of the 20th century that fashions finally changed and the golden age of Staffordshire figures ended.

Of course, it didn’t finish there. They had their fans and kept popping up in unexpected places. The Bloomsbury group were keen on them—you can spot them at Charleston in East Sussex—and they found their way into Duncan Grant’s still lifes. They remained fixtures in people’s homes, as Bawden so nostalgically illustrated in the 1949 book Life in an English Village, sketching the sitting rooms of some of the houses in his own village of Great Bardfield in Essex. Staffordshire figures came into vogue again in the

1960s and 1970s, as a new generation displayed the Victoriana of their grandparents.

More than anything else, it’s their humour —possibly unintended by the original makers —that makes them so perennially endearing. It’s certainly what drew Benedict Foley to them. An art and antiques dealer, as well as a specialist framer, he has owned 100 figures at once. He has sold many and given away others to friends, but admits that it’s never long before more turn up. ‘I adore their faces,’ he admits. ‘The variety is huge, from dolorous, through the whole spectrum of emotions, to totally ridiculous. It appeals to my sense of humour—I feel you get a glimpse of the mood of the maker even if they are anonymous pieces made by people long gone.

To my mind, that’s a very special thing.’

It’s part of the enduring appeal of Staffordshire figures. Their hand-painted forms and their immense character make them exquisite examples of folk art. Passed down from generation to generation, these colourful figures preserve the memory of long-ago stories and the people who rarely made it into the history books—a light-hearted relic of the past that still brings much joy in the present.

Top, in box: The infamous Red Barn murder scene. Below: Hare-hunting pieces by John Walton, about 1820

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CANNOT remember when I first discovered Cecil Court, WC2, which runs or, more properly, strolls, between St Martin’s Lane and the Charing Cross Road, but I was not long out of short trousers.

There are antiquarian and second-hand bookshops and dealers throughout the country, but, even if there are few now in the court, for many people what was once known as ‘Booksellers’ Row’ represents the soul of the trade.

Cecil Court’s first recorded bookseller was a Huguenot, Nöe Bouquet ‘à l’ensigne de la Bible’ in 1704, and there have been bookshops there, as well as publishers, printsellers and antique dealers, ever since. Among my favourite school-holiday haunts were Fletcher, Storey, Seligmann and Suckling, together with Wheeler and Meier’s antique shops. I’d enjoy illicit cigarettes in Meier’s back room with his assistants, one of whom, Elsie Batten, was murdered by a customer, who became the second-last man to be hanged in London.

Luckily for me, it was during term time.

The 19th century still lingered; one half expected to emerge into a London pea-souper

Dear reader...

The antique book-dealing trade is alive and well, discovers Huon Mallalieu, as is its kindly tradition of helping beginners Photographs by Daniel Gould

In 1932, George Suckling took on the business founded by his grandfather. British Museum records describe it as ‘one of the last old-style print shops with piles of portfolios of portraits arranged alphabetically by sitter.

It seemed that nothing had been added since World War II’, but that doesn’t do it justice. The 19th century (in which Suckling was born) still lingered in the little shop crammed with books and a basement almost unnavigable for rickety shelves of folders. On winter afternoons, one half expected to emerge into a London pea-souper. Suckling was evercourteous, even to beginners, and for 10/- let me have an amateur pen-and-ink caricature of a founder of the Royal Academy, the landscape painter Francesco Zuccarelli at his easel, which is on the wall next to me now.

Also bought from him is a letter from an eyewitness of the 1830 revolution in Paris.

Of the shops there in the early 1960s, I think only Watkins, the esoteric bookseller, and Travis & Emery, music specialists, remain, but something of the court’s atmosphere endures. The tradition of encouraging beginners lives on there and more widely. A talk with Thomas Heneage, the art-reference specialist bookdealer in Duke Street, St James’s, Wilde thing: Jeremy Mason has assembled a vast collection of Oscar Wilde ephemera

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reveals he still observes it. Recently, a 12-yearold boy came into the shop in search of a particular book and such was his evident passion that Mr Heneage erased the price and let him have it for £1. The following day, the boy’s mother—one hopes without telling him —came in with a large box of chocolates.

Book collectors are as varied as they are numerous and it is encouraging to find they are not a dying breed, as might be expected.

Among the first post-lockdown visitors to Tindley And Everett in Cecil Court, a small shop and large basement filled with first editions of 20th-century literature, were a bank teller who lives alone among his books in east London and a former editor of The Times.

They both bought, the first more expensively.

It is encouraging that book collectors are not a dying breed Towards the end of the 20th century, it seemed that the activities of dealers forming particular collections for wealthy individuals and institutions might deplete stock for others, but this did not happen and, save for the most tightly specialised fields, there is still enough for everyone. Sixty years ago, some dealers deplored the first book fairs, seeing no merit in exposing their clients to competitors, yet fairs flourished. The next threat was expected to come from auctions. Some people avoid ‘threshold anxiety’ by the auction process and, in buying, are reassured by an underbidder wanting the same item, but the personal

Facing page: Early—and continuing—encouragement from dealers nurtured Charles Sebag-Montefiore’s lifelong collecting habit. Above: Walpole’s Houghton Hall catalogue

A collectors’ work is never done When Charles Sebag-Montefiore’s interest in Old Master paintings led to a wish to learn more about provenance and history, he began to buy early catalogues of collections. Soon after, in 1975, he, too, found his way to Cecil Court, where Ernest Seligmann specialised in the Arts. He explained that he was looking for catalogues of private collections, but did not know for what titles to ask. After a rummage, Seligmann brought out the essential foundation stones for any such research, Waagen’s Treasures of Art in Great Britain and Buchanan’s Memoirs, together with treasures such as a 1752 edition of Aedes Walpolianae or a Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall.

Regretfully, having spent nearly onesixth of his annual salary as an articled clerk, Mr Sebag-Montefiore had to forgo the most desirable volume, a 1757 printing of the Catalogue and Description of King Charles I’s Capital Collection.

Three months later, he returned to Cecil Court—by chance shortly before Seligmann’s death—and was greeted with the words: ‘I know why you have come, and I have kept it for you.’

Luckily, Sir Ellis Waterhouse and Frank Herrmann had largely formed

their provenance libraries by then, so this niche field was wide open to him.

In 1990, Cecil Court featured once more, when a catalogue from a bookseller listed a trove of letters relating to John Smith (1781–1855), who had been a leading London Old Master dealer. Sensing gold, Mr SebagMontefiore was at the door first thing the next morning, but had to wait two hours for the shopkeeper and then explain his own lateness for work.

This archive, previously owned by Louis Meier, gave rise to a book.

A meticulous man, he has kept a detailed record of all his purchases and his library now runs to more than 5,000 volumes, being private collection and auction sale catalogues with associated manuscript material. It is consulted by researchers from around the world and, in due course, will pass to the National Gallery. However, Mr Sebag-Montefiore has not finished yet: his ‘desiderata list’ numbers a further 200 or so titles. As he says: ‘May the day never dawn without the hope of further acquisitions, visits to bookdealers, their emails and letters and further enjoyment from research into the British as art collectors!’

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Indefatigable collector Mr Mason can resist everything except a new Wildean acquisition

service and immediacy offered by a good dealer is invaluable. As they must cultivate new clients, so a tyro bibliophile should first collect the best dealers in the field, be it medieval manuscripts, astronomy or crime.

The rapid expansion of the internet was another prospective challenge and the pandemic has accelerated the pace of change, but change can be strengthening. Even previously sceptical booksellers have embraced online selling and buyers have become used to it—in May alone, there were more than

Bestsellers

• Sense and Sensibility is the rarest of Jane Austen’s novels; last year, at Swann in New York, a three-volume first edition was estimated up to $40,000 (£28,000) and sold for $81,250 (£57,590).

A first-edition Pride and Prejudice made $100,000 (£70,885), $70,000 (nearly £50,000) above estimate • A presentation set of Dickens’s ‘The Christmas Books’ sold for £44,100 (estimated to £18,000) at Sotheby’s in December

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50 British and Irish auctions wholly or in part devoted to books. Happily, it seems younger, screen-savvy people are also discovering the old pleasures of actual books; they, too, may find their way into shops where they can handle and smell before buying.

A footnote: the internet should encourage new collectors to realise that price and rarity do not always go together and it may be best not to follow a popular lead. As James Tindley says: ‘I could find you a full run of Ian Fleming firsts in 12 hours—but it would cost you.’

2020. The record price for a Dickens book is $290,500 (£206,000), paid for a copy of A Christmas Carol at Christie’s New York in 2009 • Harrogate book dealer John Atkinson in North Yorkshire currently has a quartet of firstedition ‘Winnie-thePooh’ books for sale at £17,500; Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse is £15,000 and a copy of Waugh’s Decline and Fall, signed by John Betjeman, is £25,000 • The highest price paid at auction for a first-edition ‘Harry Potter’ was £60,000,

for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, sold at Hansons’ Staffordshire Library Auction in October 2020. It had originally been bought by an expatriate in Luxembourg to teach his children English • The most expensive modern first edition with London W1 dealers Sotherans is a signed copy of Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia at £45,000.

Authors in this section range from Somerset Maugham (£3,500 for Of Human Bondage) to Stieg Larsson (£500 for ‘The Millennium Trilogy’)

Wild about Wilde

Jeremy Mason was introduced to Oscar Wilde at school through the Mac Liammóir recording of The Importance of Being Oscar and Hesketh Pearson’s 1946 biography.

Now a semi-retired Oriental antiques dealer and an inveterate accumulator, he has been a Wilde collector since his first purchases in 1970. Recently, a selection from the collection was to be exhibited in Bonhams’ Bond Street rooms, but had to go online—the video introduction is still there—and the auction house produced a handsome catalogue. Matthew Haley of Bonhams, who edited it, agrees: ‘It is a reminder that determination and a hunter’s instinct are as important as budget when putting together a highcalibre and stimulating collection.’

Mr Mason has hunted down many first and other editions in multiple languages and, as a distinguished amateur artist, has produced his own versions. He has amassed a wealth of associative material, too, ranging from the record book with the prizes Wilde won at Portora Royal School to the bill for flowers at his funeral.

Letters, illustrations, photographs, ephemera, cartoons—they’re all there.

Jeepers creepers!

From sweet-scented honeysuckle to whiskery-white traveller’s joy, we should better appreciate the wild creepers that festoon our hedgerows, says Simon Lester

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Illustrations by Kateryna Kyslitska

NE of the great joys of walking down a country lane is the sense of being between two living walls in the shape of hedges. If allowed to grow and not thrashed to within an inch of their lives—as happens all too often these days, sadly—these ancient structures bring delight all year round. From the first lamb’s tails on the hazels to the initial magical flush of fresh, lime-green leaves and delicate blossom, then richly coloured autumn fruit, there truly is nothing quite like an abundant British hedgerow.

All these qualities are enhanced by one type of rampant plant that adores hedges: the creepers, climbers, constrictors and entwiners that bestow festoons of monthly magnificence on their hosts. Their flowers, fruit and seeds provide sustenance for myriad animals large and small, as well as safe harbour among a tangled abundance of foliage.

Indeed, the fact that these gangly organisms have also long supplied us with food and medicine probably explains why they feature so heavily in myth and legend.

I always think that some of the most dominant creepers look as if they belong in a tropical jungle, far away from a British country lane or spinney, so it’s no surprise that some of the following species are closely related to exotic plants from distant shores.

Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) You know that summer has arrived when you catch a waft of the sweet fragrance of this common beauty. Woodbine, love bind and hold me tight are all country names for this shrub, widespread throughout the British Isles.

Flowering from June to September, it furnishes dormice—which are also fond of shredding its bark to fashion nests—and long-tongued insects, such as the elephant hawk-moth,

with an ample supply of high-octane nectar.

Indeed, its pale-yellow and pink flowers attract a host of insects, including the rare white admiral butterfly, which relies on honeysuckle as its main food source and lays its eggs on the leaves. Back in the days when sugar was a rarity, children would pluck the trumpet-like clusters to suck out the sweet reward. Come autumn, this rambling creeper’s red berries brighten fading hedgerows and, although poisonous to us, provide many birds with food throughout winter.

It was given as a love token, its twining tendrils suggesting the embrace of lovers In the early spring, before the honeysuckle’s leaves reappear, we can see how this energetic plant claws its way skyward, spiralling clockwise up its supporting crutch—an action that, over the years, creates sought-after, twisted walking sticks.

Long associated with romance and luck, honeysuckle was believed to prevent evil from entering a house when planted around a doorway. It was given as a love token, too —because its twining tendrils suggested the fond embrace of lovers. Many believed that, if a young woman took its flowers into her bedchamber, she would encounter erotic dreams.

Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) One of our most abundant shrubs, the humble bramble scrambles its way up the highest branches or leap frogs along the ground, rooting as it goes. Also known as bly, bramble kite, brameberry and brummel, it soon grows into a natural fortress, forming a tangle of stems and prickles sharper than any barbed wire. This tangled mass provides sanctuary for nesting, a warm and safe lie and a no-go area for raptors.

White and pink clusters of flowers, which start to appear in May, attract many insects, such as butterflies and hoverflies. As spring turns into summer, then autumn, both flowers and fruit adorn this prickly provider. The blackberry itself is a collection of drupelets —a juicy covering around a single seed.

Although most associate gathering and eating blackberries with happy times, the dark colour of the fruit has always carried black connotations. Envy, grief, injustice and even death were all once thought to stem from the bramble’s association with the Devil. When Nick was thrown out of Heaven

by St Michael, he tumbled to earth and landed in a bramble patch where, pricked and angry, he spat and cursed the fruits, scorching them with his fiery breath. By tradition, it’s bad luck to pick or eat blackberries after October 10 (old St Michael’s Day) and, in some parts, they’re still known as the Devil’s breath.

Ivy (Hedera helix) This vigorous climber is both loved and hated, as it needs support, but can climb to the tops of the highest trees, as well as smothering the ground to exclude other growth.

Often mistaken for a parasitic plant and deemed to suck the life out of trees, it actually has its own root system and sustains itself. As an evergreen, the waxy, dark-green leaves give colour and cover throughout the year, but it is the nectar-rich, late-flowering of the plant that affords many insects a final meal before the onset of winter. The domed clusters of flowers then form into round, blue-black fruits—the high calorie count of the flat-topped berries making them much sought after by thrushes and pigeons.

Also known as bentwood, gort, lovestone and robin-run-in-the-hedge, ivy is steeped in history and mythological skulduggery, the upshot being that, as Dionysus (Greek) and Bacchus (Roman)—who wore a crown of ivy leaves and held a thyrsus (wand) entwined with ivy and vine leaves—liked to party, this evergreen has long been associated with alcohol and drunkenness.

Not forgetting, of course, the Pagan and Christian pastime of deploying ivy as a midwinter and Christmas decoration.

Traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba) Old man’s beard, hedge vine and virgin’s bower are only a handful of the evocative names given to our only native clematis,

which clambers vigorously skyward by entwining and gripping its leaf stalks (or petioles) onto branches or any other convenient structures in hedgerows. The woody stems coil and contort, decorating country lanes and woodland in mainly calcareous soil. More recognisable in the winter months —when the clusters of white seedheads resemble a whiskery mass—each seedhead is connected to an ostrich-feather-like frond that helps to distribute the seeds.

A hairy, vigorous plant, the hop climbs like an Indian rope trick, straight up, when farmed During the summer, the green-white flowers emit a scent of vanilla that attracts bees and hoverflies. An important food plant to an assortment of moths, this creeper’s seeds are also enjoyed by finches and it’s not unusual to see a tribe of long-tailed tits hunting through the balls of seed and flakey bark for insects.

In times gone by, this overgrown woody buttercup was, once dried, used as a tobacco substitute and smoked by country folk, hence its further nicknames, such as boy’s bacca and smoke wood.

Hop (Humulus lupulus) As well as adorning hedgerows with its verdant, abundant foliage that highlights the lantern-like fruits in the late summer, this member of the hemp family decorates many pubs, restaurants and private houses, especially in Kent, where it is the county’s adopted flower. Ever since the Middle Ages, hops have been used to flavour, preserve and clarify beer by adding a bitter, fruity taste and, thanks to the ever-growing demand for the drink, it quickly became a farmed crop centred on the garden of England.

A hairy, vigorous plant that winds clockwise around any convenient obstacle, the hop climbs like an Indian rope trick, straight up, when farmed. Humulus lupulus is unusual in that flowers grow on both male and female plants, appearing as a small cluster on the male and a cone-shaped catkin with a yeasty, garlic aroma on the female. The young shoots, which are edible, make a fine addition to an omelette and pillows stuffed with hops are said to aid sleep.

White bryony (Bryonia dioica) and black bryony (Tamus communis) Although not related, these two exotic climbers share many characteristics. White bryony is the only British member of the gourd family and black bryony is the sole representative of the yam family.

Both specimens grow from tubers, but form separate male and female plants—

black bryony has heart-shaped leaves, whereas white bryony’s are palmated. In addition, white bryony possesses tendrils to assist with climbing and black bryony winds itself anti-clockwise. Greenish-white and relatively inconspicuous flowers start to appear on both species in May, with black bryony flowering until July and its white cousin carrying on until September.

However, it isn’t until the late summer and autumn that these tropical imposters show their true beauty by gracing our hedgerows with garlands of scarlet-red berries that hang long into the winter. Both plants are poisonous and, in France, white bryony was deemed so deadly that it was known as the Devil’s turnip (navet du diable), although it was also employed to treat leprosy.

White bryony root was also used—often to devastating effect—as a substitute for the much rarer and more expensive mandrake, a popular aphrodisiac of the time. The tubers are supposed to take on the shape of the human form and, for it to work, a man must cut a piece from a root that resembles a woman and vice versa for a woman— please don’t try this at home.

This deciduous, perennial climber goes by a number of country names, such as Canterbury jacks, dog’s cherries, cow’s lick, gout root and wild nep, as well as more the sinister sobriquets of dead creepers, death warrant and mad root, which we would do well to heed.

Come ride with me

Lovingly hewn from wood for centuries, rocking horses give children’s imaginations wings and inspire great nostalgia in adults, discovers Jane Wheatley

They swayed about upon a rocking horse,/and thought it Pegasus John Keats, ‘Sleep and Poetry’ (1817)

S John Keats’s words suggest, of all toys, a rocking horse lends wings to a child’s imagination and inspires nostalgia in adults.

When I told people at an Easter lunch I was writing about rocking horses, several pairs of eyes misted over. ‘Ours is still in the old family home,’ said one. ‘Mine was piebald,’ said another. ‘I rode him like a jockey.’

My youngest sister died in a car crash at the age of 17. We older children had left home, so her beloved hunter, Hugo, was sold and my mother divided the proceeds among the four of us. I used my share to buy a rocking horse for my small daughter; we named him Hugo, of course. He stood in an upstairs window at our London home, which was referred to by people in our street as the rocking-horse house.

Now, restored to glory with a new mane and leatherwork, he is ridden by my granddaughter, a memento of the great-aunt she never knew.

On a blustery spring day, I drive through Oxfordshire beech woods just coming into leaf to Hernes, home of Richard and Gillian Ovey, where I am to meet two much older family heirlooms. Mrs Ovey leads me past boots and coats and many doorways, up some back stairs and there they are: the diminutive CJ, standing on a wheeled platform with a push-along handlebar, and Northfield, a magnificent dapple grey on bow rockers.

‘Northfield takes up too much room in the day nursery, which is why he is on the Elizabethan landing,’ explains Mrs Ovey. ‘He had been in my husband’s family and I discovered him, in 1966, in an outhouse with a broken leg, one ear, a missing eye and the bow rocker in several pieces. And this little chap, CJ, was my father’s. He came from Gamages and still has the label.’ She shows me a 1918 photograph of CJ, and another, taken in about 1948, of herself as a child in a sun bonnet, her hand resting proprietorially on his rump. ‘He was lent to some nieces and came back full of woodworm, but he is very precious to me and I had to get him and Northfield restored.’

Mrs Ovey sent both her horses to Alison Smith at Rocking Horse Works in Shropshire: ‘She did them so incredibly well; she made Northfield’s beautiful saddle, a miniature in English leather, everything comes apart. He has a new leg and new neat ears and is waiting for great-grandchildren; rocked at full tilt,

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Makers of childhood (and adult) equine dreams: twins Marc and Tony Stevenson

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Vintageorfake:bookstohelp The Rocking Horse: A History of Moving Toy Horses by Patricia Mullins

Rocking Horses: The Collector’s Guide to Selecting, Restoring and Enjoying New and Vintage Rocking Horses

by Tony Stevenson and Eva Marsden

Rocking-horse devotee Gillian Ovey’s aunt Mary Long riding her push-along horse CJ

travelling players and 17th-century rocking horses ranged from crudely hewn blocks of wood to ornately carved and decorated pieces of high art. Early styles were modelled on paintings of racehorses in gallop: hind feet on the ground, front legs raised—inaccurate, but impressive—or on military haute école, such as an exquisitely sculpted high-stepper commissioned by Lord Grantley.

Germany’s model horses were often covered in calfskin and stuffed with hay or sawdust.

Some were plain brown, based on workaday animals, but even a push-along plough horse could become a cavalry charger in a child’s mind. The French favoured wheels: horses on tricycles or platforms pulling a cabriolet.

American makers took on the carousel—once designed for battle-training or jousting practice—creating colourful, flamboyant steeds with tossing manes and snorting nostrils.

At Stevenson Brothers in Kent, Marc Stevenson gives me a virtual tour of the works:

Left: Stevensons’s Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Grey charger. Right: Zara Phillips’s eventer Toytown

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the painted horses with their large, liquid eyes are lined up, each with a special drawer set into its tummy, where owners can put mementoes for future generations. There is a dispatch rider’s horse with blanket roll behind the saddle, flask and document satchel and, just finished, a replica of the famous racehorse Frankel, complete with racing pad and grippy reins. Walls are hung with photographs of The Queen receiving various rocking horses presented to her over the years.

In the horse hospital, David Bates is repairing a badly damaged head. ‘It’s a sad case, but not the worst we’ve had,’ he says, cheerfully.

Mr Stevenson nods: ‘Lord Weymouth brought us a jigsaw puzzle of a Georgian horse in three fertiliser sacks. We also restored the Marquess of Bath’s cavalry horse, Sir Jumpitty Gee Gee Boy; he’s back at Longleat.’

Early models could build up momentum, travelling across a floor and alarming nanny The Stevensons and most companies will assess a horse for restoration free of charge and are often able to identify the maker of a vintage model, as well as assess its value.

Both Mr Stevenson and Mrs Smith report many rocking horses are bought by adults for themselves. Mrs Smith even travelled to Bavaria to deliver a unicorn to a client she describes as a lady of mature years. Does she ride it? ‘Oh yes,’ enthuses Mrs Smith. ‘She has a beautiful house surrounded by mountains where she can rock away and look out at the splendid view.’ I wonder aloud whether this is down to nostalgia or wish fulfilment?

Mr Stevenson says clients’ grandchildren are often the excuse to have the horse they

Richard Cannon/Country Life Picture Library; Getty; The Hernes Estate; Elizabeth Ebsworth Photography

his gait is that of an 11hh pony at a canter, so they can practise and learn balance.’

Rocking Horse Works, in an old chapel by the Shropshire Union Canal, smells deliciously of resin, raw wood and paint. A chest of drawers holds glass eyes, rosettes and brass studs; tails hang on pegs. Horses in for repair often need new manes and tails, Mrs Smith explains, thanks to small owners wielding scissors.

She shows me a Victorian horse in original condition. ‘It is probably worth £2,000 as it is,’ she surmises. ‘We will re-use everything we can and do only essential mending; a fine old piece preserved is worth more than if it is fully restored, probably about £4,000.’

The Victorian era was the toy’s golden age, when principal makers Collinson and Sons, F. H. Ayres and G. and J. Lines, later Lines Bros, sent out thousands of them to stock the nurseries of the burgeoning middle classes.

Early models stood on bow rockers, which could build up a terrific momentum, travelling across the nursery floor and alarming nanny.

Some had basket chairs at each end for tiny children and were arguably even more perilous.

In D. H. Lawrence’s story The Rocking-Horse Winner, young Paul rides his horse into a frenzy, believing it will enable him to foretell the winners of real-life horse races, but things do not end well. The thrilling grace of the bow rocker was eventually supplanted by the now familiar safety stand.

Before then, toy horses came in many forms: stick or hobby horses were widely used by

Which one to ride today? Greg and Biddy Watts with real-life eventer Casper and his impeccably rendered counterpart, plus dog Dava

always wanted themselves. ‘We make extra large horses for adults to ride,’ he confirms.

Some buyers request a bespoke horse to reflect the markings and characteristics of their own animals. Greg Watts commissioned a replica of his wife Biddy’s eventer as a surprise present for her 60th birthday. ‘I remembered her saying once that, as a girl, she had always longed for a rocking horse,’ Mr Watts confesses. Casper the dun-coloured horse is now installed in his owner’s sitting room.

‘We both ride him,’ Mr Watts admits.

Replicas aren’t always glamorous: Ned the donkey, with smart white markings and

bottle-brush mane, was modelled on a family pet. However, notable horses memorialised by the Stevensons include Zara Phillips’s Toytown, commissioned to raise funds for the GB eventing team ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Similarly, Olympic dressage champion Valegro’s rocking doppelganger was presented to rider Charlotte Dujardin on his retirement ceremony at Olympia. An extralarge version in oak on coach springs costs £10,500. Re-creations of The Prince of Wales’s childhood rocking horse, ‘special extra carved’ and named Winston, after his grandfather George VI’s horse, are sold at Highgrove.

Make or mend

• The Original Rocking Horse Works, based in Tyrley, Shropshire and Hernes, Oxfordshire (01630 653194; www.rockinghorseworks.co.uk) • Stevenson Brothers, Ashford, Kent (01233 820363; www.stevensonbros.com) • The Rocking Horse Workshop, Hodnet, Shropshire (01630 685888; www.therockinghorseworkshop.com)

From left: Winston; the Diamond Jubilee charger; Ned, the Rocking Donkey

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The good stuff

Birthstones pearl and diamond necklace, £1,100, Kiki Mcdonough (020–7730 3323; www.kiki.co.uk)

Fringe pearl necklace, £17,765, Cassandra Goad (020–7730 2202; www.cassandra goad.com)

Vintage Alhambra bracelet, £3,350, Van Cleef Arpels (www. vancleefarpels.com)

Pearly bird June’s birthstone is rightly known as the queen of jewels, explains Hetty Lintell

Reine de Naples 9807, £13,500, Breguet (020– 7355 1735; www.breguet. com)

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Tassel necklace, £6,200, John Lloyd Morgan (020– 7828 6011; www.johnlloyd morgan.com)

HE lustre of pearls gave them a natural opulence before they were even considered for a piece of jewellery. The Romans believed them a symbol of wealth and class and Julius Caesar created a law that only the ruling classes could wear pearl jewels.

Happily, this isn’t the case now and pearls have rarely been more fashionable. The arrival of cultured pearls in 1896 changed the future of this treasure (two decades of work developing oyster beds by pearl genius Kokichi Mikimoto). Yet even on a farm where they are meticulously cared for, not every mollusc produces a pearl and those that do appear don’t all make the quality cut for the market —so you can still consider your pearls to be very rare and special indeed.

Splash earrings with Akoya cultured pearls, £16,000, Mikimoto (020–7399 9860; www.mikimoto.co.uk)

Cufflinks, £3,730, Deakin & Francis (0121–236 7751; www. deakinandfrancis.co.uk)

Petit Bouton pearl ring, £7,000, Jessica McCormack (020–7491 9999; www.jessica mccormack.com)

Sea urchin dangle earrings, £3,800, Patrick Mavros (020–7052 0001; www.patrickmavros.com) 108

Baroque pearl earrings, £850, Jessie Thomas (07962 305109; www. jessiethomasjewellery.com)

Interiors

Future perfect Investment pieces to enjoy now–and to pass on to the next generation, selected by Amelia Thorpe

Lights fantastic Made in Collier Webb’s foundry in Eastbourne, East Sussex, the Armoury Globe, £14,000, is created from 48 frosted-glass facets framed in Antique Brass and inspired by the hanging globe lights in the hallways of the New York Public Library, founded in 1895 (020–8051 6790; www.collierwebb.com)

Military bearing The Elizabeth side table is made in green English oak crowned with a pippy oak top, created by British artisans Stride & Co. It forms part of the Chelsea Barracks Collection of bespoke furniture and lighting produced in collaboration with interior designers Albion Nord and costs £2,000 (07834 711945; www. albion-nord.com)

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Leaf it out Ceramic artist Amy Hughes says she aims to bridge the gap between past and present, creating pieces that provide fresh and lively interpretations of 17th- and 18th-century porcelainware. Acanthus II, £5,500, is available from Vessel Gallery (020–7727 8001; www.vesselgallery.com)

Rug and roll Having worked with antique carpets at Sotheby’s, Adam Gilchrist, founder of Veedon Fleece, says he was only too aware of the quality required to create rugs that would last for generations. The result is a collection of entirely bespoke designs, hand-knotted in the company’s workshops in Nepal, including this St Mark’s Square rug in silk, from £1,500 (01483 575758; www.veedonfleece.com)

Amazing glaze British studio potter and ceramic artist Kate Malone is known for her use of sumptuous crystalline glazes and colours, as evidenced by A Woven Jug of Coloured Clay, £13,200, available from Adrian Sassoon (020–7581 9888; www.adriansassoon.com)

Interiors

Iron will Created by Soane Britain’s blacksmith at his forge in the Forest of Dean, the Small Bascule desk, from £12,600, features an iron frame with tucked-in ‘hoofed’ feet and hand-beaten top, finished with leather of your choice (020–7730 6400; www.soane.co.uk)

Thanks for the memories Based in a Regency house in Derbyshire with marquetry studios, cabinetmaking and Frenchpolishing workshops on site, Wheathills uses its impressive collection of rare veneers to create bespoke memory boxes and furniture, as well as offering conservaan restoration services. This English burr-walnut memory box has tion and acassar d ma ding, boxwood stringing and intricate marquetry of a magfr ni cent golden ea from £20,000 (01332 824819; www.wheathills.com)

A cut above Chefs and cooking enthusiasts alike extol the merits of superbly sharp, s well-balanced knives to ttransform the way you cook, something in which the blad miths at Blenheim Forge beliieve wholeheartedly.

Thiss Classic set in a handstititched leather roll, £1,180, is frrom their range of handforged, gh-performance knives, designed to o stand the test of time (020– 8616 243 www.blenheimforge.co.uk) 112

Jug of love Theo Fennell founded his eponymous brand more than 40 years ago and remains its creative director. The company continues to be celebrated for its original jewellery and silverware, made by hand in its workshops and studios on London’s Fulham Road, including this Sterling Silver and Smoke Colour Crystal Pavilion jug, £3,950 (020– 7591 5002; www.theofennell.com)

Crafty number Furniture-maker Alfred Newall has been inspired by 17th-century design to create this Bobbin mirror in Green Oak, £1,240, made in his workshop on the edge of the South Downs and available from The New Craftsmen (020–7148 3190; www.thenewcraftsmen.com)

Interiors

Me old china The charm and simplicity of English decorative china, loved by collectors, makes it a rich source of inspiration for contemporary artists, finds Arabella Youens 114

Emily Maude

Brighton-based illustrator and designer Emily Maude creates works on glass as well as on paper, featuring Staffordshire dogs and lustreware jugs set against chinoiserie wallpaper. When on furlough last year, she shifted her focus to nearby Charleston, the East Sussex farmhouse that was once home to Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Moved

by its financial plight during lockdown, she organised an auction of work by fellow artists, which raised £55,000. ‘I’ve loved Charleston since I was a child. There’s something wonderful about that idea that every surface is a canvas. Good design can be applied to everything and should be affordable to anyone—that’s my ethos.’

Following the success of the Charleston auction, her work has blossomed, thanks, in part, to the power of Instagram.

These ceramic pieces were made not for the very wealthy, but for everyone Mrs Maude brings a fresh perspective to the historic technique of reverse glass painting and imbues her paper works with a feeling of cabinets of curiosity or flea-market finds. Her pieces feature brightly coloured birds sitting in branches, lustreware jugs bursting with flowers, Staffordshire dogs with imploring eyes staring up from patterned tablecloths.

‘There are powerful parallels between the rise of the domestic interior in 19th-century painting and pieces that artists are creating today,’ points out Mrs Maude. ‘During the Industrial Revolution, the home became a protective shield from the enormous Facing page: Virginia’s London by Emily Maude, inspired by the Bloomsbury set’s East Sussex retreat, Charleston.

Above right: Shades of comforting Victorian domesticity in Bloomsbury Mantle I. Right: Mrs Maude’s In Isolation, cheering the home during lockdown

changes going on externally. Now, with the pandemic, the interest in interiors has gone beyond rooms looking pretty to actually comforting us in uncertain times.’

She adds: ‘I’m drawn to the fact that these ceramic pieces were made not for the very wealthy, but for everyone to enjoy. Lustreware—be it Staffordshire in silver or gold or pink that was made in Sunderland—was designed to imitate silver and reflect candlelight for those who couldn’t afford real pieces.

Similarly, Staffordshire figures were mass produced in slip moulds, but painted by hand, often by women. These touches gave them personality and meant that even the most modest Victorian chimneypiece had distinctive elements.’ www.emilymaude.com

Debbie George

In the studio of West Yorkshire-based artist Debbie George are two cabinets filled with car-boot-sale finds. She has a particular interest in pieces of nurseryware, which often feature in the foreground of her works set against a distant landscape.

Miss George originally wanted to be a potter.

‘But all the fun people were doing Fine Art at university, so I decided to paint pictures of pots instead.’ Her works include still lifes and landscape paintings that juxtapose the domestic space within a natural setting, featuring ceramics, feathers and flowers.

Working with oil on gesso, she creates 115

Interiors ‘I’ve been collecting pottery since I was a teenager, beginning with spotting bargains at jumble sales,’ explains Miss George. Citing the artist Mary Fedden (1915–2012) as an inspiration, she explains how even a broken piece of ceramic still holds immense charm.

‘I’m particularly interested in transferware that was often given as school prizes, frequently with a motto or moral inscribed on its surface. In this way, children were taught the alphabet or about ornithology as they ate their porridge for breakfast. Eric Ravilious was keen on it, too.’

I’m interested in transferware that was given as school prizes, with mottos inscribed Her works have been snapped up by fans during these past few months. ‘With so much uncertainty, people prefer to look back, but it’s also about slowing down and appreciating our surroundings more. As more time has been spent at home—and in the kitchen —the chimneypiece or dresser has had more attention and focus.’ www.debbiegeorge.co.uk Above: Cheerful hens and cheering cyclamen by Debbie George. Below: Miss George brings the natural world indoors with her still lifes, such as Shell Bowl and Hydrangeas (left) and Lustre Bird Bowl (right)

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layers of paint, which she then scratches away to achieve interesting patterns and texture. Miss George’s painted pottery cutouts, meanwhile, are laser cut, so that each and every wobble in her hand is translated.

Angie Lewin

Speyside-based printmaker Angie Lewin has detected a renewed interest in handmade pieces over the past year. ‘Our sense of home has been intensified because we’re not

Left: Humble wildflowers offer enduring inspiration for Angie Lewin, who gathers ceramics, often chipped, to set off their forms. Below left: Mrs Lewin’s The Yellow Cup, a depiction of her found feathers, seedheads and old scraps of porcelain

dashing around. Instead, it seems that people have been buying art, fabrics and wallpaper featuring flora and fauna as a way of bringing Nature inside the home.’

Well known for her prints full of seedheads and umbellifers inspired by the minutiae of the plants, her works are stylised depictions, rather than botanical studies. She is drawn

to humble wildflowers growing in the cracks of pavements or waste ground. ‘I’ve always been influenced by Nature, observing native plants in their environment, collecting seedheads and feathers as a reference and then going back to the studio to record what I’ve found,’ explains Mrs Lewin.

With their simplified floral motifs, antique china fits seamlessly into her work With their simplified floral motifs, antique china fits seamlessly into her work. Employing a magpie’s eye, she gathers ceramics, many of which are chipped and cracked. Initially, they’re used as storage for her foraged finds, but then make their way, almost accidentally, into her still lifes and prints. ‘Kettle’s Yard [gallery in Cambridge] has long been an inspiration. What I love about it is the message that it’s acceptable to be surrounded by objects and art that are beautiful and give you pleasure, but which aren’t necessarily valuable.’ www.angielewin.co.uk 117

Property market

Penny Churchill

Yarner House’s hillside position offers superb views over Dartmoor National Park. £5.5m

The bigger picture Grand proportions in Hertfordshire, Devon and Somerset prove that big is beautiful–and elegant, too

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AST week’s West Country number of COUNTRY L IFE saw the launch onto the market of the historic, 247-acre Yarner House estate on the north-eastern slopes of Haytor Down, three miles west of Bovey Tracey on the eastern edge of the Dartmoor National Park. Edward Clarkson of Knight Frank’s Exeter office (01392 423111) quotes a guide price of £5.5 million for the Devon estate as a whole, or £5m for Grade II-listed Yarner House with its land, buildings and one cottage; the Lodge Cottage is available separately for £500,000.

Yarner House and the adjoining Yarner Wood, a 365-acre block of ancient woodland managed by Natural England as part of the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve, were both once part of the manor of Bovey Tracey granted

by William the Conqueror to Geoffrey de Mowbray, Bishop of Coutances. On de Mowbray’s death in 1093, his nephew, Robert Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, inherited, but later defied the king, which led to the seizure of his estates in 1095.

Over time, ownership of the Bovey Tracey estates reverted to the Crown as favourites came and went, until, in the 16th century, a succession of costly wars left Tudor monarchs strapped for cash. Elizabeth I began to sell off Crown properties and, in 1578, the Yarner estate was bought by Gregory Sprint, a canny lawyer with good Court connections, who swiftly resold it at a profit.

Little is known of the early history of Yarner House itself, although its 1986 listing describes it as a ‘large house, 17th century or earlier, remodelled and considerably enlarged in the 19th-century. L-shaped, with slated roofs mostly concealed behind high crenellated parapets, it occupies a prominent site nearly 800ft above sea-level, the old house being contained in a square block at the south-east end’. According to Devon records, this ‘old house’ was built, probably on the site of an old hunting lodge, by Moses Stoneham, the son of a Norfolk rector, who came to Devon in about 1650 and died at Yarner in 1678.

Research carried out by Devon historian Frances Billinge shows that, during the 18th

Robert Mowbray defied the king, which led to the seizure of his estates

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century, the Yarner estate was mortgaged, leased or used as collateral for loans by 28 different groups of owners. In the 19th century, more than 30 groups of owners became involved as mineral rights were separated from the estate and shafts were dug to mine for copper. However, the mining venture proved unsuccessful and, when the mine closed in 1864, Yarner went back to being a sporting country estate.

In 1878, the estate was acquired by Oxford graduate Henry Chadwick, who greatly improved the property and when, in 1902, he offered it for sale, it was described as ‘a mansion with three lodges and over 435 acres, and a sporting estate’. The new owner was Chadwick’s neighbour, Harry Trelawney Eve, an important figure in the area and a Liberal MP, who was knighted in 1907.

Find the best properties at countrylife.co.uk

As well as the main 6,206sq ft house, the Yarner estate offers two further cottages, a tennis court and 247 acres of Devon countryside

Eve’s son, William, was killed in action in 1917 and, in 1919, Yarner was sold to the sitting tenant, Richard Lee, for £10,000.

Upon Lee’s death in 1923, the estate passed to his wife, daughter and son-in-law Capt John Catterall Leach RN, who was killed in action in 1941. Yarner was put up for sale again in 1950 and, in 1952, was divided into two when Yarner Wood was sold to the Nature Conservancy to become one of the first of six national nature reserves.

In 1964, present owners the Holman family bought the Yarner House estate, comprising the impressive main house in its glorious hillside setting surrounded by magnificent terraced gardens, a farm with a farmhouse, farm buildings and 71 acres

of pasture, some 30 acres of mixed woodland and 138 acres of moorland within the Dartmoor National Park. In recent years, the house has been run as a successful holiday retreat and wedding venue.

Romantic Yarner House stands at the end of a long drive that meanders through the land before arriving at the entrance where a wide lawned terrace reveals the compelling beauty of the Wray Valley below. The house offers 6,206sq ft of accommodation on three floors, including an inner hall that doubles as a dining room, a light-filled Scandinavian hall ideal for entertaining, a study, sitting room and kitchen/breakfast room, with a spacious master suite plus six further bedrooms and bathrooms on the

floors above. Outside in the grounds, the Victorian tennis court needs updating, but surely boasts the finest site of any court anywhere in the South-West.

Knight Frank’s Exeter office is also handling the sale, at a guide price of £3.25m, of pristine Treborough Lodge, described by selling agent Hamish Humfrey as ‘a good solid house’, set in 20 acres of parkland, gardens, woodland and paddocks near the pretty village of Roadwater, Somerset, in the Exmoor National Park, 20 miles from Taunton.

The striking house, built in the classic Victorian style in 1857, has been meticulously renovated by its current owners, who bought it in 2009 and have added a stable 119

Property market is unsurprisingly unlisted, given that it was built 45 years ago on the site of an earlier house by a residential developer with a passion for Classical architecture.

‘He put everything he loved about property into the house, which was designed as a manageable country home with his own family very much in mind. He even designed the majestic reception hall with its grand sweeping staircase as the perfect setting for his daughter’s wedding,’ Mark Rimell of Strutt & Parker reveals.

The owner put everything he loved about property into the house

block, oak-framed barn and three-bay stone garage, with planning permission in place for a 2,000sq ft indoor swimming-pool complex. They have also landscaped the surrounding parkland, clearing overgrown woodland to open up Treborough’s spectacular valley and coastal views.

Treborough Lodge, which is unlisted, offers 8,671sq ft of well-proportioned livingspace on three floors, with a reception hall, dining room, drawing room (an impressive part of a 1904 extension), cinema, gym, kitchen/breakfast room and various domestic offices on the ground floor; a principal bedroom suite with a dressing room, bathroom and shower room on the first floor; and four further bedrooms and three bath/shower rooms on the second floor.

Back in the Home Counties, Strutt & Parker (020–7318 5025) and Savills (020–7499 8644) are joint agents in the sale, for the first time in its history, of the imposing Woodlands.

This remarkable Nash-style villa is set in 106 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, parkland, woodland and paddocks on The Ridgeway, part of Britain’s oldest road, three miles from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire.

The agents quote a guide price of £12m for the elegant, white-rendered house, which 120

Above: Woodlands in Hertfordshire was designed 45 years ago as a manageable country home in the Classical style. £12m.

Certainly, the symmetry and layout of the house is strongly reminiscent of the work of Nash, notably in the bow windows of the drawing room and dining room—two of an enfilade of three grand reception rooms that overlook the lake in front of the house.

In all, Woodlands provides 6,908sq ft of accommodation, including three main reception rooms, a study, kitchen/breakfast room, master-bedroom suite with twin bathrooms and dressing rooms and four principal bedroom suites. It also comes with a traditional coach house and three selfcontained cottages.

Treborough Lodge in Somerset offers 8,761sq ft of living space and 20 acres. £3.25m

Property comment

Edited by Carla Passino

Prince or pauper What happens when the details of listed buildings are inaccurate?

Lucy Denton investigates E thought we had bought an 18thcentury house’, says one homeowner of his pretty, Grade IIlisted, thatched cottage in countryfied southern England, ‘but were taken aback to find out our garden wall was once the end of a Victorian latrine.’ Recent research on his property, acquired more than 15 years ago, uncovered an unlikely provenance—a compelling snippet of social history, not as a polite Georgian abode, but as one-time Poor Law Union lodgings, home to paupers crammed into a crude, rubble construction and set to work as labourers. The site was almost completely rebuilt in the mid 19th century and remodelled in modern times—unacknowledged in its formal listed-building description maintained by Historic England and apparently not referred to in sale details.

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If you are thinking of buying or altering a listed building, do your research Occasional errors or omissions in the understanding of a house’s history are more likely to crop up when investigation is prompted, often for planning purposes and listedbuilding consent. However, the confidence that owners and potential buyers should have in formal descriptions found in the National Heritage List for England, or histories supplied with particulars, and what they can do about inaccuracies, is not always clear and appears to be legally untested. List entries, often written up as cursory details in older versions yet to be updated, are not meant to be meticulously detailed accounts.

‘What really matters,’ says Deborah Mays, head of listing at Historic England, ‘is that a property is listed and, therefore, needs to be protected. It provides guidance, not a definitive history.’ When the process of statutory 122

designation began in 1947 under the Town and Country Planning Act, the purpose was to aid identification by providing an address, a simple means of knowing where the building was. Now that there are nearly 380,000 listed buildings on that register, keeping the details updated has become a more protracted process that includes revising hundreds of old records. In order to examine new evidence, ‘Historic England takes on 50 case assessments every year, which is really working at capacity,’ says Dr Mays, adding: ‘We are keen

to hear of any errors. We often don’t get told about fire damage for several years.’ She encourages local authorities and owners to let them know about amendments as soon as possible: ‘We offer assistance at any point— there is no lack of ways to get in touch with us.’

House histories are becoming a booming business and appreciating architectural and social attribution is increasingly important not only to buyers, but agents, planners and developers, especially with the increasing pressures of building and a robust housing

Alamy

Nash re-created: research revealed unexpected stories behind this Regency crescent

market. ‘The higher the value and the more renowned the buyer, then proof of provenance becomes more important,’ says James Mackenzie, senior director at Strutt & Parker.

The desirability of in-depth documentary investigation is highlighted by Victoria Perry, practice director at architects Donald Insall Associates, where specialist historical researchers discovered that a quadrant of houses in central London, designated Grade I

as an original, early-19th-century example of architectural virtuoso John Nash’s grand, Regency repertoire for his royal client, had actually been completely reconstructed postwar in the 1960s as imitations. ‘We do archive research for every single building,’ explains Dr Perry, especially as ‘only one in 100 entries have a detailed description sufficient for architectural work. There is quite a nuanced tapestry of heritage significance and I would

suggest research is done before you start any design.’ The outcome of proper assessment was a sensitive reconstruction of this exquisite composition, replicating designs

by Nash, and taking aesthetic reference from other examples of his work.

Oversights such as this have, so far, never been formally compensated, perhaps because the intrinsic value of buildings is viewed in a different way to that of a work of art sold at auction. ‘It’s important to avoid common misconceptions about listing descriptions,’ notes Karen Phull, partner at Farrer & Co. ‘They are not meant to be exhaustive, but rather identify the location of a listed building. If your decision to buy is influenced by its historic significance, make sure that you carry out your due diligence by instructing a heritage consultant first. They can provide a more definitive understanding of the history of the building through archival research and onsite analysis. Don’t rely on the listing description alone.’

Edward Rook, head of the country department at Knight Frank, points out that, ‘since 1991, we have been governed by the Property Misdescriptions Act, superseded in 2013 by the Consumer Protection Regulations and Business Protection Regulations. Estate agents can be prosecuted if they provide false or misleading statements. The effect of this is that if there is no evidence of the original date of a property, then the detail is left out or it is heavily caveated’.

The advice, therefore, if you are thinking of buying or hoping to make alterations to a listed building, is to do research upfront, check what you can using national and local archives, photographic collections and other primary sources. Most importantly, ‘get advice,’ suggests Charlie Gaines of the Listed Property Owners’ Club. ‘Bringing in a historicbuilding specialist can reduce the risk, especially because many of the Grade-II descriptions are limited and houses were only briefly seen from the exterior.’

This is a pertinent point, as the mistake is often made that the description captures all that is statutorily covered: ‘Often, list entries only describe the front elevation and yet, legally, the designation typically extends to the entire property. This can include extensions, outbuildings and other structures within the curtilage of the building described,’ confirms Henry Ryde, director at Savills’ heritage and townscape team. Whether palace or gatehouse, buildings are ‘works of art in their own way,’ says Crispin Holborow of Savills, so it is a good idea to understand whether you have a masterpiece or misattribution— and let Historic England know.

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Properties of the week

Edited by Carla Passino

I’ve got mews for you Small can still be comfortable, as proved by these unexpectedly spacious gems in our great cities

£475,000, Somerset Situated in the Poets’ Corner area of the Georgian city of Bath, this delightful house would be ideal for a small family or perhaps as a second or investment home. The 1,081sq ft interiors feature a sitting room and separate kitchen and dining area downstairs and three bedrooms on the first floor. Outside is a small paved area that is perfect for planters and leads to the private parking area, which is sheltered by a low stone wall. Hamptons (01225 220216; www.hamptons.co.uk)

£3 million, London W2 A white-washed Victorian exterior hides 2,031sq ft of contemporary spaces at this mews house in London’s Bayswater. The entrance hall leads to a vast open-plan reception room, which, in turn, flows seamlessly into the kitchen and dining area and the garden beyond. Upstairs are five bedrooms, including a striking top-floor master suite, the bathroom of which is a work of art. Lurot Brand (020–7590 9955; www.lurotbrand.co.uk)

Local heroes The indiscriminate collector Illustration by Emma van Zeller

£650,000, Edinburgh This mews house set in a quiet street in Edinburgh’s New Town has been beautifully renovated to suit contemporary living. The 1,888sq ft of accommodation include a large open-plan kitchen and dining area, a sitting room with feature fireplace and a bedroom on the ground floor, plus three more bedrooms on the first floor. There’s also the option to buy the 1,035sq ft garage next door, which could be incorporated into the house, subject to the usual consents. Savills (0131–247 3770; www.savills.com) 124

What started as a childhood interest in stampss, coins and vintage comics turned into a lifelong obse ession for Roddy Carr-Boot. Anything is fair game: taxid dermy, coal scuttles, ancient pub signs, you name it. His first wife described their marital home as the ‘PittRivers on acid’ and cited his collecting as ‘unreassonable’ behaviour in their divorce. Thankfully, the seco ond Mrs Carr-Boot came to the marriage with a farm, complete with a capacious barn. Having rapidly filled it to o the rafters, he’s looking to create a legacy and is eyyeing up an old chicken shed as the site for the Carr-Boot Museum. ‘The British Museum will rue the day it turned down my generous offerr of my life’s work,’ he thinks, sipping from one of his 273 Henley rowing tankards, a collection he believes to be the biggest in the world. GK

In the garden

B

Grow your own crumble

ACK when smoking was good for you, certain activities were almost compulsory. Families gathered to watch the Red Arrows, the whole day was given over to the FA Cup final and everyone— everyone—went blackberrying.

As if an inaudible summer siren had sounded, people streamed to roadside verges, untidy hedges, and—in our case—the path of the old railway line, in search of free fruit.

This wasn’t without its stress: my sister and I would be dragged kicking and screaming from the television, with my mum ‘well I always put them in the same place’-ing my dad about missing Tupperware lids. Once out of the house, enthusiasm—thanks to the promise of apple and blackberry crumble—took over.

Almost everyone has happy childhood memories of blackberrying, but if I am designing an edible garden, clients usually query the presence of blackberries: why grow something you can simply go and pick? I used to feel the same way, but, over the past dozen years or so, I’ve grown and eaten fruit from many of the blackberry varieties bred for domestic and commercial growing. These improved varieties are so very different to those that grow wild: where wild blackberries vary in flavour and size, the fruit of these new varieties is consistently plump, reliably sweet and almost laughably juicy.

I’ve also found named blackberry

GAP Photos/John Swithinbank; Alamy

Mark Diacono

New blackberry varieties are superb in flavour and Rubes ‘Black Satin’ is a high-yielding, upright, vigorous and thornless option

varieties to be heavy cropping, naturally upright in habit and, in many cases, thornless. It makes them a really superb prospect for growing in the garden.

Blackberries’ excellent flavour and productivity is matched by their ease for the gardener. They’re vigorous and unfussy, growing merrily in wind, semi-shade or even heavy soils. I’ve used them in forest and woodland gardens, where they can ramble and colonise, as well as in the most formal of gardens, where their ability to produce heavily and beautifully when fan-trained in two dimensions leaves space for other plants to shine.

Horticultural aide-mémoire Plant out

The wise gardener ignores siren spells of early fine weather, preferring to wait until May is out before entrusting half-hardy plants to the outdoors.

Now, at last, the tulips and forget-me-nots can be removed, the latter to the compost heap. Fork through the bed and rake it level, taking especial care with turf or path edges, which make all the difference visually. Make sure geraniums and whatnot are well watered in their pots the day before planting. SCD

As tolerant as they may be, there are a few things you can do to get the best from blackberries.

As with most fruit, watering well after planting and through dry patches in the first summer will help them to get off to a good start. I usually mulch thickly with well-rotted compost around the base each spring and, although it’s not strictly necessary, I have a feeling that the semi-regular watering I give them with comfrey tea or seaweed feed from when flowering starts really helps the health and size of the harvest.

The fruits are consistently plump, sweet and juicy I love the way blackberries grow. Each year, they produce long canes—typically to about 6ft—that, in the following year, produce lateral fruit-bearing shoots. This constant cycle makes blackberries easy to manage:

any stems that have fruited (they’re easy to spot even in winter with their dried calyxes) should be cut right back to the base any time after the end of the harvest, as they won’t produce again. If you train a blackberry—either formally as a fan or more casually over a shed or similar—I’d suggest tying in the new canes at this stage for shape and tidiness going into the next growing season.

Variety is important. Most of the new varieties are superb in flavour, but look for ones where their habit or behaviour suits your situation. ‘Arapaho’ and ‘Black Satin’ are both high yielding, upright, vigorous and thornless, with delicious fruit. If you have limited space, would like to grow blackberries in a container or simply like the idea of a small plant, there are many to choose from: ‘Waldo’ and ‘Little Black Prince’ are the best of these I’ve grown. The latter is also a primocane variety, meaning it produces on new canes as well as those in their second year, which means a bumper harvest. ‘Polarberry’ is a very unusual blackberry: it is thornless, early fruiting (in July) and compact enough for garden or container growing, but also produces white fruit, which means that fewer are taken by the birds.

I am not for a moment suggesting named varieties for the garden are superior to those growing wild. They are in all but name two separate fruits and I’d not be without either. In any case, I wouldn’t want to not drag my daughter away from her phone or deprive my wife of the opportunity to question my Tupperware storage skills each summer.

Mark Diacono grows edibles, both usual and unusual, at Otter Farm in Devon (www. otterfarm.co.uk) Next week Roses 125

Back to the future The restoration in tandem of late-17thcentury Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire, and its gardens has resulted in an exceptional creation that unites the formal with the informal in a modern garden that nods to the past, finds George Plumptre Photographs by Claire Takacs

W

ITHIN a few years of buying Urchfont Manor in 2013, Chris Legg and Eleanor Jones, with the help of a friend, landscape architect Paul Gazerwitz, had given their home a new vista that unites house and garden, as well as evoking the formal Baroque of the house’s late-17th-century past. It is an inspired contemporary creation that is impressively in tune with the place’s historical zenith.

From 1946 to 2012, Urchfont Manor had been owned by Wiltshire County Council and used as an adult education centre. Various parts of the 13 acres of gardens had been given over to different projects, but, with restricted funds, maintenance and development was minimal.

Consequently, Urchfont’s new owners had a near-blank canvas from which to start.

Their aim was to balance historical integrity with the development of a new garden.

Continuity would be kept by preserving the garden’s bones, such as the walled garden and the fine trees beyond open lawn to the south and east. Work began on the rectangular walled kitchen garden.

The architecture on this side of the house is engagingly uneven and this is picked up in the new garden, which is neat and formal, but appropriately domestic in scale. The kitchen garden has been laid out afresh, with 16 rectangular patches divided by narrow

gravel paths and with a square of four greengages in the centre. Crops are rotated and, every year, one bed celebrates an unusual plant, such as borlotti beans or root ginger.

Elsewhere are nurtured asparagus and strawberry beds and a fruit cage with raspberries and gooseberries.

We wanted to piece together the history, without merely creating a facsimile The seasonality of the kitchen garden is balanced at one end by the dry gravel garden where domes of Euphorbia wulfenii provide constant shape—and, in spring and early summer, many weeks of distinctive limegreen, flourishing alongside box balls and iris. The planting here and in nearby borders demonstrates Miss Jones’s meticulous approach (which manifests itself in a readiness to dig up and move plants that she happily confesses is at times compulsive) with seasonal combinations that include eryngiums, aquilegias, ‘Rozanne’ geraniums, herbaceous and tree peonies, followed by Verbena bonariensis and dahlias.

Preceding pages: The largely Jacobean Urchfont Manor sits in playfully formal surroundings. It was owned by Wiltshire County Council and used as an adult education centre, so, thankfully, many key features were preserved. Above: The walled kitchen garden has been laid out from scratch, with 16 rectangular beds and, in the background, blocks of lime-green Euphorbia wulfenii in the gravel garden 128

Above: A piece by Paul Vanstone at the centre of the new formal garden designed by Paul Gazerwitz. The path is lined with pleached limes and the borders planted with roses and peonies. Weeping pears and blocks of lavender create a simple pattern at its centre.

Below: Curving beech hedges and Irish yews in the Spiral Garden, marking the border between formality and the woodland beyond Mr Gazerwitz has been consulted on most elements of the couple’s work in the garden and he was responsible for the design of the rose garden with its impressive pergola. The designer’s practice, Del Buono Gazerwitz, run in partnership with his friend Tommaso del Buono, is known for the clean lines of its carefully formulated work. The rose garden is a good example, with roses arranged in a border along the far boundary wall and on the pergola, leaving the lawn simply decorated with two trios of ‘Mirabelle de Nancy’ plums and quince trees.

It is east of the house, to which the main 1680s façade looks, that Mr Gazerwitz has made his most telling contribution. ‘The whole area was crying out for something special, but in keeping with the restrained architecture of the house. We wanted to piece together the history without merely creating a facsimile, 129

Facing page: The formal pool with rounded edges complements the main 1680s façade. Two pairs of Pyrus nivalis were carefully picked to frame the view. Above: Box balls, yew pillars and acid Euphorbia wulfenii in the Gravel Garden, which is also planted with eryngiums, aquilegias and Geranium ‘Rozanne’, as well as several peonies. Summer brings airy Verbena bonariensis and, later, dahlias to do something that complemented the façade without obscuring it.’ The result was the insertion, at a distance, of the formal pool with elegantly rounded ends, which both closes the new vista and reflects the house.

Two pairs of Pyrus nivalis, carefully selected for their upright shape and restricted size, were added to the sweep of lawn that stretches between the house and the pool.

The view back across the new formal garden is both enticing and relaxing To one side of the new vista, where there had only been grass with a narrow border along the far boundary wall, Mr Gazerwitz designed a new formal garden that recalls the 17th-century period. He took inspiration from Westbury Court in Gloucestershire, one of the surviving masterpieces of the period, and created a detailed, but unfussy pattern, using blocks of lavender and standard weeping pears to contrast with the predominant evergreens and billowing masses of cloud-pruned

box. The path was lined with pleached limes and the border was replanted with roses and peonies. A dramatic central sculpture by Paul Vanstone adds a contemporary flavour.

The Spiral Garden that lies beyond demonstrates Mr Gazerwitz’s skill at designing for progression from one area to another, from formal to informal. With curving beech hedges and contrasting rows of Irish yews that echo the lines of the pool, the whole decorated with groups of ‘Great White’ cherries, it is a place of contemplation, but also one of movement.

It encourages you to progress from formality to the informality of the belt of natural woodland that lies beyond the garden’s boundary.

You emerge from the largely untouched woodland onto the lawn to the south of the house, where a selection of fine trees are a happy legacy of a late-19th-century owner.

From here, the view back across the new formal garden through low blocks of clipped yew is both enticing and relaxing, qualities that this understated, but exceptionally wellrestored garden has in spades.

Urchfont Manor, Urchfont, Wiltshire, opens for the first time for the National Garden Scheme on June 19 only (www.ngs.org.uk; Instagram @urchfont_manor_gardens) George Plumptre is chief executive of the NGS

The history of Urchfont

There had been a house at Urchfont since Elizabethan times, but the crucial period was between 1685 and 1700, when Sir William Pynsent (1642–1719) remodelled the building, adding the pedimented seven-bay east front.

Pynsent, who was elected Member of Parliament for Devizes in 1689, was reputed to have used William Talman (1650–1719), who came from neighbouring West Lavington and reached extraordinary heights as an architect and landscape designer. This period was the point of reference, the design ‘lodestar’, for the recent restoration.

After the property passed through various owners, Wiltshire County Council’s acquisition of Urchfont in 1946 probably saved it from destruction at a time when country houses were in greater peril than in any other period since they had been built. It also effectively mothballed the property, covering up original features rather than removing them, and not making dramatic alterations to the garden that would be hard to remove.

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Art market

Huon Mallalieu

Each to their own Recent sales demonstrate the extraordinary diversity of the collecting world, from breadboards to clocks and pewter T is tempting to think of collecting as a universal human trait—possibly even Trappists collect, if only prayers (they are unlikely to contradict me). Naturally, collectors come in as many guises as the things that they collect, and motivations differ widely. The reasons for dispersing a collection are as diverse as the spurs to acquisition; appropriate to this issue’s theme, I present a choice collection of collectors.

On display we have an antiques market trader, a scientist, a former museum director, a ‘professional’ collector and an inventor and entrepreneur, each collecting in a different field.

Annie Marchant (1951–2020), widely known as ‘Breadboard Annie’, is not to be confused with Rosslyn Neave and her daughter Madeleine, who set up the Antique Breadboard Museum in Putney. Neave dealt in kitchen objects in Portobello, Marchant in Covent Garden and at the summer Olympia fairs. She was the daughter of farmers near Wingham in Kent, which provided a perfect showcase after her parents died in 1990.

She collected all sorts of old kitchen equipment, as well as breadboards, and, at her death, instructed that 300 items should be given to a museum. Kiplin Hall, a Jacobean house and gardens near Catterick, North Yorkshire, was chosen. Enough remained to make 624 lots in an April two-day sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries.

There were breadboards, of course. One lot of six well-carved, late-Victorian examples reached £2,604, but

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most in demand by British and international online bidders were ceramic pails and churns made for early-20th-century dairy companies. The top price was £4,960 for a 21in-high, whiteglazed pottery churn (Fig 3) and cover advertising pure milk for the Dairy Outfit Co of King’s Cross. A handsome blue-glazed and gilt pail with brass lid (Fig 4) for the Dairy Supply Co was bought for £2,604 by a descendant of the founder of what became Express Dairies.

Kent’s drum knife cleaners are well known and were making £100 each here. Less familiar is

Figs 1 and 2: Two Monroes Egg Beater and Batter Mixer, one with original beater. £2,356 Kent’s pottery Improved Monroes Patent Egg Beater and Batter Mixer. Two sold together for £2,356, the price boosted because one had its original metal beater (Figs 1 and 2).

John Douglas’s long-term enthusiasm for pewter seems somehow fitting for a scientist who worked at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. He was also the authority on the markings of British weights and measures, as his base-metal collection, sold at Bonhams Oxford, near his home, witnessed. It was a feast for fellow enthusiasts in a field that is still reasonably priced.

Fig 3 left: Whiteglazed pottery churn for the Dairy Outfit Co. £4,960. Fig 4 right: Blue glazed and gilt pail with brass lid for the Dairy Supply Co. £2,604

The most expensive of 328 lots, at £11,475, was the oldest: a 5½in-diameter pewter saucer or spice-plate made in about 1400 (Fig 9). A very rare Jacobite relic reached £7,650; this was an 11¾in-diameter pewter strawberry dish engraved with the arms of the Duke of Fraser, better known as the ever-devious

Fig 7 above: Plate with portrait of Sir Roy Strong

by Yaacov Agam. £356 Figs 5 and 6: Pair of Derby sweetmeat dishes. £2,286 Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (Fig 8). He was given the title by the Old Pretender in 1740, so the dish must date from between then and his execution in 1747.

The ‘strawberry’ shape is not coincidental, as, in canting heraldry, the Fraser arms bear strawberry flowers—fraises.

Sir Roy Strong should perhaps be described as an accumulator rather than collector. This is not a disparagement, as I am one myself. The distinction is that a collection has a coherent theme, whereas an accumulation consists of miscellaneous things that appeal to the owner and eventually blend into a self-portrait.

Laurence Binyon, having had the run of the British Museum’s drawings when Keeper, felt no need to have any at home. Sir Roy, as a former director of the National Portrait Gallery and the V&A, perhaps understands this feeling. He has left The Laskett, the Herefordshire house where he and his late wife, Julia Trevelyan, created their celebrated garden and in late April Chorley’s auctioned many of their possessions.

There were comparatively few portraits among the paintings, mostly by ‘follower of’ or provincial hands.

A profile drawing of Sir Roy by Hockney sold for £24,130 (estimated to £6,000), although not a great likeness. More to the point were the photographs

by Beaton, Bailey and Snowden, conveying the sitter’s wit, as well as his showmanship. There was also a plate decorated with a portrait of Sir Roy by Yaacov Agam (born 1928), a pioneer of

Fig 8 above: Pewter strawberry dish with the arms of the Duke of Fraser. £7,650. Fig 9 below: Pewter saucer or spice plate of about 1400. £11,475 kinetic art, which may have been a bargain at £356 (Fig 7), as Agam is the highest-selling Israeli artist at auction.

The market in middle-range portraits continues on its steady course, with attractive sitters finding buyers even when they are unidentified and unattributed. The most expensive here, catalogued as English School, was in fact identifiable by age and arms.

The sitter was a widow, Anne Brooke, née Shirley, and the date, 1603, showed the painter to be a provincial working behind the fashion. Estimated to £2,000, this sold for £8,255.

The reported increase of people moving to the country will favour this portrait market and it may also be good news for contemporary portrait painters. They are already sufficiently in demand for there to be agents specialising in matching sitters to artists.

Among many interesting prices in this sale were the £4,064 for a gilded Victorian Gothic-arched wall mirror (estimated to £200) and the £2,286 for a pair of Derby sweetmeat dishes, 1765– 70, modelled as ‘blackamoors’ carrying shells (Figs 5 and 6), estimated to £600. Perhaps surprisingly, anything to do with slavery and historic representations of black people in art seems to be at a premium at present.

Several of Sir Roy’s glorious 1960s coats were on offer at what seemed relatively modest prices, typically about £240 133

Art market

Pick of the week Fig 10: Bronze silk coat with boteh patterns. £240 for a bronze silk example (Fig 10) with boteh patterns and sequined high collar.

When John Evetts and his parents inherited Wormington Grange (Fig 11), Gloucestershire, in 1978, it was sparsely furnished. Mr Evetts, the ‘professional’ collector, works for the Landmark Trust, scouring sales, shops, skips and markets for suitable furnishings for its properties, and thus he set his skills to reviving the late-18thcentury house, which had belonged to his grandfather, Gen Lord Ismay. He couples William Morris’s admonition ‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’ with his own maxim: ‘Good design need not cost more, it just takes more thought.’

He refurnished Wormington with appropriate Gillows and similar pieces, and the results of the contents sale in early May led the auctioneer Duke’s of Dorchester to declare that ‘the tide has turned for brown!’ The 134

Dr John C. Taylor is renowned among horologists for his early clock collection, but in the wider world he is best known for his reinvention of th he electric kettle with a 360-degree co ordless connector. He says of his cloc cks that ‘it was my passion to understand the progression and innovatio ons that led to me buying most of the items in my collection. I considered these through the eyes of an invento or, entrepreneur and manufacturrer— a very different perspective to o most horologists’—or academics.

The collection is being offerred for sale by Carter Marsh of Winch hester (www.cartermarsh.com). The first 46 superlative examples will be o offered in a selling exhibition (July 3–2 24), of which highlights will be sho own from June 23–30 at Ronald Phillips, P 26, Bruton Street, W1.

I shall return to this next mo onth, but here are two tasters: the Sp panish Tompion (right) made for presen ntation

by Queen Anne to Archduke Ch harles, the Grand Alliance’s candidate for f the Spanish throne, at £3.5 milm lion, and the Minerva Fromantteel of about 1665 (above), the firsst English true bracket clock, pric ced £375,000. The case is rosewoo od, then very rare and exotic.

It was recently discovered in a Moroccan riad.

Fig 11 above: Wormington Grange, Gloucestershire. Fig 12 right: George IV mahogany and parquetry centre table. £9,100 evidence included the £9,100 paid for a George IV mahogany and parquetry centre table (Fig 12) on three paw feet (estimated to £4,000). An indication of good taste in both vendor and buyer was the £6,240 paid for a handsomely bound part run of COUNTRY L IFE

(1908–31), estimated to £600.

A similarly estimated run of Punch reached only £2,210.

By far the highest price was the £292,500 for a painting inherited

by Mr Evetts from his greatgrandmother, the 68½in by 107in Dorset Landscape (Fig 13), an

Fig 13 left: Dorset Landscape by Algernon Newton. £292,500 essay in classical Surrealism

by Algernon Newton. It had been bought for 400gns at the RA in 1928, when The Times dubbed it ‘picture of the year’. It went to the London dealer Daniel Katz, a great champion of the artist.

Next week Older than thought

Cricket

Adding insult to injury In looking down the road towards the Ashes, England might trip up on what’s right in front of them, warns James Fisher

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Kyle Jamieson or veteran spinner Mitchell Santner.

In a desperate bid to show as much indifference to New Zealand as possible, England have named an inexperienced side that will be minus Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer (injured), as well as Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow (rested). In come uncapped duo James Bracey and Ollie Robinson, who have scored lots of runs (478 at 53) and taken lots of wickets (29 at 14.7) in the first five cha mpionship games of the season respectively.

New Zealand may not appreciate being referred to as “preparation” for Australia Craig Overton gets a recall, too, after a hot start (32 wickets at 14) down in Somerset.

Stalwarts James Anderson and Stuart Broad are here, plus Olly Stone and Mark Wood round up the fast-bowling contingent in the squad. Jack Leach is the only spinner to be picked.

On the batting front, Dom ‘The Vicar of’ Sibley is likely to keep his place as an opener, pairing up with the recalled Rory Burns.

Zak Crawley will hope to cement his place at number 3, captain Joe Root will bat at 4, with the young duo of Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence looking to hold down the middle order. Debutant James Bracey will likely enter the fray at the number 7 spot as England’s wicketkeeper, following a freak accident which saw Ben Foakes tear his hamstring

Catch me if you Kane: New Zealand’s captain will look to teach England a lesson

by accidentally doing the splits in the Surrey changing room two weekends ago. Only in cricket.

England are playing with fire against a strong Kiwi squad. Not only do the Black Caps stack up well in terms of personnel, they are probably the team best suited to playing in English conditions. England’s batting will be severely scrutinised by the accurate swing bowling of Southee and Boult and the aggressive seam and bounce of Wagner and Jamieson.

Expect to see a serious batting collapse (or two) at some point this series (is it even summer without one?) and two reasonably low-scoring Tests that will certainly favour the bowlers. As England are ‘preparing’ for an Ashes series in six months, New Zealand are preparing for the final of the inaugural World Test Championship against India in two weeks and will be wanting to win to carry form into that one-off game. It will be a tight series, but New Zealand have an edge on experience with their batting and the added inspiration of the insult of being used as a training team.

New Zealand to win the series 1-0.

Getty

F you’ve been looking closely, you might have seen a dash of sunshine in between the incessant showers of the past few weeks. What this means is that, in theory, summer is here and, with it, the return of Test cricket. Rejoice And what a line-up we have for you folks, as the top two teams (according to the rankings) visit these hallowed, damp shores, with England beginning their home summer this morning with two Tests against the numbertwo ranked side, New Zealand, before a full five against the Indian powerhouse in July/August.

As fixture lists go, surely these two opponents would draw the full force of England’s resources: here’s a chance to prove the nation’s mettle against the world’s best, to show everyone that this England team is as good, if not better, than the ICC rankings say they are.

We go now to England head coach and selector Chris Silverwood, who surely understands the importance of these upcoming fixtures. ‘Playing the top two teams in the world, in New Zealand and India, is perfect preparation for us as we continue to improve and progress towards an Ashes series in Australia at the back end of the year,’ he says. I am not sure how much New Zealand will appreciate being referred to as ‘preparation’ for Australia, but no doubt Mr Silverwood’s comments will be in the forefront of their minds, which is perhaps unwise, considering they were, until a few weeks ago, the best team in the world.

‘Who have they got?’, you ask. Well, for a start, their skipper Kane Williamson is the number one ranked batsman in the world and in his most recent series against Pakistan scored 388 runs in three innings, including a monstrous 238, at an average of 129. He’s decent, therefore, and will likely be backed up by seasoned veterans Tom Latham (3,929 runs at 42), Ross Taylor (7,379 runs at 46) and wicketkeeper B. J. Watling (3,773 runs at 38). Henry Nicholls also knows how to hit a cricket ball, with his 2,152 runs coming in only 37 matches. Devon Conway is likely to make his debut for the Black Caps as well, after a prolific year in white-ball cricket.

The bowling is a similar story, with three seasoned fast bowlers in Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner likely to lead the attack, supported by the speedy 6ft 8in frame of

Crossword

Bridge Andrew Robson H ERE are a couple of fascinating deals from the many Andrew Robson Bridge online duplicates (do join in).

On our first, plan the play in the best game contract of Five Diamonds. West leads a Heart, in response to East’s opening bid of the suit, East winning the Ace and returning a second Heart which you win.

Dealer East Both Vulnerable

Dealer West North-South Vulnerable

A72 863 Q32 A1073 J853 754 J84 K65

109 AJ1092 A QJ982

N W ✢E S

KQ64 KQ K109765 4 South

West

2♦

Pass

2♠

5♦(3)

Pass End

North 2♥(1)

3♥(2)

here, it is East who discards on the third Spade, you are able to ruff your fourth Spade with dummy’s remaining Diamond. You can ruff a Club back to hand, finally cash the King of Diamonds, drawing West’s Knave, and claim your game.

The challenge of our second deal is to make Three Notrumps after West has opened One Spade and leads the King of the suit, East encouraging with the eight.

Over to you.

9 AQ4 AQ53 K9876

A543 K753 KJ2 104

East

1♥

Pass

Pass

(1) Unassuming cue bid, showing a good Diamond raise.

(2) With three key cards, North looks for game. Three Hearts is primarily a probe for Three Notrumps.

(3) South does have a Heart stopper but her hand is too slow for Three Notrumps.

Your first challenge is to restrict your Diamond losers to the Ace. East is almost certain to have that Ace given his opening bid. To cater to East holding the bare Ace, at trick three you cross to the Ace of Clubs (or Spades) to lead a low Diamond. East’s bare Ace takes two low Diamonds and your first issue is resolved. You ruff East’s Knave of Hearts (with the nine in case East held six Hearts and AceKnave doubleton of Diamonds).

Your second challenge is the fourth Spade. You cross to the Queen of Diamonds, preparing to claim your game if Diamonds split two-two. As expected, East discards. It would now be a mistake to cross to the King of Diamonds, for you may need dummy’s remaining low Diamond. Test Spades.

You bang down the three top Spades. If West ruffs the third, you were sunk anyway. If Spades are three-three, you can hurriedly cash the King of Diamonds drawing West’s Knave, and enjoy the 13th Spade. However when, as

J86 102 10974 J532

KQ1072 N J986 W ✢E 86 S AQ

South

West

North

East

3♥(1)

Pass

3♠(2)

Pass

1♠

3NT(3) End

Dbl

Pass

(1) Jumping to show at least nine points.

(2) A probe—do something sensible, partner.

(3) With Spades stopped, albeit only once.

You duck West’s King of Spades, duck West’s low Spade continuation to East’s Knave, and win East’s third Spade with your Ace. You now cash the King-Knave of Diamonds and cross to dummy’s Ace-Queen. West shows out on the third Diamond, discarding the Queen of Clubs. However, he is clearly in some discomfort on the fourth Diamond, eventually releasing a Spade (you also throw a Spade).

You cash the Ace-Queen of Hearts and are now at the crossroads. You could play for Hearts three-three, leading to your King.

However, West’s refusal to throw any Hearts can mean only one thing—he has four of them. He must have come down to the bare Ace of Clubs so, refraining from leading a third Heart to the King (setting up West’s hand), you lead a low Club from dummy. West duly wins their now-bare Ace, and can cash (only) one Spade. He then has two Hearts, so you win the last two tricks with the King of Hearts and dummy’s promoted King of Clubs. Game made.

We will continue to publish crosswords during the coronavirus lockdown, but we are sorry to say that we cannot accept entries for the duration. Enjoy tackling the clues in the meantime and stay safe.

ACROSS 1 Have one’s revenge—nail fellow team member (3,4,3,4) 8 Reptile girl found beside a road (6) 9 Organ at that time made of baked clay (7) 12 Stagger back, seeing part of film (4) 13 Plant-growing building politician hired initially by river (10) 15 Complete idiot losing head (5) 16 Bird gazing fixedly across lake (8) 17 Main sound made by 16 down? (3) 18 Explosive device that’s large, and belonging to me?

(8) 20 Keen to take part in middleage revels (5) 23 Bad luck unites form when breaking up (10) 24 Conceal animal skin (4) 26 Possibly Asian dog reportedly given something to eat (7) 27 Cost of unfashionable song?

(6) 28 Horrid deal ends badly for farmyard fowl (5,6,3) 4682

DOWN 2 Distinguished English male in hospital department (7) 3 Old friend—a gem! (4) 4 Last to suffer (6) 5 Stage work to repeat at random (8) 6 Scotsman, possibly, disturbed heron and tern crossing river (10) 7 Nursery school paintings housed by more benevolent general (12) 10 Alluring woman’s sixty minutes on island (5) 11 Stirrer given time, one earning cash in Moscow?

(12) 14 Unusually polite man carrying right frame for acrobat (10) 16 Visit Bath and Wells, for example (3) 17 Grabs snippets of song, perhaps (8) 19 Strong wind blowing about offspring when climbing (5) 21 Stern fighter pilot’s twisted expression (7) 22 A woman keeping goat originally — or cat, or rabbit (6) 25 Endlessly investigate breeding establishment (4) CASINA

SOLUTION TO 4681 ACROSS: 1, Florence; 5, Placid; 9, Informer; 10, Unsung; 12, Handcar; 13, Rhubarb; 14, Sequestrated; 17, Ignorantness; 22, Tenuous; 23, Avarice; 24, Noodle; 25, Microdot; 26, Effete; 27, Knitwear. DOWN: 1, Fright; 2, Offend; 3, Earache; 4, Cheerfulness; 6, Languor; 7, Courante; 8, Dogsbody; 11, Presentation; 15 Distance; 16 On and off; 18 Rootlet; 19 Sea-fret; 20 Riddle; 21 Letter.

137

Spectator

Joe Gibbs

‘To see oursels as ithers see us’ HE portrait sittings have resumed (Spectator, May 5). The artist, Eugenie Vronskaya, featured in the recent series of Sky TV’s Portrait Artist of the Year, the only painter without a tablet computer attached to her easel. Computer software can help an artist to ‘grid up’ a photograph of the sitter onto the canvas and even with which colour to select for each part of the image.

Eugenie eschews such interference, remaining analogue and eye-to-hand, as you might expect of an alumni of Moscow’s art schools in the 1980s, which taught a figurative grounding.

She paints directly from life. Bar an occasional glancing reference to a photograph, technology is absent from the image her eye perceives, its filtering through her awareness and its translation in the movements of her hand as she applies the marks of pigment on the canvas.

Lucien Freud wanted his portraits ‘to be of the people, not like them. Not having a look of the

T

sitter, being them’. Caroline Blackwood, his second wife, told Geordie Greig in his absorbing account of him, Breakfast with Lucien: A Portrait of the Artist: ‘His portraits have always been prophecies rather than snapshots of the sitter as physically captured in a precise historical moment.’

And therein lies the nub of it, one reason why the photographed portrait is such a different beast from the painted version: so much more than the reflex click of a shutter, a painting is the concentrated genius of one human’s multi-faceted take on another, stretching back and forwards in time in an accumulation of line, colour, tone, form, style and mood. To quote Freud again: ‘My object in painting pictures is to try and move the senses by giving an intensification of reality.’

Eugenie, too, strives for that.

The door to her studio is swollen by the Highland damp and jammed. To escape, you have to lever it open with a handy garden spade. Obstacles aside, she is,

TOTTERING-BY-GENTLY By Annie Tempest

We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from responsibly ȅƏȇƏǕƺƳً ƬƺȸɎǣˡƺƳ ǔȒȸƺɀɎȸɵ ƏȇƳ ƬǝǼȒȸǣȇƺ‫ٮ‬ǔȸƺƺ ȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸƺِ Áǝƺ ȵƏȵƺȸ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺ was sourced and produced from sustainable managed forests, conforming to strict ƺȇɮǣȸȒȇȅƺȇɎƏǼ ƏȇƳ ɀȒƬǣȒƺƬȒȇȒȅǣƬ ɀɎƏȇƳƏȸƳɀِ Áǝƺ ȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸǣȇǕ ȵƏȵƺȸ ȅǣǼǼ ǝȒǼƳɀ ǔɖǼǼ I³! ٢IȒȸƺɀɎ ³ɎƺɯƏȸƳɀǝǣȵ !ȒɖȇƬǣǼ٣ ƬƺȸɎǣˡƬƏɎǣȒȇ ƏȇƳ ƏƬƬȸƺƳǣɎƏɎǣȒȇ ǼǼ ƬȒȇɎƺȇɎɀ ۰ ‫ ׎א׎א‬IɖɎɖȸƺ ¨ɖƫǼǣɀǝǣȇǕ nǣȅǣɎƺƳ Ȓȸ ȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺƳ ɖȇƳƺȸ ǼǣƬƺȇƬƺِ ǼǼ ȸǣǕǝɎɀ ȸƺɀƺȸɮƺƳِ zȒ ȵƏȸɎ Ȓǔ Ɏǝǣɀ ȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺ ȅƏɵ ƫƺ ɖɀƺƳً ɀɎȒȸƺƳً ɎȸƏȇɀȅǣɎɎƺƳ Ȓȸ ȸƺȵȸȒƳɖƬƺƳ ǣȇ Əȇɵ ɯƏɵ ɯǣɎǝȒɖɎ Ɏǝƺ ȵȸǣȒȸ ɯȸǣɎɎƺȇ ȵƺȸȅǣɀɀǣȒȇ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ ȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺȸِ IɖɎɖȸƺ ¨ɖƫǼǣɀǝǣȇǕ nǣȅǣɎƺƳ ٢ƬȒȅȵƏȇɵ ȇɖȅƫƺȸ ‫דזזז׎׎א‬٣ ǣɀ ȸƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳ ǣȇ 0ȇǕǼƏȇƳ ƏȇƳ áƏǼƺɀِ «ƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳ ȒǔˡƬƺ‫ ي‬ªɖƏɵ RȒɖɀƺً Áǝƺ ȅƫɖȸɵً ƏɎǝ ‫׏ ׏‬È ِ ǼǼ ǣȇǔȒȸȅƏɎǣȒȇ ƬȒȇɎƏǣȇƺƳ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇ ǣɀ ǔȒȸ

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thank heavens, a pussy cat compared with Freud when it comes to demands on a sitter. Martin Gayford, who wrote about sitting to him in Man with a Blue Scarf, sat for 80 hours over six months; other subjects could be detained a year. Thus far, I have sat for 22 hours, in two-hour sessions spread over three weeks—an altogether modest demand, with the picture now well progressed.

I feel a thump of recognition and a sense of estrangement I know one artist with nerves of steel, who sets a mirror behind him so his subject can follow progress. Hitherto, Eugenie has prevented me from seeing her work, but now she has had a change of heart. She wants to know what I think of it as we near the final delicate stages. Mindful of both

John Singer Sargent’s remark that every time he painted a portrait, he lost a friend (it must have been the bill), and of our inability ‘to see oursels as ithers see us’, this was always going to be a tense moment for us both.

When she turns the work to face me, I feel a thump of physical recognition and a simultaneous sense of estrangement. The likeness is arresting, the mien that of a myself I know and yet don’t quite admit to. The expression is at the threshold of a smile; there is a sense of quiet self-confidence in the attitude of figure, but this contrasts with a shyness at the back of the eyes, a vulnerability.

Like William Wilson’s doppelgänger in the Edgar Allan Poe story, I feel I will grow more alike to this person, although I hope not to the point where I have to slay him in a duel as Wilson did. It is a brilliant achievement by the artist.

Truly, which of us does know ourselves as others see us?

Next week Jason Goodwin

Visit Tottering-By-Gently on our website: www.countrylife.co.uk/tottering

ǣȇǔȒȸȅƏɎǣȒȇ ȒȇǼɵ ƏȇƳ ǣɀً Əɀ ǔƏȸ Əɀ ɯƺ Əȸƺ ƏɯƏȸƺً ƬȒȸȸƺƬɎ ƏɎ Ɏǝƺ Ɏǣȅƺ Ȓǔ ǕȒǣȇǕ ɎȒ ȵȸƺɀɀِ IɖɎɖȸƺ ƬƏȇȇȒɎ ƏƬƬƺȵɎ Əȇɵ ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǣǼǣɎɵ ǔȒȸ ƺȸȸȒȸɀ Ȓȸ ǣȇƏƬƬɖȸƏƬǣƺɀ ǣȇ ɀɖƬǝ ǣȇǔȒȸȅƏɎǣȒȇِ You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price Ȓǔ ȵȸȒƳɖƬɎɀٖɀƺȸɮǣƬƺɀ ȸƺǔƺȸȸƺƳ ɎȒ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇِ ȵȵɀ ƏȇƳ ɯƺƫɀǣɎƺɀ ȅƺȇɎǣȒȇƺƳ ǣȇ Ɏǝǣɀ ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇ Əȸƺ ȇȒɎ ɖȇƳƺȸ Ȓɖȸ ƬȒȇɎȸȒǼِ áƺ Əȸƺ ȇȒɎ ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǼƺ ǔȒȸ Ɏǝƺǣȸ ƬȒȇɎƺȇɎɀ Ȓȸ Əȇɵ ȒɎǝƺȸ ƬǝƏȇǕƺɀ Ȓȸ ɖȵƳƏɎƺɀ ɎȒ Ɏǝƺȅِ Áǝǣɀ ȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺ ǣɀ ǔɖǼǼɵ ǣȇƳƺȵƺȇƳƺȇɎ ƏȇƳ ȇȒɎ ƏǔˡǼǣƏɎƺƳ ǣȇ Əȇɵ ɯƏɵ ɯǣɎǝ Ɏǝƺ ƬȒȅȵƏȇǣƺɀ ȅƺȇɎǣȒȇƺƳ ǝƺȸƺǣȇِ If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues

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