Anne Countess of Warwick’s Artistic Maids

Ourwarwickshire.org have published a new blog of mine focusing on Anne Greville (1829-1903), née Charteris, 4th Countess of Warwick’s artistic maids.

Interview with the Warwick County Record Office

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xTf6HuzSsI My most rambling interview to date, explaining my love of the Warwick Castle Archive now held by the Warwickshire County Record Office.

Romney Society Lecture

Image: Self portrait, Attributed to John Westbrooke Chandler. National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG 927. POSTPONED TILL ANOTHER DATE TBC. I’m honoured to announce that I’ll be giving a lecture for the Romney Society’s AGM on 3rd April 2020 in Cumbria. The subject that I’ve been asked to lecture on is John Westbrooke Chandler, and the……

From House to House: A portrait of Katherine Grey

Image: Katherine Grey and her son, English School c.1560, Syon House. It never ceases to amaze me how historic portraits were often passed between great houses in the many centuries after they were painted. This was often for dynastic as well as aesthetic reasons. Questions of the ‘appropriateness’ of certain pictures hanging in specific locations……

Canaletto’s Pen and Ink of Warwick Castle

Image: View of the South Front of Warwick Castle 1748, Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, brown ink on paper with wash, Christie’s New York. (Being sold as part of the collection of J F Safra). By a remarkable stroke of luck, Canaletto’s very fine drawing of the South Front of Warwick Castle is coming up for sale……

Lord Warwick’s Bladder Picture

Image: From Libson & Yarker via. Antiques Trade Gazette   Amongst the many delights that were on sale at TEFAF this year was a picture that peaked my interest more than any other. Indeed, judging by the many times it appeared on Instagram, it seems to have caught the eye of many visitors and purveyors……

Tsars, Sultans and Emperors – An extraordinary tour

2019 is already shaping up to be a momentous year for lectures. I’ll be travelling far and wide to talk to various Arts Society groups and History Societies on various subjects. However, I am particularly thrilled to announce a particularly unique and new talk that will be taking place on Thursday 16th May 2019 at……

Warwick Words History Festival

I am particularly excited to be involved in two events for the Warwick Words History Festival this year. A brief synopsis of both: Anne Greville: A Victorian Countess Sunday 7th October 2018 / 7.30pm / Lord Leycester Hospital You are unlikely to have heard of Anne Greville … you are very likely, however, to have……

Arm Chairs attributed to John Hodson

I recently had the great pleasure of assisting Mackinnon Fine Furniture in the research of two very fine Georgian mahogany armchairs formerly in the collection of Warwick Castle. My research helped to reveal that there were indeed part of a set of twelve armchairs which must have been commissioned by Francis Greville, Lord Brooke and……

Re-scheduled – Art from the Warwick Castle Archive

Good news that my lecture on Art from the Warwick Castle Archive has been re-scheduled to Saturday 10th November 2018. The lecture is for the Friends of the Warwickshire County Record Office, and will be held at the WCRO starting at 2pm. The talk will cover a variety of materials relating to the Grevilles of……