My Most Interesting Thing: Trestle Table in the Dining Room

1.) What is it?
Trestle Table in the Dining Room

2.) Why have you chosen it?
Because I have always liked old oak refectory style tables.

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
On my first visit to Carrick Hill

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
Use it!

5.) What stuff do you (or did you) collect?
Pewter, perfume bottles, patch boxes, fruit wood/oak furniture, 18th/19th century caricatures

Chosen by: Jan Murray, Carrick Hill Guide

My Most Interesting Thing: Inlaid Box

1.) What is it?
Inlaid Box

2.) Why have you chosen it?
It has great charm and a certain simplicity.  A good 'domestic' piece.

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
20 years ago.

4.) If it was yours what would you do with it?
Have it on view in a chose spot.

5.) What stuff do you (or did you) collect?
Pictures, plates and silver

Chosen by: Charlotte Bright, Carrick Hill Guide

The Keeper's random ramblings - News of a lost painting.....

News of a lost painting........

This week a new exhibition opens at Carrick Hill: Russell Drysdale: the drawings.  Lou Klepac, the curator of the exhibition, gave a terrific talk to the volunteer guides on Drysdale and informed us all about the man behind the art  and the many influences that impacted on his life and work.  I got a bonus when Lou explained that the two drawings in the show from our collection relate to a painting once in the collection.  It was burnt in a fire that destroyed the library and several other paintings in the Hayward's collection including a William Dobell (portrait of Joshua Smith) and a Gainsborough sketch.

A Woman Yawning  by Drysdale was also destroyed but what I found out was that it had once been owned by Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch.  This kind of fact is held in the huge data bank of knowledge that a consumate curator like Lou Klepac has researched and accumulated. He knew the artist and has has studied most of the artist's known works.  In particular he has investigated Drysdale's use of drawing and how he used it to plan his paintings.  Lou has written about both the paintings and drawings of this important 20th Century artist who together with Sydney Nolan changed the way Australians saw and understood the interior of our country.  These two artists and later Arthur Boyd swept away the romanticism of Arthur Streeton and the other Australian impressionist and brought  the outback and the harshness of the interior into our psyche.

                      This drawing is all that remains as a record of the Hayward's painting A Woman Yawning lost in the 1958 fire.  It was sent to them together with a letter containg another sketch from Drysdale after he had moved to Boudi in NSW with his second wife Maisie, during the mid 1960s.

The ones that got away.......

The provenance of A Woman Yawning got me thinking about other works lost from the Hayward's collection including those given away to friends and family, those destroyed by fire and occasionally works sold through the auction houses.  The loss of major paintings like Portrait of Joshua Smith by William Dobell is major moment in Australian art history.  The Archibald prize winning painting went on to be contested in the courts questioning the artist's intention in depicting the subject.  Jane Hylton, Carrick Hill's collection adviser, explored the paintings and its demise as a burnt canvas in a book published by Wakefield Press in 2003 and still available in the Gift Shop as well as seven others in the monograph series which have accompanied Carrick Hill exhibitions.

Chris Orchard, artist and drawing master, was the special guest who opened the Drysdale Drawings exhibiton on April 5th.  He spoke of the insight that drawings give to the viewer, of how the artist was working out a composition or the exploring the material via the eye, mind and hand.

My Most Interesting Thing: The Willing Captive by John Dicksee

1.) What is it?
The Willing Captive by John Dicksee

2.) Why have you chosen it?
This work is ageless, the detail both in the sitter and the background is exquistie, and the story is open to interpretation by the viewer.

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
WHen I began my training as a volunteer guide

4.) If it was yours, what would you do wth it?
I would have it displayed in a prominent position to be enjoyed and view by everyone.

5.) What stuff do you (or did you) collect?
Hermes Silk Scarves

Chosen by: Wendy Laver, Carrick Hill Guide

My Most Interesting Thing: The Tulip Vases

1.) What is it?
Tulip Vases

2.) Why have I chosen it?
I had a lotus lilly case as a child.

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
During my training to become a guide.

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
Display it in my cabinet or on dining table.

5.) What stuff do you (or did you) collect?
Salt and pepper shakers

Chosen by: Marjorie Hartwig, Carrick Hill Guide

What's on a Shoulder?

Found in a cupboard with a great story……

A humble plastic key purse and an old pair of epaulettes came to light as we searched for some equipment storage space in the Robe Room cupboards.  It just so happened that later that day a member of the Hayward family was visiting. I showed him the khaki uniform epaulettes which I thought were Sir Edward Hayward’s from his army uniform worn when he was a Rat of Tobruk in 1941.  I announced that they were a major’s rank with the single pip, but Mr Hayward pointed out that with the crown over the top they were a Lieutenant Colonel’s. This would place them in the time that Edward Hayward had been transferred to the pacific region to head up the catering services for that theatre of war against the Japanese.  It was here that he questioned why an American GI would trade a bottle of Scotch for two bottles of Coca Cola and later, after the war had ended, negotiated the first bottling franchise for Australia under the name of Southern Bottlers.  This soft drinks company became a leading force in Australian retailing after WW II and made Sir Edward considerable returns from his curiosity and efforts to define why the exchange was of equal value in the eyes of an American.

Edward Hayward  joined up with 2/43rd Battalion, 9^th Division, 2^nd AIF and held the rank of Captain.  He was referred to as ‘Uncle Billy’ and trained with his unit at Woodside camp between June and December 1940.

 Story from Margaret Burton nee Hayden:

‘“Uncle Billy” Hayward centre in dark uniform each photo.

My father Hack Hayden known in unit as “Old Jack” sepia back row 5^th from right b&w 3^rd from left 2^nd back row.

Note – the units men were all young except my father who was 34 and Cpt Hayward over 40 hence their nicknames.

 

Story goes that when the unit went on a  route march from Woodside camp. Uncle Billy would take them into the bar of the local hotel and shout them all a beer.  He would stay in the lounge.

I understand little saluting was done at any time.’

Such stories give us an insight into Edward Hayward's character and his abilities. He was a good businessman always ready to spot an opportunity but also had the talent to engender a strong team spirit. This drove John Martins reputation for customer service and also the loyalty of its staff who were valued and supported.

Musings from the Backwater Blogger - From the artist's window 1938

Stanley Spencer, Great Britain, 1891-1959

From the artist’s window 1938

 I can’t help it with Stanley Spencer’s work, I am intrigued. How could one not be? He was eccentric, intense, apparently had a wonderful sense of humour, and was obsessed until death by his first wife Hilda. He maintained contact with both his wives (he never consummated his second marriage to Patricia Preece) and loved his village, Cookham, were he was born and spent virtually all his life.

The Haywards purchased four flower paintings by Spencer in 1938. I am drawn to them all but the one that fascinates me the most is From the artist’s window, Cookham 1938.  It seems so fresh and celebratory that it is hard to believe that at the time he painted it Spencer was struggling with so many demons which were manifesting themselves into a series of erotic paintings. This painting engages more than just my visual sense. I can feel the clean spring breeze that makes the lace curtains move gently and I can imagine the heady perfume of the jonquils (when they flower in my garden their rich smell always make me sneeze). That smell is mixed with the delicious odour of linseed oil, turpentine and oil paint. The jonquils are simply plonked into the enamel basin with some water and the space at the window seems ambiguous and precarious. Are the flowers just dropped there because Spencer is busy on one of the other flower paintings that is in the Carrick Hill collection? Or have all these flower paintings provided some kind of creative relief from the intensity of working on the erotic pieces? Maybe, as I look out the window past the bowl of jonquils onto the charmingly ordered world of Cookham’s rooftops, there is one of these great works behind me –  open, raw, alarming, confronting – as hard to look at as this still-life is easy.

Like so many works at Carrick Hill, the Stanley Spencer paintings hold a personal connection to the Haywards. The flower pieces link to Ursula’s garden, glimpsed from the windows of her home, and the blooms that regularly filled the house with their scent or rose up in a blaze of seasonal colour in the grounds around the house. Spencer was one of a number of British artists patronised by the Haywards, and Carrick Hill holds nine of his works - eight paintings and a lithograph. He is the most represented British painter in their collection, one of the largest groups of Spencer’s works outside Great Britain.  At the time that the Haywards collected these works (and at one time they also had at least one other) it would have been among the most significant private collections of this major artist’s oeuvre. How astonishingly forward-thinking they were.

Jane Hylton the Backwater Blogger



My Most Interesting Thing: The English Settle

1.) What is it?
The English Settle

2.) Why have you chosen it?
It is the most practical piece of furniture - Oak late 17th century, padded seat, storage - hang hooks on back to hold meat etc in farm houses.  Sleep on near fire - back keep of draughts.

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
In the front hall - wonderful carving

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
Use it as a room divider or near a fire place - put on cushions on it.

5.) What stuff do you (or did you) collect?
Noah's Ark's, Nativity Scenes and enamel candle holders.

Chosen By: Pamela Cheesman, Carrick Hill Guide

A quiet word from the List Mistress - Redoute Rose

Pierre-Joseph REDOUTE  (1759-1840), Weeping Rose, watercolour and pencil on parchment, mounted on paper.  Carrick Hill Trust, Adelaide, Haywood Bequest

 You may not know his name, but chances are you have seen his work as it is now mass produced and appears on decorator items around the world.  It is to be seen on millions of greeting cards,  decorates your daily tea or coffee cup, or hangs as a print or poster on your walls - you might even use these images as your computer screen saver. 

I am talking about the exquisitely drawn images of old roses that are the work of the Belgian born artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté, (1759-1840).  Most people consider him a French artist but he was actually born into a family of painters and decorators who lived in a little village in the forest of the Belgian Ardennes.  Pierre-Joseph’s unique artistic talents took him to the very height of the 19^th century French court where he became attached to the circle that surrounded the Empress Josephine and the court of Emperor Napoleon.  Over a period of fifty years he became one of  the world’s greatest botanical artists and although he is now more commonly known as the ‘man who painted roses’ he actually painted all types flowers and his meticulous studies of primula, iris and lilies are all just as detailed and beautiful as his more familiar ‘old’ roses. 

Redouté also produced some of the earliest known botanical studies of the then strange, and newly discovered, Australian flora that Empress Josephine grew in her extensive gardens at Malmaison on the  outskirts of Paris in the early 1800s and some of these exotic antipodean plants were actually grown in France many years before they appeared in English gardens.  During his lifetime, Redouté’s drawings were published as hand-coloured engravings in expensive, limited edition publications and it was not until the later years of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries that his work became more widely available to the general population as cheaper, mass produced prints.

Carrick Hill has a small but significant collection of French paintings that includes this delicate original watercolour by Redouté.  It was acquired by Lady Ursula Hayward and as far as we know, is the only original work by this artist in an Australian collection.  Little is known about this painting except that it was painted for Redoute's friend, the French novelist and playwright, Honoré de Balzac.

The rose, still with a droplet of early morning dew on its petals is a 'cabbage' or Centifolia rose called Grand Choux Hollandais, originally grown, as the name suggests, in Holland.  The accompanying blue-violet auricular primula is equally beautiful and, at that time was just as exotic and desirable a plant to grow to demonstrate wealth and privilege.   

References:  The Man Who Painted by Roses: the story of Pierre-Joseph Redouté by Antonia Ridge,  pub., Faber & Faber Limited, London, 1974.

Napoleon, the Empress and the Artist: the story of Napoleon, Josephine’s garden at Malmaison, Redouté & the Australian Plants by Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, pub., Kangaroo Press, Australia, 1999

A quiet word from the List Mistress - Ivory Figures

The Carrick Hill volunteer guides regularly undertake personal research into specific objects or parts of the collection and this information is then shared with our visitors when they take a guided tour around the house.  This information is then routinely filed away and is usually only retrieved when individual researchers need.   Recently one of our guides, Wendy Laver, presented her research paper on a pair of small, highly detailed,  17^th century carved ivory figures.   The story behind the acquisition of these figures by Sir Edward and Lady Ursula Haywood is typical of the many unexpected objects that were acquired by them for their personal collection.

This pair of ivory figures were originally part of a vast art collection assembled by the Scottish engineer Robert Napier  (1791-1876) who made his fortune in shipbuilding.  Napier built himself a grand mansion named West Shandon, Dumbartonshire in the West central lowlands of Scotland.  The house was complete with a purpose built gallery to house paintings by English and European masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Rafael as well as his fine collections of bronzes and marble statues, carvings in wood and ivory, silver and decorative gold plate.  This collection became known as the Shandon Collection and in an 1865 catalogue these two figures were described as:

No. 1076

STATUETTE, in carved Ivory of a mendicant with a wooden leg fupporting himself on crutches;  on an ivory and ebony pedeftal.  Dutch 17^th or early 18^th century work.

No. 1077

COMPANION STATUETTE, of an old beggar woman.  Dutch 17^th or early 18^th century work

Height of each, including the pedeftals, 8¼in.

In 1877, the Shandon Collection of 3,541 lots was sold off at auction in London by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods at their Great Rooms, 8, King Street, St James Square, London, these two figures (Lots 1643 & 1644) were sold together for 27 guineas or £28.70.0.  Details of the purchaser are brief  but it is possible that they were bought on behalf of Ursula Hawyard’s grandparents Robert and Johanna Barr Smith.  

Ursula’s maternal  family had strong links to Scotland and this clever piece of detective work has given these two small objects a new provenance that enhances their story and their place in the Carrick Hill house collection.  Full details of this research will be added to the collection database.

The Keeper's random ramblings - Collecting Klee & Cloves

I am currently working on an exhibition of Jeffrey Smart’s paintings (1940-51) as part of the Master of Stillness joint exhibition with Samstag Museum this coming October. It’s the first Adelaide generated retrospective of this South Australian trained artist curated by Barry Pearce. Research always heightens your senses whether you are searching generally or specifically; so imagine my delight as I cleaned out a cupboard at Carrick Hill and found a Smart related artifact – sadly there are no works of his in the collection.

In a clutch of art booklets my eye alighted on The Faber Gallery monograph on Klee, with an introduction and notes by Herbert Read.  Inscribed on the inside cover, in Smart’s hand, was a dedication to Bill and Ursula Hayward (see illustration). 

This was given as a gift by Jacqueline Hick and Jeffrey Smart probably in recognition of the hospitality, support and encouragement the Haywards had provided for the young Australian artists who were living a fairly down and out life style in post war London ( see Smart’s autobiography Not Quite Straight – pp190-200).  The book cost six shillings which would have been a fair old whack for the two artists at the time but more than this, it was a gift worthy of their generous patrons.

My second encounter with serendipitous research results came from a bottle of Hall’s Cloves Flavoured Cordial (locally manufactured by George Hall & Son Ltd, Norwood, SA) recently donated as part of the education/display collection at Carrick Hill. 

I had travelled to Port Willunga to interview Judith Anne Barraclough (nee Ingoldby) who had been Smart’s student and girlfriend when he was teaching in Adelaide around 1946-47.  She provided a wealth of detail and talked colourfully about what was going on in Adelaide at the time.  When I asked her what Jeffrey and she would drink when they visited hotels she replied that Jeff drank a hideous mixture – Rum and cloves!

My Most Interesting Thing: Emroidered Trifold Screen

1.) What is it?
Embroidered Trifold Screen

2.) Why have you chosen it?
Superb example of needlework.

3.)  When did it first catch your eye?
When I first visited Carrick Hill

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
Display it with pride!

5.) What stuff do you ( or did you) collect?
China

Chosen by: Anonymous, Carrick Hill Guide