Rough Guide Theory Task

I was investigating the nice posh area of London, Dover Street, Bond Street and Picadilly and I had focused my drawing and enquiry into flowers in the area, not only real flowers, but also flower shapes in architecture, on posters, in windows and anywhere in the area I could find them! Continuing with this theme I decided to choose 3 items with imagery of flowers and I visited the David Tempest Gallery on Saint James Street, Fortnum and Mason's, and a London Souvenirs stall where I looked at water colour paintings, a biscuit tin and a keyring respectively

I chose 2 watercolor paintings from the David Tempest Gallery to look at. Each one was a print reproduction of the original and framed very simply in black frames. The slogans were quite witty and the paintings were accurate cartoon drawings even if they were simple. The pieces were all cartoons don't make use of shade or tone with the paint to create a 3d effect, they are all very flat, but this is the appearance the artist is trying to achieve. When I see these objects I can imagine them in a young bachelors hallway or a young couples house in a set, or maybe a son or daughter buying for one of their parents who was into gardening. I don't think they are fine artworks and wouldn't take pride of place above a mantle place however the person buying them must have some money as they are expensive for just prints and the gallery is in a very posh area where the customer would have to shop and browse art galleries.

Painting 1- Closing down the garden for winter: Painted in 1959 and first published in Country life magazine 22nd November 2007- £900

Painting 2- I know I said I was only going to look...: Painted in 1956 and first published in Country life magazine 3rd April 2008- £900

I then went to the department store Fortnum and Mason and found these Rose biscuits. They were £7 for a 350g aluminum tin of the rose flavored biscuits. The bright pink tins were quite light and very nicely embossed with a rose flower pattern on the front in a gold/pink color with a darker pink/purple outline. On the back of the tin was the writing “Violets are blue, Roses are red, These little biscuits, Just go to ones head” in white italic writing, then underneath that were listed the biscuits ingredients in gold, which read, “Wheat flour, salted butter (20%) (butterfat, water, salt), sugar, ground almonds (11%), rose petals (2%), natural rose petals, gum, flavoring, color: carmine, natural flavor: rose water” and underneath that, again in gold writing read “Allergen advice, contains nuts, cows milk, wheat and gluten” and then the storage advice “Store in a cool, dry place” then underneath that was the barcode. The biscuits also had a black sticker on the tin saying they has won a Great Taste Award.

I think this object is the sort of thing a tourist would take back for their family when visiting London and the iconic shop. As the store is a very high end store many of the items sold are extremely expensive and this is a lower price someone could afford to buy a nice looking and tasting gift for a female relative. The tin is very nicely decorated and they do display the stores name and a nice souvenir item, however they could also be bought by someone who has the money to shop regularly in the store to get out at a dinner party, or have out as nibbles at a special occasion or even just bought to eat on an everyday basis, although i think the price of the biscuits and the decorated tin would leave this prospect open to only the richest!

For the object from a market I chose a keyring from a London souvenirs stall on the roadside near Picadilly. The keyring was made in china from metal and doubles up as a bottle opener. It cost £3, however two could be bought for £5. On the keyring is a raised area with a picture of a red and green rose and the text England underneath. The keyring is only very cheap and quite tacky looking and would possibly be bought by a child who wants to buy a friend a present from London, or as a joke present for someone who supports england rugby as the red rose is on the england team shirts. i think it would be given more to a male than a female because it is a bottle opener and stereotypically men are more likely to drink from bottles of beer.

If any of these objects were put into a different context I think they would appear inappropriate or aimed at the wrong audience. The witty cartoons would be the right price point to sell at Fortnum’s however most of the art in there was a much higher price and much more classical in style with traditional images of hunting scenes, portraits and flower and food scenes. If they were on the market stall the humor would be appropriate for the everyday customer however they are far too expensive and a person passing a market stall would probably not know the artist or have the time to browse lots of watercolor prints.

If the biscuits were sold on the stall they would be the right sort of item- a tourist souvenir, however they are far too expensive and nicely decorated to be sold on the stall. They are also made with quality ingredients such as real rose petals which does make them worth their money and this quality would probably not be sold on a souvenir stall where you are more likely to find cheap chocolates. They are also the wrong type of for a high end art gallery to sell. The keyring would also be inappropriate to be sold in the gallery or the department store because of the cheap materials and design. In the gallery there were key rings and bottle openers however they were made from strong metal in a classic design with engraved slogans and in Fortnum’s I would imagine the objects they sold been of a much higher quality because the store retail to a higher end market and standard of customer who is willing to pay more for quality, not just a cheap souvenir.