The lecture will be in 2 parts - the first covering Kew's history and the second part will look at the importance of Kew today.

Today Kew holds the largest and most diverse collection of plants in the world:  30,000 living plants; some extinct in the wild, 14,000 trees, nearly 8 million dried specimens and more than 2.4 billion seeds - it is truly the world's most important garden and one which has changed and continues to change our world.

I don't have the Nov SID info as yet.  It's in the pipeline.

Start time:  10.30am -- Two Lectures plus a roadshow  

First Lecture:  Celebrating the Centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh -and - with Remembrance Sunday and VE Day 80th Anniversary in mind the Second Lecture: will be Shepard's War - examining E.H. Shepard's artistic journey through the First World War from jocular cartoons in Punch as a civilian, to dark and impactful images of death and destruction on the Western Front.

Roadshow:  James also invites guests to bring in any items, books/momentos/memorabilia they may have which involve any of the above for us to share.  He will also bring in a selection of original work by E.H. Shepard for members to enjoy at first hand and lead the session. timetable for the day will be as follows:

10.30 - 11.30           First Lecture

11.30 - 12.00            Coffee

12 - 1.00                  Roadshow with items brought in by members and by James

1.00 -1.45                 Lunch

1.45 - 2.30                Shepard's War

2.30 - 3.00                 Questions and concluding remarks

Please join us for a fascinating day discovering the history of wine from its humble beginnings to the present day when single bottles can change hands for hundreds, even thousands, of pounds.

With Andy McConnell’s guidance we will examine the extraordinary diversity of paintings and artefacts, including drinking vessels, created by some of history’s greatest artists and craftsmen to enhance the pleasure of wine and to impress guests. 

These lectures visit the ancient societies of Egypt, Greece and Rome and travel through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and 18th century Britain.  They culminate in the present day, when more wine is being consumed than ever before and its world market is worth over £100 billion.
 

STRUCTURE OF THE DAY

Session One:   10.00 - 11.30am  Lecture 
          Coffee               
Session Two:   12 noon - 1.10pm  Lecture 
          Lunch               
Session Three  2.15 - 3.30pm Appraisal of items of glass brought by attendees (maximum of two items per person please).

Coffee and a sandwich lunch with fruit and a glass of wine or a soft drink will be provided.

Cost: £33 per person 

Please email Chris at sid.harborough@theartssociety.org for your name to be added to the list of attendees

Please make your payments online, bank transfers are preferred.
Account name: The Arts Society Harborough, number 00115474 and Sort Code 30-18-83

Please make your reference BU followed by your surname and then initial. For example: BUthompsonc

If you would like to pay by cheque, please make it payable to The Arts Society Harborough, and post it to Mr G Normand (Treasurer),
42 Griffin Road, Braybrooke, Market Harborough  LE16 8LH

WEDNESDAY 6 March 2024 - 10.15am Start
Cost: £33 per person

Join us for what will be a fabulous day of discovery with John Benjamin.
 

John is a popular speaker for the Arts Society. Lecturer, valuer,  author, and jewellery historian he has been a member of the team of experts on the BBC Antique Road Show since 1991.
 

Our lecture will begin with jewellery from Queen Elizabeth I to Queen Victoria and then our second lecture will be jewellery in the 20th Century.

Our afternoon session will include the identification and valuation of jewellery brought in by attendees whether members or guests.  

Please feel free to bring in 2 items (max) you would like to be assessed.

This will be a light hearted and fun day but, very informative at the same time.

STRUCTURE OF THE DAY
Session One:   10.15 -11.15  Lecture – Jewellery from Elizabeth I to Victoria
Coffee               11.15 -11.45
Session Two:   11.45 -12.45  Lecture – Jewellery in the 20th Century
Lunch                12.45 -13.45
Session Three  13.45 -15.00    

‘Surgery’ during which members’ own jewellery will be identified and valued (max of 2 items per member).
 
Coffee and a sandwich lunch with a glass of wine or a soft drink will be provided.

Cost: £33 per person 

Please email Chris - chris.thompsonb@gmail.com for your name to be added to the list of attendees

Please make your payments online, bank transfers are preferred
A/C number 00115474 Sort Code 30-18-83

Please make your reference AJ followed by your surname and then initial for example: AJthompsonc

If preferred please make cheques payable to The Arts Society Harborough and send to George Normand (Treasurer), 42 Griffin Rd. Braybrooke, LE16 8LH

Working as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a 19th and early 20th century woman could want – and also one of the toughest.  A far cry from the Downton Abbey fiction, the real life housekeeper was up against capricious mistresses, low pay, no job security and gruelling physical labour.  Until now her story has never been told.  Delving into secret diaries, unpublished letters and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories behind some of Britain’s most prominent households. We finish the day by looking at the life of a contemporary housekeeper, Nicky Garner of Holkham Hall in Norfolk.  How has the role changed and how has the English country house adapted to the modern world?

There will be 3 lectures: 

First Lecture:   10.30-11.30am – ‘A good Housekeeper is not easily got at’:  Mrs. Wells of Uppark – High Victorian  

Coffee:  11.30am

Second Lecture: 12-1pm – Her Mistress’s Scapegoat: Mrs. Penketh of Erddig Hall – The Edwardian Era

 Lunch:  1pm

Third Lecture:  2.15pm:  Dangerous and Disorderly: Mrs. MacKenzie of Wrest Park, WW1-1920’s 

Finishing with the life of a contemporary housekeeper, Nicky Garner of Holkham Hall, Norfolk.

Coffee, sandwich lunch with glass of wine, finishing at approx. 3.30-45pm

RSVP to chris.thompsonb@gmail.com for your name to be added to the list of attendees

£30 please pay by Bank Transfer to the Arts Society, Harborough

Sort Code:  30-18-83

Account Number:  00115474

OR

By cheque to The Arts Society, Harborough & send to George Normand, Treasurer, 42 Griffin Road, Braybrooke, Market Harborough, LE16 8LH

Harlots, Rakes & Crashing China

Special Interest Day with Lars Tharp
email alison.hamlyn@hotmail.co.uk or 07792576002
to confirm your place 
 

WEDNESDAY 8th MARCH 2023 - 10am START
An Accidental Introduction to 18th century Ceramics (and the works of William Hogarth)

We travel through Hogarth’s detailed interiors. High life and low, players, real and fictional. Humdrum chattels and faddish luxuries - including most of the Ceramic traditions of the past right up to the eve of the Wedgewood revolution. The ping-pong war of potters East and West, the emergence of European porcelain.  Through his racy narratives- The Harlot, The Rake and Marriage-a la-Mode- Hogarth offers his own moral commentary on the pursuit of Taste and Luxury. Prepare to blush! 

We warmly welcome Lars Tharp with this unique, entertaining and educational study day. Two lectures before lunch will be followed by an informal “Antiques Roadshow” session where members are invited to bring in small objects which Lars will explore, informing and enlightening us with his vast knowledge and experience of the Antique world.

10.00am 

 First Lecture

11.15am 

 Coffee

11.45am

 Second lecture

1.00pm 
2.00pm 

 Lunch
Antiques Roadshow 

All timings are approximate. We should be finished around 3pm.  Please advise of any dietary requirements on booking.

Cost: £30 per person for the three sessions and lunch

Event subject to minimal number of attendees/ticket sales. Please confirm your place ASAP 

DEADLINE - 31st January 2023

Please email alison.hamlyn@hotmail.co.uk to book your place.

Payment can be made by bank transfer or cheque and I will provide you with a reference number and account details for transfers or a postal address for cheques. Please note if you are unable to attend, we are only able to reimburse you if we are able to fill the space.

We very much hope you will join us for this Special Interest Day.

Best wishes,
Alison Hamlyn

cost £25.00 per person

10.30 Arrival and coffee

11am Margaret Beaufort – Patron and Plotter

Margaret Beaufort found herself at the centre of one of England’s greatest dynastic fights. Fortunately for her, she was a heavyweight. Founder of the Tudor line, Margaret survived plots and husbands and became the richest and most influential woman patron in English history. Sponsor of many arts, she is remembered chiefly for printing and architecture, especially Christ’s College and the University church of Great St Mary’s.  

12.15 Sandwich lunch with glass of wine

1.15 pm - King’s College Chapel

King’s College Chapel is one of the most famous and magnificent buildings in medieval Europe and yet it nearly didn’t happen!  Caught up in the biggest family row of all time, architects and sculptors came and went the building project lurched from one disaster to another, twice being abandoned ‘for ever’! That we have it at all is down to two men, Henry VII and his great architect John Wastell. John was a genius and all round Mr Fix-it. King’s Cambridge was only one scheme he rescued though he died before the great glazing programme began. Indeed, neither man lived to see the great chapel as we see it today.

Dr Francis (Frank) Woodman has a lectureship at the University of Cambridge. He is also a fellow of the Society of Antiquities in London. He was responsible for all of the Art History and Architecture programmes at the  University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education for many years. He has published books on Canterbury Cathedral and Norwich Cathedral and Kings College Chapel and conducted research into the lives of medieval women for more than forty years. Frank is an experienced tour leader and speaker, having led many art and architecture tours in Europe and Asia.

There will be coffee on arrival at 10.30 with our first lecture starting at 11.00. A sandwich lunch and glass of wine will be followed by our second lecture and questions to round off the day.

2.15pm questions and close

Price £25

To express your interest in reserving a place please email Alison Hamlyn

alison.hamlyn@hotmail.co.uk  Or by phone on 07792576002.

Payment can be made either by cheque or bank transfer. Alison will provide you with a reference number and account details.

We can accommodate any dietary requirements.

Balkan Women Special Interest Day

Two women feature in this Special Interest Day.

Princess Ksenia, Montenegro’s Photographer Princess (1881-1960) and Englishwoman Edith Durham, who travelled to Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania between 1900 and 1921. She wrote seven books about the region and became Vice Chair of the Royal Anthropological Institute (the first woman to hold that position).

The Special Interest Day also shares the living legacy of Balkan women’s handwork, with a particular look at the silver-work of filigree and the ways it is being kept alive in small pockets of primarily female-led enterprise.

.

Catherine Parry-Wingfield is a lecturer and teacher, specialising in the visual arts of the l8th and early l9th century. She is currently chairman of Turner's House Trust, which is undertaking fundraising for the restoration of Turner's picturesque villa in Twickenham, which the artist designed himself - making it a little-known work by this great artist, and unique in being in three dimensions