Chapter 20: London: Knightsbridge & Piccadilly Circus

I must thank you, my Reader, for being so patient with my blog. The postings ARE too long; there ARE too many photos and details. And the designs or layouts are atrocious. At least for the latter I can place blame elsewhere: this blog application does not care much for Vista, I guess, and "What you see is NOT what you get!"

A place I especially noted as a young Boy Scout visiting London in 1965 when I was just 16, was Knightsbridge, especially the Victoria and Albert Museum. I also stayed here. It has been at the top of my list for a return visit to London, so with sunshine forecast and one free train trip left on my BritRail Pass, I take the train from Bicester North into Marylebone and find the easiest route via the Underground to the South Kensington Station. I am pleased to find that for once, there is no admission charge to visit this spectacular museum.
As I find my way across the street I see this Harrods lorry, reminding me to find the famous store, too, if I have the time.

I arrive just a few minutes past ten and the V & A (as all the logos have it) is nearly empty. I notice first the colourful glass sculpture, "Chandelier" by American Dale Chihuly (1999) in the lobby. This is a confusing museum to visit, so I "set a spell" and study the inadequate map and "pretend" to be dumb with numerous questions at the information desk.

On the balcony overlooking the lobby I see a beautiful religious screen and head upstairs to get a closer look. It is called the Hereford screen and was created for Hereford Cathedral by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1862 (and installed in the Cathedral a year later).
Of course, here I have had to twist the camera angle to fit enough of it in, as there is no vantage point to capture the whole screen. It is 10.5 m high and 11 m long, made of timber and cast iron, with lots of copper and brass. The figures are copper. The motif is mainly the Passion Flower. The intricacy of the craft is impressive. No wonder it was chosen to be presented at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.

The V & A is the epitome of eclecticism there is such a variety of objects on display: there must be tens of thousands of items, some grouped by material and technique of creation. I choose a theme--European craftsmanship--and off I go, first intrigued by these beautifully built and carved wooden items, below a bookcase exhibited at one of the major London Exhibitions.

Some of you, patient Readers, may wish to scroll hurriedly down through the several dozen pieces I have included, chosen because I thought them to be especially beautiful or well designed.

I cannot look at a conch without thinking of The Lord of the Flies. This one, however, is enhanced by a special application of paints to create a mother-of-pearl effect.

Here is a small brass statue, "David" by Mercié in 1889.

A German carving in limewood, "Venus & Adonis" (1751) in which the artist used several pieces of wood to create the mass from which he did the carving. The paint is lost over the centuries.

One of the two Cast Courts, full of the plaster casts of various sculptures, monuments and figures, full-sized.

Plaster Casts of the great 38 meter Trajan Column, A.D. 113, Rome, showing incidents in the Dacian campaigns of Trajan. There are at least 2500 figures engraved in a circular pattern.

Metalwork, some of it wrought iron, of every imaginable creation. Somewhere here I see old iron fencing from around St. Paul's. This is a crowded area of the V & A today, as at least one whole school of 10-12 year olds is busy with their sketch pads all over the gallery. The pupils are notably apologetic as I must pick my way amongst their legs and sketchbooks on the floor.

In the metalworks galleries, a brass lectern.

The Silver Room, full of every conceivable type of silver, ranging from decorative, to whimsical, to dinner services and serving dishes, memorials, etcetera. My favourite galleries, beautiful, especially as sunshine is allowed to flood the rooms, reflecting from the surfaces. I wonder who gets to polish all these thousands of pieces?

A Regency tea service.

In design, I favour Art Deco, so I am pleased to find this beautiful Art Deco tea service on display.

Examples of some of the exquisite pieces of silver on display in the Whitely Silver Galleries. My favourite is this one, the Jerningham Wine Cooler from 1884, a Victorian copy of a London 1734 silver cooler.

I also like this intricate, almost garish Victorian fruit server.

Enough said.

Most stained glass here is religious, and I especially like the composition of this piece.

"Personification of Faith" by Henry Holiday in 1875. Clear and coloured glass with pigment paint and silver paint. Never used, it was at Blackfriar's until it closed in 1980. The Pre-Raphaelite influence is obvious.

Probably my favourite painting ever is "The Day Dream" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, an oil on canvas from 1881. Rossetti was the greatest of the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. I spend a long time sitting here in the nearly deserted galleries of British art.

Here Dante Gabriel Rossetti shows a beautiful woman as sex object, blurring distinctions between the aesthetic and erotic. The model was William Morris' wife, Jane, described by Henry James as 'guiltless of hoops' (meaning she daringly used neither supports nor stays leaving her voluptuous curves explicit). The imagery is as explicit as her body: in an unambiguously erotic gesture with the honeysuckle, she encourages sap to rise. Inspired by a Tennyson poem - 'Her full black ringlets downward roll'd' - Rossetti wrote a sonnet of his own on the frame. His vocabulary suggests a ripe sexuality: 'nursed in mellow intercourse', 'sheathed', 'tongues', 'buds'. Tennyson had written, 'Beyond the night, across the day/Thro' all the world she followed him'. This painting of a predatory woman with a keen sexual appetite is as erotically intense as it was possible to be in 1880.
Stephen Bayley, Guest Curator

As I study the painting up close, I am struck by the obvious brush strokes and by the odd angle of Jane Morris' face.

The gallery, full of hundreds of sculptures made from every possible material, is wonderful fun. I love the stories told by sculpture. Unfortunately for my readers, I can also take photos, so here goes . . .

"Vertumnus & Pomona" (1725) by Laurent Delvaux, was once on display at my favourite Sculpture Garden, Stowe in Buckinghamshire. Vertumnus was a native god who wooed the nymph Pomona, gaining her presence in the guise of an old woman, but then in removing his mask revealing himself as a young god.

"Eve Listening to the Voice of Adam" (1842) by Edward Hodges Baily, who is well known for his sculpture of Nelson in Trafalgar Square.

"Pluto & Proserpine" (1849) by Edward James Physick. Pluto fell in love with Porserpine when Cupid released an arrow. He seized Proserpine as she was collecting flowers with her female companions and carried her off to the underworld to become his wife.

A terracotta figure entitled "Peasant Woman Nursing a Baby" by Aimé-Jules Dalou in 1873.

Whenever I spend time with sculptures I get nervous that people will think the shuffling old man looking at all the naked torsos is some voyeuristic pervert. At least my favourites are not only females: Here is Auguste Rodin's bronze of "St. John the Baptist" (1879).

"Portrait of Euphonia Lamb" (1908) by Jacob Epstein. The sitter was Nina Forrest, wife of the painter Henry Lamb, who called his wife Euphonia because she looked like the Saint.

As the visitor enters the Dorothy & Michael Hintz Sculpture Galleries, the first major piece is "Mankind" by Eric Gill (1927-8).

"The Strong Smell" 1775-83, by the Austrian Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, in lead.

What follows are a series of objects d'art, for some of which I note title, artist and material.

A wood and stone ox.

Terracotta figures and a copy of a 1790 Jasperware Wedgwood vase.

My final exhibit of the day is the Fashion exhibition. I think my colleagues--Pauly, Brenda and Monique--would be thrilled to see the fashion students sitting all over this gallery sketching dresses on display. Elsewhere, there are dozens of school children busily spread out on the floors sketching in their pads drawings of many different objects in the V & A. I overhear a teacher telling her students that artists and designers often come here for ideas and inspiration.

I have seen what I wanted to see, and while I saw none of the Asian Exhibits, I note that three or more new galleries are scheduled to open next year, so I might return then. But now, satisfied, I decide to wander the area in the warmth of the sunshine!
It is rather fun to come upon this outdoor skating rink at the Natural History Museum. I recall the skating rink set up at Warwick Castle last Christmas, and saw something in the paper this week about dozens of such rinks around the UK. What a great idea to do something so Canadian, eh! It is not even cold, nor can we expect any snow!

The Natural History Museum, with the Albert & Victoria Museum across the street.

Labelled "Older than the Dinosaurs," this exhibit is of a 330-million-year-old tree discovered in 1854 at Craigleith Quarry in Edinburgh.

There is something quite positive watching large groups of well-behaved, uniformed students visiting sites such as the Natural History Museum. I choose not to: I am just not interested in the exhibits here. I prefer cultural and historical exhibitions.

When, in 1965, I arrived in the UK to find relatives of my step-grandmother in Northamptonshire, they agreed to drive me to London, and dropped me off here, at Baden-Powell House, an international hostel for those registered as international members of the Worldwide Boy Scout Movement, just across the street from the Natural History Museum. For a week I was able to stay here for very little cost, and found other Scouts to guide me around London. One young man, Daniel Fermie of Glasgow in Scotland, was especially helpful, and we visited together the Victoria & Albert Museum, The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. Another took me to a Wolf Cub meeting in East London, which I recollect was a scene of badly behaved Cubs creating chaos! I feel quite nostalgic as I go into Baden-Powell House, but I suspect its quite modern lobby is hardly the same as it was 44 years ago! No one remembers me.

Queen's Gate Terrace, just an interesting street along the way.

I follow Queen's Gate north to Kensington Road to view the Albert Memorial.

The Albert Memorial is situated in Kensington Gardens, directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert who died in 1861. The memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic revival style. Opened in 1872, with the statue of Albert by John Henry Foley, ceremonially "seated" in 1875, the memorial consists of an ornate canopy or pavilion containing a statue of Prince Albert facing south. Access is not permitted at present, so I cannot see details of the frieze and mosaics.

Originally covered in gold leaf, for most of the last century the figure of Albert was painted black. It is now believed that pollution had ruined the original gilt, so in the major restoration of the past decade, Albert was once again covered in gold leaf. From 2006 a beautiful ornate fence has been erected during further restoration, keeping tourists from getting very close.

The memorial is 176 feet tall, took over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000.

At the four outer corners are allegorical groups representing the continents.

The Europe Group, featuring the bull, by Patrick MacDowell.

It is at this moment, precisely, that my trusty Canon chooses to announce that its Memory Card is Full! I manage to erase a few photos, but I will have to cut back on photos today. I always try to avoid letting the photos be more important than the experience, which may mean poorer photos, but I do notice details: the sun gleaming from the seated figure of Albert is brilliant. The details on the four corner sculptures are beautiful. I call out a personal thank you to the pigeons for posing so patiently!

The America Group, featuring the bison, sculpted by John Bell.

The Africa Group, represented by the camel, by William Theed.

The Asia Group, with the elephant, created by John Henry Foley.

I cannot help myself, The Beatles' A Day in the Life starts echoing through my mind:

I read the news today oh boy

Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire

And though the holes were rather small

They had to count them all

Now they know how many holes it takes

To fill the Albert Hall.

I'd love to turn you on.

I also wonder if somehow I should try to get a ticket to see Leonard Cohen again, as his World Tour 2008 has been extended and he's performing at the Royal Albert Hall next week! But then, could it ever be any better than back in Halifax in May when I sat in the front row a few feet away from him in the Rebecca Cohn?

I leave the Albert Memorial and Hall and go for a stroll along the Princess of Wales Memorial Walk enjoying the quietness and sunny weather.

But I soon find I am foot-weary walking around Kensington Park, and after finding the Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain closed this week for maintenance I am disappointed, and walk alongside The Serpentine (pond? lake? river?) for quite a distance heading towards Hyde Park Corner, clunking along in my Crocs. Then I remember that Harrods is nearby and having heard it is worth seeing, take a beeline in the general direction and soon find it. It really is an interesting store, with as many tourists inside as there are legitimate shoppers.

Fortunately, I am not well-to-to, else wise I would be tempted to buy too much "stuff" at Harrods; at least one of my daughters would be thrilled by room after room of clothes from the great designers of our time.

As I earlier noted, my poor feet are so tired after walking through Knightsbridge and Kensington Park, I take the subway back to Piccadilly Circus with its gigantic electronic billboards and lively street scenes. I had thought to walk down to Trafalgar Square to see the National Gallery, but I can walk no more and my brain is suffering from museum overload. I just need to relax.

Below are the Eros statue and the Eros Fountain. Lots of people are taking photos of one another, but I couldn't find anyone who spoke English to ask to take one of me. (One fellow looked like he might agree and then run off with my camera!) I saw my first British panhandler today, but that was outside Harrods.

The fountain, officially the Shaftesbury Memorial, was erected in 1893, and was designed to commemorate the philanthropic works of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. The Memorial is crowned by Alfred Gilbert's aluminum statue of Anteros as a nude, butterfly-winged archer. This is officially titled The Angel of Christian Charity, but has become popularly, if mistakenly, known as Eros. The use of a nude figure on a public monument was controversial at the time, but the statue has become a London icon and even appears on the masthead of the Evening Standard.

The Underground Station entrance at Piccadilly, with the fountain beyond.

The Criterion Theatre with the flying gold nudes, the marquee for The 39 Steps, and, just to the left, the famous underwear brand, Lilywhites, which is housed here next to the Eros Fountain.

Princess Michael of Kent is credited with unveiling this equestrian fountain in honour of those who are disabled, at the Criterion Theatre Building.The kids want to see the musical, Mama Mia, based on the story of Abba, and it is on at the Prince of Wales Theatre just off the Circus, so I know at least that we could get here easily if we ever decide to see it!

Piccadilly Circus: Planet Hollywood

Passing through Piccadilly Circus on our bus tour last month, I noticed this restaurant, The Aberdeen Angus Steak House, and determined that I should return here for a steak. My travels for the day are ended: I have been trying to beat my addiction to coffee so skipped my brew this morning. Now I have a fierce headache. I decide that the medicinal qualities of Guinness will help . . . I should have ordered coffee. I stare out into Piccadilly Circus and consider seeing the exhibition, Ripley's Believe It or Not, across the street, but I lack the energy. But I am not sick and I thoroughly enjoy my ribeye with mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce. But I am tired, so leave the area on the Underground, taking the Bakerloo Line back to Marylebone for the train back to Bicester and Caversfield. I am 59 minutes from home when in London, so maybe I'll simply spend more money and come again. I only have four more weeks in the UK.