From lantern clocks to Faversham on film
Art and antiques news from around Kent
Antique of the month
With Tony Pratt of The Canterbury Auction Galleries
Lantern clocks - a brass, four-posted box with a simple clockwork mechanism where once a candle or oil lamp might have flickered – are the first English domestic clock and date from about 1630 to 1730.
They have a relatively primitive mechanism and too many turn up with replaced, more modern movements, the single hand replaced by hour and minute fingers and some component parts, such as the brass side doors, the turned finials and pierced crestings that many once sported, lost forever.
There are countless modern reproductions and fakes, so when an example as honest and untouched as the one shown here comes into the saleroom, the horologists and clock collectors circle.
Made by Henry Jackson of Lavington in Wiltshire, the centre of the dial is engraved with a Tudor rose and leaf scroll ornament while the crestings have dolphins with intertwined tails engraved into them.
Brian Loomes, an Honorary Fellow of the British Horological Institute and author of Lantern Clocks and Their Makers, records an example with anchor escapement by the same maker, which he dates to 1715.
With its earlier verge movement, I thought this example was made around 1700 and I estimated it to be worth �2,000-3,000. It sold for �4,200.
Calling all artists
Artists who live or work in Tonbridge and Malling are invited to submit work for the inaugural Tonbridge Arts Festival Open Art Exhibition, taking place at Tonbridge School’s Tunnel Art Gallery 16-24 October.
Artists will be able to submit a maximum of three pieces and works can be in any medium as long as they are wall-hanging only, with a maximum height of 1.5 metres and maximum width of one metre. There are no facilities for 3D free-standing pieces.
The members of the selection panel are local sculptor Guy Portelli, South East Open Studios Chairman Rod McIntosh and Liberty Gallery owner Patsy Dixon.
Full details regarding entry requirements for the exhibition are available at: www.tonbridgeartsfestival.co.uk. Forms can be downloaded from the website and are also available from Tonbridge Gateway, Tonbridge Castle, Castle Street, TonbridgeTN9 1BG as well as Tonbridge Library, 1 Avebury Avenue, Tonbridge TN9 1TG.
Schools are also being invited to participate in the exhibition with their work being on display in Big School Hall.
Search for the best
More than 150 retailers, galleries, media and authors converged on Tunbridge Wells-based art and craft publisher Search Press to watch 20 talented artists demonstrating how to paint in celebration of the company’s 40th anniversary..
The artists are all published by the family run business, which was started in an attic by Countess Charlotte de la Bedoyere and is now managed by her youngest son Martin and today ranks as the leading art instruction publisher in the UK, with an annual turnover of �5.75m.
Many of the featured artists live and work in Kent and have been inspired by the Kentish land and seascapes and apart from filling gallery space, they design book covers, illustrate books and accept commissions.
Paul Bryn Davis, who has designed the covers for all the Stephen King novels and is well-known in the fantasy art world, has even been commissioned to design an original tattoo.
Faversham on film
A community photographic project featuring a year in the life of Faversham presented in 365 photographs, one per day for a year, will be on show at this month’s Hop Festival (4-12 September).
The innovative project has received Heritage Lottery funding and shows the Faversham of today portrayed by photographers as well as providing opportunities to learn about the history of the town.
Visitors to the free exhibition will also receive a book showing old photographs of the town together with contemporary ones of the same locations, to show how they have changed over the years. Each set of images will be accompanied by memories of the town people
�– The exhibition is at the Drill Hall, Preston Street, ME13 8PG. For further information contact: Nathalie Banaigs, organiser email: info@ayearinthelifeoffaversham.co.uk or tel: 01795 538022.
MVAN at Mela
Maidstone Mela in Mote Park on 12 September will be an opportunity for Maidstone Visual Art Network (MVAN) to show off a selection of art and craft created by its members.
MVAN will also be running art and craft workshops for the public to join in, plus face painting and ‘casualty art’ for teenagers and young people.
