A PAIR OF PAINTED FEATHER COLLAGES 18TH CENTURYEach depicting a basket of flowers, in a mahogany frame52cm x 40cmProvenance:Created by Susanna Jennens (1688-1760)Literature:F. Bamford, 'Weston Hall, Northamptonshire - I: The Home of Sir Sacheverell and Lady Sitwell', Country Life, 22 January 1976, p. 177, fig. 8.Catalogue Note:This pair of painted feather collages is characteristic of the superb craftsmanship of the French-born Nicholas Le Normand (d. 1736), described in 1732 as 'the ingenious Mr Le Normond' [sic], who sold his featherwork pictures through the likes of Mr. Bertrand's Toyshop at Terrace Walk in Bath (V. Brett, 'Nicholas Le Normand's Featherwork', Furniture History Society Newsletter, February 2014, p. 1). Le Normand was celebrated for having sold feather bed hangings to Augustus the Strong, King of Poland, subsequently displayed at the Japanisches Palais in Dresden. An account of this extraordinary bed was given in Le Nouveau Mercure in March 1720, and describes Le Normand's workshop as being in Putney in South West London, and that his London agents were Bosquet & Clerembault (ibid., p. 4). The 'retailer' Mr. Bertrand's Toyshop, selling a wide-ranging stock of trinkets such as gold boxes, watches, seals and more, was part of an intricate familial network of 'toyshop' owners including the Charing Cross shop of Paul Daniel Chenevix, the most fashionable of all, 'patronised and written about by the cream of the aristocracy' (ibid., p. 6). Le Normand was not alone in producing featherwork, in April 1735, the Mercure de France published an article in which a 'Master Levet', a pupil of Le Normand, is discussed. The article goes on to describe the technique, albeit in a very general manner: [The artworks] 'are made in a type of feather material and are neither sown nor stuck but woven on the loom which creates a sort of Tapestry [Cloth], which is not thicker and is as soft as Damask and as strong in order to last; with the advantage that the dust never settles on it, that it always keeps its lustre and its strong bright colours; as only real feathers are used with no additional colouring and the best and most appropriate are only chosen (ibid., p. 8). Mention was made of Mr. Levet having produced a featherwork fire screen of a vase of flowers for the 4th Duke of Leeds. This craft appears to have been taken up by educated women and their female attendants; in 1791, Elizabeth Montagu assisted by a Mrs Pendarves and a Betty Tull completed the feather room at Montagu House, London, an undertaking, which Mrs Montagu first discussed in correspondence in 1737 (ibid., p. 9). The fashion for featherwork continued into the 19th century; in volume II of Cassell's Household Guide (1875), an article deals with the craft of making feather flowers as a winter pastime for ladies.