Formerly the International Director of Jewellery at Phillips Auctioneers, John Benjamin established his own independent jewellery valuation and advisory service over two decades ago, and he has been an expert on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow sine 1991.

This lecture provides a comprehensive overview of four centuries of European and international jewellery design, covering changing styles from the 16th century High Renaissance to 20th-century glamour.  There will be two lectures before a sandwich lunch, followed by a show-and-tell session in the afternoon.

Time:  10.30am start, coffee available from 10am

Cost: £35.00 to include a sandwich lunch

Booking:  Please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

Payment: A card machine will be available for payment at all Society meetings.

Mark Hill is an author, publisher, TV presenter, and the leading specialist dealer in postwar Czechoslovakian glass. He has been an expert on the BBC Antiques Road Show since 2007, and co-presented four primetime TV shows on antiques, collecting and interiors for BBC2, including two series of Collectaholics.  Mark lectures widely for the Arts Society, he is a member of The British Antique Dealers Association, and is a Freeman of the City of London.

There will be two lectures:  one will be "Hot Stuff -  the birth of Studio Glass".  The second will be "Michael Harris - Mdina Glass and Isle of White Studio Glass".  Finally there will be an "Antiques Roadshow" style show-and-tell - so please bring along some of your glass and ceramics for the show and tell.  

Time:  10.30am start, coffee available from 10am

Cost: £35.00 to include a sandwich lunch

Booking:  Please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

Payment: A card machine will be available for payment at all Society meetings.

Oscar Wilde: writer, wit & the first modern celebrity.  From his childhood in Ireland to his artistic circle in Chelsea & glittering West End first nights, to the criminal trial of the age, we chart Oscar's extraordinary journey & discuss his enduring appeal & legacy. 

Simon Whitehouse  is an actor, presenter and award winning Blue Badge Guide. His specialisms are Theatre, Literature, Fashion and Art History, but above all he has a passionate interest in the life of Oscar Wilde.

Time:  10.30am start, coffee available from 10am

Cost: £35.00 to include a sandwich lunch

Booking:  Please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

Payment: A card machine will be available for payment at all Society meetings.

Dr Jonathan Foyle uses the original research he has gained over a 25-year practical career in the world of historic buildings and applied arts to inform architectural conservation projects, broadcasts, books, articles, andlectures. A former Curator at Hampton Court, and Chief Executive of World Monuments Fund Britain for eight years, he has authored seven volumes on great cathedrals and castles, and is best known for presenting series such as BBC2's Climbing Great Buildings and contributing to series like Channel 4's Time Team and Channel 5's Secrets of the Palaces.

Cost: £30.00 to include lunch

Booking:  Please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

Payment: A card machine will be available for payment at all Society meetings.

BACs to The Arts Society Wylye Valley, A/C 00060136, Sort Code 40-52-40
Reference:  Name & Study 2

1. The Search for the North West Passage

From Frobisher and Davis in the 16th century to Roald Amundsen in the early 20th century.  This search was to overlap with various attempts, some as desperate as they were imaginative, to reach the North Pole.  These expeditions culminated in the Englishman, Wally Herbert’s remarkable journey in the 1960s.

2. Scott, Amundsen and the Race to the Pole

Few stories of exploration are as dramatic as two expeditions to Antarctica in the early 20th century. Three famous explorers dominate the story: Robert Scott, Roald Amundsen and Ernest Shackleton.

These talks focus briefly on early attempts by Scott and Shackleton to get to the South Pole – the Discovery and Nimrod expeditions. It then concentrates on the 1910-11 expeditions by Scott and Amundsen, ending in tragedy and triumph. Contemporary photographs and water colours provide a vivid, record of this frozen world and these pioneering expeditions into the unknown.

3. Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition : A Photographic Odyssey

On Shackleton’s third expedition south in 1914, his ship, the Endurance, was trapped in the pack ice and crushed. After camping for months on the ice, Shackleton’s men rowed to a remote island. From there, Shackleton sailed for help to South Georgia, a journey of some 800 miles. Frank Hurley was the expedition’s official photographer – his photographs eloquently capture one of the greatest survival stories in polar history.

Time:  10.30am start, coffee available from 10am

Mark Cottle has spent his career in teaching and lecturing at home and abroad. He has a particular interest in polar exploration.

Cost: £30.00 to include lunch

Booking:  Please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

Payment: A card machine will be available for payment at all Society meetings.

BACs to The Arts Society Wylye Valley, A/C 00060136, Sort Code 40-52-40
Reference:  Name & Study 1

10 for 10.30am start.

Session One: The Antiques Roadshow

Behind the Scenes and The Great Discoveries. A first hand insight behind the nation’s most popular antiques programme.

Session Two: The Anatomy of Collecting 

The History of Collecting and Great Collectors through History. A fascinating time-line talk focusing on why we collect and how our predilection for collecting has evolved through history, illustrated with examples from the great historical collectors and illuminated with objects from Marc’s own eclectic collection.

Session Three: Bring an Object

Audience Participation talk based on artefacts brought in by the
members.

Cost: £30.00 to include lunch

Booking:  Please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

Payment: A card machine will be available for payment at all society meetings.

BACs to Arts Society Wylye Valley, A/C 0060136, Sort Code 40-52-40
Reference:  Name & Study 2
No cash or cheques please.

The Medici were in many ways an unattractive family. Ruthless in pursuit of profit for their Florentine Bank, which had branches in every city of the known world, they were greedy for success, merciless to those who opposed their ambition and vicious in their own internal squabbles. Yet without them we would not have Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, the Fra Angelico frescoes in San Marco, Donatello’s “David” or the majestic Michelangelo sculptures in the Medici Chapel. The Platonic Academy would not have been founded and the doors to the Baptistry would never have been cast. This Special interest Day, composed of three talks looks into the turbulent history of this extraordinary family.

Session One: Bank Rolling the Renaissance.

Under the guidance of Cosimo Medic, the family became the unofficial rulers f Florence and leading patrons of the arts. This inevitably aroused fierce jealousies, which boiled over in the attempted assassination of Cosimo’s grandson Lorenzo.

Session Two: Popes and Patrons.

With Florence gripped by the apocalyptic preaching of Savonarola, the Medici were exciled from Florence.However they re-emerged triumphantly as Popes in Rome. Here their decadent and eccentric rule led to the Sack of Rome and ultimately opened the doors to Luther’s Reformation of the Church.

Session Three: From Riches to Royalty.

Although the Medici were a spent force in Italy, an ingenious marriage had put Catherine de Medici on the throne of France, to be followed, shortly afterwards, by Marie de Medici. This last talk looks at the impact these two formidable queens had on the shape of French history.

Cost: £30.00 to include lunch

Booking:  Booking is available from the meeting on 15 March 2023 onwards, or please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

Payment: A card machine will be available for payment at all society meetings and payment can be made from 15 March 2023.

BACs to Arts Society Wylye Valley, A/C 0060136, Sort Code 40-52-40
Reference:  Name & Study 1
No cash or cheques please.

Booking:  Booking is available from the meeting on 15 March, or please contact Jane Fawcus - 01722 742346  janefawcus@hotmail.com

10.00am for 10.30 start

A Special Interest Day with Mary Alexander

Reading List - WHY PARIS? 1890's - 1947

Rupert Christiansen, City of Light: the reinvention of Paris, Apollo Books, 2018
Graham Robb, Parisians: An Adventure history of Paris, Picador, 2010 (see chapter A Little
Tour of Paris, 22 June 1940)
Paris: Capital of the Arts, Royal Academy exhibition catalogue, 2002
Mary E Davis, Classic Chic, Music Fashion and Modernism, Univ of California Press, 2018
Stephen Clarke, Dirty Bertie: an English King made in France, Arrow Penguin, 2014
Laurence Madeline, Women Artists in Paris 1850-1900, Yale University Press, 2017
Anne Sebba, Les Parisiennes, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2016
Agnès Poirier, Left Bank: Art, Passion and the rebirth of Paris 1940-1950, Bloomsbury, 2018
Paris Between the Wars; Art, Style and Glamour in the crazy years, Vincent Bouvet &
Gérard Durzoi, Thames & Hudson, 2010
Paris/New York: Design/Fashion/Culture 1925-1940, Museum of the City of New York,
Random House, 2008
Théâtre de la Mode: Fashion Dolls - the survival of Haute Couture, Maryhill Museum of Art
USA, catalogue, 2002
Art Deco 1910-1939, exhibition catalogue, edit T & C Benton, V&A Publications, 2003 (in
particular see essays - The International Exhibition; Paris 1925: Consuming Modernity; The
Artist Decorator)
Isabelle Fiemeyer, Chanel: the Enigma, Flammarion, 2017
Palmer White, Elsa Schiaparelli: Empress of Paris Fashion, Aurum, 1995
Women of the Left Bank, Paris 1900-1940, Shari Benstock, University of Texas, 1986

Writers/Illustrators on Paris
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast, (Arrow -The Restored edition), 2011
F Scott Fitzgerald, Babylon Revisited, first published 1931 (in various selections)
Gertrude Stein, Paris, France

Sempé - Un Peu de Paris, (illustrations of Jean-Jacques Sempé) Gallimard 2001
WHY PARIS? 1900 - 1947 Artist/designer names

SESSION ONE:
Jean Béraud (painter - multiple views of Paris street scenes)
Gustave Caillebotte
Hector Guimard (metro ironwork)
Charles Garnier (architect Opéra) Jean Carpeaux - facade sculptures on Opéra Garnier
Les Grands magasins department stores: Galeries Lafayette, Au Bon Marché, La Primavera,
La Samaritaine, Printemps
Marie Bashkirtseff (Nice based artist trained at Académie Julian, Paris)
Académie Julian Paris (womens school run by Amélie Beaury-Saurel)
Cecilia Beaux and Mary Cassatt - American painters
John Singer Sargent - Mme X - painted in 1884
École de Nancy (designers at Galleries Lafayette interiors and Maxims rue Royale)
Alphonse Mucha - posters including those for Sarah Bernhardt's theatre
René Lalique - jewellery and glass (including commissions for Sarah Bernhardt)
SEM caricatures (Georges Goursat)
Paul Helleu and Philip de Laszlo portraits of Comtesse Greffülhe (private salon)
Paul Poiret
Serge Diaghilev - Ballets Russes - and costumes by Léon Bakst
Georges Lepape - Les Choses de Paul Poiret
Georges Barbier - designs for Les Modes (Poiret) and for Cartier

SESSION TWO:
Constantin Brancusi; Henri Matisse, Georges Braque; Pablo Picasso; Modigliani
Jacques Doucet (couturier and purchaser of Picasso's Demoiselles)

Georges Lepape and Eduardo Benito Cover designs for Vanity Fair, Vogue etc
Paul Colin - drawings and posters for Revue Nègre (Josephine Baker and musicians)
Sonia Delaunay - paintings, textiles, interiors
Eileen Gray - lacquer screens, tubular chrome furniture, rugs, storage units
Charlotte Perriand - Chaise longue chair, Le Bar sous le toit
Jean Dunand - lacquer screen, lacquer and eggshell vases
1925 Exposition: Lalique glass fountain and Perfume pavilion; André Vigneau's mannequins
for Siègel; André Perugia's shoes; Georges Fouquet's jewellery; Pierre Legrain's inlay leather
cigarette cases; Edgar Brandt's Oasis screen; Cartier's jewellery exhibited with couturiers;
Coco Chanel; Elsa Schiaparelli
Man Ray - photography of Kiki de Montparnasse Blanc et Noir (painter Alice Prinn)

SESSION THREE:
Exposition 1939 - Raoul Dufy's murals in Pavilion de la Lumière et de l'électricité (now in
Musée de l'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris)
Views of Hitler's visit to Paris June 1940 with Arno Breker, sculptor
Cartier's Caged Bird (1942) and Liberated Bird (1944)
Théâtre de la Mode 1945-1946 - opened Louvre Paris 1945, travelled on to London, Leeds,
Amsterdam, Copenhagen etc, then New York, Chicago, ending in San Francisco.
Designers involved - Christian Bérard, Eliane Bonabel, Boris Kochno, Jean Saint-Martin, Jean
Cocteau + 60 couturiers (Chanel not invited)
René Gruau - illustrator for Christian Dior

Special Interest Day 2022

Tuesday 29th March 2022 10.00am for 10.300 start

Jewellery in The Age of Queen Victoria

by Judy Rudoe FSA

2 x Morning Sessions: Queen Victoria played a huge role: in what she wore and did had a tremendous impact, so what might seem a narrow subject acts as a key to our understanding of the entire Victorian age – it’s mourning rituals, it’s politics, it’s nationalism, the study of nature and development in science- are all embodied in it’s jewellery. Judy’s approach is one that seeks to understand the 19th century through it’s jewellery by looking at what it meant to the people who wore it and how it was used for both public and private purposes. It shows how jewellery affected topical and historical events: Judy’s journey uncovers some fascinating oddities- jewellery with fish scales and why there was a craze for the Colorado beetle in 1877.

1x Afternoon Session: Discussion on members' pieces. Members are encouraged to bring along jewellery, which is not restricted to Victorian. Silver or base metal can be just as interesting as gold and diamonds.

Cost of Special Interest Day will be £30.00 and will include a sandwich lunch

Applications to event:- Clemmie Norrington-Davies at clemmiend@gmail.com or bookings will be taken prior to our lectures.

Cheques will be payable to The Arts Society Wylye Valley –please put Study Day 1 on the back Cash can be paid prior to lectures

BACs A/C Arts Society Wylye Valley Sort Code 40-52-40 Account 00060136 Please be sure to make sure to reference Study Day 1 

How to Look After Your Antiques

by Christopher Chanter

This Study Day goes through many techniques and old skills that show how to carry out conservation and general care of fine furniture including leather bindings.

The day should run as follows:

10.30-1130 Session 1: Lecture on Christopher’s restoration of Forde Abbey

11.30-1145 Break

11.45-12.45 Session 2: Hands on session involving handling and discussing different kinds of veneers Christopher will then demonstrate cleaning and polishing a dirty and distressed piece of furniture.

12.45-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.45 (approx) Session 3: Participants are invited to bring a small item of furniture such as a chair or box to appraise as to age, type of wood, style and auction value.

This will cost £25.00 for a whole day from 10.30 until 3pm and will include lunch.

If you wish to book a place for this event please send your name and contact details to clemmiend@gmail.com and we will send you payment details

PAINTINGS CONSERVATION ROADSHOW

 by Sarah Cove ACR, FBAPCR, FHC

This new study day links together three existing lectures, The Conservation and Restoration of Paintings, A Day in the Life of a Picture Restorer, and A Tale of a Million Brushstrokes: The Conservation of English Portraits. These lectures and the study day discuss the nature of oil paintings materials from the Middle Ages to the present day and common problems associated with the ageing and deterioration of, and damage to, easel paintings. These can be on canvas, panel, board or paper in a range of mediums: oil, acrylic, egg tempera or mixed media. Problems can involve natural deterioration and neglect, accidental damage, vandalism and even war – the most surprising event being a large hole caused by a Turkish cannon ball going through a picture in the 18th century. Modern museum standard approaches to conservation and restoration are illustrated with detailed slides ranging from early Italian religious paintings in egg tempera, via rapid oil sketches on paper by John Constable, to 20th century British portraits and modern abstract works, many from little known collections, taken during conservation treatments. Hints and advice on the proper care of paintings in homes is given in liberal doses throughout!

Advice on packing and transport is given in advance so the attendees can bring on their own pictures for an ‘Antiques Roadshow’ style assessment with recommendations for conservation.

The day should run as follows:

10.30-11.30 Session 1: Powerpoint lecture.

11.30-1145 Break

11.45-12.45 Session 2: One hour powerpoint lecture

12.45-1.45 Lunch 1.45-2.45 (approx)

Session 3: Sarah Cove will exam works brought in by members.

These must oil/acrylic on canvas or panel etc. No watercolours, prints or miniatures please. Sarah will gladly give packing/wrapping instructions for those members bringing in paintings

This will cost £25.00 for a whole day from 10.30 until 3pm and will include lunch.

If you wish to book a place for this event please send your name and contact details to clemmiend@gmail.com and we will send you payment details.

Special Interest Day

Tuesday 10 November 2020

Why Paris?  The Allure of the City of Light 1900 – 1947

By Mary Alexander

Mary previously gave us a wonderful Special Interest Day titled ‘New York, New York’.  She will follow a similar inclusive and exploratory approach to Parish using location  maps, both contemporary and with old photographs of the city, together with various art and design media.

In this stimulating and enjoyable Special Interest Day Mary will explore how and why the City of Paris has acted as both a magnet and a cauldron of talent for artists and designers.

Discover more about the key events and personalities shaping the ‘City of Light’ during the first half of the twentieth century.  Looking beyond the mainstream, she will identify the creative individuals, including newly emerging female talents, who shaped the Parisian concept of ‘modernity’  in art, design, interiors, fashion and photography.

Whether strolling along Haussmann’s new boulevards, ascending the magnificent staircase of Garnier’s Opera House, calling into an artist’s studio, cafe, nightclub or fitting couture room, Mary will create the sense of ‘being there’.

Literary descriptions by Zola, Stein, Cocteau, Hemingway and Fitzgerald, will accompany the sumptuous visual details photographed especially for this purpose. Comparison between the International Paris Exhibitions of 1900, 1925 and 1937 will shed light on changing social/cultural issues, rapid technological change, the key role of couture and fashion in French identity, especially during the German Occupation and immediately after the Liberation.

Whether you know Paris well or not at all, you will find new and exciting discoveries.

Session One:     La Belle Epoque – city of pleasure and reinvention 1890’s- 1914

Session Two:     Partying into the future 1920’s and 30’s

Break for a sandwich lunch

Session Three:  Paris Exposition 1937, Occupation and Defiance.

Cost of Special Interest Day - £25 to include a sandwich lunch.

Applications to the Special Interest Day desk at the back of the lecture hall

Cheques to be made payable to The Arts Society Wylye Valley.

10.00 am for a 10.30 start - finish at 3.15

Michael Herbert Hall.  Tuesday 24 March 2020

Judy Rudoe has been a Curator at the British Museum since 1974, responsible for metalwork, ceramics, glass, textiles, basketry and other applied arts from 1700 to the presnt, including traiditional and reional collections fromEurope. She is authori of cartier 1900-1939 (1997) and organised the Cartier exhibitions shown at the Metropolitan Musum of Art and the Brisith Museum in 1997.  She has also been author of a number of other books and publications.

This lecture grew out of Judy's latest book, 'Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria, a mirror to the world' which she spent 30 years researching and 3 years writing with Charlotte Gere.

Morning Session - Jewellery in the age of Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria played a huge role:  what she wore and did had tremendous impact, so what might seem a narrow subject acts as a key to our understanding of the entire Victorian agge. - its mourning rituals, its politics, its nationalism, the study of nature and developments in science - all are embodied in its jewellery.  Judy's approach is one that seeks to understand the 19th century though its jewellery by looking at what jewellery meant to the people woh wore it and how it was used for both public and private purposes.  It shows how jewellery affected historical and topical events: Judy's journey of discovery uncovered some fascinatine oddities - jewellery with fish scales, electric batteries that enabled a death's head to gnash it teeh and roll its eyes, and she will tell us whey there was a crasze for Colorado beetles in1877.

Break for a Sandwich lunch

Afternoon session - Discussion on members' pieces.

Judy will talk about each piece and involve members as much as possible.  Members are encouraged to bring along jewellery which is not restricted to Victorian.  Silver or base metal can be just as interesting as gold and diamonds!

Cost of Special Interest Day - £25 to include a sandwich lunch

Applications and reservations to be made at the back of the hall on lecture days at the 

Special Interest Day desk.

Cheques should be made payable to The Arts Society Wylye Valley.

10.00 am for 10.30 Start.  Finish 3.30pm

Nigel is Music Administrator for The Royal Ballet and has been a performer for nearly forty years in and out of the Royal Opera House, including seventeen years as Principal Percussion with the Orchestra. He has worked with many of the leading figures in the classical music industry and was also a producer for both the BBC's Maestro at the Opera and Pappano's Classical Voices documentary series. He is a contributor to the printed and online content of the ROH. 

All lectures are fully illustrated and include performance

audio and video clips.

SESSIONS ONE :

The history and design of the Royal Opera House & its artistic heritage.

The first talk will look at the founding of the first Covent Garden Theatre in 1732 and follow the sometimes troubled history that has led to the wonderful Victorian building and world-class arts venue that exists today.  We will examine the detail of the auditorium and explore some of the music that has been performed within its walls along with the way composers, performers and managers have influenced the fortunes of the building for more than 280 years.

SESSION TWO: The Royal Ballet & the Orchestra

As a world-class arts venue, the Royal Opera House demands world-class performers and performances to keep audiences engaged, both inside and outside the theatre.  The second talk will look at the creation and history of two of the resident companies, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House, who together re-opened the building in 1946. 

Break for Sandwich Lunch 

SESSION THREE : The Royal Opera, modern staging & the future

The final talk will trace the creation and history of The Royal Opera and examine the way that performers approach their craft. We will also see how a large and yet invisible backstage team works to meet the high-level demands of modern productions in the digital age - and learn that sometimes things do not always go to plan! 

Cost of Special Interest Day:  £25 – includes a Sandwich Lunch 

 Applications to:-

Mrs Ann Danby, Mereworth, Mill Lane, Donhead St Andrew, Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 9EF.

Email: ardanby@aol.com  Telephone: 01747 828640

Cheques to be made payable to:  The Arts Society Wylye Valley.

An extra visit has been put into the calendar on 26 August 2019.

We are able to visit Longford Castle, the home of Lord and Lady Radnor.  This is situated near Downton, outside Salisbury.

The visit is available for 25 people at a cost of £14 and tickets will be available at the next Arts Society lecture on 15 May.

We are offering an extra Special Interest Day in advance of the tour to Liverpool in October.  Liverpool – City of Delight

 It will be on Wednesday 8 May 2019 from 10.30 (for 11.00) - 2.15.

It will consist of 2 lectures sessions with a sandwich lunch for a total of £25.

Elizabeth Newell has been involved with NADFAS/The Arts Society for nearly forty years in many roles (member, programme secretary and local chairman).  As well as being an accredited lecturer and Blue Badge Guide, she has visited societies around the UK and in Australia. 

With her enthusiasm and humour, she loves to share her deep knowledge and passion for her home area and show that there is far more to Liverpool than just football and The Beatles!

Session 1 – Liverpool – City of Delight

Liverpool grew from King John’s fishing village in 12-7 to become one of the most important ports in the world.  From the mid 1700’s influential merchants used the stupendous wealth generated through the Port to create a fabulous architectural heritage of beautiful Grade 1 buildings second only to London.  Liverpool is designated by UNESCO as a Merchantile Maritime World Heritage Site.

The lecture paints an overall picture of Liverpool through its most important buildings: Georgian Town Hall (1754), St George’s Hall (1854), Liverpool Cathedral (1904-78), Metropolitan Cathedral (1962-67), Lutyens Crypt (1933-58), Royal Albert Dock (1846) and the world famous Pier Head buildings, sometimes referred to as ‘The Three Graces’.

BREAK FOR SANDWICH LUNCH

Session 2 – Port Sunlight Village and the Lady Lever Art Gallery.

The garden village of Port Sunlight was begun in 1888 by William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, to house is soap factory workers.  Lever was a wonderfully generous employer with a great social conscience, a man greatly in advance of his time.  Although he believed that English craftsmanship was amongst the finest, he greatly admired beauty and the skill of the craftsman.  He amassed a stunning collection of late C18 English commodes, Period Furniture Rooms, the largest collection of Decorative Wedgwood in existence (including four incredibly rare plaques painted by George Stubbs) and a valuable collection of Chinese ceramics, the purchase of which nearly bankrupted him!  Paintings include Reynolds, Turner, Constable, Singer Sargent, Pre-Raphaelites as well as the ‘soap paintings’.

Applications to:Mrs Ann Danby, Mereworth, Mill Lane, Donhead St Andrew SP7 9EF

Email: ardanby@aol.com               Telephone:  01747 828640

Cheques should be made payable to:  The Arts Society Wylye Valley

If acknowledgement is required please supply email address, telephone or SAE

How restorers and forgers in their different ways create

new works of art  

 SESSION ONE:  Masterpieces of restoration

This session will illustrate not only the stunning restorations of damaged world-famous creations such as the Rose Window of York Minster and the Portland Vase but also the day-to-day work behind the scenes in museums, caring for ceramics and glass in collections. We will learn how items no longer fit for display can be transformed to take pride of place in new exhibitions…and we will see that these very techniques can be adapted to be used at home. Prevention is better than cure - fine Venetian glass objects can shatter like a car windscreen unless museums take care to avoid glass ’crizzling’. However, Sir Winston Churchill, depicted life-size in glass, may be beyond hope…as we shall see!

 SESSION TWO: Creating and revealing forgeries

Forgeries of Chinese earthenware ceramics are now so common and so perfect that all the main auction houses test items scientifically to confirm they are old. This session will explore how the battle to ensure that fake and forgeries are exposed is being won by combining connoisseurship with scientific investigation. The range of methods to detect forgeries and to understand the creation of authentic items will be illustrated. Luckily forgers cannot overcome ‘thermoluminescent dating’…at least, not yet! 

Break for Sandwich Lunch 

SESSION THREE: ‘As good as new!’

In a demonstration session, Prof Tennent will put into practice some of the conservation methods illustrated in the lectures for repairing damaged ceramics and mending broken or cracked glass. This session will be a chance for the participants to bring personal items for advice on how they could be best made to look ‘as good as new’….cherished personal keepsakes deserve as much care as museum treasures!  

Cost of Special Interest Day:  £25 – includes a Sandwich Lunch

Applications to:-

Mrs Ann Danby, Mereworth, Mill Lane, Donhead St Andrew, Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 9EF.                    Email: ardanby@aol.com                       Telephone: 01747 828640

Cheques to be made payable to:  The Arts Society Wylye Valley.

If an acknowledgement is required, please supply email address, telephone no. or SAE.

DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THIS SPECIAL INTEREST DAY HAD TO BE CANCELLED.

Caroline is a Design and Decorative arts journalist and author. Her specialist subjects include London's history, galleries, museums and architecture.  She is a London Blue Badge Guide.

Why Sacred Palaces?

St Paul's Cathedral houses the throne, from the Latin for seat - cathedra - of the Bishop of London.

Westminster Abbey houses the coronation chair, the ceremonial seat for the enthronement of our monarchs since the early 14th century.

Between the two the history of our national life can be traced in a most poetic way.

St Paul's Cathedral

Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece stands on the site of the first cathedral founded in AD 604. The first dome to be built in England, it dominates the City of London and is Britain's focus in times of celebrations, thanksgiving and mourning.   It has also seen the great state funerals of Britain's heroes: Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Winston Churchill.

Westminster Abbey

The Abbey has been at the centre of the life of our Monarchy for nearly 1000 years. Begun for the Benedictine monks in the mid 11th centruy by the saintly King Edward the Confessor it was rebuilt in the gothic style by King Henry 111 in the 1200s.  Every monarch has been crowned in the Abbey since William the Conqueror's coronation on Christmas Day in 1066.

Prepare to see and appreciate silver in a completely new way!

                10.00 am for a 10.30 start until 3.30 pm

Session One - Methods of making and decorating silver.

Learn how to 'read' silver from the way it is made.  Using the examples from Medieval to Modern we will discover the secrets of this craft, some of which dates back to the 3rd millenium BC.  Get to know your raising from your spinning, your casting and box-making.  Having created the basic forms we will learn how to identify chasing from engraving, how to emboss and examine the latest technology that has been combined with ancient skills to create silver for our time.

Session Two - The Huguenot Heritage. The Impact of the Huguenots on English Silver c. 1680 - 1800

In this session we will look specifically at the influence of French Huguenot silversmiths, tracking their contriibution to the craft over three generations, from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 to  of Louisa Courtaluld in 1807.  We will investigate the skills, shapes and decorative techniques they introduced to England as well as their training and why some English patrons favoured them over native English silversmiths.

Break for sandwich lunch

Session Three - Show and Tell.

Participants are invited to bring, at their own risk, silver and Sheffield plate - eg bowls, tea pots, spoons rather than jewellery (from any period and place), so that we can put into practice what we have learnt in the morning and go on a journey of discovery.

Cost of Special Interest Day - £25 - includes a sandwich lunch.

Ann Danby, Mereworth, Mill Lane, Donhead St Andrew, Shaftesbury, SP7 9EF

ardanby@aol.com

01747 828640

Cheques should be made payable to The Arts Society Wylye Valley.

No tickets will be issued.  If you require acknowledgement or receipt please supply an email address or stamped addressed envelope.

Dresden Today – Art and Architecture  9 January 2018

We were delighted to welcome Eveline Eaton for a morning Study Day - 2 lectures. Eveline, who is a leading authority on Dresden is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Dresden Trust and there is nothing she doesn't know about this city which has 'risen from the ashes'.

Her talk gave us an introduction to The City of Dresden which celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2006.

Renowned as the ‘Florence of the North’, its eighteenth century buildings have been faithfully restored. The before and after photos showed us the extent of the damage, much of which was due to the ensuing fires.

Her superb presentation took us on a journey around the city, into the various palaces and introduced us to many of the dazzling artefacts, pictures, porcelain and jewels. 

The Old and New Masters Picture Galleries are among the finest in Europe.

We also learnt about the charming town of Meissen with its famous factory as well as the Saxon rulers’ hunting-lodge at Moritzburg and the Decorative Arts Museum at Pillnitz on the Elbe.

From one of our members:

I was delighted to hear Eveline Eaton's morning of talks about Dresden. As Chairman of The Board of Trustees of The Dresden Trust she knows everything about the city and kept us fascinated through her clear and expertly delivered talks. I am sure the members who will be visiting Dresden in the spring will find it a great introduction. Those of us who have been there learnt yet more about a great city. Thank you to the Committee.
 

Day of Special Interest

November 7th 2017

Catherine the Great – Empress of all the Russias (1729 – 1796)

Comment by Tricia Carr

Dr. Rosamund Bartlett gave three one hour lectures on her subject with great erudition and flair.   Not only was her presentation full of excellent photos of many of the famous people in Catherine’s life, but also of the fashion of her period; of the Slavic costume of Russia; of paintings of some of thousands of world famous artists which she collected during her reign, as well as brief biographies of the artistic people, while they were attached to Russia.   Added to these were pictures of these musicians, and architects and gardeners, buildings and interiors, as well as excellent maps to point out the historical perspective.  Dr. Bartlett also included music which Catherine would have listened to and/or commissioned.   Listening to the music and singing, and watching the videos, gave one a tiny intimate detail looking into her life.  The overall emphasis was on the artistic achievements of her reign enhancing Russia’s prestige, rather than concentrating on the military and political ones which were briefly mentioned.

Catherine arrived in Russia, a 15 year old minor German princess, and married the future Peter III, in 1745; however her marriage and her relationship with the Empress Elizabeth were unhappy.   She was promiscuous and Peter may not have been the father of her son, the future Paul I.   In 1762 Peter came to the throne, but was quickly deposed by Catherine and her supporters.

Catherine embarked on a huge programme of taking Russia into Western civilisation.  She was very aggressive in her acquisition of thousands of exquisite works of art from Western Europe, outraging those countries, but having the desired effect of bringing Russia onto the world stage. She encouraged architecture, opera, ballet, music, education for the elite and horticulture.

By the mid 1760’s Catherine was known as the “Philosopher on the Throne” and was seen by many as an enlightened despot.   The reality, however, was that the serfs still suffered and the nobles’ freedom increased, creating a growing rift between the two. She was anti-Semitic, and she annexed the Crimea in 1783.  At her death in 1796, she had rescinded the earlier freedom of the press and had ruthlessly suppressed all dissent.  People were questioning her glorious reign, but she died leaving Russia the largest Empire since Rome and recognised as a world power.

There was a large amount of written information on many of the slides, which Dr. Bartlett expanded upon.  This sometimes proved very helpful, but I did hear comments that the writing was just distracting, and irritating, as it was repetitive.  It was, however a very enjoyable and informative day.

Brian MacDonald is a lecturer, consultant and dealer and a world authority on ‘Tribal Rugs’.  His interest began when he spent time in Iran and Afghanistan in the 1970’s.

In the morning Brian took us on a pictorial journey beginning in Outer Mongolia in the 5th Century BC. We followed the 11th Century migrations of the inhabitants from Turkmenistan, the cradle of weaving, into the Caucasus, Persia and Afghanistan. We were introduced to the nomadic tribes of these countries and their woven rugs, carpets and various bags. These tribal weavings illustrated the skill of the women who produced exquisite works of woven art, using vegetable colours and age-old designs whilst living and travelling in primitive conditions and hostile landscapes. Their looms were folded and packed on their camels and weavings would be completed many miles from their inception. There was one enchanting picture of a girl, aged about two, sitting learning to tie knots, a vital skill as every rug is a knotted masterpiece, and every girl has to make and design her own wedding rugs.

In the afternoon Brian showed us a number of rugs and weavings he had brought along.  Rugs, which members had brought, were examined and in many cases the region, tribe and date identified.

For anyone who is interested in finding out more,

This book “Tribal Rugs – Treasures of the Black Tent” is being re published and will be available in a month.

A history of the great Medici family, leading patrons of the arts, who were regarded as God's Bankers, from Cosimo di Medici right through to two great Queens of France, Catherine and Maria di Medici.

Both Special Interest Days will begin at 10.00am for a 10.30 start and will be held in the Michael Herbert Hall, Wilton, and will end at approximately 3.0pm.

Cost per day:  £25 to include a sandwich lunch.

Cheques payable to Wylye Valley DFAS

Applications to Mrs Sarah Coate, Colts Corner, Upper Woodford, Salisbury, SP4 6PA

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Mary Alexander took us on an exciting ‘virtual’ tour of New York, in which she unashamedly cherry-picked the artistic highlights and icons of New York. Starting with the arrival of the English who renamed the city New York, after James, Duke of York, she considered the influence of ‘new money’ on art patronage and tracked the move of fashionable society from Washington Square, so beloved by Henry James and Edith Wharton, in the relentless move uptown.

Mary’s depth of knowledge, having lived and studied there, together with her obvious passion for the city, was beautifully illustrated with a wealth of photography used to full effect. Visual collages and exquisite details were used to re-create the atmosphere of the brownstones and high society clubs of Gramercy Park, the Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, the grand hotels and nightclubs, the 21 Club and the Speakeasy, the building of the great art collections including the Metropolitan Museum and the Guggenheim.  

For those members who know and love New York or those who had never visited, we all had fun discovering more about the personalities of the artists, designers, patrons and social climbers who shaped this extraordinary and ever-changing city. Mary’s three lavishly illustrated talks certainly created the sense of ‘being there’ and captured the vibrancy and energy of the city.  We certainly felt we had been there and all without the hassle of the journey!