Tag Archives: Queen Mary

Kakiemon at the British Museum

The Asahi Shimbun Display Made in Japan: Kakiemon and 400 years of porcelain, Room 3 British Museum Great Russell Street, London WC1, until 21 August 2016

Boy on a Go Board, Kakiemon Kiln, later 17th century © The Trustees of the British Museum

Boy on a Go Board, Kakiemon Kiln, later 17th century
© The Trustees of the British Museum

This is a great celebration of Japanese porcelain which was first made four hundred years ago in the town of Arita. Japan was a latecomer to porcelain production when compared to China and Korea but thanks to domestic unrest in China it was able to quickly gain a market which thanks to the Dutch East India Company, included Europe.

Painting overglaze enamels onto Kakiemon porcelain © The Trustees of the British Museum

Painting overglaze enamels onto Kakiemon porcelain
© The Trustees of the British Museum

The traditional classic Kakiemon style of the last thirty years of the 17th century comprised of overglaze enamels (orange-red, green, blue and yellow) which were sparsely but elegantly applied to the porcelain.  It was particularly popular with Queen Mary in this country and you will find examples in many stately homes and museums too. Although the production of the classic style actually ceased in Japan in the 18th century it was copied by the Chinese and in Europe.

Four Kakiemon style dishes from Japan, China, Germany and Britain, 17th-18th centuries © The Trustees of the British Museum

Four Kakiemon style dishes from Japan, China, Germany and Britain, 17th-18th centuries
© The Trustees of the British Museum

One porcelain maker was Sakaida Kizaemon who in 1647 was thought to be the man who introduced the overglaze enamelling technique to the porcelain kilns in Arita; a fact which earned him the name Sakaida Kakiemon I – which reflects the orangey-red colour that comes from kaki (persimmon). Kakiemon I was the starter of a dynasty of potters which passes down to the eldest son and in fact the current Sakaida Kakiemon XV who succeeded his father Kakiemon XIV in 2013 has especially made a new work, decorated with acorn branches, for the British Museum.  In the mid-20th century Kakiemon XIII brought back the traditional style in a more contemporary form and that tradition continues today.

Sakaida Kakiemon XV examines his work © The Trustees of the British Museum

Sakaida Kakiemon XV examines his work
© The Trustees of the British Museum

This is a must see exhibition for anyone interested in porcelain!

 

Britishmuseum.org

The Duchess – I

The Duchess – Property & Precious Objects from the Estate of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe, Sotheby’s, 34-35 New Bond Street, London W1, 27th – 28th May 2015

A View of West Horsley Place

A View of West Horsley Place

This is a remarkable sale in that it reveals a way of life that has now vanished. The story is told through the seven hundred lots that make up this auction. Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe (1915-2014) was born into one of the great families; her father was Marquess of Crewe and her mother was Peggy Primrose, who was the daughter of the Earl of Rosebery, a British Prime Minister, and his heiress wife Hannah de Rothschild.

A View of the Drawing Room. This elegant room had not been used for about fifty years and workmen were needed to prise open the shutters which had warped.

A View of the Drawing Room.
This elegant room had not been used for about fifty years and workmen were needed to prise open the shutters which had warped.

Mary Roxburghe, who was named for her godmother Queen Mary and whose husband George V was her godfather, was brought up in the glittering social world of her parents. Their London house was Crewe House in Curzon Street and they also had Crewe Hall in Cheshire. She became engaged to the Duke of Roxburghe at the age of 19, a fact celebrated by a ball at Crewe House and attended by the King and Queen at which the Crewe china and glass, featured in this sale, was used. The 1935 wedding was deemed worthy of being screened in cinemas across the land. The Duke and Duchess travelled extensively – some of the Duchess’s Cartier luggage is in the sale – and she spent part of World War II in the Middle East to be close to the Duke.

A View of the Morning Room, showing a table setting, the Axminster Carpet (Lot 51) and a male servant's livery.

A View of the Morning Room, showing a table setting, the Axminster Carpet (Lot 51) and a male servant’s livery.

However after the war one day as she was sitting at breakfast with the Duke the butler presented her, on a silver salver (naturally), with her divorce papers. After a rather fraught period a settlement was reached and Mary Roxburghe then divided her time between her apartment in London and her parents country home West Horsley Place. The Crewe’s had bought the house in the 1930s after disposing of their other properties following the death of their son and heir. The house contains a melange of items from these other houses, although larger family pictures had also been sold and so when Mary inherited the house in 1973 it became a repository for her things too.

The Duchess's Bedroom, with a silver-plated breakfast-in-bed tray by Asprey & Co Ltd (£200-£300) on the bed.

The Duchess’s Bedroom, with a silver-plated breakfast-in-bed tray by Asprey & Co Ltd (£200-£300) on the bed.

What a great selection there is; footmen’s livery, Coronation robes, paintings, furniture, silver, porcelain, jewellery and Objects of Vertu. All combine to be an integral part of a fascinating story that combines social and historical threads into a whole and tells the story of Mary Roxburghe’s life.

http://www.sothebys.com

 

In the following second blog I will include a comment from Bamber Gascoigne, the Duchess’s heir, who is selling these items to help secure the future of this house and show a small selection of items on offer.