May
Exhibitions at Waddesdon, Dulwich Picture Gallery, The Wallace Collection and Long & Ryle, the return of Battersea Spring Fair and Glyndebourne, an art and design sale at Cheffins, plus bonbonniéres
THE ANTIQUE
Enamel Bonbonniéres
People have always loved novelty, and enamel bonbonniéres are no exception. These small boxes were designed to hold sweetmeats or candies to sweeten the breath, and were often presented as little gifts. Made of copper and beautifully handdecorated with enamel paints, they came in forms inspired by domestic life, including apples, lemons, gherkins, birds and dogs (spaniels and pugs, especially). A cottage industry grew up around their production in the Midlands – particularly Birmingham, Bilston and south Staffordshire, where a skilled workforce of local craftsmen and Huguenot metal workers thrived. The golden era for hand-painted enamel bonbonniéres was between 1750 and 1830, after which they petered out as fashions moved on. At auction, Georgian bonbonniéres can fetch anything between £200 and £1,000, depending on quality and rarity. They are not signed or stamped, and fakes do exist, but a specialist will be able to spot whether they are the real thing or a cunning copy.
THE EXHIBITIONS
Reframed: The Woman in the Window
4th May – 4th September, Dulwich Picture Gallery
From Rembrandt to Rossetti, artists have long used the motif of a woman at a window to elicit a response from the viewer. In this exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, visitors will be able to admire over 50 works in the form of sculpture, painting, print, photography, film and installation art. Themes of visibility and issues around gender will be explored, as well as the relationship between the artist and their muse. ‘This show will allow visitors to explore a powerful motif across geographic boundaries and time periods to discover why the ‘woman in the window’ has been so important to different cultures at different times,’ says curator Dr Jennifer Sliwka (King’s College London). ‘It will provide insight into the ways artists have taken up the device of the window as a kind of ‘portal’ between two realms: the real and the imagined, the sacred and the profane, between this life and the afterlife or between the public and the private.’ Key works to look out for include Louise Bourgeois’ My Blue Sky (1989–2003), David Hockney’s The Tower Had One Window (1969) and Dulwich Picture Gallery’s own Girl at a Window (1645) by Rembrandt, which was the catalyst for this exhibition. dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts
Until 16th October, The Wallace Collection
This spring, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Wallace Collection in London is presenting the enchanting vision of Disney from a surprisingly fresh perspective. Walt Disney the man was fascinated by France and its culture, and many of the artists working on his muchloved films were influenced by 18th-century French artworks and decorative antiques. By positioning illustrations by Disney artists beside fine furniture and porcelain at The Wallace Collection, visitors will be able to instantly connect the wit, humour and ingenuity of French rococo decorative arts with some well-known animations. Artists of the rococo era aimed to breathe new life into inanimate objects, and this is precisely what Disney sought to do in his films, witnessed in particular in Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Over 120 pieces of artwork from the productions will be on display, alongside 30 18th-century paintings, including Fragonard’s The Swing, which influenced Beauty and the Beast, Tangled and Frozen, and will be freshly revealed after conservation works. wallacecollection.org
The Paleoethnobotanist and Other Lives
4th May – 1st June, Long & Ryle Gallery
Fans of Lottie Cole’s vibrantly painted interiors and domestic scenes will want to catch her month-long solo show at Long & Ryle. Whether the settings are real or imagined, Lottie pervades each painting with atmosphere and dynamism and, with regard to her roomscapes, you get a real sense that she not only knows exactly who the owner is (one of them being a paleoethnobotanist for a living), but has also fleshed out their life and interests. The end result is like a modern conversation piece. In each of her previous solo shows she has followed a different theme, from City Streets & Architectural Settings to the interiors of the Bloomsbury Group – and, most recently, the imagined homes of Art Collectors who have a deep understanding and appreciation of women painters. longandryle.com
Alice’s Wonderlands
Until 30th October, Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor, the awe-inspiring chateau in Buckinghamshire, was built by Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839–1898) – but his sister Alice (1847–1922), who lived alongside him, has largely been consigned to the shadows of the past… until now. This year marks the centenary of her death, and Waddesdon is celebrating her life with a programme of exhibitions and displays. Alice inherited Waddesdon after her brother’s death, and built a life around collecting (especially Renaissance and 18th-century art) and gardening. Displays throughout the manor will showcase Alice’s contributions to the collection, and part of her sitting room has been recreated so visitors can see how it looked around 1910. This is where Alice gathered her favourite objects, such as a chest of drawers by Jean-Henri Riesener, Sèvres porcelain and a 17th-century Savonnerie carpet – originally commissioned by Louis XIV for the Long Gallery at the Louvre – which has been in storage for nearly 30 years. waddesdon.org.uk
THE FESTIVAL
Glyndebourne (plus 70 years of its programme book)
21st May – 28th August
Glyndebourne’s Festival Programme Book covers designed by Oliver Messel (1952) 
Mary Fedden (1999) 
Grayson Perry (2011) 
Fiona Rae (2009).
If there’s one event that captures the wonder of summer, it’s Glyndebourne. This annual opera festival is renowned and admired the world over; a chance to dress up, experience first-class live opera in a fabulous setting, and indulge in a sumptuous picnic during the 90-minute interval. The extensive programme includes over 120 live opera performances, viewed by around 150,000 people. A couple of highlights for 2022 are Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (22nd May–16th July) and Puccini’s La Bohème (11th June–14th August).
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the collectable Glyndebourne Festival Programme Book. The original 1952 programme cover was designed by master costume and set designer Oliver Messel, who first came to Glyndebourne in 1950 and went on to design 10 different productions for the company. Since then, many celebrated artists from the worlds of stage design and contemporary art have designed its cover: Fiona Rae, Howard Hodgkin and Mary Fedden, to name a few. David Hockney’s 1975 cover was a collage of sketches from his designs for a now-iconic production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress –a prime example of Glyndebourne providing new avenues for artists to engage with opera. glyndebourne.com
THE AUCTION
The Art & Design Sale
Cheffins, 26th May
Comedians was created by abstract painter Breon O’Casey, part of the St Ives school of artists (est £1,000–£1,500); 
an artwork in ink and wash, Ben Nicholson’s Curious Forms dates to May 1978 (est £6,000–£10,000); 
Yellow Island II, a gouache over linocut by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, is signed and dated 1958 (est £2,000–£3,000). 
A large Foxglove-pattern vase in tenmoku glaze made by David Leach, the son of Bernard Leach, at Lowerdown Pottery in south Devon (est £800–£1,200).
This popular sale is a magnet for 20th-century art and design fans hoping to bag a bargain or find a treasure that’s fresh to market. ‘We hold three of these specialist sales annually, in February, May and October,’ says Cheffins’ director, Martin Millard, who will be wielding the gavel on the day along with his colleague, Brett Tryner. ‘Cambridge has long been a centre for academic collecting and, as such, has proved a wealthy source of artworks and objects consigned for sale.’ The May auction offers around 500 lots of decorative art, design, paintings and prints from 1860 up to the present day, among which will be ceramics, glass and furniture, with estimates from £100 up to £40,000. British artists in the fray include Bridget Riley, LS Lowry, Breon O’Casey, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham and Ben Nicholson, while crafts are represented by the furniture maker Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson, the potter Bernard Leach, the metalwares designer Archibald Knox and French master glassmaker René Lalique. cheffins.co.uk/fine-art
THE FAIR
Spring Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair
4th – 8th May
Step into spring sustainably, as the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair arrives in Battersea for its second outing this year. As ever, the Spring fair has a particular focus on gardens, but visitors will also find the usual, unusual mix of folk art, ceramics, glass, continental and English furniture, silverware, textiles and more. ‘Mix it up to the max’ is the mantra of the fair’s 150 exhibitors, so it’s no surprise that Battersea is a favourite with dealers, interior designers and collectors alike. decorativefair.com
