Artificial Stone 4: Post-Coade potteries

Posted on 13/08/2016 by The Garden History Blog
Detail of a Triton fountain by J.M. Blashfield http://www.jardinique.co.uk

Detail of a Triton fountain by J.M. Blashfield
http://www.jardinique.co.uk

While Eleanor Coade’s factory was the dominant player in the artificial stone market in the late 18th and early 19thc there were others. A few using their own magic mixtures and from the 1820s onwards others began using the new invention of Portland cement. So when William Croggan went bust in 1833 there were several other entrepreneurs ready and able to move in and pick up the pieces.

This post is about two of them – Mark Blanchard and John Marriott Blashfield whose careers ran in parallel through the mid-late 19thc. Their  architectural and decorative faux stone and terracotta work can be found all over the country in buildings like the V&A, as well as structures like Chelsea Bridge, and their  garden statuary, urns and other  ornaments are in many historic gardens and are now very collectable.

from Blanchard's catalogue, 1869

from Blanchard’s catalogue, 1869

Read on to find out why….

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Artificial Stone 3: Coade broken

Posted on 06/08/2016 by The Garden History Blog
The entrsance to Coade and Sealy's exhibition gallery, © The Trustees of the British Museum

The entrance to Coade and Sealy’s exhibition gallery, © The Trustees of the British Museum

In two earlier posts we have seen the rise and triumph of Eleanor Coade’s artificial stone business. [Catch up on them at:   http://wp.me/p4brf0-vR6  &   http://wp.me/p4brf0-vR8 ]  Eleanor was a successful entrepreneur dominating the market in architectural decoration and garden ornaments in later Georgian England. This was partly thanks to her own skills and partly thanks to the talent of her chief designer, John Bacon.  After Bacon died in 1799 Eleanor chose a new business partner – her cousin John Sealy and the business was renamed Coade and Sealy. But was it to continue on an upward curve?

At first it seemed so and Coade and Sealy went from strength to strength but by 1833 the business went bust. What went wrong? Read on to find out what happened to destroy Eleanor’s Coade’s enterprise and take down such an iconic name.

Coade Stone factory yard on Narrow Wall Street, Lambeth, London, c1800.

Coade Stone factory yard on Narrow Wall Street, Lambeth, London, c1800.

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Beer and Skittles … but mainly skittles

Posted on 30/07/2016 by The Garden History Blog
Miss Tipapin going for all nine, 1779'From the Original Picture by John Collet, in the possession of Carington Bowles. British Museum

Miss Tipapin going for all nine, 
British Museum

Games where you roll or throw something at some sort of target to make it fall over are documented since at least medieval times, maybe even in ancient Egypt.  Such games have only evolved marginally since then!   Whether its kegel, the nine-pin bowling of the Teutonic world, the ten-pin bowling of the American world, quilles which is played in France,  or skittles, a game which is recorded from before Tudor times in England the principle is much the same.

Mind you the detail is very different. I hadn’t realised quite how many variations in the game survive in Britain – each with their own specific rules but don’t worry I’m not going to try and explain them all.  These games were sometimes played indoors but in early modern Britain they were more often played in gardens… particularly those attached to inns and hostelries

from Every Woman's Encyclopaedia, 1910

from Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910

 

Read on to find out more about the origins and history of skittles in the beer garden and elsewhere… Continue reading →

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What is an English Garden?

Posted on 23/07/2016 by The Garden History Blog
david marsh July 2106

“A contemporary re-interpretation of the traditional English garden” ?              David Marsh, July 2106

What is an “English Garden”? We all know the answer don’t we? Especially in 2016 The Year of the Garden. Even though not all of the readers of this blog are in England I’m sure the words “English Garden” conjure up familiar and comfortable images in your mind. Maybe grand herbaceous borders or expansive Capability Brown landscapes…maybe cottage gardens stuffed with roses and hollyhocks  or neatly trimmed lawn  with croquet hoops… box topiary, stone urns and lead statues…suburban bedding plants or workday productive allotments?  Actually maybe defining an English garden isn’t quite that simple after all.

The question came to mind when I saw this garden a couple of days ago…

David `Marsh July 2016

“A contemporary re-interpretation of the traditional English garden” ?                                                  David Marsh    July 2016

 

and read this description of it….

“Lawns, generous mixed borders planted with annuals and perennials, winding paths and scented rose-filled alleyways are just a few of the features of this new … garden, a contemporary re-interpretation of the traditional English garden.”

David marsh July 2016

“A contemporary re-interpretation of the traditional English garden” ?                             David Marsh   July 2016

Since most of the garden looked nothing like my idea of a typically English garden, after a little giggling, I was left feeling rather bemused and began to wonder if actually I had any idea of what I was talking about.  So then I thought best to check out what other people thought and think, so read on to find out about some possible interpretations of what makes “an English Garden”… Continue reading →

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Lady Dorothy and Dangstein’s ‘aerial orchestra’

Posted on 16/07/2016 by The Garden History Blog

 

Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill (nee Walpole), 1844, (1902). Artist: George Frederick Watts, from The Connoisseur, vol.2, 1902

Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill (nee Walpole), 1844, by George Frederick Watts, from The Connoisseur, vol.2, 1902

It could have been the headline in a red-top scandal-sheet: Earl’s young daughter found in ‘a compromising situation’ in the summer house.   Today no-one would care, but in 1846 by being found hidden away in the garden, unchaperoned and with ‘ a notorious rake’ Dorothy Walpole ruined her marriage prospects.   But by the end of her life all this was forgotten, and she was revered as a great figure in the Conservative party who helped form the Primrose League, and more importantly a great gardener.

Lady Dorothy, by K Vanity Fair, 6 November 1912.

Lady Dorothy, by K
Vanity Fair, 6 November 1912.

It didn’t help that her family had a history of risqué behaviour which placed them on the fringes of polite society.  Her father, Horatio Walpole the  3rd Earl of Orford gambled heavily, and once wrote that he “would rather live in the land of sinners than with…saints.” Her brother  fathered a child with  the notorious Lady Lincoln [google her for details of her divorce case which set London tongues wagging] and then eloped with her.

They could get away with it because they were men and  it was Dorothy who drew the shortest straw. Read on to find more about how she overcame the scandal, became friends with Darwin, Disraeli and William and Joseph Hooker of Kew, and developed one of the greatest exotic gardens in 19thc Britain.

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