Stowe Twelve Days of Christmas 2019 - celebrating Christmas the Georgian way - National Trust
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Stowe
Twelve Days of Christmas 2019 – celebrating Christmas the
Georgian way
Artist brief
Author: Anne French
Date: May 2019
Team/Project: Transformation Project
Visitor Experience
Volunteering & Participation
Overview
The National Trust at Stowe is seeking a socially engaged creative practitioner who is comfortable
working with foliage and in 3D to support its 2019 Christmas offer with the creation of a series of
installations in the gardens and temples. The project will involve working with our gardens and park
team and running workshops for members of the public and community groups.
About Stowe
Stowe is a 250 acre landscape garden outside the town of Buckingham. Commissioned by Lord
Cobham, it is now known as the birthplace of the English Landscape Garden movement. The most
prestigious designers, gardeners and architects of the eighteenth century, including William Kent,
Charles Bridgeman, and Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown all worked at Stowe. The New Inn, now our
visitor centre, was built by Lord Cobham in 1717 to welcome visitors to Stowe, a very early tourist
attraction.
Stowe’s spirit of place
“Gardening on the grandest scale”
Stowe is truly a garden of international significance where the art form of landscape gardening was
pioneered and developed. Originally created in the eighteenth century as a consequence of wealth
and privilege, full of meaning and shaped by political rivalries and influence, its intriguing history is
interwoven with stories of its creation, extravagance, revival and restoration. Considered to be the
epitome of good taste, Stowe inspired the foremost innovative, intellectual and creative minds of
the time, indeed the ‘gardening glitterati’. As one of the earliest tourist attractions Stowe became a
cultural point of reference commanding much attention and visitors today continue to walk in the
footsteps of the many early tourists who stayed at New Inn to marvel at the wonder of this
monumental landscape.
Lord Cobham and Earl Temple’s gardens were designed to make a statement. With Bridgeman’s
early layout, Kent’s Rococo scenery and majestic architectural features and with the Grecian Valley
amongst Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’s most influential pieces of work; Stowe today provides a
fascinating combination that can be found in no other single place.
There are many different layers of Stowe to unwrap from being overwhelmed by its awe inspiring
splendour and scale to delving into the intriguing journey of its history, its meaning and the people
who have influenced and shaped this grandest of gardens.Twelve Days of Christmas: purpose and objectives
The Twelve Days of Christmas will comprise 12 new art installations inspired by Christmas in England
in the eighteenth century.
In keeping with the historical context we expect foliage and greenery to be the basis of the
commissioned artwork and for this project we are therefore seeking a creative practitioner who is
comfortable working in 3D and with foliage.
An integral part of our overall Christmas programme at Stowe, The Twelve Days of Christmas will
have two main components.
1. A major installation in the Temple of Concord and Victory in the Grecian Valley
This will be the highlight of the Christmas offer and will attract half the budget for the commission.
Created by the commissioned creative practitioner in collaboration with the Stowe gardens team,
this installation will be located in the Temple of Concord and Victory, a building which was named to
celebrate British success in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and was possibly used as a banqueting
hall.
The installation will need to last for the whole period of the Stowe Christmas offer (1 December to
5 January) or be refreshed by the creative practitioner during this time.
The guiding aesthetic principles are warmth, greenery and light - three enduring features of
Christmas celebrations in the northern European countries.
Lighting should be integrated into the display.
The artwork should reflect themes of feasting and celebration, in keeping with the spirit of
Christmas and the probable design of the Temple of Concord and Victory as a banqueting
hall.
Greenery should reflect the evergreens which would have been available in the landscape at
Stowe in the eighteenth century and the foliage which is currently available in the landscape.
Support will be available from the Gardens and Estate department.
Another source of inspiration might be the magnificent floral centrepieces which often
decorated elite interiors in the eighteenth century and which included both native seasonal
plants and exotic varieties cultivated under glass.
The creative practitioner will work with our garden and parks team to support the
development of their ideas and involve them in the creation of the installation.
Stowe is a Grade I listed landscape which the National Trust has a duty to care and conserve.
The chosen creative practitioner will therefore be supported by the team at Stowe, including
conservators, curators and gardeners, to ensure that the artwork in the Temple of Concord
and Victory meets the conservation needs of the gardens and temples and retains relevance
to Stowe’s unique spirit of place.
2. Eleven smaller installations in the gardens
These artworks will act as stepping stones guiding visitors towards the climax of the installation at
the Temple of Concord and Victory. They will be created by Stowe volunteers, local community
groups and other partners, but with the support and advice of the commissioned creative
practitioner and in line with a set of design principles for all eleven stations across the landscape
garden that will be agreed between the artist, the Visitor Experience Manager and Creative Project
Manager at the start of the commission.
Inspiration could be taken from Christmas traditions recorded in the eighteenth century. In the eighteenth century, Christmas was celebrated over twelve days, from 25 December
until 5 (or sometimes 6) January.
Wealthy or elite people may have distributed gifts of money and food to the poor and old of
their parish.
Workers or tradesmen may receive Christmas ‘boxes’ (small sums of money) from their
employers or patrons.
Churches may have lit their largest, brightest candles.
Carol singers may have been given tips.
Evergreens and other foliage would have been brought inside the house as decoration,
especially holly and mistletoe.
A twelfth night cake may have been made an eaten.
An overall feeling of merriment.
It was during the eighteenth century that Stowe was at its most significant and while there is less
information available about Christmas during this period than for, say, the Victorian era, there is
some historical evidence that can be taken into account.
Household records from the period show an increase in food and drink purchases during the
periods, indicating a preoccupation with feasting.
We have engravings which show interior scenes at Christmas which share some common
features:
- candlelight
- roaring fires in the hearth
- mantel piece decorated with foliage
- ornaments decorated with greenery e.g. wooden heart
- mistletoe hanging from ceilings
- people engaged in various merriments e.g. kissing under the mistletoe, drinking punch,
exchanging secret love letters
- seasonal kitchenware like chestnut roasters and nutmeg graters
We have a letter dated 25 December 1768 Letter from Earl Temple to the Countess of
Chatham, which describes how his Christmas visit to Stowe acted as a powerful tonic for him
in spite of the bad weather.
Xmass Day 1768
... at the sight of Stowe my cold & all remains of it instantly vanished; I have been enjoying with a
true delight the lovely days we have had. The wind is now turned from S. East to S. West; Cold & I
fear rain or Snow. The Country infinitely drier than I could have conceived; There having been no
Frosts to make the Turf rotten...
We have evidence of the Christmas bonuses received by staff working on the estate during
the 18th Century.
Many of the references to Christmas found in the Stowe archives relate to Christmas as a
Quarter Day. Quarter Days are ‘each of the four days fixed by custom as marking off the
quarters of the year, on which some tenancies begin and end, the payment of rent and other
quarterly charges fall due, and on which quarterly meetings were formerly often held. In
England and Ireland the quarter days are traditionally Lady Day (March 25), Midsummer Day
(June 24), Michaelmas (September 29), and Christmas (December 25).’ (Oxford English
Dictionary). As such Christmas, in addition to being a celebration, was an important date in
the financial and administrative year.From the 1720 Stowe accounts
21 Oct 1720
Recd of W'm Jacob one hundred and fifty pounds for one quarter and half due and ending att
Christmas Last' - £150
Recd by me
A Cobham
We will be able to share a full curatorial research document with the selected creative
practitioner.
December workshops
We would like to further enhance our Christmas offer with a series of creative creative practitioner-
led workshops in December:
up to four workshops with community groups
up to four ticketed workshops with members of the public
Taking inspiration from the artwork they see in the gardens, workshop participants will use seasonal
greenery to make their own creations, with guidance from the creative practitioner. For this reason
we are inviting proposals from creative practioners with experience in socially engaged practice.
The workshops will take place in December and the outputs from the workshops will need to last
until 6 January. We expect the workshops to be supported by Stowe volunteers who will learn the
skills required to run future workshops and refresh any aspect of the displays that do not last for the
whole period.
Audiences
The target audience for this project is very broad, as the focus will be on celebration and coming
together. Ideally it should appeal to all our visitors, whether families, groups of friends or couples,
providing some degree of intellectual stimulation for the curious without overwhelming those who
just want an enjoyable and festive day out.
The creative practitioner should work in accordance with the Transformation Project vision: “Stowe
will become a cultural destination where everyone feels welcome. The vast garden will offer a strong
connection with the outdoors and the universal themes in its design will spark imagination, ignite
creativity and provoke thought, promoting health and wellbeing and a sense of belonging for current
and new audiences.”
We would also like the creative practitioner to address the following key programming themes of
the Transformation Project:
nature
inspiration
pleasureEvaluation
The selected creative practitioner will also be asked to consider the design of evaluation materials
and methods in keeping with the overall visual language of the artworks in the temple.
Key information
The installations will be in situ 1 December - 5 January.
All installations need to be in place by Friday 29 November.
Stowe is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
We leave all displays in situ until 5 January, as we get many visitors between Christmas and
New Year.
Plan for Artist Involvement in 2019:
Timeline
30 June Deadline for artist proposals
Consider this question: “How do you intend to work with the
Stowe gardens team to co-create the major installation in the
Temple of Concord and Victory and support volunteers and
community groups in the creation of the remaining installations
in our 12 Days of Christmas programme?” Please send through
your proposal (this should be a maximum of 2 A4 pages not
including images) to anne.french@nationaltrust.org .uk
The proposal should include
a CV
a link to your website or a few of images of their work
information about previous exhibitions/commissions
why you are interested in The Twelve Days of Christmas
how you meet the criteria for selection (see below)
Selection criteria
experience of socially engaged practice
experience of collaborative working (ideally in a
gardening environment)
ability to work in 3D with foliage
experience of creating installations inspired by history
and place (ideally in a heritage setting)
11 and 15 July2019 Interviews at Stowe and meeting with garden team
Activity Budget:
Artist time – Artistic partners are paid £200 per day. We expect the creative practitioner to require:
up to nine days for the Temple of Concord and Victory installation and preparation of
workshops = £1,800
up to four days to deliver the workshops = £800
up to 13 days for the other eleven installations = £2,600We recognise that the above timings may need to be adapted, depending on the selected proposal, but the maximum artist fee is £5,200. Materials There is a separate budget for materials, which will be discussed with the selected artist. NT staff will organise the purchase of materials. Further Information and submission of proposals Anne French – Visitor Experience Lead – anne.french@nationaltrust.org.uk
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