June 3, 1899.
THE ESTATES GAZETTE._________________
JfimuiiirB ©lit anil jEUin.
and frames ; with the beautiful and varied ceilings in which he so nearly approached the brothers Adam.
In the frames and panels he also came near rivalling Adam and Pergolesi. He appears to have done some little designing for the great Chippendale ; and was what may be termed a good all-round man.
( To be continued).
INCIDENTS IN A “ FARMER'S YEAR.”
With what a fine observant eye Mr. Eider Haggard pursues the daily life which he has the fortune to enjoy as a Norfolk squire, is made evident by the many charmingly written facts of animal, bird and human existence which h.e records in his monthly article, “A Farmer’.״ Tear,” in “Longman’s Magazine.” The instalment which appears in the current number of that periodical is full of interest, and the observations here recorded range from the Vaccination Bill of last year to a battle royal between a thresher and a whale, and the crimes of modern farm tenants. Here is the tale of a toad which, for genuine humour, would take a lot of beating.
“ In a greenhouse in this garden I have two tame toads, named Martha and Jane respectively. Also there is a tiny one called Babette, but she can hardly be counted, as she is small and seldom on view. These toads are strange and interesting creatures, differing much from each other in appearance and character. Martha is stout and dark-coloured, a bold-natured toad of friendly habit; Jane, on the other hand, is pale and thin, with a depressed air which suggests resignation bom of long experience of circumstances over which she has no control. Some of this depression may be due to the fact that once, entering the greenhouse in the twilight, I trod upon her accidentally, a shock from which she seems never to have recovered, although, owing to the adaptive powers of toads, beyond a slight flattening she took no physical harm from an adventure which must have been painful. Indeed, I am not sure that of the two of us I did not suffer most, for I know of few things more upsetting than the feel of a fat toad beneath one’s foot. Anyhow, since that׳ day Jane has never quite trusted me. These toads I feed with lobworms, or sometimes with wood-lice and centipedes taken from traps made of hollowed-out potatoes, which are set among the flowerpots to attract such creatures. In the latter case, the insects must be thrown before the toad, which never seems to see them until they begin to run, although, its ears being quick, it can sometimes hear them as they move along the floor behind it.
“When a toad catches sight of an insect its attitude of profound repose changes suddenly to one of extraordinary animation. Its swivel eyes seem to project and fix themselves upon the doomed creature off which it is about to lunch ; its throat begins to palpitate with violence, and its general air betrays intense and concentrated interest. Presently, from contemplation it proceeds to action. By slow but purposeful movements of its crooked limbs it advances, pauses and advances again, till at length it reaches a position which it considers convenient. Then, just as the centipede gains a sheltering pebble, a long pink flash seems to proceed from the head of the toad. That is its tongue. Another instant and the pink thing has twisted itself round the insect and retired into its capacious mouth, and there, once more wrapped in deep peace and rest, sits the toad, its eyes turned in pious thankfulness to heaven, or, rather, to the roof of the greenhouse. The other day even I saw Martha take a woodlouse off her own head. Mistaking the nature of its foothold, the insect had been so unfortunate as to run up her back, and, becoming aware of the tickling of its little feet, Martha guessed the situation and acted on it.
“ If the observer wishes to see what my old gardener calls ‘the beauty of the thing,’ woodlice and centipedes undoubtedly provide the best show, but for real grim earnest, for a perfect microcosm of the struggle for existence in which somebody has to go down, the spectacle of Martha meeting with a selected lobworm is to be recommended. In this instance she sees the thing at once, for it is long, active, and shiny (toads will not touch anything that is dead), and instantly clears for action. Creeping forward with a dreadful deliberation, she arches her neck over the worm, considering it with her beady eye. Then, as it begins to take refuge beneath the shingle—for worms seem to understand that toads are no friends to them ־ Martha pounces and grips it by the middle. Next comes a long strain, like that of a thrush dragging at a brandling in the garden, and after the strain, the struggle.
“Heavens ! what a fight it is! Magnify the size of the combatants by five hundred, and no man would dare to stay to look at it The worm writhes and rolls; Martha, seated on her
XXXIX.
MINOB DESIGNEES OF THE CHIPPENDALE PEEIOD.
After W. Jones, the architect, who brought out his “ Gentlemen’s or Builder’s Companion ” in 1739, containing excellent chimneypieces in the neo-classic style, Inigo Jones and Kent published in 1744 “Some Designs,” 50 copperplates, the style of which, though still classic, approached nearer that of the brothers Adam, and in fact formed the link between the dawn of their style and its zenith.
Another early work was “A New Book of Chinese Designs,” produced by Edwards and Darley, in 1754. This contains a few valuable di־awings of flowers and birds in the Chinese manner, but little else of value.
Of these early works that of Jones bears most directly upon our subject. It was sold at his house “ near the chappie in King-street, Golden-square,” and contained a great variety of chim-nevpieces and overmantels, fitted with pictures or square mirrors.
The only objects dealt with immediately related to moveable furniture are console tables and mirror frames.
The consoles, which he terms table frames, occupy plates 27 to 32.
No.' 27 has the scallop ornaments, twisted legs with masks, and either claw feet• or moulded feet. The others exhibit elaborate carving, big scallops in the centre, and festoons of flowers suspended along the fronts ; while some are supported by caryatides enveloped in foliage and scroll work.
The mirror frames are square in shape, plain and severe, with broken entablatures, or swannecked pediments, such as were then being transferred from stonework to furniture.
Meanwhile, in 1746, H. Copeland, afterwards Lock’s partner, had published several designs for mirror frames in the rococo style, ornamented with shepherds and shepherdesses.
Thomas Johnson was the next to join the great army of designers who issued their works between ¿739 and 1793.
He first came forward in 1758 with “ Designs for Picture Frames, Candelabra. Ceilings,” dedicated to Lord Blakeney, “Grand President of the Anti-Gallican Association, by his lordship’s most obedient and humble servant and brother, Thomas Johnson,” who proved his brotherhood by styling himself an Englishman possessing a truly anti-Gallic spirit׳.
Johnson’s “truly anti-Gallic spirit׳” is exemplified by such extravagant■ parodies of the styles which succeeded each other in France, as would infallibly make Englishmen reject everything French. Fantastic scroll work, birds, beasts and fishes of every description, and groups of sporting figures are sown broadcast about the frames and stands ; while shepherds and shepherdesses, babies in tubs, harpies and furies, foxes and squirrels, hustle one another on the girandoles. The sun-rays adopted by Louis XIV. as an emblem of his illuminating wisdom scintillate from the tops of timepieces.
The mantel frames are in quieter and better taste, showing that Johnson might have achieved originality but for his “ anti-Gallic spirit.’
The designs were published in monthly numbers, and prefaced by the customary boast that “when honoured by the hand of the skilful workman, they will give entire satisfaction.”
Among them may be instanced plate 21, a console table with intricate design of a bear and his victim, figures, columns and foliage ; and No. 24, a boy fishing in a fountain ; while the girandoles outvie Chippendale in their fanciful lines.
In 1761 Johnson published “ One hundred and fifty New Designs of Ceilings, Chimneypieces, Slabs, Glass and Picture Frames, for decorating ornamental furniture in the present taste,” a quarto work. In this the figures become more elaborate. Dogs appear, delighting to bark and bite ; but the larger proportion of the designs appear to be reproductions from his former book.
The name of Matthias Darley has appeared several times in these chapters as engraver for Thomas Chippendale, and for Ince and Mavhew. He was no copyist; for, except in the stone fireplaces, there is no relation between his own work and that■ which he executed for his employers. His designs for painted ceilings and carved decoration are well thought out׳, and scarcely inferior to those of Adam. His first work, published in 1767, was entitled “Sixty Vases, by English, French and Italian Masters,” though plate 6, evidently a superseded title page, bears the legend, in a label, “ A Book of Vases, by M. Darley, 1766.”
Darley’s magnum opus, published in 1773, was “ A Compleat Body of Architecture,” a “small folio.” The designs comprise arehes, ceilings, panels, chimneypieces, vases, spandrils, brackets, frames and friezes.
In this work he commences with the five Orders, separate and superimposed ; also door3 and gate piers to match ; windows with the tabernacle tops favoured by Sir William Chambers ; chimneypieces, vases, brackets, friezes
as he was about to be thrown into the pit׳, and sitting up in the cart, he played on his pipes, after which it is said he recovered ; he might have been a Highland piper immortalised by the Duke of Argyll, and anything but a Campbell. The group was afterwards to be seen in the flower gardens at Stowe. The gardens of Whit-ton Park gave rise to the following epigram :—•
OH Islay, to show his fine delicate taste
In im •loving his gardens purloined from the waste,
Ore day bade his gardener to open his views By cutting a couple of grand avenues ;
No particular prospect his lordship intended,
But left it to chance how his walks should be ended. With transport and joy he beheld his first view end In a favourite prospect—a church that was ruined.
But alas ! what a sisht did the next cut exhibit !
At the end of the walk hung a rogue on a gibbet !
He beheld it and wept, fo • it caused him to muse on Fully many a Campbell who died with his shoes on.
All amazed and aghast at the ominous scene,
He oidered it quick to be closed up again
With a lump of Scotch firs that would serve as a
Again, Mr. AVilkes writes grandiloquently: —
*■ To wng those seer,os where peace and. grandeur dwell, Whitton demands her verse ; the Nine conspire To swell my numbers with poetic fire.
There nature’s genial powers impregn the ground,
And all her fragrant sweets are spread around.”
_______	i
Although the Duke of Argyll was contemptuously called a “tree-monger” by Horace AVal-pole, the country is indebted to him for introducing many foreign trees and shrubs which, by the beauty of their forms and colours, have greatly contributed to the pleasing effect of the English landscape. Almost every tree at AVhit-ton was raised from seed planted by the duke in 1724. The grounds were all laid out with careful provision, and included fish ponds, a bowling green, orange walk, a Gothic tower, a Chinese summer house, and aviary. At the present time it contains splendid specimens of cedar, pine, fir and other trees, and ornamental lake ; also three kitchen gardens and farmery. The park and pleasure grounds comprise cricket ground, tennis lawn, cycling path, shaded walks and the well-known avenue of cedars over a quarter of a mile in length ; at the edge of the lake is a high observatory, commanding extensive views over the surrounding country and the valley of the Thames ; the property covers an area of 45a. 2r. 20p., and a building frontage of 940ft., to Whitton-road. There is a well-known print of the gardens at AVhitton as they appeared, filled with the “quality,” in the time of the Duke of Argyll, and we gave an illustration of the house in our issue of October 6, 1894. The southern portion of Hounslow, including the neighbourhood of AVhitton Park, has been made into a separate parish under the name of AVhitton, with a new church on the pleasant village green.
The “great bed of AVare,” a famous ancient carved oak bedstead, is referred to by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and other writers, and this relic is still preserved at the Eye House Inn, near Hoddesdon. Standing on the river Lea, and the largest malting town in England, AVare is still a place of importance, whilst in 1242 it was the place of the tournament■ at which the Earl of Pembroke was trampled to death. It is the seat of petty sessions and head of the union. Though not strictly picturesque, this part of Hertfordshire is diversified and very pleasant, and a portion of the Chiltern Hills runs through it, high ridges commanding extensive views. On vantage grounds to the south there are charming views over Middlesex to the hills of Surrey and the delightful scenery around. Much beauty is also attendant׳ upon the parks of the county magnates, and the prevalence of high live hedges intermixed with fine trees. AVid-burv House, one of these fine residential properties, has the additional advantage of being charmingly situated on AVidbury-hill, Ware, commanding fine views, and it possesses ornamental gardens and grounds, paddocks, lawns and plantations and meadows extending to about 24¿ acres. The residence contains 14 bed and dressing rooms, and four reception rooms, a six-roomed entrance lodge, and stabling for six horses, and the freehold is to be sold by Messrs. Norris and Duvall (Beningfield and Co.), at the London Mart׳, on July 3. The estate is within an hour of town, and consequently very convenient for gentleman engaged in business pursuits in the City or West-end.
In how many cases has the course of time changed the character and condition of a town or village. AA'hilst we see on the one hand a once obscure village that has attained greatness, on the other we observe a prosperous old market town which has decayed and lost its fame. The pleasant little Devonshire village of AA’itheridge was once a borough and a market town, but is no longer so. It is, however, a prosperous little nlace, and has no less than four annual fairs. About 1,000 acres of land here, forming a portion of the Earl of Portsmouth’s estates, together with manorial rights and \ alu-able fishing and sporting privileges, will be submitted to auction at the Angel Hotel, Witheridge, on June 21 next, by Messrs. Hanna-ford and Son, of Chulmleigh. The sale js being held bv direction of Lord Portsmouth, who is lord of the manor, and offers an excellent opportunity for acquiring a nice little manorial estate.
Leader with the Tweed, both rivers flowing through it for a considerable extent. The gardens contain about one and a half acres, and the glasshouses include vinery, peachhouse, fernery, etc. The salmon fishing in the Tweed extends for about a mile and a half on both sides of the river, and contains several excellent casts. The trout fishing on the Tweed and on the Leader is also excellent.
Not only for its beautiful scenery is the ¿harming little Berkshire parish of AA altham St. Lawrence well known, but• also for its undeniable health giving properties. It is here that the freehold residential and agricultural estate is situated, which Messrs. Simmons and Sons will sell at the Catherine AV heel Hotel, Henley-on-Thames, on July 11. The estate contains some remarkably choice sites for the erection of country residences, and comprises in the whole about 190 acres, most of which is excellent meadow land. There is a commodious house a^d 12 cottages on the property, and the whole of it is let to good tenants. The estate is within seven miles from Twyford, and seven miles from Beading or Henley.
There are few portions of the South of England which present more charming features of scenery than the beautiful valley of the Itchen, known far and wide as one of the finest streams for the angler's sport׳ in England. Throughout its extent the valley is rich and fertile, and upon its slopes flourishes some of the finest timber in the south ; picturesque old-world milages nestle in the hollows, and crown the hill tops ; whilst many pretty old-fashioned farmhouses stand upon the roads between. This part of Hampshire has an interesting association with modern history, for here extend for miles along the Itchen river the famous Tichborne estates. Bound about are many other fine estates, among the number being Beauworth Manor, which° is to be offered to auction by Messrs. John D. AA'ood and Co., of 6, Mount-street, AV., at the London Mart, on AA’ednesday, June 21, next. Beauworth Manor, which comprises an area of 268 acres, is delightfully situated at a distance of about seven miles from the historic city of Winchester, and four and a half miles from the old town of Alresford, where there is a station on the main South-Western line, whence London is reached within an hour and a half. The estate is prettily disposed along opposite sides of a broad, high-lying valley, and extends over nobly undulating land, well timbered with oak and other trees. The manor house occupies a well sheltered position, and is approached by a carriage sweep through double entrance gates. The interior has been excellently designed and arranged to provide every accommodation and means of comfort for a gentleman’s family. The house is illuminated throughout■ by the electric light, whilst■ the sanitary arrangements are excellent, and there is a first-class water supply. A fine range of stabling is one of the features of the property ; this is well ventilated and lighted by electricity, and comprises, in addition to five stalls and four large loose boxes, eight large and lofty loose boxes, the whole affording accommodation for 20 horses, the arrangement• making it excellently suited for blood stock. A cottage for stud groom is situated conveniently near the stabling. Some distance from the residence is the homestead, which has a comfortable farmhouse, commodious and ample buildings, which include six large foaling loose boxes and extensive fowl houses with accommodation for some 500 birds, a mill house with crushing and grinding mill, and engine house with nine horse power oil engine, which, besides driving the electric light dynamo, provides power for pumping, sawing, grinding, etc. The mansion is surrounded by prettily laid out grounds, and there is a productive walled kitchen garden, with a good range of glasshouses. The climate and neighbourhood are specially adapted for the training of blood stock, and ׳first-class gallops can be secured in the immediate vicinity. The property furnishes capital mixed shooting ; there is excellent- hunting in the neighbourhood ; golf links on Tichborne Down, and the district• affords first-rate social advantages.
The famous AVhitton Park, on the edge of Hounslow Heath, is to be sold by Messrs. Cobb at the Mart, on June 16. The district is perhaps better known than any other in England for the scenes of historical interest which it has witnessed, and its notoriety in the annals of highway robbery. AA hitton Park House was built by the third Duke of Argyll, formerly known as Lord Islay, and he resided in it in the last century, and later Sir Thomas Chambers, E.A., architect of Somerset House lived there. The gardens were especially well laid out, planted and cultivated, and adorned with statuary. Among other ornaments in the gardens was a celebrated group in marble by Gabriel Cibber, the figure of a Highland piper and his dog. It represents the piper described by De Foe in his “ History of the Plague,” as taken up for dead and carried off to his burial in the dead-cart, but awakening from his trance, just