tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72132630632187236522024-03-18T08:05:37.084-07:00Musings on the long eighteenth centuryA repository for articles on all aspects of social history in the long eighteenth centuryNicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-27426917558456712002024-01-15T14:23:00.000-08:002024-01-17T06:48:15.073-08:00<h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">James Austen: Jane's Literary Influencer?</span></h1><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyGxGN-S6U_Pn4fs37S_en7iwY4G0dan1_oJrWU_T24ZL6TZ7tatvVKNh1-xzNc6WOYQ-SYIDnaRdJ0EHM7ykbGMFlzlIsErIfaTx_mX55aZdnFSaIWAA0hSWg5fqKZCGLlEOPNrhNJOQpfmiEpwgiBQHRE-204yY-lMX1BUIm9GSJoTrZ_kWsYJLYlHO/s1587/The%20Loiterer%20front%20page.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1587" data-original-width="1025" height="461" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRyGxGN-S6U_Pn4fs37S_en7iwY4G0dan1_oJrWU_T24ZL6TZ7tatvVKNh1-xzNc6WOYQ-SYIDnaRdJ0EHM7ykbGMFlzlIsErIfaTx_mX55aZdnFSaIWAA0hSWg5fqKZCGLlEOPNrhNJOQpfmiEpwgiBQHRE-204yY-lMX1BUIm9GSJoTrZ_kWsYJLYlHO/w298-h461/The%20Loiterer%20front%20page.jpeg" width="298" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><i>The Loiterer </i>Vol II, 1790</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'd heard of <i>The Loiterer</i>. It's the sort of name that sticks in your brain, and it had popped up numerous times in various Austen biographies I'd read. "I'll read that one day", I'd said to myself. Well I've now finally taken the time to delve into its pages to find out what it's all about.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It turns out that one of her older scholarly brothers, James Austen, created a new weekly periodical while he was a Fellow at Oxford University in his twenties. His intention was to create "a
very well-bred and polite paper" which provided "a rough, but not entirely inaccurate Sketch of the Character, the Manners, and the Amusements of Oxford, at the close of the eighteenth Century". It was sold in Oxford, London, Birmingham, Bath and Reading for 3 pence an issue, and ran from January 1789 to March 1790. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>I didn't really know much about this literary brother who was ten years Jane's senior, but it turns out that as well as <i>The Loiterer</i> he was also an (unpublished) poet. Poetry was seen at the time as much more serious, respectable and intellectual than novel writing. And Claire Harman's view below </span><span>makes me both melancholy and curious:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote>“His
seniority, his sex and his choice of the art of poetry over prose meant that
even after his sister had become a highly praised novelist, he was…still
regarded as <i>the writer of the family.</i>” </blockquote><p> </p><p></p></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPaMImBPjkmkN9tMlsbsZKj_f2H4VBgabKLhe-WB0vsL4XV6fGX_uo-cBXYWuYXBNIHgBHhyphenhyphenhitkCqMd9YFJ3lKw28XN3Ts43WE6pikNSKAbN7IGo8UTAP-btz__VMQuE5I_M57dcioTIr1MgPcRLtYwI1-ekSrqeoDZOjPZa3VWSeuHlH5QLc4FsaxUiV/s400/James%20Austen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPaMImBPjkmkN9tMlsbsZKj_f2H4VBgabKLhe-WB0vsL4XV6fGX_uo-cBXYWuYXBNIHgBHhyphenhyphenhitkCqMd9YFJ3lKw28XN3Ts43WE6pikNSKAbN7IGo8UTAP-btz__VMQuE5I_M57dcioTIr1MgPcRLtYwI1-ekSrqeoDZOjPZa3VWSeuHlH5QLc4FsaxUiV/s320/James%20Austen.jpg" width="258" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">James Austen</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The Loiterer</i> consists of 60 issues, most of which were written by James, nine by his brother Henry Austen, and a handful by friends at Oxford University and an unknown correspondent. They mainly focus on topics that would appeal to young Oxford students (or "gownsmen" as one article pleasingly refers to them) - hunting, drinking, money, class, and social commentary - and most articles are witty and satirical. We get a mixture of essays and supposed letters to the editor. My personal favourite reads:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="line-height: 107%;"><blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;">"DEAR
MR. LOITERER, I have long had a great desire to see how my name would look in
print; by inserting this, therefore, in your entertaining work, you will confer
an everlasting favour, On your constant reader, and sincere admirer, TOM WITTY"</span></blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That one was particularly daft. The second issue was also one of my favourites where James wrote spoof newspaper articles imagining what papers would be like if everyone had to tell the honest truth:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span>"Monday. – The House met this day at four, and the Minister, according to his promise of last week rose to open the Budget. He informed the House, that he very much disliked the subject of Finance at all times, but that it was particularly disagreeable to him at present, as the expenditure of the last year had exceeded the revenue by some hundred thousand pounds...owing...chiefly to the enormous pensions he was obliged to grant to his friends;...and he was therefore resolved to lay on no new taxes which might draw odium on his administration, foreseeing that he should be well able to stand three or four years longer, at which time he purposed accepting of a Peerage, and enjoying the remainder of his life...</span> </span> </span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">He was answered by Mr. ––, who began by assuring the House, that...as for the calculations contained in the honourable Gentleman's speech, he knew not whether they were true, or false, as he had not listened to one single syllable...being entirely taken up in considering what answer he should make, as he well knew it was expected he should say something."</span></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XuEZJEG10IIdPCFdtAj7rjwxXHQDo9mwgYrwpA1I_lpPPeqyBLwVt_Ys0_aSIR3ISAtHGvV9C9H2tuIgF6iHsZWwE2Q8iG3gN2cbHLv5IVYBhGSnTS4FkIBdIV3tZj1D4SUwe4bnj8yKFnL9iHA4IlT1VDEr8art0PwwCRdUoiqXQf2yH2DlMb5pKWM0/s650/Parliament%201790.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="650" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XuEZJEG10IIdPCFdtAj7rjwxXHQDo9mwgYrwpA1I_lpPPeqyBLwVt_Ys0_aSIR3ISAtHGvV9C9H2tuIgF6iHsZWwE2Q8iG3gN2cbHLv5IVYBhGSnTS4FkIBdIV3tZj1D4SUwe4bnj8yKFnL9iHA4IlT1VDEr8art0PwwCRdUoiqXQf2yH2DlMb5pKWM0/w357-h253/Parliament%201790.jpg" width="357" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;">Pitt addressing the House of Commons, 1793 <br />(National Portrait Gallery, London)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>Much of the humour found in </span><i>The Loiterer</i><span> is very tongue-in-cheek. It jokingly makes fun of the world James sees and the people he encounters in it. And the sharp social commentary, using humour at people's folly to gently instruct (rather than a heavy didactic and moralising tone) strikes me as very similar to Jane's style.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It makes me realise the powerful influence her family and home environment must have been. She was raised within a </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">close-knit </span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">domestic circle of intelligent, witty, well-read people </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">who shared common literary tastes, styles and humour. A</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">nd her early experiences within this family, being exposed to not only those literary tastes, but also to seeing </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">an older brother having his works published, must have influenced and inspired a teenage Jane.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Because while James was busy publishing these articles, 13-year old Jane was back at home in Steventon busily writing her second volume worth of burlesque <i>Juvenilia</i>, all of which are also </span>tongue-in-cheek, daft, and similarly poke fun at people and things. In fact, the style of her Juvenilia is suspiciously analogous to one of the letters printed in issue 9 of <i>The Loiterer</i>. This letter is a fictional complaint from a female reader asking for more romantic content and it is more frivolously frothy than all the other periodical content. The letter writer (calling herself Sophia Sentiment) hilariously damns the paper by calling it "the stupidest work of the kind I ever saw" and instead makes a request for future issues:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;">"Let us see some nice affecting stories, relating the misfortunes of two lovers, who died suddenly, just as they were going to church. Let the lover be killed in a duel, or lost at sea, or you may make him shoot himself, just as you please; and as for his mistress, she will of course go mad; or if you will, you may kill the lady, and let the lover run mad; only remember, whatever you do, that your hero and heroine must possess a great deal of feeling, and have very pretty names."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This satirical portrayal of romance novels could just as easily be found within Jane's <i>Juvenilia</i> and, like so much of her early writing, makes me laugh out loud. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We'll never know whether Jane actually wrote this article and whether this was in fact the first time her writing appeared in print. But there's one more unusual fact about this issue. This was the only issue to be advertised in the Austen's favourite newspaper, the <i>Reading Mercury</i>. Coincidence?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6xq9j75q0hVGLyd3a6mpMQTK8Q4q2rYNMKyOMKXIujG-2jLd5Lhhrn7nLFQ28RbEAWN_rIljYJPsa0Ah0nblzvBqjvmKAH0fUekyHQipLsQe_lXD-da6N1KC2UVYZDrYUYU6a2RLAo0bSgB2NZjiQJXWRxWgX6NYrVQSagQgrQmqwzfxyAo4LCSo-kcW/s792/The%20Loiterer%20Advert%201789.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="792" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6xq9j75q0hVGLyd3a6mpMQTK8Q4q2rYNMKyOMKXIujG-2jLd5Lhhrn7nLFQ28RbEAWN_rIljYJPsa0Ah0nblzvBqjvmKAH0fUekyHQipLsQe_lXD-da6N1KC2UVYZDrYUYU6a2RLAo0bSgB2NZjiQJXWRxWgX6NYrVQSagQgrQmqwzfxyAo4LCSo-kcW/w515-h220/The%20Loiterer%20Advert%201789.png" width="515" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Advert for issue no. 9, Reading Mercury, 6 April 1789<br />(The British Newspaper Archive)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's fascinating to think that Jane was so encouraged in her early writing by her family that she was given the opportunity to print some of her work. But even if she wasn't, it's clear that being in such a literary-minded family, inspired and guided by her older brother James, had a profound influence on her writing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-14504051685341899612023-07-14T12:20:00.001-07:002023-07-14T12:20:13.779-07:00Walking with Jane Austen<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAX0qDe-deyKIE6sGytxRT2bI8Hmtx4jXvF_2zBWAoFzZ65eAmc-5NLNQ_tYNgbDS9Nv_acFx1AMpeAyl_ZlIB8aQhCow7I4K04QzwgrasFk2Q87qJI1UPkZx18rwXw2A0p_v8oxksxTdI1L5JHE26kuoiEGKMRh_Xj4Nmf_khTAl5J3T_TuTZ-XYG6L9s/s600/Mrs%20Hurst%20walking.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Hazards of Walking to a Near Neighbour's for Dinner (1812-1823) by Diana Sperling" border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="600" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAX0qDe-deyKIE6sGytxRT2bI8Hmtx4jXvF_2zBWAoFzZ65eAmc-5NLNQ_tYNgbDS9Nv_acFx1AMpeAyl_ZlIB8aQhCow7I4K04QzwgrasFk2Q87qJI1UPkZx18rwXw2A0p_v8oxksxTdI1L5JHE26kuoiEGKMRh_Xj4Nmf_khTAl5J3T_TuTZ-XYG6L9s/w400-h323/Mrs%20Hurst%20walking.webp" title="The Hazards of Walking to a Near Neighbour's for Dinner (1812-1823) by Diana Sperling" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hazards of Walking to a Near Neighbour's for Dinner (1812-1823) by Diana Sperling</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><br /></p>It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen was a lover of walking.<p></p><p>She described herself and her great friend Martha Lloyd as "desperate walkers" in 1800 when she was 24, something I can heartily relate to. In my 20s I hiked almost every weekend and for my holidays I solo hiked the Ridgeway and South Downs Way in southern England. And when I clocked that not only did I have that in common with Jane Austen, but I also lived near where she grew up and have friends who live near places she stayed regularly, it seemed almost like a sign. A sign to revisit those walks that she regularly took, see the sights she saw, and feel the exertion she felt on those walks.</p><p>I've painstakingly gone through all of her surviving letters plus all the various memoirs and references from her nieces and nephews to pull out into a massive spreadsheet every documented walk Austen took. And I've reached a whopping total of 70 walks. These range from long afternoon strolls from Bath into the surrounding countryside for pleasure with family and friends, to very short sprints to visit close neighbours in Kent. </p><p>Walking for Jane was clearly both practical, helping her get from A to B and connect with loved ones, but also so much more than that. It was a pastime she relished and enjoyed, a medium in which to bond with others socially, a way for her to maintain her health and stay active, and a way to experience the world on her own terms. Not only that but the connection between walking and writing is well documented, and having time and space outside helps give a writer perspective as well as enabling them to think at 3 miles an hour.</p><p>I'm very much at the beginning of my journey, but having now identified a number of Jane's walks that I will recreate, the task ahead of me now is to continue with my research of women's experience of walking in the late 18th century and early 19th century, and to follow in her footsteps. </p><p>My first walk will be one she will have walked many, many times: between her home at Steventon Rectory and her friends the Lloyd's (and then her brother's) home in Deane Rectory, just up the road.</p><p>All that's left is for me to put one foot in front of the other...</p><p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpn7pEYuCt2I018iJTOs1mhSWVSoLtxI46oupETgd307Zdk9V1Oe7nkLY71oUz3lTNUVGkBtMQaO0rngRhTjevnue65wRUwRGJD6edny5ek3sLyGBK5u5blX8tzftfC86ZdA5l6klOHsa2JIF7Rr7Akxx4m1sSB13vljF6YUiLnJF2uCqbJxN82wOTzAI/s800/Evening--Walking-Dresses-in-August-1807.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="478" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpn7pEYuCt2I018iJTOs1mhSWVSoLtxI46oupETgd307Zdk9V1Oe7nkLY71oUz3lTNUVGkBtMQaO0rngRhTjevnue65wRUwRGJD6edny5ek3sLyGBK5u5blX8tzftfC86ZdA5l6klOHsa2JIF7Rr7Akxx4m1sSB13vljF6YUiLnJF2uCqbJxN82wOTzAI/w239-h400/Evening--Walking-Dresses-in-August-1807.jpg" title="Evening & Walking Dresses in August 1807, National Portrait Gallery, London" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evening & Walking Dresses in August 1807<br />National Portrait Gallery, London</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-5274109735050719342019-10-20T06:34:00.001-07:002019-10-20T06:56:51.079-07:00The harmonising effect of girls: then and now<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a child I used to love My Little Ponies - they were, I think, my favourite toys to play with. And this morning I was secretly excited as my almost three-year old daughter asked to watch "ponies" on TV - something we'd never watched before. So we snuggled down on the sofa and watched our first episode together...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was immediately struck by the overarching messages - echoes of the exact same messages for girls I read in texts over 200 years old. I know change takes time, but the specific similarity was very surprising.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjq-xdJqPMPZ4WFHss62drVkWYzdDUTzK38AttA4LHuIIwxnC9SzvuEqV4jG7z2O-W527BktnX9ssDxfSw5Fr7phEv9ZNtEZPl7nilLZqyJvegle8BUPDZRNdk4NxbmQV4yhRaYcSapJL/s1600/My+Little+Pony.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="334" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjq-xdJqPMPZ4WFHss62drVkWYzdDUTzK38AttA4LHuIIwxnC9SzvuEqV4jG7z2O-W527BktnX9ssDxfSw5Fr7phEv9ZNtEZPl7nilLZqyJvegle8BUPDZRNdk4NxbmQV4yhRaYcSapJL/s320/My+Little+Pony.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Harmony Quest</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The series we watched was subtitled 'Friendship is Magic' and the lead characters were on a quest to fi<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">nd the ‘Elements of Harmony’. As the programme is
clearly directed at girls (all the lead characters are female) the message I
was getting was that it is specifically important for girls to value friendship
and harmony, and to work hard to make good relationships and create social
harmony. The adventures are contained within that core premise.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Happily, my daughter also currently enjoys (but
for how long?) what could be called 'boys' programmes, including Paw Patrol and
Blaze and the Monster Machines. These programmes have overwhelmingly male
characters and focus on heroism, courage, winning and adventure. There are of
course friends present, but developing friendships per se is not the focus. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And it's fascinating that these specifically gendered messages and language are still in use for boys and girls today.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rewind to eighteenth century girls' conduct books, and we read the same language. As the steady rise of the cult of domesticity began, revering the domestic role of women, we see a responsibility set out for women in which creating social harmony is vital. This was particularly seen through the encouragement of domestic music for girls, who were expected to play the piano and sing to soothe the worries away from wearied fathers and brothers. Hampshire Record Office holds hundreds of letters between two friends, Anne Sturges-Bourne and Marianne Dyson, one of which states "most of my evening is employed in singing Clarion, which Papa always asks for, & I really am not tired of it" (Ref: 9M55/F6/38) </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A
similar sentiment is expressed by a teenager about 20 years later: "I feel
that, situated as I am, an only daughter…, it rests upon one, to make our home
bright, cheerful and attractive to the boys, and comfortable to Father" (Quoted in Solie, Music in Other Words,
p106). </span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here we can see how g<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">irls employed a double meaning of the word
harmonious, by literally singing melodic harmony but also creating domestic
harmony. </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiroFdBqt-eSPnFofSVKWWy5V-ZyV2N1CyR0OyC0Phb9b2Bq37d5W-nxHk1dzQuhuGvlXgSR42jBBbbfFS9LeAfJprwoB0-9PDIl9YnEDMT3UfXAVeVkAknDoPcBCHGwZukORkba_EsPZC/s1600/Music+quote+from+Letters+to+a+Young+Lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiroFdBqt-eSPnFofSVKWWy5V-ZyV2N1CyR0OyC0Phb9b2Bq37d5W-nxHk1dzQuhuGvlXgSR42jBBbbfFS9LeAfJprwoB0-9PDIl9YnEDMT3UfXAVeVkAknDoPcBCHGwZukORkba_EsPZC/s400/Music+quote+from+Letters+to+a+Young+Lady.jpg" width="255" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="border-bottom-color: currentcolor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: currentcolor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: currentcolor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Letters to a young lady:</span><span style="background-color: #fffefb; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 1.3rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">O<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="border-bottom-color: currentcolor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: currentcolor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: currentcolor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">n a variety of useful and interesting subjects: </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">C<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="border-bottom-color: currentcolor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: currentcolor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: currentcolor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">alculated to improve the heart, to form the manners,<br />and enlighten the understanding </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="border-bottom-color: currentcolor; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-color: currentcolor; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: currentcolor; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">by the Rev. John Bennett</span></span></span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #009000;"></span><span style="color: #b01400;"></span>The conduct book featured above, 'Letters to a Young Lady' by Rev. Bennett was originally published in 1798 and subsequently had multiple editions and is fairly standard for its time in suggesting that girls should play music to "harmonize...mind and spirits". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">While I am very used to reading this kind of message in eighteenth and nineteenth century texts, it's sadly fascinating to see this gendered language of creating harmony rebounding into our living rooms today.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"></span></span><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
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Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-54001146663667165202015-05-01T09:33:00.000-07:002015-05-01T09:39:42.006-07:00Farewell to Clandon Park<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXg5VQPJ1YLOXpDRTC4km4Lwl1obpbKqLQyUsSdyaq3DNn7hQn74S2v_mN4cONP8GeEKlZlXdDK13G66okPsq_SzwGPfXrpEHuQ_8ZC0ik-HEEQv3QoUJHMw-0z2Lr9YbGJZOOBmXm7YAn/s1600/Clandon_House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXg5VQPJ1YLOXpDRTC4km4Lwl1obpbKqLQyUsSdyaq3DNn7hQn74S2v_mN4cONP8GeEKlZlXdDK13G66okPsq_SzwGPfXrpEHuQ_8ZC0ik-HEEQv3QoUJHMw-0z2Lr9YbGJZOOBmXm7YAn/s1600/Clandon_House.jpg" height="235" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Clandon Park</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had the huge privilege to work as the House Manager's Assistant part-time for three years at the beautiful </span><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationaltrust.org.uk%2Fcs%2FSatellite%3Fblobcol%3Durldata%26blobheader%3Dapplication%252Fpdf%26blobheadername1%3DContent-Disposition%26blobheadername2%3DMDT-Type%26blobheadername3%3DContent-Type%26blobheadervalue1%3Dinline%253B%2Bfilename%253D930%25252F206%25252FClandon%252BA3%252BGuide%252B2012%25252C0.pdf%26blobheadervalue2%3Dabinary%253B%2Bcharset%253DUTF-8%26blobheadervalue3%3Dapplication%252Fpdf%26blobkey%3Did%26blobtable%3DMungoBlobs%26blobwhere%3D1349107077721%26ssbinary%3Dtrue&ei=Ep5DVdXGJcvQ7AaO-4GQBg&usg=AFQjCNHs5Vp4nxJAraWfg_N67eyFhT8V4A&sig2=m-DLJzkB0D4W2Cz10ap-Xg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Clandon Park</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> from 2009 and, like so many others affected, am devastated by the nation's loss following the recent fire. Seeing the images of flames ripping through the rooms, destroying the beautiful objects that so many of us have lovingly cleaned and cared for over so many years, is truly heart-breaking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The collection was fabulous and included one of the country's best assembly of porcelain and ceramic, including stunning Meissen harlequin <em>commedia dell'arte</em> figures and monkey orchestra as well as pieces by S<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">è</span>vres, Bow and Chelsea.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSm5jE9ExtyXgFyQc1edzO8S1J6J2yeGm8uMh8lLrc6Yj8D9Q-iRDEIbRkMWzz-VsKzUdEur45nVcIs5DJW547YxC_HSAg2p4ZBIJtn5e1wDSCG14ThpiNCI_aKeINQRnDUYfHxlvcHmfI/s1600/Clandon+porcelain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSm5jE9ExtyXgFyQc1edzO8S1J6J2yeGm8uMh8lLrc6Yj8D9Q-iRDEIbRkMWzz-VsKzUdEur45nVcIs5DJW547YxC_HSAg2p4ZBIJtn5e1wDSCG14ThpiNCI_aKeINQRnDUYfHxlvcHmfI/s1600/Clandon+porcelain.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of Clandon Park's fabulous ceramics</span></td></tr>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The fire-fighters did an amazing job, and I was reminded of the modest antique fire-fighting equipment displayed in the basement outside the old kitchen, just metres from where the fire broke out. When giving tours of the property, I would often finish here, concluding how significant a risk fire posed to historic mansions, never thinking it might later destroy the very property I was standing in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0ZP6e5rtaGNwjRy3PS5A2zZlu7eKe2VK0yN-8p7IkJzkBWlw2cawIJLcIPY2N2MTOeEW6F8H0Ov1W31UOdQR0gHK5n81Rny2bXyURLNJBUD5Ltx1ZYij7EgBhERp4aIUP326WEUuUEod/s1600/Clandon+fire+buckets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0ZP6e5rtaGNwjRy3PS5A2zZlu7eKe2VK0yN-8p7IkJzkBWlw2cawIJLcIPY2N2MTOeEW6F8H0Ov1W31UOdQR0gHK5n81Rny2bXyURLNJBUD5Ltx1ZYij7EgBhERp4aIUP326WEUuUEod/s1600/Clandon+fire+buckets.jpg" height="155" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fire-fighting equipment on display in the basement of <br />Clandon Park, where the fire broke out</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Without a doubt the awe-inspiring Marble Hall (a towering 40-foot cube) was the highlight of the mansion, described in 1747 by George Vertue as:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>"a most noble and elegant Hall, 40 foot high, adorn'd with marbles, pillars, carvings, bass relieves by Rysbrake, stuccos, painting[s], guildings &co, most rich and costly."</em></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxtGmC-XjNE4lfr3vQ1SDE3hP0KQkLUlXncODpmTY-BQuHlTnDCWAUdFZfg-FcC0a0k7MNPTf2u9gOWRQojheQC38N0Ly8haYdFTMr6Zwc_CVwwEqLbq7uqk1o9uGEDHUozglKyFcUowp/s1600/Clandon+Marble+Hall+before+fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdxtGmC-XjNE4lfr3vQ1SDE3hP0KQkLUlXncODpmTY-BQuHlTnDCWAUdFZfg-FcC0a0k7MNPTf2u9gOWRQojheQC38N0Ly8haYdFTMr6Zwc_CVwwEqLbq7uqk1o9uGEDHUozglKyFcUowp/s1600/Clandon+Marble+Hall+before+fire.jpg" height="400" width="365" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dramatic Marble Hall</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now all that remains is a shell, an echo of its former glory. Yet miraculously surviving are the Corinthian marble pillars, marble busts and statues, and one Venetian wall-lamp. And who knows what lies under the rubble in the ashes?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Cm1NhrXP8eRw-uXziq7RaDWZSnMQxKOIqhaHmH1ss31Cfkjdr0woxcR3o-6oe8mBQkILGS41G65WPS8wosDoBd2SwcUfNKGkLlG1rdRRg7b8TT2Hh93GNOc72Ovykssoaz54nV-0d7-H/s1600/Clandon+Marble+Hall+after+fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Cm1NhrXP8eRw-uXziq7RaDWZSnMQxKOIqhaHmH1ss31Cfkjdr0woxcR3o-6oe8mBQkILGS41G65WPS8wosDoBd2SwcUfNKGkLlG1rdRRg7b8TT2Hh93GNOc72Ovykssoaz54nV-0d7-H/s1600/Clandon+Marble+Hall+after+fire.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Marble Hall (copyright </span><a class="owner-name-with-by truncate" data-rapid_p="28" data-track="attributionNameClick" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/129359705@N05/" title="Go to Hayley Bystram's photostream"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hayley Bystram</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The solitary marble "blackamoor" bust, nestled in the Saloon door's pediment - now broken free and gazing towards the open sky - leaves a ghostly reminder. The 1720s mansion was built by Thomas Lord Onslow using money from his wealthy new bride, Elizabeth Knight. Elizabeth was the sole heiress of not only her father but also her childless uncle, both of whom made their fortunes from large sugar plantations in Jamaica as well as slave trading. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A haunting legacy now remains. With a lonely and proud face, a slave whose bondage and toil funded the building of Clandon is now its final inhabitant. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiy6aNPGlF4IkI832qp5BpB_jiNf2OP91kW1dwUj8K_1R9Cw-dNCkUxtUBBHRni3q9JoilKGM8IYt-aN-oJcL1sFl5Yx762O-JrNgUKPMVVyH4xPeKnSJhw25phXYls0ZnN0tlU2hZyY1/s1600/Clandon+Marble+Hall+bust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiy6aNPGlF4IkI832qp5BpB_jiNf2OP91kW1dwUj8K_1R9Cw-dNCkUxtUBBHRni3q9JoilKGM8IYt-aN-oJcL1sFl5Yx762O-JrNgUKPMVVyH4xPeKnSJhw25phXYls0ZnN0tlU2hZyY1/s1600/Clandon+Marble+Hall+bust.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Surviving marble bust in the ruins of the Marble Hall</span></td></tr>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-PUL0JaSZNH0%2FVUOfon-ZqbI%2FAAAAAAAAAQE%2FWKV470t7CHY%2Fs1600%2FClandon%252Bfire%252Bbuckets.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0ZP6e5rtaGNwjRy3PS5A2zZlu7eKe2VK0yN-8p7IkJzkBWlw2cawIJLcIPY2N2MTOeEW6F8H0Ov1W31UOdQR0gHK5n81Rny2bXyURLNJBUD5Ltx1ZYij7EgBhERp4aIUP326WEUuUEod/s1600/Clandon+fire+buckets.jpg" -->Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-83128422179894458762015-01-01T12:00:00.001-08:002015-01-01T12:00:30.341-08:00Back to life: A Regency square piano<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I was lucky enough to acquire my very own square piano a few years ago, which needed some TLC to bring it back to working order - and luckily for me we were able to find a wonderful piano restorer in Somerset who has almost finished his amazing work! In just a few weeks we shall have it returned to our living room, so that the songs of period composers such as Hook, Storace and Dibdin can be played and sung to once more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR_ZOljMRV7HxWWEGtTf3Pk9Ty2bAeU-Cfib5R9wMIbpHSKMySeiyG9U4o-9yPSQXiA_TZILbztGLmOEfDR4yQhUiU0__ct9XmUSxoiGZ7TtxciX1lL6KDc-HAx4Vgj_BZpuph3V4NrI_/s1600/clementi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR_ZOljMRV7HxWWEGtTf3Pk9Ty2bAeU-Cfib5R9wMIbpHSKMySeiyG9U4o-9yPSQXiA_TZILbztGLmOEfDR4yQhUiU0__ct9XmUSxoiGZ7TtxciX1lL6KDc-HAx4Vgj_BZpuph3V4NrI_/s1600/clementi.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My square piano - restoration almost completed</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Square pianos were a fundamental domestic instrument from the 1760s until well into the early nineteenth century, when they were replaced by piano fortes. At first they were expensive and elite, but by the turn of the nineteenth century (when my piano was built, in 1808) they were affordable for many British families. As the musicologist Charles Burney noted: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The tone was very sweet, and the touch...equal to any degree of rapidity. These, [with] their low price and the convenience of their form, as well as the power of expression, suddenly grew into such favour...in short [they could not be made] fast enough to satisfy the craving of the public.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKq2ucQiBS54EUglwFtU5BR9O3V49WX12Y0IGTF7qMXC63nhMf0-hqPeLbm0-1UcoCQmFy7IlpoyNRPe6dF3wnM0nB0XiuLL24dY68wieAtPdauDA2i0QS8FMPEUvL40wis6Mr-xaghVlB/s1600/Piano+1810+La+Belle+Assemble+courtesy+of+Albion+Prints.com.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKq2ucQiBS54EUglwFtU5BR9O3V49WX12Y0IGTF7qMXC63nhMf0-hqPeLbm0-1UcoCQmFy7IlpoyNRPe6dF3wnM0nB0XiuLL24dY68wieAtPdauDA2i0QS8FMPEUvL40wis6Mr-xaghVlB/s1600/Piano+1810+La+Belle+Assemble+courtesy+of+Albion+Prints.com.png" height="320" width="241" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female music making in 1810 (courtesy of Albion Prints.com)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Played primarily by young women, they offered the latest in home entertainment of the era, with the small size of the square piano making it ideal for any sized drawing room. And unlike the harpsichord before them which were plucked, the square pianos' little hammers allowed the young lady to play loudly or softly, staccato or smoothly. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEzJPJ6Jxwkrhqcso4LCWa98OvhD-R-7SUNc2M1NEKceYcKstd0aWk4ZSHJiCbV-sLVcua4wnHF1xdwAp44cQRHXdYN3WD8DAQlQhQyGETB8dN1giupr6af68bB5jnvc4ro3Gm9E-dyBN/s1600/Hammers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEzJPJ6Jxwkrhqcso4LCWa98OvhD-R-7SUNc2M1NEKceYcKstd0aWk4ZSHJiCbV-sLVcua4wnHF1xdwAp44cQRHXdYN3WD8DAQlQhQyGETB8dN1giupr6af68bB5jnvc4ro3Gm9E-dyBN/s1600/Hammers.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hammers with the original leather hinges still intact. <br />
The 1960s felt is being replaced with leather to create an authentic sound</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As befitted the performance style of the songs she would sing, expressivity and stirring emotionality were paramount. In a guide to singing of 1765, Jonas Hanway noted how "<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">music
may fire the mind with martial ardour...warm the breast with a religious zeal,
or sooth[e] it into tears of penitence". </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And indeed, when you examine the music collections of girls of this era, they are filled with stirring songs telling tales of dangerous naval battles or compassion for fallen women pleading for pity. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83tmOPBRrT_BmrfKDHaQnG1wq5laAiCQFfT8Ux3U7-t-m_20C5uYIf2wksDfMGN-cPenVM4mx8s3BtZPI4VqzFL7JsvTM35g7anASMGP0LqX6LCYpUrqkoGf0F2hEnESElXIws9v5jjsX/s1600/Sailor's%2BTear.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83tmOPBRrT_BmrfKDHaQnG1wq5laAiCQFfT8Ux3U7-t-m_20C5uYIf2wksDfMGN-cPenVM4mx8s3BtZPI4VqzFL7JsvTM35g7anASMGP0LqX6LCYpUrqkoGf0F2hEnESElXIws9v5jjsX/s1600/Sailor's%2BTear.png" height="320" width="242" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another innovative way to play expressively was to use the square piano's sustain pedal. Our little piano had lost its pedal, so our talented restorer has turned a new one for us and reattached it. The sustain system is very straight-forward with a simple string pulling the dampers up to allow the strings to ring. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpJguG96HgPYNRDOZ5qLhT-nZzskFonTOEsbfUhwcr1SKClXwZ944UvdWpVPW-9kdQoTu_K5pIC0cWInB3PsQTLXApnxs0Uot5HmgOYf8FJA0dtpgzdtEyxCneYgTQJXSnqxyt6Fa8si0/s1600/New+pedal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmpJguG96HgPYNRDOZ5qLhT-nZzskFonTOEsbfUhwcr1SKClXwZ944UvdWpVPW-9kdQoTu_K5pIC0cWInB3PsQTLXApnxs0Uot5HmgOYf8FJA0dtpgzdtEyxCneYgTQJXSnqxyt6Fa8si0/s1600/New+pedal.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The newly turned pedal, replete with hook for the string to go through</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It is also an exceptional instrument to play. The action of the keys is very shallow and light, so it is much easier to play fast runs, making the experience very different to a modern piano. In fact, at the time many music guide books encouraged women to hide any appearance of effort or virtuosity, to ensure their performances looked natural and modest. Music making for women should have no sense of having required hours of strenuous toil - music was simply one of many accomplishments. A light touch on the keys would surely have aided this representation of ease.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Although Broadwood was one of the most popular makers of square pianos, the musician Muzio Clementi also became a keen producer of these instruments in London from the 1790s. My piano comes from his Cheapside workshop and we can tell from its handwritten serial number that it was made in 1808.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My only concern now is the tuning. Unlike iron-framed modern pianos, the wood in square pianos moves and shifts with humidity, meaning the strings require regular tuning. I have been warned that to tune my piano will take around an hour. Now I just need to find an authentic Regency stool to sit on, practice my Regency repertoire, and ensure the piano returns in one piece.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknQH9-DMM_1X2IqtEjSRc-EvMMte3Jfj1lvu_HAATVF3xQo5EO0tEZq78fURYoimmiV00h9Z0lsX9dSEw0P02jeusgyGnurxZh1Wg5CfwRFxQO2PGLCV7I5rttAVq3kGMnLFUxgCjhRwr/s1600/Handwritten+notes+for+strings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiknQH9-DMM_1X2IqtEjSRc-EvMMte3Jfj1lvu_HAATVF3xQo5EO0tEZq78fURYoimmiV00h9Z0lsX9dSEw0P02jeusgyGnurxZh1Wg5CfwRFxQO2PGLCV7I5rttAVq3kGMnLFUxgCjhRwr/s1600/Handwritten+notes+for+strings.jpg" height="400" width="357" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The spaces for the pegs for strings - all neatly labelled</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"></span></span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-55755707776030212872014-02-08T08:00:00.002-08:002014-02-08T08:00:44.328-08:00Wilderness or shrubbery?<h4>
'"Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn. I should be glad to take a turn in it, if you will favour me with your company."</h4>
<h4>
"Go, my dear," cried her mother, "and shew her ladyship about the different walks..."'</h4>
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The term wilderness isn't one we often use any more and so trying to imagine the environment Elizabeth and Lady Catherine have just strolled into in <em>Pride and Prejudice</em> can be frustrating. <br />
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A wilderness however was an exceedingly popular garden feature from the seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century. Unlike the wildness that the word conjures up, it was actually a highly structured space. Developing from <em>bosquets</em> (formal lines and rows of trees), wildernesses were places where you could walk on gravel or grass paths, through neatly ordered geometric lines or curves of trees. <br />
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To understand what they were like, it is worth quoting Philip Miller from his <em>Gardener’s Dictionary</em> of 1735 at length:<br />
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The usual Method of contriving Wildernesses is, to divide the whole Compass of Ground, either into Squares' Angles, Circles, or other Figures, … the Walks are commonly made to intersect each other in Angles...and the more these Walks are turned, the greater Pleasure they will afford. These should now and then lead into an open circular Piece of Grass; in the Center of which may be placed either an Obelisk, Statue, or Fountain.</blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGAu2PtB-yuxOvO_acR_8X9esBuciHbdlE9oqWjvNQRs9AvL8rDSXAKmLq5CbOx0ac0KO_isKcWwkMNF9RW3yK8q6nISCOOsEVQL8SaP3n78QL_iE76HPIrY-oM1_fAQFF9NqlK_2tVZBB/s1600/Wilderness+from+How+To+Read+An+English+Garden+by+Eburne+inset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGAu2PtB-yuxOvO_acR_8X9esBuciHbdlE9oqWjvNQRs9AvL8rDSXAKmLq5CbOx0ac0KO_isKcWwkMNF9RW3yK8q6nISCOOsEVQL8SaP3n78QL_iE76HPIrY-oM1_fAQFF9NqlK_2tVZBB/s1600/Wilderness+from+How+To+Read+An+English+Garden+by+Eburne+inset.jpg" height="233" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An eighteenth century wilderness, as planted</td></tr>
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The idea was that you could lose yourself within the shady walks, deep in contemplation, similar to a philosopher under a tree. As Robert Burton wrote in his <em>Anatomy of Melancholy</em> in 1612:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What is more pleasant than to walk alone in some solitary grove...to meditate upon some delightsome and pleasant subject.</blockquote>
At Ham House in Richmond, near London, the garden has been recreated as it would have been in the seventeenth century, so you can wander around through leafy corridors and really get a feel for this type of walk. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzU8ms6j0YO3zep8Wyu9A4l_me_Lo917_fpwO3jYcTd-G41FiSGJzKubdY5Q0X8qrX2o4B7PBTYRmsdgyGp49OpfgeAr-8P1bNKa7eY3Q5OJIUsWzNOPb7GZ7DYI0UxLSeiWt39h9lzcA/s1600/Ham+House+wilderness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzU8ms6j0YO3zep8Wyu9A4l_me_Lo917_fpwO3jYcTd-G41FiSGJzKubdY5Q0X8qrX2o4B7PBTYRmsdgyGp49OpfgeAr-8P1bNKa7eY3Q5OJIUsWzNOPb7GZ7DYI0UxLSeiWt39h9lzcA/s1600/Ham+House+wilderness.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wandering the Wilderness at Ham House, Richmond (National Trust)</td></tr>
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By the 1750s however such formal spaces were becoming unfashionable and any linear features were slowly disappearing, in order to reflect the more liberal and free-thinking attributes of a patriotic Britain. Curved walks became serpentine and walls of trees and hedges gradually turned into shrubberies bursting with borders of small flowers running back into taller flowering shrubs and then trees. Now such shady walks included honeysuckle, primroses, sweet briars, pinks, roses, peonies, lilacs, laburnams and syringas. Capability Brown, who we associate so closely with sweeping acres of rolling turf, created many such flowering shrubberies, often referred to as Pleasure Gardens. These walks were close to the house, to allow the owners and their visitors pleasant, sheltered walks in both summer and winter. Austen herself highlights this in <em>Mansfield Park</em> when Lady Bertram states: '"Mr Rushworth, ... if I were you, I would have a very pretty shrubbery. One likes to get out into a shrubbery in fine weather."' In her home at Chawton, Austen had a shrubbery border of which she was very fond. <br />
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So we can see how, by the late eighteenth century, when Austen was writing, wildernesses were wholly unfashionable and outdated, and had been replaced by the more modern shrubbery. Why therefore did Austen give the Bennets a wilderness? Was she perhaps drawing the readers' attention to the fact that the Bennets did not have the money to update their garden, and highlighting their lack of wealth and fashion? Or could she have been pointing to Lady Catherine's outdated language when describing shaded gravel walks near the house?<br />
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Finally, it is also interesting to note how Austen could combine a criticism of the old-fashioned nature of the gardens at Mansfield Park with a conservative approval for the preservation of useful features, showing a mature respect for old and new, when she writes about how:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A considerable flight of steps landed them in the wilderness, which was a planted wood of about two acres, and though chiefly of larch and laurel, and beech cut down, and though laid out with too much regularity, was darkness and shade, and natural beauty, compared with the bowling-green and the terrace. They all felt the refreshment of it, and for some time could only walk and admire. </blockquote>
By the end of the eighteenth century, your decision to have a wilderness or shrubbery was actually an important social indicator, and was commented on by guests and visitors alike. But whatever you had, the necessity of having a shaded place for pleasant sheltered walks close to the house was fully appreciated by the Georgians. Luckily for us, many such spaces still exist and can be equally enjoyed by visitors today.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3ZmkHIuEREmkopebP-pS8pVoSXzpW_lMyivaV5cDBQyTLUYHQc_ZTnGXki315WX3086vO7p2VU8tkO9TcBHbjybMJPq7bEEi8XnQjeQNqePr1ymsslT0rQv1JqzZxtUQ2CP6cg4OMKbb/s1600/DSCF4671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3ZmkHIuEREmkopebP-pS8pVoSXzpW_lMyivaV5cDBQyTLUYHQc_ZTnGXki315WX3086vO7p2VU8tkO9TcBHbjybMJPq7bEEi8XnQjeQNqePr1ymsslT0rQv1JqzZxtUQ2CP6cg4OMKbb/s1600/DSCF4671.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pleasure Ground or Shrubbery at Petworth House</td></tr>
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Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-53701471097315756732013-04-09T09:30:00.000-07:002013-04-09T09:30:06.538-07:00Women vs Men: Battle of the BodiesIn the eighteenth century much of our medical understanding was founded on the knowledge of the Ancients. The Hippocratic doctrine of the four humors was its basis, and it attempted to explain the differences between men and women through them. For example it was believed that women and children suffered more from cold and moist humours than men (phlegm), leading to them having naturally weaker and less controlled bodies and minds. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh64jG3qoJaVhWYvFkFJRESZDHpEjIQdnsMmNC4hcGTKMHKj1ptBADaI65MLzzX1wkgtReXqYhkVDNyIukLyhV9Jla_N6tsWD9PmP-70Ju3nREvKvu2mH1OMMue3EJbRNLErdgM4hx64Ha/s1600/The_Four_Humours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh64jG3qoJaVhWYvFkFJRESZDHpEjIQdnsMmNC4hcGTKMHKj1ptBADaI65MLzzX1wkgtReXqYhkVDNyIukLyhV9Jla_N6tsWD9PmP-70Ju3nREvKvu2mH1OMMue3EJbRNLErdgM4hx64Ha/s320/The_Four_Humours.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Four Humors</td></tr>
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As society changed in England during the eighteenth century the role of women began to be questioned. Were women different because of nature or nurture? Feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft argued strongly that a lack of decent education for women, as well as social opportunities, were the causes of gender inequalities. Unsurprisingly however the male orientated world of science (or natural philosophy as it was called) generally argued the opposite. With new branches of anatomy and physiology, thanks to more opportunities for dissection, men directed their studies at trying to understand what made women so fundamentally different through studying the human body. It was important to them to try and establish exactly where women fitted in and why, and the skeleton was seen as the way to do this.<br />
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Before about 1750 the human skeleton was almost thought of as asexual, with gender differences only being apparent in reproductive organs and the exterior body. (Yet this in itself was still enough to prove some sort of gender superiority, as women's reproductive organs were seen as inferior to men's because they were an inverted version of the ideal.) The first publication to contain both text and illustration of male and female skeletons was the <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Traité
d’ostéologie</em> published in 1759 with illustrations by Marie d'Arconville. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6-wMtebeI4a6FBvH2DCrxk6Om5iNxlYSJHKg_Np1oqxKhWrYOBVB0B5aOnaJ2-cU0VrPDRICFeUbdu-Q3HNAkjSIVRI0rYJAeqfNg9C9Q7qiSftBwAcRcI4ds1gJi5S4BowIKVTMcDYp/s1600/d'Arconville.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc6-wMtebeI4a6FBvH2DCrxk6Om5iNxlYSJHKg_Np1oqxKhWrYOBVB0B5aOnaJ2-cU0VrPDRICFeUbdu-Q3HNAkjSIVRI0rYJAeqfNg9C9Q7qiSftBwAcRcI4ds1gJi5S4BowIKVTMcDYp/s320/d'Arconville.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marie Genevieve Charlotte Thiroux d'Arconville</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times;">D'Arconville chose to incorrectly represent the female skull as smaller in proportion to the body, as well as drawing broader hips and a narrower ribcage, perhaps reflecting the use of tight corsets during this period. Later, in 1796, a German anatomist called Samuel von Soemmerring also published illustrations of a female skeleton, but his were quite different to d'Arconville's, particularly with reference to the ribcage. In fact his work was criticised for <em>not</em> showing a narrower ribcage - not for scientific reasons, but for cultural ones: 'women's rib cage is much smaller than that shown by Soemmerring, because it is well known that women's restricted life style requires that they breathe less vigorously'. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7rCajCVav51Gyn0VLkrWsOJaFuoS9nJWY2HDHHfQJ7FQ_OODbHISbl1JEQ58scETzBr9gUcgwUorpYn0IuMwdBuT1LbNIuY7uAEXUyd2mFK2_h2l5ogun4HU7KQ4glOdYA54qlPuNBlr/s1600/Soemmerring+skeleton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7rCajCVav51Gyn0VLkrWsOJaFuoS9nJWY2HDHHfQJ7FQ_OODbHISbl1JEQ58scETzBr9gUcgwUorpYn0IuMwdBuT1LbNIuY7uAEXUyd2mFK2_h2l5ogun4HU7KQ4glOdYA54qlPuNBlr/s320/Soemmerring+skeleton.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soemmerring's illustration showing the effects of corsets, 1785</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times;"></span></span><br />
Through these new medical illustrations of male and female skeletons however, men were now able for the first time to see <em>internal </em>differences between the genders, and it is interesting to see how they used this knowledge to further solidify their gender bias. Women's larger pelvis' were seen as 'proof' that women were naturally bound for motherhood and domesticity, unlike men who were clearly not, and this scientific knowledge complemented the increasing nostalgia for the role of motherhood that developed during the nineteenth century, reflected in art and literature. Likewise it was thought that the reason women and children had proportionately larger heads than men was simply because their skulls lacked the complete evolutionary growth of men's. This psuedo-science of craniology was also applied to Africans and Aborigines in an attempt to justify their subjugation by white men. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAq4P4M0dBgroOjlvTKaLQELAK7tRNQv8hhtdHPu7ilc4deHPs1pyjJQIIj6W89jVpBsQXZqf3ZUKWRIwU8gAh1HBJ3Y6X5uLNoSS_2yUuMVAiYFKnBweAyD-XG7d2KYk5Om0DpiU-lygY/s1600/d'Arconville+skeletons+1759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAq4P4M0dBgroOjlvTKaLQELAK7tRNQv8hhtdHPu7ilc4deHPs1pyjJQIIj6W89jVpBsQXZqf3ZUKWRIwU8gAh1HBJ3Y6X5uLNoSS_2yUuMVAiYFKnBweAyD-XG7d2KYk5Om0DpiU-lygY/s320/d'Arconville+skeletons+1759.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skeletons by John Barclay, 1820</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
To conclude, by discovering differences in men and women's bodies in the later eighteenth century, anatomists sought to understand why women were culturally different, but without taking culture into account. Morality and gender, physicality and character, all were combined in 'scientific' understanding. This can be summed up by a doctor called J. J. Sachs who stated in 1830:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
The male body expresses positive strength, sharpening male understanding and independence, and equipping men for life in the State, in the arts and sciences. The female body expresses womanly softness and feeling. The roomy pelvis determines women for motherhood. The weak, soft members and delicate skin are witness of women's narrower sphere of activity, of home-bodiness, and peaceful family life. </div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
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Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-23172499067003626842012-01-31T13:52:00.000-08:002012-01-31T14:05:31.041-08:00Taking a stroll in Vauxhall Gardens<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Vauxhall Gardens first made its appearance as Spring Gardens back in 1661 and was developed into its heyday by the manager Johnathan Tyers and his son in the eighteenth century. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTZYOJyqSBnhDlfkqHIpDIRBhs0olGM1yOus3kqrTyZphF6JeLsqDf3f_IRV3fcZJhP6PWtcgS8aC8GvMlkgg3WAC8KIpYIPMblcAZ4pdghkv2L8pwY4WojcgsAbyl_FDkicPj8tX_7iv/s1600/Vauxhall+plan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrTZYOJyqSBnhDlfkqHIpDIRBhs0olGM1yOus3kqrTyZphF6JeLsqDf3f_IRV3fcZJhP6PWtcgS8aC8GvMlkgg3WAC8KIpYIPMblcAZ4pdghkv2L8pwY4WojcgsAbyl_FDkicPj8tX_7iv/s320/Vauxhall+plan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> <span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">You traditionally arrived by boat, paid your shilling entrance fee, then entered into a magical world of illumination and excitement. It was seen as a rite of passage and young people pined for the day that they could tell their friends they had been to Vauxhall. It was the one place where some rules were discarded and you could talk to strangers. You could buy rack punch and stroll in the 'dark walks' where men and women could meet without being seen. For the more respectable you could buy supper, listen to music and promendade, allowing yourself to see and be seen, leaving before things got too raucous. The aristocracy and nobility rubbed shoulders with the middle classes, who were aspiring to a better standard of life through politeness and elegance. In short, anyone who was anyone had to go.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhaI1L4Nc9uuuCR9lAyCzp9YiSm79uZLHewG8KHLIvyLviwyW9KcAFMvSxLKe2ExLEHatt2TvI__bKKRS2xSxMWvQ2MElNHs7pzddu8ED9W9XrJd1DfC2B_ywDuMfJAKAszS29Z9uXcfT/s1600/Vauhall+Gardens+rowlandson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="209" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhaI1L4Nc9uuuCR9lAyCzp9YiSm79uZLHewG8KHLIvyLviwyW9KcAFMvSxLKe2ExLEHatt2TvI__bKKRS2xSxMWvQ2MElNHs7pzddu8ED9W9XrJd1DfC2B_ywDuMfJAKAszS29Z9uXcfT/s320/Vauhall+Gardens+rowlandson.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Vauxhall by Rowlandson, c1784</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Vauxhall was indeed a special garden, in that the twelve acre site enclosed avenues of trees, birdsong, a variety of walks and a cascade of water. However this was a garden like no other - here you were not hindered by mud or manure. Here was nature purposefully romantisiced into a rural idyll, full of images of pastoral nymphs and songs of happy swains. It was like real nature, only better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It must have been quite a sight. This was a time before street lighting and where you could not socialise outside after dark. Outdoor urban activity in the hours between sunset and sunrise were limited to prostitutes, students and thieves. Yet Vauxhall was only open on summer evenings and so offered the chance to chat to friends and strangers after sunset under the magnificent illumination of hundreds of lamps. Vauxhall truely colonised the night.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KGFGH0Y23yjoiiw8J6bb-zXUXAuYOLQ_H8adLyJicbTv54fJq_7ZT045T7L0hVYygPTtJD_9DInn_FBkFTiFDhbLmjB6aTQzpUPBienQqhKNqCitc0JeQXPF2Mun7sh61FWPZhom9ECG/s1600/Vauxhall_Garden_edited.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KGFGH0Y23yjoiiw8J6bb-zXUXAuYOLQ_H8adLyJicbTv54fJq_7ZT045T7L0hVYygPTtJD_9DInn_FBkFTiFDhbLmjB6aTQzpUPBienQqhKNqCitc0JeQXPF2Mun7sh61FWPZhom9ECG/s320/Vauxhall_Garden_edited.jpeg" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">The Grand Orchestra, 1803</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Music and art were important features of Vauxhall. Rather than hearing entire operas, here the most catchy arias and popular ballads were sung and the sheet music could be then purchased so you could play the Vauxhall songs at home, making the experience and memories last even longer. Love songs and patriotic arias were particularly popular. In addition, quaint pastoral paintings by Francis Hayman adorned the supper boxes and a statue of Handel was displayed, being the first public statue of a living composer. The performance of vocal and instrumental music was also crucial to keeping the atmosphere cultured and refined. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In all, a visit to Vauxhall would have been truely an impressive experience in Georgian London. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWI0BKBxiCpFeGTpeBPcMxvuqaqXdmVaT_8yocncj5jCu5nS3FbkrhtvOnxxvcEV91jEWo96AiA_uc8GtdUohSxnDLXmRP0s9aRB-T3xpnGhswj_B_wK0R-IPV1lTt7IGmyCPdgtSqumY/s1600/vauxhall-gardens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="208" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWI0BKBxiCpFeGTpeBPcMxvuqaqXdmVaT_8yocncj5jCu5nS3FbkrhtvOnxxvcEV91jEWo96AiA_uc8GtdUohSxnDLXmRP0s9aRB-T3xpnGhswj_B_wK0R-IPV1lTt7IGmyCPdgtSqumY/s320/vauxhall-gardens.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Enjoying the music at Vauxhall, 1821</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-72916677369016573192011-12-23T06:18:00.000-08:002011-12-23T06:18:43.619-08:00The East in blue and white<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Far East remained mysterious and unknown throughout the eighteenth century, viewed as a distant land of wealth and splendor. Even with the busy trade of the East India Company, Europeans were forbidden to wander farther than the city walls of the only Chinese trading port, Canton. This literal distance and lack of knowledge of the East led to the creation of an exotic and fanciful interpretation of what countries like China and India really were like.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This fascination for the East led to the artistic term <em>chinoiserie</em> which refers to architecture or decorative arts created in the West but with a stylised Oriental theme. Popular blue and white porcelain is a clear example of this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Originally all porcelain was imported from China through a monopoly held by the East India Company. In fact, in the 1777/8 season the East India Company imported 348 tons of Chinese porcelain! This was then sold to dealers wholesale at huge auctions, before being displayed in their individual shops. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YOIvOjJiVzpmVu5XJgRfyE_ea6M9im1lAEZL9F8-RWWNms2aBVFyFUFfOfRnNWC6Hr2owYrXjGhI7IaubKLcLB5au92G2A8rImi1LmQ6XCXcFNPSNuKmRfpRIg9WyEBp05PXjk8XQhgd/s1600/East_India_House+by+Thos+Hosmer+Shpherd_c1817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="228" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YOIvOjJiVzpmVu5XJgRfyE_ea6M9im1lAEZL9F8-RWWNms2aBVFyFUFfOfRnNWC6Hr2owYrXjGhI7IaubKLcLB5au92G2A8rImi1LmQ6XCXcFNPSNuKmRfpRIg9WyEBp05PXjk8XQhgd/s320/East_India_House+by+Thos+Hosmer+Shpherd_c1817.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>East India House in Leadenhall Street, London</em>, by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, c1817</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Chinese porcelain was made using a substance called kaolin and hand-painted in China using designs solely for the export market. In fact, specific requests were made by the East India Company for suitably West-friendly exotic designs and shapes. Meanwhile potters in Europe tried but couldn't work out what the mysterious ingredients were that the Chinese used in order to create this mystical substance themselves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Finally, after much experimentation across Europe, the production of hard-paste porcelain (i.e. like Chinese porcelain) developed, the Meissen factory being one of the first. (Funnily enough, the man who made this amazing discovery was a chemist at Wittenberg University called Johann Boettger who had initally been given the impossible task of trying to change base metals into gold.) In Britain, the first potters to make porcelain focussed on copying Chinese designs, which had been popular with shoppers for decades. Interestingly, the development of home-made porcelain took off at the end of the century, co-inciding with the dramatic decision of the East India Company to stop importing Chinese porcelain. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfe6Kl_zk_n0YEPd_eEXxBK2-JCV624cX85Lgko0YWaAQB8NLbSBw1H9qXEL4zaSxgsfZGdCxvfp13Wur-dgedXixNfIKMt7eMG7x6K-0RpnhiaPSA094wLZkhOnwrwS5AyoEff9i46uC/s1600/Miles+Mason+plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfe6Kl_zk_n0YEPd_eEXxBK2-JCV624cX85Lgko0YWaAQB8NLbSBw1H9qXEL4zaSxgsfZGdCxvfp13Wur-dgedXixNfIKMt7eMG7x6K-0RpnhiaPSA094wLZkhOnwrwS5AyoEff9i46uC/s320/Miles+Mason+plate.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Plate showing <em>The Two Temples</em>, by Miles Mason, c1805</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">held at the Victoria & Albert Museum</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Technological developments meant that, unlike Chinese porcelain which was hand-painted, British items could be mass produced. Indeed, it was in the second half of the eighteenth century that patents were taken out for transfer-printing, starting a revolutionary and labour-saving process in ceramic production. Now Chinese images could be printed easily onto porcelain, using designs engraved into copper plates. These copper plates could be sold to many factories meaning that different potters were creating products depicting identical images. Possibly the most famous image is the <em>Willow</em> pattern, created in England, for British consumers, and based on an original Chinese design. The charming story behind the picture however is likely to have been invented as a clever marketing tool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUzPs12ynJaejaK-GDiL0tkM4CzpESg4ha-xGmlML3hTR4I4IKRxnmFXUStmxHqL1Su4FqWw1Xzo8aBEw6lHC6yOHR3HbseJCFfCZJaUZu44ABHE5Zi5qFXLsIsywjcfNAEEoLdk_vIq8/s1600/willow_plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="314" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUzPs12ynJaejaK-GDiL0tkM4CzpESg4ha-xGmlML3hTR4I4IKRxnmFXUStmxHqL1Su4FqWw1Xzo8aBEw6lHC6yOHR3HbseJCFfCZJaUZu44ABHE5Zi5qFXLsIsywjcfNAEEoLdk_vIq8/s320/willow_plate.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">The famous <em>Willow</em> pattern</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Into the nineteenth century, developments in transfer printing led to the use of other colours, and we start to see other exotic elements coming through, including Indian scenes. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcr02pXTMyQ4Mqn7xbQEi90fvMSVdI2uzsxbHBQWn47HW1balKnNmWcGKrbWe5rUfVUBNMgJiV9QoF9BhTPnHgzCaNLW3fsla21FynOhvFio_5GJ21i6Mz5xaHG8sBCPjrNNEDO1SGhYNj/s1600/Spode+plate+Indian+design.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="318" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcr02pXTMyQ4Mqn7xbQEi90fvMSVdI2uzsxbHBQWn47HW1balKnNmWcGKrbWe5rUfVUBNMgJiV9QoF9BhTPnHgzCaNLW3fsla21FynOhvFio_5GJ21i6Mz5xaHG8sBCPjrNNEDO1SGhYNj/s320/Spode+plate+Indian+design.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Plate depicting <em>Wild Sports of the East</em>, by Spode, c1815 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">held at the Victoria & Albert Musuem</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-67437985901748520882011-11-18T11:43:00.000-08:002011-11-18T11:43:49.809-08:00Making music at home<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Before television and radio a family's home entertainment system was naturally rather more home-made in nature. It was most common for young girls to be trained in music, particularly the piano, and then it was believed girls could not only amuse and soothe the weary souls of their fathers and brothers, but also learn about their domestic responsibilities, such as duty and home-making. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdtmSbMFB9ZreYGCNsfWBLzf_NVW_8DRZf6oP4w-8YOGjTmLJXyAcDKlceseD5-oXqjBFP6gLnw6BcspkCpLzlb9NA8uSYk9JUa0gl-KI6CriCZ5vS-tYqTYSU6L9BsNxShNzaAV-FfDL/s1600/ladiesatpianoregency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdtmSbMFB9ZreYGCNsfWBLzf_NVW_8DRZf6oP4w-8YOGjTmLJXyAcDKlceseD5-oXqjBFP6gLnw6BcspkCpLzlb9NA8uSYk9JUa0gl-KI6CriCZ5vS-tYqTYSU6L9BsNxShNzaAV-FfDL/s320/ladiesatpianoregency.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries boys were not pushed into music in quite the same way, it being seen primarily as suited to a woman's warmer, emotional nature. The involvement of the men was more to do with one-off expensive purchases, such as that of the piano itself, and this gesture was limited to fathers and husbands (or husbands-to-be, hence the gossiping and eyebrow-raising that the gift of the piano caused in Jane Austen's <em>Emma</em>). Men were expected to be connoisseurs in music - to be able to recognise good from bad - but in the home, it was the role of the women to play. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Women sung a broad range of music from popular ballads to Italian opera arias, as well as playing piano pieces which needed no singing. Sadly it could often be the fate of the girl most gifted at the piano to have to play when there was a dance at home, meaning she was unable to join in the dancing herself. If a girl's family were able to afford the most expensive singing masters, as in the case of aristocratic families, girls would be expected to sing and play complex pieces, otherwise the reserve of the professional musician.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aOEYXJVkjVEX43Eo0Im_jNU49O42ypm1o0NJqCfkZy3aS0ZoviOdfV-fbFN212d5q2HzCJZgHpUNc8oWWz_9vYghGVkKo50hkU-WrobMSxPDsuqCZOuxoW6QFEh_PRRXv5itOHcFUexD/s1600/farmer-giles-and-his-wife-showing-off-their-daugher-betty-to-their-neighbors-on-her-return-from-school-gillray-1806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aOEYXJVkjVEX43Eo0Im_jNU49O42ypm1o0NJqCfkZy3aS0ZoviOdfV-fbFN212d5q2HzCJZgHpUNc8oWWz_9vYghGVkKo50hkU-WrobMSxPDsuqCZOuxoW6QFEh_PRRXv5itOHcFUexD/s320/farmer-giles-and-his-wife-showing-off-their-daugher-betty-to-their-neighbors-on-her-return-from-school-gillray-1806.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">'Farmer Giles and his wife showing off their daughter Betty to their Neighbours on her return from school' by James Gillray, 1809</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Women could purchase and collect single sheets of music, which they could buy directly from London or from regional music shops, and they could then bind them to make their own personal music books, annotating them with their own particular embellishments in pencil. Girls and women shared music they liked with each other, by copying pieces out and giving them to friends, which was an important part of female social bonding. Just as now, some girls resented their rigorous training while others found solace in their music. Either way, girls were expected to have some proficiency at music - it was seen as an important female accomplishment and sign of taste. Some contemporaries even noted it as an important strategic way to ensnare a husband as the following two quotes attest:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Every well-bred girl, whether she has talent or not, must learn to play the piano or sing; first of all it's fashionable; secondly, it's the most convenient way for her to put herself forward in society and thereby, if she is lucky, make an advantageous matrimonial alliance, particularly a moneyed one". (<em>Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung</em>, 1800)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Miss and her sisters sit down by turns, and screw themselves up to <em>Ah vous dirai</em>, or 'I'd be a butterfly' - till some handsome young fellow who has stood behind her chair for six months, turned over her music, or accompanied her through a few liquorish airs, vows his tender passion...and at length swears to be her accompaniment through life". (<em>Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction</em>, 1828)</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">For further information, see </span><a href="http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/jane-austen-and-music/"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/jane-austen-and-music/</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> or read '"Girling" at the Parlour Piano' by Ruth Solie from <em>Music in Other Words: Victorian Conversations</em></span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-31937202300828116622011-10-08T07:59:00.000-07:002011-10-08T07:59:43.601-07:00The Three Georges<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Who were the Georgian kings and what did their reigns really mean to the British public?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">After Queen Anne died without issue in 1714 the kingship passed to the House of Hanover via the most senior Protestant descendant of James I, Georg Ludwig. There were others with a closer blood link to James I however the Act of Settlement of 1701 made it impossible for Roman Catholics to take the throne. Therefore in 1714 Georg Ludwig of Hanover became king of Great Britain at the age of 54 and on his death in 1727, his son became king George II (aged 44). </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kings George I and II</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kings George I and II filled an important role for the British. Although they remained distant and different in their German ways to the British public, most were happy that Protestants were ruling the kingdom as opposed to the Catholic son of James II, James Stuart (The Old Pretender). There were some Jacobite uprisings and support in the early eighteenth century by those who felt the throne rightfully belonged to James Stuart however popularity was short-lived and never wide-spread enough to allow full military or financial support. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">George I and II were both German born and arrived at the British throne as middle-aged men. This and a variety of other reasons meant that their personalities remained distant from the British public. One reason was that there was little propaganda or royal reporting of them, and little public ceremony which only served to make them seem aloof from the British public. In addition, they never travelled to some parts of the country during their reigns, creating a lack of visibility across the country. Furthermore, their fear of Jacobite sympathy within the Tory party meant they favoured the Whig party, and this favouritism naturally distanced some and meant they could not be seen as neutral British figureheads. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEB-K6c6gbz8SBfLA1_JDVEam41n3Ibz3eoyd3Okk_BKdGY8uTSzlIOlNStfsJUJA6wLCeVIa8vFSIJvZmMeLjrPyO9E-QNevx__2_lBU_a-ZfAOwKfiFjly_g-QL_hyphenhyphenYhkZeutL4BAkb/s1600/King+G+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEB-K6c6gbz8SBfLA1_JDVEam41n3Ibz3eoyd3Okk_BKdGY8uTSzlIOlNStfsJUJA6wLCeVIa8vFSIJvZmMeLjrPyO9E-QNevx__2_lBU_a-ZfAOwKfiFjly_g-QL_hyphenhyphenYhkZeutL4BAkb/s1600/King+G+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div id="yui_3_4_0_3_1318084826874_873">King George II painted by Thomas Hudson (1744)</div></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Receiving insufficient money from Parliament they could barely afford their lifestyles (once they had used this money to pay the salaries of courtiers and ministers etc), meaning they were unable to lavish sums on one symbolic royal palace or residence like Louis XIV had done at Versailles. This had the impact of there being a relatively small royal court and rather than court defining good taste and fashion and being leaders in culture, instead Kensington Palace, Hampton Court and St James' were merely cultural venues among many others in London. Polite culture was being formed by opera houses, pleasure gardens, and magnificent artistocratic town houses more than it was by the royal circle. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">King George III</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">George III however gradually washed that aloof public image away and by the end of his reign he was deeply mourned. He ascended the throne at just 22 in 1760 and had the benefit of being born and growing up in England. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">George III was much better at what we would now call PR and ensured paintings of himself were distributed. His sons travelled the length and bredth of the kingdom, making royalty visible and he himself engaged in active ceremonial display. The public finally had a king they could recognise and see. Celebrations such as the Jubilee of 1809 were popularly attended by all classses of society, and towns competed with each other for the best celebrations. In fact it was during his reign that the song 'God Save The King' was increasingly sung and became popularly known as the national anthem. The increase in the press and transport developments such as the turnpike roads led to increased propaganda and royal reporting.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCS5AzoqhXXNcsWXNaXc9jRPs3fG7DnaWuF7NOdLAeNAWP8nXwcAzGrTJkPpe8W3CdaMD4waceBPPuPbeHUVltjwDLYUGqD70VRKNYNqyCYv8H5qsNY77xS42Z0WGzOsMAOslJv7y2Lx_7/s1600/1809+jubilee+print.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCS5AzoqhXXNcsWXNaXc9jRPs3fG7DnaWuF7NOdLAeNAWP8nXwcAzGrTJkPpe8W3CdaMD4waceBPPuPbeHUVltjwDLYUGqD70VRKNYNqyCYv8H5qsNY77xS42Z0WGzOsMAOslJv7y2Lx_7/s320/1809+jubilee+print.jpg" width="284px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1809 Jubilee celebrations for King George III at Berkshire Record Office (D/EX225/Z4)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Additional Parliamentary funds enabled him to invest in public splendour and he renovated many of the royal palaces, while as his eldest son lavished sums onto Brighton Pavilion and his London residence at Carlton House. In addition, the French Revolution created a mixture of feelings in the British; the bloodshed and brutality causing many to feel protective about their royals. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Furthermore George III's percieved political neutrality (any serious Jacobite threat had now gone) enabled him to embrace all his subjects without alienating any politically. Finally, his morality and vulnerability (due to his illness) meant that often the public looked on him as a Father of the People as well as a normal man.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">By helping to bring royalty back into the limelight George III turned the tables on his forbears and paved the way for modern kingship. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDTHoqthbO0uFxSsbQol_tRu8HKzByHs0boLIsKURI3fBk9Ik8LKLTJCuZDSFMB0pYk3abQ-gXNM_FSY4HB6LrKaesBrOfmzW43Q3o7eTbGE3t4imjgZnv3WHcRqfi3AFPJmcpAgJXvB9/s1600/King_George_III_of_England_by_Johann_Zoffany.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDTHoqthbO0uFxSsbQol_tRu8HKzByHs0boLIsKURI3fBk9Ik8LKLTJCuZDSFMB0pYk3abQ-gXNM_FSY4HB6LrKaesBrOfmzW43Q3o7eTbGE3t4imjgZnv3WHcRqfi3AFPJmcpAgJXvB9/s320/King_George_III_of_England_by_Johann_Zoffany.jpg" width="261px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King George III pained by Zoffany</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-31983378394139714782011-08-26T12:11:00.000-07:002011-08-26T12:32:48.940-07:00Who were the Great Britons?<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Act of Union in 1707 united the England and Wales with the Scottish kingdom for the first time into the new United Kingdom of Great Britain. But how united were the British and who were they?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">One important factor that united the new Britons was a sense of shared religion. Unlike most of Europe, the new kingdom was Protestant. Anti-Catholic sentiment was rife and the British prided themselves on their freedom from 'Popish tyranny'. It seemed that their religion was favoured by God especially, delivering them from the world's evils and giving them victory in war. In fact anti-Catholic legislation existed between the late 17th century right up until 1829, banning Catholics from parliament and state offices. It could be said that British Catholics were even seen as unpatriotic and hence 'un-British'. Much anti-Catholic literature was published, from popular almanacs to highly subjective histories. In 1780 the Gordon Riots erupted in London, in which anti-Catholic protesters rioted due to the proposed repeal of Catholic discrimination. The author Frances Burney was in London at the time and her family home was only spared by her father shouting out anti-Pope slogans. Protestantism joined the nation together, making it very different from the Continent, linking the people together in a shared, Divinely protected, nation. The lyrics of <em>Jerusalem</em> written by William Blake in c.1804 emphasise this sentiment.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9TPB1brvBjfhltYRJUxzv890zIjUv4nNzVCmvAXC4P8Lk8v6M1d-mFuZelQuZxhhwpjWsRK0276wMXKhmSyVpeQTqwxhi96sTJ8TuOx79YeDHq4mltKTZudeExDWCghlc4NGWr1BZ1DK/s1600/Gordon+Riots2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="225" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9TPB1brvBjfhltYRJUxzv890zIjUv4nNzVCmvAXC4P8Lk8v6M1d-mFuZelQuZxhhwpjWsRK0276wMXKhmSyVpeQTqwxhi96sTJ8TuOx79YeDHq4mltKTZudeExDWCghlc4NGWr1BZ1DK/s320/Gordon+Riots2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">The Gordon Riots, London, 1780</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Throughout the 18th century Britain was almost constantly at war, particularly with France and Spain. There was the Nine Years War, the War of Spanish Succession, the War of Austrian Succession, the Seven Years War, the War of Independence and the Napoleonic War to name a few. Overall Britain had victory after victory, establishing national pride and reaffirming the widely held belief in the nation's superiority and Divine preference. In fact evidence of this blessed nation seemed to stem from the new Protestant Hanoverian kings, further proof that Britain was a truly special isle. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIaHqXCuQSc6sZr657PmCoHVQkswJphVdUos5VR2VW-nMgAvjFGw-wnog_QQxTfagu9KILGowJWpof6T202azkJh2cjKy89APidwzO7t4lWxzrzUNjsxSKRK4Gk2-VuuabYQ2DwjnkEs2/s1600/red+coats+possibly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjIaHqXCuQSc6sZr657PmCoHVQkswJphVdUos5VR2VW-nMgAvjFGw-wnog_QQxTfagu9KILGowJWpof6T202azkJh2cjKy89APidwzO7t4lWxzrzUNjsxSKRK4Gk2-VuuabYQ2DwjnkEs2/s320/red+coats+possibly.jpg" width="223" /></span></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Similarly, the Grand Tours, which any upstanding young gentleman went on, had the result of 'proving' the supremacy of Britain over its European neighbours. Gentlemen came home from the Grand Tours sure in the knowledge that Britain was the most free, liberal and democratic country. Other countries were simply despotic, backward and corrupt. The British parliament was seen as superior, efficient and more unrestricted than other governments in Europe at the time and the author Daniel Defoe rather proudly wrote that "we are a nation of liberty".</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQU-yi77uTXXp2Z0fmJpx3Lrp4vtue8HXImv-O07QNCWH6EmLrpRHsJcnBrzzZAUUAWuNfrsd_iO5TM028LFVmBzScCu0L7XAjVFN1XUDDAY-neiMdAxppoBWjJy9lXpJ10ZoMAWKGCok/s1600/Batoni+grand+tour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQU-yi77uTXXp2Z0fmJpx3Lrp4vtue8HXImv-O07QNCWH6EmLrpRHsJcnBrzzZAUUAWuNfrsd_iO5TM028LFVmBzScCu0L7XAjVFN1XUDDAY-neiMdAxppoBWjJy9lXpJ10ZoMAWKGCok/s320/Batoni+grand+tour.jpg" width="236" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A gentleman on the Grand Tour, painted by Pompeo Batoni</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fast urban growth and the proliferation of printed material and news also played their part in increasing a sense of unity. Likewise a rigorous success in commercial trade played a part in establishing British people's sense of their country. In 1718 in <em>The Present State of Great Britain</em> it was written:</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Next to the purity of our religion we are the most considerable of any nation in the world for the vastness and extensiveness of our trade". </span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">All these things set Britain apart and helped create a sense of national identity. However it is worth noting that Britain of course still remained a very varied nation, with different languages, cultures and customs being practiced throughout the kingdom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">For further information, read Linda Colley's book entitled 'Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837' and also see </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_riots"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_riots</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-65677820151049519282011-08-05T04:08:00.000-07:002011-08-05T04:08:49.603-07:00The reading public<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Remember the fears and concerns generated when the internet began? People were worried it was too vast, had no regulation and would soon be full of dross information, swamping access to correct knowledge. Those same fears were present in the early eighteenth century when the new printing boom exploded. </span><br />
<blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"the <em>multitude</em> of BOOKS has been long complained of: they are grown too numerous, not only to procure and read, but to see, learn the names of, or even number" [<em>Chambers's Cyclopedia</em>, 1738].</span></blockquote></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the seventeenth century printed books were relatively few in number and were mainly confined to the subjects of theology, history, polemics, the classics and the Bible. Books were read with care and often scrutinised several times. Book ownership was limited to the gentry and nobility and literacy was low and restricted to their class alone. Authors could only get books published using the patronage of a wealthy individual, copyright rules were restrictive and the strict control of the press meant that all publishing took place within a few streets in the city of London. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAlMDU-aW8hCQlkP4YyT8llPiDB4EiJ89RjV7PQhYpmo1mmdS0uvCh48YKkCLJ9h0TQ2qwt8oN4ToxasjNspEEd1EImM-TT7HmiUW9fL2zemHabyWDYSg4LuuFdtCd5Y0OQaToaMd6ZrT/s1600/17th+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAlMDU-aW8hCQlkP4YyT8llPiDB4EiJ89RjV7PQhYpmo1mmdS0uvCh48YKkCLJ9h0TQ2qwt8oN4ToxasjNspEEd1EImM-TT7HmiUW9fL2zemHabyWDYSg4LuuFdtCd5Y0OQaToaMd6ZrT/s320/17th+book.jpg" t$="true" width="288" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="value" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">A Book of Common Prayer, 1676</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then in 1695 the Licensing Act lapsed, effectively ending censorship (although the printing of blasphamy, obscenity and seditious libel continued to be repressed) and strict control of the press ended, allowing the printing industry to finally take off in England. Provincial printing developed for the first time and the cost of the expense could be shared between printers by splitting the copyright, or by getting individuals to subscribe in advance. The market exploded with new types of publications. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">No longer were books limited to a few academic subjects. Now people could read books on any topic, from romances and poems to 'how to' manuals and even travel journals. Newspapers, magazines and periodicals blossomed and were widely read. At the same time literacy rates rose and all classes finally gained access to literature. Books could either be bought or borrowed, either from circulating libraries, books clubs, coffee houses or neighbours. The 'gentile' practice of reading aloud was a desirable attribute, and families and friends read aloud to one another. Women working at chores at home, such as sewing or preserving fruit could be read to by another woman, thus making domestic chores more interesting, while disseminating knowledge. It was seen as "a specimen of English freedom" that everyone now participated in reading, as Thomas Campbell wrote in 1773 of the Chapter Coffee House in London (where you could pay a shilling for the right of one year's reading there):</span><br />
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</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"A whitesmith in his apron & some of his saws under his arm, came in, sat down and called for his glass of punch and the paper, both of which he used with as much ease as a Lord".</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4olo1P8O_w150MuJzZD6PTPZKyLCZD2su-V6SG8XvKGlqRa7DhJEn7AxNxlPdqHze-g-5dfB_Iwh0Sl-HLjgVf1IBlSWQETiR95YPuDYf8JgtMqNpLD6rOJhlvPCh5n3ckRe6Fj0fclg/s1600/Coffee_House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4olo1P8O_w150MuJzZD6PTPZKyLCZD2su-V6SG8XvKGlqRa7DhJEn7AxNxlPdqHze-g-5dfB_Iwh0Sl-HLjgVf1IBlSWQETiR95YPuDYf8JgtMqNpLD6rOJhlvPCh5n3ckRe6Fj0fclg/s320/Coffee_House.jpg" t$="true" width="257" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">The Coffee House by Rita Greer, history painter, 2008</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Authors, although generally badly paid, had more freedom and were no longer at the mercy of finding a high status patron - the patron now was the reading public. Authors could be anyone, including women, and publish articles and reviews in cheap magazines as well as books. Simultaneously hack journalism developed and chapbooks and abbreviated novels were widely sold by itinerant pedlars. Although books and publications could still be attentively and regularly read, they were more likely to be borrowed, skim-read and returned, rather than laboriously scrutinised as in the previous centuries. Light reading for amusement took off as a past-time. This in itself was initally seen as a worrying development. Some critics were concerned that light readers, especially women, could be corrupted and led astray by extensive reading of frivolous literature. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmsH299FLL-8e0NgTx9ByzKZApZuVC9lYtdimyZyVPyb3APJAn1cluXg7jMLe5F9ry8RqDfJwr6EnDelUatOmA_2jDGkDEudk5BY17LGNo2ffawWD3pRa_ONLyRQS1ZrkHgAJxy-bwl9Q/s1600/Tales_of_wonder_by_James_Gillray+%2528satire+on+gothic+novels%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmsH299FLL-8e0NgTx9ByzKZApZuVC9lYtdimyZyVPyb3APJAn1cluXg7jMLe5F9ry8RqDfJwr6EnDelUatOmA_2jDGkDEudk5BY17LGNo2ffawWD3pRa_ONLyRQS1ZrkHgAJxy-bwl9Q/s320/Tales_of_wonder_by_James_Gillray+%2528satire+on+gothic+novels%2529.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>Tales of Wonder!</em> by James Gillray, 1802, satirising the trend for Gothic novels</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A contemporary, James Beattie (1735-1803), warned young women against novels:</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"A habit of reading them breeds dislike to history, and all the substantial parts of knowledge; withdraws the attention from nature, and truth; and fills the mind with extravagant thoughts, and too often with criminal propensities".</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In practice however men were just as likely as women to read the "swarms of insipid Novels, destitute of sentiment, language, or morals" [as noted in the <em>New and Elegant Amusements for the Ladies of Great Britain</em> published in 1772] and the reading public has never looked back. Contemporary criticisms that the classics were being swamped admist the burgeoning trashy novel and magazine slowly lost emphasis as the printing industry ballooned, and thankfully today, we can continue to enjoy an enormous range of publications, trashy or instructive.</span><br />
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<div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">For further information on London coffee houses and their role in stimulating literacy, see </span><a href="http://www.buildinghistory.org/primary/inns/coffee-houses.shtml"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://www.buildinghistory.org/primary/inns/coffee-houses.shtml</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">. </span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-60863522591866869642011-07-28T10:35:00.000-07:002011-07-28T10:35:59.898-07:00Doing the business<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In period dramas and contemporary novels you rarely see the characters doing the more mundane, daily routines in life, and one question I am often asked is "Where did they go to the toilet?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Flushing toilets as we know them didn't come into popularity until the Victorian period, so what did people do before this? In English country houses there was no separate toilet or washroom - instead the facility came to the Lord or Lady in the form of chamber pots. These had the benefit of being exceedingly practical (particularly when you had the convenience of servants to take them away) and could be brought to you anywhere.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotsS1sy3rJjL19TX9Kqu6geAgF9suDx5UR4a6QA4dYmreIkY91vj4wagGKaKDZAzHjrFyqu1mBaqwWCuZOwjtTSbgqW6uqSZaTW3AmUwX-cvTByc9bYuPVTsjFDLdxFxhWOIwzOUC8-vI/s1600/chamber+pot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotsS1sy3rJjL19TX9Kqu6geAgF9suDx5UR4a6QA4dYmreIkY91vj4wagGKaKDZAzHjrFyqu1mBaqwWCuZOwjtTSbgqW6uqSZaTW3AmUwX-cvTByc9bYuPVTsjFDLdxFxhWOIwzOUC8-vI/s1600/chamber+pot.jpg" t$="true" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In each bedroom in high status houses there would also have been a night table, also referred to as a pot-cupboard or commode (not to be confused with a French chest of the same name). In these walnut or mahognany chests, chamber pots and sometimes seats, were hidden. In fact the reason that night tables were referred to as commodes in England was because of their striking resemblance to small chests and cupboards - <em>commode</em> in French. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8_KPFswdVZ8WJOVEs7pzkjjPcw5QCW4ye-3S4wLvxnFn_yF2i9TXNMe3luX4u2QJGKnnjyR2bhuuMaFDmEgf0XUqRxM6sHR5Bf4geCL_rYvW6qntaGF9NgNQiA85qy8coI3rWxPzZcRq/s1600/Georgian_Commode.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8_KPFswdVZ8WJOVEs7pzkjjPcw5QCW4ye-3S4wLvxnFn_yF2i9TXNMe3luX4u2QJGKnnjyR2bhuuMaFDmEgf0XUqRxM6sHR5Bf4geCL_rYvW6qntaGF9NgNQiA85qy8coI3rWxPzZcRq/s1600/Georgian_Commode.jpg" t$="true" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">This Georgian night table would have had a chamber pot placed discreetly inside - </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">to be removed by the servants in the morning</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-55130380199977671132011-05-16T13:08:00.000-07:002011-05-16T13:08:48.183-07:00Dining in 18th century England<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dinner in the eighteenth century was, as now, the main formal meal of the day and was originally taken at 12 noon. During the century however it gradually crept later to mid-afternoon, often at around 3pm or 4pm. In the cities, where 'fashionable hours' pushed everything later and later, dinner could be held at 7pm, significantly earlier than in the country. By the end of the long eighteenth century, in the Regency period, 7pm had been firmly established as the usual time for dinner. Throughout the period however class differences continued with the labouring class eating much earlier than the aristocracy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In country houses, formal dress was worn for dinner and guests and hosts met in a saloon or drawing room first before filing into the dining room in order of precedence. Ladies sat at one end and gentlemen at the other. However by the end of the century 'promiscuous' seating was permitted where men and women sat alternately.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dinner was a social affair and the vastness of the quantity of food and drink could be daunting to foreigners. Contemporary Francois De La Rochefoucauld wrote:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Dinner is one of the most wearisome of English experiences lasting, as it does four or five hours."</span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dinner usually consisted of three courses, the first being soup and fish, followed by a course of cooked dishes such as fricassees and ragouts and finally a course of meats such as roasts which were carved by the host in an elaborate symbolic display of their generosity. Then the tablecloth was removed and desert was served. (Incidentally the tablecloth was a huge piece of fabric reaching down to the floor and was used by guests to wipe their mouths until the early 19th century when napkins became fashionable.) Desert was not in fact puddings as we know them but generally fruits, nuts and sweetmeats displayed in beautiful china baskets as well as jellies, ices or syllabubs. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Each course was laid out in its entirety by servants (service a la francaise), so a table was covered with all the different dishes of each course at once and this formed the table 'decoration'. Guests could either help themselves to dishes near to them or if they were lucky they could catch the eye of a footman so that they would bring them a dish from the other side of the table. However it was seen as rude to do this too often so it was common to have to suffice with dishes near to you and often food was cold by the time you ate it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Service a la russe was introduced in Paris by the Russian Ambassador in c1810 and had eventually completely replaced service a la francaise by the 1860s. Rather than having all the different dishes served and displayed all together, now the table was laid out with a profusion of cutlery and crockery, flowers and decoration. Servants could then bring dishes to each guest and the tablecloth was retained for desert, and this service style would be much more familiar to modern diners. </span><br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQoEBizZy6FBXWrdNxanky6Qm5QxaGlwarQBrSbNnH5IJ-oZJkxmb-Wg_LoObTe_sSbCGFxoAPWIj2XS6QiXDTYNJLz2dGveXfmhQWGRYkd5d_G_GSugQmz54aHMRidVLD7ZNwwfdcJuS/s1600/service+a+la+russe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="230" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQoEBizZy6FBXWrdNxanky6Qm5QxaGlwarQBrSbNnH5IJ-oZJkxmb-Wg_LoObTe_sSbCGFxoAPWIj2XS6QiXDTYNJLz2dGveXfmhQWGRYkd5d_G_GSugQmz54aHMRidVLD7ZNwwfdcJuS/s320/service+a+la+russe.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A profusion of crockery and glasses in Service a la Russe</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">After desert, the servants would exit and there could be half an hour of wine drinking before the ladies retired to a drawing room to prepare and serve tea (at first green tea, then later black tea was more commonly drunk) while the gentlemen smoked and drank port. A servant then called the gentlemen to tea and coffee with the ladies, and cake or thinly sliced bread was eaten with the tea and these could be followed by cards and dancing. At midnight there may even have been a supper of foods such as cold meats and fruits before guests went home. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreD0RqFeAhUmLJhkCQvIAWbFF8VeW5Psk-K7pSgXaFPl5PUVzqP1hVNqIZbrzbtHicuQ8YwXJCshG9LxWGPkRECGY33HTuZQEYQ6eCfXcW6b9DlXMs67vYz2S2er1fnNhAqSUkBiv1j8F/s1600/surtoutdetable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="282" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreD0RqFeAhUmLJhkCQvIAWbFF8VeW5Psk-K7pSgXaFPl5PUVzqP1hVNqIZbrzbtHicuQ8YwXJCshG9LxWGPkRECGY33HTuZQEYQ6eCfXcW6b9DlXMs67vYz2S2er1fnNhAqSUkBiv1j8F/s320/surtoutdetable.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A surtout de table, in imitation of a garden</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">See also </span><a href="http://www.historicfood.com/"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">www.historicfood.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> for useful information.</span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-3244657036908719852011-03-20T05:27:00.000-07:002011-03-20T05:27:33.243-07:00The fashion for deshabille (undress)<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">When we think of Regency dress we often visualise a thin white dress, drawn in under the bust rather than the waist, resembling a Greek statue. Such dresses are often referred to as chemise dresses, or deshabille, as such thin items were used to being worn close to the skin underneath one's clothes, rather than one's outer garments (hence the use of the French word deshabille meaning to undress).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkfYqcKqRo9HMBT6kRovfbAowN1bWiI9te2KVi1hk3JlacRVfGWI9EsQWAwHdlK48uymtoTe3nKQrhszUGq3SR4lRgR_1YLrLnaZxtSDChHmkbFzq6bFjN4S8sQ2WmKKwWeESbs4QF-2X/s1600/1799-chemise-dress-train.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkfYqcKqRo9HMBT6kRovfbAowN1bWiI9te2KVi1hk3JlacRVfGWI9EsQWAwHdlK48uymtoTe3nKQrhszUGq3SR4lRgR_1YLrLnaZxtSDChHmkbFzq6bFjN4S8sQ2WmKKwWeESbs4QF-2X/s320/1799-chemise-dress-train.gif" width="191" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Chemise dress, 1799</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fashions for women during the eighteenth century had become increasingly ostentatious and grand, with hoops, panniers and trains, and with hairstyles to match, so enlarged that doorframes were often too low and it led to such ridicule that a contemporary said women aimed to have their mouth exactly equidistant between their feet and the tops of their hairstyles. </span><br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmiFJF2gSczfjv7ozFJa-QIio-E8SX56HohLxgA12PTB_MKVfWoYeeR8ThhHMOtrTSuVcVvJQGQEbYtzQIiY9AbjHXvtPSfJnHwpMXhm5IaS9S7fvTG8OWBGDUESph0KPYSfX6UUemsJa/s1600/18th-century-court-gown-cloth-of-gold1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="254" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmiFJF2gSczfjv7ozFJa-QIio-E8SX56HohLxgA12PTB_MKVfWoYeeR8ThhHMOtrTSuVcVvJQGQEbYtzQIiY9AbjHXvtPSfJnHwpMXhm5IaS9S7fvTG8OWBGDUESph0KPYSfX6UUemsJa/s320/18th-century-court-gown-cloth-of-gold1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">C18th court dress, a visible sign of wealth through sheer quantity of fabric</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then in the early 1780s the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, began to be seen in much more informal clothes and with unpowdered hair, sending shock waves through the fashionable elite. These included a chemise-like dress, like those worn by creole women in the French Caribbean colonies, and had no need for a bodice or hoops. Her fashion became known as <em>chemise à la reine</em> but was much critisized initially for being too informal for a Queen. It consisted of a white muslin dress, tied with a silk sash and often worn with a straw hat, bringing to mind a quaint pastoral shepherdess. When she was painted in this style of dress in 1783 it immediately became the rage to copy the style by the most fashion conscious and in 1784 she sent samples of her dress to supportive aristocratic ladies. Ironically the fashion became associated with liberation and freedom, following the French Revolution. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe90zV6J0BrIZHYmBAu2ar6klJsxukrlZbxXkcwCTpXXYj46h_NNnJ8b4L5KjKMeh2rs-dXO_k8v045nCt42OJM3c7O7HPpY7Lwm4xZ3oi91VUfYu9QfEnvZUG-9xD3oobIqpcBfRK62D/s1600/marie-antoinette-vigee-le-brun1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioe90zV6J0BrIZHYmBAu2ar6klJsxukrlZbxXkcwCTpXXYj46h_NNnJ8b4L5KjKMeh2rs-dXO_k8v045nCt42OJM3c7O7HPpY7Lwm4xZ3oi91VUfYu9QfEnvZUG-9xD3oobIqpcBfRK62D/s320/marie-antoinette-vigee-le-brun1.jpg" width="251" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Marie Antoinette, 1783</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In England several famous and fashionable women took on this new trend, including Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. However it has been argued by Paula Byrne in her excellent biography entitled <em>Perdita</em> that this style was first brought to England by the actress (and one time lover of the Prince Regent) Mary Robinson. A lovely quote from the <em>Morning Herald </em>in October 1782 states:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"The Perdita [Mary Robsinson's nickname after a character she played] has recieved a dress from Paris which was introduced this Autumn by the Queen of France, and has caused no small anxiety in the fashionable circles."</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then one month later the same paper printed that:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Ladies of the first style adopt it, and gentlemen patronize it. The <em>Chemise de la Reine, </em>in which Mrs Robinson appeared at the Opera, is expected to become a favourite <em>undress</em> among the fashionable women, who are either by necessity or inclination put to their <em>shifts, </em>the ensuing winter!"</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Over the ensuing years the fashion held sway and the sash at the waist gradually moved higher to the bust line (Empire line) which we often think of when we think of Regency styles used in many Jane Austen television adaptations, and trains gradually disappeared.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hairstyles now resembled those of ancient Greek and Roman women, with pearls or flowers worn in the hair for decoration and with bonnets enhanced with ribbons, ruches and artificial flowers.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqepR8OKzVLohKEYijctsptr28oONbKS1t-eOWKKyKCajpuiwHiTn90zLMwuo0zmTc5tQ0eB3nb-Ja7RmglFT1Sk1pTH4L8E9ytQpX1LxljPMxFUltBQoUIhQmJ0qaB871BBbLQLjr9zgl/s1600/Hats1800%252C1801%252C1809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="211" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqepR8OKzVLohKEYijctsptr28oONbKS1t-eOWKKyKCajpuiwHiTn90zLMwuo0zmTc5tQ0eB3nb-Ja7RmglFT1Sk1pTH4L8E9ytQpX1LxljPMxFUltBQoUIhQmJ0qaB871BBbLQLjr9zgl/s320/Hats1800%252C1801%252C1809.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Headwear, early C19th</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I shall finish with some tongue-in-cheek quotations from Jane Austen in letters to her sister, as an example of how women adapted to new fashions by re-styling their own dresses and hats themselves and also how they felt about fashion in general:</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"I bought some Japan [silk] likewise, and next week shall begin my operations on my hat, on which you know my principal hopes of happiness depend." (1798)</span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Elizabeth was really a pretty object with her nice clean cap put on so tidily and her dress so uniformly white and orderly." (1798)</span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Miss Langley is like any other short girl with a broad nose & wide mouth, fashionable dress, & exposed bosom." (1801)</span></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeX7kEEXDX1TFtjX6PsbQTVToTqZCjDZW6lDvAM6CIZ9ggBeyqiRxuldrWIVAD_l9EmPpcGK-4hhee4ZVq3DsWL4ODmoYRxW-i6c4wC0vdVyDAw0oDIJ-nJ4U0Jbriu2XJCaW_NyFz8ijA/s1600/regency+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeX7kEEXDX1TFtjX6PsbQTVToTqZCjDZW6lDvAM6CIZ9ggBeyqiRxuldrWIVAD_l9EmPpcGK-4hhee4ZVq3DsWL4ODmoYRxW-i6c4wC0vdVyDAw0oDIJ-nJ4U0Jbriu2XJCaW_NyFz8ijA/s1600/regency+dress.jpg" /></span></a></div>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-56724889200520111472011-03-04T06:16:00.000-08:002011-03-04T06:17:36.664-08:00Furniture designs<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Eighteenth century houses were generally designed using graceful classical Roman or Greek influences, however as archaeology was in its infancy (e.g. excavations at Pompeii began in 1748), English landowners had no idea what the interiors of grand Roman buildings looked like nor how they were furnished. Popular influences for furniture design were ornate rococo and baroque, chinoiserie, palladian and gothic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Baroque and rococo designs are abundant in country house furniture, with their whimsical, asymmetrical and fussy features, such as scrolls, cherubs and <em>putti</em>, shells, garlands and stylised acanthus leaves. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MrKN88uIA1_4zuNl8KrKvmv8CpYFC0WUic8BgRke7WBuZ0bcXQrlG0lSFULEQxvVr3lnsrSMPnd4hD5valWrT1kNd7P-AKnQNFpnKyAuhFXoeJyLDq-mty0jkN0DaqsNGtxmd80BclvJ/s1600/chippendale-rococo-mirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MrKN88uIA1_4zuNl8KrKvmv8CpYFC0WUic8BgRke7WBuZ0bcXQrlG0lSFULEQxvVr3lnsrSMPnd4hD5valWrT1kNd7P-AKnQNFpnKyAuhFXoeJyLDq-mty0jkN0DaqsNGtxmd80BclvJ/s1600/chippendale-rococo-mirror.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The influence of the East can also be spotted in our country houses, often referred to as chinoiserie. Following increased trade with the East and publications of books such as Sir William Chambers' <em>Designs of Chinese Buildings</em> in 1757, knowledge about Eastern ideas spread. Although Oriental lacquer cabinets had been popular pieces from the seventeenth century, now influences were more widely adopted. Pagoda-style features on furniture, exported Chinese wallpaper and Oriental designs and images on ceramics were very popular.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img alt="chinese wallpaper" height="267" src="http://www.leeds.gov.uk/templenewsam/house/graphics/cp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Chinese wallpaper at Temple Newsam, Leeds</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Palladian and neo-classical styles in furniture and interior design are also prevelant, with classical fireplaces (such as those by Robert Adam), marbled columns and plasterwork on ceilings and walls, as well as the use of symmetry and broken pediments in heavy furniture such as bookcases. Items from Roman excavations such as urns and vases were widely reproduced and used as motifs in designs. </span><br />
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</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Finally, a stylised Gothic style gained some popularity, pre-dating the Victorian craze, and is epitomised in Horace Walpole's fanciful Strawberry Hill. You can spot this influence occasionally in a Gothic feel to furniture such as in chair legs and backs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Victoria & Albert Museum website has an excellent </span><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/british_galleries/bg_styles/"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">guide to these and other styles</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> available online.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Although many fashionable eighteenth century houses took on a definate classical look in their architecture, their interior design, fine arts and furniture could vary from the swirling, asymmetrical excesses of the baroque to a sumptious and exotic Oriental style, highlighting the various influences and tastes of the period.</span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-75863498988007971352011-02-25T11:01:00.000-08:002011-02-25T11:05:44.003-08:00Politics and philosophy in eighteenth century gardens<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The gardens and landscapes that surrounded beautiful country houses during the eighteenth century changed in popular style as the century wore on, growing steadily less formal in appearance. Clearly landowners who followed the trends were simply keeping up with fashion. But how large a role did politics and philosophy play in their designs?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg923s1bmDZYJivnfvlYBS3XeQBc28J9Oh5eLQypiw4dolu-AzgxDidBWh6XOjaNwMsGTd1psQDseLWl-lSBGyGCXvz426nQkw6c9o2-PK9vwWxCLEjnkkzYb20rh7gl9r9_KnxeRew21rw/s1600/Versailles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="204" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg923s1bmDZYJivnfvlYBS3XeQBc28J9Oh5eLQypiw4dolu-AzgxDidBWh6XOjaNwMsGTd1psQDseLWl-lSBGyGCXvz426nQkw6c9o2-PK9vwWxCLEjnkkzYb20rh7gl9r9_KnxeRew21rw/s320/Versailles.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Versailles, France</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Many landowners claimed they were expressing their patriotism and love of democracy and liberty, in response to orderly, geometric French designs, such as that by Le Notre in Versailles. Contemporary, Horace Walpole sneered "<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em>When a Frenchman reads of the garden of Eden, I do not doubt but he concludes it was something approaching that of Versailles, with clipt hedges, berceaus, and trellis-work</em>". This emphasises how then, as now, we take national pride in our rolling landscapes, replete with belts of native trees and serpentine rivers. The trend for avenues of trees, topiary and manicured flower beds was literally wiped out in fashionable country estates in the eighteenth century.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Many contemporaries claimed that to walk in their gardens was an intellectual exercise for the educated elite, emphasising their classical knowledge through emblematic statutory and allegorical features, which would be wasted on the uneducated masses who would simply see what was attractive and miss the intellectual story. The philosopher David Hume wrote in 1757 that "<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em>few are qualified to give judgement on any work of art, or establish their own sentiment as the standard of beauty…When the critic has no delicacy he judges without distinction, and is only affected by the grosser and more palpable qualities of the object; the finer touches pass unnoticed and disregarded". </em></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">At Stowe in Buckinghamshire Viscount Cobham created a garden full of political statements after his falling out with Robert Walpole and resignation from politics. He created a Temple of British Worthies, which held busts of Cobham's supporters alongside historical figures. Furthermore he built a Temple of Ancient Virtue, starkly contrasted with a decaying Temple of Modern Virtue, which rather pointedly held a headless statue of Robert Walpole. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMpOIcngboYXNMWV7P50bkPYrAR49LM_aszNGyD-Dpx3EyhUCOoU3uZycwagmvOAo1TXggwLzjCJjkI1KeRmvy9yDjPmiHT04gxj3f2mvdW4AP_jX44tgU0alVnbUJqNv1DnbA9oEW-bn/s1600/Stowe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMpOIcngboYXNMWV7P50bkPYrAR49LM_aszNGyD-Dpx3EyhUCOoU3uZycwagmvOAo1TXggwLzjCJjkI1KeRmvy9yDjPmiHT04gxj3f2mvdW4AP_jX44tgU0alVnbUJqNv1DnbA9oEW-bn/s320/Stowe.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Temple of British Worthies, Stowe</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Similarly, at that other great English garden, Stourhead in Wiltshire, Henry Hoare dammed the river Stour to create a great lake around which he laid out a beautiful landscape garden, replete with classical buildings and follies. Carved above the door of his first building, the Doric Temple of Flora, is a quote from Virgil "<em>Procul, O procul este, profani" </em>meaning "Begone, you who are uninitiated". Clearly this garden was designed for those who had a classical education and who could appreciate its subtleties and philosophical meaning.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkgIe28Qcr1l4Vj3BT5etjuuMQ-q0uXxDAxXkC1P0__RXwEqErq_U3owV6QJYEOcdFszvoCrFn8hwK-SPGuIYrJXsYWxyxfoxHn_z3FXx_aYEBTvkJtQCaHqvuWgV1gmRzUsu2YU1R4RW/s1600/Stourhead2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="228" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkgIe28Qcr1l4Vj3BT5etjuuMQ-q0uXxDAxXkC1P0__RXwEqErq_U3owV6QJYEOcdFszvoCrFn8hwK-SPGuIYrJXsYWxyxfoxHn_z3FXx_aYEBTvkJtQCaHqvuWgV1gmRzUsu2YU1R4RW/s320/Stourhead2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Temple of Flora, Stourhead</span></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rather than being simply for pleasure, many eighteenth century gardens were created to convey the message that their owner was well educated, democratic and patriotic. William Gilpin wrote of Stowe in 1748 "<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><em>I must own there appears a very visible connection between an improved taste for pleasure and a taste for virtue: when I...enjoy myself in these happy walks, I can feel my mind expand itself, my notions enlarge, and my heart better disposed either for a religious thought or a benevolent action: In a word, I cannot help imagining a Taste for these exalted pleasures contributes towards making me a better man</em>”. Noble sentiments indeed.</span></span></span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7213263063218723652.post-21052415819303121692011-02-20T07:40:00.000-08:002011-02-25T11:04:30.936-08:00Eighteenth century country houses<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In response to decadent, heavy and ornamental C17th designs, country houses of the C18th are often recognisable by their classical simplicity. And as fashions changed, so did the houses. The importance of ensuring your country house kept up with the latest designs was fundamental. Many gentlemen either knocked down the houses and gardens of their forefathers to build new classical houses, others simply re-cased older mansions. </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Initially, square red-brick Dutch-style houses with stone ornamental decoration were popular, such as Clandon Park in Surrey, Uppark in Sussex or Hanbury Hall in Worcestershire. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmLEKg18Mym_KZU8shmYQny-fpkt7MWeOm5ZsnretCMJkKby9SJEGtPmuZiXnhNpa4VUgWjaTgKSNCW_fpS3YwP5-8dBQUbrQsoECGvvnjKZkjqFVRM9mNvWrBHA1HYIV1tfXk3KHhlHb/s1600/Hanbury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFmLEKg18Mym_KZU8shmYQny-fpkt7MWeOm5ZsnretCMJkKby9SJEGtPmuZiXnhNpa4VUgWjaTgKSNCW_fpS3YwP5-8dBQUbrQsoECGvvnjKZkjqFVRM9mNvWrBHA1HYIV1tfXk3KHhlHb/s320/Hanbury.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Hanbury Hall, Worcs (built 1701)</span></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Early in the C18th the influences of the C16th Italian architect Andrea Palladio gained popularity in the UK. His publication <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Four Books of Architecture</i> (pub. 1570 in Venice) was translated to English and it called for strict proportions, grace and understated elegance in designs. By building your country house in the style of Palladio a gentleman was highlighting his association with the greatness of Rome, its philosophy of liberty and democracy, and even the birth of civilisation itself.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">By the middle of the C18th designs continued to draw on the Palladian influence but relaxed in their adherence to strict proportions and gained more freedom in their classical designs. </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">From the middle of the century going into the C19th new influences intrude, such as gothic and the Greek Revival. Strawberry Hill in Twickenham is the greatest example of this and was built by Horace Walpole from 1749. Other gentlemen added in a touch of the gothic by building gothic rooms or extensions such as gothic libraries (e.g. at the Leigh Park estate near Portsmouth, now the Staunton Country Park), or by building faux ruins in their gardens or even purchasing real ruins and moving them into their gardens like Thomas Dummer of Cranbury Park in Hampshire who bought part of Netley Abbey and transformed it into a gamekeeper’s cottage.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A beautiful example of the Greek Revival is Northington Grange near Winchester (featured in the film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Onegin</i>, a beautiful portrayal of the fabulous poem written by Puskin in the 1820s). Wealthy banker Henry Drummond wanted to “show the world a real portico” and between 1804 and 1809 employed the architect William Wilkins to entirely re-case his C17th mansion in the Greek Revival style, the highlight being the imposing Doric portico based on the Parthenon. A visitor in 1823 said “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing can be finer, or like the finest Poussin. It realises the most fanciful representations of the painter’s pencil or the poet’s description...There is nothing like it on this side of Arcadia</i>”.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb1MZeX1uj4PauVwSlewfBHmJCsN_wby44Bxkh3SIDJ9xl0pOqRjDgIwU_Ll4O4sjuWtlxJyqNfqyyex-BvLGqhUcZo70OZf_xRSwJ10iURfAra6d-F5YNsMGCgZHF6pEb8ZYuVLJS_8c/s1600/The+Grange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="222" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb1MZeX1uj4PauVwSlewfBHmJCsN_wby44Bxkh3SIDJ9xl0pOqRjDgIwU_Ll4O4sjuWtlxJyqNfqyyex-BvLGqhUcZo70OZf_xRSwJ10iURfAra6d-F5YNsMGCgZHF6pEb8ZYuVLJS_8c/s320/The+Grange.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">Northington Grange (source: Prosser's Views)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Why were so many houses built or changed in this ‘golden age’ of country houses? Reasons include the rise in land rents and raw materials from the estates, the availability of enclosures of common and waste land, political stability, monies from business investments, e.g. the slave trade, the rise in tourism and house-visiting and improvements in roads and transport, the availability of architectural guidebooks and finally the influence of the Grand Tour. Contemporaries however argued that instead they were showing their patriotism (a reaction against decadent French designs) and expressing their principles of education, morality and taste, as the Earl of Shaftesbury stated in 1731 “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Taste ...is founded on truth...and is acquired by toil and study, which is the reason so few are possessed of it”</i>.</span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">As Lancelot (‘Capability’) Brown said “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Placemaking, and a good English garden depend entirely on principle and have very little to do with fashion”</i>. But do we believe him? Either way, a constellation of beautiful country houses continues to brighten the British countryside as they have done for over 200 years. </span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span>Nicky Pinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02253090308278054410noreply@blogger.com0