1800s

On 13th May 1787 the first ship of convicts sailed from Portsmouth, arriving in Botany Bay, Australia the following January. Over the next eighty years, Britain and Ireland transported around […]

If it doesn’t look nice, cover it up. It’s a philosophy that could happily sit alongside those of great interiors thinkers William Morris (have nothing in your house you do […]

Wear your heart on your sleeve and your outrage on your lapel. Protest badges are a symbol of allegiance and an act of defiance against the status quo. These small […]

These ornate little trumpets are bouquetiers, also known as tussie-mussies or quite simply, posy holders. In the 1800s flowers were a popular gift and fashion accessory among the upper classes […]

– Pablo Picasso, 1955. Earthenware pitcher. JUGS for serving ale or cider at special occasions. Globe shaped, often in red earthenware with white-slip sgraffito decoration of nature motifs and rhymes. […]

In the last issue we looked at examples of when history is made less authentic to appear more realistic and how it can either distance us from or immerse us […]

On the front cover of our Winter 2021 issue are a selection of intricate chess pieces. The pieces featured are from an 1800s German set of the Selenus style. Prior […]

Fake books and their hidden contents. I think the idea of fake books is right up there with priest holes in Tudor buildings. Chopping out the middle of an old book to hide some trinket inside is something many of us probably tried as children, before realising it was quite…

A rare look at a very special wallpaper. Good weather and Scotland aren't two things we'd usually associate with each other, but in the September of 1848 Queen Victoria was enticed to Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, by the promise of blue skies after enduring a stint of terrible weather in Loch Laggan.