Artists Back to the Future (Devon Art Festival)

Earls of devon in succession

Powderham Castle, 21 – 22 September 2019

“As one of 30 local artists taking part in the exhibition, I was assigned an artifact from Powderham Castle to interpret as a modern-day artist. I was sent a photo of a framed portrait of the 11th Earl of Devon, William Courtney (1807-1888) wearing the uniform of a Colonel of the 1st Devon Yeomanry Regiment.”

I came up with the idea of Russian dolls to demonstrate the linaeage of the Earls of Devon in succession. I produced the XI Earl as the larger doll with the XII Earl as a smaller version inside, (I had no image of him to work from). I wanted to repeat the pattern of the uniform stripes with his unusual facial hair, so used loose brushstrokes. I stood him on a gold plinth, inspired by the gold frame.

Method:

Using white earthenware clay rolled thickly, I shaped the large doll over an original large Russian (Matroyshka) doll using cling film and vaseline. The smaller doll was based on a slab cylinder and shaped from inside. At all stages, I checked the smaller one fit inside the larger one with plenty of room to rattle around.

As I made these in the summer, I had to be careful they didn’t dry out between working on them, by wrapping them in a damp Jay cloth and cling film. Once I achieved a suitable shape, I sliced the dolls in two, under the head and fixed a thin collar to the inside. Drying/fixing cracks continued for a couple of weeks, then sanding with wire wool and fine sandpaper until they were ready to paint with red and gold underglaze paints.

After bisque firing, I dipped them in transparent glaze. Once they came out of the kiln for the second time, I finished the details with red, gold, white and black enamel paint to give a more regal effect and highlight the stripes on his chest.

I am pleased with the finished pieces and I’m inspired to create another set of dolls. I wasn’t confident in reproducing a human portrait identically, so I picked out the features I found attractive – the uniform stripes and the facial hair. I think it looks quite Monty Python-esque!