Victorian art
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Art and Money: The Peacock Room
For a man who described his artworks as Harmonies or Symphonies, in his personal life the famous artist James MacNeill Whistler created plenty of discord. One of his greatest quarrels happened with his former friend and artistic patron, F.R. Leyland. Called the “Liverpool Medici,” Leyland was a self-made man who rose from office-boy to wealthy ship-owner. He was an accomplished amateur pianist and an art lover with a discriminating eye for both Old Masters and contemporary artists, including Botticelli, Rosetti, Burne-Jones, and Albert Moore. In order to fulfill his ambitions of living like the culturally enlightened merchant prince he believed himself to be, Leyland bought an elegant house in Kensington,…
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Victorian Crochet for Christmas
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Uncle Tom’s Cabin – The Power of the Pen
“So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” Supposedly, this is what Abraham Lincoln said when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862. In any event, her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin had a deep and lasting impact on the public not only in America but around the world, according to the Harriet Beecher Stowe center. From that source I learned: Uncle Tom’s Cabin originally appeared in installments published in an anti-slavery newspaper, The National Era, in 1851. The next year it was published as a two-volume book. It sold 300,000 copies in its first year, and became the second best-selling book of the 19th century…
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Beauty in the Eye of the Victorian Beholder
What features were considered beautiful in the Victorian age? Would our teenage Victorian sleuth, Lucy Turner, have considered herself beautiful by the standards of the day — and if so, what would she have done about it? Lucy, as we can see from her photos, was small and slender with blonde hair and blue eyes. She probably would have had light colored eyebrows and eyelashes, and possibly even freckles on her nose. Being the youngest daughter of a respectable, upper-middle-class widow, however, she would not have worn make-up. Victorian women were under pressure to look beautiful, but no respectable female of that age would be caught wearing cosmetics – at least not visible cosmetics. Any woman…
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Victorian Crochet for Christmas
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Victorian Tweets to Tickle Your Fancy
I browsed around Twitter today, and found the following gems! If you’re looking for some interesting, pretty, funny and inspiring tidbits of information, check out these tweets: Victorian Cat Funerals https://twitter.com/Felix_Ineptias/status/690755602310569984 Victorian Samplers embroidered by young girls https://twitter.com/fashionatbowes/status/690848757261451264 Digital Dickens-Finding Boz online https://twitter.com/LoyolaVictorian/status/712367387656454146 A 1898 Critic’s Choice List of Best Novels – Have you read them all? https://twitter.com/michaeljwaldron/status/661616977543364608 Victorian Spinning Tops, now in GIF form https://twitter.com/drreznicek/status/661890422382333952 Ode to Kate Greenaway, Victorian illustrator https://twitter.com/LadyReedmore/status/607056679679737857 Victorian Love Letters from a Valet to a Housekeeper https://twitter.com/rosalindmwhite/status/722462413682044929 Newly discovered Charlotte Bronte poem https://twitter.com/VictStudies/status/666306557995589636 Victorian Halloween Costumes https://twitter.com/VictStudies/status/651085330163101696 Why Victorians thought women taking Tea Breaks was…
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Victorian Crochet for Christmas
- Victorian art, Victorian love and marriage, Victorian technology, Victoriana, Victorians at home, Victorians then and now
Victorian Valentines
Across the centuries, humans have loved to celebrate love. From the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia, to the Renaissance vision of courtly love, to Ophelia’s sad mention of Valentine’s Day in Hamlet, February 14 and Valentines have been symbols of romantic love. In Britain around the 1820s, specially-made papers for sending Valentine’s Day greetings began to be marketed. They became so popular that they were soon being made in factories. Often flat paper sheets printed with colored illustrations and embossed borders, they were designed to be folded up and sealed with wax for mailing. A very fancy Valentine could be made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace…
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Victorian Crochet for Christmas
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Victorian Crochet for Christmas
Christmas is not too far away! Are you crafty and wondering what to make for that beloved Auntie or other relation? Fear not! There’s still time to crochet a Victorian-style gift for a family member who appreciates handmade things. During the Victorian era, a dutiful upper-middle-class woman’s leisure time would have been occupied in making decorative items to wear and to decorate their homes. Working for financial gain was out of the question for a well-off married Victorian woman – it would have reflected poorly on her husband. Furthermore, the woman of the house would have servants to clean and cook for the family, so she would have turned her…