Latest news with #Meissen
Spectator
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Fascinating royal clutter: The Edwardians, at The King's Gallery, reviewed
The Royal Collection Trust has had a rummage in the attic and produced a fascinating show. Displayed in the palatial gallery adjacent to Buckingham Palace, and described on headsets in the reassuring tones of Hugh Bonneville, are public tokens and personal treasures of two generations: Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and George V and Queen Mary. Frocks, clocks and diplomatic gifts; purchases and mementoes that give the illusion that the royal family might be, after all, not so unlike us. There's an unusual tea set, with odd, red photos: as princess, Alexandra took family snaps and had them printed on to these porcelain teacups in 1892, more than 100 years before Moonpig. It's all here, the strange presents one feels obliged to keep (a snuff bottle given by a Chinese diplomat, engraved with Queen Mary's face), the hardware one just had to have (Cartier pencil case in smoky quartz), the Meissen monkey orchestra that seemed so charming at the time. Alexandra was a watercolourist and photographer (see below) and her time as an invalid was spent creating lovely pictures. But the royal couple had a problem with a surfeit of stuff. The show's curators mention that the rooms of Sandringham were 'cluttered' – a photograph looks borderline hoarder. 'Off the Irish coast', c.1902, by Queen Alexandra. © ROYAL COLLECTION ENTERPRISES LIMITED 2025 | ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST We all have special posters that we put up at uni, trying to establish our taste; Edward VII had a Lord Leighton hottie he picked up in Rome, from the studio of the artist, and hung it in his rooms at Frewin Hall, Oxford, while he was an undergrad at Christ Church. It's also fun to see his fan-boy collectible from Sarah Bernhardt, a bronze copy of a bust of her as a dragon-winged chimera that she gave out to special admirers.
Irish Examiner
24-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
From console tables to porcelain birds at Great Irish Interiors sale
A pair of Irish giltwood console tables, a Cork shipwreck paintedby Richard Peterson Atkinson, 19th-century porcelain birds, possibly Meissen, and a Donegal carpet attributed to CFA Voysey — trappings typical of a grand Irish country house — feature at the Great Irish Interiors sale at Sheppard's in Durrow on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 27-28). More than 1,300 lots showcase the rich history of antiques, art and decorative objects rooted in the Grand Tour, the Enlightenment and trade links with China and the Middle East that once abounded in the houses of Ireland. 'City of New York aground on Daunt Rock, 1864', a watercolour by Richard Peterson Atkinson, at Sheppard's. Lots like a large French tapestry, a Sevres-style mantel clock and a bronze sculpture of a Roman charioteer on a marble plinth attest to a past which focused both on collection from abroad and promotion of local skills. The latter resulted in lots on offer like an exceptional Killarney davenport, fine Irish silver and antique furniture made by skilled craftspeople in Ireland. The auction is on view in Durrow from today, and the catalogue is online.
