Category Archives: News

‘A little sprig of laurel’: women writing history in the long eighteenth century

A ONE-DAY WORKSHOP TO COMMEMORATE 250 YEARS CATHARINE MACAULAY’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND 1763-2013

Thursday 26th September
Main speaker: Prof. Karen O’Brien, University of Birmingham

Call for papers: Abstracts of 250 words are requested for the one-day workshop to commemorate 250 years since the publication of Catharine Macaulay’s first volume of her History of England in 1763.  Papers of 15 minutes duration. These can relate to Macaulay, her works or other women writers of the long eighteenth century who wrote historical works.

Please send abstracts to Wendy Robins wendyr@sussex.ac.uk or Stephen Bygrave s.j.bygrave@soton.ac.uk by 16 June 2013.

Fees: £35.00 full rate, £25.00 students.

Conference dinner optional for £25.00.

Chawton House Library’s programme of painting conservation with conservator, Caroline Baker, has reached the first stage of completion with the portrait of Amelia Opie by her husband, John Opie.  The Opie was in a bad state and looked as though it had spent a long time hanging near a heat source, which had made it unstable.  There were also large amounts of over-painting, some of which was flaking off – perhaps it is now more understandable that visitors thought it an unflattering portrait of a wife by her husband!

Caroline’s work has stabilised the painting and removed layers of discoloured varnish, as well as fixing many of the cracks and flaking which were occurring on the surface of the picture.

Caroline will continue to work with us on more of our most vulnerable – and important – paintings.  She will usually be working on the tour route so that visitors can watch the process and ask questions about conservation, as well as seeing the paintings up close!

Once again, many thanks indeed to the Golsoncott and De Laszlo Foundations for making the conservation of these paintings possible.  We are very grateful for all their support.

[Above left: Opie before conservation.  The surface was thick with over-painting and flaking paint, with discoloured varnish.]

[Above right: Opie following the removal of badly-performed repair work, old varnish layers, and with cracks visible.]

[Left:  Opie, following conservation - a dramatic improvement!]

TV company Optomen have announced the transmission date for ‘Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball’ which was filmed entirely on-site at Chawton House Library in January.   The 90-minute special will be aired on BBC 2, 10th May, at 9.00 p.m. and will feature scenes filmed around the house – including the not-often-viewed Servants’ Gallery, and Game Larder.

The documentary recreates the Netherfield Ball and examines the social elements of both staging and attending an eighteenth-century ball.

Mary Pennington’s 1830 sampler from our collection has been lovingly conserved thanks to the generosity of Erna and John of Hiscock and Shepherd Antiques, in Kent.  Erna has had a life-long passion for samplers and embroidery, and kindly offered to donate their time and materials to fulfil our appeal and effect the required conservation work.

The sampler will be hung temporarily in its original spot, before moving to a new exhibition space later in the year.

The experts were also able to shed light on the sampler’s history, mentioning that it was certainly English, probably northern, and made under the tutelage of a governess (rather than at a school) by its ten year-old seamstress.  The ‘Berlin work’ used on the sampler, and the motifs present, indicate that its age is definitely as shown, between the end of the Georgian period and a precursor to Victorian styles.

The sampler has been framed in a genuine period frame, with UV conservation-grade glass, also kindly donated by them.  We are delighted with the result and very grateful for their support.

Hiscock and Shepherd Antiques  specialise in needlework, pottery and folk art.

Christie Intruder Alarms, the electronic security specialist, has joined Nichols Brown Webber architects in becoming an anniversary sponsor for 2013 at Chawton House Library.

The company, which has a long-standing relationship with Chawton House Library,  said it was so glad to contribute to the charity’s future by celebrating this anniversary year.

We would like to thank Christie Intruder Alarms for joining us in celebrating our tenth anniversary!

PRIDE IN JANE AUSTEN

Jane Austen has long been one of Winchester Cathedral’s most favourite ‘residents’. Her grave and ledger stone are one of its most visited places and there has been a permanent exhibition about her life in the area and her work for some years now.  It is therefore not surprising that 2013 has been greeted with some anticipation, it being the 200th anniversary of the publication of perhaps her most famous novels, Pride & Prejudice.

As part of the national (and international) celebration of that anniversary, Winchester Cathedral will be holding some special events. A Special Tour with Cream Tea, led by some of Jane Austen’s greatest fans amongst the Voluntary Guides, and leading from the Cathedral to the house where she and Cassandra lived whilst in Winchester during Jane’s final weeks will run on the first Tuesday of each month until September, so 2 February, 2 March, 6 April, 4 May, 1 June, 6 July, 3 August and 7 September. Tickets are £10 from the Cathedral Box Office on 01962 857 275 or on-line at www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk.

If you are an Austen fan looking for something a bit different to the tours, why not try Tea with Miss Austen on Saturday 16 March at 3pm: afternoon tea in the refectory followed by a spoken-word performance by Chapter & Verse entitled Jane Austen: a woman of her time – and ours? . Tickets for this perfect Mothering Sunday present are only £14.95, again from the Box Office (see above).

Or visit another aspect, Jane Austen and the Navy. This two course lunch on Thursday 18 April at 12.30pm will look beyond the demure enclosed family circle to her wider knowledge of the world. Focusing on letters between Jane and her naval brothers, discover how that correspondence found its way into her novels in the post lunch talk. Tickets are £18.95, again from the Box Office.

Details of these and all events are available from www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk

Chawton House Library is delighted to have been generously supported by Nichols Brown Webber architects and landscape planners, as the first of our 2013 anniversary sponsors.

The company has been involved with Chawton House Library throughout its life as a charity, most recently working on the glorious restored eighteenth-century barn in Church Meadow.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the company for their continued support, and particularly for this their latest gift to enable us to continue to build on our successes of the past decade.

For more information on becoming a sponsor or making a gift, please see the website.

Chawton House Library is Ten Years Old!

Standing before the portrait of Edward Austen Knight, Hampshire MP Sir George Young was delighted to come face to face with his ancestor on a recent visit to Chawton House Library.

Sir George and his wife made the trip to  discover more about the Austen family, from whom he is descended via the Knatchbull line.   Currently the Conservative Chief Whip and MP for North West Hampshire,  Sir George was previously Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal, and has a great interest in all things ‘Austen’.