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Re-framing the identity of the country house

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Re-framing the identity of the country house

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What does authenticity look like in the English country home?

This objects supports the idea of the CH as a place where disparate sources meet out of context and inauthentically, that overtime forms this ‘authentic image’ of the CH.

The country home being an object in itself - is there such thing as an authentic country home? What would an inauthentic country home look like?

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Colonialism - the use of the word exotic on V&A website.. time for change ?

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- What is the story

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"The appointment of John Charles Robinson as curator of the Museum in 1853 heralded a change in focus. Robinson persuaded Cole that historic works of art were as instructive as contemporary work. For Cole and Robinson, if historic works of art could not be acquired, copies were the next best option.

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 Interpret Objects as part of the material culture of the country house...

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 Interpret Objects as part of the material culture of the country house...

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Electrotype copies were used as design aids for students in the government schools of design under the aegis of the Department of Science and Art.

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Materials & Making

The development of the electrotyping process whereby works of art could be accurately reproduced reached its peak in Britain in the 1860s and 1870s. Certain approved commercial firms, such as Elkington & Co. and Franchi & Sons, were given access to hitherto inaccessible private collections so that moulds of the individual works of art could be taken, and copies produced from them. The royal collection at Windsor was one of these collections.

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Electrotype copies were used as design aids for students in the government schools of design under the aegis of the Department of Science and Art.

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Electrotype copies were used as design aids for students in the government schools of design under the aegis of the Department of Science and Art.

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Taking on a new life as a replica intended for distribution and education.

Was there a message being sent in distributing colonial iconography for educational purposes?

Who was drawing these objects?

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A large bearded , jolly man with possibly  jester hat. There is young boy in a loin cloth with and axe and arrows. The elephant is adorned with brocade and tassels.

Below Map of Asian elephants. Interesting to see which cultures may have depicted this scene ?

At first possible Ottoman / Persian persuasion. It is either on a carnival or even the circus in a continental setting ??? Hybrid of riental and Eurocentric design ?

It appears as if the figure on the cushion, could be separate, perhaps marks the opening of the box.
What did the perfume look like ? oils / wax / incense

The replica feels so far removed from the original in terms of materiality, use, meaning and context.

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Designing a Power house - sites of knowledge and power production...

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Designing a Power house - sites of knowledge and power production...

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The original belonged to Windsor royal collection: though no mark, it is presumed that it was made by continental silversmith in 1750.

Does this object mark a trip abroad, or a gift? How did it end up in the collection?

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Object Type

This is an electrotype copy of an exotic perfume burner and cover in the royal collection of plate at Windsor Castle. The silver-gilt original is not marked but is probably the work of a continental silversmith working in the 1750s.

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Place of origin:

London (made)

Date:

1868 (made)

Artist/Maker:

Giovanni Franchi and Son (maker)

Materials and Techniques:

Electrotype metal

Museum number:

REPRO.1868:1, 2-97

Gallery location:

British Galleries, Room 122c, case 1

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An electrotype is a cheap metal copy of a valuable work of art. By using an electric current, the replica is made by depositing metal, usually copper, within a mould. The copy can be plated to match the original. Electrotyping was most popular in the second half of the 19th century. [27/03/2003]

Techniques: Electrotyping

Categories: Household objects

Collection: Metalwork Collection

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How would this have been used in the home - was it purely ornamental? What did perfume signify in the 19th century?

From being educational tools, did they then enter the market and become household goods (that is their category with V&A archive)

Context

'Scent was an important feature of grand European homes in the 17th and 18th century as foul smelling air was a sign of the spread of disease.'  Met Museum.

Between 1860s - 70s there was an influx of replicas entering the market - this object is quintessential for the period (colonial ties, mass production, acquiring objects that are associated with aristocracy/wealth/power)

Thoughts

Pieces within the royal collections being desirable objects.

Was having even a functionless perfume burner in the home simply a sign of wealthy, disease free living?

This object is emblematic of the ways in which country homes were curated - piecing together a series of materials that both separately and in their amalgamated form evoke a sense of grandeur, worldliness, status, wealth, power and in the case of Victorian's, also comfort.

Just another piece a signifier of taste.

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The recreation of a functional object for the purpose of observation and mass distribution creates something wholly inauthentic. Yet in the context of a country home it takes on a level of authenticity in it's contribution to an overall image that is authentically inauthentic.

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Where is this line between inspiration and reappropriation?