A pocket full of gems

Our annual Show and Tell in the Aldermen’s Dining Room at the Guildhall always surprises even the weariest Arts Scholar with the range and diversity of objects presented. Not least among the surprises is the realisation that many of us have enormous pockets in which to store our treasures. This a selection of my personal highlights from the 15 objects presented.

Coins and medals are always a staple, so when Timothy Millett – a medals dealer to his core (website www.historicmedals.com) – stood up we licked our lips in anticipation. Imagine our surprise when he produced an 1830s powder horn showing an early steam train. What a tease. Louise Ryder had blown in from Tunbridge Wells (on one of those 1830s locos?) and mounted a spirited defence of Tunbridgeware. Noting that the modern collector can be dismissive of the genre as a Victorian equivalent of the fridge magnet, Louise pointed out that many examples contain woods from upwards of 40 trees and that her modest Victorian stamp box would have cost the equivalent of £400 today. You can get a fridge for that kind of money. If things do not work out for Louise in her current role, her appointment to the Tunbridgeware Marketing Board is a shoo-in.

We were surprised and delighted to see Past Master Philippa Glanville, who presented an Arts and Crafts West Country brooch dating from the 1930s bought by her late husband, Gordon. Roger Massey presented a piece of 16th century Japanese porcelain commissioned by the Dutch East India Co for export. The form was a copy of German stoneware, which in turn was copying German glassware. An early example of globalisation in the arts.

Roger Massey with his Japanese export ware.

Upper Warden and MC for the day, John Benjamin, presented a doily made of beetle wings gifted to him by Smallhythe Place in Kent, formerly home to Dame Helen Terry, the leading stage actress of her day. John takes up the tale: “One of her most celebrated roles was Lady Macbeth, immortalised in a painting by John Singer Sargent and now in the Tate Gallery. In this painting she is wearing the famous beetle wing dress embroidered with over 1000 iridescent wings taken from a species of Indian jewel beetle known as Sternocera Aequisignata. “These wings were deliberately chosen by her costume designer, Mrs Alice Comyns-Carr, since their metallic blue-green surface perfectly reflected oldfashioned stage limelight creating a menacing, serpent-like effect which perfectly demonstrated the character’s ruthless ambition. “A number of the beetle wings which were not used on the dress were sewn onto decorative doilies and I was fortunate enough to be given one after I had catalogued all the Smallhythe jewellery for the National Trust.”

John Benjamin's beetle-wing doily from Smallhythe Place.

Ronald Monro Ferguson brought a mourning ring dedicated to one of his ancestors. Hector Munro was a young army officer mauled by a tiger during a picnic in India in 1792, now known familiarly as The Unfortunate Munro. His death has been immortalised in ceramic which can be seen at the V&A: search Google for The Death of Munro. Unlucky Hector is also thought to be the inspiration for the Tipu’s Tiger automaton, also at the V&A. Extraordinary stuff from a remarkable family. I will finish with yet another piece related to an object in a major collection.

Charlotte Mayer's maquette.

Rachel Bebb presented a maquette by Charlotte Mayer (1929-2022), a Czech-born sculptor who fled to Britain to escape the Nazi occupation in 1939, aged 10. The Thornflower was created to commemorate Mayer’s grandmother who died at Treblinka. Appropriately the full-size piece is now in the collection at Coventry Cathedral. The humble maquette was the star of our show and moved all who handled it. On the train home one thought kept nagging away, why do we only do this once a year?

Simon Berti