Alex Puddy over the moon at £853k result

Above: A relaxed-looking Alex Puddy two days before the sale at Christie's South Kensington

London UK - "IT went well", Alex Puddy said after the sale of the Adrian and Suzy Puddy Collection at Christie's South Kensington, "you shoot for the stars in your mind, and I would have loved it to have reached a million, but I am absolutely over the moon. The business side of things went well too. It was also interesting that quite a few old clients came, who had only seen us at Olympia or Chelsea, and expressed surprise that they didn't really know we had that much stock."

The 230 lot sale, which took place on Wednesday 10 March 2010, totalled £852,938 with 177 lots sold, sold by lot 77 per cent, sold by value 79 per cent. Christie's head of sales, Anna Evans and director Toby Woolley said, "The beautiful public exhibition of items on offer prior to the sale, which overflowed into the mews, received a host of compliments, which resulted in strong results in the saleroom from both UK and international clients."

Alex was, as he puts it, born into the business - son of Adrian and Suzy Puddy, founders of Architectural Heritage of Taddington Manor in Gloucestershire. After leaving school with both art and art history, he spent some time dealing in pictures, worked as barman in a cocktail bar and travelled around for a year, before making the career choice at 23 of settling into the family business. Now he has taken over the reins while Adrian Puddy has not exactly retired but has left Architectural Heritage.

There are no planned changes to the business which is mainly antique garden ornament, with some fine antique panelling and chimneypieces, supplemented with reproduction fountains, statuary, gazebo and pergola.

"Although nothing is planned, I hope to develop new areas within my personal interest in twentieth century and contemporary sculpture and works of art. This year we will be doing Chelsea Flower Show, as usual, and I will watch with interest how the London fair scene pans out over the summer." In previous years Architectural Heritage has been a regular exhibitor at both Chelsea and Olympia, and last year was also at the summer antiques event in Berkeley Square in the heart of Mayfair. There is something of a rummage going on between several antiques and decorative fairs this summer, which has led to some of the top end of the trade holding fire to see who might end up topping the bill as London's most prestiguous, rather than becoming fodder for one of the early failures.

Having exhausted themselves with intensely expensive London shows, we are hoping that at the end of June some of the glitterati may visit Knewbworth to relieve themselves of small change at Salvo Fair. Although they do not stand at Salvo Fair, Adrian normally comes and buys, and Alex always very kindly gives away Salvo Fair postcards on his London show stands.

On the state of the trade in general Alex Puddy said, "The trade is individual people's livelihoods, and I respect that, and I know that all are working, tough sometimes in comptetition, as hard as we can to succeed in a market increasingly dominated by the auction houses."


Preview of the sale at Christie's South Kensington with commentary by TK

Sale results
[Lot notes and photos courtesy of Christie's]


Above: ONE OF A PAIR: The top lot at £37,250 (est £40k-£60k) was a pair of 19th century Italian marble Molossian hounds traditionally known as the Dog of Alcbiades. The dogs 48 in. (122 cm.) high. Provenance: estate of Leona M. Helmsley, Christie's, New York, 9 April 2008.
Lot Notes: The Hellenistic sculpture the 'Dog of Alcibiades' was modelled on a Molossian dog, ancestor of the modern mastiff. Henry Constantine Jennings of Shiplake acquired the only known Roman copy of the lost bronze original, dating from the 2nd century, during his stay in Rome between 1753 and 1756 when he rescued it from a pile of rubble in a Roman sculpture workshop for a total of £80. Jennings liked to call the sculpture the 'Dog of Alcibiades', after Alcibiades, an Athenian general with a chequered career who spent most of his time fighting or in exile. According to the Greek biographer and philosopher Plutarch, Alcibiades owned a large, handsome dog whose tail was "his principal ornament". Alcibiades cut off his tail and when told that "all Athens" felt pity for the dog, laughed and said "I wished the Athenians to talk about this, that they might not say something worse of me". Jennings's motive was probably much the same, for the Dog became so famous in England that the owner was called 'Dog-Jennings' and replicas were thought to make "a most noble appearance in a gentleman's hall" according to Dr Johnson. It was considered a sign of true gentlemanly taste to own a copy of this dog. Though the original and the present copies do not lack tails, it was Jennings's hope to associate the figure with the cachet of ancient Greek civilisation. By 1816, Jennings was in debt and forced to sell his dog stating "A fine dog it was, and a lucky dog was I to purchase it." Jennings's original now resides in the British Museum, London.


Above: ONE OF A PAIR: French carved marble urns of campana form, the bodies with a continuous frieze of classical figures, on waisted socles with rope-twist detail and square bases 38½ in. (98 cm.) high, complete with modern limestone pedestals. Sold for £37,250 (est £10k)


Above: Lot Description: A GROUP OF SIX GRADUATED HAMSTONE STADDLESTONES EARLY 19TH CENTURY Of typical form, various sizes The largest - 28¾ in. (73 cm.) high The smallest - 21½ in. (54.5 cm.) high (6). Sold £27,500 (est £3k-£5k)



Above: Late 19th century Italian Carrara marble seat, 74ins long, from Warfield House Hampshire. Sold £32,450 (est £10k-£15k)


Above: White painted wrought iron gate, 62ins high, catalogued as early 20th century. It had been adapted in the 1930s but had been recrafted using 18th century elements which appeared to be part of an old sign or bracket. Sold £688 (est £500).


Above: Mid 19th century sandstone bust of the Roman god Zeus of Otricoli, after the antique, 33ins high. Sold £7,500 (est £7k-£15k). This is the same model which appears in miniature in the tondo below where it is described in the catalogue as Zeus's Greek equivalent Jupiter.


Above: Two lots juxtaposed for comparison. The one on the right is a Carron seat, made in Scotland, 62ins long which sold for £6,875. The design for this seat, number 34358, was registered and patented by the Carron Foundry, Carron, Stirlingshire, on the 16th March 1846. John Adam became a partner of Carron in 1763 and with his brothers James and Robert produced a range of elegant railings, stoves, fireplace surrounds and hob grates. The one on the left is by Mott of New York, 65ins long, which sold for £6,875. The New York based firm of J.L.Mott & Co was established in 1828. By the second half of the nineteenth century the firm had showrooms at 549 Sixth Avenue and 1266 Broadway. The current lot is a clear example of how designs by British cast-iron manufacturers were copied abroad. The Carron 'Gothic' seat, lot 185, has been reproduced by Mott, one difference being the back legs, which are cabriole in shape to match the front and provide additional support. Another difference is that the apron casting on the Carron seat is in one piece while the Mott apron is in three pieces.


Above: A French composition stone table attributed to Louis Thovin on four shaped supports, 78ins diameter. Sold £16,250 (est £8k-£12k)


Above: Modern bronze deer on limestone plinths, 56ins high. Sold £16,250 (est £4k-£6k)


Above: Four 19th century Cotswold stone urns with octagonal socles, together with four modern limestone pedestals, 48ins high. Sold £20,000 (est £12k-£18k)


Above: 'The Skipping Rope' by Mary Thornycroft mid 19th century statuary marble 58ins high. Sold £15k (est £12k)
Lot Note: Mary Thornycroft studied under her father, John Francis, and was regarded as a child prodigy. In 1840 she married the sculptor Thomas Thornycroft who was assisting her father in his studio at the time. She made her debut at the Royal Academy in 1835 with the genre figure 'The Young Woodcutter'. She travelled to Rome 1842-1843 with her husband. On the recommendation of John Gibson, Queen Victoria commissioned her to sculpt her daughters as the four seasons and she followed this with many individual portrait busts of the Royal Family, some of which are held in Royal collections at Buckingham Palace and Osborne House. Rupert Gunnis notes a model of 'The Skipping Rope' at Osborne House (Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, London, 1953). This was a popular model and was copied by Minton in Parian Ware. An engraving was published in the Art Journal in 1861 and another in the Illustrated London News of 10th August 1867.


Above: George III c1770 Portland stone tondo of Clio muse of History from Plas Llangoedmor estate, Cardigan, Wales, 32ins dia. Sold £10k (est £4k)


Above: George III c1770 Portland stone tondo of Hebe, Greek goddess of youth, from Plas Llangoedmor estate, Cardigan, Wales, 32ins dia. Sold £9,375 (est £4k)


Above: Edwardian octagonal pine and cork summerhouse, reconditioned and new roof, 112ins high, made by Julius Caesar & Sons. Sold £8,750 (est £8k-£12k)


Above: Late 19th century French Cipollino marble bath with lion's paw feet, 78ins long. Sold £7,500 (est £6k-£8k)

Architectural Heritage

New trendy Ashmolean and old-fashioned Pitt Rivers

Above: Pitt Rivers does look similar to how it did in the 1901 photo. Now the display cases are chock-full and the spacious-lloking hall is crammed to the gunwales with stuff.

Above: Architectural spaces have been created at the Ashmolean but these are slightly disconnected from the exhibits. Here a load of unlabelled Chantrey plaster busts have been used as decorator items in a stairwell. Is that wrong? It is the modern way that salvage is used.

Oxford UK - TWO Oxford museums have been given a makeover in 2009: the Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers, the former at £60m costing more than any museum makeover since the £100m British Museum roof project, and the latter costing £2.5m. What do you get for your money? Both museums were founded on substantial early collections, with the Ashmolean (the oldest museum in England) having a more classic spread from Egypt to Pre-Raphaelite situated in a series of galleries, while Pitt Rivers was more ethnographic including huge North American totem poles and medieval English spells, located in many display cabinets in one large hall.

The money at the Ashmolean seems to have been spent on creating space - an architect designing a museum - and not on showing the collection, although the determined visitor will find plenty to satisfy. The labelling was not complete, and it was not obvious what some of the items were. This cannot be said of Pitt Rivers where the architecture and joinery has been left intact and the handwritten labelling intricately comprehensive. The pleasant and spacious ambience of a modern museum without a cluttered mass of exhibits is the Ashmolean. For an original Victorian museums the Pitt Rivers has no peer.

Both museums have free admission and both invite schoolchildren - older children at the Ashmolean and the youngsters at Pitt Rivers.

Neptune at Christie's

New York, USA



Christie's, New York Rockefella Plaza, USA

An important French over-life-size cast-iron figure of Neptune recently came up for auction at Christie's New York. Cast by Val D'Osne, from the model by Gabriel Vital-Dubray, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The edge of the conch-shell signed and dated V. DUBRAY/1856, the base stamped VAL D'OSNE. The piece is 210cm high to the top of its head and 275cm high to the end of the trident. The piece was estimated at $100,000 - $200,000 and realised $110,500 including buyers premium.


Christie's

Church salvage and the law

Some aspects of the law on dealing in architectural salvage, antiques and artefacts from churches by Thornton Kay

See the complete article 'Church salvage' and all the reference documents here

Removing antique, reclaimed and salvaged items from churches in England and Wales is governed by the 1990 Planning Act and the Ecclesiastical Exemption order of 1997.

Ecclesiastical exemption for the six named denominations covers works to a listed ecclesiastical building whose primary use is as a place of worship, and which is for the time being in use as such, works to an object or structure within such a building, works to an object or structure which is fixed to the exterior of such a building (unless the object or structure is itself listed), and works to an object or structure within the curtilage of such a building which, although not fixed to that building, forms part of the land (unless the object or structure is itself listed). In the case of the Church of England, although the exemption ceases to apply once a church has been formally declared redundant, it comes into effect again should a scheme for demolition arise under the Pastoral Measure 1983 (as amended).

The exempt denominations are:
the Church of England
the Church in Wales
the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales
the Methodist Church
the United Reformed Church
the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Baptist Union of Wales

There are three types of listed status (in descending order of importance and difficulty to obtain planning permission):
Grade I: buildings of outstanding architectural or historic interest.
Grade II*: particularly significant buildings of more than local interest.
Grade II: buildings of special architectural or historic interest.

Conservation areas protect groups of buildings, for which an individual building may require listed building consent for alterations which affect its character, but not for demolition. Article 4 Directions can be imposed by a local authority to further control works in a Conservation Area but compensation is payable to any owner who is adversely affected. The demolition of all or part of a gate, fence or wall, the removal of a chimney stack, and changes to roof coverings may be affected by Article 4 directions.

Government general policy is to list all buildings erected before 1700 which survive in anything like their original condition and most buildings of 1700–1840. More selection is exercised among buildings of the Victorian period and the 20th century. Buildings less than 30 years old are rarely listed, and buildings less than 10 years old never. Although the decision to list may be made on the basis of the architectural or historic interest of one small part of the building, the listing protection applies to the whole building. De-listing is possible but rare in practice.

The total number of churches and chapels in the UK has been estimated at 75,000 of which 45,000 are still used for religious purposes. But this picture is changing. The first mosques in Britain opened at the end of the 19th century and by 1961 there were seven mosques, three Sikh temples and one Hindu temple in England and Wales, compared with nearly 55,000 Christian churches. By 2005 the number of churches had fallen to 47,600. According to the organisation Christian Research, another 4,000 are likely to go in the next 15 years. The Church of England still has 16,000 churches, and 1,700 have been made redundant since 1969. In 2009 Islamic website Salaam records a total of 1,689 mosques.

Covenants attached to redundant Anglican churches make it difficult for them to be used by another faith. The Church of England has opened more than 500 new churches since 1969. Redundant Anglican churches tend to be developed into houses, offices or restaurants. Methodist churches, down from 14,000 in 1932 to 6,000, and closing at the rate of 100 a year, are often sold with no restrictive covenant attached.

Apart from the fabric of the building itself, items covered by a listing are defined in the Act as any object or structure fixed to the building or any object or structure within the curtilage of the building which, although not fixed to the building, forms part of the land and has done so since before lst July 1948. These might include flagstones, walling stone, doors, gates, railings, gravestones, memorials, windows and stained glass, panelling, pews, radiators, pulpits, altars, fonts, paintings and tapestries, and lighting.

There are two types of items which can be taken from a church - fixtures which are considered to be part of the building, such as pews or windows, and chattels which are not fixed to the building such as candlesticks and vestments. There is a grey area on things like hanging light fittings and paintings, which may sometimes be fixtures and sometimes not.

If the church is still in use or owned by a religious body then its permission must be sought by the person wishing to sell or dispose of the items. This permission is known as a 'faculty' in Church of England and Roman Catholic churches and may be given as part of a scheduled change to the church which might be known as a 'reordering'.

What can be sold and when?

For a person from a church to sell chattels from a working church the following permission is needed:
• A faculty or church authority under a reordering scheme

For a person from a church to sell fixtures from a working church which is not listed and not in a conservation area the following permissions are needed:
• A faculty or church authority under a reordering scheme

For a person from a church to sell fixtures from a working church which is not listed but is in a conservation area the following permissions are needed:
• A faculty or church authority under a reordering scheme
• Listed building consent if an Article 4 direction is in place, unless the removal of the fixture does not affect the buildings historic character or significance (such an item might be, for example, a 1980's display board).

For a person from a church to sell fixtures from a working church which is listed but has ecclesiastical exemption the following permissions are needed:
• A faculty or church authority under a reordering scheme
• Listed building consent for a separately listed building in the churchyard
• Planning permission if there is a change to the exterior of the church but please note that it is also encumbent on the church authorities to have notified the DLTR or its current equivalent (See more here).

For a person from a church to sell fixtures from a working church which is listed but does not have ecclesiastical exemption the following permissions are needed:
• A faculty or church authority under a reordering scheme
• Listed building consent to remove, alter or demolish the item, unless the removal of the fixture does not affect the buildings historic character or significance, for example a ten year old notice board (unless perhaps the notice board itself was made using reclaimed wood from the church pews).
• Planning permission if there is a change to the exterior of the church

For the owner, or authorised agent of the owner, to sell fixtures from a deconsecrated church which is not listed nor in a conservation area the following permissions are needed:
• Planning permission if demolition of the whole is being carried out, unless the structure is dangerous.

For the owner, or authorised agent of the owner, to sell internal fixtures which cannot be seen from public ground outside, from a deconsecrated church which is not listed but is in a conservation area the following permissions are needed:
• Listed building consent if an Article 4 direction is in place
• Listed building consent for any pre-1925 gravestone
• Listed building consent for the demolition of any principal internal element of the structure including any staircase, load-bearing wall, floor structure or roof structure.

For the owner, or authorised agent of the owner, to sell fixtures which can be seen from public ground outside, from a deconsecrated church which is not listed but is in a conservation area the following permissions are needed:
• Listed building consent to remove, alter or demolish any item (unless the item is being replaced without listed building consent - such as roof slates being replaced during a re-roofing job) unless the removal of the fixture does not affect the buildings historic character or significance
• Listed building consent for any pre-1925 gravestone
• Listed building consent if an Article 4 direction is in place
• Planning permission if there is a change to the exterior of the church

For the owner, or authorised agent of the owner, to sell any fixtures, from a deconsecrated church which is listed the following permissions are needed:
• Listed building consent to remove, alter or demolish any item (unless the item is being replaced without listed building consent - such as roof slates being replaced during a re-roofing job) unless the removal of the fixture does not affect the buildings historic character or significance
• Planning permission if there is a change to the exterior of the church

Christie's to handle Nick Gifford-Mead's scaling-down sale

Above: A George III Carved and Gilded Wood Chimneypiece In the manner of Thomas Johnson, circa 1760. The jambs and frieze with tenuous rococo ornament, mounted on a later painted panel, with statuary marble slips 53in. (136cm.) high; 64in (162.5cm) wide; the opening 44in. (113cm.) high x 40in. (101.5cm.) wide. Estimate: £15,000-20,000


London UK -

Thursday 29 October, 10.30am
Christie’s South Kensington

NICHOLAS Gifford-Mead started dealing in architectural antiques over thirty-five years ago and has been specialising in fire furniture, particularly in chimneypieces, ever since. Adopting the fundamental ethos that the stock must be original or sympathetically restored to realise it's true form, Nicholas travels extensively to source his stock in order to furnish some of the most prestigious houses in Great Britain and abroad, and Christie’s South Kensington is proud to be the next venue to be supplied with a selection of this stock which will be for sale in October 2009.

With estimates ranging from £500 to £50,000, an extensive collection of fine English and European chimney pieces, fire backs, andirons, shovels, tongs, fenders and sculpture will be on offer, comprising of approximately 170 lots, all of which embody Nicholas’ astute eye and unsurpassed depth of understanding, knowledge and interest in the field. Dealing in some of the best architectural items to be found from both the British Isles and abroad, Nicholas Gifford-Mead prides itself on the originality and provenance of its pieces which combined with a distinguished individual taste make for a compelling auction of architectural antiques.

Highlights include the simple elegance and restrained rococo style of a George III carved and gilded wood chimney piece (estimate: £15,000-20,000) alongside the grandeur of a large Italian stone chimney piece with armorial overmantle (estimate: £4,000-6,000); complemented by a selection of fire irons including a George III steel and brass set (estimate: £1,200-1,800) with with ball-knop finials and the shovel blade pierced with lattie ornament and a range of elegant fire grates including a large polished steel and cast iron fire grate in the George III style (estimate: £3,000-5,000) – all of which would add the perfect finishing touch to any home this winter.


Above: A Set of George III Steel And Brass Fire Irons. Late 18th century. With ball-knop finials, the shovel blade pierced with lattice ornament. Estimate: £1,200-1,800


Above: A Large Polished Steel and Cast Iron Fire Grate. In the George III style, late 19th or early 20th century. Of serpentine outline, the railed basket flanked by foliate engraved panels, above a fluted pierced fret within tapering standards applied with paterae bosses and surmounted by urn-shaped finials 32.1/2in. (82.5cm.) high; 34.1/4in. (87cm.) wide; 20in. (51cm.) deep. Estimate: £3,000-5,000


Above: A Large Italian Stone Chimneypiece Armorial Overmantel. Estimate: £4,000-6,000

Christie's plc

Westland sells Bank of England sculptures

Westlands, london UK

A major collection of sculptures from the Bank of England have been bought by Wesland London, from a salvage company, 25 impressive statues that used to feature in the Bank’s New Change annex are now for sale.

New Change was built by The Bank of England in the 1950's to accommodate it's Accounts Department and was bounded by Cheapside to the north, Watling Street to the south, Bread Street to the east, Newgate to the north west and New Change to the west. The building occupied a sensitive site in that it formed a backdrop to Christopher Wren's majestic Roman Baroque St Paul's Cathedral.

The statues include Mervyn King’s predecessor, Sir John Houblon, the first Governor of the Bank, who features on the £50 note, and Michael Godfrey, its first deputy governor. Soldiers and heraldic symbols, such as lions and unicorns, dominate the collection. They are carved from Portland stone by sculptors including Sir Charles Wheeler, the first to be president of the Royal Academy, were cleared from the One New Change site, after it was bought by Land Securities for about £200 million in 2000. The developer is erecting a 560,000 sq ft Jean Nouvel office block on the site, which held the Bank’s accounts department.

George Westland, founder of Westland London, said: “There has been interest from Russia because St George is the patron saint of Moscow. In London, there is still a reluctance to be seen to spend money.”


Above: A lion holding a shield with a relief head of Minerva, one of a pair, sculptor Donald Gilbert. Originally on the Bread Street Facade of the One New Change building in the City of London.


Above: The fortress of gold guarded by lions, sculptor Alan Collins, circa 1958.

Westlands

Alabaster candle stand has its day on SalvoWEB

West Pennine Antiques, Lancashire UK

A magnificent 10" tall antique alabaster candle stand is finally having its day after almost two years in storage. Paul Morris of West Pennie Antiques is offering the magnificent piece on SalvoWEB after purchasing it as part of a large clearance from St Andrews Church, 176 Queens Drive, Liverpool. The unique column was installed as a gift to the church in the late 19th century and comes with a great provenance of which Mr Morris holds a copy of the original dedication obtained from the church.

Mr Morris has undertaken extensive research on the candle stand and concluded, "It was designed by Philip Thicknesse and executed by Frank Norbury circa 1890. Thicknesse is a renowned ecclesiastical architect working mostly in the northern counties, in particularly Liverpool with his business partner William Willink. The firm carried out other works in the city including the the Cunard Building and Liners, Zoology building at Liverpool University, and Parr's Bank, Castle St to name a few.

"The candle stand Comprises of five sections, the plinth base section supports a second section carved in relief with primitive vegetation and sea-dwelling life forms such as ammonites and nautilus, supported by a dado section with pictorial panels to three sides depicting extinct vertebrates including marine reptiles and fish, the upper stage of the dado with land creatures such as a Woolly Mammoth, Pterodactyl, a giant Toad, and Iguanadons, supporting the plain shaft with carved acanthus leaves, the upper section is carved with three figural groups of man and woman supporting the candle dish.

"The unusual depiction of this column - the story of evolution - is perhaps considered a conflict of beliefs, especially in the late 19th century, when the church officially opposed Darwin's theory. However in the 'Dedication of the Font and Baptistery' given in 1900 by the church chaplain, the 'candlestick' is described as "a masterpiece... It is a version of Creation revised up to date. It is an overture to Science to come and make her home with us. It proclaims the reconciliation between research and religion. They have divorced too long." The symbolism embodied in the candlestick is plain to see. Man, the pinnacle of evolution and of God's creation. The plain shaft, symbolic of the extent of unknown knowledge that still separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdoms in the fossil record."







Candle stand on SalvoWEB

Mars out, Venus in . . . a Verona garden

Classical allegory in an Italian renaissance garden by Thornton Kay



Above: Venus, Cupid, Bacchus and Ceres painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1613. This was his version of Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus an allegory for ‘without food and wine love grows cold’.



Above: Giardino Giusti by J C Volkamer c1714



Battered sculpture of a warring Mars looking slightly coquettish above a bat wall fountain, perhaps signifying that Mars is sleeping, and has been banished to a location outside the garden


Googlemap of Giardino Giusti
View Palazzo e Giardino Giusti in a larger map

Verona, Veneto Italy - VERONA sits in a broad valley down which grand tour nobility entered Italy from Europe before heading east to Venice or down to Florence and Rome. In 1570 Agostino Giusti, Knight of the Venetian Republic and Gentleman of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, chose a site on the flood plain backed by a bluff which overlooks the town, and close to the old Roman theatre, to build a small palazzo and garden now known as Giardino Giusti.

“It’s an old saying, and a true one, Ceres and Bacchus are warm friends of Venus.” wrote Terence in his 170BC play The Eunuch, certainly seen in the nearby Roman theatre, and one of the allegories retold in the sixteenth century statuary at Giardini Giusti the meaning of which is that without food and wine love grows cold.



Above: Venus and a dolphin, probably carved by Alessandro Vittoria 1524-1608. In two other niches stand Ceres and Bacchus which give the ensemble the meaning Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus an old adage from Roman times meaning without food and wine love grows cold. Latin inscriptions carved into the bases of the three statues read: On Ceres: Ne Quid Veneri Deesset Cum Baccho Ceres Associatur meaning Venus needs nothing, because Ceres is here with Bacchus. On Venus: Sine me laetum nibil exoritur: statua in viridario miti pofita est ut in venere Venus esset meaning Without me nothing charms: my statue suits such a beautiful place. On Bacchus: Ambulator ne trepides Bacchum amatorem non bellatorem ad genium loci dominus p meaning Be not afraid, I am Bacchus a lover not a fighter, the spirit of this garden.

Rubens visited Verona and in 1613, perhaps influenced by the gardens, painted Venus being kept warm by Bacchus’ wine and Ceres’ bread. The muscular baroque treatment of the women in the painting is similar to that seen in the statuary figures of Venus and Ceres at Giusti.

Famous visitors included the composers Faure and Mozart, and nobility Cosimo de Medici, Czar Alexander I and Emperor Joseph II. Goethe also visited and surprised locals by decorating himself with cypress branches picked from Giusti and traipsing around town in a flamboyant manner. He described the huge cypresses as ‘soaring into the air like awls … a tree whose every branch aspires to heaven and which may live 300 years deserves to be venerated.’ A century later in 1868 Karl Baedeker wrote that the ‘somewhat neglected Giardino Giusti’ was celebrated for its 200 cypresses some of which are 400 to 500 years old and are said to exceed 120ft in height.

The view from the top of the craggy bluff inspired John Ruskin to write:
Now I do not think that there is any other rock in all the world, from which the places and monuments of so complex and deep a fragment of the history of its ages can be visible, as from this piece of crag, with its blue and prickly weeds. For you have thus beneath you at once, the birthplaces of Virgil and of Livy; the homes of Dante and Petrarch; and the source of the most sweet and pathetic inspiration of your own Shakespeare ; the spot where the civilization of the Gothic kingdoms was founded on the throne of Theodoric, and where whatever was strongest in the Italian race redeemed itself into life by its league against Barbarossa. You have the cradle of natural science and medicine in the schools of Padua ; the central light of Italian chivalry in the power of the Scaligers ; the chief stain of Italian cruelty in that of Ezzelin ; and, lastly, the birthplace of the highest art for among these hills, or by this very Adige bank, were born Mantegna, Titian, Coreggio, and Veronese.















Above: Oracular mascaron, or mask designed to banish evil spirits, c1570 by Bartolomeo Ridolfi tops the view up from Giusti’s entrance gates. Ridolfi was a Veronese stuccadore for Palladio who worked in nearby Vicenza.

SalvoNEWS

[Images by TKay Salvo Llp © 2008 courtesy of Giardinoa Giusti]

Entwined Dolphin Fountain with Shell and Triton

Architectural Heritage's Entwined Dolphin Fountain with Shell and Triton circa 1830 was entered to Lapda's object of the year competition. 'To my knowledge, this is the earliest known signed piece by Austin & Seeley,' said Alex Puddy. Unfortunately the fountain did not win however we felt it important to highlight such an interesting piece;

Entwined Dolphin Fountain with Shell and Triton. A large artificial stone fountain by Austin & Seeley, circa 1835. This rare survival from the early 19th Century is a fine example from the workshops of Austin & Seeley, modelled with a merman blowing a conch seated above a shell basin, the stylised conch shell bowl is supported by three entwined dolphins. This fountain is unusually signed in relief on the rocky outcrop below the merman (Austin & Seeley 183…). The fountain appears on the cover of the specimen book of Austin & Seeley’s artificial stone manufactory, a catalogue of 1844 , where a line drawing is shown on page 18, titled as above.

The date of this catalogue entry corresponds to the company’s participation at the Great Exhibition. Here they displayed a fountain some 20 feet in height amongst other items from their manufactory. The company’s beginning is a little difficult to date, however it is known that Felix Austin procured moulds from a previous manufacturer Van Spangen Powell & Co., around 1828 and that their office was registered at Keeple Row, Regent’s Park in 1825 (probably their showroom) with the manufacturing taking place near Thames Tunnel, Rotherhithe.

As with other companies imitating natural stone, such as Coade, competitive pricing, when compared to carved stone or marble, was one of the main selling points, alongside its ‘hardness and durability’, especially when used for fountains. Around 1840 Austin went into partnership with the sculptor John Seeley, and at this time over one hundred models of fountains, gures, pier ornaments, vases etc. were available. Made from a compound of Portland cement, ground stone, coarse sand and pulverised marble, items from the maker were never normally marked or stamped. However, it is possible to recognise items made by Austin & Seeley in cross-section, the compound resembling nougat.





Lapda object of the year

Architectural Heritage

How does the Baroque grab you?

Above: Ewer depicting the Triumph of Neptune. Vase, Massimiliano Soldani Benzi (1656-1740), Florence, About 1721, Bronze, Museum no. A.18-1959 The vase was a typically Baroque form of decoration. This example is one of a pair of ornamental bronze ewers on a marine theme. It borrows elements from earlier printed designs, but combines form and ornament so that the figural decoration seems to form the structure of the ewer itself.


Above: View of the interior of a shop selling export wares. Possibly the Netherlands, 1680-1700, Gouache on paper, mounted on a wooden panel, Museum no. P.35-1926. Intended as fan leaf, this shows a shop dealing in export wares. More fantasy than fact, it combines objects from all over Asia, including Japanese lacquer furniture, Chinese porcelain and red wares, small ivory devotional sculptures, Indian chintzes and Turkish or Persian paintings. Europeans were clearly fascinated by these exotic goods.


Above: Red stoneware coffee pot Meissen porcelain factory, Meissen, 1710-13, Red stoneware ('Böttger' stoneware), Inscribed '132 R' (an inventory number for the 'Brown Saxon' wares at the 'Japanese Palace'), Museum no. C.261&2-2006. Rulers all over Europe established special manufactories with the aim of discovering the secret of true porcelain. Johann Friedrich Böttger, working in Dresden for Augustus the Strong, first managed to produce this red stoneware in 1707, but it took him another two years to create porcelain. His stoneware is similar to Chinese redwares.


V&A London UK - A NEW exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum celebrates the baroque, the word itself stemming from the French for a pearl of irregular shape. Nigel Llewellyn notes in the V&A catalogue, the baroque church – with music, paint, sculpture, architecture, vestments, metalwork, sacred lighting and incense – was, the spiritual and temporal setting for what was a multimedia performance, intended to appeal through all the senses to the intellect, the heart and the very soul. Even secular baroque was endowed by the hand of God through papal, royal and noble patronage.

Joanna Norman, the curator, concentrates on trade, technique, theatre and materials, at the expense of passion, patronage and art. Considering the amount of baroque art in the V&A and throughout Britain the exhibition is, I felt, a bit sparse on the exhibit front. I was expecting to be knocked out by heaps and heaps of bling. Baroque means overwhelming bling. Decoration which does not merely passively ooze ostentation, but reaches out, grabs you by both ears and rubs your senses in it. Does this exhibiton do that? Not really. Perhaps it is too tasteful, too intellectual, too restrained - not enough of a visual feast. Baroque is the most sensual of all art styles, but I did not feel blown away by baroque sensuality when I visited.

Here is what the V&A web site notes:

The First Global Style
Baroque was the first style to have a significant worldwide impact. It spread from Italy and France to the rest of Europe. Then it travelled to Africa, Asia, and South and Central America via the colonies, missions and trading posts of the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and other Europeans. The style was disseminated through the worldwide trade in fashionable goods, through prints, and also by travelling craftsmen, artists and architects.
Chinese carvers worked in Indonesia, French silversmiths in Sweden, Italian furniture makers in France. Sculpture was sent from the Philippines to Mexico as well as Spain. London-made chairs went all over Europe and across the Atlantic. The French royal workshops turned out luxury products in the official French style that were both desired and imitated by fashionable society across Europe. But Baroque also changed as it crossed the world, adapting to new needs and local tastes.

Art & Performance
Baroque art did not stand shyly by, hoping to be noticed. Paintings, sculpture and decorative arts swirled with vigorous action and strong feelings. Figures have a sense of realistic immediacy, as if they had been stopped in mid- action. Facial expression, pose, gesture and drapery all played a part in the drama. Human figures played a leading role in all the various art forms, from painting and architecture through to sledges and tableware. Allegorical, sacred and mythological figures took over the whole work, turning it into a drama in which the actors strove to convey particular messages and to engage the emotions of the viewer. These figures were put into the service of both faith and dynastic ambition - in emotionally wrought religious paintings, and in heroic portraits of rulers, their heads held high above a mass of billowing drapery.

Architecture & Performance
Baroque buildings were dynamic and dramatic. They used the language of ancient Greek and Roman architecture but broke its strict rules. Facades were full of movement, columns were twisted, and ground plans were composed of curves and ovals. Inside, painted ceilings seem to open to the sky, and hidden windows illumined domes and altars.
All these devices were meant to convey particular meanings and emotions. The great curved colonnades outside St Peter's in Rome made actual the church's embrace; the repeated elements on the endless facades of Baroque palaces signalled absolute power. Baroque architecture was pioneered in papal Rome by Pietro da Cortona, Gianlorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini. The new style was vigorous and imaginative but never out of control. Borromini's oval ground plans were based on a dynamic geometry of triangles and circles. The same geometry lay behind the city plans of Baroque Rome.

Marvellous Materials
A fascination with physical materials played a central role in the Baroque style.
Virtuoso art objects made of rare and precious substances had long been valued. They were often kept in special rooms or cabinets, alongside natural history specimens, scientific instruments, books, documents and works of art. But in the Baroque period - with the birth of modern science and the opening up of the world beyond Europe - there was an increasingly serious interest in the nature and meaning of these exotic materials. Rarities such as East Asian porcelain and lacquer became fashionable in interior decoration and were imitated in Europe. Some of the rarest materials were believed to have the very useful capacity to detect poison. Among them were the newly invented ruby glass (which contained real gold) and rhinoceros horn, which also had the sexual connotations it still carries in some cultures today.

From 4 April to 19 July 2009

V&A Baroque exhibition