What can these Diamond Jubilee portraits tell us about the Royal Pavilion?

In February 2012 two official, specially commissioned Diamond Jubilee photographs of HM the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were released to mark the 60th anniversary of The Queen’s accession to the throne. The photographs were taken in December 2011 by renowned photographer John Swannell, who has photographed members of the royal family on several occasions since the 1980s.

Official Diamond Jubilee Portrait, copyright Royal Household/John Swannell

In the first photograph, the Queen is shown in the Centre Room of Buckingham Palace, with a glimpse of The Mall and the Queen Victoria memorial visible through the large window behind her.

Official Diamond Jubilee Portrait, copyright Royal Household/John Swannell

The second official jubilee photograph, also taken in the Centre Room of Buckingham Palace, shows the Queen with Prince Philip in a room that could be mistaken for our very own Royal Pavilion in Brighton. The pair are posing in front of a Chinoiserie fireplace, and to either side of the mirror above the fireplace is a geometric border design that might well look familiar to Royal Pavilion visitors.

Banqueting Room, Royal Pavilion, fa207733

The white and gold fireplace, complete with small Chinese figures on either side of the fire grid, was originally installed in the Banqueting Room of the Royal Pavilion in 1817. It was designed by Robert Jones, one of the principal artists employed by the Prince Regent for the transformation of the Royal Pavilion from Henry Holland’s neo-classical building into John Nash’s Indian fantasy. Eagle-eyed observers might also spot to the right of Prince Philip a little bit of silvered background next to the trellis border. This is the background of the large Chinese-style paintings by Robert Jones which are also in the Banqueting Room.

The Centre Room of Buckingham Palace is also commonly known as the Balcony Room. On special occasions, such as royal weddings or jubilee celebrations, the royals gather on the balcony, watched by crowds in The Mall. If you look carefully at some of the press pictures taken at events such as Kate and William’s balcony kiss after their wedding in April 2011 (as seen in this picture by The Telegraph) you will see one of the smaller Frederick Crace chandeliers from the Royal Pavilion’s Music Room in the background.

So how did these items from Brighton find their way into Buckingham Palace?

Music Room, Royal Pavilion, fa207734

In 1850 Queen Victoria sold the Royal Pavilion to the Corporation of Brighton, but excluded the contents of the building from this sale. In the years before the sale the Pavilion had been stripped of all its contents and decorations, including heavy pieces such as the large chandeliers and the fireplaces. Queen Victoria used many of the fittings, furniture, and decorative objects in the newly built Blore Wing of Buckingham Palace (that rather imposing side of the palace that can be seen from The Mall), creating an 1850s recycled take on the Prince Regent’s Brighton Chinoiserie scheme. To this day there is a suite of rooms in the Blore Wing of Buckingham Palace that looks remarkably similar to the interior of the Royal Pavilion.

But this doesn’t mean that what we have in Brighton is not original. Many items were returned by Queen Victoria herself as early as the 1860s, among them important large pieces, such as the two large chandeliers from the Music Room and the Banqueting Room. The larger Robert Jones’ paintings in the Banqueting Room are original, the others being very good 19th century copies. The Jones paintings in Buckingham Palace have recently been restored and re-hung in the Centre Room, so if you come across older pictures of this room you might not see them. Of the smaller Music Room chandeliers, half of the smaller ones are original.

Since 1850 several members of the royal family have been very supportive of efforts to restore the Pavilion, and have returned many original Pavilion pieces.  Queen Mary was a prominent supporter in the early twentieth century, and visited the building on several occasions during World War One. Her Majesty the Queen has also very graciously returned several very important items on a permanent loan basis.

It is of course tempting to say that it would be nice to have all the original pieces returned to Brighton, but one has to bear in mind that these Chinoiserie interiors have also become an integral part of the history of Buckingham Palace. The present Royal Pavilion also reflects its history as a former royal palace that has been in municipal ownership since 1850. We should also not forget that some of the Chinese decorations that were in the Royal Pavilion during George IV’s lifetime had were taken from another building: his lavish London residence Carlton House, in which he first experimented with Chinoiserie interiors. Carlton House was demolished in the 1820s and its furniture and decorative objects taken to Buckingham House (as Buckingham Palace was then called) and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

The history of buildings and their interiors has always been one of change, movement, inspiration and the re-use of objects in new contexts and by new owners, and it is all the more fascinating for it.

Alexandra Loske,
Researcher and Guide at the Royal Pavilion

A Bittersweet Loving Cup

A silver bowl or ‘Loving Cup’ has recently been presented to Brighton & Hove Museums through the Art Fund.

Silver loving cup belonging to Glyn Philpot and Vivian Forbes

It is modelled in the Arts & Crafts style, and was hallmarked for Edward Jones of Birmingham in 1912. The first names of the artists, Glyn Philpot and Vivian Forbes are engraved around the bowl, one letter on each projecting lobe. It belonged latterly to Robin Gibson, Chief Curator of the National Portrait Gallery from 1994-2001. Gibson wrote a biography of Philpot in 1984 and mounted an exhibition of his work at the National Portrait Gallery in 1986.

Glyn Philpot, The Journey of the Spirit, 1921

Although the Tate Gallery hosted a retrospective of Philpot’s work in 1938, Brighton Museum held the first post-war exhibition of Philpot’s paintings in 1953. Brighton & Hove also owns a number of important examples of his paintings and sculpture.

Glyn Philpot (1884-1937) was already a successful artist before World War One. He joined the Royal Fusiliers and in August 1915 attended a training course at Aldershot, where he met Vivian Forbes (1891-1937), a fellow soldier and an aspiring painter. Philpot’s sister Daisy recalled ‘a young man of twenty-three with piercing blue eyes who attached himself to Glyn.’[1] Philpot saw in Forbes someone he could nurture and the two men became close. They both achieved promotion to officer level before being independently invalided out of the army in 1917.

Blue plaque at Lansdowne House

From 1923-1935, Philpot and Forbes intermittently shared a home and studio at Lansdowne House, Lansdowne Road, London, W11. Their period of tenancy is marked by a Blue Plaque. Although he was talented, charming and devoted to Philpot, Forbes demonstrated increasing emotional instability. He became insanely jealous of Philpot’s other friends and liaisons. Philpot never disowned him but encouraged him to travel independently for long periods and often relied upon his loyal sister, Daisy to support Forbes. The writer Gerald Heard, believed that Forbes actually brought out much that was best in Philpot, who confessed that, ‘through Vivian I can do something in art which I couldn’t do myself’.[2]

During the 1930s Philpot suffered from high blood-pressure and breathing difficulties. He passed the summer of 1937 in France where he spent time with Forbes. On 18 December he collapsed suddenly in London and died of a brain haemorrhage. Forbes returned from Paris in a highly distressed state to attend Philpot’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral on 22 December. The following day he took his own life with an overdose of sleeping pills. Despite the tragic outcome of their story, this cup remains as testimony of all that was best in the relationship between the two artists.

Stella Beddoe, Senior Keeper and Keeper of Decorative Art

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[1] Daisy Philpot’s unpublished memoir quoted in JPG Delaney, Glyn Philpot, his Life and Art, 1999, p.41

[2] Gerald Heard’s Memoir of Glyn Philpot, edited by JPG Delaney, posted 2005 on www.geraldheard.com/writings.htm

Freedom from Within: A Burmese artist at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

Earlier this year Htein Lin, one of Burma’s leading contemporary artists, visited Brighton Museum & Art Gallery to demonstrate his printmaking techniques. The event – Freedom from Within – was organised by the Pansodan Gallery (Yangon) in partnership with the museum.

A Dharma School pupil making a print using string, fingers and a CD.

Htein Lin spent the morning leading a workshop with children from the Dharma Primary School. First he showed them the variety of materials that he uses for print making. For example, he covered one side of a blank compact disc with acrylic paint. Then he made patterns on it with his fingers before pressing the CD onto cloth. The revealed print drew admiring noises from the children who were then inspired to produce their own prints.

After making colourful prints on individual pieces of cloth, everyone participated in making one big piece. First, the children used objects and their fingers to paint patterns onto a large piece of vinyl cloth.

A group effort at printmaking

Then Htein Lin placed a large white cloth on top of the painted surface and everyone patted it down enthusiastically.

When the cloth was lifted off, the image was printed on the cloth – as shown below.

At the end of the session the children sang a Buddhist song of thanks to Htein Lin.

Htein Lin and his assistant show the finished piece.

In the afternoon Htein Lin gave an inspirational and moving talk about his life in Burma [Myanmar]. An activist during and after the 1988 democracy demonstrations, he spent four years in the jungle and suffered some terrible experiences. In 1998 he was falsely charged with planning opposition protests and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Htein Lin wasn’t allowed any writing or painting materials in prison.  Instead he used whatever materials he could get: syringes, his fingers, cigarette lighters, carved soap and smuggled-in paints. Inmates donated old uniforms for him to uses as canvases.

When he was released six and a half years later, Htein Lin had created over 200 artworks.

Htein Lin creating a T-shirt

Now Htein Lin is an established artist and lives in London. He practises painting, writing and performance art. Following his talk at the museum, Htein Lin helped a group of adults create their own printed T-shirts.

At the end of the day Htein Lin donated a T-shirt to Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, which he had designed during the session.

The T-shirt reflects the style of printing Htein Lin developed while imprisoned. The figures pictured in the design are in the ‘Ponsantain’ position; an uncomfortable physical pose which prisoners had to assume during inspections.

Lucy Faithful, Assistant Curator of World Art

Htein Lin displays the finished T-shirt

T-shirt detail showing the uncomfortable position of the prisoners