Mannerism of a Different Sort

Boucher and Chardin: Masters of Modern Manners is a new exhibition developed by the Hunterian in conjunction with The Wallace Collection, London.

Opening at the Hunterian Art Gallery in September 2008, this ground-breaking show focuses on two of the greatest French paintings of the eighteenth century: the iconic ‘Lady Taking Tea’ by Jean-Siméon Chardin (above) and François Boucher’s ‘Woman on a Daybed’.

Chardin’s ‘Lady Taking Tea’ comes from the Hunterian collection and was recently voted one of Scotland’s most popular paintings by readers of The Herald newspaper. On display in Britain for the first time in 70 years, Boucher’s ‘Woman on a Daybed’ is on loan from the renowned Frick collection in New York (below).






Through approximately 30 exhibits which include paintings, drawings, prints and decorative art objects, the background to the two works will be examined from a number of perspectives beyond traditional art history. Both paintings prominently allude to the new interest in eighteenth-century for scenes from everyday life ultimately inspired by the growing taste for Dutch and Flemish cabinet pictures, and to fashions comparatively new to Europe; the drinking of tea and the taste for chinoiserie.


These themes recur in several of Boucher and Chardin’s depictions of women in their private worlds and become the dominant thread weaving through the second part of the exhibition. The inclusion of works by British artists and decorative art objects, some from the Hunterian’s own collection, will provide an opportunity to address underlying social history themes, such as the artists’ attitudes towards the consumption of tea and the contemporary fashion for the Far East in both France and Britain.


Boucher and Chardin: Masters of Modern Manners
12 June until 7 September
The Wallace Collection, London
www.wallacecollection.org

Boucher and Chardin: Masters of Modern Manners
24 September - 13 December 2008
Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow
82 Hillhead Street
Glasgow G12 8QQ
www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk
Open Monday - Saturday, 9.30am - 5.00pm, admission free

Knot Your Average Door Stop

Right in line with my new fascination for all things beachy, a rope doorstop from Plumo, made of knotted fishing rope.

Size H26cm
£29.00


www.plumo.com

Pass the Gerber, Please

A tiny turtle with articulated limbs climbs up and down the twig-like stem of a sterling silver-baby spoon by Tamar Kern, $155



My mother recently gave me my sweet little set of American Colonial-style baby silver.

Her wildly blatant hint aside, I'm absolutely thrilled to have the pieces in my cupboard. But having stumbled upon metalsmith Tamar Kern's designs, I'm inclined to round out the set with a new addition. (Should there be an addition of another sort.)

Kern's beautifully crafted, 5 1/2-inch long spoons come in several styles: the turtle, a butterfly and a snail. Each possess a clever mechanism that allows the little critter to slide up and down the spoon, making each bite of mushed veggies a terrific delight.






Kern's spoons can be ordered through her website, tamarkern.com, or through risdworks.com, her Alma Mater's online store for it's graduates' designs.

Fire, mushrooms and an uncommon raccoon

Fired Up campfire tealight from Fred, $12 (matches and tealight included, 2.5" x 4")



Hosting the book club reading of Thoreau in your cramped city apartment? Desperate to cast your gaze on something other than the red-brick outside your window? Reset the tone of your urban dwelling with a few funny items from the Curiosity Shoppe, a San Francisco store front full of all sorts of amusing finds. The crackle of the candle won't down out the sirens, but a focused push to complete Claus the raccoon, your new woodland companion, just might.




Camping plates by Caroline Wolfe, $60
Set of four 80inch diameter glass dessert plates, dishwasher safe (top rack only)






Porcelain log vase, $40 (2.5" x 7.75") and a couple of Parasol and Panther Cap mushrooms (2.75” x 4.75” and 3” x 2.5” respectively)




Claus the raccoon, a Let's Stitch kit from egg press, $26
Screen printed on canvas, includes sewing instructions and name tag (approx. 11" x 8")


www.curiosityshoppe.com

Groove is in the Art

Frank Stella's 1970 Flin Flon
Synthetic polymer and fluorescent paint on canvas
NGA (Australia) 2002.294


Fantasizing about Modern art for your walls, but can't quite make the stretch to a Stella or a Noland? Consider a focus wall with one of the many fabulous finds at Interior 1900, a Swedish online retailer of wonderful papers (circa 1890s-1980s) with a primarily Scandinavian - and Modernist - bent.












Wallpaper no: 476
Production period: Early 1970's
Width, cm: 53
Length, meter: 9.6
Design repeat, cm: 26
Picture above show 20x30 cm of the wallpaper.
Both rolls sells together, price is for one roll.
Available items: 2
Price: 700 SEK
Price: 118 USD, 80 EUR, 60 GBP



Wallpaper no: 1193
Production period: Early 1970's
Width, cm: 53
Length, meter: 9.6
Design repeat, cm: 58
Picture above show 20x30 cm of the wallpaper. Both rolls sells together. Both rolls sells together.
Available items: 2
Price: 750 SEK
Price: 126 USD, 85 EUR, 64 GBP


Wallpaper no: 1091
Production period: Late 60's or early 1970's
Width, cm: 53
Length, meter: 9.6
Design repeat, cm: 63
Picture above show 20x30 cm of the wallpaper.
Available items: 5
Price: 650 SEK
Price: 109 USD, 74 EUR, 56 GBP


Wallpaper no: 1409
Production period: Late 60's or early 1970's
Width, cm: 53
Length, meter: 9.6
Design repeat, cm: 59.5
Picture above show 20x30 cm of the wallpaper.
Available items: 11
Price: 700 SEK
Price: 118 USD, 80 EUR, 60 GBP



Wallpaper no: 1403
Production period: Late 60's or early 1970's
Width, cm: 53
Length, meter: 9.6
Design repeat, cm: 26.5
Picture above show 20x30 cm of the wallpaper.
Available items: 5
Price: 600 SEK
Price: 101 USD, 68 EUR, 52 GBP






Wallpaper no: 1575
Production period: Late 60's
Width, cm: 53
Length, meter: 9.6
Design repeat, cm: 13.5
Picture above show 20x30 cm of the wallpaper.
Available items: 3
Price: 650 SEK
Price: 109 USD, 74 EUR, 56 GBP




Wallpaper no: 1578
Production period: Late 60's
Width, cm: 53
Length, meter: 9.6
Design repeat, cm: 23
Picture above show 20x30 cm of the wallpaper.
Available items: 8
Price: 600 SEK
Price: 101 USD, 68 EUR, 52 GBP

interior1900
Magnus Karlsson
Skogsv. 8
532 32 Götene
Sweden
tel +46511-341100
interior1900.com