National Army Museum

Treasures of London – Siborne’s Large Model…

by exploringlondon

An amazing feat of model-making, Siborne’s Large Model is a painstakingly detailed model reconstruction of the Battle of Waterloo on display at the National Army Museum. Controversial even to this day, the story behind the model’s creation is an incredible tale of one man’s perseverance.

Siborne's-modelA career soldier, Captain William Siborne was commissioned in 1830 by Lord Rowland Hill, then Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, to construct a model of the Battle of Waterloo, fought between British and allied forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington and Prussian field marshal Gebhard von Blücher and French forces under the command of the Emperor Napoleon on 18th June, 1815.

Siborne, who hadn’t been present at the battle but had previously been involved in the construction of a model of the Battle of Borodino, extensively researched it before beginning work including spending eight months surveying the entire field where the battle took place and corresponding with hundreds of those who had fought there.

The model wasn’t completed until 1838, partly due to the fact that Siborne still had military duties to perform and also due to the fact that he ran out of funds and, when the authorities refused to pay up, ended up financing the project out of his own pocket (and then spent much time trying to recover the funds).

In his fascinating book, Wellington’s Smallest Victory: The Duke, the Model Maker and the Secret of Waterloo (well worth a read if you’re interested in learning more about the history of this amazing model), Peter Hofschroer writes in detail about the acrimonious relationship the Duke of Wellington developed with Siborne, thanks to a clash over the model’s depiction of the battle which shows the crisis point in the battle at 7pm – when the French Imperial Guard attacked Wellington’s centre – and has the Prussians helping to win the day.

The model was placed on public display in October 1838 at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly after which it went on tour around the UK. He went on to write up his research in a book on the battle, published in 1844, and it was while preparing this – in 1841 – that he announced he had changed his mind and would revise the model, eventually removing figures representing some 40,000 Prussians from the model and thus reducing the role they played at the decisive moment of the battle – a move which could only be seen as a win for Wellington.

It’s also worth mentioning that Siborne created a second, larger scale model of just part of the battlefield, exhibited in 1844 in London and later in Berlin (it’s now on display at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds). Siborne’s subsequent efforts to sell either model didn’t bear fruit before he died, said to have been a “broken man”, on 13th January, 1849.

After his death the large model was subsequently purchased by the United Service Museum and can now be found at the National Army Museum in Chelsea.

WHERE: National Army Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea (nearest Tube station is Sloane Square); WHEN: 10am to 5.30pm daily; COST: Free; WEBSITE: www.nam.ac.uk.

Around London – Royal Court treasures at V&A; Sir Michael Caine celebrated; a tunic with a past; and, George Catlin’s American Indian portraits…

by exploringlondon

Water_pot• A new exhibition opens at the V&A in South Kensington this Saturday which charts the development of cultural trade and diplomacy between Britain and Russia from the founding of the Muscovy Company in 1555 until the end of King Charles II’s reign in 1685. Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars reveals the “majesty and pageantry” of the royal courts of both countries – from that of King Henry VIII to King Charles II in Britain and from that of Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV) to the early Romanovs in Russia. The display features more than 150 objects including heraldry and processional armour,  furnishings, clothing, jewellery and portraiture including paintings and miniatures painted by court artists. Highlights include a rarely viewed portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, the Barbor Jewel – a pendant set with an onyx cameo of the queen; a hand-colored map of ‘Muscovy’ dating from 1570, and literature including Shakespeare’s First Folio as well as a showcase of British and French silver given to the Tsars by British merchants and kept in the Kremlin. The 20 pieces include the Dolphin Basin, made by Christiaen van Vianen – said to be a favoured silversmith of King Charles I and II – in 1635. The exhibition marks the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. Admission charge applies. Runs from Saturday, 9th March, until 14th July. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk. PICTURE: Water pot (1604-05), Historic collectino of the Armoury, © The Moscow Kremlin Museums.

• The life and work of Sir Michael Caine – who turns 80 this month – is the focus of a new free exhibition at the Museum of London. Michael Caine, which opens tomorrow, features photographs including some never exhibited before as well as iconic portraits by the likes of David Bailey and Terry O’Neill as well as a selection of audio and film clips from movies such as Alfie, The Italian Job, Get Carter, Hannah and Her Sisters and Educating Rita. The exhibition follows Sir Michael’s life from “Cockney rebel, through to Hollywood legend and inspirational Londoner” and looks at how the city influenced his life and career. Runs until 14th July. To coincide with the exhibition, the Museum of London Docklands is running Caine on Screen, a selection of free films which can been voted for by the public (see our earlier post here). The schedule of films will be announced after 14th March. For voting details and more information, see www.museumoflondon.org.uk.

• A bullet-pierced military tunic worn during the Indian Mutiny in the mid 19th century has been donated to the National Army Museum in Chelsea. The tunic, worn by Lieutenant Campbell Clark, of the 2nd Bengal European Fusiliers, at Cawnpore in 1857. The lieutenant was ambushed by rebels Indian infantry and shot at point-blank range. Despite being grievously wounded (the musket ball had passed through his stomach and remained in the wound), he survived the injury and the military hospital he was taken to and went on to have a long career, rising to the rank of colonel. He died in 1896 in Sussex. The tunic was donated to the museum by Clark’s great-great-nephew, John Gordon Clark. For more, see www.nam.ac.uk.

• On Now: George Catlin: American Indian Portraits. Opening today, this exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery is the first major exhibition of the American artist’s works to be held in Europe since the 1840s and has been designed to demonstrate to the viewer how Catlin constructed a particular view of Native Americans in the minds of his audiences. Catlin made five trips into the western United States in the 1830s before the Native American peoples had been subsumed into the United States and, inspired by those trips, went on to create an Indian Gallery which featured 500 portraits, pictures and indigenous artefacts. He subsequently toured with the gallery in both the US and Europe. The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. Runs until 23rd June. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.npg.org.uk.

Around London – Tate acquires photographic collection; new additions to Army museum; Picasso at the British Museum; and, Zoffany at the Royal Academy…

by exploringlondon

• A major collection of photographs of London, including works by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank and Irving Penn, has been promised to the Tate Gallery. The collection, which will more than double the Tate’s photographic holdings, was assembled by Eric and Louise Franck over a 20 year period. It comprises around 1,400 photographs taken by 120 photographers between the 1880s and 2000s and is a record of the lives of people living in London. Highlights include Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work, Waiting in Trafalgar Square for the Coronation Parade of King George VI (1937), Bruce Davidson’s Girl with Kitten (1962), Elliot Erwitt’s Bus Stop, London (1962), Robert Frank’s London (Child Running from Hearse) (1951) and Irving Penn’s Charwomen, London (1950). More than two-thirds of the collection is being donated to the Tate Gallery, carrying an estimated value of more than £1 million, while the remaining works will be purchased. A selection from the collection will be exhibited in Another London, opening at the Tate Britain on 27th July. For more, see www.tate.org.uk.

• An Afghan schoolbook which uses bullets and Kalashnikovs as counting tools, Operational Service Medals and charm bracelets have been added to the National Army Museum’s Conflicts of Interest gallery. The gallery explores over 40 conflicts in which the British Army has been involved including that in Afghanistan. The illustrated childrens’ textbook dates from the time of the Soviet War in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was found by Captain Daniel Hinxman in 2007. Other artefacts added to the gallery include an Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan awarded to Sapper Dewi Allen for service in 2009-10, a memorial writsband produced by the family of Corporal David Barnsdale after he was killed in an IED attack in 2010 and a ‘lucky charm’ bracelet made by an Afghan for Lance Corporal Jose Cravalho De Matos. For more, see www.nam.ac.uk.

• On Now: Picasso Prints: The Vollard Suite. The British Museum is hosting this exhibition featuring Pablo Picasso’s most celebrated series of etchings, The Vollard Suite – the first time a complete set of the etchings has been shown in a British public institution. The suite consists of 100 etchings produced between 1930 and 1937, at a time when Picasso was involved in an affair with his nurse and muse Marie-Therese Walter. The predominant them of the suite is that of the sculptors studio – the artist was at this stage making sculpture at his new home outside Paris. The etchings, which have no titles and were not assigned an order, will be displayed alongside examples of the type of classical sculpture and objects which inspired the artist as well as Rembrandt etchings, Goya prints and Ingres drawings which also influenced Picasso’s works. The exhibition is being held in Room 90 and runs until 2nd September. Entry is free. For more, see www.britishmuseum.org.

• On Now: Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed. This exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts re-evalutes the life and career of the Frankfurt-born artist Zoffany, who moved to London in 1760 where he created portraits and subject pictures which attracted the patronage of the likes of actor David Garrick and courtiers of King George III. The exhibition, arranged into eight sections, features more than 60 oil paintings and a selection of drawings and prints taken from British and international collections, both public and private, with many of the items never before exhibited. Runs until 10th June. Admission charge applies. For more, see www.royalacademy.org.uk.

Around London – New picture gallery at V&A; remembering the 5th of November; War Horse – the exhibition; and, celebrating Private Eye…

by exploringlondon

• The Victoria and Albert Museum has opened a new permanent gallery displaying highlights from its internationally renowned collection of photographs in what amounts to a chronicle of the medium stretching from its invention in 1839 to the 1960s. The gallery, which opened in late October, initially features works such key figures as Henri Cartier Bresson, Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus and Irving Penn. Among highlights are the oldest photograph in the V&A’s collection – a daguerrotype of Parliament Street taken from Trafalgar Square in 1839, a Robert Howlett portrait of Isambard Kingdom Brunel standing in front of the Great Eastern, and an early botanical photography taken without a camera in 1854. The display also includes two “in focus” sections, looking at the lives of two photographers – initially British photographer Julia Margaret and the influential Henri Cartier-Bresson – in depth. The V&A was the first museum to start collecting photographs when it did so in 1856. Entry is free. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk.

• Remember, remember, the 5th of November! This weekend is Bonfire Night (aka Guy Fawkes Night) and across London communities will be gathering around bonfires to gasp at fireworks displays. We don’t have the capacity to collect all the details of where they’re taking place but thankfully the people at View London do. Follow this link to see its listing of where fireworks displays are taking place. To see our previous entry looking at the origins of the night, follow this link. For more on the Gunpowder Plot, see our previous entry here.

• On Now – War Hose: Fact & Fiction. A book, a long running stage performance and a soon to be released film, War Horse is now also the subject of a major exhibition at the National Army Museum. War Hose: Fact & Fiction is a family-friendly exhibition which tells the real-life story of horses in war and includes archive material from the animal charity The Brooke, which was founded after Dorothy Brooke rescued some former war horses being sold into a life of hard labour in Cairo (Brooke, who rescued some 5,000 horses, went on to found the Old War Horse Memorial Hospital in Cairo in 1934). The exhibition also features content from Michael Morpurgo, author of the novel War Horse, as well as the National Theatre’s production and the upcoming Spielberg-directed movie. Entry is free. Runs until August 2012. For more, see www.nam.ac.uk.

On Now: Private Eye: The First 50 Years. A celebration of the irreverent Private Eye magazine which, since it was founded in October 1961, has distinguished itself through a combination of satire and hard-hitting journalism. The exhibition features more than 120 of the magazine’s funniest cartoons and a display of the magazine’s distinctive covers with one of from each year chosen by editor Ian Hislop. It also shows how surprisingly low-tech the magazine’s production remains despite great changes in technology, and there’s a recreation of the editor’s Soho office. Admission is free. Runs until 8th January. For more, see www.vam.ac.uk.