Month: November 2018

If these gilded Chippendale torchères could talk…

Modern(ish), Museums

A pair of five-foot torchères made by iconic cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale that witnessed some of the juiciest scandals of the Georgian era have entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art and are now on display there. The museum acquired the candle-holders for $640,000 in a July sale of Thomas Chippendale works at Christie’s London. The seller was Washington D.C. collector S. Jon Gerstenfeld who had owned them since 1995. In the 220 years before then, the giltwood torchères illuminated the sexy goings-on at Brocket Hall in Hertforshire.

Of columnar form with finely carved acanthus leaves, swags, fluting, and oval masks depicting the Roman goddess Diana, these remarkable works exhibit Chippendale’s masterful understanding of neoclassical proportion, scale, and ornament. Monumental in size, they were designed in 1773 for the grand drawing room of Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, England, the county seat of Sir Peniston Lamb.

Thomas Chippendale is perhaps best known for his landmark book of furniture designs, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (first published in 1754), which was highly admired and widely used as a source of inspiration by cabinetmakers and architects in both Europe and America. As such, Chippendale is most often associated with the many works in mahogany or walnut that follow his designs. These torchères are among the very few pieces made by the master himself and are therefore considered exceedingly rare.

Originally part of a set of four (the other pair were sold separately in 1994), the candle holders adorned a room that was already replete with Chippendale furnishings. The estate of Brocket Hall was purchased in 1746 by Matthew Lamb, a wealthy barrister and Member of Parliament who would be enobled nine years later and created 1st Baronet of Brocket Hall. In 1760 he built the stately neoclassical mansion that stands today. The Grand Saloon, a banquet hall built sparing no expense to make it fine enough to receive royalty, was filled with furniture custom-made by Thomas Chippendale. This room alone cost £1,500, the price to construct an entire mansion at that time.

When his father died in 1768, Peniston Lamb acceded to the baronetcy and became the master of Brocket Hall. He married Elizabeth Milbanke in April of 1769 and significantly boosted by her beauty, charm and facility for making friends and lovers at the highest levels of English society, Lord and Lady Melbourne quickly advanced socially and politically. The fact that less than a year after their marriage Lord Melbourne was already cavorting with an actress better known for her private performances posed no obstacle.

The actress in question, Sophia Baddeley, wrote in her memoirs (published under the pseudonym Elizabeth Steele in the voice of a faux roommate following “as told to” convention) about Lord Melbourne’s pursuit of her.

This gentleman was about twenty-one years of age, and had been married about ten months to a very amiable woman. For a length of time, he used every means to engage her [Sophia’s] attention at Ranelagh, but finding that an improper place for an interview, at least such a one as he wished, he applied to a friend, in confidence, to make her, in his name, an offer of share in his fortune, in exchange for the possession of her heart. This friend brought her a letter, including a bill for 300£. which he very politely pressed her acceptance of, as a bagatelle, and to consider it only as a proof of his esteem, and that liberality which his affection for her would study to convince her of.

Sophia of course nobly declined this offer on the grounds that Lamb should pay all this attention and consideration to his lovely wife, not her. He redoubled his efforts and next thing you know, they were found together “drinking tea,” her memoirs would have it. Melbourne “threw up the parlour window, and precipitately leaped out.” My, such a guilty reaction for someone caught in the innocuous act of sipping tea. Oh and, just out sheer politeness, I’m sure, “as an atonement for his intrusion,” Melbourne “left bank notes on the parlous table, to the amount of two hundred pounds.”

Lady Melbourne was no slouch in the extramarital activities department. She caught the eye of the Prince of Wales, the future King George IV, when she was in her early 30s, had been married for a decade and was in an active relationship with George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, widely believed to be the father of her second son William, the future Lord Melbourne, who would find himself notoriously cuckholded when his wife, Lady Caroline Lamb, had a scandalous affair with Lord Byron. She famously had (Lady Melbourne hated her daughter-in-law but was a friend and confidant to Byron even during the intensely public affair that so humiliated her son. Byron would later marry her niece.)

MP and historian Sir Nathaniel Wraxall wrote about her in his posthumous memoirs:

“A commanding figure, exceeding the middle height, full of grace and dignity, an animated countenance, intelligent features, captivating manners and conversation; all these, and many other attractions, enlived by coquetry, met in Lady Melbourne. Her husband had been principally known by the distinguished place that he occupies in the annals of meretricious pleasure, the memoirs of Mrs. Bellamy or Mrs. Baddeley, the syrens and courtesans of a former age.

The annals of meretricious pleasure were surely illuminated by the Chippendale torchères. The Prince of Wales was a frequent vision to Brocket Hall where he enjoyed the liberal hospitality of the lady of the house without complaint from its lord. And what did have to complain about when there was so much benefit to be had from his wife’s liaisons with the highest aristocracy in the land? Melbourne’s irrelevance in Parliament and penchant for ladies of ill-repute were no barrier to advancement. In 1770, he was made an Irish Baron. In 1781 he got bumped up to Viscount (also Irish) and in 1784 he was appointed Gentleman of the Bedchamber to his Royal Highness, who was (not coincidentally) entertaining Lady Melbourne in that bedchamber at the time. In 1815, during the Regency of the Prince, Melbourne got the boost all the way up the Peerage ladder when he was created Baron of the United Kingdom.

A gallon of 2,000-year-old wine found in tomb

Ancient

Almost a full gallon of ancient wine has been discovered in a tomb in the city of Luoyang, Henan province, central China. The tomb dates to the Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.- 8 A.D.) and excavations have unearthed a large quantity of jade, clay and bronze artifacts in the tomb. The copious grave goods were found in excellent condition, among them a pot-bellied bronze vessel that was found to contain a pale yellow liquid. Archaeologists haven’t explain whether or how the pot was sealed, but the lid must have been decently attached or else the contents would have evaporated. Instead, researchers were able to pour a full 3.5 liters of liquid into a beaker. Laboratory tests still need to be done on the fluid to confirm the identification, but it looks and smells like wine, specifically wine made from rice or another grain.

Similar-aged rice wine had earlier been found in other tombs dating back to the Western Han period. Liquor made from rice or sorghum grains were a major part of ceremonies and ritual sacrifices in ancient China. It was often contained with elaborate bronze cast vessels.

Shi said the bronze pot containing the liquid is one of the two big bronze items unearthed from the tomb. The other is a lamp in the shape of a wild goose, which was the first of its kind found in the city of Luoyang, capital of 13 dynasties, with a history of 3,000 years.

The tomb was constructed of hollow bricks, a technique that was common in the Western Han period for upper class tombs. The clay bricks were more expensive but more durable than wood. They were made in molds and stamped with relief designs before being fully cured. At 2260 square feet in area with six chambers and a corridor, this tomb held the remains of an important individual. The skeletal remains of said individual, an adult male, were found in the main chamber.

The main chamber also contained the lion’s share of the artifacts. In addition to the large bronze vessels and the bronze goose lamp, archaeologists unearthed bronze mirrors and cups. In the north chamber were painted pottery vessels, copper plates, copper pots, copper stoves and other funerary offerings.

It’s likely that the wine was an offering as well. Rice wine played an important role in celebrations, ceremonies, religious rituals and funerary rites.

9th century coin hoard found in bog

Medieval, Treasures

Archaeologists have discovered an exceptional group of more than 250 9th century coins in a bog near Ribe, Denmark. A metal detector hobbyist found the first coin earlier this year, an extremely rare piece known as a face/deer coin after the stylized face design on the obverse and the deer going nose-to-nose with a snake on the reverse. Only 11 face/deer coins were known to exist before this summer. The Museum of Southwest Jutland got wind of it on August 14th and contacted the finder the next day. That’s when they discovered there wasn’t just one more face/deer coin, but a whole bunch more, likely deposited in the wetland as a ritual sacrifice.

Obverse of the face/deer coin with a stylized face in the center. Photo courtesy Southwest Jutland Museums.With the help of the finder, museum archaeologists surveyed the site using metal detectors and precision GPS to document every discovery. Over two days, they found 174 coins, 172 of them face/deer coins, the last two with Viking ships adorned with shields on the obverse and deer on the reverse. The coins were spread over an elongated oval about 165 by 50 feet in area, a distribution typical of coin deposits that have been scattered by repeated passes with plows. The way they were spread out suggests they were not buried in the bog, but rather placed on the ground in a single deposit, likely in a bag that was torn apart and destroyed over the centuries.

The team returned to the site in late October to excavate it. This time they found another 78 coins, 77 face/deer, 1 ship/deer. The condition of all of the coins is excellent. They were in such great shape that many of them shone like new through the clods of peat when they were recovered by the archaeologists.

“This is an exceptional find that means a quantum leap in our understanding of minting. They are Danish coins and clearly minted for the purpose of being implemented in Ribe,” [Museum of Southwest Jutland’s Claus] Feveile told DR Nyheder.

“This completely shifts our understanding of how we used to mint and the process of coin production.”

With no loops, perforations or clippings, it’s clear the coins were part of a money economy before their ritual deposition. The question of how much of a real monetary economy early Viking cities employed as opposed to a precious metal weight economy is a fraught one in the scholarship, and finding so many coins deposited in one place and preserved in perfect condition will give numismatic experts the unique opportunity to determine how many of these coins were minted and circulated. Initial examinations have already revealed that many different stamps were used to strike the coins, indicating a significant output that was in no way imaginable based solely on the two handfuls of coins known before this summer.

When these coins were struck in the first half of the 9th century, Gudfred and later his sons ruled as kings of the Danes. Gudfred is the first Danish king we have decently reliable evidence of in contemporary chronicles. He fought against Charlemagne and the Franks. His son Horik I (the only son whose name is recorded but not the only one to rule) carried on his father’s legacy by raiding the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne’s son Louis the Pious. We know little about Gudfred and his sons’ monetary policies or really much of anything about their reigns beyond their interactions with the Franks. The hoard may shed a whole new light on an obscure historical period.

The coins unearthed thus far were briefly on display at the Museum of Southwest Jutland for a week until November 4th before being removed for further study. The excavation at the find site continued through October 25th. Between August and now, a total of 252 coins have been recovered. Archaeologists don’t think there are many, or even any, left to find.

17th c. wood palisade found in Québec City

Modern(ish)

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 17th century defensive fortification in Québec City that was the first reinforced wood palisade in North America. The structure was unearthed by archaeological contractors during the renovations of a building on Sainte-Ursule Street in Old Québec. A construction worker spotted a small piece of wood sticking out of the sand below street level. From that small fragment excavation revealed a tract more than 65 feet long of a thick wooden structure. The remains of the palisades are in extraordinary condition. The waterlogged clay soil preserved the organic remains for 325 years.

The rempart de Beaucours was built in 1693 to protect Québec City from artillery attack. It replaced a wood stockade built in 1690, the first landward defenses to encircle the city. The stockade ran between 11 small masonry redoubts for gun batteries and artillery defense. It was built under pressure of an invasion from England’s Massachusetts Bay Colony and given its limitations, it would perform admirably during the Battle of Quebec in October of that year. It withstood a six-day siege leaving the English forces soundly spanked.

That victory was at least in part due to good luck, however — English commander Sir William Phips made a bunch of unforced errors — and as a consequence of the close call Governor-General Louis de Buade de Frontenac commissioned Ingénieur du Roi Josué Berthelot de Beaucours to build a rampart strong enough to withstand a frontal assault from full English cannon, strength that Phips had not deployed. Construction began in summer of 1693 and 500 men (the city’s population was between 2,000 and 3,000 at that time) built two wooden walls 13 feet high. The walls were anchored in a trench and the space between them filled with sand. That’s what allowed them to absorb the impact of heavy artillery. The tops where fitted with pointed wooden stakes.

The palisade was replaced during another period of high tension with Britain. In 1745, the city got new defensive walls, these ones made of stone. The masonry walls still encircle the Old City today, part of the most complete set of city colonial fortifications preserved in North America. There are elements ranging in date from the founding of Quebec in 1608 until the British garrison’s departure in 1871. Beaucours’ palisades were known from maps and historical accounts, but no remains of them have been found before. The discovery fills an extremely significant gap in the evolution of the city’s defenses.

Teams are now working to extract the artifacts as quickly as possible before temperatures plummet and jeopardize the site.

Several pieces of wood have already been dug out and carefully brought indoors, where they will be dried out over a two-year period.

A large central beam will likely have to be hauled out with a crane, said [archeologist Jean-Yves] Pintal.

Once the wood has been dried and stabilized, the reconstructed palisade will go on display at a location yet to be determined.

Farmer plows up Archaic kouros

Ancient


Archaeologists have discovered four Archaic era kouros statues in Atalanti, central Greece. The first of the sculptures was discovered by the property owner when he was plowing a field. He unearthed the limestone torso of a nude male youth 2’9″ high and immediately alerted the regional archaeological authority to his find. The kouros was recovered and transferred to the Archaeological Museum of Atalanti.

The Ephorate of Antiquities of Fthiotida and Evritania dispatched an archaeological team to conduct a thorough field excavation of the find site and environs. They have been digging there since mid-October and have found another three life-sized kouroi. In a test trench on the north section of the site, the team found a limestone kouros four feet high. It is intact from head to the thighs and depicts a bearded man with his left leg forward. Next to it was the lower torso of a male 2’8″ long extending from the lower back to the tibia. The plinth that runs along the back surface is intact. The third kouros was found last Friday (November 2nd). It is 3’1″ from throat to thighs and the left leg is extended. A trihedral block found right next to it is likely a fragment of the base of the third statue.

It’s a remarkable haul for such a short excavation of a small portion of a field which has seen such recent agricultural activity, but the Archaic sculptures aren’t the only archaeologically significant remains discovered at the site. In deeper layers than the ones where the kouroi were located, archaeologists unearthed seven graves dating from the 5th century B.C. through the second. The grave goods are reportedly impressive although no details are forthcoming yet. This was not a random group of burials. Their arrangement and location near the modern city Atalanti indicates they were part of an organized cemetery of the ancient Mycenaean city of Opus, founded in the Late Helladic period (1600–1100 B.C.) and well-populated until the Gothic invasions of the 4th century.