Tag Archives: James Giles

From Caledonia to the Continent

Scottish Artists 1750 – 1900: From Caledonia to the Continent¸The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London SW1, until 9th October 2016

Allan Ramsay, Queen Charlotte with her two Eldest Sons, c.1764-9 Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

Allan Ramsay, Queen Charlotte with her two Eldest Sons, c.1764-9
Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

This is a somewhat personal exhibition in the fact that it reveals royal patronage of Scottish artists starting with George III’s of Allan Ramsay who painted the King’s well known State portrait and was appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to His Majesty.  He also painted a delightful picture of Queen Charlotte and her Two Eldest Sons which conveys an atmosphere of domesticity in what is obviously a royal portrait.

Sir David Wilkie, The Penny Wedding, 1818 Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

Sir David Wilkie, The Penny Wedding, 1818
Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

One can easily see why George IV, as Prince Regent and King, liked the work of Sir David Wilkie since his scenes of everyday Scottish life echo the Dutch genre paintings so loved by the monarch. Following Wilkie’s trip to Continental Europe after a nervous breakdown he returned with a much more open style of painting and in 1828 George purchased five of his continental works, including ones set in Spain and appointed him as his Principal Painter in Ordinary. A post that Wilkie continued to hold under William IV and Queen Victoria until his death in 1841.

James Giles, A View of Balmoral,1848 Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

James Giles, A View of Balmoral,1848
Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

 

David Roberts, A View of Cairo, 1840 Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

David Roberts, A View of Cairo, 1840
Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert (Prince Consort) were active supporters of the Arts and some Scottish artists such as Sir Joseph Noël Paton (1821–1901), David Roberts (1796–1864), James Giles (1801–1870) and John Phillip (1817–1867) painted pictures that were Christmas and birthday presents between the couple.  Queen Victoria favoured Scottish landscapes while Prince Albert, an admirer of early Italian art, was impressed by the works of William Dyce. Their interests also included works depicting the Middle East and Spanish life.

William Dyce, The Madonna and Child, 1845 Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

William Dyce, The Madonna and Child, 1845
Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

 

John Phillip, The Letter Writer of Seville, 1854 Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

John Phillip, The Letter Writer of Seville, 1854
Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

In 1888 the future Edward VII was presented with two albums of works by member of the Glasgow Art Club when he went to open the Glasgow International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry in the city’s Kelvingrove Park, including the one shown here.

Roberts Macaulay Stevenson, Romance, 1888 Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

Roberts Macaulay Stevenson, Romance, 1888
Royal Collection Trust (C) Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

There is also a group of furniture – a writing table and a pair of tables – supplied by the Edinburgh firm of Young, Trotter and Hamilton to the Palace of Holyroodhouse for the comte d’Artois, younger brother of Louis XVI and the future Charles X of France.  Fleeing from large debts on the Continent he was offered shelter at Holryroodhouse in 1796 and remained there until 1803.

Writing table, 1796, mahogany and boxwood Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

Writing table, 1796, mahogany and boxwood
Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2016.

 

www.royalcollection.org.uk

A Ceramic Feast

Selling Exhibition: Private Collections and Noteworthy Acquisitions, Stockspring Antiques, 114 Kensington Church St, London W8, 16th – 21st November 2015

A Pair of Vauxhall Vases decorated by James Giles c. 1764-68

A Pair of Vauxhall Vases decorated by James Giles
c. 1764-68

One can understand why collectors eagerly await this annual selling exhibition of English, Continental and Oriental porcelain for there is always much to tempt them. This year delivers some great pieces of which I show a few.

A Mennecy Owl c. 1750-55

A Mennecy Owl
c. 1750-55

The opening words of the catalogue’s foreword offer a useful reminder as to why some of us collect: Collecting ceramics gives us intriguing windows into the past with each piece resonating with the life, times, hopes and aspirations of its original owner.

A Lefebvre Paris Portrait Plaque of Princess Charlotte c. 1818

A Lefebvre Paris Portrait Plaque of Princess Charlotte
c. 1818

 

A Chinese Ko-sometsuke Dish for the Japanese Market Tianqui, c. 1621-7

A Chinese Ko-sometsuke Dish for the Japanese Market
Tianqui, c. 1621-7

 

A Liverpool Delftware Charger after a Chinese Kangxi design c. 1760

A Liverpool Delftware Charger after a Chinese Kangxi design
c. 1760

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Derby Figure of Andromache Weeping over the Ashes of Hector c. 1780-85

A Derby Figure of Andromache Weeping over the Ashes of Hector
c. 1780-85

http://www.antique-porcelain.co.uk

The Stephen Hanscombe Porcelain Collection: James Giles and his Contemporary Decorators at Stockspring Antiques

The Stephen Hanscombe Porcelain Collection: James Giles and his Contemporary Decorators at Stockspring Antiques, 114 Kensington Church St, London W8, 10th – 21st June 2014

 Wortley Montagu

 I was very privileged to know Stephen Hanscombe, who was one of the nicest people I have ever met and whose friendship I miss greatly.

Armorial

It is totally fitting that this selling exhibition of his well-known collection should be held at Stockspring Antiques as Stephen was heavily involved in three loan exhibitions there – James Giles, China and Glass Painter in 2005, The Early James Giles and his Contemporary London Decorators in 2008 and Jefferyes Hamett O’Neale in 2010.

 Green sucrier

His ceramics formed the basis for each of them and he wrote the three scholarly catalogues. Readers of my blog will also recall that he was the organiser of the loan exhibition of James Giles last autumn at the Holburne Museum in Bath.

Chin tpot tc

Now you have the opportunity to acquire pieces of Chelsea, Worcester, Liverpool, Derby and Chinese porcelain decorated by James Giles, J. H. O’Neale and other decorators that he owned and which some of you will remember from the various exhibitions. There are over a hundred items and they exquisitely reflect the connoisseurship, style and taste of Stephen and will enhance any collection that becomes their new home.

 

 Birds

 

There is a fully illustrated complimentary catalogue available on request and it will also be viewable on line at www.antique-porcelain.co.uk

 Green

 Opening times: Tuesday 10th June: 12am-8pm, Weekdays: 10am-5.30pm,

Saturday 14th: 10am -4pm, Saturday 21st: 10am-12.30pm,

Closed on Sundays.

 

All images are copyright

A celebration of James Giles and Porcelain at the Holburne Museum

James Giles ‘Ingenious’ Painter of Porcelain, Until 10th November, The Holburne Museum, Bath

There are very many good reasons to visit Bath and certainly one of them is the Holburne Museum.  Lovers of 18th century porcelain would be wise to go as soon as possible to see the exhibition, in the Museum’s Ballroom Gallery, of Chinese and English porcelain, especially Worcester, decorated in the London workshop of James Giles (1718-1780).P1040758

The workshop was in business between 1743-1777 and Giles’s advert for it stated ‘This ingenious Artist copies the Pattern of any China with the utmost exactness, both with respect to the Design and Colours, either in the European or Chinese taste’. P1040764The exhibits come from three private collections; one is that of a great friend the late Stephen Hanscombe (1933-2013) who did much work on Giles, including two exhibitions at Stockspring Antiques where I had the great pleasure of working with him.

A ceramic feast not to be missed.P1040765

www.holburne.org

 

Images are copyright