Our next online talk is on Thursday 4th June where community archeologist Alexis Haslam will be talking about ‘Chapels, charity, controversy and loss’. at Fulham Palace. The talk is free but donations are much appreciated. A combined ticket is available- londonluminaries.com/talk/chapels...

Did you catch our House Manager Ricky Pound at his talk on Chinese porcelain at Marble Hill House last Thursday? If not some of the porcelain he took to illustrate his talk is on display here with us! We are open this bank holiday weekend. FREE entry! FREE kids activity trail! And much much more!

Did you catch our House Manager Ricky Pound at his talk on Chinese porcelain at Marble Hill House last Thursday? If not some of the porcelain he took to illustrate his talk is on display here with us! We are open this bank holiday weekend. FREE entry! FREE kids activity trail! And lots more!

I have now presented public talks in the Upper Tribunal at Chiswick House, the Octagon Room at Orleans House Gallery, the Gallery at Strawberry Hill House and now the Great Room at Marble Hill House. Now that ain’t too shabby! Great audience tonight at Marble Hill House! 👍🏾

I’m looking forward to presenting this evening in the Great Room at Marble Hill House. I will be talking about the BEIC, the fashion for Chinese & Japanese porcelain, its use and display in the home, forms and characteristics. I will also be bringing a few examples from my own collection.

Just your tickets left. Get yours now whilst you still have a chance.

Love this Delft tile, c. 1750. ‘The Beheading of John the Baptist in Prison’. Captures the moment before the platter is handed over to Salome, focusing on the executioner and the aftermath of the act. with the head of John the Baptist presented on a plate. His lifeless body is on the floor (right)

There are still a few tickets left to come and see my talk this Thursday in the Great Room at Marble Hill House. ‘Henrietta Howard & the Collecting of Chinese Porcelain in the 18th Century:Form, Function, Display & Ritual’ Book here- www.ticketsource.com/marble-hill-...

Architectural fragments from the 15th century Church of St Mary the Virgin, Twickenham. The nave of the church collapsed on the night of April 9, 1713. Apart from the church's Kentish ragstone tower, these may be the only extant stones from the exterior of this medieval church.

The lovely front kitchen, Sir John Soane’s Museum

Join Historian & Property Manager Ricky Pound as he talks live in the Great Room at Marble Hill House on Thursday 21st May at 6.30pm. The subject: ‘Henrietta Howard and the Collecting of Chinese Porcelain in the 18th century’ tickets are limited ⬇️ www.ticketsource.com/marble-hill-...

I shall also be bringing a few examples from my own collection.

….. with a little addition from my Kangxi Guanyin. Fills the space on the mantlepiece nicely!

Happy 100th birthday Sir David Attenborough! The highlight of my career in heritage was when I had 45 minutes to guide Sir David around Turner’s House and its exhibition ‘Turner on the Thames’ in 2020. I still have the two letters that he wrote to me. A treasured memory!

There is still time to book for this evening’s online talk which will see two trustees from Pope’s Grotto talking about the recent conservation -and reveal a special surprise! Book here- londonluminaries.com/talk/many-ha...

@alannamactavish.bsky.social could these students have joined Masonic lodges? Several were active at the time. Not sure the age of admiration but 18 or 21. These would certainly have fostered Jacobite sentiment. They also often had ‘educational’ lectures within the lodge.

@alannamactavish.bsky.social great talk tonight. Totally agree about The Aenied as a cover for King James III and VIII. Virgil also links to the Emperor Augustus & Stuart claims of descent. Alexander Pope would have recognised The Aeneid as a metaphor for the Stuarts, as would Lord Burlington

Our next JST #JacobiteStudies Virtual Workshop is coming up this Tues 10 March @ 5pm UKT. We'll be welcoming @stephengriffin33.bsky.social to speak about his forthcoming book on Count Owen O’Rourke, Irish Jacobite diplomatic agent to the Habsburgs and Stuarts. jdb1745.net/events/jstwo...

Some sample slides for my upcoming talk at Marble Hill House. Henrietta Howard & the Collecting of Chinese Porcelain in the 18th Century: Form, Function, Display & Ritual Marble Hill House, Twickenham, TW1 2NL Thursday 21st May 2026 Book your ticket here- www.ticketsource.com/marble-hill-...

I just love this quote about the mighty East India Company. ‘The Company combined the meanness of a pedlar and the profligacy of pirates, wielding a truncheon with one hand and picking a pocket with the other’ Richard Brinsley Sheridan, politician and playwright, 1788

Good 10k Sunday run today. Managed around time 33.28 for the first 5k (after 30 secs deducted for traffic lights). In the last two months I have managed to run around 260 km (161 miles) so happy with that. And may longer continue!

Today’s view from my office window. I never get tired of it.

I have discovered this is an early example of Dagger pattern. Another exactly the same appears in Robert Copeland, ‘Spode’s Willow Pattern and other designs after the Chinese’, page 86, plate 18. On the reverse the blue X mark is also present. Copeland has the date of 1785-95 for the saucer.

What I’m reading at the moment- ‘Empire of Tea : The Asian Leaf that Conquered the World’. Great book!

Loving spending time in Shrewsbury, the town in which I was born.

A statue of the East India Company’s ‘unstable sociopath’ Robert Clive in Shrewsbury. This is the tyrant who stripped parts of India of much of its wealth and gave it to a small group of share holders in Britain. What a c-nt.

One of the best book shops in England. The building dating to around 1575, Welsh Bridge Books and Collectables in Shrewsbury is a revelation. One of the upstairs rooms even has some of the original pargeted decoration in the ceiling!

looking forward to tomorrow where I will be presenting another school assembly to students. If you have a primary school in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and would like a school assembly on the subject of either The Twickenham Museum or Alexander Pope’s Grotto then please let me know.

We love our canine friends but please don't bring them with you when visiting. This is a polite reminder that (with the exception of assistance dogs), dogs are not permitted anywhere on the premises. Our volunteers cannot look after them for you. Thank you for bearing this in mind when you visit.

Good run today, just under 14km. So far this month I have managed to run 152 Km (94 miles) compared to around 115 (78 miles) last month. And long may it continue!

Some of the slides from my PowerPoint added presentation taking place at Henrietta Howard’s Marble Hill House on Thursday 21st May at 6.30pm. Tickets are available here- www.ticketsource.com/marble-hill-...

A bit random, but now it fits again, looking forward to wearing my Biffy Clyro jumper this Christmas! @BiffyClyro

Our next London Luminaries talk takes place on Thursday 7th May and features speakers in discussion from the Pope’s Grotto Preservation Trust. The talk is free but donations wholeheartedly received! Combined ticket available. londonluminaries.com/upcoming-eve...

A Wedgwood cylindrical, pale solid blue jasper salt cellar with white sprigging; guilloche band & floral festoons over vertical ribs. Circa 1790. Lapidary polished interior. Similar examples in the V&A & British Museum. Other decoration included Dancing Hours & Bacchanalian Boys.

The last few days to see the JMW Turner and West London display at the Twickenham Museum. It’s Turnertastic! Free entry! Museum open Friday and Saturday 11-3pm and Sunday 2-4pm. Lots more to see- The Twinings in Twickenham! Chinese and European Ceramics! Professor Cockles! See you soon!

The last part of my new PowerPoint video presentation which I dedicated to Professor James Stevens Curl. youtu.be/RZrjzCI4Gko?...

More talks on our local history courtesy of our partner Marble Hill! www.ticketsource.com/marble-hill-...

See you there!

Me in action talking to visitors at Alexander Pope’s grotto yesterday. Visitor’s enjoyed Pope’s Grotto, St Mary’s Church in Twickenham where Pope is laid to rest & tours of Marble Hill House and grotto. The next event of this kind Monday 27th July. Book here- www.ticketsource.com/popesgrotto?...

My latest contribution to the new French Porcelain Society online newsletter has just appeared. Have a read. I hope you enjoy!

Are you looking for something to do this Easter after the Sunday lunch? Well look no further as we are open! We are free! We are warm and we have brilliant volunteers! Plus children’s activity sheet! Plus Professor Cockles and much more! Open 2-4pm. See you soon!

Good Easter Sunday run today. 12 Kilometres distance, gusty weather but the sun was poking through. Went through Ivy Bridge, centre of Twickenham, Twickenham Green, Kneller Park, Crane Park, Whitton, Murray Park and back home. It’s set me up for the day! :-)

Here is a rare depiction of the rear of Chiswick House with the statues of a wolf and boar stood in position. This probably dates from the end of the 19th/early 20th century. They were moved to the gardens at Chatsworth House in 1893.

Lovely day volunteering at Sir John Soane’s Museum yesterday. Here I am in the front kitchen. Behind me on the first and second shelves are the remains of the Soane’s porcelain service that was made in Jingdezgen, China. in the late 18th century. It is all hand painted. @soanemuseum.bsky.social

Great place to visit over the Easter holiday!

youtu.be/LSHGdql987g?... my latest video and one that I think is my best.

Being uploaded to my You Tube channel tomorrow PM- In the Footsteps of the Emperor Augustus: Emulation, Veneration and a New 'Golden Age' at Lord Burlington's Garden at Chiswick House Never before have the major statues at Chiswick been linked directly to Roman coins featuring the Emperor Augustus

❓ Would you like the chance to join an award-winning heritage charity and collaborate with senior volunteers on governance and strategy? The Trust is seeking to recruit a new Treasurer as our wonderful Robert Youngs steps down after many years of excellent support. Please see photo for more info.

Looking forward to this!