SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

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Bryan Wells
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1 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

By Carolin C. Young Map of the Underground by Harry Beck, 1933. Daniel Crouch Rare Books, London. Engraver Benjamin Baker s trade card showing a map of Islington, c. 1798 1800.

Daniel Crouch maps London T his September Daniel Crouch Rare Books presents a special pop-up exhibition of London maps at the Gallery@OXO on the South Bank as part of the city s multievent Totally

2 By Carolin C. Young Map of the Underground by Harry Beck, Daniel Crouch Rare Books, London. Engraver Benjamin Baker s trade card showing a map of Islington, c Daniel Crouch Rare Books. Daniel Crouch maps London T his September Daniel Crouch Rare Books presents a special pop-up exhibition of London maps at the Gallery@OXO on the South Bank as part of the city s multievent Totally Thames festival. The earliest work, the first printed map of London, dates to 1572, while the most recent, a depiction of subterranean London, was created two years ago by Stephen Walter for the London Transport Museum in honor of the 150th anniversary of the London Underground. The assembled collection visually encapsulates the history of the British capital. Large-scale maps such as John Rocque s painstakingly detailed eight- and sixteen-sheet versions of the 1750s offer sweeping views of the entire city whose minutiae can be endlessly studied. A tiny trade card advertising the services of the firm of Benjamin Baker in Islington, the best topographical engravers in all of Europe, and meticulously rendering the village, shows how this now hippest of London neighborhoods appeared between about 1798 and These maps hold equal interest for their marginalia and charming details. The rarest of them, created by Thomas Porter about 1655, not only depicts Cromwellian London but also illustrates the Thames s teeming boat traffic and bustling wharves. Crouch s selection bears witness to his belief that spectacular maps of any era should have a visual appeal that exceeds the utilitarian. For this reason he has prominently featured Harry Beck s iconic map of the London Underground of 1933 in the introduction to the accompanying catalogue, a classic of modern graphic design and the underpinning of the one in use today by over 1.23 billion passengers yearly. Crouch s permanent gallery in St. James s contains a broader range of works, including celestial and terrestrial globes, maps derived from voyages of discovery, and, indeed, from around the world and even the moon. His range reflects what he describes as the two ends of map collecting: the macro, I can see the world as it was perceived, and the micro, I can see my garden, although he confesses that a great deal of overlap exists between the two groups. He himself collects maps of Oxford and Oxfordshire where he grew up and continues to live. It was there, in fact, that he got his start: at Sanders during a summer holiday at the tender age of sixteen he found himself in charge of their newly created map department. This precocious start has allowed him to accumulate a vast depth of expertise and experience. Although only forty, he is a veteran exhibitor at TEFAF Maastricht and also participates in fairs in London, Paris, New York, Miami, and Chicago. Crouch has watched the field change. Maps of China and Russia that were the least saleable items when he started now garner huge interest. Within the past twenty-four months he has seen a pronounced trend of collectors ridding antique maps of their traditional wood or gilded frames and presenting them instead in a contemporary manner, often alongside contemporary art. The London exhibition at the OXO gallery at Tower Wharf, with the Thames as a backdrop to maps of the city spanning nearly five centuries, offers an especially striking opportunity to consider old maps in a new way. Mapping London Daniel Crouch Rare Books, OXO Tower Wharf, South Bank, London to September 14 crouchrarebooks.com 40

Portrait of William Morris by G. F. Watts, 1870. National Portrait Gallery, London. Cover of House Decorating and Furnishing by Morris and Co. (1912). William Morris Gallery, London.

on the artist s influence on twentieth-century life, politics, thought and design.

3 Portrait of William Morris by G. F. Watts, National Portrait Gallery, London. Cover of House Decorating and Furnishing by Morris and Co. (1912). William Morris Gallery, London. Two drawings by Edward Burne-Jones, 1886, from a sheet titled William Morris Cutting a Wood Block. Trustees of the British Museum. Daisy wallpaper designed by William Morris in 1862, printed in William Morris Gallery. William Morris at the National Portrait Gallery L ondon s National Portrait Gallery this autumn presents an in-depth exhibition devoted to William Morris that the museum bills as the first to focus on the artist s influence on twentieth-century life, politics, thought and design. The show contains several portraits of Morris, including the famous oil by George Frederic Watts of 1870 from the museum s collection, and some charming sketches by Morris s friend and collaborator Edward Burne-Jones that belong to the British Museum. One of these depicts Morris giving a weaving demonstration; another shows him tinkering in his workshop. However, with furniture, tableware, jewelry, textile designs, pamphlets, and even Morris s worn satchel, the show marks something of a departure for an institution best known for displaying traditional likenesses of the U.K. s most famous citizens. It is the cumulative presentation of these varied artifacts that creates a metaphorical portrait as multifaceted as its subject. The exhibition and its catalogue present Morris as a designer and craftsman whose work proved seminal to the arts and crafts movement. But he is also examined as a utopian novelist, a socialist, and a political activist. The organizers hope to conjure the tremendous energy, commitment, creativity, and even irascibility that are absent from the Watts portrait. The show also explores how Morris s projects, designs, and philosophies reverberated in the next century. Some elements of Morris s oeuvre, such as his endlessly reproduced wallpaper designs, have made him so famous that few people will be unfamiliar with him or his influence on subsequent movements to improve the beauty of the everyman s life. However, this extensive show goes deeper into these connections than previous studies, touching not only upon the artist s connections with stars such as William De Morgan but also with lesser-known figures such as Thomas Okey, master of the Art Workers Guild. Its exploration of Morris s influence extends to unlikely directions such as the Festival of Britain. Anarchy and Beauty: William Morris and His Legacy, National Portrait Gallery, London October 16 to January 11, 2015 npg.org.uk 42

I n celebration of its fifth anniversary, Hermitage Amsterdam is hosting a lavish exhibition of more than one thousand pieces of European porcelain and tablewares that came into the collections of

This theatrically mounted display asks visitors to imagine that they have been issued a coveted imperial invitation and to review the appropriate etiquette before mounting the steps of the Winter

Highlights include pieces from some of the renowned services created for Catherine the Great, such as Wedgwood s Green Frog service; Sèvres s Cameo service, which will be exhibited with silver-gilt

4 I n celebration of its fifth anniversary, Hermitage Amsterdam is hosting a lavish exhibition of more than one thousand pieces of European porcelain and tablewares that came into the collections of the Russian tsars between 1745 and the years leading up to World War I. This theatrically mounted display asks visitors to imagine that they have been issued a coveted imperial invitation and to review the appropriate etiquette before mounting the steps of the Winter Palace. In the main hall tables will be laid out as if ready for dining. Highlights include pieces from some of the renowned services created for Catherine the Great, such as Wedgwood s Green Frog service; Sèvres s Cameo service, which will be exhibited with silver-gilt flatware for the first time; and the Berlin service. The exhibition will explore the menus for these occasions with special emphasis on the delicacies of the dessert table, which served up visual and gustatory flourishes for a grand finale. More sobering is the show s final display, an extensive porcelain dinner service that was given by the Hungarian people to Stalin in The show s organizers point out that this exemplifies the use of dinnerware as a diplomatic gift in the twentieth century. With the hindsight of history, the fact that the service has never been used or previously exhibited demonstrates just how tragically ineffective even the most generous gifts can be. D i n i n g w i t h t h e Ts a r s : Fragile B e a u t y f ro m t h e Hermitage Hermitage Amsterdam to March 1, 2015 hermitage.nl Soup plate, fork, and knife and table setting of the Imperial Order of Saint George the Victorious porcelain service, commissioned by Catherine II from the Gardner Factory, Moscow, c State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Ice cream cup (tasse à glace) and table set with the Cameo porcelain service commissioned by Catherine II and made by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, France, State Hermitage Museum. Dining with the tsars in Amsterdam 44

Silver-gilt toilet service by Johann Heinrich Oertel and Gottfried Imlin from the collection of the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Strasbourg, 1784. Galerie J.

5 Silver-gilt toilet service by Johann Heinrich Oertel and Gottfried Imlin from the collection of the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Strasbourg, Galerie J. Kugel, Paris; photograph courtesy of Hughes Dubois. Strasbourg silver-gilt in Paris A t their sumptuous Left Bank premises, brothers Alexis and Nicolas Kugel this autumn exhibit a staggering collection of silver-gilt objects created in Strasbourg from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. The show not only opens in tandem with Paris s Biennale des Antiquaires but marks, almost to the day, the fiftieth anniversary of an exhibition on the same theme put on by their late father, Jacques. They therefore honor him by showcasing the technical finesse and aesthetic sophistication of silversmiths from the Alsatian capital. The influence of geography and politics on the objects created at this crossroads between Germany and France can be seen in the exhibition s layout. The first section focuses on the Germanic styles popular from the Renaissance through the baroque era. The second examines the French aesthetic favored from the late seventeenth century onwards, especially as fashions shifted into the rococo and neoclassical. A scholarly catalogue in French accompanies the exhibition. Vermeilleux! Silver-Gilt from Strasbourg, 16th 19th Century Galerie J. Kugel, Paris September 10 to November 8 galeriekugel.com European Fair Calendar: La Biennale des Antiquaires Grand Palais, Paris September sna-france.com LAPADA Art and Antiques Fair Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London September lapadalondon.com Biennale Internazionale di Antiquariato di Roma Palazzo Venezia, Rome Octo ber 1 6 biennale-antiquariato.roma.it Kunst-Messe München Postpalast, Munich October 31 to November 9 kunstmesse-muenchen.com 46

the tsars cabinet Traveling Exhibitions 200 Years of Russian Decorative Arts under the Romanovs

Urn, Imperial Porcelain Factory, Russia, c. 1845, porcelain the tsars cabinet Traveling Exhibitions Tsar Nicholas II and his family, c.1914. Photo courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library. Russian porcelain