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C W Cobbett's Wey DFAS is grateful for the support offered by The Farnham Herald. Please click on their logo below to visit their website. |
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Susan Rumfitt, who is a jewellery expert and worked at Phillip’s Auctioneers, gave a beautifully-illustrated lecture called ‘The Romance of Nature: Early Victorian Jewellery’. She covered the period from Queen Victoria’s accession to Prince Albert’s death in 1861. Prince Albert designed several delightful pieces for Victoria, using flowers, ears of corn and other things from nature. During the period there were many exciting developments in jewellery. Diamonds were put together with other gems for the first time. English designers, influenced by the French, began to make extensive use of enamel to introduce a wider range of colours. Sets of jewellery were often created. Tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, brooches and earrings were all made to match. To mark some wedding anniversaries, Albert gave Victoria a new piece to add to the existing set. Nature inspired many of the designs which became very romantic gifts. The choice of particular flowers, stones or colours was used to symbolise certain things. Pansies signified thought, daisies innocence and red roses true love, of course. The colour red had a double meaning reminding of Christ, the Passion, blood as well as love. Green was used to indicate hope. Creatures such as insects, serpents, suggesting love and faith, and salamanders, signifying eternal love, became very popular. Susan Rumfitt concluded her lecture by talking about the mourning jewellery which came into fashion in 1861 when both Albert and Victoria’s mother died. Jet and vulcanite were both used to create black pieces as was cut steel. The chairman, Elisabeth Cort, told members that there has been a change to the lecture on 23 March. It will now be ‘Vauxhall and Other Pleasure Gardens of Georgian London’. Details are available on CWDFAS is a member of NADFAS |
“Goya” The chairman, Elisabeth Cort, welcomed members, especially new members, to the first of the 2006 lecture season. She then introduced the committee. The opening lecture of 2006 was presented by Douglas Skeggs who gave a memorable talk on Venice at the Society's inaugural meeting in 2004. As well as lecturing extensively, Douglas Skeggs has presented television documentaries and written five novels. He gave an enthralling lecture on the life and art of Goya. Born in Spain in 1746, Goya's early career was unremarkable. Failing to get into the prestigious San Fernando Academy in Madrid, he went to Italy and then made a living producing portraits and tapestry cartoons for the Spanish royal palaces. In his mid 40s, he was struck down by a sudden and violent illness which left him deaf and suffering from dreadful hallucinations. From this moment his art was changed. From being a painter of simple portraits and gentle if sometimes satirical scenes of rural life, he began to produce dark and turbulent images. These fused together the nightmares of his imagination and the horrors he had witnessed in the Peninsular War to create some of the most haunting and disturbing images in Western art. Hunted by the Inquisition, Goya escaped to France where he died in 1828. GO TO PRESS ARCHIVE OCTOBER 2005 & NOVEMBER 2005 GO TO PRESS ARCHIVE JUNE 2005 & SEPTEMBER 2005 GO TO PRESS ARCHIVE APRIL 2005 & MAY 2005 GO TO PRESS ARCHIVE FEBRUARY 2005 & MARCH 2005 GO TO PRESS ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 2004 & JANUARY 2005
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