Monthly Archives: April 2015

Picture This L

Posted on 30th April 2015 by Jack Plane

Spices have been traded from the Orient, the Moluccas and West Africa across Europe for thousands of years. Important for making-palatable less-than-fresh meat, preserving and flavouring, vast fortunes have been spent controlling and dominating the spice trade. Some countries’ economies … Continue reading →

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“Touché Mademoiselle!”

Posted on 25th April 2015 by Jack Plane

In 2011, London art dealer and sleuth, Philip Mould, discovered an interesting eighteenth-century portrait of a seated woman wearing a hat. Mould purchased the painting which, once relieved of its accumulated grime, revealed a five O’clock shadow on the woman’s … Continue reading →

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Picture This XLIX

Posted on 19th April 2015 by Jack Plane

An early eighteenth-century low-back three-legged Windsor type chair with scarfed, two-piece arm and, unusually, square cabriole legs. George I ash chair, circa 1720. (Wakelin & Linfield) Jack Plane

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Picture This XLVIII

Posted on 16th April 2015 by Jack Plane

The design of these Windsor chairs shares much in common with the Claremont chairs I made in early 2013. Fig. 1. Ash and elm fan-back Windsor chairs, circa 1750. (Michael Pashby) Fig. 2. Characteristic D-shape saddled seat with rear brace … Continue reading →

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Picture This XLVII

Posted on 9th April 2015 by Jack Plane

I was originally going to work this image into an April Fool’s post as ‘the Ronald McDonald cabinet’, but thought better of it. One of a pair of cocus cabinets-on-stands, circa 1660-5. (Royal Collection Trust) The cocus oyster-veneered cabinets are … Continue reading →

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Cross Buns

Posted on 3rd April 2015 by Jack Plane

Nothing to do with turned feet for a chest or bureau, but delicious comestibles traditionally served hot and eaten on Good Friday. According to Dr. Johnson‘s biographer, James Boswell, the good doctor was a staunch observer of the tradition: I … Continue reading →

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“By God, Sir!”

Posted on 2nd April 2015 by Jack Plane

A gold Irish Freedom Box presented to the Earl of Uxbridge – known for, amongst other things, his stiff upper lip repartee at the Battle of Waterloo – made £100,900 (AUD 197,230) at Bonhams’ Waterloo Sale (lot 152) on the … Continue reading →

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On the Seating of Irish Giants and Leprechauns

Posted on 1st April 2015 by Jack Plane

Irish giants (of which I am one) are a unique phenomenon amongst a wider national populace of green-wearing little people and folk of average height. Giants are recorded throughout Irish history, but it wasn’t until the growth in popularity of … Continue reading →

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