Works by Sir Kyffin Williams, Augustus John and Sir Cedric Morris go under the hammer in a sale of 20th Century British Art.
We've all worn them or sent our children off to school in them but these pictures largely from the 1800s are fascinating
James Williams of Wrexham was born in Wrexham circa 1818 and died in the same town in 1895. He worked as a tailor and his tailoring business appears in trade directories from 1850 to 1895. This a little known Victorian tailor created a prized piece of art, a Welsh quilt known as the Wrexham Coverlet. This bed cover is made from 4,500 pieces of wool cloth and was created in mid-1800s and took some 10 years to complete. It is thought to possibly have been made from military uniforms. Whilst not a traditional Welsh quilt - which has geometric styles with spirals, leaves, hearts and motifs - it is called inlaid patchwork but it “undeniably Welsh” because of the imagery. It shows the tailor’s “creative flair” as well as his “appreciation” of the engineering achievements of his day - as well as scenes from the Bible - with Menai Suspension Bridge on Anglesey, Gwynedd, as well as Cefn Viaduct, Cefn Mawr, near Wrexham. In total, the coverlet consists of 4,525 separate pieces of cloth, all hand-stitched together resembling mosaic over two square metres. The bed cover was purchased by the museum from the tailor’s grandson, Richard James Williams, by the St. Fagans Museum in Cardiff in 1935. The closest thing that comes to mind in terms of quilts is Harriet Powers’ “Bible Quilts”:
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
In an excellent film on BBC 4 last night, Visions of the Valleys, Kim Howells looked at how artists have responded to the natural splendour and industrial landscape of the Welsh valleys, and to the…
Robin Pyramus John A Boy Thomas Francis Jeune And Hanmer Cecil Hanbury A Boy In Brown Henry John Henry John Robin John Grace Portrait Of Grace As A Madonna Caspar David And Dorelia In Normandy Dore…
In an excellent film on BBC 4 last night, Visions of the Valleys, Kim Howells looked at how artists have responded to the natural splendour and industrial landscape of the Welsh valleys, and to the…
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
Teitl Cymraeg/Welsh title: Teulu Jones, Pentre Trewyn (1878) Ffotograffydd/Photographer: John Thomas (1838-1905) Dyddiad/Date: [ca. 1878] Cyfrwng/Medium: Negydd gwydr / Glass negative Maint/Dimensions: 11 x 16.5 cm. Cyfeiriad/Reference:jth02978 Rhif cofnod / Record no.: 3363918 Rhagor o wybodaeth am gasgliad John Thomas yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru More information about the John Thomas Collection at the National Library of Wales
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
The legend goes that during the last invasion of Britain at Fishguard in Wales in 1797, the French troops were incredibly drunk. They had found a
We've all worn them or sent our children off to school in them but these pictures largely from the 1800s are fascinating
Classic cabinet card Photograph from around 1886 made by English/Welsh photographer Samuel J. Allen. Dating based on dress style with bustle/queue. The cabinet card was a style of photograph which was widely used for photographic portraiture after 1870. It consisted of a thin photograph mounted on a card typically measuring 108 by 165 mm (41⁄4 by 6 1⁄2 inches).
Ars longa, vita brevis
. the handsome John in 1899, painting by Sir William Orfen Ida Nettleship with Gwen John, an artist in her own right, Augustus' sister. at far left of drawing is a friend- drawing by Augustus John 1897. 1st wife Ida, with the couple's baby (they had five sons) Ida with sister Gwen, Augustus, & their 1st child (at the time Ida & John were married) Dorelia at r. painted by John after Ida died giving birth- Dorelia & John married Dorelia (at right) painted by Gwen John-(Gwen-Self Portrait, at left ) it is rumored the pair had an affair in defiance of Augustus, & Ida Lyric Fantasy a gathering of John's women, 1909 here, even the late, Ida, at far right Dorelia & John had two daughters- Vivien & Poppet artist Vivien alongside a John painting of her mother Dorelia, at left & Poppet painted by her father Gwyneth Johnstone, daughter of John & Nora Brownsword, painted by John, she became a painter like her father John's daughter, Amaryllis Fleming- from John's liaison with Evelyn St. Croix Fleming, Eve- a painting by Augustus John here & the many Women he painted and loved-likely too numerous to name, or to know- Luisa Casati Elizabeth Bibesco, nee Asquith Princess Bibesco Tallulah Bankhead Lady Cynthia Asquith Lady Ottoline Morrell, & at right with Dorelia the menage years later- Iris Tree & standing in for all the others- John's The Sphinx more? the Augustus John Sphinx is owned by singer Bryan Ferry, at 66, llike the Sphinx-ageless, timeless & like John- a Slave to Love. for more John paintings see artvalue here more about John here .
The remarkable portraits (pictured), taken in the 1860s, show the female workers who toiled for long hours at Welsh mines using heavy equipment to break ironstones.
We've all worn them or sent our children off to school in them but these pictures largely from the 1800s are fascinating
‘It’s Called Ffasiwn’, or fashion in Welsh, is a series of characterful portraits taken by photographer Clémentine Schneidermann and art director Charlotte James, of the...
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
Teitl Cymraeg/Welsh title: W. Thelwall Thomas a chyfeillion Ffotograffydd/Photographer: John Thomas (1838-1905) Dyddiad/Date: [ca. 1882] Cyfrwng/Medium: Negydd gwydr / Glass negative Maint/Dimensions: 110 x 180 mm. Cyfeiriad/Reference: jtrr101 Rhif cofnod / Record no.: 3363755 Rhagor o wybodaeth am gasgliad John Thomas yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru More information about the John Thomas Collection at the National Library of Wales
‘It’s Called Ffasiwn’, or fashion in Welsh, is a series of characterful portraits taken by photographer Clémentine Schneidermann and art director Charlotte James, of the...
“For Wales? Why Richard, it profit a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. . . but for Wales!” — Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons In the 1860s, John Thomas (1838-1905), a labourer’s son from Cellan, Ceredigion, Wales, worked for a company dealing in writing materials and photographs of … Continue reading "40 Great Portraits of Wales and The Welsh 1865-1885"
