Urn with integral, knopped cover, on a stand with four legs joined by a low stretcher, the whole covered all over with polychrome beadwork on a wooden core

Ornamental urn with integral flame-knopped cover on a four-legged tall stand, the legs scrolling outwards at the base and joined by a low stretcher panel; the whole covered in with glass beads set in composition on a core of wood, highlighed with plaques of enamel, mother-of-pearl, mussel shell and cut and coloured glass and set with gilded lead mounts. The main ground colour is blue but the legs also show sides with white grounds and backs set with red beads.

The urn is square in plan, with canted corners and is made in one piece with a concave cover that rises to a flame-form finial. The run is covered all over in glass beads of different sizes and in a variety of colours (a few pained porcelain beads are also used). The socle is surrounded at the base with a number of shallow bands of formal ornament. Above these, the main panels show vases or baskets of flowers, the main body of these made of hardstone plaques (carnelian and other stones) or, in one case, of a small ename plaque (probably South German, early 18th century), painted with a pair of lovers. The flowers in the containers are composed of engraved mother-of-pearl plaques, hardstone cabochons and slips of mica; the stems and leaves are worked in beads. The narrow corner panels of the socle show beadwork vases or cornucopia set against mother-of-pearl. On the body of the vase the main panels show a formal garden scene, two landscapes and one basket of flowers, worked in similar materials. Highlights on each panel are in mother-of-pearl, and include a swan and a peacock. The relative size of such elements is variable. A gilded lead mount cast with rococo motifs surmounts the body of the urn. The cover shows a lower edges of beadwork 'gadrooning', with, above, in the main panels, vases and baskets of flowers in the same assortment of materials. Gilt metal mounts decorate the flame-shaped finial, which is covered with red beads.

The stand, to which the urn is now attached, is similarly decorated. The four legs, which scroll outward just above the low stretcher panel, are rectangular in section, with rounded outer faces. These faces are set with scrolls and flower-heads in beading, the flowers centred with hardstones. The sides of the legs show smaller flowers on a white ground. At foot level the sides show parrots and other decorative birds in beading, above the lowest foot mount, of gilt-metal, which surrounds each foot. The inside of the legs are set with red bugle beads in a chevron pattern. The top of the stand is shaped with an overhanging cornice and stepped mouldings, one in gilt-wood. These provide a base for the vase. Two gilt-lead putti at the top of each leg hold floral swags which drape between the legs. These are built up on a core of wood and hang from small iron rods, which pass through two collars on the back of the swag and are probably screwed into the underside of the top. The lower stretcher, which is presumably jointed to the legs with four bridle joints, appears to be of walnut. It is carved with rococo shellwork and formal fan motifs in the manner of designs by Jean Berain the Elder (1637-1711) or the Younger (1678-1726) and centres on a square boss, carved with formal foliage. The carved motifs are gilded directly onto the wood, the interstices set with beadwork, largely green. The edges of the stretcher panels are set with vertical mounts in gilded lead, cast with larger-scale rococo ornament than elsewhere on the piece.

Given by Lt. Col. J. N. Horlick OBE, MC

The earlier history of the stand is unknown, but stylistically it is clearly a product of the factory set up in about 1755 by Johann Michael van Selow ( in Brunswick, under the patronage of Duke Carl I of Brunswick, who also set up the Fürstenberg porcelain factory and encouraged the development of an institute that later became the University of Brunswick.

The urn was in the collections of Sir James Horlick (1844-1921), a pharmacist and businessman who was created baronet in July 1914. James Horlick was born in England and emigrated to the USA in 1869 with his brother William. Together they set up the Horlick Food Company in 1875 and patented a malted milk drink in 1883, which made their fortune. James returned to England in 1890, where he became a serious collector of English furniture. His main house was Cowley Manor, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The urn passed by descent to his second son, Lt. Col. James Nockells Horlick OBE, MC of The Paddocks, Sunninghill, Berkshire. (see Registered file 4597/36). In 1958 he inherited the family title, as the 4th baronet. The main collection passed, with the title, to his elder brother. It may have been that this piece was always a slightly unusual piece within the collection, and was bequeathed separately on that account. The donor noted in a letter dated 29 July 1936 that 'I cannot trace from where he [his father] bought it'. He believed it had been in his father's collections since about 1912.

A letter from H. Clifford Smith to the dealer F.C. Harper, 41 Victoria Road, Kensington, W.8, written on the off-chance that he had sold the urn to Sir James, elicited the information that he had indeed done so and that it came from Ireland, 'from a house of no importance'.

The urn was shown in the V&A 'Exhibition of the Brunswick Art Treasures', at the Museum in 1952 and is shown in photographs of the show.

Beadwork was made in a number of European cities but in the middle of the 18th century Brunswick (Braunschweig) developed a speciality in the use of beadwork for furniture. Michael van Selow was first recorded as a craftsman resident in Brunswick in 1755, where he was listed as 'N.N. [sic] van Selow - a shell worker'. He soon came under the protection of Duke Carl I and in July 1756 the city of Brunswick was instructed to lend the manufacturer Johann Michael van Selow 400 Reichsthaler at the usual rates, his goods to be used as collateral. In February 1756, at the time of the city fair, an advertisement in the Braunschweiger Auseiger, described the several sorts of large and small tables in corallen (lit. 'coral' but probably meaning beadwork) which were for sale. They were described as a 'new discovery' and were said to be as hard as stone.

Nothing is known about van Selow although it is thought that he may have come from The Netherlands, as, at one time, he is known to have owed money to a certain Anton Wagenere in Amsterdam and in 1763 he complained to the Duke that he was being required to pay dues for which he was not liable. His manufactory unfortunately did not flourish. He apparently used 'free masters' (not members of the joiners guild) to make the bases for the table-tops and other pieces. Some of these workers appear to have been soldiers made jobless after the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763. In order that they should not become a charge on the state, they were allowed to work despite not having served the usual apprenticeships. This, of course, led to difficulties with local craftsmen and in the 1760s the Duke ordered van Selow to teach the trade to native craftsmen, including the artist Conrad Ludolph Pfeiffer, who may have produced some of the designs. Van Selow was also bound to leave in Brunswick his tools if he left the city. A lottery of goods from the manufactory in 1765 failed to help its finances and in 1767 the direction of the factory was taken over by Thiele Heinrich Eggeling, one of the 'free masters'. Even this could not help the factory, which finally closed down in 1772.

The factory produced a variety of products. A decorative vase on stand, similar in shape to this one, is in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight (inv. no. LL 4267) and a curtain pelmet in the same technique is in the collection of the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle (inv. no. FW 420). Larger pieces, such as a bureau, are known, but by far the largest production of the factory was of coffee-table tops, usually oval in shape, with serpentine outlines and set with beads showing images of formal gardens. Many of these survive, testament to the large production of them. Small items in tinplate, such as tea caddies were also covered in the beadwork. Beadwork table tops with bases of very different forms survive, suggesting that they were exported to other areas of Europe and there given locally made bases. The museum at Brunswick holds the largest collection of beadwork but others are in the museums in Cologne and Halle

Sometimes the beads were set on tinplate or pottery but most pieces had a wooden frame (often not very well made). The designs were drawn onto cardboard and were presumably traced onto the frame, allowing the areas to be covered with a composition material coloured to match the main colour of different parts of the design. The factory workers strung the beads on thread and laid them out onto the cardboard designs. They then cut the strings to size and laid them into the still-soft composition. This stringing of the beads helped to control them and allowed the 'drawing' of the design to be smoother. Workers added extra details in the form of mother-of-pearl or of large pieces of coloured glass imitating semi-precious stones. The composition dried to a stone-like hardness. Though the pieces were largely decorative, movement of the wooden cores (which were not of high quality work) has caused cracking in many pieces. The beads, however, retain their original brilliant colour.

At about the same time in Sweden, table tops for use for tea- or coffee-tables were made in tin-glazed earthenware. Like the beadwork tops, these were colourful and resisted spills.

Literature on the factory:

F. Furse, 'Braunschweiger Tische' , Der Cicerone, 13 (1909), pp. 409-415

G.E. Pazaurek, Glasperlen und Perlen-Arbeiten in Alter und Neun Zeit. Darmstadt: Verlags Anstalt Alexander Koch, 1911

B. Bilzer, Führer durch de Schausammlung Perlmosaiken von J.M. van Selow. Brunswick: Städtischen Museum, 1969

H. Kreisel, Die Kunst des Deutschen Möbels. Munich: Verlag C.H. Beck, 1970, pp. 273-274 and figs. 881-882.

This colourful beadwork ornament comes from Germany. It was made in a factory in Brunswick that was active from about 1755 to 1772 and produced furniture and small decorative objects. Sometimes the beads were set on tinplate or pottery but most pieces had a wooden frame. The designs were drawn out on cardboard and presumably traced onto the carcase of the piece to be decorated. The soft, plaster-like composition was then applied to the piece, coloured in different areas to match the ground colour of the beadwork. The factory workers strung the beads on linen thread and laid them out on the cardboard patterns, cutting the strings to size before laying them onto the soft composition. They added extra details in the form of mother-of-pearl or of large pieces of coloured glass imitating precious stones, or enamel plaques. The composition dried to a very hard and durable finish. This kind of beadwork was highly fragile because of the movement in the wooden frame over time, but because glass does not fade the pieces have kept their original vibrant colours. Most beadwork pieces are flat, so this three-dimensional piece is very rare. Table tops were the most popular items.

W.45:1-1936