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<link>https://www.coplandfoundation.com.au/blog/39lampy39-the-first-garden-gnome_111s32</link>
<title><![CDATA[&#39;Lampy&#39; the First Garden Gnome!]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Verena Mauldon, this year&#39;s Alex Copland Attingham Scholar, had an unusual encounter at Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire. In this blog, she reveals the history of Lampy, the gallant garden gnome who captured her imagination. 
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<content><![CDATA[&lsquo;Lampy&rsquo; the First Garden Gnome!

 

I was fortunate to attend this year&rsquo;s Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and their collections thanks to the generous Alex Copland Scholarship. The summer school provides a wonderful opportunity to explore 25 country houses, their gardens and collections.  It provides a framework and context that allows one to consider the history and the society in which these houses and artefacts were commissioned, coveted and collected.

While many of the objects we saw were things of great beauty and monetary value - others were more quirky and personal. All of them reflect the personality of their owners. One object that caught my imagination was Lampy, the original garden gnome who inhabits Lamport Hall, a beautiful country house in Northampton. This was the home of the Isham family from 1560 until 1976, when it was gifted to the public under the management of a private Trust.

The history of the ubiquitous garden gnome begins when in 1847 the eccentric owner, Sir Charles Isham, began work on a rockery in his garden. The Lamport rockery was one of the first in England. After a holiday to southern Germany, where he saw small china figures being taken down the mines as good luck talismans, Sir Charles brought home a selection of these charming figures to enliven his garden.

They were not just attractive ornaments. Apparently he genuinely believed in fairies and gnomes and was convinced they came alive at night, working away in the caves of the rockery.  He built bridges and waterfalls for them. He even wrote a book, Notes on Gnomes, in which he detailed reported sightings of gnomes by others. He was not alone in this belief: fairies and gnomes were a manifestation of the nineteenth century Romantic Movement. Many people, including the painter Richard Dadd and the writer Arthur Conan Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame), were fellow believers. This is one reason the Lamport rockery and its gnomes attracted widespread attention. In the 1870s thousands of people visited the gardens and the national press picked up on the story of the Garden Gnome - love them or loath them, the gnome was here to stay.

When Sir Charles died in 1903, his two daughters had the gnomes removed. Legend says they shot the gnomes themselves with air rifles - but that may be just a good story.

Only one appears to have survived, by falling into a crevice and laying hidden for many years.  Sir Gyles Isham rediscovered it in the late 1940s. This gallant survivor is now affectionately known as Lampy and has since travelled the world - including a visit to New Zealand - appeared at the Chelsea Garden show and has become recognised as a British national treasure!

 

For more information visit: http://lamporthall.co.uk/the-hall/

Image courtesy of Lamport Hall Trust.
]]></content>
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<pubDate>14 Aug 2017 22:41:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.coplandfoundation.com.au/blog/this-is-not-a-kowangan_111s31</link>
<title><![CDATA[This is not a Kowangan]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[This blog was written by Rosie Cook, a 2016 graduate of the University of Melbourne&#39;s Master of Cultural Materials Conservation. Rosie was also the winner of the 2016 Alexander Copand Award for her minor thesis, This is not a Kowangan: A case-study in community collaboration as conservation of a world culture musical instrument.
]]></description>
<content><![CDATA[Rosie Cook was eagerly anticipating the start of the final year practical subject, &ldquo;Conservation Assessment and Treatment II&rdquo;, where students are assigned objects or artworks to put their conservation techniques and knowledge into practice. Keen to put apply all the skills she&#39;d learned in Treatment I, Rosie was dismayed when the Tyvek cover on her mystery object was pulled back to reveal &quot;a huge pile of dusty leaves, wicker-work, and what appeared to be the hair from that scary little girl in The Ring&quot;. The label informed her the object was a Kowangan, but what exactly was that and how did one treat it?

Launch the pdf to find out!
]]></content>
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<pubDate>16 Jun 2017 01:29:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.coplandfoundation.com.au/blog/attingham-trust-royal-collection-studies_111s30</link>
<title><![CDATA[Attingham Trust: Royal Collection Studies]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Focused and intense, profoundly enriching and stimulating, the 2015 Royal Collection Studies course was an unforgettable experience. The Royal Collection is one of the largest and most important collections of fine and decorative arts in the world and these treasures form an integral part of a remarkable range of Royal residencies and other historical buildings and places of interest to architectural and art historians and curators. 
]]></description>
<content><![CDATA[Focused and intense, profoundly enriching and stimulating, the 2015 Royal Collection Studies course was an unforgettable experience. The Royal Collection is one of the largest and most important collections of fine and decorative arts in the world and these treasures form an integral part of a remarkable range of Royal residencies and other historical buildings and places of interest to architectural and art historians and curators. As a unique record of the tastes, collecting passions and interests of British monarchs over the centuries, and supported by superbly researched publications and exhibitions, the Royal Collection provided a perfect environment for some thirty delegates from ten countries to study British and European art and culture.

From lectures and talks to tours and discussions, the challenges of content and format delivery to curators, researchers and dealers with varied subject expertise and interests, were creatively overcome in what I felt was a well-balanced program with a range of subject choices. Particularly rewarding was the privileged after-hours access to Windsor Castle and the artworks on display there as well as in several other palaces, storage, archives, library, print room and conservation workshops where some of the rarely seen paintings and decorative art objects were prepared for display by conservators using state-of-the-art methods. Equally significant was the guidance of scholars from the Royal Collection Studies faculty and specialist curators and hosts; the commitment, energy and generous time dedicated to the course by the Director of the Royal Collection, Jonathan Marsden, was particularly valued and appreciated by all.

The brilliant commentary and personal perspectives on English history and culture from Giles Waterfield, Royal Collection Studies&rsquo; Director and our daily companion, ensured a most enjoyable as well as thought-provoking time throughout. Finally, the Attingham Trust Study Day on Royal Greenwich, with insightful presentations on the plans for, and challenges facing the refurbishment of Inigo Jones&rsquo; Queen&rsquo;s House and other restoration projects, was an exciting addition to the program to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Royal Collection Studies.

Historical decorative arts collections in Australia are inextricably linked to a greater or lesser degree to European histories, art styles and traditions. Among the strengths of the collection of Sydney&rsquo;s Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences are both British and Australian 18th and 19th century ceramics, metalwork, jewellery and furniture informed by Victorian historicism as well as the Aesthetic Movement, British Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles. Some of these works were displayed in Australia&rsquo;s international exhibitions of 1879 and 1880, which were inspired by the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851. Many other decorative objects, modelled on European designs, represented colonial Australia at British and European exhibitions. As curator for these objects, I have benefitted immeasurably from the inspections, talks and presentations that have extended my understanding of British and European art and history and also of design processes and materials technology. While practically all viewings, tours and visits were outstanding, particular treats in areas of my curatorial interest included such extraordinary sessions as that in the Tower of London exploring Crown Jewels with Jonathan Marsden, the S&egrave;vres ceramics presentation by Dame Rosalind Savill at Windsor Castle and the visit to that fabulous Mintons extravaganza, the Royal Dairy at Frogmore, Windsor Home Park. Meissen porcelain services featured in the Painting Paradise exhibition at The Queen&rsquo;s Gallery and English papier-m&acirc;ch&eacute; furniture at Frogmore House will also directly inform my research of museum objects in Sydney. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the special assistance of Senior Curator Caroline de Guitaut who offered additional information and enabled an extra viewing in support of my research on Australian metalwork and Faberg&eacute;.

Alongside art and court history studies, many opportunities were created for informal discussions throughout the course. The inclusion of topical issues facing 21st century collections ensured the participants&rsquo; keen involvement and a valuable experience exchange took place, with subjects ranging from display and interpretation, interiors restoration, marketing, online access and community engagement. Furthermore, the course facilitated professional network-building and friendships which I know will be of great benefit to the entire group in our future curatorial and research endeavours.

 

Eva Czernis-Ryl, Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney. Nina Stanton Attingham Scholar 2015.
]]></content>
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<pubDate>28 Mar 2017 00:46:00 GMT</pubDate>
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<link>https://www.coplandfoundation.com.au/blog/abbey-museum-stained-glass-conservation-project_111s29</link>
<title><![CDATA[Abbey Museum Stained Glass Conservation Project]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology applied for funding for the conservation of (9) nine 14th to 16th centuries stained glass windows in its collection that were in urgent need of restoration.
]]></description>
<content><![CDATA[Overview of project:

The Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology applied for funding for the conservation of (9) nine 14th to 16th centuries stained glass windows in its collection that were in urgent need of restoration.

These were:


	P. I. Porch Window &ndash; from Winchester Cathedral &ndash; English 14th &amp; 15th century glass fragments.
	P. II. Porch Window &ndash; from Winchester Cathedral &ndash; English 14th &amp; 15th century glass fragments.
	S. IX. C3. Panel 9 of Nine-Light Window &ndash; English 15th century &ndash; miscellaneous fragments.
	S. IX. A2. Panel 2 of Nine-Light Window &ndash; English 14th century - miscellaneous fragments including 2 heads, hand and architectural pieces. This window is very buckled.
	S. IX. A3. Panel 3 of Nine-Light Window &ndash; English 14th century &ndash; roundel of architectural detail, finials and patterns.
	S. IX. B3. Panel 6 of Nine-Light Window &ndash; German 16th century &ndash; fragments including roundel with wool merchant&rsquo;s mark; the letters &ldquo;PETI&rdquo;; below that a small monogram letter &ldquo;A&rdquo;.
	S. IX. C1. Panel 7 of Nine-Light Window &ndash; English 14th century &ndash; fragments including a large head with money-chest (&ldquo;the merchant&rdquo;); 2 smaller heads, a monk and nobleman. T
	V. II. Winged Lion of St. Mark &ndash; Flemish early 16th century
	V. I. Winged Ox of St. Luke &ndash; Flemish, early 16th century


Process:


	On the 5th March 2015, the nine windows were removed to the stained glass conservation studio at Eumundi for work to begin.
	Each panel was studied closely and the conservation needs and the best approach to conservation discussed where necessary with the Museum&rsquo;s Senior Curator and consulting stained glass historian.
	At times through the project, the fragile nature of some of the glass, the traditional glass paint used or the painting methods required further research and consultation with international conservators
	After rubbings were taken of each window they were dismantled and cleaning commenced.
	Each fragment of glass was painstakingly cleaned
	Work commenced on broken fragments that had been identified as suitable for edge gluing.  
	Significant missing pieces of window features were painted after experimentation to ensure a good match.
	Every step of the process was photographed.
	Once all pieces were cleaned, edge-glued or replacement fragment painted the window was leaded back together.
	The windows were reinstalled on 28th May


Outcome:

The conservation of these nine significant windows, especially those fragments originally from Winchester Cathedral has made a considerable contribution to the Museum Stained Glass conservation program. Not only is it preserving these windows for future generations but also providing important historical information regarding medieval stained glass manufacture and techniques that has come from this project which will enhance the experience of visitors coming to view the collection and also be included in a planned publication on the stained glass collection.

Of the forty (40) stained glass windows on display in the Abbey Church and originally requiring conservation, twenty-eight (28) are fully conserved and reinstalled and of the twelve (12) remaining, ten (10) are fully funded leaving only 2 to be funded.
]]></content>
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<pubDate>28 Feb 2017 00:29:00 GMT</pubDate>
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