Hollington weave

The markings on gravestones can be a bit of a mystery to the uninitiated (such as me).  This weave pattern on a stone at St John's in Hollington was, I thought, a graphic design based on the deceased man's name (Samuel Smith) - but it doesn't compute.

It's not a common pattern.  What does it signify?

Ancient dragons

The Saxon history of the county has been under extra scrutiny since the discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard.
But there is already a fair bit of Saxon-era stuff to be seen, though most of it is largely ignored really and a bit mysterious.

In the Church of St Leonard in Ipstones, two hundred years ago, some builders found this sculpted relief under some plaster.  The relief was in the archway of a door - the technical term for that is that it is a tympanum; and so the piece is known as The Ipstones Tympanum.
It is about 1000 years old, and clearly uses saxon art-motifs.

It shows dragons fighting.  Nobody really knows much more than that about it.

'Heroic' Minton tiles

You can see Minton ceramic tiles all over the world to this day.  Their great era was the ninetenth-century, and many great Victorian buildings, especially in the British Empire, used Minton tiles for floors and for wall-decoration.
Minton's factory was based in north Staffordshire of course; and each time I see Minton work, wherever it is, I get a glow of Staffordshire-satisfaction.

Minton work can be seen at the so-called Postman's Park in London in the 'Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice' loggia.  The memorial remembers some forty 'ordinary people' who died trying to save others. 
It's actually very moving.  Poor Frederick was killed exactly 146 years ago, but the prosaic dedication still has a resonance.

And the Art-Nouveau tiles are very fine indeed.

Free works of art

The British Ceramic Biennial Show is under way in Stoke-on-Trent again, and lasts until November.  The exhibits on show have a wide range - from industry output to rather eccentric works of pottery art.

On this stand in the photo, the artist Lawrence Epps, who has been working at Ibstock Bricks, was showing some 15,000 items of mass-produced sculpted brick.  Members of the public were encouraged to pick up a paper bag and take one of the pieces home with them.
It certainly solves the problem of what to do with the exhibits at the end of the show...

Venice... in Staffordshire

The annual Venice carnival, which runs for the twelve days before the beginning of Lent, is now under way.
Sadly, the nearest I shall get to Venice this year is this superb painting of the city by the Victorian artist William Wyld. You can see it in the Nicholson Institute (aka Leek Library). It’s part of the collection there.

Though it’s over 100 years old, the picture has a wonderful vividness.

Links: Venetian Scene by William Wyld (on BBC Paintings)

Sapphic Anna grieves in Lichfield

This magnificent tomb is one of the first monuments you notice on walking into Lichfield Cathedral. It celebrates the father of the poet Anna Seward, and was erected in the last eighteenth century.
Anna, known as the Swan of Lichfield for her poetry, had nursed her ailing father for ten years before he died, and then commissioned this memorial; so the female figure in the sculpture represents daughterly grief, and maybe even can be said to symbolic of Anna herself.

Curiously, Anna has now been picked up by literary historians as a possible ‘Sapphic’ writer. She never married, and many of her poems express a longing for her close friend, and adopted sister, Honora, who died young.
She also made friends with the “Ladies of Llangollen Vale” two reclusive women writers of the time, who were known to wear semi-masculine attire.   In Stapleton Martin's monograph, she expresses support for women's rights, and a disdain for the type of marriage she saw around her.
I guess it’s possible – why not? – though no one has yet suggested she was a practising lesbian.

One other thing about the tomb is that it shows a bare-breasted maiden (representing Grief, or Daughterly Duty).
We nowadays find it odd to see bare-breasts on such a solemn piece, and in church too – but it’s possible that the bare chest is trying to show us that the figure of Grief is so distraught that she has let her clothes fall into disarray.

Related link:
Seward Tomb (in Public Sculpture of Staffordshire And the Black Country)

Nineteenth century punk kitchen

Ah - another "Neo-Dawsonism"!  Yes, this is another barmy, contribution to the current, subversive art project at the City Museum in Hanley.
See my previous post, which explains the background to what's going on here.

This is an exhibit in the Social History section of the museum, which is showing a nineteenth century kitchen - complete with mannequin.
But the artists have artfully added a rocker's leather jacket to this 200 year old scene... thus confusing all visitors to this part of the museum!  Weird.

Incidentally Discharge are a real band - a punk hardcore band, and about as raw as they come, from Stoke-on-Trent.

Freaky species goes on show

This freakish skeleton is in the Natural History section of the City Museum in Hanley, next to the stuffed birds, and not far from the Mammals. As you can see, it has extraordinarily long arms.
When I passed it, more than a few people were scratching their heads. They were wondering: what sort of animal was this? An urban monkey?

Well, after the double-take, one realises it's a joke. Well, sort-of. It's part of a subversive art project in which a number of odd, barmy objects are placed around the museum at strategic points, apparently as though they really are long-term exhibits.  (There's a plane made of pottery in the engineering section for instance...)

The label by this skeleton describes it as Homo Tesco, and there is a completely nutty description of its history - including a comparison with its close species 'Homo Asda'. It explains the waering of the blue plastic bag as an attempt at a 'shirt'.

The art project, which runs at the museum until December 9th, is called 'Neo Dawsonism' - though a quick search on Google only turned up references to the late great Les Dawson's jokes, also known as Dawsonisms.  Hmm.

I must admit that I thought it very funny - and, somehow, very brave of the museum to allow it!

Related Link
The Walter Mitty Archive

Potteries Venus

The Staffordshire ‘Potteries’didn’t just produce cups and saucers. This beautiful piece, in Parian porcelain, was produced at the Ridgways factory (John Ridgway, Bates & Company – to be exact) in Hanley in 1858. It was based on the statue 'Venus & Cupid' aka Venus Verticordia by the famous sculptor John Gibson

It’s astonishing to me that such a fine piece could be fired from what is basically... clay.

You’ll find this piece in the Industrial Gallery of Birmingham Museum. I guess the Museum sees it as a factory item, not a work of art in its own right. Hmm.

Gooey sculpture

The long, caramel-golden strings in this art-installation are, in fact, stretched-out, gooey, semi-molten sugar. The 'strings' drip occasionally, due to the heat of the lights. As you can imagine, the smell in the gallery-space is wonderful: like a fudge factory…

The piece is being displayed at the Staffordshire University Fine Art Degree Show, where there is the usual mix of the weird and the frankly baffling.

The story behind this piece is interesting though. Hannah Golding, the artist, is intolerant to many foods; and sugar is one food that is safe for her to eat. (Well, as safe as sugar ever is).

The Degree Show ends on Saturday.

Art gets cheaper

Being an artist is not easy these days. I wandered into this local (north Staffordshire) art-show where the works were very competent, and the artists (some of whom I spoke to) were of long-standing.
Yet the most expensive painting was around £70.
I was shocked - how can any artist make an income from that?

Even just a few years ago, the average price-tag on a painting at a local show would have been around £200-£250.

The artists said that the problem was partly the locale - it's easier to sell in other, more well-heeled parts of the country - but also the economic climate.
But, on the reverse side of the business, if you want to own original art, now's a good time to look for a bargain.

The works in this photo are by an artist called Roy P Rushton.

Emerging from LDF

‘Tent’ is the event during the London Design Festival week that tends to showcase the more innovative or younger & exciting designers.  Hundreds of ambitious youngsters take over empty spaces – warehouses and the like – to exhibit their work in the city.

I really enjoyed this particular showcase, ‘Emerge’ at Spitalfields, which featured the crop of young graphic designers, including Matt Lucas from Staffordshire University. His brilliant take on an astrological table was really inspired. Trouble was - I missed him by one day. (I should have read his table!)

Link: Matt Lucas at Emerge