world of antiques & art 76
DESCRIPTION
antiques, art deco, art nouveau, art, bronzes, ceramics, collectables, furniture, textiles, works of artTRANSCRIPT
FEBRUARY – AUGUST 2009 ISSUE 76AUSTRALIA $16.95 NZ $20.95SINGAPORE $20.00 UK £7.00
US $13.00 €10.50
a biannual magazine for col lectors of mater ia l cul ture
artAntiques &worldof
REWARDING RESEARCH:A RENAISSANCE MASTERPIECE
RECONSTRUCTED
ROUNDUP OFINTERNATIONAL
ART EVENTSJAPANESE ARTS IN 19TH CENTURY SOUTH AUSTRALIA
AMASSING FIVE CENTURIESOF INDONESIAN TEXTILES
ACQUISITIONS
118 Early Australian furniture: Sofa, c. 1820 and Work table, c. 1869
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
120 Roman sarcophagus, c. 290-300 AD
The J. Paul Getty Museum
121 Bessie Gibson, Jeune femme en rose pale, 1912
Queensland Art Gallery
122 Mel Robson, Belmont porcelain suite, 2008
Ipswich Art Gallery Queensland
124 Robert Wade, Pulpit Rock series, 1983-2007
Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
131 AROUND THE AUCTIONSAuction highlights from the major houses
ART
18 Anne Marie Graham’s vision of tropical Queensland
Glenn R Cooke
56 Lyndell Brown and Charles Green: Framing conflict
Warwick Heywood
62 Sickert in Venice
Ian Dejardin
66 Chinoiserie in suburbia: the art of Anna Hoyle
Helen Hewson
80 Reconstructing a Renaissance masterpiece
Xavier F Salomon
88 ART NEWSA selection of international events to diarise
143 CONTRIBUTORS
DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN
10 A golden era of Japanese arts
Jennifer Harris
28 Silver – with a pinch of salt
Tom Bowtell
50 The Courtauld wedding chests: the story of a Renaissance marriage
Caroline Campbell
74 Bernard Leach and his circle
Sarah Hughes
104 Five centuries of Indonesian textiles
Sharon Sadako Takeda
109 Images of Ancient Egypt
Richard Parkinson
114 A royal passion for French porcelain
Kathryn Cecil
4 EDITORIAL
EXHIBITION REVIEW
42 Byzantium 330-1453 at the Royal Academy of Arts, London
Julia Boadle
HERITAGE
36 A new portrait gallery for Australia
Helen Musa
144 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
LIBRIS
84 Book review: John McDonald, Art of Australia, Volume 1: Exploration
to Federation
Helen Musa
85 Book review: Bernard D Cotton, Scottish Vernacular Furniture
Helen Proudfoot
86 Book review: Emily McCulloch Childs and Ross Gibson, New
Beginnings: Classic Paintings from the Corrigan Collection of 21st
Century Aboriginal Art
W O R L D O F A N T I Q U E S & A R T
2
Contents
COVERLes fleurs dédaignées, 1925 is anarresting painting by Australian expatriateartist Hilda Rix Nicholas (1884-1961). Itwas painted in Paris for submission inthe Salon in 1925.
The subject of this portrait was a Parisian model with areputation for being moody and cantankerous. The dressworn by the model was a costume from the artist’s wardrobechosen for the painting to give the impression of an Italiansixteenth century portrait. She stands before a nineteenthcentury replica of a seventeenth century French tapestry,once owned by the artist, depicting the countryside. Rix Nicholas created a polished, mannerist portrait with asurface coldness. The subject’s pale skin appears smoothand without blemish, as though she was made of porcelain.
W O R L D O F A N T I Q U E S & A R T
10
JENNIFER HARRIS
Even from its opulent beginnings in
1879 when the Bowman family, at a
cost of £30,000, built Martindale Hall on
11,000 acres on the edge of the small
township of Mintaro, Japanese pieces
decorated the main rooms. Six
thousand pound was spent on internal
furnishings such as the blackwood
staircase and marble mantelpieces from
Italy including one in the drawing room
1 Martindale Hall, Mintaro, 1932, photograph. Residence of John Andrew TennantMortlock (1894-1950), built in 1879 by Edmund Bowman. Image courtesy StateLibrary of South Australia
2 Martindale Hall, Mintaro, 1936, photograph, showing sitting hall, stairway andgallery. Image courtesy State Library of South Australia
3 Norimitsu (Japanese, active late 19th century), Elephant carrying urn and rakan,c. 1890, bronze, shakudõ, 114 x 87 x 42 cm. Ayers House Museum, NationalTrust of South Australia, Adelaide
decorative arts & design
The environs of the neo-Georgian Italianate mansion,
Martindale Hall in South Australia’s Clare Valley was the site
of the film classic ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock.’ It also housed a
significant collection of Japanese arts that became
fashionable just after Japanese trade with the West opened
in the mid-19th century. Dispersed in 1965 the collection is
reunited for an exhibition that highlights the fashion for
Japanese objects in the grand homes of Australia at the
turn of the 20th century.
Japanese arts FROM MARTINDALE HALL REUNITED
A golden era:
3
1 2
W O R L D O F A N T I Q U E S & A R T
18
GLENN R COOKE
Graham had been exhibiting her work
for twenty years when Bianca
McCulloch published Australian Naïve
Painters and included Anne Marie Graham
as a ‘borderline case’ because she
‘consistently uses simple shapes and
colours associated with European peasant
art, retaining the power of direct statement
and a youthful freshness of vision.’ Her
good friend and fellow Bell School
Anne Marie Graham is one of the true survivors in the Australian art scene.
For more than fifty years she has pursued her vision of a colourful and engaging world and,
like many artists from ‘the south,’ has been inspired by her visits to tropical Queensland.
art
Bye-bye cold Melbourne1:
Anne Marie Graham’s vision OF TROPICAL QUEENSLAND
1
W O R L D O F A N T I Q U E S & A R T
28
TOM BOWTELL
While today it is something we
blithely sprinkle on our chips,
salt’s rich history makes it much more
than a mere condiment. Salt’s relative
scarcity, and its vital role as a
preservative and flavour enhancer – it
made the unpalatable food of the past
just about bearable – meant that until
1 Standing salt, 1589, gilt, impressedmaker’s mark: I G, h: 30.5 cm. Kindlyloaned by the Salters’ Company
decorative arts & design
Once valued as a highly
prized commodity, as much
for its commercial value as
for its role in cuisine, salt
has inspired generations of
artisans to create vessels in
precious metal of
remarkable complexity to
house what is now
regarded as a common
household condiment.
with a pinchof salt
Silver
W O R L D O F A N T I Q U E S & A R T
The World of Antiques & Art is the
resource for collectors. Published for
45 years, articles from across the
globe are written by expert curators,
scholars and journalists.
This Australian-based bi-annual
journal challenges the traditional
approach to collecting, from covering
ephemera and the decorative arts to
fine art. Explore the myriad of
collecting options including textiles,
photography, philately, numismatics,
jewellery, porcelain, silver or furniture
– to name some key areas.
World of Antiques & Art has it
covered, from heritage to culture
to investment.
what is showing internationally?Understanding the thrust of a show, what works arebeing hung, recent discoveries, interesting insights
More to read • Book reviews • Auction results • Exhibitions
World of antiques & art online
welcometo the best in fine & decorative arts
To
Subscribe
Now
Click
Here
W O R L D O F A N T I Q U E S & A R T
visual arts Fresh perspectives: celebrated,elevated, valued and collected
South East Asia Pacific Arts / Middle EastExpanding our knowledge andunderstanding art and artefacts
masterworks in contextExploring traditional crafts andcontemporary practitioners
acquisitionsFrom art to objects, publicinstitutions present some of theirrecently acquired works
To Subscribe NowClickHere
W O R L D O F A N T I Q U E S & A R T
World of antiques & art online
To Subscribe NowCLICKHERE
You might also like
CollectablesOnline
CLICK HERE for a preview
Save 48% on all our publications
Subscribe Today!
How to SubscribeOnline: http://www.worldaa.com takes you to our home page
and follow the prompts.Phone: Order on + 61 02 9389 2919 between 8.30 am-5:00 pm EST,
Monday to Friday.Post: Complete a subscription form and post to:
Antiques & Art in Australia Pty LtdPO Box 324, Bondi Junction NSW 1355 Australia
Payment: We accept Australia Post money orders and credit cards. Please do not send cash.
Note: Charges are in Australian currency $AU
Prices for World of Antiques and Art Online
1 year $16 Saving of 48%
International subscribers - download and avoid the postal fee a saving of 79%