Christmas and its treasures
This week, the 26 Treasures team met to discuss the future of the project. It was a very positive meeting. And it seems the project has a very positive future. So let’s celebrate with a blog post from our guest writer, the bestselling Scottish author Sara Sheridan. With Christmas only a few weeks away, Sara reflects on this winter celebration, and looks at the history of some of the treasures that bring it to life.
Some of what we in Britain consider our Christmas traditions, and certainly many of the objects (including food items) that we associate with Christmas, have their origins at the cusp of the Georgian and Victorian eras.
It was then in our history that the British Empire began to generate sufficient additional income for the middle classes that luxuries such as turkey dinners (previously an upper class meat) could become more widespread. Though decorating the house with boughs and wreaths was common from far earlier, decorated trees (although they were an established German tradition) appeared in British drawing rooms at this time, starting with the royal household (Princess Victoria at 13 mentions one in her diary).
In this period there was also a profusion of entrepreneurial bright sparks who came up with marketable ideas, such as Christmas cards (the bright spark in question: Sir Henry Cole, who had been instrumental in setting up the Penny Post) and Christmas crackers (Tom Smith, a London confectioner).
However, a significant portion of our Yuletide traditions emanate from much earlier in our history.
It is thought that Christmas candles originated as a symbol of the light-to-come at the Roman Saturnalia festival (which also took place around midwinter and was a festival of good cheer). Mistletoe was an important winter symbol to early druids (though kissing under the mistletoe is first mentioned in manuscripts of the 1600s). Whereas mince pies have their origins in medieval times and originally had a pastry ‘Jesus’ on top of the crust and were stuffed with a meat filling augmented by the spiced and marinated fruits that we enjoy today.
The midwinter festival, whichever icons or symbols you choose to celebrate it with, is a time that looks forward to spring and, also, a time of celebrating where we are. With new year’s resolutions a mere week away, Christmas represents a last chance to kick up your heels before taking stock, peering ahead and deciding on a strategy for the coming year.
What I find heartening however is that it is evident that our Christmas traditions are constantly evolving. Rather than simply accept these customs as read, I find it inspiring to actively choose which traditions to celebrate and also come up with new ideas for traditions of my own.
The Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day, for example, has spawned a tradition in my family that revolves around a sweepstake to guess which colour Her Majesty will choose for her Christmas outfit (uniting on the subject of our monarchy both the staunchly Republican and Monarchist sides of the family for at least this one time a year).
It is also inspiring that in our much more integrated, multicultural society we can swap and adapt Christmas traditions alongside other celebrations. My mother’s side of the family is Jewish and decorate a Channukah bush, for example (after much lobbying from we now grownup kids).
The traditional Christmas dinner (which evolved at a time when there were half a dozen servants to prepare and serve it) seems a crazy choice for overstretched hosts (particularly for a large table). We rely instead on the Moroccan heritage of one of my cousins and serve steaming tagines of what are probably more akin to medieval feasting fare (and much easier to prepare and serve on the day). Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Atheist members of my family celebrate together (and all send cards and presents).
As I write this, however, the most Christmassy symbol of all is in full flow and Britain is in the grip of unseasonably snowy weather. This is the one Christmas tradition that is out of our hands (though I understand that it is not uncommon for what seem somewhat overindulged southern Americans to hire snow machines to create the traditional Christmas scene).
However we celebrate this midwinter, and whatever our individual beliefs, it is often the symbols that bind us together. Atheists can enjoy a carol service (Richard Dawkins has been known to proclaim his pleasure at a good carol) while those of staunch religious belief join in the traditions that originate in our shared heritage from well before the Christian era.
That is, in my view, the true joy of Christmas.
- Sara
Today’s treasures
Here’s one of our occasional guest posts, written by bestselling Scottish writer Sara Sheridan. Today, Sara thinks about what a ‘Treasure’ means to somebody living in the 21st century…
When I first walked through the British Galleries at the V&A I was bemused at the notion of tracing our cultural history through objects. Since being involved in the 26 Treasures project I have become fascinated by the idea.
It made me wonder if I was to populate a gallery with the spirit of 2010, which objects would I choose?
I am no label junkie, but I found myself consistently drawn to the idea of Laboutin shoes, Philippe Patek watches, Mulberry handbags and Cartier diamond rings. Like most of the objects written about by 26 Treasures, these designer goodies are out of the reach of most people in the UK today.
If I consider the cultural heritage of ordinary people – the remnants left between 1500–1760 by the majority of the population – sadly most day-to-day possessions have not survived. Personal possessions at that time were very few and most people were illiterate and would have been lucky to own even some clothes and basic furniture.
Today, however, with our thriving middle classes, a good deal of private possessions will survive in one form or another and many have glamour enough to be worth considering as icons worthy to uphold the name of our cultural heritage. iPads and iPhones, for example, are widely owned, as are fountain pens. Many of us have treasured cups and saucers (not a patch on the tea paraphernalia on display in the British Galleries, of course, but still it proves that hot drinks continue to drive our culture and that what we drink them from remains important).
The five interiors, lovingly constructed inside the galleries, of grand rooms in private houses might today, in a more populist manner, be represented by the interiors of hotel rooms – the Ice Hotel in Rekjavik perhaps and the enduring cool of somewhere like Babington House (accessible to many, but not all).
Stranger still is the idea of which objects might sum up my own life. These, I have come to realise, are the objects I use most. The beautiful, vintage ballgown and my grandmother’s sealskin coat sprang at first to mind but the truth is that my Moleskine diary and Nokia mobile phone are far more representative of how I actually live and what is really important to me.
I also value intellectual property – a few favourite films, pieces of music and books, to which I return often for inspiration. Also important are more perennial purchases – my favourite chocolates (Beschle Champagne Truffles) and a bunch of tulips (never yellow ones) on my way home.
It is an odd business, trying to view myself and my life from the outside and strange to think that (certainly for one of my nephews, when I asked him) the perfume I use makes me spring to mind more readily than a photograph. However, I think it is a useful device and a healthy way to take a look at our relationship to the physical world and, indeed, the legacy we will leave it.
Sara.
Telling creation stories
© V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Each writer taking part in 26 Treasures is responding to their object in 62 words. Why 62 words? Because 26 Treasures is about reflection - a person’s reflection on an object. Reflect 26. You get 62.
When you arrive at the entrance to the British Galleries in the V&A in September, you’ll be invited to read the 62-word reflections. But what if you’d like to know more? What if Maura Dooley’s mirror journey gets you thinking, wondering, guessing? What if Sara Sheridan’s snaking story leads you into temptation?
For two months, 26 writers from around the country lived with a unique object from the V&A. They invited it into their lives. They sometimes loved it, sometimes didn’t. Candle stands stood in corners. Girandoles looked out from walls. Busts sat on mantlepieces. All in writers’ imaginations.
So we asked our writers to tell us a story. Their story. About how they arrived at their 62 words. What or who or where inspired them?
Like a magician revealing illusions, our writers are preparing to share all. Every Wednesday from next week. Here’s a taste of things to come.
Andy Hayes writing about his treasure
I headed up to the British Galleries, feeling excited and slightly nervous, noticed a big bed that someone else had as their pet treasure, glad it wasn’t mine as I would’ve just resorted to smut, then found Mr No-Body, tiny compared to many other exhibits, but to me, it was like meeting a long lost friend…
