Welcome to winter; I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine (and the rain!) and is taking the opportunity to stay cozy.

Amanda Dunsmore presented to us in April on The Begg Collection at the NGV. I understand that Amanda spoke from the heart and that the presentation, as well as being personal and respectful of Patricia’s great gift, whetted appetites for visiting the installation and participating in Chris’s walk-throughs. Kent and I went through with Chris recently and it was excellent.

In May, I am reliably informed that John Scarce gave a fabulous talk on the colourful life of Lady Elizabeth Craven, covering her Iiasions, literary pursuits, travels, and her connections to Ansbach, Derby and Worcester ceramics.

Also in May we had our Winter Seminar at The Johnston Collection, on the theme, Nature as Muse.

Our keynote speaker was Jessica Murtagh, an Adelaide based blown-glass artist whose works are held in many public and private collections, including the NGV and the Hamilton Gallery. Jessica spoke on the nature of her practice and her particular passion for botany, a family pursuit. She educated us on the Swedish overlay technique for creating cameo glass, the trials of sandblasting and the wonders of Japanese silver leaf, and many other aspects. Jessica enthralled us with beautiful images and even allowed us to handle a superb gilded ginko piece.

Danny McOwan presented on ‘Seasonality in Japanese Art’ and the symbolic meaning of different natural combinations, such as blossoms on swirling water, representing the transience of spring, or the falling maple, reflecting the melancholy of autumn. He discussed both decoration and form, how different aspects are visually and often functionally preferred in different seasons, for example upright teabowls for hand warming in winter and flatter bowls for cooling tea in summer. We saw many fine pieces, including some absolute stand-outs from Danny’s own collection.

Andrew Dixon spoke on Georgian glass and generously allowed us to handle many beautiful examples. We saw hops, wheat and barley, vine leaves and grapes, juniper berries, Jacobite roses and Chinoiserie landscapes, on lovely varied forms, such as wine glasses, beer glasses, cordial glasses and a very nice decanter.

Finally, Louise Voll Box, Director of The Johnston Collection, presented on an inspirational figure for one of TJC’s previous installations, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, an outstanding 18th century collector of art and natural history specimens, considered the largest of its time. She famously juxtaposed her porcelain and nature specimens in displays at her Bulstrode Park estate, which TJC recreated to delightful effect.

It was wonderful to see and catch up with quite a few members who don’t attend our monthly evening meetings any more but who were able to enjoy the seminar. The feedback about the seminar was overwhelmingly positive, so we are already planning for next year.

June will see the winner of our scholarship, Jade Power, present on the works of her graduate exhibition, Experimental Materiality. Jade uses weight and heat to soften and shape forms, capturing the tension between movement and stillness. Her works are highly individual, large and charismatic, so this should be a fascinating evening.

In July John Van Zyl will introduce us to The History of French Faience. This talk will feature the faience manufactured at Nevers, Rouen, Moustiers and Desvres, and we will see many examples.

Looking forward, please put aside the evening of Thursday 9th October, when we will relaunch the John Kenny Memorial lecture in Melbourne, at a prestigious CBD location. John Whitehead, author, dealer and specialist in 18th century French decorative arts, will speak to us on Sèvres in the King’s private apartments at Versailles; how porcelain was used as royal interior decoration. The booking details are included with this newsletter.

Genine Wallinga

President, May 2025