Toll House

The Toll House by Vivien Greene, wife of Graham Greene, on public
display for the first time

West Dean College,
Near Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0RX

Student conservators at West Dean College have begun conserving The
Toll House created by Vivien Greene (1904 to 2003), a leading
authority on dolls' houses, and wife of English novelist, Graham
Greene.  The dolls house, part of The Edward James Collection and
described as "A Surreal interior, inspired by Monkton House and a
meeting with Edward James", will be on public display for the first
time at the annual West Dean House Opening next month.  Students
across the college's disciplines will be working on the different
elements of the interior and the conservation project will be
displayed for visitors to see how the work will be carried out.

"The project is being completely student-led", says Bronwen Glover,
Books conservation student who prepared the condition report.  "We
visited the Edward James archives, packed up The Toll House to move
it to the books department, developed the conservation report and
liaised across all the conservation departments.  It has been a very
useful collaborative experience working as part of a
multi-discipline conservation team."

The lilliputian house was made and furnished by Vivien Greene
following a chance meeting with Edward James at West Dean in 1972.
Vivien, a keen dolls' house restorer, was staying at the house to
complete an inventory the Nurnberg Dolls House, also part of The
Edward James Collection, when James returned unexpectedly from
Mexico to Monkton House.  When Vivien heard of the sale of the house
in 1986, following James' death in 1984, she was "determined to make
a remembrance" of her visit.

"I have seldom been more entertained, delighted and amused.  The man
has a personal impact quite indescribable (a bon-fire, a
double-bass, a very large bear?) and one I shall never forget and
which I shall always be grateful to have experienced," said Vivien
in a letter written from Grove House, Oxford.

"Vivien Greene was proud that nothing had been bought especially for
this little jeu d'esprit' and the interior was decorated with
materials she had around the house," says Lara Meredith, Graduate
Teaching Assistant, Books Conservation programme.  "It is unusual
for the students to work on modern household materials, such as
double-sided foam, wallpaper and miniature paper pictures and it
will be a quite unique exercise."

Monkton House, built in 1902, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
(1869 - 1944) and sensationally reinterpreted in the surrealist
style by Edward James in the late 1930s.  The Toll House contains
miniature copies of objects, all made by Vivien including a
surrealist painting reminiscent of Magritte's La Reproduction
Interdite, a "lips sofa" and a facsimile of James' bed, which was
modelled on Nelson's funeral car.

One of the few colleges in the world which offers graduate and
postgraduate study in a range of conservation disciplines, West Dean
also offers programmes in Creative Arts.  Qualifications include
Diploma, Postgraduate Diploma, MA and MFA validated by the
University of Sussex.  West Dean offers several scholarships and
bursaries to talented students who would not otherwise be able to
study at the college.

The emphasis for students at West Dean College is time in the
workshops and studios, combined with theoretical and scientific
study.  Advanced hands-on experience is gained by working on unique
and often rare objects from acclaimed collections, often
collaborating across the disciplines.  West Dean graduates are
sought-after and many go on to work in some of the world's finest
institutions, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, National
Maritime Museum, The British Museum and Imperial War Museum.

Funding opportunities and study options are in the digital
prospectus at

    <URL:http://www.westdean.org.uk>


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:42
                 Distributed: Saturday, March 19, 2016
                       Message Id: cdl-29-42-002
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