Molley Verney | |
---|---|
Born | 1 January 1675 |
Died | 1 February 1696 21) | (aged
Occupation | Genteel Lady |
Known for | Having the first recorded instance of using Japan as a verb in 1683 |
Spouse | Mr.Kelyng |
Mary Verney (1675 - February 1696) known also as Molly, & Mall Klenyg was a British noblewoman best known for having the first instance of recorded use of the word Japan as a verb in English in 1683. [1] [2] [3]
Verney was born in 1675 to Mary Abell (1641-1715) and Edmund Verney (1636-1688), the granddaughter of Mary Blacknall (1616-1650) and Ralph Verney (1613-1696). She had two brothers, Ralph (d.1686) and Edmund Verney (d.1690) who upon their deaths, made Verney heiress to the West Claydon estate. As early as 1679, the family would spend lavish amounts of money on Verney dressing her in silk frocks. [4]
In 1682 she travelled with her father Edmund Verney to London to be engaged at Gorges School upon her request; Gorges being a boarding school for upper-class women (knocked down in 1762) which stood on the Cheyne Walk; where she took dancing and handcraft lessons run by Josias Priest. [5] In 1688 her father died leaving the family with his debts, which Verney's guardian Ralph Verney (d. 1696) was reticent to pay, and caused a tightening of finances in Molly Verneys household expenses.
By 1690 she had become the heir of the estate due to the fact her mother suffered from Hysteria (most likely what we now refer to as Bipolar disorder or Postnatal depression) and as such became more active in English society as a suitable future marriage partner. The following year she began having an affair with a local cleric who works for her mother Mary. [6] Aghast by the unsuitability of the match, her grandfather Ralph proposed she be engaged to the Gentleman Robert Dormer, the son of a nearby lawyer and Quainton landowner in 1692. However Verney turned down the offer and instead eloped with the son of John Kelyng; another prominent lawyer and landowner; in 1693 and married him in secret, moving in June 1693 to live with John Kelyng's wife in 'Fisher Street in Red Lion square'.
From 1694 to 1696 she had to persuade the Verney family to agree to the marriage, primarily that of her guardian now Baronet Ralph Verney. With the help of the Stewkely family (her Aunt Gardina and first cousin Cary Stewkeley) who argued to the Baronet that Verney would not simply marry for financial gain, Verney did eventually receive permission from the Baronet to marry, but she would not inherit her family estate, which instead went to the Abell family. She gave birth but died of childbirth complications in February 1696, and her infant daughter Mary also died 3 months later. [4]
Japanning first began in Europe in 1610 in the Netherlands, and due to England's close trade relations would likely have traded objects which employed lacquerware. Certainly by 1679 it had become a trade among English tradesmen working for the English landed gentry. Due to the limited understanding of Asian cartography in the 17th century, China was often conflated with Japan and Indian artforms, often producing fantastical as well as grounded images of the Indian taste, which is often academically referred to as Chinoiserie. [7] Most of these images came from travel accounts written by European travellers or from imported EIC goods through their warehouse and a number of private merchants. A number of travellers accounts also appeared such as Marco Polo (1254-1324) and Engelbert Kaempfer (1651 -1716) which helped increased knowledge of Asian countries though maps, and illustrated depictions of travellers accounts.
Women were not the primary audience for Japanning in the 17th century, but a rising number of women spending increasing time in the domestic sphere were introduced by writers like Hannah Woolley in 1675 who advocated for women to '"adorn" rooms with decorative "fancies"'. [8] When Verney began learning to Jappan in 1683 when her father 'Mun' believed the craft made her more suitable to merit her being placed in 'the household of some lady of quality - [having Japanning help with] paying her board and wages'. [9] To learn the craft, Edmund Verney paid 40 shillings for Verney to learn the handicraft in London.
'I find you have a desire to learn Jappan, as you call it, and I approve it; and so I shall of any thing that is good and virtuous [. . .] for I admire all accomplishments that will render you considerable and lovely in the sight of God and man' - Edmund Verney to Molly Verney 1683
Kakiemon porcelain and Lacquer in particular were particularly rare, and so home-made alternatives were often purchased and offered by amateurs and cabinet makers as well. [10] In 1689 the Duke of Hamilton reported to his wife that 'for my part I think a counterfeit one looks as well ... so let me know if you will take such a one'. [11] 'Lac' as it was known in the period, was hard to come by, and the rarity drove up the cost of individual items of lacquerware, so that it became a side trade for some cabinetmakers and upholsterers to produce these pieces of Japanned furniture. Japanese lacquer is a lengthy skilled process made using the sap of the Toxicodendron vernicifluum, and as this resource did not grow in Europe, plus the demand from patrons, furniture makers began to produce imitation ebonized lacquers from spirit varnish and oil resins and became known as 'japanning'. [11] The trend was bolstered by Mary II furing her reign due to her porcelain collection formed in 1689-1694 at Hampton Court Palace which drew from fashionable Netherlands interior designs. By 1710 Japanning had been established as a womanly pursuit, and was drawn upon by those such as Alexander Pope in a nod to a female audience. [7]
Throughout the period of 1680-1760 it was considered a 'genteel' occupation like for example needlework, with application to wooden surfaces using decorative patterning being seen as a respectable hobby for and with young women. [12] A number of instruction manuals were published between 1697 and 1766 instructing young women how to 'Jappan' established the art as one for women. [13] These design and pattern books often were designed for amateurs, so they provided fantastical copy and paste motifs for new Japanners to varnish and 'paint' or apply these images to flat objects or spaces, and became popular as pictorial books in their own right for their Oriental images. These mock lacquer techniques were often suggested to be applied to fabrics, but also become incredibly popular by the 18th century and are found on cabinets, tea-trays, powderboxes, drawers, etc. Some of these forms went so far from the source material, they can said to be an early form of Japonaiserie. Certain motifs included landskips with woods, cottages, rivers, trees, hills, [the] sun, moon [&] stars'. [14]
1613 (MDCXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1613th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 613th year of the 2nd millennium, the 13th year of the 17th century, and the 4th year of the 1610s decade. As of the start of 1613, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity.
Claydon House is a country house in the Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England, near the village of Middle Claydon. It was built between 1757 and 1771 and is now owned by the National Trust.
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Before lacquering, the surface is sometimes painted with pictures, inlaid with shell and other materials, or carved. The lacquer can be dusted with gold or silver and given further decorative treatments.
Chinoiserie is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other East Asian artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, literature, theatre, and music. The aesthetic of chinoiserie has been expressed in different ways depending on the region. It is related to the broader current of Orientalism, which studied Far East cultures from a historical, philological, anthropological, philosophical, and religious point of view. First appearing in the 17th century, this trend was popularized in the 18th century due to the rise in trade with China and the rest of East Asia.
Japanning is a type of finish that originated as a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork. It was first used on furniture, but was later much used on small items in metal. The word originated in the 17th century. American work, with the exception of the carriage and early automobile industries, is more often called toleware.
Sir Edmund Verney was an English politician, soldier and favourite of King Charles I. At the outbreak of the English Civil War he supported the Royalist cause and was killed at the Battle of Edgehill.
The Verney family purchased the manor of Middle Claydon in Buckinghamshire, England, in the 1460s and still resides there today at the manor house known as Claydon House. This family had been seated previously at Fleetmarston in Buckinghamshire then at Pendley in Hertfordshire. It is not to be confused with the unrelated but also ancient and prominent Verney family of Compton Verney in Warwickshire.
Earl Verney, in the Province of Leinster, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. Sir Ralph Verney sat as a member of parliament for Aylesbury, for Great Bedwyn and for Buckingham. In 1661 he was created a Baronet, of Middle Claydon in the County of Buckingham, in the Baronetage of England. His son Sir John Verney, Bt, was a member of parliament for Buckinghamshire and for Amersham. In 1703, he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Verney of Belturbet, in the County of Cavan, and Viscount Fermanagh. His son, the second Viscount, represented Amersham and Wendover in Parliament. In 1742 he was created Earl Verney, in the Province of Leinster, in the Peerage of Ireland. However, all titles became extinct on the death of his son, the second Earl, in 1791.
Sir Hugh Acland, 5th Baronet was an English Member of Parliament, from a family of Devonshire gentry. He obtained a confirmation of the family baronetcy in 1678, and served as a Member of Parliament for two boroughs in Devon in 1679 and from 1685 to 1687. Never very active in national politics, he was one of the many Tories estranged by James II's pro-Catholicism, but remained a Tory after the Glorious Revolution. He continued to hold local office in Devon off and on until his death in 1714, when he was succeeded by his grandson.
Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Baronet DL, JP was an English baronet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1690.
John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh, known as Sir John Verney, 2nd Baronet, between 1696 and 1703, was an English peer, merchant and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1710 to 1717.
Lacquerware is a Japanese craft with a wide range of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in urushi-e, prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddha statues to bento boxes for food.
Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Baronet of Middleton Hall and Whalley Abbey, Lancashire, was an English landowner and politician who represented Liverpool (1677–79) and Lancashire (1694–98) as a Member of Parliament.
Sir William Courtenay, 1st Baronet was an English politician.
John Evelyn the younger (1655–1699) was an English translator.
William Stanton (1639–1705) was an English mason and sculptor. He is known particularly for monumental masonry. He is often ferred to as Stanton of Holborn.
Mary Verney was the wife of Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Baronet, of Middle Claydon DL, JP (1613–1696), an English baronet and politician who sat in the House of Commons.
Sir Edward Phelips Jr. esq of Montacute was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1661 and 1699.
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