Showing posts with label Golden Boy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Golden Boy. Show all posts

Friday, March 18, 2016

Thomas Rawlins


Among the many unsung treasures in Norwich's three dozen medieval churches there are an extraordinary variety of well-executed and beautiful funerary monuments. These include the seventeenth century monument to Christopher Layer at the church of Saint John the Baptist, Maddermarket, and those to Sir John Suckling and Robert Suckling at Saint Andrew's. A number of splendid eighteenth century funerary monuments, in particular those by the sculptor Thomas Rawlins (1727-1789) can also be seen in Norwich's medieval churches.

Thomas Rawlins died on March 18th 1789, 227 years ago today. Although from a humble background as the son of a weaver, he was trained by a London sculptor, speculated to have been Sir Henry Cheere. In 1753  Rawlins advertised himself as a carver and mason of monuments and chimney pieces, both ancient and modern. He worked as a monument mason at a yard on Duke Street in Norwich and had a relatively long career, active from circa 1743-81. Rawlins specialised in coloured marble and was a leading member of 18th century 'Norwich school' of stonemasons.

Ranking high as a sculptor in the view of  the art historian Nicholas Pevsner, Rawlins, like other English funerary masons, followed artistic trends which originated from the work-yards of London stonemasons and sculptors. Following in the foot-steps of London trends, a stylistic change in Rawlins sculpture can be seen, from a late Baroque Rococo to Neoclassical in style. This significant stylistic change is well-illustrated by two funerary monuments at St Andrew's church; the first to John Custance (circa 1756) is intricately decorated with sweeping and detailed flourishes; in complete contrast the monument for Richard Dennison (circa 1767) is uncluttered and opts for linear simplicity in geometric form, including oval and circular arches.

This transition of artistic styles from that of late baroque to Neo-classical, occurs sociologically, from the rule of the ancien regime to the various movements which advocated and even installed Democratic rule; its a radical transition which can even be expressed in terms akin to keyboard instruments with the dominance of music written for the harpsichord giving way to the new voice of the pianoforte during approximately 1730-1770 .






In addition to specialising in coloured marbles, Rawlins seems to have had a predilection, held in common with his patrons, for putti, some of which are colossal in dimension, at least three times the size of any normal-sized baby. Rawlin's monuments for Hambleton Custance at St. Andrew's (left) and for Timothy Balderstone at St. George's (right) are both over 5 metres height in total. 


Later monuments by Rawlins, such as the one for Robert Rushbrook (1705-81) in the church of Saint John the Baptist at Maddermarket, (detail top of post) are considered to display a great awareness of neo-classical motifs. However, its his monument for Sir Thomas Churchman at St. Giles which is considered to be his finest work. The monument features a sarcophagus upon which are carved allegorical figures representing Vanity, Time and Judgement, a structurally incomplete Egyptian pyramid  is in its background.


Rawlins also practised as an architect. His designs, like those of his contemporary Thomas Ivory, the architect of the Octagon Chapel (1756) of Norwich, were Neo-Palladian in style. In 1768 he published his, Familiar Architecture: or Original Designs of Houses for Gentlemen and Tradesmen; Parsonages; Summer Retreats; Banqueting-Rooms; and Churches. subsequently reprinted in 1789 and 1795. Remarkably, Rawlin's book remains in print today.

Rawlins' reinforcement with ironwork of the south aisle of the church os Saint John the Baptist at Maddermarket, in 1772, became the subject of satirical verse, in what was the first English provincial newspaper, the Norwich Mercury.

Curiously, a stone inlay in the floor of the aforementioned church describes him simply as an architect; however, Rawlin's legacy can be seen in various Norwich churches today, in particular at Saint Andrew's, where no less than three of his funerary monuments can be viewed.



This post is developed from an earlier Wikipedia contribution.




Monday, February 25, 2013

Kevin Ayers

Give me leave to wonder that News of this nature should have such heavy Wings...


The sad news of British rock musician and song-writer Kevin Ayers death last week got me thinking about the fickleness of the British music industry and fame and fortune. I can’t remember being so moved over the death of a rock musician since hearing of John Lennon’s assassination in December 1980. 

There’s something very poignant about rock stars ageing, whether gracefully or not, even more so when they die almost forgotten. Those acquainted with the back-catalogue of Kevin Ayers' recordings which span forty years, may well wonder whether his talent for penning witty and wistful songs ever got the full recognition it deserved. Contributing factors include changes in rock and pop fashion over time and Ayers' own refusal to compromise his artistic integrity and play the games dictated by the music industry. 

With his good looks and rich baritone voice Kevin Ayers (1944-2013) was a charismatic rock-star who embodied the free-thinking counter-culture of the 1960's. Celebrant of elegance and decadence, Ayers was at his height of popularity during the mid-70's with the albums - Whatevershebringswesing, Bananamour and The Confessions of Doctor Dream. 

Variously described as an English eccentric, a supreme musical raconteur, a pioneer of psychedelia, and a bon viveur whose inspiration came from fine food, wine and the sunshine of the Mediterranean, Ayers began his music career in the experimental progressive rock band The Soft Machine

Closely associated with the Canterbury scene, The Soft Machine were in the vanguard of 'happenings'  in swinging London during the heady days of the 60's. At one gig bassist Ayers brought a motor-bike on-stage and placed a microphone to its engine while revving  it up. 

The family tree of musicians who once played in The Soft Machine reads a bit like a Who's Who of Rock musicians. It includes Dave Allen, who left the band shortly before Ayers to found the Anglo-French group Gong, the saxophonist Elton Dean, the song-writer and drummer Robert Wyatt, and the now distinguished composer Karl Jenkins C.B.E.

Kevin Ayers contributions to The Soft Machine's first album includes the songs Joy of a Toy and Feeling' Reelin' Squealin' (Feb.1967) which became the B-side of the band's first single and one of the first ever psychedelic era recordings, it features Ayers in lugubrious and deep-toned mode. The album also includes Ayers' song Why are we Sleeping. 

Why are We Sleeping is an important reminder that Ayers took the esoteric ideas of George Gurdjieff (1866-1949) with his view of human consciousness as little more than 'awake sleeping' quite seriously. There can be little doubt that both George Gurdjieff and Kevin Ayers would whole-heartedly have agreed with an observation made by Sir Thomas Browne, centuries earlier  -

surely it is not a melancholy conceit to think we are all asleep in this world.

The theme of dreams occurs frequently in Ayers' songs. Why are we Sleeping was later re-worked into a full-blown version on the album The Confessions of Dr.Dream (1974). In many ways however it was the song Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes which became Ayers' signature-song and demanded by audiences as an encore.

After leaving The Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers collaborated with some of the very best British musicians, two of whom have died in recent years, the soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill (1932-2012) (an improvised session heard at Herringfleet Fayre’80 and a venue at St.Benedict’s, Norwich 1997) and David Bedford (1937-2011) keyboards and instrumental arranger on several of Ayers' albums. (World premiere of Bedford's Recorder Concerto at the Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Festival 1994). 

A very young Mike Oldfield joined Ayers' band The Whole World in 1970 and he features in a guitar solo on the track Everybody's Sometime and Some People's All the Times Blues, while the piano-playing of Elton John can be heard on the album Sweet deceiver (1975). Above all others however, it was his long-term friend and music-partner Ollie Hansell (1949-1992) who recorded on a total of 11 albums  over an 18 year period  who contributed most to Ayers' sound. After Ollie Hansell's death in 1992 Ayers embarked upon one of his longer sporadic reclusive phases, releasing his last album, the first in 15 years, The Unfairground (2007) to critical acclaim.

In addition to his whimsical, melancholic and romantic persona embodied in his quintessential English song-writing, there's also an experimental strand to Ayers' music, notably in the tape-loop riffs of Song from a bottom of a well, the tape-montages of Shooting at the Moon and the extended concept track, The Confession of Dr. Dream (1974) which, with its varied moods, drug-induced paranoia and heavily-phased synthesizers epitomizes the best and worst excesses of 70's Rock music. A long-running humorous allusion to bananas can also be found in several Ayers lyrics. 

The album entitled June 1st 1974 recorded at the Rainbow Theatre, London, seems a high water-mark in Ayer’s live performances. Sharing the bill with Brian Eno and ex-members of The Velvet Underground John Cale and Nico. Its now near common knowledge that John Cale was not particularly happy on the day of the Rainbow theatre performance, having discovered Ayers sleeping with his wife the day before. 

Along with his lounge lizard and melancholic persona, there’s a strong trait of the eternal lover in both Ayer’s music and life. It’s no coincidence one of the few songs he recorded which was not penned by himself is a song made famous by Marlene Dietrich, Falling in love Again. How much persona and real-life inter-acted in Kevin Ayers psyche will never be known. He certainly played up to the role of  eternal lover and Casanova and epitomizes  in astrology the Leonine creative artist. Although little mention of any long-term relationship can be found in Ayers' biography, he is survived by three daughters.   

Ayers was a long-time Francophile and lived on and off in the south of France over the decades. He also occasionally resided at Ibizia, a favourite resort and haunt of Gothic chanteuse Nico. The song Decadence on the album Bananamour is a portrait of Nico. 

Ayers' music often accompanied my own love-trysts and the harmless and risky experiments conducted with Dr. Dream during my teens and twenties. Its also sadly now a reminder of a friend no longer alive who  first introduced me to Kevin Ayers' music, attending with me a gig by Ayers at UEA, Norwich in 1977, if my memory serves right.

 Discography
Joy of a Toy -  Harvest November 1969
Shooting at the Moon - Harvest October 1970
Whatevershebringswesing - Harvest November 1971
Bananamour - Harvest May 1973
The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories - Island May 1974
June 1, 1974 (with Nico, John Cale and Brian Eno) - Island June 1974
Sweet Deceiver - Island March 1975
Yes We Have No Mañanas -Harvest June 1976
Rainbow Takeaway - Harvest April 1978
That's What You Get Babe - Harvest February 1980
Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain - Charly June 1983
Deià...Vu - Blau March 1984
As Close As You Think -Illuminated June 1986
Falling Up  -Virgin  February 1988
Still Life with Guitar - FNAC January 1992
The Unfairground - LO-MAX September 2007

Notes and Links

Header quote is the opening line of Browne's A letter to a Friend
Quote-  tis no melancholy conceit  is from Religio Medici Part 2: 11 


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Mercurius and Saturnus







Together Puer et Senex or child and old man represent not only the earth-bound human condition of Adamic man in Christianity, but also quite specific planetary symbolism.  The reason why Christian art absorbed pagan symbolism and why such syncreticism occurred during the Renaissance is discussed on the page on the Layer monument

The lower pair of Vanitas  and Labor on the Layer monument can  also be interpreted as highly-charged vessels of alchemical symbolism. In the realm of alchemical and astrological correspondences Saturn is the ruler of time and old age, melancholy, grey beards, agriculture and digging. A more fitting example of Saturnine attributes could not be found in the statuette of Labor with his highly expressive suffering features.

Similarly Mercurius, the messenger to the gods is often depicted as a youth or child, sometimes standing upon a rotundum in alchemical iconography to represent his world-wide influence and winged communication. The Layer monument's youthful Vanitas with his playful bubble-blowing could not be more allusive to Mercury in his symbolism. However most revealing of all as regards understanding the rich and complex symbolism embedded within the Layer mandala  is the four-fold relationship between each statuette, human and divine, temporal and eternal.

If C.G. Jung had ever seen photographs of the Layer monument he would immediately have recognised the reason why Vanitas and Labor are paired together, for he noted-

Graybeard and boy belong together. The pair of them play a considerable role in alchemy as symbols of Mercurius. [1]

C.G. Jung amplifies the close relationship between Mercurius and Saturnus -

But the most important of all for an interpretation of Mercurius is his relation to Saturn. Mercurius senex is identical with Saturn, and to the earlier alchemists especially, it is not quicksilver, but the lead associated with Saturn, which usually represents the prima materia.... In Khunrath Mercurius is the "salt of Saturn," or Saturn is simply Mercurius..Like Mercurius, Saturn is hermaphroditic. Saturn is "an old man on a mountain, and in him the natures are bound with their complement [i.e., the four elements], and all this is in Saturn". The same is said of Mercurius. Saturn is the father and origin of Mercurius, therefore the latter is called "Saturn's child". Quicksilver comes "from the heart of Saturn or is Saturn......Like the planetary spirit of Mercurius, the spirit of Saturnus is "very suited to this work".  [2]


[1] CW 9 i:39
[2] CW 13: 274-5

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Cupid's Dart


And sure there is music even in the beauty, and the silent note which
Cupi
d strikes, far sweeter than the sound of an instrument.

           ♥         ♥         ♥        ♥                  
And therefore in reference unto Man, Cupid is said to be blind. Affection should not be too sharp-Eyed, and Love is not to be made by magnifying Glasses.
 
-Sir Thomas Browne of Norwich

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Golden Boy and Gherkin

Today on a  rare excursion to London, attending a conference, I saw this (above) with its inscription - This boy is in memory put up for the late FIRE of LONDON occasioned by the Sin of Gluttony 1666 and below - the 'Gherkin' tower, so-called because of its shape. Maybe it's an over-imaginative juxtaposition, but I can't help thinking the two monuments are related. But without doubt a certain seventeenth century Norwich physician and philosopher would have approved of Sir Norman Foster's quincuncial lozenge design in glass.