Sunday 24 July 2016

A jewel in our city

Before I start I do have to warn you there are an awful lot of photos in this post but do click on them to get a closer look if you adore decorative arts as I do.......and these are not your average pieces! Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the brand new David Roche Foundation Museum with a visitor from Victoria - Annette and her gorgeous daughter. Annette was in a class with me some months back and when she told me she was coming to Adelaide this was a must (Carrick Hill was closed!)......
 The museum has only been open a few weeks and one must pre-book a session online and you will see why shortly!  As an introduction I would like to quote from David Roche in his forward of a catalogue from an exhibition the Art Gallery of South Australia held some years back.......

"I attended my first dog show at the age of nine, and owned my first antique at seventeen. I have been very fortunate throughout my life to be able to indulge in my two great passions: dogs and antiques. Both have taken me around the world many times and have introduced me to many and varied people who have added colour to my life (he especially mentions Carlton Hobbs who changed his life).  Through my travels I have come to realise that my two great passions have much in common. The 'eye' that is required to be a top dog judge can be equally applied to antiques. With the eye comes the ability to assess things quickly and easily." 

Before David died in 2013 he established the foundation with his express wish that his home and a new adjoining museum be available for the public to view. He specified that there were to be no roped off areas and no labels on items in the house - it was to be as it was when he lived in it. What a wonderfully generous man and what an amazing collection and all here in Adelaide where I live. First some external views of David's home and the new adjoining museum.............













 As you enter you are served plunger coffee or tea and homemade biscuits. Then one takes a seat to watch a short film amongst marble statues one of them being a bust of King George IV attributed to Samuel Joseph c.1830......and I was sitting close to David's walking stick collection with most handles being an animal.........

The museum has several rooms and one begins to get a sense of what a grand collector he was............



 This micro mosaic Bacchante table c.1810 is attributed to Clemente Ciuli from Italy and the base from France.......



 In the corner behind the chair is a lamp from a Venetian gondola because David just had to have one...........
 The cupboards and cabinets were full of Meissen, Chelsea and many other precious pieces. Here a Chelsea piece 'The Music Lesson' c.1760.........

 A Meissen dish from the Swan service c.1738 and a French clock c.1750.....
 One room was devoted to David's love of dogs and it was extra special having the Senior Curator Robert Reason explain it all. I have known Robert for several years in his previous position of Decorative Arts Curator at the Art Gallery......what a job he has now! The painting he is pointing to is of a Papillon by Jakob Bogdany c.1710........
 As you leave these rooms you pass by the courtyard back into the house.........

 Here the Russian room full of malachite and gilded bronze pieces.........
 This is all in David's home and as he lived....truly spectacular........
 David's bedroom and what grandeur to wake up to each morning.........
 In the cabinets were more Meissen, Faberge, Coalport, Derby and much more and below a pair of Gardner porcelain plates from the Russian Empire......





In the bedroom were also a pair of gorgeous Chippendale chairs c.1810 either side of a Carl Scheeche games table c.1835.....
This Imperial hand seal belonged to the Russian Emperor Alexander I c.1825.......


Up high some very large pieces of Wedgwood and Bentley c.1769-80 
Another micro mosaic table.......
A walk down the hallway and into the room where David spent his evenings and surrounded by an enormous collection of Staffordshire ceramics most of them animals.......





Another special room and a Louis Moinet Urn clock c.1810.......
These chairs are extra special and are attributed to Giacomo Quarenghi c.1790 and there is one other of the same design in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.....and here in Adelaide stands two!.........





This room was full of military antiques and included this John Broadwood and Sons pianoforte c.1803 of rosewood, brass and ivory and ebony.....(the Victoria and Albert  Museum has one too)......
Thomas Hope fire screens c.1807......these would protect one's face from the fireplace.......
Even the kitchen was full of delights.........

I especially look forward to returning and seeing more of these cross stitch samplers and stump work pieces.......




There are over 3,000 items in the collection and I think if I visited every week for a year I still wouldn't see it all! What an incredibly generous man to plan all this before he died and I certainly look forward to many more visits. (And thanks Annette for sharing this first extraordinary visit with me!)

9 comments:

  1. As pretty as everything is I can't imagine living with all of this every day - basically living in a museum - sure wouldn't want to have been in charge of cleaning!! How upsetting it would be to bump into a table and knock something off. But to have it all shared know and open for all to see is a wonderful thing. Must have been a very, very wealthy person. Glad you had a good visit with your friends.

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  2. How wonderful to be able to collect the things you love and live surrounded by them. Everything is organized and displayed so nicely. Thank you for sharing so many pictures so that we can share in of the beauty of Mr. Roche's home.

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  3. Wow, so many lovely items in one place. You will go many times I bet and see something different everytime. Thanks for letting us in on this great place.

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  4. It is so full of amazing things-sensory overload. It would make you want to go back over and over again. Thank you for sharing so generously as always.XX

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  5. What an incredible collection, it alone would be worth visiting Adelaide to visit. I have been enjoying your blogs being emailed to me, but the downside is that unless visiting the website I cannot comment. Hope you have a lovely trip to Beatrix Potter land.

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  6. Wow - what a gem, and what a generous man to have left all those treasures to the public. There must be so much to see in the collection. I've only been to Adelaide once, back in 1994 when the F1 Grand Prix was still held in Adelaide. We went on a tour specially to see the car races, but we did also do a side trip out to Handorf and the Barossa Valley, and went to the beach at Glenelg. I probably need to visit again and see the culture this time.

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  7. What an amazing collection, just stunning. You could be in London seeing a collection such as this. Wow wow!

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  8. Goodness, cliche as it is, what a feast for the eyes! Each room/item/ more glorious than the one before. You would have to pack a picnic and plan a very long stay there to take it all in. I am curious about the window fabric...what would a collector such as this choose.
    What a gift he had as a collector and what a gift he has now given to the public.

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    1. I don't seen to be able to find your email address Jocelyn so hope you get my response this way! Our national Woman's weekly just had a story about the collection and commented that it is worth 80 million Australian dollars! I will enjoy it for many more visits. Hope your house move is settling x

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