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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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