Number One London

A Couple In England – In Search of a Happy Medium

As you can imagine, with less than two months to go until our sojourn to England, I have been meticulously planning each and every day of our vist to London, Bath and Winsdor. Okay, I’ve been micro-planning every day. Which isn’t easy, as there’s so much to do and so little time, not to mention the fact that I’ve got to devise an itinerary that will strike just the right balance between keeping Hubby entertained and simply exhausting him. As it is, he’s dreading being with me in London again, when I go into “London mode.” That is, with so little time at my disposal, I get up at dawn, walk at warp speed, go all day long and fall glassy eyed into bed each night.

Recently, I let Hubby in on what I’ve planned for us in London – so far: Kensington Palace, the Vault at the Hard Rock Cafe (for rock loving Hubby), the Changing of the Guard, the Guards Museum, Fortnum and Mason, Liberty’s, Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park (including tickets to the circus and observation wheel), theatre tickets (One Man, Two Guvnors), a three hour chauffeured Beatles and rock tour of London (for Hubby), Apsley House, a visit to my favourite antique dealer, a bit of shopping, dinner at the Duke of Wellington pub, a stop at Boots in order stock up on make-up and toiletries, a bookstore or two, etc. etc. etc. I finished telling him about our itinerary with the question, “Do you want to go to the Hollywood movie costume exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum?” To which he responded, a tad touchily (IMHO)”Do you?”

“You know,” he continued, “we don’t have to do something every single minute of every single day.” I think I mentioned in a previous post what a comedian the man can be. “Aren’t we going to have any time to just relax in the hotel room?”

“You want me to go to London and spend time in the room?”

“Do you have something planned for us every night, too?

“Well . . . yes, but some nights will be earlier than others.”

“”They may be earlier than you think. Especially for me. I need my rest. I’m old.”

“You’re not that old. Not old enough to go to London and spend all your time in the hotel room.” I would have quoted Dr. Johnson’s famous “tired of London, tired of Life” line to him if I’d thought it would do any good, but managed to refrain.

Honestly, he should only know what I’ve left off the agenda – a moonlit stroll along the Embankment, ice skating at Somerset House, research at the British Library, an hour or so smelling candles at Jo Malone, Portobello Road, Maggs Brothers, etc. etc. etc. The sacrifices I make . . . . I can hardly wait until I break the news to him about our Bath itinerary. Hopefully Hubby won’t notice that I’ve only scheduled seven hours between our ringing in the New Year and visiting Longleat House. Sleeping is so overrated . . . . .

Treasures of Kenwood Exhibition Opens in Milwaukee

Victoria here. I have been eagerly awaiting this exhibition of great paintings from London’s Kenwood House. While the magnificent mansion near Hampstead Heath is being refurbished, a selection of the finest paintings from the Iveagh Bequest, usually on display there, are traveling around the U.S. First stop was Houston, and now it is in my front yard until January 13, 2013. Hurrah!!

Kenwood House, The Iveagh Bequest, 18th C.

The Milwaukee Art Museum has a home equally stunning to Kenwood, if diametrically opposed in style.

Milwaukee Art Museum, 21st C.

The MAM mounted the paintings in a stunning series of rooms, the walls colored to enhance enjoyment of the works, from delicate blues to vivid crimson. Accompanied by excellent text panels, brochures, audio guides, and catalogues, the exhibition will also feature lectures, gallery talks and book signings. The full schedule can be found here. I wrote about the traveling exhibition and Kenwood House on this blog in August, and you can read it here.

Entering the exhibition preview day, along with hundreds of other eager members, I had to put away my camera since no photos were allowed within. You will see many of the paintings below, from more official sources, until I make my very predictable way to the Gift Shop.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665

Undoubtedly the premier painting to most viewers is this moving self-portrait Rembrandt painted about 1665 at age 60. Other outstanding paintings from the low countries include portraits by Franz Hals, Anthony Van Dyke, and Ferdinand Bol, and landscapes by Cuyp and others

Julius Caesar Ibbetson, Three Long-Horned Cattle at Kenwood, 1797

English Heritage Purchase, 1999

The painting above was acquired for the collection fairly recently because it shows the Dairy standing in Kenwood’s park, though the three cows are quite detailed and worthwhile in their own regard, I guess. After the current restoration at Kenwood, the Dairy will be open to visitors.

Anthony Van Dyke, James Stuart, 1st Duke of Richmond and 4th Duker of Lennox, ca.1636

Iveagh Bequest

Van Dyke, who was born in Antwerp, painted many English courtiers and the royal family during the reign of Charles I. His baroque techniques of portraiture inspired many artists. You will not be surprised to know that my favorite pictures, the ones I lingered over the longest were the English portraits, by all of the leading lights of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Mrs. Sophia Musters (1758-1819), a popular society beauty, is painted below by Reynolds as Hebe on Mount Olympus, pouring nectar for a magnificent eagle, who represents the god Zeus. The catalogue refers to this painting as the “ultimate male fantasy.”

Joshua Reynolds, Mrs. Musters as “Hebe,” 1782
Iveagh Bequest

I remember attending an exhibition at the Tate Britain a few years ago, Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity, in which the following portrait of Kitty Fisher, a courtesan, as Cleopatra, was shown. Reynolds painted many women who were actresses and/or courtesans, adding to their celebrity.

Reynolds, Kitty Fisher as “Cleopatra” Dissolving the Pearl, 1759

Perhaps the most famous of the actresses who were also mistresses of prominent men was Dora Jordan (1761-1849), who was very popular on the stage, particularly in comedic roles. For many years, she lived with the younger brother of the Prince Regent, the Duke of Clarence (1765-1837). Dora bore him ten children, but in the aftermath of the death of Princess Charlotte, only child of the Prince Regent, the Duke of Clarence had to marry and an actress would never do as the potential queen.

John Hoppner, Mrs. Jordan as “Viola” in “Twelfth Night,” ca. 1785-92

Iveagh Bequest

Long before he became King William IV, the Duke had abandoned Dora, who died in poverty. But King William did take care of his illegitimate offspring, making the eldest boy an earl and overseeing good marriages for the others. He and his wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (1792-1859), had several children who died at birth or shortly thereafter. The ultimate successor was Princess Victoria, daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, an even younger brother of George and William.

I will return to the exhibition soon and share with you more of its contents. Until there, here are a few shots in the busy Gift Shop.

Milwaukee Art Museum Exhibition Shop

You can access the Milwaukee Art Museum Shop here.

At Auction

Canterbury Auctions in Kent will be hosting a two day sale beginning Tuesday, October 23 2012 and, once again, we just couldn’t resist perusing their catalog. Below are just a few of the fabulous items on offer:

Lot 381

Late 19th/early 20th Century School – Three miniature paintings on ivory – Shoulder length portraits of an aristocratic gentleman and two ladies (possibly members of the Hapsburg Royal Household), ovals 1.5ins x 1.25ins, indistinctly signed, in single gilt metal mounted mahogany rectangular three division frame, 4.75ins x 7.75ins – Guide Price: £200-300

Lot 418

A late 19th Century French papier-mache pull-along Bulldog with opening mouth and growling action, the head inset with glass eyes, with bristle trimmed collar for same, 21ins overall x 11.75ins high (front paws somewhat worn, various damage around chain to rear of neck, appears scuffed and marked) – Guide Price: £500-700

Lot 469

A George IV gilt brass Colza oil lamp of two-handled urn shape with plain arm, on stepped triangular weighted base, by Smethurst of 138 New Bond Street, 15.75ins high (converted to electricity)

Guide Price: £120-160

Lot 505

Colin Colahan (1897-1987) – Bronze bust – “Freya Stark” (1893-1993), 19.75ins high, signed, with attached lead seal Note : Dame Freya Stark was a well known British Explorer and Travel Writer. Writing more than two dozen books about her travels in the Middle and near East, she was one of the first non-Arabs to travel through the Southern Arabian Deserts – Guide Price: £500-700

Lot 127

A late Victorian 15ct gold mounted seed pearl and amethyst set pendant, the central amethyst within seed pearl set scrolling leaf pattern borders with oval amethyst suspended below, 60mm x 40mm overall (grammes 6.5 grammes), contained in original brown leather covered case retailed by Wales & McCulloch Ltd, 59 Cheapside and 20 Ludgate Hill, London) – Guide Price: £250-300

Have Yourself A Tasty Little Christmas

The holidays will be upon us before we know it and what better way to get into the festive spirit than with seasonal food and drink? Mark your calendars now for the following events – I’ll personally be attending the Live Tudor Cookery at Hampton Court Palace and will be sure to post about it in January.

Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair 2012 in London

7th – 11th November 2012 – Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 0QH Telephone: 020 7420 7738

Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair 2012 in London Business Design Centre is the best place to enter into the Christmas spirit. The fair will offer visitors a unique opportunity to browse through the extensive collection of magical Christmas presents. The London fair will be overflowing with sparkling gifts, great decorations and food ideas, and help you avoid the high-street stress. With more than 400 leading exhibitors, you can expect some high-quality crafts to buy at the Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair in London. Visit the event website here.

Taste of Christmas 2012 in London

7th – 9th December 2012 – ExCel London Exhibition Centre, Royal Victoria Dock, London E16 1XL
Telephone: 0871 230 7132

Taste of Christmas 2012 in London ExCeL Exhibition Centre presents the UK’s leading chefs as they demonstrate techniques for festive food preparation. Indulge in wine, cheese and chocolate during special tasting workshops at Taste of Christmas in London ExCeL Exhibition Centre. A selection of the capital’s top restaurants will be serving up seasonal menus full of dishes designed to inspire. Between bites, some of the country’s best chefs will be taking to the stage to help you finesse your light entertaining, refine that ambitious festive menu and prepare for the ultimate season of extravagance. Plus, over 200 producers will be on offer, displaying the ideal gift, essential ingredient or winter warmer in Taste’s boutique market, then settle down to a fine wine, cheese or chocolate tasting. For more information on Taste of Christmas 2012 in London, please phone 0871 230 7132 or visit the event website.

Live Tudor Cookery at London Hampton Court Palace

3rd – 4th Nov, 1st – 2nd Dec & 27th Dec 2012 – Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey Richmond, KT8 9AU Telephone: +44 (0)20 3166 6000

You are invited to a feast fit for a Tudor king at Live Tudor Cookery in London Hampton Court Palace! The Tudor kitchen chefs at Hampton Court Palace will prepare a vast range of traditional dishes to enjoy. Experimenting with traditional recipes, ingredients and cooking methods, the chefs will be doing their best to give you a real taste of what Tudor food was like. Stuart and Georgian monarchs both enjoyed Tudor Cookery in London Hampton Court Palace. For the past five years, the Tudor kitchens have been home to this Live Tudor Cookery research project and have proved to be very successful given that prices for main dishes start at just £6.50 and deserts from £2.50.
On occasion, the kitchens team will work outdoors to add colour, noise and fun to the Tournament.

3-4 November: Tudor cookery
1-2 December: Tudor cookery
27 December – 1 January: Tudor cookery Tudor Christmas

The Look of Love at the Georgia Museum of Art

Gold oval pendant surrounded by seed pearls, ca. 1830. Brown right eye with clouds.

dimentiuons 1 7/8 (with hanger) x 1 3/8 x 1/4 in.

The Look of Love: Eye Miniatures from the Skier Collection opens on October 7, 2012 at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia, Athens. It continues until January 6, 2013, in the Dorothy Alexander Roush and Martha Thompson Dinos Galleries.

Georgia Museum of Art

This blog has covered the exhibition at its first showing in Birmingham, AL, several times: Here by Victoria, and Here and Here by Guest Blogger Jo Manning. This is the first ever exhibition devoted to these unique miniature representations of lover’s eyes, and we hope that a number of our readers can attend this new venue.

Bracelet surmounted with miniature in gold surround with drop pearl; Gray right eye.

1 5/8 x 2 x 1/4 in. (surround only)

In the words of the Georgia Museum, “Exquisite in craftsmanship, unique in detail, and few in number, lover’s eye miniatures are small-scale portraits of individual eyes set into various forms of jewelry from late-18th- and early-19th-century England. Part of a trend that began with Britain’s Prince of Wales (later George IV), clandestine lovers exchanged these customized tokens depicting one another’s eyes, as such a feature might only be recognized by persons of the most intimate familiarity.”

Yellow gold brooch with border of thirty-two natural oriental half-pearls in a floral motif

with eight small turquoise stones

1 x 1 1/2 x 1/4 in.

In the exhibition catalogue, Jo Manning has provided five fictional vignettes of possible stories behind Eyes of Love. As the Georgia Museum says, “…behind the skilled artistry with which each of these tiny portraits was painted lie the enchanting stories of secret romance and love lost.” Essays by several experts are also included.

The catalogue is available from the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Georgia Museum of Art and on Amazon.com. Also available is an iPad app created by the Birmingham Museum of Art.

About one hundred examples of Eye Miniatures are shown. Many were worn as pins or on rings, necklaces and bracelets. Others are found on patch and toothpick boxes, stickpins and fobs. Many are memorials to lost children or lovers.