Innholdsfortegnelse for 19-Jun-2019 i Country Life

1 Seated Thai Buddha in gilded and lacquered bronze, dating to the 15th century or earlier, from Peter Petrou peterpetrou.com 2 Early 19th century Chinese tengpai wicker shield, carried in to battle by infamous skirmish troops the ‘Tigermen’, from Runjeet Singh runjeetsingh.com 3 George III mahogany longcase clock by Thomas Mudge of London, Royal Watchmaker to George III, from Tobias Birch tobiasbirch.com 4Toms and Luscombe bureau plat, circa 1862, which featured in the 1962 James Bond film ‘Dr No’ from Butchoff Antiques butchoff.com 5 Large bronze Red Crowned Cranes, Japan, Meiji period, 1868-1912, from Architectural Heritage architectural-heritage.co.uk 6 Mid-19th century Winfield rocking chair, similar to one shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851, from Walpoles walpoleantiques.com 7 Set of terrestrial and celestial table globes by Mansion Delamarche, Paris, circa 1865,…

Red squirrels The bushy-tailed rodents have returned from the brink of extinction at Cumbria’s Smardale nature reserve and are starring on YouTube Defra’s status The uncertainty of Brexit has brought an unexpected benefit: the department’s understanding of farming is much greater and its influence has swelled dramatically, says the National Pig Association Collectors Works by British Impressionists and the Newlyn School can be viewed at Lord’s Wood in Buckinghamshire, family home of art dealer David Messum (until June 23) Peregrines Four chicks hatched in the grounds of Winchester Cathedral are preparing to take flight; after years of decline, Hampshire now boasts 25 nesting pairs of the birds The fight against Xylella The RHS campaign to stop the bacterium from entering the UK has gained support from Dame Helen…

I ESCAPED the rain that engulfed London for much of last week with a visit to the west coast of Scotland. It was enjoying fine weather, with long bursts of sunshine that brought out the most astonishing colours in the sea, lochs and landscape. The numbers of my fellow travellers—German, Dutch and French, in particular —enjoying the Highland idyll by motorbike, campervan and coach astonished me. Only when I drove east to Inverness did the rain finally catch up with me. Walking around the town before boarding the sleeper south, I was caught in a persistent downpour. I might have retreated to the station but for a lone busker singing Gaelic ballads from the doorway of a shop. Such was their seeming indifference to the rain that I felt inspired…

Empty-nest syndrome Q Our youngest is off to university and I’ve been looking forward to reclaiming my social life. However, my husband is making noises about having another baby. I can’t think of anything worse, but I don’t know how to break it to him. M. F., Worcestershire A Good God! Of course you must defend the release on bail which you have so commendably earned. It’s your body and to do with it as you decide is your absolute right. Both the world, and Worcestershire, are overpopulated. An 18-year age gap between siblings is arguably unfair on the late arrival. More to the point, you’ll be flat-exhausted, with an ancient husband who can’t help because of his dodgy knee. The grandchildren will soon be hoving into view, anyway—and…

Email: countrylife_letters@ti-media.com Post: Letters to the Editor, COUNTRY LIFE Editorial, Pinehurst II, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Hampshire GU14 7BF (with a daytime telephone number, please) TI Media Limited reserves the right to edit and to reuse in any format or medium submissions to the letters page of COUNTRY LIFE N.B. If you wish to contact us about your subscription, including regarding changes of address, please ring Magazines Direct on 0330 333 4555…

If long-haul flights become social no-nos, it will add to the pressure on Europe AN accident waiting to happen took place in Venice on June 2, when the 900ft cruise ship MSC Opera lost control while navigating the Giudecca Canal in Venice and crashed into a pier as well as a smaller tourist boat. Thankfully, there were only a few minor injuries, but the prang galvanised Venetian opposition to these giants, resulting in a rally in Saint Mark’s Square and renewed calls for a ban. All rather Groundhog Day, Athena fears, as there have been previously failed initiatives and broken promises on this issue. Carrying many thousands of passengers each, these cruise ships have long been aesthetic, physical and economic menaces to a city drowning in a malign combination of…

MUSEUMS are a huge source of ideas for Bridie Hall (@bridierhall), co-founder of Pentreath & Hall, and it was the Thorvaldsen Museum (@thorvaldsens museum) that sparked a trip to Copenhagen to discover the ‘utterly inspiring collection and the building that houses it’. Artist Matthew Craven’s feed (@mcrvn) is ‘like all the best bits of National Geographic put together in one place’. Working with found images and collage, he juxtaposes imagery from different periods to celebrate commonalities. Bridie also follows the Landmark Trust (@landmarktrust). ‘I wouldn’t have been taken on the most romantic weekend away to the Bath House in Warwickshire last November had it not been for a post showing a beautiful picture of the octagonal room.’ Benedict Foley (@a.prin.art), who runs the art consultancy and gallery A.Prin, follows writer…

Boodles The Songbird and Waterfall Collar is part of Boodles’ fifth Wonderland collection, Always a Story. Inspired by the art of storytelling, each piece tells its own totally unique tale. This necklace is set with diamonds, tsavorites and white jade in platinum and 18-carat rose gold. POA (020–7493 3240; www.boodles.com) Patek Philippe at Boodles Ladies’ Twenty~4 Automatic Ref. 7300/1200R-010 in rose gold with a silvery dial, enriched with a shimmering vertical and horizontal satin finish, reminiscent of wild shantung silk. The bezel is set with 160 brilliant-cut diamonds £34,730 (020–7235 0111; www.boodles.com) Susannah Lovis A distinctive Art Deco pearl, sapphire and diamond tassel pendant necklace in platinum, circa 1930, £16,400; an elegant pair of Burmese sapphire and diamond ear studs, £15,700; a stunning sapphire and diamond triple cluster ring, £7,525…

Mow lawns The most time-consuming task in a garden is worth doing well to get the best results. On a fine lawn, use a cylinder mower. Each time you mow, cut in a different direction, otherwise corrugations known as ‘washboarding’ will gradually result. Every now and again, use a rotary mower to slice off those ryegrass seedheads that the cylinder mower rolls flat. This mower is also the best for general-purpose cutting on uneven ground, although it will never manage lawn edges as neatly. In a dry spell, raise the height of cut to keep the grass green.…

Art Roger Fry and Italian Art Caroline Elam (Ad Ilissum in association with The Burlington Magazine, £100) WHEN asked what he thought of Picasso, the painter Stanley Spencer replied: ‘I haven’t got past Piero della Francesca yet.’ There he spoke for several 20th-century British artists because, by an art-historical quirk, during the heyday of Modernism, many London-trained painters—David Hockney and Euan Uglow being two other examples—were equally in thrall to the Quattrocento. For that reason, Roger Fry and Italian Art is much less recondite than it might seem. Fry (1866–1934) is now remembered, if at all, as the person who—rather belatedly—introduced the British public to Modern art by organising the two great Post-Impressionist exhibitions of 1910 and 1912. It was the impact of the first that led Fry’s friend, Virginia…

‘The internet’s elephant-like memory makes it difficult to forget past mistakes’ FAMOUSLY, when Theresa May was asked in 2017 to reveal the naughtiest thing she had ever done, she divulged—after a painful struggle —that, when she was a child, the local farmers had been none too pleased when she and her friends had run through their wheat- fields. The satirists never let her live it down. Its fatal flaw was that it struck no one as being particularly naughty. More recently, some of her would-be successors seem to have been competing to be far worse behaved or, at least, to try to manage the revelation before it’s out of control. Taking drugs is proving the perfect political crime. It’s illegal and yet the chief victim is the consumer, so the…

Plants A study by Kew and Stockholm University finds that, due to human activity, species of seed-bearing plants are going extinct 500 times faster than they otherwise would Churches A video voiced by Michael Palin shows how the death-watch beetle is damaging ancient timbers. The National Churches Trust is seeking help to deal with the threat Cows and sheep According to a report by consultancy firm A. T. Kearney, by 2040, most ‘meat’ we eat will be made of plant material or grown in vats Mona Lisa Researchers posit that art’s most famous woman is not happy. Using mirror images, they revealed the right side of her face shows no emotion, suggesting a fake smile Birds of prey Tests reveal that two dead red kites found in Scotland last month…

You may find the idea of Canadian wine somewhat counterintuitive, but the ‘friendly giant to the north’ of the USA has more than 12,000 hectares (29,600 acres) planted to wine-grape vines. About two-thirds are in Ontario, in the east, and a third in British Columbia (BC), in the west. BC’s most important wine region is the beautiful Okanagan valley, which stretches 84 miles from south to north along the shores of Okanagan Lake, four hours’ drive east from Vancouver. Why you should be drinking them The particular climatic conditions—cold, cloudy winters and warm, light-filled summers—give fruit of great delicacy, purity and definition. The Okanagan wine industry is, if not in its infancy (there are more than 150 wineries), then perhaps in its adolescence. There’s a lot of experimentation, a…

1958 Published, April 17, Henry Blundell’s celebrated collection of Classical antiquities displayed in the Pantheon, a purpose-built rotunda at Ince Blundell Hall, Lancashire. The free-standing statues were removed from the hall a few years after this photograph was taken and are now in the care of Liverpool’s World Museum. The COUNTRY LIFE Picture Library contains 120 years’ worth of photography and articles from the world’s leading architectural and gardens experts. Many are available to licence or purchase in print form from £28 plus VAT. Please email enquiries to clpicturelibrary @ti-media.com…

Milo Dickinson, Sculpture specialist The Madonna and Child (about 1485) by Andrea della Robbia Andrea della Robbia was the nephew of Luca della Robbia, who invented tin-glazed coloured terracotta in 15th-century Florence. This Madonna and Child, which we sold in December, belonged to a client whose ancestor had bought it on the Grand Tour, della Robbia being one of the most prized ‘souvenirs’ to bring home. I love the simple transformation of a Christian story into a depiction of love between a mother and child. Price realised £296,750 Alastair Plumb, 19th-century European Art specialist Interior with an Easel, Bredgade 25 by Vilhelm Hammershøi With its beautiful rendering in shades of grey, this piece certainly piques interest and poses many questions: why is the door open, what’s on the easel…

IN 1883, in a ‘shabby gallery behind a shop’ in London, William Powell Frith had his first glimpse in more than four decades of a self-portrait he’d painted at the age of 19. For £20, one of the 19th-century’s most commercially successful and lionised artists reclaimed a painting he had no recollection either of selling or of giving as a gift. His autobiography doesn’t record his response to the shopkeeper, who assured him the picture was the work of a disappointed man: an artist who had died of drink. The history of a work of art is subject to all the vagaries and vicissitudes of human existence. Like Frith’s student self-portrait, works disappear; like Frith’s, they resurface later, unexpected and unanticipated. Other works remain hidden, lost in attics, stolen, looted,…

• Take advantage of microclimates by using plants that like extra warmth • Avoid plants with potentially destructive root systems (such as some bamboos) • If possible, create a sense of enclosure. Yew hedging can be a tad gloomy and deciduous plants create lots of leaf litter, so opt for evergreens, such as box (unless your area is prone to blight), Portuguese laurel (Prunus laurocerasus), shrubby honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida) or Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) • Don’t choose pest- and disease-prone plants; pesticides are not good near pools • Don’t site deciduous plants in such a way that the leaves fall into the water • Consider maintenance; make sure clippings can be gathered away from the pool…

More ways with broad beans ‘Baby broad beans are a kitchen-garden highlight, especially as there’s no need to remove their skins’ Broad-bean hummus ( below ) Simmer 100g baby broad beans for a few minutes before tipping the drained beans into a blender with a tin of drained chickpeas, one tablespoon of tahini, the juice from a lemon, seasoning and a good glug of olive oil. Process to a smooth paste. Spoon into a bowl and finish with a drizzle of olive oil, chilli flakes and a pinch of sesame seeds. Serve with raw florets of broccoli, plus radishes, cucumber or any other crudités you like. Pesto broad beans with burrata Arrange three burrata cheeses on a serving plate. In a separate bowl, combine 200g…

ALTHOUGH biblical deluges of rain have caused the boughs of our garden roses—which have bloomed more prolifically than ever before—to droop, sag and shed their delicately perfumed petals, I’ve been struck by the hardiness of the wild specimens snaking their way through the hedgerows. Of all our 14 species of native wild roses, my favourite is definitely the dog rose (Rosa canina). Known in Shakespeare’s time as eglantine—a name also attributed to R. rubiginosa—the dog rose is the most abundant and widespread. Its pretty, faintly sweet-scented blooms vary widely in colour from white to a deep blushing pink. And, although this prickly briar grows to about 16ft high, it can clamber to the tops of the tallest trees thanks to the curved spines that give it purchase as it winds…

I AM staying in the country. The conversation chanced to turn on matches. I mentioned that at my club they were for some time cut off altogether and that the supply of spills often ran out. My hostess said: ‘Have you ever seen these spills?’ handing me one. It was a slight brown stem about 14in long. I lit it. It burned like a wax taper with a small but quite good flame. The consumption of stem was very small. My hostess said that it was the dried stem of the Michaelmas daisy, or ox-eye. She added: ‘I believe any flower stem will do, though no doubt some are better than others. But the best of all is parsley. It is 3ft or 4ft long and you can stand one…

Midnight feast AM delighted to see, from I Tottering-by-Gently (May 8), that I’m not the only person with a labrador that wants to go out just in order to get a gravy bone on coming back in. Unfortunately, my 15 year old has now trained me to allow her to lie on the lawn at 4am, so that she can receive the aforementioned treat (and I daren’t not oblige her, in case she has something else in mind). Gavin Hardy, Newcastle upon Tyne Mind your manners The magic tick trick WHEN discussing farming methods (May 29), Agromenes may need to be reminded of the American bumper sticker: ‘Don’t complain about farmers with your mouth full.’ Colin Ewing, Norfolk Xanadu and back again WAS particularly interested to read I the…

BELVOIR CASTLE was one of the first generation of castles that secured the Norman conquest of England. The French derivation of its name strongly implies that it was established on an unoccupied site. It is not hard to understand why this hilltop was chosen: it is naturally defensible and quite exceptionally prominent, straddling the Leicestershire and Lincolnshire boundaries and commanding two major medieval thoroughfares: the Fosse Way and the Great North Road (Fig 2). The founder of the castle was one Robert de Tosny, a relative of a particularly close associate of William the Conqueror, Ralph de Tosny (who, by tradition, refused to carry the Norman standard at Hastings because it would interfere with his desire to fight). In typical Norman fashion, the castle came into being with a settlement…

Pets of all shapes and sizes—from hamsters to horses—can be laid to rest, but the largest animals demand a more specialist service. In 1988, Penny and John Lally set up Penwith Pets Crematorium & Horse Cemetery, one of the only dedicated resting places for equines, near Penzance in Cornwall. Each grave is marked with a plaque and a fruit tree, creating a beautiful orchard where visitors are welcome. Perhaps the most famous horse grave is that of Blackie, who served in the 275th Brigade Royal Field Artillery ‘A’ Battery, 55th West Lancashire Division during the First World War, fighting alongside Lt Leonard Comer Wall in major battles, including the Somme. Blackie and horses like him were memorialised in Michael Morpurgo’s novel War Horse and the subsequent stage and film adaptations.…

• Book a table at the hotel’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant, La Vague d’Or. The tasting menu by chef Arnaud Donckele, which consists largely of the freshest fish you’ll ever taste, is a theatrical experience, presented with flair • Visit the Musée de l’Annonciade, housed in a 14th-century chapel, to see works by the likes of Matisse and Signac. The museum’s Seurat painting is one of only six in France (www.saint-tropez.fr) • Breathe deeply—each Cheval Blanc property has a signature scent, developed by the nose of Guerlain • Visit the bustling Saint-Tropez market, held each Tuesday and Saturday • Ask about the spa’s top-to-toe, beach-to-restaurant makeover service • Catch a lift in style in the hotel’s signature-blue Bentley…

Richard Green Alfred Munnings reading a sonnet by Harold Knight (about 1910) I would never sell this painting both because of its intriguing history and its connection to my career in the art world. I met Sir Alfred Munnings in the 1950s, when I was a teenager; my father, James Green, was then one of his dealers. Over 65 years, I have bought and sold 491 paintings by Munnings. This portrait of him reading a sonnet was painted by Harold Knight when he, his wife, Laura, and Munnings were part of the artists’ community at Lamorna in Cornwall before the First World War. It then disappeared until 2009, when it was discovered beneath a work by Laura Knight, which had been stretched over it. No one knows why.…

Grasses Stipa calamagrostis An ornamental grass that has slender, arching, grey-green leaves and dramatic, 3ft-tall plumes. Easy to grow and perfect for softening a pool’s hard lines Panicum virgatum Shenandoah This grass has a compact, upright habit and particularly beautiful blue-green foliage that deepens to a gorgeous wine-red in autumn. Happy in most conditions, even exposed sites Hakonechloa macra A handsome grass that forms low mounds of cascading, fresh-green foliage that gradually turns rich russet in autumn. Tough, easy-going and great for simple, low-maintenance poolside schemes Perennials Dierama pulcherrimum The swaying stems and little bell flowers of angels’ fishing rods are wonderful as a counterpoint to the static hard landscaping of traditional swimming pools Erigeron karvinskianus If you prefer a relaxed look and are happy to have plants…

• Mexican tree spinach How can you not grow a plant with such a name and, if that’s not enough, its light-green leaves blush magenta, with a strange kind of dusting that you can rub off. As the name suggests, they grow tall, reaching 6 1/2ft or more, if allowed. Use the small leaves in salad and the large ones as you might spinach • Callaloo A beautiful plant, with leaves (in green to red) that taste of spinach and watercress. Popular in Caribbean cooking and fast growing. Will grow tall, producing amazing seedheads in late summer • Rocket Wild rocket is best for summer, its Mediterranean origins slowing any tendency to bolt • Giant red mustard A lively oriental leaf with a mustard flavour that’s mild and engaging when…

IT must be summer. Those unidentified seedlings I absentmindedly scattered through the border have turned out to be definitely Italian parsley and the alliums are staked against the beating rain. Before the strawberries, and with the late asparagus, the pods are swelling on the Early Onward and my birthday is in the offing. The clincher, however, is the opening of the tournament season: the lawn, the hype, the prospect of tears and jubilation and the sound of furious argument drifting in the evening air. I knew it was coming when Izzy sanded and repainted the hoops while Harry took a bucket of grass seed mixed with soil and crawled over the lawn filling in holes and removing plantains with a bone-handled knife. They may get it flatter and finer at…