The couple’s collection of manuscripts and early printed books, offered on 23 April, is one of the finest ever to come to market
Over the course of 30 years, Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg assembled one of the finest collections of illuminated manuscripts and early printed books in the world. Eager academics and scholars could regularly be found in the library of the couple’s Upper East Side townhouse.
The Rosenbergs collected with great passion. According to their daughters, Elisabeth Clark and Marianne Rosenberg, they ‘perhaps even found a soulmate’ in their books.
The couple continued collecting until Alexandre’s death in 1987. Although she never added to it, Elaine took great care in preserving the collection until her own passing, aged 98, in 2020.
On 23 April, 17 illuminated manuscripts and more than 200 of the Rosenbergs’ incunabula (printed books from before 1501) are being offered in a single-owner sale at Christie’s in New York.
‘This is one of the most important collections of its kind ever to come to market,’ says Eugenio Donadoni, Christie’s senior specialist in Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts. ‘We’re proud to honour Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg’s collecting and philanthropic legacy with this auction.’
Recreation of 17th Century Mughal painting on “The Conference of The Birds” by Fatima Zahra Hassan in 2015 for the fundraising of Europe’s first eco-mosque.
In the traditional Indo-Persian style of miniature painting, the role and use of colour is of extreme significance, both in terms of visual representation and symbolic meaning. However, our concern here is to concentrate on the quality and nature of these pigments and how they were prepared and applied in this art form. The research work of porter and Minorsky[1] in this field, clearly indicates that there was very little development in the techniques of the preparation of the pigments between the 12th and the 18th centuries, and that furthermore there was very little variety from one region to another. The conclusion of these finding is that any process of identification in terms of region or date cannot be totally based on the process of the preparation and application of the colours. It is often clearer to base this identification on the styles of the different schools of painting in the region.
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However, by general observation, there is a clear difference between Persian and Indian paintings in the range and use of certain colours. Persian miniature painting has always been characterised by and rightly admired for the brilliance of its colours, especially the use of lapis lazuli. While Indian painting used more subtle tones such as peori, orange and green earth. If anything, this indicates that Persian paintings mainly used colours which derived fro minerals and other sources like copper carbntes and iron oxides. This range of minerals and organic sources were introduced to India by the Persians. Prior to this influence, Indian paintings used colours which derived from plants, vegetables and different types of earth colours from the range of clays that were available.
Natural pigments were always found in abundance in the South Asian, Persian and Central Asian regions and therefore the Pallet of Indo-Persian artists was extremely rich in terms of colour. The natural pigments which were used for this range of colours derived from four main categories:
Earth and Mineral colours
Organic Colour Pigment i.e. from Plant or Animal Sources
Inorganic or Artificial Colour Pigment
Metals and Oxides
[1] Porter, Y. Painters, Paintings and books, Manohar, New Delhi, 1994. Minorsky, V. Calligrpahers and Painters, a treatise by Qadi Ahmad, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, 1959.
Amongst the minerals used were gold, silver, copper, mercury, iron, tin and lead. Lapis lazuli, which is mainly found in the area of the Indus river, was the basis of ultra marine blue. Likewise, artists could achieve a bright red from ground cinnabar, yellow from compliment and green from malachite. Black is mainly derived from two sources; carbon (animal, mineral or plant) or gall nuts.
Expense and availability of materials and the cost of labour dictated the choice of pigment types that were used. Often cheaper and more convenient substitutes for lapis lazuli, malachite and cinnabar were not uncommon. Instead of lapis lazuli, indigo, a plant derivative as well as ultramarine were used fro dark blue and azurite.
Furthermore, copper carbonate, which is destructive to paper, produced a lighter blue. A substitute for malachite was Verdigris, a highly corrosive green pigment, obtained by dipping copper plates in vinegar and burying them in a pit for a month. Furthermore, many alternatives to cinnabar existed. Mercury and sculpture ground and heated together resulted in vermilion, and the bright orange red of many Persian paintings came from red lead. Despite the dangers of lead poisoning, red lead and its cousin, white lead, made by treating lead with vinegar, enjoyed continuous use from classical times until at least the 17th Century. Other reds include red brown, iron oxide, carmine from the kermes (lakh) insect, and some unidentified plant dyes.
Unfortunately, some of the pigments used in Persian miniature painting were destructive to the paper as well as being harmful to the health of the artist, while other tended to change colours or invade their neighboring colours. Silver, usually used to depict water. amour and highlights, often tarnishes and turns black. Verdigris eats away not only the paper on which it is painted but also the surrounding pages. White lead and red lead blacked when on their own and turn yellow orpiment to black when they touch it. Azurite also has a corrosive effect.
Colour pigments in shells
Taking into consideration the fugitive nature of some of the pigments and minerals used, it is remarkable that so many Persian miniatures remain intact. It is possible that the binding medium used for these pigments, contributed to their durability. 16th century sources referred to in the work of Porter and Minorsky[1] seem to indicate that until the 1590s, Persian artists used albumen and glue to bind the particles of pigments. Certainly these binding media added to the hard sheen that characterises the surface of early Persian miniatures.
Most of the colours used in Persian miniature painting derived from minerals; organic colours being more commonly used in textile dyeing than for painting. This use of organic colour dyeing of textiles was most evident in India. The palette of colours that was obtained from the available minerals was quite limited. However, from a fairly small number of sources, Persian painter mixed a dazzling range of the hues, opaque reds and yellows (Vermilion, Ochre and Oppiment), translucent bright blues (Lapis or Azurite), a couple of greens (malachite, verdigris, chrysocolla), reds and browns and black and white. Oganic colours, Indigo, Peori (Indian Yellow), Red Lake and Purple Lake, widened the scope for the artist. The brilliance and subtlety these colours added to their paintings seemed sufficient compensation to them for their lack of permanence under certain circumstances.
The preparation of these minerals involved constant washing to extract impurities as well as breaking them down into small pieces and grinding them into a powder form. This process of preparation will be discussed in further detail in the section dealing with the preparation of pigments for my own work.
A further point which has to be highlighted is the fact that the painters of the Indian and Persian schools of miniature painting chose water colours as their painting media. The reason for this is quite a practical one and is easily understandable if one is a painter practicing in the Indian subcontinent. This is mainly due to the physical environment in which the work is executed. The climate is hot and dusty and therefore the water-colours dry instantly without letting the dust get absorbed into the medium. Even if the dust settles on the painting, it could be wiped off with a soft cloth. An oil based painting would absorb the dust and it would not be possible to clean it once it is dry. A further point is that oil colours dry up and crack in very hot climates, while water based paintings endure.
The following is a list of colours that were commonly used in Indo Persian miniature painting which were all extracted from mineral or organic sources. All these pigments are still available and form the basis of the colours which are used in the miniature painting I execute.
The preparation of these pigments are based on the instructions I have received from my master Ustad Bashir Ahmed in Pakistan and on experiments that I have carried out. However, I have also based my experience on the instructions of several ancient manuscripts on miniature painting. These are :
Calligraphers and painters by Qadi Ahmed, son of Mir-Munshi (circa A.D. 1015/1015/A.D. 1606), translated by V. Minorsky, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1959.
Qanum us-suvar (The canons of painting), by Sadeq Bek (17th century A.D.), from the Houghton Shahnameh, M.B. Dickson and S.C. Welch, Cambridge Mass, 1981. Painters, paintings and Books, Yves Porter, Manohar, Centre for Human Sciences, New Delhi, 1994.
White:
Lead white – This lead carbonate is obtained by suspending lead above vinegar until a white deposit appears on it, it is then left to dry in the sun. In today’s polluted atmosphere it tuns black fairly quickly when mixed with a gum arabic solution. This is not commonly used today because of its poisonous nature.
Chalk white – This derived from calcium carbonate or to common chalk.
Oyster shell white – This is derived from oyster shaells which are ground into a fine powder and prepared by mixing with a binding medium.
Black:
This is a very important colour for painting. The traditional way of getting this is from ‘soot’. A container is placed over a lit lamp (using oil or coal) till black soot or lamp black which is known as ‘kajal’ is collected on the sides of the container. This soot is then mixed with acacia resin or gum arabic and water. The mixture is ground with the index finger till it become extremely fine. This mixture provides a thick strong black colour. This black ‘kajal’ is also used by women as ‘kohl’.
Nowadays, artists mostly use Chinese indelible ink which is found in a stick form.
Multani Mitti:
It is very light grey in colour. Multani clay an be used as a base or a ground or to size the paper. It is diluted with gum Arabic and then applied onto the paper and is then burnished before applying the colours. This is used to give a background tone to the painting surface as well as an alternative to staining the paper with tea. Multani clay came from the region of Multan.
Yellow:
Yellow ochre – (In Urdu and Farsi it is known as zard, the Hindi name is ramraj) – an iron oxide, it is usually found in the form of a coloured earth and is washed and finely ground and mixed with a binding medium.
Indian yellow – (Indian name is pouri orgagoli) – it is said that this colour is made from the urine of cows fed on mangoes or mango leaves to produced a very bright and vivid yellow colour. Recent test have proved that this is only a tale of folklore. However due to this take it was not used in Islamic manuscripts dealing with sacred themes. Other references indicate that is a yellow earth found in India. This pigment is not commonly used due to its obscure source.
Orpiment – A brilliant yellow made from sulphide of arsennic which is dangerous to use. This stone is ground, washed and mixed with grum arabic.
Saffron yellow – The most common yellow colour used in the Indian subcontinent. The saffron is boiled or soaked in water to give the liquid colour. The period of soaking the saffron depends on the intensity of the colour required. This solution does not need to be mixed with gum arabic or other binding medium .This solution is translucent; however, if mixed with a white colour becomes opaque but loses its original intensity.
Turmeric yellow – This yellow is obtained by boiling the turmeric in water until it gives it the required colour, it is then filtered and some saffron is added and boiled again. This is filtered again and gall nut and gum arabic is added to the mixture before it cools down.
Blue:
Lapis Lazuli – A mineral known as azure or ultramarine in the West. It is the most popular, rich and durable blue pigment. This pigment is prepared by grinding it and then mixing it with vinegar and gum arabic. This mixture is then washed several times to remove any impurities.
Azurite – This copper carbonate is a cheaper alternative to lapis lazuli which provides a good colour if not ground too fine when it becomes pale and greenish. Several coats are necessary to obtain a solid blue. It turns black when heated, unlike lapis which remains blue.
Indigo – Dark blue vegetable dye from the indigo plant.
Red:
Indian red – A natural iron oxide found in the earth and is deeper in colour than other earth reds. Generally found in the area of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
Minium – This is a orange red which is obtained from roasted white lead.
Vermilion – Made from mixing mercury with sulphur at a high temperature; the result i a sulphide of mercury.
Red Lakes: Kerms and Cochineal – Both of insect origin which give various shades ranging from crimson to purple.
Geru – A crimson colour which is derived from a clay that is mainly found in the region of Sind and Rajestan. This clay is mixed with the binding medium and applied as a colour.
Orange:
Rajastan – A sulphide of arsenic like orpiment which is poisonous and incompatible with lead or copper and not much used. The more Orpiment is ground while dry, the redder it becomes. When this is finely ground it is diluted with gum arabic and left to dry. Before using it a small amount of diluted gum is added.
Green:
Malachite – Copper carbonate, like azurite should not be ground too fine it will then lose its quality of colour.
Verdigris – A copper acetate which is cheap and easy to obtain but lacks durability. This is obtained by mixing copper filings with vinegar (or other forms of acid) and then leaving it for a few weeks. It then mixed with gum arabic. This material has a very destructive effect on paper. It is said that the remedy for this is to mix a little saffron to the verdigris. This give a pistachio colour, but its preservative qualities have not really been tested since it requires a long period of time.
Orpiment mixed with indigo – This mixture gives a clear green and is widely used in Islamic miniature painting.
Terraverte – Green iron oxide found in the earth, widely used in late 17th century Mughal paintings.
Shangraf:
A yellowish colour. This is usually available in the form of a stone and is heavy like mercury. It is ground thoroughly and filtered several times with water and mixed with sheep’s milk afterwards and lemon juice is added. It has to be filtered properly because it has a heavy amount of mercury in it which could not be applied on to the painting directly.
Dana Farang:
This is a particular stone which comes from Central Asia or Afghanistan. At present this natural pigment is no longer available and a cheap artificial substitute is available.
Silver:
The silver is beaten by hand until it becomes a thin leaf. The silver can be used in the form of a leaf or can be made into a paint by mixing it with gum arabic.
Gold:
The gold is cursed and mixed by hand with animal size or any other binding medium or applied in the form of gold-leaf. Gold is used extensively for illumination.
Apart from the major colour that are used and widely know, there are certain tones which are derived from these colours and are particular to the Indo-Pak subcontinent. These tones were traditionally known and are still referred to by their local names. These terms are very common words used in everday life which derive from the local environment and everyday objects that are seen by the painters. The actual words are originally Persian but have become integrated in the Urdu and Hindi languages. I was taught these names not only by my painting master but also from having grown up in the region. These tones do not only refer to miniature painting, but extend to textiles, ceramics, tile making and carpet weaving.
Badaami : This is a light brown tone like that of the almond. The word badaam actually means almond.
Chehrai : The word chehra means face and the tone referred to is that of the tone of the skin
Khaki : This is the tone of the earth; the work khak means clay earth.
Sabzi : The word sabzah means the green of nature and any form of vegetable is known as sabzi. This terms is used for a very wide tome of genn.
Pistai : The word pista means pitachio and the tone referred to is pistachio green.
Totia : The word tota means parrot, and the term refers to a very bright green tone.
Dhani : The word dhan means rice and the term refers to the green tone of the rice fields.
Moongia : The word moong refers to a particular lentil which is dark green in colour.
Zamourrad : The word zamourrad means emerald, and the tone referred to is that of the emerald.
Henai or Mehndi : Henai is a plant which is ground and used for dyeing hair and decorating hands and feet etc. It usually has two tones; a dark blackish green and a dark reddish tone. The term mehndi is also used to mean heni. The tone that is referred to is a dark green.
Lajward : This is the name for lapis lazuli.
Firouzi : Firouz is the name for the turquoise stone, and the tone that is referred to is that of this tone. It is interesting to note that this tone cannot be derived straight from grinding the turquoise stone, since this gives no colour. This tone is usually derived from cobalt.
Neelam : This is the word for blue sapphire, and tone reffed to is a sky blue.
Aasmani : The word aasman is peacock and pankha means fan. The tern morpankh indicates the tones of the peacock’s tail.
Yaqout : The word Yaqout means ruby and the tone referred to is of a deep red.
Qirmizi : The word qirmiz means cherry and the term refers to a deep red tone.
Arghavani : This is extracted from the Judas tree, and the colour is a purplish red.
Gulabi : The word gulabi is usually used for a rose in Urdu and Hindi. However, in Persian it literally means rose water. The tone it refers to is that of rose pink.
Atishi Gulabi : The word atishi actually means fire and the term referred to is a shocking pink.
Tarbouzi : The word tarbouz means watermelns and the term referred to is a pleasant dark pink which is similar to that of the inside of a water melons.
Piazi :The word piaz means onion, and the term refers to a very subtle pink tone.
Banafsha : This a tone which is extracted from the banafsha flower and is violet in colour. This is not used as a colour in miniature painting since it is not permanent.
Falsai : Falsa is a berry like fruit which has a deep purple colour.
Jamuni : Jamun is a fruit resembling a date and its colour is mauve.
Malta : The word malta means the orange fruit.
Narangi : The word narangi is an orange like fruit which is used to make marmalade. The tone referred to is a deeper orange tone.
Sindhori : The word sindhor refers to the orangeish – red strip of paste that is applied to the parting of a married woman’s hair in India.
Shangrafi : This is a tone similar to that of the Shangraf flower which is yellow in colour.
Zafarani : The word zafaran mean saffron.
Ambari : The term ambar refers to amber which is black in colour.
Fakhtai : The word fakhta means to dove and the tone referred to is grey with a tinge of red.
Sunehra : The word sona means gold. This term is used to refer to the tone of gold and is generally also used to mean the rays of the sun.
Rupehla : This is used to describe the moonlight and refers to the tone of silver.
Gum arabic:
Gum arabic was the most commonly used medium for both the ground and the pigments. The decision of how much medium to use was always delicate and based on personal experience. Too much subjected the pigment layer to stress and cracking, too little and it would flake away in a fine powder. Artists avoided too much arabic with pigments of brilliant colour like lapis lazuli, as it spoiled the colour by making it duller.
During the industrial revolution, as steamships took over from sailing ships and machines replaced manpower, many areas of innovation and technology were taking place including discoveries in new art materials. Depending on one’s perspective this was the end, or the dawn, of a new era, with natural light about to be replaced by Edison’s electric light at the end of the 19th century, and it is in J.M.W. Turner’s paintings that we see the embers of this era merging with the new industrial age.
Until Turner and Constable, ‘history painting’ was regarded by the Academy as the superior genre in painting, with landscape painting taking a lesser value. Part of Turner’s legacy is in the way he utilised landscape and seascape, elevating them to a higher genre, and using painting as a platform to document the changes taking place in society at that time. Take for example The Fighting Temeraire, tugged to her last Berth to be broken up (1838) in which an older decommissioned ship is towed by a new steamship. Through this genre he was able to narrate aspects of technological, political and social reforms taking place in society, capturing, in particular, the magnificence of natural sunlight. So obsessed was Turner with his palette of bright whites and burning yellows that one critic even suggested he had “yellow fever”.
Paintings such as his famous The Fighting Temeraire, read ambiguously as a sunset or sunrise, reflecting the pivotal changes taking place. Frequently using Gamboge and King’s Yellow to capture sunlight in its many forms: as an ethereal quality, in its abundance, in its lack, as a vapour, and, as a physical quality soon to be replaced by the artificial rays of Edison. In Gombrich’s words, Turner “had visions of a fantastic world bathed in light and resplendent with beauty, but it was a world not of calm, but of movement, not of simple harmonies but of dazzling pageantries…”
A personal note by the content curator and the blogger Zahra:
” Rembrandt is part of the Blog today due to his interest towards the East/ South Asia. His fascination with the Mughal Painting, Emperor Shahjahan ( who ruled from 1628 to 58), and a body of work he produced inspired by the Mughal Court, Indo-Pak Subcontinent.”
Rembrandt – Self-Portrait, as a young man
Oct. 4 marks the 350th anniversary of the death of Rembrandt van Rijn. Although the Dutch draughtsman, painter and printmaker enjoyed great success during his lifetime, he died in poverty and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Westerkerk, one of Amsterdam’s first churches built for Protestant worship. Twenty years later, his remains were removed and destroyed, which was customary treatment for the poor of that time.
Today, Rembrandt is considered one of the greatest artists in history, and exhibitions honoring him have been taking place around the world throughout this 350th anniversary year. The Met’s “In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at the Met” brings together some of the most important works in their extensive holdings of 17th-century Dutch art, and 11 of their 20 Rembrandt paintings take center stage here.
His portraiture features prominently in this exhibit, most notably a 1660 self-portrait painted when he was 54 years old. The heavy buildup of paint, used to create the wrinkles of age that accent his face, represents a style characteristic of his later period, when his art started to lose popularity in the Netherlands. Though his devotion to realism led him to depict his own physical imperfections in this self-portrait, the piece also reveals a proud artist determined to explore his craft regardless of the consequences. His eyes look anxious and weary yet also knowing and somewhat defiant, and his stolid posture, clenched jaw and pursed lips seem to convey stubborn resolve. The flamboyance of his enormous cap easily identifies him as an artist, combined with his aged appearance and steadfast demeanor, which infer autonomy and mastery of his craft.
A few years before this 1660 self-portrait, Rembrandt had to sell many of his most valuable possessions as a collector of art and antiquities. His bankruptcy was a result of living beyond his means. Inventories of his possessions demonstrate lavish expenditures but also speak to his appreciation for the work of others and his interest in great ideas.
One of the treasures inventoried in his possessions was a bust of Homer, which served as a model for his “Aristotle with a Bust of Homer,” a painting featured in the Met’s Dutch Masters exhibit. It depicts the figure of Aristotle standing beside the bust, resting his hand on its marble head, and gazing into the middle distance, lost in contemplation. In his book “Rembrandt and Homer,” art historian Herbert von Einem interprets the subject matter of the painting to reflect Rembrandt’s deep religiosity, writing, “The ancient theme breathes a Christian spirit.”
Rembrandt’s Aristotle was done on commission for Sicilian nobleman Don Antonio Ruffo. Aside from two subsequent works of lesser importance produced for Ruffo, Rembrandt’s Aristotle was his only known commission from a foreign collector. He completed the work in 1653, around the time when his popularity was beginning to fade in the Netherlands.
Though Rembrandt never left the Dutch Republic, he gained exposure to Italian Masters in the art market and learned of their techniques from Dutch painters who had studied in Italy, especially the Utrecht Caravaggisti. Conflicts of religion raged throughout Rembrandt’s life, and, like many during that time, he had both Catholic and Protestant influences. His art comfortably hovered between these two worlds, and he drew particular inspiration from Flemish Baroque Catholic painter Peter Paul Rubens.
Considering his wide array of influences, Rembrandt would have felt confident taking on the commission from Ruffo, who collected works of great masters regardless of nationality but who remained strongly influenced by the Italian artistic tradition. Rembrandt chose the subject matter, and the topic he settled on was likely intended to appeal to Ruffo’s Mediterranean background, given that themes of antiquity were popular in Italy throughout the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
In his book “Rembrandt’s Aristotle and Other Rembrandt Studies,” art historian Julius S. Held contends that the painting represents a complex juxtaposition of ideals. A large gold chain hangs across Aristotle’s body from right shoulder to left hip, with a medal that dangles from the right side of the chain and displays the image of Alexander the Great, Aristotle’s most famous pupil. The implication is that Alexander gave the gold chain to Aristotle, and, in that sense, the chain represents a great honor bestowed upon him. However, the chain also represents a kind of servitude because, by wearing it, Aristotle acknowledges that his status in life depends upon remaining in the good graces of this powerful ruler.
Aristotle, in fact, did not remain in the good graces of Alexander—they became estranged when Alexander executed a relative of Aristotle’s for conspiring against him. Held asserts that this history may have influenced Rembrandt’s melancholy depiction of Aristotle, who would certainly be ambivalent about having his status in life hinge on the whims of a vengeful ruler.
Homer represents an ideal for both Alexander and Aristotle. For Alexander, who carried a copy of the “Iliad” with him wherever he went, it was the ideal of honor personified by the heroes of Homer’s stories. For Aristotle, it was an aesthetic ideal summed up in his “Poetics,” wherein Homer’s work stands as the measure for artistic achievement. Amid this dynamic, we can imagine the figure of Aristotle measuring the transient honors bestowed by Alexander against the timeless achievements of Homer.
Held relates this meditation to the life of Rembrandt, showing how he faced the same dilemma as Aristotle. Held writes of Rembrandt, “The greatness of his art, in the last analysis, is due to this fact: that it is the work of a man who never compromised, who never permitted himself to be burdened with a chain of honor, and fiercely maintained both the integrity of his art and his freedom as a man.”
This path of integrity contributed to Rembrandt’s hardships in the later part of his career. But that is also a period when he produced some of his most brilliant works, including the two mentioned here, which tell stories that lay bare complex human situations and reveal the soul of a man willing to suffer to create art that is true and stands the test of time.
Designers love scenic wallpaper for its ability to transform a room. Unlike regular wallpaper, which often has a repeating pattern, scenic wallpaper fills an entire wall with a single, mural-like image. Usually depicting an outdoor tableau, the wallpaper brings nature inside and lends old-world appeal to a space. Just flip through any recent design magazine and you’ll probably see a well-appointed room with walls covered in large-scale images of flowering vines or swaying trees.
Woodchip & Magnolia’s Zephyr wallpaper mural (about $255 for up to about 108 square feet). (Woodchip & Magnolia)
“People embrace things that feel handmade and have a link to the past,” says Susan Harter, who makes hand-painted scenic wallpaper in her Port Townsend, Wash., studio. “At a time when we’re being bombarded with technology, it’s nice to be in a haven of one’s own making. It’s like entering a peaceful mini-Eden.”
Until recently, if you wanted the look, you had to splurge on custom wallcoverings from luxury brands such as Zuber et Cie, Gracie Studio, de Gournay and Fromental. Those handmade paper or silk panels can cost thousands of dollars, and that’s without installation.
For a home in McLean, Va., Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey covered the dining room walls with a mural from Gracie Studio. (John Bessler)
But scenic wallpaper has become far more accessible. Thanks to digital-printing technology that allows retailers to duplicate the look inexpensively, you no longer have to blow your entire decorating budget on a few pricey panels of chinoiserie.
High-definition printers aren’t exactly new to the luxury wallpaper business; the London-based brand Iksel has been producing high-end digital collections based on hand-painted works since 2004. And Harter’s company, Susan Harter Muralpapers, has been using the technology for several years to turn her hand-painted murals into custom canvas wallcoverings.
William Morris was born on March 24, 1834, (1834–1896) in Walthamstow, England. He was the third child of William Morris Sr. and Emma Shelton Morris. He enjoyed an idyllic childhood in the countryside, playing with his siblings, reading books, writing, and showing an early interest in nature and storytelling. His love of the natural world would have a growing influence on his later work.
At an early age he was attracted to all the trappings of the medieval period. At 4 he began reading Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley novels, which he finished by the time he was 9. His father gave him a pony and a miniature suit of armor and, dressed as a tiny knight, he went off on long quests into the nearby forest.
Later Morris attended Marlborough and Exeter colleges, where he met painter Edward Burne-Jones and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, forming a group known as the Brotherhood, or the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. They shared a love of poetry, the Middle Ages, and Gothic architecture, and they read the works of philosopher John Ruskin. They also developed an interest in the Gothic Revival architectural style. Their Group was inspired by Ruskin’s writings.
The Industrial Revolution that began in Britain had turned the country into something unrecognizable to the young men. Ruskin wrote about society’s ills in books such as “The Seven Lamps of Architecture” and “The Stones of Venice.” The group discussed Ruskin’s themes about the impacts of industrialization: how machines dehumanize, how industrialization ruins the environment, and how mass production creates shoddy, unnatural objects.
The group believed that the artistry and honesty in handcrafted materials were missing in British machine-made goods. They longed for an earlier time.
Visits to the continent spent touring cathedrals and museums solidified Morris’ love of medieval art. Rossetti persuaded him to give up architecture for painting, and they joined a band of friends decorating the walls of the Oxford Union with scenes from the Arthurian legend based on “Le Morte d’Arthur” by 15th century English writer Sir Thomas Malory. Morris also wrote much poetry during this time.
After receiving his degree in 1856, Morris took a job in the Oxford office of G.E. Street, a Gothic Revivalist architect. That year he financed the first 12 monthly issues of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, where a number of his poems were printed. Two years later, many of these poems were reprinted in his first published work “The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems.”
Also known as a writer and poet, translator, social activist, printer and dyer, Morris originally trained as an architect and had early ambitions to become a painter.Morris commissioned Philip Webb, an architect he had met in Street’s office, to build a home for him and his wife. The building’s design was a co-operative effort, with Morris focusing on the interiors and the exterior being designed by Webb, for whom the House represented his first commission as an independent architect. Named after the red bricks and red tiles from which it was constructed, Red House rejected architectural norms by being L-shaped. Influenced by various forms of contemporary Neo-Gothic architecture, the House was nevertheless unique, with Morris describing it as “very mediaeval in spirit”. Situated within an orchard, the house and garden were intricately linked in their design. It took a year to construct.
In fact William Morris often said that when looking into his wallpaper designs they should appear to be 3 inches deep. This illusion of depth was created by his clever use of floral and fauna. He would layer these images to make it seem as if there was space beyond. So by using William Morris wallpaper you may even make a room feel a bit bigger .
The house, a grand yet simple structure, exemplified the Arts and Crafts philosophy inside and out, with craftsman-like workmanship and traditional, unornamented design. Then, together with some of his Pre-Raphaelite friends he furnished and decorated the new abode. It was such an enjoyable experience that they decided to set up their own company in London supplying a range of domestic furnishings — embroidery, tableware, furniture, stained glass and tiles (initially called Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co — later simply Morris & Co). It was also because of his inability to find wallpapers that he liked enough for his own home that Morris turned his hand to designing his own, and these were added to the company catalogue.
The British Library has loaned 20 paintings and manuscripts to the Wallace Collection in London for the “Forgotten Masters” exhibition, running through April 2020. Included are a selection of four works by the relatively unknown artist Haludar, whose natural history drawings are on display for the very first time.
When the exhibition curator William Darymple started scoping paintings to be included in the exhibition, I brought to his attention the natural history drawings in the collection commissioned by the Scottish surgeon Dr Francis Buchanan-Hamilton – 1762–1829, hereafter referred to as Buchanan – at the turn of the 19th century. When I showed him the delicate paintings of a moloch gibbon, a sloth bear, a long-tailed macaque and the gerbils painted by the artist Haludar, Dalrymple was intrigued and we started considering the conservation aspects in displaying these works for the first time.
Sloth bear drawn for Francis Buchanan by Haludar, circa 1799-1806. Credit: British Library (CC Public Domain)
In researching the Buchanan collection at the British Library, which consists of several hundred natural history alongside countless volumes of his notes, I met with Dr Ralf Britz an ichthyologist, or fish scientist, at the Natural History Museum, who was working on Buchanan’s volume on Fishes of the Ganges held in the British Library. When I mentioned my plans to work on the drawings of mammals in the Library’s collection and researching the artist Haludar, he immediately sent me a scientific article by the French zoologist Henri de Blainville. In 1816, de Blainville wrote in the science bulletin, par la Société philomathique de Paris, that a new species of Cervus niger could be identified “after a very beautiful coloured drawing that was completed on site by Haludar, an Indian painter”. After reading this article, I started to look at other early 19th century periodicals to see if any other zoologists were looking at de Blainville’s work or by chance also mentioned Haludar.
Indian sambar deer, Cervus Niger, drawn for Francis Buchanan by Haludar, circa 1799-1806, Barrackpore. Credit: British Library (CC Public Domain)
I discovered that in 1819, the German naturalist Lorenz Oken’s periodical Isis also made reference to Cervus niger, stating it was “painted on the spot by the master painter Haludar”. Both references to Cervus niger, which is an Indian Sambar deer, provided only brief descriptions of the species, and omitted to give details regarding the source of the scientific information as well as the location of the artwork by Haludar. However, in cross-referencing C niger with Haludar, we are directed to a single drawing in the British Library’s collection that was commissioned by Francis Buchanan inscribed with the artist’s name, that had been deposited at the Company’s library on Leadenhall Street, London in 1808. This painting of Cervus niger is one of 28 natural history drawings now held in the British Library that are inscribed Haludar Pinxt and that were prepared between 1795 and 1818, when Buchanan was working as a surgeon for the East India Company and actively documenting botanical and zoological specimens during his travels across the subcontinent.
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