Lady's Magazine 1816-1818 - Embroidery Patterns

Ackermann's and La Belle Assemblee are usually held up as the places for young ladies to go for fashionable, yet there were other publications which offered advice, coloured pictures of finished outfits and patterns to follow.



Here are just some of the embroidery designs available between 1816 and 1818.

Enjoy!  Would be great to see any examples of these, or other patterns, being used today.

  

 

 



Regency Fashions - Part 2

In this second edition there are two patterns taken from Ackermann's Repository of Arts and Fashions etc - October 1818

The designs are very complex (and very expensive!) and took a great deal of skill and patience to complete ... more Bingley's sisters than the Bennet's

Evening Dress

A white lace dress over a white satin slip:  the bottom of the skirt is trimmed with drapery of which lace entwined with pearl and ornamented with full-blown roses without leaves, which are placed at regular distances:  a rouleau of white satin placed above and another below this training.  Corsage of pale rose-coloured satin, made tight to the shape, and cut so as to display the bust very much;  a row of blond lace is set on plain, so as to fall of the corsage.  Short full sleeve o rose satin, slashed with white lace and finished at the bottom by a fall of blond set on plain.  Head dress a white satin toque, made rather high, and ornamented with a bunch of flowers placed at the left side.  White satin slippers, white gloves, Necklace and ear-rings pearl.  Hair arranged in a few ringlets at each temple.  Small ivory fan.

Walking Dress

A round dress of jaconet muslin; the body is made high, with a collar;  the back is plain; the front is formed of alternate strips of rich work and welted muslin;  the welts are very small, and there are three in number between every strip of work,  a fril of rich work stands up round the throat and goes down the fronts.  Plain long sleeve, rather loose except at the wrist, where the fullness is drawn in in welts. The bottom of the skirt is finished by a flounce of work disposed in large plaits:  this is surmounted by a row of embroidery, and a second flounce of work, over which are three or four welts.  The spencer worn with this dress is composed of dark blue gros de Naples; it is made tight to the shape, without seam, and richly ornamented with white satin.  The collar, which stands up around the throat, is composed of white satin:  it is very full, but the fullness is confined by narrow bands of gros of Naples; there are four or five, and a small white tassel which depends from each, falls into the neck.  The waist is finished by very small tabs edged with white satin.  Long loose sleeve. Ornamented with ribband at the wrist, and a puffing of white satin on the shoulder.  Head dress, a cornette of white lace, ornamented by bias bands of white satin.  The top of the crown is full, and rather high; the fullness is confined by a wreath of moss-roses, which go round the top of the head.  Bonnet of a French shape, composed of white satin, the edge of the brim finished by rouleaus of blue and white plaid silk; a large bow of the same material, and a plume of ostrich feathers, are placed on one side the crown.  White gloves, and half-boots, the lower part blue leather, the upper jane.  A lemon coloured shawl, very richly embroidered, is thrown loosely over the shoulders.

The Weekly entertainer : or, Agreeable and instructive repository (Oct 1818)

Review: The Regency House Party

I never saw this when it was on tv about ten years ago so when I found it, by chance, on YouTube I just had to watch it (even though it is split into 30+ segments).

The premise was simple:  take five modern men and five modern women and transport them back to the 1811 to a nine week long country house party - complete with servants, chaperons, the right clothing and no indoor plumbing.

The setting was truly glorious:  Kentchurch Court, Herefordshire

 

 

(for more information about the history of the estate and the availability of tours see http://kentchurchcourt.co.uk/house.html

The men fitted right in!  The role of the master of the house was taken by Chris Gorrell Brown who in the 21st century had just ended a relationship but is now the long standing partner of Martha Lane Stewart (who founded lastminute.com) and is in film production.  Widely described as the Mr Darcy of the programme, because of the wet shirt incident and apparent lack of emotion, he was highly believable from the moment he donned his Regency attire.

The other gentlemen James Everett (a stage manager), John Carrington (a singer-song writer), Mark Foxsmith (a science teacher) and Jeremy Glover (a businessman and descendant of a naval captain who was at Trafalgar ... Mr Glover shows his fellow guests a letter from Nelson to his ancestor which truly impresses them) were equally at home in the period.  This was probably because they were able to enjoy all the manly pursuits of the day such as fishing, boxing, sword-play ... and attending a Hell Fire Club event!

There was also a hermit on the estate - a role taken by the artist Zebedee Helm.

Unfortunately, the women were less believable and more annoying.  I am not a great fan of reality tv as I question who's reality it is and whether anything can really be learned by watching the participants and for this programme it was the women who raised these questions once again.  Practically without exception from the moment they arrived at the estate the women (be they the younger ones looking for a spouse or the older chaperons) did nothing but whinge about the restrictions of the time... as all the parties were given a mini-biography of their character to help them get into part and as it was quite apparent what was to be expected from 'travelling back in time' these restrictions should not have come as a surprise.

Real life, titled-but-penniless Countess Larushka Ivan-Zadeh was the highest ranked woman who wished to follow in the footsteps of Lady Caroline Lamb (cross-dressing and serving herself up at one of the dinners).  No self-respecting chaperon in Regency England would have agreed to this unless she was confident that the action would bag her charge a spouse but as this was a tv programme it was allowed.

The other 'ladies' were Victoria Hopkins (a director in her family's business who described herself at the time as being not spoilt but spent the whole nine weeks, or so it seemed, proving this not to be the case as tantrums were the order of the day), Lisa Braund (the eldest of the young women, at 34, and a receptionist), Hayley Cornick (a trainee-headhunter), Francesca Martin (a recent graduate) and, as a sudden arrival to the house party, Tanya Samuel (a fashion designer and sister of the singer Seal).

Any programme of this nature is always going to be artificial as we carry too much baggage with us and, for women at least, so much has changed but I do think that the producers of the programme put too many obstacles in the way to make this a true representation of life at the time.  For instance, the women were way too old - in Regency England they would have been poor relations/companions, married or widowed.  They certainly wouldn't have been on the look-out for their first husbands.  Yes, the occupations available for the women were not as wide-ranging as for men but I did not see any example of helping others in the neighbourhood (the closest to this was taking food to the hermit which didn't happen too often), riding, interacting with the servants (eg one of the chaperons was also the hostess yet we saw no evidence of her discussing menus etc with the housekeeper)  and so on.  Nor was there a connection between the women - in most instances a country house party would have been made up of individuals who knew each other either through a family connection or because they had just spent the previous Season getting to know each other at the various events.

The chaperons weren't much better.  Only one seemed to play along with the notion of finding her charge a husband (an activity which was not appreciated by the young lady in question).  The others seemed to spend all their time bickering or flirting with the men.  Mr Gorrell Brown had to step in more than once to resolve an issue which the chaperons, and in particular, Mrs Rodgers who was also the hostess, should have dealt with.  In addition, possibly at the prompting of the tv producers it was the host who came up with activities such as the gentleman serving the servants at dinner.

Only with the arrival of special guests who discussed poetry, the Battle of Waterloo and science was the programme raised above any other reality programme.

Don't get me wrong I did enjoy it but it is purely a tv programme.  If you are really wanting to learn more about what it was like to live at the time you are better off reading the book which accompanied the series or any number of letters/journals, even contemporary works of fiction, which are available (and I don't just been Jane Austen)!

Would I like to go back in time and live in Regency England?

Putting aside the bad sanitation, the adulterated food, the lack of equality and so on yes I would like to go back to live in Georgian/Regency England (providing I had some money naturally!) not least because everyone knew what was expected of them.  I don't see the world through rose-coloured spectacles but I do believe that we reached the pinnacle of human existence then because so much we take for granted today was discovered or created then be it the commencement of modern medicine, the discovery of Uranus, the foundation of a more equitable society, changes in the way court proceedings took place etc etc

Flames of Paris, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera House, review

Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev are on prodigious form in their return to the Bolshoi Ballet says Sarah Crompton

The Daily Telegraph reviews the ballet, about lovers during the French Revolution, first performed in 1932. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10248352/Flames-of-Paris-Bolshoi-Ballet-Royal-Opera-House-review.html

A Most Moving Piece of Music

A few years ago I was lucky enough to be visiting York Minster when the choir was practising.  It was then that I heard, for the first time, a most moving piece of Classical music.  Even today it seems to speak to something deep inside me.  And the piece of music?  It was the Miserere.

This masterpiece was written in the 1630s, during the term of Pope Urban VIII, by the Italian composer Gregorio Allegri for matins services during Holy Week.

http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/allegri/miserere.php states that the intention was that

"Twice during that week, on Wednesday and Friday, the service would start at 3AM when 27 candles were extinguished one at a time until but one remained burning. According to reports, the pope would participate in these services. Allegri composed his setting of the Miserere for the very end of the first lesson of these Tenebrae services. At the final candle, the pope would kneel before the altar and pray while the Miserere was sung, culminating the service."

 

I've attended Maundy Thursday services where the church is cleared and the candles extinguished whilst the choir sings so I have some idea of what it must have been like when it was originally performed.

Its mystery was maintained and writing it down or performing anywhere other than in Vatican premises could lead to excommunication.

Letters belonging to the Mozart family state that in 1770 the young composer was visiting Rome when he heard a performance.  Later that Wednesday he transcribed the piece from memory only returning on Friday to make minor amendments.  The following year the British historian Dr Charles Burney acquired the copy and brought it back to London to be printed.

Mozart was summoned to the Vatican but instead of suffering the wrath of the Pope he was congratulated and the ban was lifted ... fortunately (although it does mean that now it can be heard in films and on tv at the most unexpected times - I recently heart it during a trail for the Sky One comedy Trollied whilst a character skipped through a field!)

A performance by The Sixteen (with lyrical translation) can be found at
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh6s71MicgY

Anne Brockett (annebrockett7) now on Pinterest

Anne Brockett (annebrockett7) on Pinterest

Georgian and Regency Recipes

I love collecting recipes from this period of history.

One of these days I hope to have a Georgian house with an Aga-type cooker (and the time!) so that I can give  some of them a go.

Not all the recipes are for food, though.

Here are some of my favourite (interesting) non-food recipes:

Recipes for Making Wines

British Madeira.

Put one bushel of good pale malt into a tub, and pour upon it eleven gallons of boiling water; after stirring them together, cover the vessel over, and let them stand to infuse for three hours; then strain off the liquor mixed together.

Take of French brandy, two quarts; raisin wine, five pints; and red port, two bottles ; stir them together, and let the cask be well bunged, and kept in a cool place for six or ten months, when it will be fit to bottle. This wine will be found superior to the Cape Madeira; and, after having been kept in bottle twelve months, will be found not inferior to East India Madeira. Good table-beer may be made with the malt after it has been infused for making this wine.

British Port Wine.

Take of British grape wine or good cider, four gallons; recent juice of red elderberries, one gallon, or of the juice of red beet-root, two quarts; brandy, two quarts ; logwood, four ounces; rhatany root (bruised), half a pound.

First infuse the logwood and rhatany root in the brandy, and a gallon of the grape wine or cider, for one week ; then strain off the liquor, and mix it with the other ingredients. Keep it in a cask well bunged for a month, when it will be fit to bottle.

British Sherry.

Take of pale ale wort, made as directed for British Madeira, four gallons; of pure water, seven gallons; of white sugar, sixteen pounds. Boil them together gently for about three quarters of an hour, constantly skimming it; then pour it into a clean tub, and dissolve it in four pounds of sugar candy (previously powdered) — then ferment with yeast for three or four days, in the same manner as directed for British Madeira.

When poured off clear into a sweet cask, add five pounds of the best raisins, bruised and stoned: stir up the liquor once or twice a day by means of a stick; and after standing slightly bunged two days, add about a gallon of French brandy ; then bung the cask closely, and in three months bottle it for use.

British Champaigne

Take of white sugar, eight pounds; the whitest raw sugar, seven ditto; crystallised lemon acid or tartaric acid, an ounce and a quarter; pure water, eight gallons; white grape wine, two quarts, or perry, four quarts; of French brandy, three pints.

Boil the sugars in the water, skimming it occasionally for two hours, then pour it into a tub, and dissolve in it the acid. Before it be cold, add some yeast, and ferment in the same manner as directed for British Madeira. Then put it into a clean cask, and add the other ingredients.

The eask is then to be well bunged and kept in a cool place for two or three months; then bottle it and keep it cool for a month longer, when it will be fit for use. If it should not be perfectly clear after standing in the cask two or three months, it should be rendered so by the use of isinglass before it be bottled. By adding a pound of fresh or preserved strawberries, and two ounces of powdered cochineal, to the above quantity, the pink champaigne may be made.


Taken from

The Lady’s Magazine, or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex; Appropriated Solely to their Use and Amusement. Vol. 47. January to December 1816

 

 

A Recipe for taking off the disagreeable taste of turnips from cow milk

Take two ounces of salt-petre, and pour upon it into a bottle for use.  As soon as you have milked, take a common-sized tea-cup full of the liquor, and put it into ten or twelve quarts of new milk, when quite warm, and it will take off the taste of the turnips entirely both in milk and bitter.

 

Nothing can be more wholesome than salt-petre, as it is in daily use in all kinds of meat

Taken from The Gentleman’s Magazine: and historical chronicle September 1787

 

NB I don’t recommend this recipe and have only reproduced it out of interest!

French way of making fine Lace or Linen

Take a gallon of furze blossoms and burn them to ashes, then boil them in six quarts of soft water; this, when fine, you are to use in washing with your suds, as occasion requires, and you will have the linen etc not only exceeding white, but it is done with half the soap and little trouble.

 

Taken from British Lady's Magazine, April 1818