My Most Interesting Thing: Meissen Vases

1.) What is it?
Meissen Vases

2.) Why have you chosen it?
Tells the best story

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
After reading the book 'The Arcanum' The Extraordinary True Story, by Janet Gleeson

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
Display them in a glass cabinet

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

Name of selector: Renati O'Connell, Carrick Hill Guide

My Most Interesting Thing:Epstein's Standing Mother and Child Statue

1.) What is it?
Epstein's standing Mother and Child Statue

2.) Why have you chosen it?
A stricking pose and beautiful sculpture that looks great at it's current location

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
Everytime I walk down the stairs or enter Carrick Hill house.

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
Display it in my garden

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

Chosen by: annonymous, Carrick Hill Volunteer

Musings from the Backwater Blogger

It is becoming increasingly apparent as we work our way through the collections at Carrick Hill that the paintings are not just an eclectic gathering of modernist works collected by a discerning eye interested in modern thought, or an inheritance from a culturally aware upbringing. They also form a Hayward travelogue.

A fascination for me is to look at the works not just as the outstanding pieces that so many of them are, but as markers of Ursula and Bill’s frequent movement through the world and within Australia. Of course works by artists like Stanley Spencer and Jacob Epstein relate to regular visits to England. The provenance and history of much of the major modernist collection is recorded and most works were purchased from a London dealer or directly from the artists with whom the Hayward's had contact. But there are other works which have no such associated records and when this happens it is from the item itself that the story must be extracted.

One such work is a small painting titled in oil by the artist on its face Beche de mer lugger. There is absolutely nothing else on this work that would indicate who that artist might be, or where on earth (literally) the painting might have originated.   A lugger is a traditional style of shallow-draft fishing boat with a simple double masted rig, and beche de mer means sea cucumber, a creature that is considered a delicacy in many cultures. This painting shows one of these luggers moored in a tranquil bay. The crew sit in a relaxed group on the foredeck. The paint handling is fluid and the palette muted. Stylistically it fits loosely with the other modern works in the collection and the painting and its original frame probably date from the late 1930s or early 1940s.

Like a couple of other pieces in the collection, this painting seems almost like a souvenir. Did these ‘souvenirs’ work as reminders for the Hayward's of enjoyable stays? Were they gifts to each other or to them from other people? Beche de mer lugger has a price written in pencil on the back – £8-8-0 – is that around about the right price if it was purchased by Ursula or Bill during the war?  If it was acquired then, where might they have got it from? Ursula lived for a time in Brisbane (1942); perhaps she travelled further north to Cooktown where these luggers had at one time been in use? Bill served in Papua New Guinea, Borneo, Morotai and Labuan; perhaps he picked it up during that time? Did they ever visit Vanuatu, another sea cucumber fishing location?

So many questions unanswered and a mere nibble around the edges of knowledge concerning this charming painting. Maybe the archives will divulge something as the search continues.

My Most Interesting Thing: The wooden Monk

1.) What is it?
A small wooden monk - you will find it in the vault

2.) Why have you chosen it?
It is small enough to hold in your hand, and Sir Edward, after entertaining guests for dinner would pass it to someone at the table for an 'appriasal'.  When the guest held it the monk's habit drops down and his member pops up.

3.) When did it catch your eye?
I was given the task of displaying all of the exhibits in the vault by Alan Smith.  It was a thing that surprised me and made me laugh.  It shows that Sir Edward had a great sense of humour.

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
Have as much fun as Sir Edward did!

5.) What stuff do you collect?
Small frogs from all of the countries I have visited overseas.  The sit on my kitchen windowsill and give me lovely thoughts as I do the washing up.  I would love Edwards collection of frog mugs.

Chosen by: Jill Argent, President of the Friends of Carrick Hill

A quiet word from the List Mistress - William de Morgan lustre ware bowl

Collection of the Carrick Hill Trust, Adelaide; Haywood Bequest.

Accession No: C1983/436

This large gleaming lustre ware bowl catches my eye every time I walk into the Music Room where it usually sits centre stage on a carved Georgian oak pedestal side table 

Although this bowl is not physically marked it is unmistakably the design style of William de Morgan (1839-1917) one of the great practitioners of the English Arts and Crafts movement.  William de Morgan was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite circle and a personal friend of William Morris and he began working for Morris as a designer and painter not long after the establishment of the Morris & Co. company in the 1860s.  William de Morgan is mainly known for his wonderfully bold and dynamic ceramic designs, in particular hand painted tiles, but he was as a designer of stained glass and a painter of furniture panels.   

I find it interesting to reflect on the fact that Ursula Hayward’s paternal grandmother, Joanna Barr Smith had furnished her large family homes almost exclusively with Morris textiles – carpets, curtains, embroideries plus wallpapers and other decorative arts objects.  Many of these items are now in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia and the young Ursula would have been familiar with the look of the many Arts and Crafts style objects that would have been on display in these houses.   

William de Morgan is credited as being the first of the English potters to rediscover the secrets of antique lustre effects but he was a primarily a designer and decorator rather than a hands-on potter so the undecorated bowl may have been actually been produced as a blank by another factory.  The earthenware body is covered with a beautiful ruby lustre glaze on an ivory ground and features a frieze of 5 large seated boars surrounded by de Morgan’s typically stylized leaf and floral motifs, the inside of the bowl is undecorated.  This bowl may have been decorated and fired at the Sands End Pottery at Fulham, London that de Morgan had moved to in 1888 or perhaps this was done at one of the other top art potteries that abounded in the area at that time.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has a large covered vase worked in a similar style however their vase is rather more exotic than this one as it features an all-over design of bold, sinuous mythical beasts and  stylized foliage.  

link to blog: http://victorianpeeper.blogspot.com.au/2007/07/victorian-things-vase-by-william-de.html

References:

The William de Morgan Foundation, London http://www.demorgan.org.uk/collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art   http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/23.163.2ab

British Pottery: An Illustrated Guide by Geoffrey A Godden pub. Barrie & Jenkins Ltd, London, 1974 p.223-226

My Most Interesting Thing: Bronze Mortar

1.) What is it?
Bronze Mortar

2.) Why have you chosen it?
It's age, history and charm. 

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
When it arrived in the collection in the late 1980's

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

5.) What stuff do you (or did you) collect?
Paintings, Asian works - Netsuke, ceramics and small bronzes.

Anonymous, Carrick Hill Guide

 ‘The Cartoonist Who Helped Win The First World War’

[this image shows the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph and the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V kneeling before the Holy Family to present their gifts of shells, cannon and a bloody scythe]

The Adoration of the Magi, 1914, plate I

RAEMAEKERS, Louis, The Great War: a Neutral’sIndictment: One Hundred Cartoons, pub. Fine Art Press Ltd., London, 1916.

v   

Recently, we were searching for a particular book that we knew was housed in the attic archive store.  This search occurred the week before Australia’s annual commemoration of ANZAC day on the 25th April and in the way of all serendipitous finds we also discovered this extraordinary Large Folio edition (H 56.0 x W 35.0 cm) of World War I propaganda cartoons.   
 

Louis Raekmaekers, Netherlands (1869–1956)

 LouisRaemaekers was a painter and cartoonist; he was born in The Netherlands to a Dutch mother and German father.  During World War I he began to publish anti-German cartoons in the Dutch newspaper the Telegraaf and he gained international fame for his passionate work emphasising the horrors of war and the atrocities of the ‘Huns’.

His graphic and sinister images depicted German officers and soldiers as barbarians, Kaiser Wilhelm II was shown as an ally of Satan and Death strides through the landscape reaping all before him.  In response to his work, the German government pressured the Dutch authorities to put Raemaekers on trial for ‘endangering Dutch neutrality’.  He was subsequently acquitted, whereupon the Germans offered a bounty of 12,000 guilders for Raemaekers, dead or alive.  Raemaekers was compelled to move to London for a time to keep both himself and his family safe, here he continued his prolific output, with some 1,000 cartoons produced during wartime.  His cartoons were published in The Times and 150 of his works toured the United Kingdom and France in a wildly popular exhibit (up to 5,000 people attended a showing in Liverpool in a single afternoon).

The Great War was produced in London in 1916 in a limited edition of 1000.  In his introductory appreciation to this volume H. Perry Robinson describes these cartoons as ‘the voice of an enraged and horror-stricken conscience’.   The book contains 100 lithographic plates; each has its own title and accompanying page of explanatory text written by the author E. Garnett who quotes from contemporaneous newspaper descriptions of events or from relevant literature.  After the war many of these cartoons were collected together and published in various printed formats.  

Almost 100 years after they were first published, these visually shocking anti-war cartoons remain a relevant reminder of the grief, horror, destruction and futility of war.  

References

‘Editorial Cartoonists: Louis Raemaekers- The Cartoonist Who Helped Win The First World War’

 http://animationresources.org/?p=1126

 

WOLFSONIAN ARTIST PROFILE: LOUIS RAEMAEKER (1869-1956)

http://wolfsonianfiulibrary.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/wolfsonian-artist-profile-louis-raemaeker-1869-1956/

 

The Political Cartoon Gallery

http://www.politicalcartoon.co.uk/gallery/artist/raemaekers-louis-1869-1956_69.html

 

Bauman Rare books, Philadelphia, USA

http://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/raemaekers-louis/great-war/66564.aspx

 

 

My Most Interesting Thing: Rene Lalique Opalescent dish 'Trepied Sirene' - Water Nymph

1.) What is it?
Rene Lalique Opalescent dish 'Trepied Sirene' - Water Nymph

2.) Why have you chosen it?
It's very beautiful - simple yet elegant

3.) When did it first catch your eye?
The first time I saw it about 10 years ago

4.) If it was yours, what would you do with it?
It would be on display - pride of place, next to my small pin dish (also by Lalique - featuring the Water Nymph design).

5.) What stuff do you (or did you) collect?
I have a few Lalique pieces.  Hope to have more in due time!!!

Chosen by: Ilonka McInnes, Carrick Hill Volunteer

The Keeper's Random Ramblings - Gardening Implements

If only tools could talk

This week Richard Bird (The Old Mole) drove from his home in Armidale NSW to deliver the first consignment of gardening tools and implements (approx 400) from his collection that he is gifting to Carrick Hill.  This will be the foundation collection of the Australia's Gardening Museum to be opened at Carrick Hill in 2014.   As he unloaded them from his novel designer trailer (see photo) he had a story about the function of each object or the unusal circumstances in which he acquired it or its function.

The amazing and endlessly interesting Richard Bird 'The Old Mole' unloading the collection from his wonderfully unique trailer.

  The past history of a particular tool is often lost and all we have is the marvellous patina of use and time but the Mole has ways of knowing and has recorded the provenance when he has divined or learnt it over the past fifteen years.

My granddaughter Madeline surrounded by the Old Mole's amazing collection of gardening tools.

Madeline and myself discovering some of the more quirky tools in the collection!

Carrick Hill garden is the most popular reason for attracting visitors to our dramatic hillside site over looking the city on the plains and beyond to Gulf St Vincent.  Cliff Jacob, the Haywards head gardener for forty seven years clipped by hand the hedges that surround the formal garden for the duration of his employment.  He would have seen the cypress plants when they were first bedded in, and at their current four metre height when he retired in 1984.  The new young head gardener, appointed to prepare the garden for the official opening in 1986, was John Draper. He offered Cliff one of the new motor powered hedge trimmers, but Cliff declined saying it was "too noisey and that he preferred to use his faithful hedge shears and do it properly by hand", all 103 metres of it.

We still have some of the shears Cliff used with their razor sharp blades and they will soon be seen in the stables where one of the stalls displays the role of horses in the garden (Yes! pooh for the roses). 

Carrick Hill's garden was begun in the 1930s but war interrupted things especially building the house and the Haywards did not move in until 1944.  By this time the gardeners had been at work planting and nurturing the young trees and shrubs which gave form to the landscape scheme devised by Ursula Hayward.  All this work would have been carried out with the classic basic hand tools.  No whipper snippers, rotary hoes or ride-on mowers.  In homage to the efforts of the first gardeners at Carrick Hill and all gardeners in Australia we are going to tell the story of the tools that did the job in every garden.  Their evolution and design, quirky stories of some very weird equipment and garden ornaments such as Australia's very own tyre swans. [Oz Garden History Society  & Goergeous Garden exhibition at Unley Museum]

Whether hoe, rake, spade or fork all have story to tell but the more obscure implements are fascinating in their anonimity.

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.