That hat, with its opulent, cascading plumes, like a fountain in St James Park! Those silken swathes of fabric, richly draped across her shoulders. And that slightly glum expression she holds, borne of someone with a story to tell. ‘I know that woman!’ Finally, the glimmer of recognition that is so rare when rifling through… Continue reading Sarah Siddons: from stage to print
Am I missing any? Let me know in the comments box below! All Creatures Great and Small, Fan Museum, London, 23 May – 16 Sept 2017 “Sometimes humorous, sometimes curious, fans decorated with animal subjects occupy The Fan Museum’s elegant Georgian interiors during the summer months of 2017. Throughout history fan painters have seen fit… Continue reading 2017 exhibitions featuring Georgians/Georgian-related things
If you’ve been in London at all this summer it can’t have escaped your notice that there is a big anniversary this year, being celebrated throughout the capital. On 2nd September 2016 we commemorated 350 years since that famous fire caught flame on Pudding Lane and ravaged the medieval City for four long days. The… Continue reading Exhibition Review: Fire! Fire!
Whenever I step onto the streets of Soho, even today, I am filled with a sense of wistful nostalgia. I am transported back to the day I got my first job as a TV runner, at a post production house on Old Compton street. I remember that afternoon as I left the interview and wandered… Continue reading For the love of Berwick Street
One thing that is becoming quite apparent to me the more historical guidebooks I peruse, is that the only thing that really changes throughout time is fashion. The quest for novelty means that we feel like we are continuously progressing and getting more and more ‘civilised’ with each decade that passes. But all that really… Continue reading Eighteenth Century Rough Guide. Part Two: Dinner is Served.
Part One: Take care of your lungs. I recently visited Cyprus for a short holiday to get away from it all and immerse myself in a different culture. It was probably the first time I have travelled abroad without purchasing a guidebook beforehand. Maybe that’s a sign of the times.. with free wifi in the… Continue reading The Eighteenth Century Rough Guide to London
I am something of a Londonphile and usually venerate all of the things the big city has to offer. But living in the capital doesn’t come without drawbacks and even I can recognise that. One Trip Advisor complainant summed it up well in their review of the London Eye when they concluded, ‘nice views, too many people’. I’m… Continue reading Advice for walking on the streets of London, 1780
If I could spend all of my time wandering around museums I most certainly would. Getting to see, smell and almost feel (if you’re lucky) historical objects is such a treat, they’re the physical manifestations of so much of the reading that I do. Us ‘eighteenth-century-ers’ have been somewhat spoilt exhibition-wise recently. With the… Continue reading 2016 exhibitions featuring Georgians/Georgian-related things
‘Early modern people lived in great darkness… in the seventeenth century consumer demand for window glass, mirrors, candles, and oil lamps all accelerated notably.[1]’ In terms of important advances, a lot of weight is often put on the Victorian invention of electricity and the dramatic effect it must have had on the atmosphere within our… Continue reading Reflecting away the gloom: English mirrors in the early eighteenth century
Hogarth may have warned against the dangers of ‘mother’s ruin’ in his famous print, but a century later, in stark contrast, Hodge’s gin saved lives. This is the story of the, now undeservedly dusty, Victorian industrialist, gin distiller and fire hero: Captain Frederick Hodges. We tend now to take for granted the cosy security blanket… Continue reading Fred Hodge: Gin and the History of Fire
Georgian vice 