THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TOUR – VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS – PART 11

BASILDON PARK



Basildon Park


After leaving Stratfield Saye, our group will travel to nearby Basildon Park for a private tour of this stately home.
From their website:

Basildon Park, a Georgian mansion surrounded by parkland, was loving rescued by Lord and Lady Iliffe in the mid 1950s. The house you see today is a re-creation and restoration of the 18th-century mansion. They restored the elegant interior and scoured the country salvaging 18th-century architectural fixtures and fittings. Lord and Lady Iliffe filled their comfortable new home with fine paintings, fabrics and furniture, which can still be enjoyed by you today. Make the most of your visit by treating yourself to a cream tea, experience the nostalgia of our 1950s kitchen, or stretch your legs following one of our waymarked trails through the 400 acres of historic parkland.

Basildon Park was originally built for Sir Francis Sykes and you can read the entire history of Sykes, his waning fortunes and the history of the house here. The Regency history of Basildon Park is interesting and I quote from Wikipedia as follows:
“On Sir Francis Sykes’ death, Basildon was inherited by his son, Sir Francis Sykes (2nd Baronet) who died a few weeks later. The house then passed to his grandson, the five-year old Sir Francis (3rd Baronet). By this time, the Sykes fortune was almost spent and Basildon was already mortgaged. The family finances suffered further as a result of the 3rd Baronet’s association with the extravagant Prince Regent. Aged just 14, he entertained the Prince at Basildon. As a result of the Prince’s occupation of the North side of the second floor, where the best bedrooms are located, for many years afterwards this range of rooms were known as `The Regent’s Side’ as opposed to the family’s less formal rooms on the South side of the floor. From the late 1820s, Sykes was suffering serious financial problems, and in 1829, the estate was placed on the market. The house was not quickly sold, as Sykes refused to accept any price less than £100,000. During this period, the house was often let. However, Sykes and his family were in residence between 1834 and 1835 when the future Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was a house-guest at Basildon. Disraeli, who was the lover of Sykes’ wife Henrietta, immortalised her along with some descriptions of Basildon and its rooms in his novel, Henrietta Temple: A Love Story. Another romantic attachment of Lady Sykes was to result in her husband being immortalised in a novel, this time in a less flattering light. Lady Sykes had been conducting an affair with the painter Daniel Maclise. Her husband publicly denounced Maclise, causing an unacceptable high society scandal. As a result, Charles Dickens, a friend of Maclise, then writing Oliver Twist, based his villainous and cruel character Bill Sikes on Sir Francis.”
Basildon Park’s literary connections did not end with Disraeli and Dickens – the house was used as the setting for Netherfield Park during the filming of  the 2005 version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. You can watch a short video about the filming at Basildon Park here. The house was used as a set for another Keira Knightley film, The Duchess, in 2008. 
Downton Abbey Basildon Park
The interiors of Basildon Park were most recently used as the Crawley family’s London residence, Grantham House, and the elegant Georgian mansion was at the heart of the unfolding story as the family prepared for Rose’s coming out ball in the capital. Basildon Park played host to all of the much loved regular characters from the show as well as Shirley MacLaine who reprises her role as Martha Levinson and Paul Giamatti who joins the cast as Cora’s playboy brother, Harold. The episode was part of Downton Abbey’s 2013 Christmas special. You can watch a video of which rooms were used in the filming and short clips from the Special here. 
You can take a half hour video tour of Basildon Park, it’s interiors and learn about it’s history and occupants here. 
FIND COMPLETE ITINERARY FOR 

LOVE, LIFE, AND LAUGHTER: A TREASURE RETURNS

Image Credit: British Film Institute via Silent London

By Guest Blogger Spencer Blohm

One of the many things that most of us don’t give up on from our childhood is that tiny sliver of hope that we’ll somehow find hidden treasure. It may not be as extravagant as finding a secret passageway in your living room to a tunnel of gold, but most of us can’t deny that little rush when they think they may have found something of value (after all, Antiques Roadshow has made an entire series about it).

            The Dutch film institute, known as EYE, had that feeling when they started unpacking the shipment of films earlier this year that they had originally received in November of 2012. The package consisted of leftover film cans from an older building in a rural Dutch town that had briefly been used as a cinema in the late 20’s. In the package, they discovered one of the BFI’s most sought after films: Love, Life, and Laughter. The 1923 silent film, directed by George Pearson, is a landmark find for the BFI, who had assumed that this film, like so many other silents, was destroyed or recycled following the bank crisis of 1924 (which put many studios out of business).

            The film stars the enigmatic Betty Balfour, the most famous British actress of the silent film era, and is generally regarded as the British equivalent to the United States’ Mary Pickford. Love, Life and Laughter is the film which launched Balfour’s career and was just one of a series of critically and commercially successful collaborations between Balfour and Pearson. It’s a particularly significant find for Pearson fans too, since it is only the second film of his that the BFI possesses a complete version of.

In the film, Balfour plays Tip Toes, a down on her luck chorus girl who yearns to be center stage. She befriends a young writer in a similar situation to her own (played by Harry Jonas), and the two agree to meet up two years later in order to see if either of them made it big. The film, naturally, wouldn’t have been such a hot commodity if it wasn’t regarded as a cinematic masterpiece, with Balfour receiving much praise. Adding to its allure is the fact that it is somewhat of an anomaly being a full length film, since it was produced during a short period where studios decided to expand the length of their silent films.

The BFI is hoping to receive a copy from EYE, so that they can translate the Dutch intertitles and screen it for audiences within the next year. This discovery is the ultimate lost treasure for film buffs all around the world, not just in Britain, and shows that perhaps we shouldn’t give up on those childhood wishes after all.


About the Author: Spencer Blohm is a freelance entertainment, film, and pop culture blogger for DirectTelevisionSpecials.org. Despite multiple attempts, he’s never been able to find hidden treasures or films in either of his grandparent’s attics. He lives and works in Chicago, where he can often be found scouring flea markets looking for a big find.

ANOTHER LOOK AT THE NGA's EARLY AMERICAN FURNITURE COLLECTION

Victoria here.  In 2013, I was delighted to have the opportunity to explore the newly installed collection of early American furniture in D.C.’s National Gallery of Art (the post is here).  A few weeks ago, I went back for another visit.  Historical fiction writer Diane Gaston and I love browsing through the galleries — almost as much as we enjoy our luncheon in the charming Garden Café.  In the distant background is the Gallery of the Kaufman Collection, which had to wait until we were well nourished.

Vicky and Diane
Desk and Bookcase, Pair of Sidechairs
Philadelphia, 1755-1771, Mahogany Glass, Brass
Philadelphia was the leading city of pre-revolutionary America. Colonial furniture makers followed the pattern books of leading English designers such as Thomas Chippendale.  Many immigrant craftsmen came to the colonies, and fine imported goods arrived to serve the tastes and growing wealth of leading families. At the top of the desk is a mahogany bust “believed” to be of Catherine Macaulay (1731-1791), a renowned historian and author who “was a great supporter of American liberty.” (from the gallery label)
 High Chest, Philadelphia 1750-65
Mahogany and sabicu (a hardwood imported from the West Indies); brass 
Makers of furniture in various cities of colonial America had their own versions of the English models, with a variety of distinctive characteristics and decoration that enables experts to immediately identify the city of origin of many pieces.
Chest-in-Chest, Providence, 1775-85
Mahogany and Brass
The Providence style is similar to the characteristics of the Newport style. Here is the major difference: the “convex shells on the top drawer of the lower case are carved from the solid drawer front, rather than separately carved and applied. The original owner of this chest was the Providence merchant John Brown (1736-1893) who founded Brown University with his three brothers.” 

Ann Barry, 1803-05 by Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755-1828)
Oil on Canvas
Pair of Covered Vases, Jingdozhen, China 1790-1810’=
Hard-paste porcelain
Card Table, signed ad dated by Robert McGuffin (1779/80-after 1863)
Philadelphia 1807
Satinwood and veneers
After the Revolutionary War, styles gradually evolved into what Americans call the Federal Style, based on the increased use of ancient Greek and Roman designs by Europeans. The somewhat simpler lines of the furniture are more neo-classical than rococo. 
Knife Box, one of a pair
American 1785-1815
mahogany and veneers with wood inlay; silver
The photo above is included for the special enjoyment of Kristine Hughes.  Victoria and Diane are well acquainted with Kristine’s admiration for the myriad knife boxes she finds on her travels.
Side Chair, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820)
decorated by George Bridport (1783-1819)
Philadelphia 1808
Poplar and Maple, gesso, paint, and gold leaf; cane seat
Worktable, Boston 1815-1825Rosewood and veneers; bras; ormolu

Used for sewing and needlework
National Gallery of Art West Building
Until next year!!

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TOUR — VIDEO HIGHTLIGHTS – PART 10

DOWNTON ABBEY

When we visit Highclere Castle on Thursday, September 11, 2014, we will probably be thinking more of  Downton Abbey, the PBS Masterpiece series, than of the sumptuous home of the Earls of Carnarvon.  Victoria here, as eager to see the Castle/Abbey as anyone.  I truly believe that a large part of the credit for DA’s success in America is due to the setting at Highclere Castle:  The grounds, the enormous house designed in the most extravagant of Victorian neo-Gothic style, the magnificent interiors of the family’s drawing rooms and bedchambers, the stark simplicity and dullness of the servants’ world below stairs. The contrasts could not be more vivid.

Downton Abbey, PBS Masterpiece

The Crawley family, headed by Robert, Earl of Grantham (High Bonneville), live at the fictional Downton Abbey, filmed at Highclere Castle, the home of the Earls of Carnarvon.  Most of the  upstairs scenes are filmed in the rooms of the Abbey or on the grounds.  The servants quarters have been recreated as they would have been in 1900 to 1930 at studies on nearby Ealing,  West London.  In this 4-minute video, creator and writer Julian Fellowes takes you through Highclere. Click here.

Another look at Highclere as Downton Abbey is an 8-minute fragment of the program Countrywise visit.  Click here

As almost every one knows, Downton Abbey has been a phenomenal success with audiences in Britain and North America, and elsewhere.  The four years of the series have won numerous awards for its creator, Julian Fellowes, for its costumes and settings, and for the actors, some of whom have become “household names.”  Probably taking first place would be Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, whose pithy comments delight audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.  Click here to see some favorite moments.

The Inimitable Maggie Smith As Violet, Dowager Lady Grantham

 
   We’ve seen four seasons of Downton Abbey now, and all the episodes are available on DVD and from PBS and other sources. The fifth season is in production and will be seen in the U.K. in the autumn and on PBS Masterpiece in early 2015.
 
 
Downton Abbey cast
 ©Nick Briggs/Carnival Film and Television Limited 2013 for MASTERPIECE
 
 

Click here for a 13-minute video on the making of Downton Abbey, featuring many of the actors as well as the executive producer, writer, and historical advisor among others.

Although we’ve all seen the fourth season, you might enjoy the preview, a tease of just 90 seconds, put out before it played. Click here.

 So to stand in Highclere Castle yourself, come along with us on The Duke of Wellington Tour. September 4-14, 2014.  All the details are here.

See you in London!

LOOK OF LOVE OPENS IN MINNEAPOLIS

Oval Gold Pendant surrounded by seed pearls.ca 1830

The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection 

The exhibition opens May 15, 2014, and runs through August 24, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts  Click here for their website.

Gold Oval brooch and pendant surrounded by split pearls, ca. 1835-40

 

Here at Number One London, we have a close and affectionate feeling for this wonderful and unique exhibition.  Our frequent guest blogger Jo Manning wrote  some very special stories for the catalogue.
Here is Jo’s blog about the original opening at the Birmingham Museum of Art in March, 2012.

Bracelet surmounted with miniature in gold surround with drop pearl;
 plaited hairwork on reverse; gray right eye. n.d.
Victoria had a delightful meeting with Nan Skier at the original venue, the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama visited in April, 2012. You can read an account of that meeting here.


Jo attended the opening at the Look of Love Exhibitions’ second venue in Georgia, and wrote about it here.

Rose gold octagonal pendant surrounded by blue enamel with half pearls. Brown left eye.


The Look of Love exhibition was also shown at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware. September 21, 2013 – January 5, 2044. Click here for more information.


Gold oval brooch surrounded by foil-backed red pastes, ca. 1790. Blue left eye
surrounded by curls. Attributed to Richard Cosway.


Here’s hoping you have had an opportunity to see this outstanding collections of treasures!


All photos, ©Birmingham Museum of Art, Sean Pathasema, photographer