Last month I was a guest of the Caerleon Antique Society near Newport to address the members on the subject of Capodimonte. Hence I set off with Diana on the journey from Blackpool with a few samples of important pieces
in the large boot of the BMW and headed for Caerleon Town Hall in the middle of this ancient Roman town where they boast an Antique Society of nigh on 100 members, mostly senior citizens as one would expect.
One of our complaints nowadays is that the younger generation have no interest in ornaments or anything which might gather dust in a cabinet. The good side to this state of affairs is that many good pieces which are inherited by the next generation are grossly undervalued and can be picked up at silly prices by those of us with a little awareness of the works of the great master especially Galli, Cappe’ and Merli.
The day, 15th March 2011, was a splendid one weather wise. It stayed really mild till late on and afforded us, with our beloved Yorkie, Axl, to enjoy the sites of Caerleon prior to the talk. Little did we know that it would be Axl’s
last trip because he was in a total mess, couldn’t eat, couldn’t see, couldn’t hear and we barely got him back to Blackpool without losing him and in fact he expired in Blackpool the day we got back and was just short of his 18th birthday which I am advised is over 100 in dog years. Sad to say we are not contemplating owning a new pet as the little fellow was irreplaceable and saw the three kids through their early years.
Back to the Town Hall. We had displayed our samples on three trestle tables and the talk kicked off at 7.00pm before a large, hushed audience. I was most surprised at the size of the attendance as an equivalent talk in Blackpool would be fortunate to draw a quorum of 10 souls. I was asked to speak for 45 minutes, then there would be a tea break, and raffle draw followed by a further 45 minutes of talk and we all had to be out of the hall by 10 pm.
One nice lady had brought her own piece of Capodimonte, a white cherub of the seasons on a raised pedestal which did not look incongruous amongst the major pieces I had brought down from the showroom.
My talk covered the story of the discovery of the young sculptors in Monza area in the early 1950’s until their demise (Cappe’s being the last in 2008!) My father Simman FeBland had the vision to promote these fine works when nobody in the UK had ever seen their like. It had been a long hard slog to convince buyers that Italian sculptors could produce in porcelain pieces which would not only equal but surpass the figurines made in England by Doulton
Worcester, Beswick and others. I pointed out the vitality, the colour, the originality, the delicacy and the ingenuity of the few pieces I had brought down to Wales. I included pieces by Galli, Merli and Cappe’ plus I showed pictures Of over 60 other major masterpieces which were so popular up to 1977. I described the genesis, the flourishing and the eventual decline in popularity of the art. Prior to the talk, I was fearful that my 10 pages of notes would not fill the one and a half hour allocation. In the end I was unable to cover the whole story before the questions poured in. The Cheats by Merli provided by itself at least 15 minutes of material. This magnificent group of the 4 urchins around a card table, one being tricked, sparked of so many imitators that I had to give it a few extra minutes of erudition seeing as I knew Bruno Merli very well and admired the man with photographic fingers.
Similarly the lives of Galli and Cappe’, with such great contrast in life-style appeared to fascinate the Members present. Most of all, however, they were intrigued how my Dad, a man from a large and impoverished immigrant family had the vision and audacity to launch the art of Capodimonte on the British stage as early as 1952 and it is indeed an honour to keep the art and its heritage going due to fact that the works of the great maestros can be ever reproduced.
To see our Capodimonte pieces in stock click here.