Forged by Circumstance
Margaret Johnson
Category
Glass
Date
2011 - 2012
Materials
Measurements
580 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Bude
Order this imageCollection
Cotehele, Cornwall
NT 348918
Summary
Glass platter made by Margaret Johnson. Commissioned for Cotehele's 2012 exhibition, 'Life in the Past Lane: The People of Cotehele'. Margaret's platter depicts a stylised portrait of Piers, 5th Earl of Mount Edgcumbe. Fused in the glass behind is a faded sepia photograph of Edith, Piers's wife, and an image of Mount Edgcumbe House engulfed in flames. Margaret described her inspiration: "Piers Alexander struck me as a melancholy and elusive person whose life was marked by unhappy events. The early death of his mother and also his wife, failure to produce an heir, then the wartime destruction of his family home during the Plymouth blitz –all must have had a desolating effect on him. From archive photographs and the painting of him that hangs at the now-restored Mount Edgcumbe, Piers appears always as a closed book with a mask-like visage – cold and inexpressive. I have chosen to try and capture the feeling that this evokes by creating another portrait – one with a metallic finish that depicts him formally, as on a coin – no expression, no emotion. In doing so, I felt a strong sense of reflection and of lost love and disintegration – feelings impossible to show on such a controlled face. In homage to this sense of nostalgia I chose to use sepia tones like old photographs, combined with the dark greys and greens of an unhappy soul. Setting one image behind the other, behind and to the side of Piers can be seen the fading profile of his lost wife. Behind that, the burnt-out remains of Mount Edgcumbe."
Makers and roles
Margaret Johnson, artist