World of Antiques & Art 75

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a magazine of art, design & collecting history

Antiques & Art EXPLORING THE RENAISSANCE THROUGH PORTRAITURE: A MAJOR EXHIBITION AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY IN LONDON

ASSESSING THE PRODIGIOUS OUTPUT OF LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY FOCUS ON PHOTOGRAPHY: REVIEW OF PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITIONS IN CANBERRA

AUGUST 2008 - FEBRUARY 2009 ISSUE 75 AUSTRALIA $16.95 NZ $20.95 SINGAPORE $20.00 UK £7.00 US $13.00 €10.50

A LOOK AT SINGAPORE'S GROWING ART COMMUNITY BRITISH CONTEMPORARY SILVER: SETTING THE BENCHMARK FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Contents ACQUISITIONS 156

158

154

William and Judith Bolinger Jewellery Gallery Beatriz Chadour-Sampson

Daimaru Hokuho, Vase Hamilton Art Gallery

Louis Comfort Tiffany's life and art Jennifer Perry Thalheimer

Frank Lloyd Wright, Chair, c. 1904 Art Gallery South Australia

157

98

150

British contemporary silver Corinne Julius

Chantilly Porcelain Factory National Gallery of Victoria

159

Anna Craig, Triangular chairs, c. 1905 Queensland Art Gallery

160

Elwyn (Jack) Lynn, Twenty Questions

4

EDITORIAL

HERITAGE

Australian War Memorial

104

AROUND THE AUCTIONS

120

Hidden Rome Charles Fitzroy

164

The Foundling Museum: art music and charity in the heart of Bloomsbury

Auction highlights from the major houses

Rhian Harris 126

ART 48

James Bradburn Iskandar Jalil: Singapore's master ceramicist

134

Helen Musa 54

Women in power: Caterina and Maria de' Medici The treasures of William Randolph Hearst Mary L Levkoff

The Tyler Print Institute: a major arts injection for Singapore

184

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

Helen Musa 58

Portraiture in the Renaissance Elena Greer

108

The De Brays: master painters of 17th century Holland Ian Dejardin

116

Emily Kame Kyngwarreye: canvases of culture and country Margo Neale

138

Recording nature: botanical illustrations Amanda Ahmed

148

LIBRIS 114

Simon Dewez 130

summer season of arts in London 183

Illuminations from Italian choir books Barbara Drake Boehm

PHOTOGRAPHY Portraits for the million Gael Newton

ART NEWS A selection of international events to diarise plus a look at the

Book Review: Oriental Carpets: A Complete Guide Ross Langlands

143

10 75

Book Review: Printed: Images by Australian Artists 1885-1955 Colin Holden

131

Russell Drysdale's images of war Vicky Dimcevska

The first printed world map

64

Review: Vivid national photography festival in Canberra Martin Terry

CONTRIBUTORS

DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN 28

An early Tasmanian silver cup and its historical significance John Hawkins

38

George Owen: a recent discovery Andrew Morris

68

Men's ceremonial dress at the Russian Imperial Court Lesley Miller

2 WORLD OF ANTIQUES & ART

COVER Christian Waller (Australia 1894-1954), Morgan Le Fay, c. 1927, linocut, printed in colour, from multiple blocks, hand-coloured with gold paint; on thick cream wove paper, printed image 26.9 x 18.3 cm, sheet 38.8 x 26.0 cm. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Photography Portraits for the million Novelty in the Fine Arts

The invention of carte de visites in the 1850s marked the beginning of a new age in the quest for the perfect portrait. No longer confined to the wealthy and the aristocracy, remembrances of family and friends became available to all, changing forever the role of portraiture and its place in society.

Gael Newton

‘Truly this is portraits for the million.’

Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 1859, on the introduction of the carte de visite miniature portrait.

n the mid-1850s several variants of the

I

British wet collodion glass-plate

negative process of 1851 came on the market in Europe – the French carte-devisite and the American ambrotype or positive on glass and the tintype.

Together with the existing stereograph photograph of the early 1850s, these innovations fuelled the explosion in numbers of photographs produced worldwide in the 1860s. This greater circulation brought the photographic experience to all levels of society.

Ambrotypes were the most expensive of the new formats and tintypes were cheapest, but the most popular across all levels was the carte de viste.

The carte de visite was patented in Paris in November 1854 by Parisian studio photographer Eugene Disdéri 1 Nicholas Caire (Britain/Australia 1837-1918), Studio portrait of a man seated on a rock, 1880-1884, albumen silver carte de visite photograph, 9.4 x 5.4 cm, card 10.4 x 6.3 cm.

National Gallery of Australia, Camberra. Gift of Gael Newton 1997

10 WORLD OF ANTIQUES & ART

1

decorative arts & design

An important early Tasmanian silver cup and its historical significance

A

two-handled silver loving cup presented to George

Augustus Robinson, which was bought from the Hobart watchmaker and silversmith David Barclay and made by Scottish silversmith Joseph Forrester, who was his assigned convict, links together many threads of Tasmanian history.

1

John Hawkins

an Diemen’s Land, settled in 1803

V

as a penal colony, had by the 1830s

a thriving community with Hobart as its centre, whose population at that time was 6,000. Although initially regarded as the ideal location for intractable convicts, the island began to attract many free settlers looking to establish themselves in a new land.

One such migrant was Scottish-born David Barclay from Montrose who arrived aboard the Resource in 1830. A watchmaker and silversmith by trade, he set up a workshop in Elizabeth Street, Hobart Town. Hobart, Australia’s second oldest city, was at that time experiencing expansion and development at a rate that has never been repeated in its history.

A year earlier, convicted felon Joseph Forrester arrived at the colony on board the transport ship Thames. Very little is

1 David Barclay, Hobart, Manufacturer, made

by Joseph Forrester, Loving cup, 1835, silver, h: 20.2 cm, w: 750 gm. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, gift of Mr and Mrs Brown, Geelong, Victoria

28 WORLD OF ANTIQUES & ART

decorative arts & design

George Owen – Master Craftsman Extraordinaire A recent discovery

since its establishment in the eighteenth century, Worcester has been at the forefront of developing and perfecting decorative techniques, producing some of the finest examples of English porcelain. Among the many fine craftsmen employed by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company was George Owen (1845-1917). In his chosen field of expertise – reticulating – piercing decorative porcelain objects, he was without equal, the quality of his work unmatched through to today.

Andrew Morris

from his usual work. It incorporates the hand vase design, a popular model in the

1

eorge Owen’s mastery of reticulation

G

second half of the nineteenth century. This

resulted in the production of some

rare example reveals that Owen worked

of the most complicated ceramic objects

with glazed Parian. Other pieces decorated

ever made. Reticulating had to be done

by Owen also included tinted inner liners in

before firing when the clay was still wet,

double-walled pieces and vases with

and is difficult to achieve because clay

coloured decoration all over. Many objects

dries out quickly. A very complex vessel

were intentionally left bare in the glazed

would have to be kept in a ‘green’, that

white state, without the chased and

is, wet state over a long period. Little is

burnished gilt enrichments for which his

known about Owen’s actual working

other pieces are celebrated.

methods since he was extremely secretive

The design for hand vases originated in

about his technique, as was usual for

the middle of the nineteenth century.

craftsmen of that period. What is known is

Modelled after the hands of the wife of

he perfected the technique clandestinely,

James Hadley (Worcester’s then chief

working after hours while in the employ of

modeller), the old factory workers used to

Royal Worcester. His extraordinary pieces

refer to it as ‘Mrs Adley’s ’and’.1 The

made for Royal Worcester were sold to

Worcester Porcelain Museum has the

specialist collectors.

original hand-drawn, hand-coloured

A recent discovery of a hand holding

designs for the hand vase in a Kerr &

a reticulated vase by Owen brings new

Binns Worcester pattern book dating to

light to his oeuvre as it is a departure

the 1850s. This pattern book contains at least 35 hands, each with different decorations, some rather elaborate. The

1 Royal Worcester hand vase, c. 1880s decorated by George Owen, h: 16 cm, shape 6/35, unmarked.

Private collection

38 WORLD OF ANTIQUES & ART

decorators would have used these drawings as a guide to paint each hand vase with a specific motif.

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This Australian-based bi-annual journal challenges the traditional approach to collecting, from covering ephemera and the decorative arts to fine art. Explore the myriad of collecting options including textiles, photography, philately, numismatics, jewellery, porcelain, silver or furniture – to name some key areas.

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