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Mice house A doll’s house which inspired the stories of children’s author Beatrix Potter (18661943) has gone back on display after 300 hours of conservation work.
Some 73 miniature items were repaired and cleaned by teams of conservators at the National Trust, ahead of the house becoming the centrepiece of a new exhibition at Hill Top, the author’s farm near Hawkshead, Cumbria on until November.
The house’s tiny furniture was given to Potter by her publisher Norman Warne to help inspire her book Th e Tale Of Two Bad Mice in which Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb attempt to steal some of the miniature food - only to discover it is glued to the plate.
Warne later proposed to the author, who accepted, but the would-be bridegroom died in 1905 before they could marry. Potter bought the doll’s house many decades later in the 1930s.
WHAT’S ON IN APRIL
ANTIQUE
news
From a celebration of modern book binding in Hampshire to a novelty teapot celebrating Jane Austen, the world of antiques and fine art continues to enchant in April
Hats off A Winchester arts venue has announced plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen.
The Arc is launching the exhibition Beyond the Bonnets: Working Women in Jane Austen’s Novels in July, exploring the real-life women on whom many of Austen’s characters are based, including Susannah Sackree who was nursemaid to the author’s brother, and Mary Martin who was an innkeeper who later ran a draper’s shop and library.
FACE MASQUE A portrait celebrating the 18th-century fashion for masquerades has been acquired by a London gallery. The oil on canvas, by Joseph Highmore (1692–1780), has gone on show at Philip Mould & Co. in Pall Mall.
Likely painted in the 1740s, it captures the taste for masquerades – high society balls where goers wore bewitching masks and costumes.
Highmore trained as a lawyer, before shifting to painting, gaining recognition for his refined and detailed portraiture. He was recently the subject of an exhibition at the Foundling Museum.
Above Beatrix Potter’s doll’s house is going back on show after conservation work © National Trust, Annapurna Mellor
Top right Artwork from Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice © National Trust Images, Jaron James
Above right 20th-century Romanian man’s hat with a semi-circular spray of peacock feathers ©20052012 The Regents of the University of California, Davis campus. All Rights Reserved
Left Joseph Highmore (1692-1780) portrait of a gentleman in masquerade costume, 1740s
SENSE AND SENSIBILI TEA Celebrations of Austen’s birth continue in East Anglia with a pottery company having created a specially themed teapot. Carters of Suffolk has designed the piece made up of some of the Hampshire-born author’s most celebrated works.
The firm has been designing teapots for more than 40 years using a manufacturing process that has changed little since the early 18th century, with each teapot taking up to a week to produce.
Most are hand painted and created in limited editions.
Right The new Jane Austen teapot is by Carters of Suffolk priced £109
6 ANTIQUE COLLECTING
