Latest news with #Molesworth
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Historic painting from world famous cartoonist donated to Salisbury art gallery
A painting from Ronald Searle has been donated to an art gallery in Salisbury. The Young Gallery in Salisbury has been given a selection of material on the cartoonist by Robert Stiby. Cartoonist Searle was known for creating St Trinian's and his work on the Molesworth books. The donation features an original ink and watercolour painting depicting Robert Edward Peter Gascoyne-Cecil, 6th Marquess of Salisbury. This painting was commissioned by Punch Magazine to be featured in their "Heroes of Our Time" section in 1957. Other materials in the donation include the original publisher's proof of the painting and a letter, and a postcard from Searle to Stiby. The paintings will be displayed alongside the letter and postcard in Gallery 1. They will be featured as part of a display showcasing art from the gallery's permanent collection of 4,000 pieces. The exhibition is free to visit from Thursday, May 23. The famous painting (Image: Wiltshire Council)READ MORE: Do we celebrate VE Day enough? People in Salisbury have their say Searle and Stiby's father, Arthur Stiby, was previously matched as POWs in a Japanese wartime prison in the army. They used their talents to contribute to prison stage shows and survived working on the Burma Railway before being released in 1945. Stiby donated the painting in honour of their fathers' bravery, as he bought the Searle artwork in memory of their shared experience as POWs. Stiby also received a letter from Searle in which he said he was "glad" to hear that "Salisbury" had found an "appreciative home". Dr Emily Dunbar, curator and gallery manager, said: "We are grateful to Robert Stiby for this wonderful addition to the Young Gallery's collection. "The material celebrates Searle's unique style and gives a valued insight into two men's experiences as prisoners of war." Robert Stiby, donor, said: "My father always admired Ronald Searle's work. "I wanted this example of his sardonic humour to be exhibited, not only because of its association with Salisbury but as a tribute to two brave and remarkable survivors of the horrors of war."
Gulf Today
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Cartier jewellery worn by royalty and celebrities goes on display in London
A spellbinding exhibition of Cartier jewels, many never seen before in public, opened in London tracing the history of the luxury French design house beloved by the rich and famous, from Queen Elizabeth II to Rihanna. For the first time in three decades, the V&A museum is showing a retrospective of some of Cartier's most iconic creations. Founded in Paris almost 180 years ago, the company has pioneered and modernised the luxury jewellery market. 'We all think of Cartier as being this wonderful design epic and glamorous name, but it's also because they are so good at creating something that is ahead of the times, but doesn't go out of fashion,' said curator Helen Molesworth. A visitor looks at the Lily Stomacher Brooch dated from 1906 and owned by US industrialist heiress and congresswoman Mary Scott Townsend. The exhibition opened recently and is already sold out for April and May — but visitors have until November 16 to marvel at some 350 brooches, tiaras, necklaces and earrings festooned with diamonds, pearls and stunning jewels of all the colours of the rainbow. The exhibition's curators have brought together rare pieces from museums around the world, including from private collections such as items belonging to King Charles III and Monaco's Prince Albert. One of the masterpieces on display is the breathtaking Williamson pink diamond rose brooch, made for Queen Elizabeth in 1953, the year of her coronation. A panther bangle bracelet created in 1978. It contains a 23-carat pink diamond — one of the rarest, most flawless in the world — presented to the queen as a gift on her wedding to Prince Philip. Nearby is a tiara from 1902 set with 1,048 diamonds worn to the queen's coronation by Clementine Churchill, the wife of the then prime minister Winston Churchill. It was lent to singer Rihanna when she was photographed for the cover of W magazine in 2016. There is also a sumptuous square-shaped diamond engagement ring, one of two offered to US actress Grace Kelly by Monaco's Prince Rainier; and a diamond rose brooch worn by the queen's sister, Princess Margaret. 'We wanted to showcase ... the legacy of Cartier over a hundred years,' said Molesworth. In one room, the curators have gathered a collection of 18 tiaras spanning from 1900 to the modern day — a grand finale to the dazzling display. A panther necklace created in 1991. The design house was founded in Paris in 1847 when Louis-Francois Cartier took over the workshop of his master. In 1898, his grandson Louis Cartier joined the brand, and was to play a pivotal role in Cartier's evolution. And then in 1902, his brother Pierre, opened a branch in London. 'We see very early on, even in the beginning of the 1900s, that Cartier is really looking around for inspiration,' said Molesworth. 'We see inspirations from the Islamic world, from Egypt, from China, from India. The brothers ... travelled. They went to Russia, they went to India,' she added. Above all they managed to capture the changing moods of the times in which they lived. After the stunning diamond necklaces of the Roaring Twenties came more sober gold bracelets, designed in the 1960s. The Rose clip Brooch dated from 1938, owned by Britain's Princess Margaret. 'One of the great successes of Cartier is staying ahead of the times, being the trendsetters, and realising that they are keeping up with the changing world around them,' the curator said. During the war years, Cartier designed a brooch in 1942 of a caged bird to mark the Nazi occupation of France. Following France's liberation, the design was changed in 1944. Called 'Free as a Bird' the brooch shows a chirping bird, bearing France's distinctive red, white and blue colours, spreading its wings as it flies out of its cage. The exhibition also wanted to explore the links between the French house and the British royal family, which dates back to the early 1900s. In 1904, King Edward VII officially appointed Cartier as jewellers to the monarchy — a title which it retains to this day. Items on display at the V&A Museum in London. This includes the Halo Tiara ordered by Queen Elizabeth II's father, George VI, for his wife the late queen mother. Imbued with almost 800 diamonds, it was worn by Princess Margaret to the 1953 coronation of her sister Elizabeth and later to hold the veil of Kate Middleton on her marriage in 2011 to Prince William. Meanwhile, items connected to celebrities include actress Grace Kelly's diamond engagement ring seen in the 1956 film 'High Society' and a ruby necklace given to Elizabeth Taylor by her third husband, Mike Todd. There is also a sapphire, yellow and rose gold wristwatch from 1962 owned by former US first lady Jackie Kennedy and later owned by reality star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian, as well as a tiara from 1902 that was made for the Countess of Wessex and later worn in 2016 by singer Rihanna. 'As a jewellery historian, I see how they've used lots of wonderful elements to come up with brilliant new ideas,' Molesworth said. 'They've always pushed boundaries and at every new point in history they have a nod to their heritage today, yet they have come up with new jewels that really speak to the modern woman.' A museum employee looks at items on display. Photos: AFP/AP Established by Louis-François Cartier in Paris in 1847, the family-run business went on to become a household name popular with royalty and Hollywood stars alike. 'It never goes out of fashion... we see it being worn by English aristocracy 100 years ago and Hollywood royalty practically today,' Helen Molesworth, a senior jewellery curator at the V&A and exhibition curator, said at a private launch of 'Cartier.' Around the turn of the 20th century, it was Cartier's grandsons who pushed the global prominence of the brand, opening branches outside France in cities such as New York and St. Petersburg. Cartier, which remained under family control until 1964, is currently owned by Swiss holding company Richemont. Agencies
South China Morning Post
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
In a new Cartier exhibition, London's V&A explores the French maison's jewellery legacy, focusing on the influence of the founder's 3 grandsons, who took the brand global
A dazzling new exhibition of jewels exploring the complex and multifaceted history of Cartier is opening at London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). It's the first show in Britain dedicated to Cartier jewels in almost 30 years and illustrates how the French maison's radical, inspired, decorative and exotic designs influenced the changing tastes of society for more than a century. 'It is such an enormous and well-researched subject that this has to be something that would be seen through the eyes of the V&A,' says the museum's Helen Molesworth, who co-curated the exhibition with Rachel Garrahan. Cartier's London business is a thread running through the exhibition, which highlights the art, design and craftsmanship marking the period when the three brothers – Louis, Pierre and Jacques – managed the business founded in Paris in 1847 by their grandfather, Louis-François Cartier. Bandeau in Tutti Frutti style, English Art Works for Cartier London, 1928, featuring emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds on platinum. Photo: Handout Advertisement Molesworth describes the entrepreneurial brothers as the 'three temples': Louis the creative director; Pierre the businessman with a nose for sales who opened Cartier in New York; and Jacques, the youngest brother, who took over London's New Bond Street boutique. Jacques became a skilful gem-buyer, travelling to the Persian Gulf for natural pearls and to India for carved emeralds, Mughal jades and rare rubies. But he was also quick to learn about tastes and the extensive requirements for jewels in British society during the reigns of Edward VII and his descendants. A room in the exhibition is dedicated to tiaras , proven crowd-pleasers, featuring some commissioned from Cartier around the time of the coronation of George VI in 1937. 'Cartier in London was seriously rivalling Paris and Cartier London made more tiaras that year [27] than in any before or since,' says Molesworth. 'It was the height of London society.' One particularly spectacular treasure on display is the Manchester Tiara, which Molesworth describes as a metaphor for the three brothers. 'It is the perfect beginning to our story of the three. The tiara was made in 1903 in Paris for an English aristocratic family, to be worn by an American woman [Consuelo, Dowager Duchess of Manchester], who had ordered it,' she says. The tiara signifies the brothers' early aspirations and the global business they nurtured. The Manchester Tiara, created in 1903 by Cartier Paris for the Dowager Duchess of Manchester. Photo: Handout Their roles 'suited their personalities so perfectly and that is the warmth about their story,' says Molesworth. 'There's serendipity [in that] their personalities were so complementary that they could split up their abilities in such a geographic as well as professional manner, and then still have the warmth between them, the heart and the love.' The exhibition begins with the creativity of Cartier and the emergence of the Cartier signature style: art deco is just one strand, for Louis Cartier and his designers were open to a broad range of inspiration, from cultures including those of China, Japan and Islam. A stomacher brooch, worn on a bodice, made by Cartier Paris on special order in 1913, featuring carved crystals and diamonds on platinum. Photo: Handout
Telegraph
29-03-2025
- General
- Telegraph
When single sex schools die, we will all be poorer
I didn't go to boarding school, but some small part of me feels as if I did because my inner life was vividly informed by books that supplied the requisite details: tuck boxes, luggage labels, dormitories, matrons, sanitoriums and exeats. Our family bookshelves heaved with Enid Blyton's Malory Towers, Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings series and, most blissful of all, Geoffrey Willans' Molesworth escapades and Ronald Searle's St Trinian's volumes. Even when my reading wasn't directly concerned with the single-sex boarding experience, girls and boys in children's literature were inevitably travelling home, or to stay with a guardian (the staple rule in children's books dictating that parents must be removed to make adventure possible), with initialled metal trunks, ready to let off steam. So seductive were these books that, aged 10, I idly daydreamed about being banished to a remote, cliff-top ladies' college. Or, better still, toiling as the school's maid after my father died, having lost his fortune investing in a friend's diamond mine, like Sara in Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. But I can't help wondering how the shelves of children will look in 20 years after all the upheavals in the private education sector. Surely the subject of single-sex boarding schools will be firmly relegated to the realms of fantasy, if it informs literature at all. This week The Telegraph revealed that Labour's imposition of VAT on school fees has had a particularly brutal effect on single-sex independent schools, which are closing or going co-ed at a rate of knots. Once boys public schools littered the land, including many ropey ones (think of Evelyn Waugh's Pennyfeather in Decline and Fall, teaching at Llanabba Castle School). Now there are only four all-boys boarding schools left in the UK: Eton, Harrow, Radley and Tonbridge. Meanwhile, all girls establishments are racing to take boys, despite studies showing girls do best when educated separately. Not only will children's shelves be changed by the upheaval, adult literature will be transformed too. So many books I've loved unlock British history and our national temperament – in particular our stiff upper-lip and fortitude – by taking an unsentimental look at boarding school life. Jane Eyre wouldn't linger long in the imagination had she not triumphed over the hideous deprivations she endured at Lowood School. Logan Mountstuart in William Boyd's Any Human Heart has a life underpinned by the friendships and rivalries he establishes at public school. More chilling, is Sebastian Faulks' fine novel Engleby, where the working-class anti-hero is at an 'ancient university', after winning a scholarship to Chatfield, a public school for the sons of naval officers. During his schooldays he was hideously bullied and called 'Toilet Engleby' for the heinous crime of not saying 'lavatory', like his posher classmates. If you think that sounds off-putting, then I can only say that literary memoirs like Charles Spencer's A Very Private Education and Antonia White's Frost in May are darker still. But they're also beautifully-written, salutary reminders that a late 20th-century revolution in the field of child psychology served to revolutionise private education, introducing the previously alien concept of wellbeing. Not all boarding-school lit is grim. Look at James Hilton's Goodbye Mr Chips, a tear-jerking love letter to the finest teachers, while many women would kill to take refuge from modern life at Angela Brazil's St Chad's. The sad fact is these time-honoured avenues of escapism will slowly disappear, along with the schools themselves. Future generations, schooled by AI, will never know the worlds of nuance summoned by the phrase 'chizz chizz'. It will all be another country.
