: Wealth & Income

Watercolour by F.G. Newton, 1905

Removing one of the panels

In 1988, archaeological excavations of the council chamber in the basilica (assembly hall) of the Roman town at Caerwent revealed a fine wall painting that has since been removed for conservation and display.

The painted plaster or fresco, 5m long and 1m high, was still attached to the south wall of the chamber. It had been previously recorded in watercolour by F. G. Newton in 1905, and had been covered over again.

The fresco shows an architectural perspective, with yellow pillars above a brown veined pink dado. A dark brown area in the central pillar may be part of a decorated panel, possibly containing the torso of a man.

It was decided to remove the fresco to prevent further deterioration as the plaster was extremely fragile.

After carefully covering the delicate artwork with muslin and glue, the painting was cut into five panels. Each enclosed in specially-designed boxes.

A variety of saws and chisels were used to separate the painted plaster from the wall. Since access to the back of each panel was restricted to its top edge and one side, this process was difficult, needing extreme patience and ingenuity.

It took a total of nine days to remove the painting, with the subsequent conservation and rebacking taking several years, the fresco is now conserved and stored at the National Museum, Cardiff.

Background Reading:

Caerwent Roman Town by R.J. Brewer. Published by Cadw (2006).

Silver 8-reales, or 'Pillar Dollar', Mexico, 1741.

While the Museum's numismatic (coin) collections contain mostly coins from Britain, it also includes representative groups of overseas coins, which helps put the evolution of British coinage in its international context.

The dollar, today one of the world's dominant currencies, has its origins late in the 15th century. New discoveries of silver and developments in mining technology increased European output of the metal dramatically and central European states started producing large coins in silver which were equal in value to the gold coins of the day.

The name 'dollar' derives from the St Joachimsthaler Guldengroschen struck by the counts of Slik in Central Europe around 1520. As 'Thaler' became the generic name for crown-sized silver coins of the German states, the English term 'dollar' had started to appear by the early 17th century.

The enormous numbers of Spanish dollars produced in their colonies of Mexico and South America ('pieces of eight') came to be traded all over the world, and they set the standard for the silver currencies of many emerging nations in the 18th and 19th centuries.

There are many portraits of well-known Welsh figures in the art collections of Angueddfa Cymru. However, the Museum also collects portraits of lesser-known people as they can be important works of art in their own right. The study of these portraits often sheds new light on when and how their subjects lived and adds to our understanding of art in the past.

During the past 20 years several distinguished 18th and early 19th century portraits have been acquired by the Museum, including Henry Knight of Tythegston with his three children, painted by Johann Zoffany (1733-1810) in about 1770.

Henry Knight of Tythegston with his three children by Johann Zoffany

Johann Zoffany (1733-1810)
Henry Knight of Tythegston (1738-1772) with his Children. c.1770 - oil on canvas

The portrait shows the Glamorganshire squire Henry Knight (1738-1772) with his three children Henry, Robert and Ethelreda. Henry was a soldier in the 15th Light Dragoons, and his older son is shown trying on a helmet of that regiment. Henry Knight's father, Robert Knight (1711-1765), inherited the Tythegston estate of the Lougher family through his mother in 1732. Henry divorced from his wife in 1771, then a difficult and expensive process requiring a private Act of Parliament. The painting might have been commissioned to represent Henry Knight's decision to leave the military in order to care for his children. In the picture, he is dressed in civilian clothes, but he holds an infantry officer's spontoon, thrust blade-first into the ground. His sons hold his sword, gorget and helmet. The picture's seaside setting is probably a reference to Tythegston, a couple of miles from the coast, between Bridgend and Porthcawl. The tree motif, frequently used in Zoffany's family groups, allows all the figures to be given equal importance. Showing the boys playing with arms and armour belongs to a tradition that can be traced back to the Renaissance.

Johann Zoffany

This is one of Zoffany's largest family portraits (measuring 240 cm x 149 cm), and is a surprisingly ambitious commission for a Welsh squire of modest means. Zoffany, one of the most distinguished British painters of the reign of George III, was famous for his informal styles. One of his best-known pictures, Sir Lawrence Dundas with his grandson, shows the 17th century Dutch masterpiece The Calm by Jan van de Cappelle, also in the Museum's collections.

Born near Frankfurt and trained in Rome, Zoffany moved to London in 1760. Lord Bute, George III's first prime minister, probably introduced him to the Royal Family, where he became the favourite painter of Queen Charlotte. The King nominated him a member of the Royal Academy in 1769. The appeal of Zofanny's work lies in his ability to catch a likeness and his astonishing attention to detail. His perspective, however, can be faulty, and here the helmet held by the older son is clearly too large.

Purchasing the portrait for the Museum

The picture is in a remarkably good state of preservation. X-ray examination reveals that the artist reworked the head of Robert Knight (the younger son dressed in red), but there are only a few other minor changes to the design, and most of the composition was laid on quite thinly. The picture was loaned to the Museum from 1940 until 1958. When it was offered for sale at Sotheby's in 1999 its acquisition by the Museum was a priority. The purchase was made possible by generous donations from the bequest of June Tiley, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Art Collections Fund.

The two wives of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, with his wife Lady Henrietta Somerset. The couple married on 11 April 1769 and she died in July the same year.

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) is a major figure in British art. One of his most enthusiastic patrons was the wealthy Welsh landowner Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn (1749-1789). By the late 1760s Sir Watkin's income allowed him to spend massively on building projects and works of art.

In 1769 Sir Watkin married Lady Henrietta Somerset, a daughter of the 4th Duke of Beaufort. It was a short marriage, as Henrietta died three months later. Her mother-in-law's wedding gift to Henrietta was a magnificent silver-gilt toilet service made by Thomas Heming in 1768.

Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn and Henrietta Somerset

Reynold's first portrait for Sir Watkin, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn and Henrietta Somerset, shows the young couple life-size in matching black and pink costume. They hold theatrical masks in a curtained architectural setting, beside a massive vase.

The vase is of a type that appears in a number of Reynolds' portraits. It is copied from a 17th century engraving by G.B. Galestruzzi after Polidoro da Caravaggio.

The sitters are wearing costume associated with the portrait painter Anthony Van Dyck, which was fashionable from the 1740s to the 1770s. Black Van Dyck costume was unusual for women, and it would have been unusual for a couple to wear colour co-ordinated clothes, except for a masquerade.

Henrietta is shown in an attitude common in Reynolds' portraits of women, taken from his master Thomas Hudson. Sir Watkin is shown with a melancholy expression, in a pose in keeping with his short, stout build.

The picture was presumably begun as a marriage portrait, although the black costume suggests that it was completed as a memorial portrait.

Charlotte Grenville with her children

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Charlotte Grenville, Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn's second wife and her children.

The second portrait, Charlotte Grenville and her children, shows Sir Watkin's second wife. Charlotte Grenville (1754-1830) was a member of one of the great governing families of 18th century Britain. She was the eldest daughter of George Grenville (1712-1770) who was Prime Minister in 1763-5. They married in 1771, two years after Henrietta's death.

The painting shows her accompanied by her three eldest children. Their apparent age suggests that this portrait was painted around 1778.

This composition recalls early 16th century Venetian paintings of the Rest on the Flight with St John the Baptist. The children's position in the picture echoes the group at the right of Titian's Vendramin Family (National Gallery), which Reynolds knew well. Lady Charlotte's costume is in the Turkish fashion and her pose derives from the pastel portraits Ladies in Turkish dress by Jean-Etienne Liotard. Charlotte Grenville and her children is one of Reynolds' most sumptuous portraits of the 1770s, when he was at the height of his powers.

Both portraits probably cost Sir Watkins around £315 each. Painted in the Grand Manner, they express the qualities Reynolds admired most in High Renaissance art. They also demonstrate the cultural ambitions of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn and his wives.

For over two centuries, the portraits remained with the Williams-Wynn family, before being purchased by the Museum in 1998. The Museum holds a spectacular group of works from Sir Watkin's collection, including major paintings by Batoni and Mengs, and silver and furniture designed by Robert Adam.

In 2000, Amgueddfa Cymru learned that hundreds of pieces of rare silver, which had been on loan to the Museum since it first opened its doors, were to be sold.

The items, some of which date back to the 16th century, are from the collection of Sir Charles Jackson (1849-1923), a Welsh lawyer and businessman. Luckily, after much negotiation and fundraising, they were finally secured for the Museum with considerable help from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

So why is this collection so important?

Sir Charles Jackson (1849-1923)

Sir Charles Jackson

Sir Charles Jackson was born in Monmouth. He became part of a group of collectors and antiquarians that included Robert Drane, T. H. Thomas and Wilfred de Winton. Together they influenced the development of the Cardiff Museum. They also played a role in making sure the National Museum of Wales would be located in Cardiff.

Remarkable treasures

Some of the objects collected by Jackson are of outstanding aesthetic quality. Rare items include an early 14th century acorn-top spoon, which is one of the very first hallmarked pieces of English silver, and a complete set of 'apostle' spoons (twelve apostles and the 'Master') from 1638.

The most important item is probably a two-handled cup in the 'auricular' style (a 17th century ornamental style based on parts of the human anatomy, particularly the human ear, after which the style is named) associated with the Dutch silversmith Christian van Vianen, who worked for the court of Charles I. Hallmarked 1668, this cup is one of a handful of London-made pieces in this distinctive style. The maker's mark remains unread, but could be either George Bowers or Jean-Gerard Cooques, both goldsmiths to the court of Charles II.

Inspirational rarities

Two-handled cup and cover, London 1668

Unusual, inspirational pieces in the collection include one of the earliest known silver wine tasters, a 17th century Catholic chalice made in Cork that can be taken apart for concealment, and an inkstand in the form of a library globe. The collection's range of more common objects, such as salt cellars and cream jugs, shows the evolution of shapes over time, and tells us a lot about social customs, particularly relating to dining. The astonishing sequence of spoons contains almost every type made over a period of 400 years.

Unique academic value

Although the collection contains many rare and beautiful objects, the principal reason for keeping it intact is its unique academic value.

Jackson's two principal publications, English Goldsmiths and their Marks (1905) and The Illustrated History of English Plate (1911), are the foundation of modern silver scholarship. In them Jackson relied heavily on his own collection to illustrate marks and the development of styles over time. He corresponded with all the major collectors of his day, and his collection sums up knowledge of historic silver in Britain in the early 1900s. It is therefore a unique reference source and remains the subject of regular enquiries from silver specialists all over the world.

The Jackson collection also complements and enriches the Museum's own outstanding collection of historic silver, much of which is associated with the historic governing families of Wales. The acquisition, after eighty years of display, of half the Jackson collection, and the likelihood that the rest will one day follow, helped the Museum develop its role as the home of one of Britain's principal study collections of historic silver.

Background Reading

Andrew Renton, 'Sir Charles Jackson (1849-1923)' in Silver Studies - the Journal of the Silver Society, vol 19 (2005), 144-6