Regency Gold
IN 1936 Dr. N. M. Penzer published a fascinating book on the Harem of the Grand Seraglio at Constantinople. It remains the standard work on that intriguing and delightful complex of buildings, still, alas, closed to the public like so many other things visitors would like to see in Turkey. It seems a long step from the Harem to Paul Storr, the great Regency goldsmith; indeed, it is hard to suggest a point of contact, except perhaps one of date, for much of the Harem belongs to the early nineteenth century. Once again, however, Dr. Penzer has produced a standard work. His book is full, admir- ably illustrated, and provides a wealth of documentation, and the author is to be warmly congratulated.
Regency art is all the fashion nowadays, but though a certain amount has been published on the painting of the period, rather more on its furniture, and more still on its architecture, this is one of the first books to be devoted to works of pure craftsmanship. This is surprising, for not only are the small things greatly sought after, but also, through the later eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries, it was perhaps in the production of the smaller things such.as metal, glass and pottery, that England made her most dis- tinctive contribution to the art of the period as a whole.
No full life of Storr, or indeed, of any other of the craftsmen of his age, has ever been written, and Dr. Penzer's task must have been very difficult, for his material must have been of the scrappiest. Nevertheless he has compiled a very full account of Storr's ancestry, life and activities. His family stemmed from the East Riding, but his immediate antecedents were with London, and it was there that he was trained and apprenticed and there that he spent his working life, first with the firm of Rundell, Bridge and Co., and then independently. The story of the firm of Rundell, Bridge and Co. is fascinating, for the principal figure, Philip Rundell, who died a millionaire, was an eccentric of very unusual character. He is, indeed, more interesting as a character than Storr, and the picture that Dr. Penzer gives of the daily life in his establishment is a valuable piece of social history. But much of Storr's work is history itself, for it had close associations with a great number of places, persons or events in a very vital age. The plate for St. Pancras Church thus constitutes a chapter in the story of London's growth; the Royal plate recalls many an activity of the Prince Regents; the Wellington plate was made to serve the Duke when he went as Ambassador to Paris in 1814; the Nelson plate not only recalls most of the great admiral's victories, but also brings to mind a vivid picture of Lloyd's coffee house, the original home of 'Lloyd's', where the funds that permitted the commissioning of each piece were raised.
The book is admirably illustrated and produced. A full descrip- tion of each piece of silver or gold plate illustrated is printed on the back of the preceding plate, a convenient practice which is all too rarely followed in art books. Its text should prove of interest to a wide circle of readers, as well as being essential to all serious students of British art and craftsmanship in the earlier nineteenth century.
D. TALBOT RICB
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