England and its Great Treasure Houses 1 2:36

in England during the last 20 years of the 17th century some of the grandest architectural gestures occur the most famous of which his Chatsworth House set stunningly against a small hillside in Derbyshire still owned and opened by the Dukes of Devonshire and their family Chatsworth is without doubt one of England's greatest treasure houses perhaps its closest to architect Inigo Jones interpretation of classicism for the Queen's house at Greenwich but on a much grander scale it heralds the beginning of a new age in England for that of increasingly interpreting the architectural elements of both ancient Greece and Rome and its continuing themes of liberty religion and justice the original Chatsworth House had been built after 1552 by Bess of Hardwick and her second husband the first Earl Sir William Cavendish in 1688 the fourth Earl and 1st Duke of Devonshire another William Cavendish 1640 to 1707 employed the quarrelsome character the architect William Tolman 1652 1719 we know nothing of Tolman's preparation as an architect except that he was employed in the gradual rebuilding of the South front which is today a majestic statement of an original kind when it was completed it surprised and delighted everyone with its Italianate ballast rates to the roofline and restrained use of giant classical order using ballast rates was a distinct change from a hipped roof and they emphasized the horizontal emphasis of its mess the facade has been likened to paninis designs for the Louvre and it's goofily conceals the old Elizabethan building behind the Duke enjoyed himself constructing a new building so much that he enlarged his original intentions and works continuing until just before his death in 1707 the west and north France were added and are more than likely the work of the architect Thomas Archer 1668 to 1743 his work has been overshadowed by the more well-known efforts of some of his contemporaries the majestic West front that he built is the one that looks down the valley and can be viewed across a classically formatted bridge that was added later it is nine bays wide and it's centrally disposed pediment is supported by four columns with four pairs of flat columns known as four lester's flanking the other bays due to the slope of the site the west front is taller than the south front it's also very much livelier with much carved stone work and the sash window frames are highlighted by the application of gold leaf which is a luxurious statement and a splendid sight when they catch the rays of the Setting Sun at Chatsworth in recent years there has been a great deal of cleaning restoration and some changes in the way the interiors are arranged especially the 17th century State Apartments where the monarch would have been accommodated on a royal visit there are masterpieces in every room and the collections now provide a visual narrative of the family over the time it has looped in this lovely Valley everywhere you look there is rare and beautiful treasures made out in a sequence of splendid rooms which are disposed along and unfurl awed created for the first Duke as a backdrop for baroque court ritual after entering the house from a long dark corridor the painted Hall is quite confronting with its blaze of light and color it has had major alterations at least twice since the first Dukes day originally twin staircases led up to the mezzanine level which has remained more or less intact documentation reveals that in 1688 the Hyuga no immigrant Jean tissue received 250 pounds for the iron balustrade around the first level which was finally fitted in 1691 the hall does retain its original black and white marble floor and painted decoration by another Hyuga no worker Louie lugar 1606 to 1656 his works depicts scenes from the love of Julius Caesar while an assembly of the gods looks down from the ceiling the current single staircase was designed by WH romaine Walker and installed early in the 20th century in the interior of the recently restored state drawing room completed between 1689 to 94 the timber for the wainscoting was brought from Hull and the wood carvers Joel log Roger Davis and Samuel Watson rendered in applied ornaments in line would after the star of greenling Givens Samuel Watson's musical trophy contains a violin and were surely inspired by grinning Gibbons work at Petworth house carved ornaments surround the one portrait in the oval which is appropriately the fourth Earl and the first Duke himself William Cavendish the Mortlake tapestry is above the wainscoting were woven in 1630 and they depict the healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple the painting in the great Cove of the ceiling is by friendship you know worker Louie Legare it depicts in oil and plaster and assembly of the gods and in the coving the stories are about the forge of Vulcan and Vulcan discovering the lovers Mars and Venus it's interesting to note that Chatsworth has on display at Green Wing Gibbons treasure of its own a carved cravat whose delicate detail of its lace work is quite breathtaking the sterling silver chandelier is recorded as having arrived in a shipment of goods to Chatsworth in 1694 it hangs in the closet a private intimate space next to the bed chamber in which the monarch could work and relax when visiting the state bed itself retains almost unbelievably the original silk dermis except for the material on the bed's headboard which has been reborn and recovered the bedroom also contains part of the superb collection of blue and white ceramics at Chatsworth advertising the fashionable taste of the latter years of the 17th century when the rooms were created Pallister flower vases pyramids and urns are all true examples of baroque experience with the deft doped painters rendering scenes with cobalt inspired by Eastern imports unable to produce true porcelain like that now arriving in droves from China until well into the 18th century these tin glazed whereas provided English and European states with the means of producing their own ceramics and also using local motives from cultural sources as an expression of national pride the pyramidal form of the tulip vases is symbolic of the hierarchy attached to contemporary society at the time during the latter part of the 17th century an increasing variety of textiles were coming into use for wall hangings and upholstery however nearly all big houses with any pretension to fashion still had one room hung with superbly rendered leather hangings that had been punched painted and gilded gloriously in the music room at Chatsworth the recently restored leather hangs quite take your breath away as do some of the houses best examples or furniture by louis xiv favorite furniture designer Andre Charles bull superbly inlaid with brass and torture as well there are some quite wonderful paintings including a personal favorite the delightful Magdalena one of the two daughters of the very talented Flemish painter Cornelis de Vos 1584 to 1651 the music room contains a rare surviving harpsichord while the most popular of its treasures is a most extraordinary example of a trompe l'oeil a painted violin hanging on the back of a door which does indeed trick the eye commissioned from painter jan van der Vaart 1653 to 1727 for the families housing town of Devonshire house at Piccadilly as we gaze at a close-up it is possible to imagine Canada's Aradia ensemble playing a glorious confection composed by jean-baptiste lully one that combines a sense of the Italian commedia dell'arte with a joyous French air it certainly would be appropriate to the setting the violin is part of a legacy of style and influence that in the second half of the 17th century would transform the standard and practices of the orchestra Hanna ob curator of decorative art and estate collections of Chatsworth in May 2008 said the integrity of approach coupled with the desire to make the space easy for visitors to interpret his characteristic but the duty of care felt by the current Duke and Duchess of Devonshire thus Chatsworth continues to evolve the achievements of previous generations providing Shore foundations on which the next can build the 4th Earl and 1st Duke William Cavendish of Chatsworth was one of the leading promoters of the glorious English revolution that brought the Dutch rulers William and Mary to the throne of England in 1688 it was quite a year it was certainly a painful one for James ii who was swept off the throne within three years of his brother charles the second's death by none less than the husband of his daughter william sovereign prince of the house of orange in the dutch republic championed the Protestant faith james ii had wanted to restore the catholic faith in england but the people's parliament would have none of it james didn't do himself any favors as he escaped by throwing the Great Seal of England contemptibly into the river Parliament took a dim view of his actions and assumed that had abdicated his right to rule in 1689 while James was in France Marian William negotiated with Parliament who established the English Bill of Rights putting to rest at last the question about the inherent faith for the English people for that of being Protestant they then invited William and Mary to take the throne with the proviso that they accept Parliament's supremacy they did and consequently became joint rulers of England Scotland and Northern Ireland married the second 1662 to 1690 for William the thirds wife was Queen regnant of England Scotland and Northern Ireland ruling in her own right as she was already part of the succession William became within the third of England and Northern Ireland and William the second of Scotland affectionately known as King Billy in Northern Ireland his erotic color orange came to represent the Irish Protestant struggle for religious tolerance then as now in a country predominantly Roman Catholic the new king reorganized England state financial and administrative structures centralizing the power and wealth of the country in the hands of the weak John told a self-appointed committee with political aims whose members constantly surrounded and supported him he enabled them to assume positions of power and they distributed the resources of the crown in the forms of places pensions and clerk wizards in 1690 James landed back in Ireland to gather his forces and challenge William the third for the throne he was resoundingly defeated by that very seasoned campaigner at the Battle of the Boyne and fled again to France never to return most popular histories refer to the period of their joint reign informally and quite affectionately as that of William and Mary which can give a false impression of their marriage which although unhappy from her fault point of view at first settled down to becoming quite successful once they both realize they enjoyed a mutual interest in art and architecture Williams spent much of his reign abroad embroiled in continental battles and while he was away Mary was from all accounts a very firm effective and powerful ruler although she wisely deferred to him when he was in town patronage of contemporary writers by weak statesmen took place under Williams Authority John Gascoigne's 1989 account of the evolution of the University of Cambridge at this time reveals there was a network of wings sympathizers among the bishops and academics who use their position to shape the theological political and cultural future influencing students who were future leaders of their age following the revolution William and Mary sought to establish the authority of their new regime by investing in great ruling works during their time the Dutch French influence on the arts would be profound and long-lasting in their entourage was multi-talented French Huguenot assignor Daniel Mero Williams master of works at Holland responsible for the works at the palace of head Lao in the Netherlands which we have discussed previously Mary was one of Europe's leading collectors of ceramics and Daniel Mero developed this design for the display of her collection at head Lau Mero was at the center of a vast web of Huguenots artists and craftsmen vote in England and Holland where he produced designs that range from snuff boxes to coaches and clocks and from parties to flower pots in England he would be the first architect since Inigo Jones to envisage an integrated style for interiors and exteriors his creative genius lay in ability to conceive the design for the exterior the interiors and the gardens as one vision declaring that design unity was the only route to successful results he was louis xiv dream team all rolled into one William and Mary wanted to create an up-to-date Court out of the old palace at Hampton which when it was first built like most of the Great Houses of London was approached by water today however the main entrance is through the trophy gate which was built by William the third to be approached from the town by Road when in the third 1689 to 1700 and to chose Hampton Court as his principal out-of-town residence because London's fog and smoke at that time was perilous and worsened his asthma he commissioned Christopher Wren to replace the old place with a new one to rival the sigh because Williams greatest fan taggin east was louis xiv one of the main reasons for their immunity was that louis had offered the hand of one of his mistresses daughters to William in marriage however William was insulted rebuffing the offer saying that his family only married legitimate daughters of kings not their bastards Louie who loved and cherished all of his children never forgave him the English surveyor works for still charles the second's appointee so Christopher Wren who spent much time at Hampton Court where the shell of the new building was largely completed by mid 1693 it was built with a mixture of orange brick and Portland stone which integrated well with the original Tudor brickwork in the vestibule French you can overwrought ironworker drawn tissue fabulous balustrade and italian painter antonio Barrios Pascoe's embellished wrens great staircase which was completed about 1690 and is a highlight of the English frog style at Hampton Court wren designed the Queen's private apartments as a series of intimate rooms so she could display her collection of blue and white wares which included Dutch and English works as well as Japanese porcelain all of which copied original Chinese porcelain forms and painted decoration 110 pieces of ceramics many of which are Chinese blue and white wares from the late Ming or early Ching periods about 1622 1683 still survived at Hampton Court the rest are Dutch or English dog the origins of the blue and white tin glazed earthenware is from Delft lay in the ancient past of modern-day Iraq where in the sixth century local ceramic work is produced tin glazed earthenware this had been in a response to the arrival of Chinese porcelain on their Shores their descendants the Moors conquered Spain in the ninth century and the way as they produce their fur given the name maiolica from the early now for the Yorker from the ninth century maryska spain exported wares to italy where once again local manufacturers produce their own version of maiolica between 1519 and 1648 when the southern Netherlands was under Spanish rule ceramic workers from Italy migrated to Dutch cities particularly to the little town of Delft and so it was that in this way the traditions of a mediterranean-style of earthenware came to be made and appreciated in a northern European country Dutch docked from this era can be found with all sorts of delightful decorative quirks Europeans at this time didn't have any idea about what someone from China might look like or what the symbols painted on Chinese blue and white porcelain actually meant so the workers divided the plate up into compartments copying the Chinese and painted tulips what they thought were Chinese people and other local motives they produce pieces of great charm I have seen a plate with a game of noughts and crosses on the back instead of Chinese dynasty rain marks this makes them highly collectible the Hyuga no immigrants Jasper Andres and Jacob Jackson bought their recipe for producing tin glazed grill modern wares to England in 1567 they established a pottery at Norwich and factories established at London Bristol and Liverpool later on during the closing years of the 17th century and early 18th century would also produce wonderful pieces of English doffed tin glazed urban where's the 17th century passion for flowers meant that the tulips from Amsterdam were placed into Queen Mary's great collection of ceramic tulip plazas which she and her husband collected avidly the origin of their shapes is the east where they were popular as flower holders during the 12th century in the 17th century bulbs were planted within each tier and the growing shoots emerged through the open spouts when they were in bloom they were taken indoors for display elaborate examples of these phases had up to 11 tiers some in the form of a Chinese pagoda this splendid example one meter high was designed by Daniel Moreau only a visit to Hampton Court can reveal its true magnificence the superb lid made in the shape of a royal crown in the late 17th century great estates were building their own fully equipped dairies where the fresh milk would arrive daily it was poured into blue and white ceramic milk pans to allow the cream to settle which was then skimmed off and turned into butter managing a dairy for the best part of a century or more from Mary's reign onward would be viewed as a highly appropriate pastime for women associated as it was with romantic notions of goodness and simplicity and from the late 17th century onward dairies and their kin manners were embellished with sumptuous decoration at Hampton Court from 1689 had attached you to building fronting the Thames known as the old water Gallery was remodeled after decides by Daniel marrow into a dairy with all conveniences in which had said the Queen took great delight all the surviving milk pans thought to have come from this Dairy bear the mark of Adriana's proprietor of the prestigious Greek a factory adult in the Netherlands which was in business from 1686 to 1700 and one at the time of her death mary ii owned mr. Cox 122 pounds 14 shillings and nine pence for Dutch China for where William created his trusted friend hands William Banting who had maintained a garden boasting many botanical rarities in Holland the Earl of Portland he also gave him the authority to coordinate all the work on the Royal Gardens Bentinck showed off his skill for diplomacy by selecting the Englishman George London to be his deputy and he appointed other English staff to complete the works Williams interests lay in the waterworks and so Wren arranged that all the principal rooms of the State Apartments overlooked a fountain Court and had an important Vista the smallest square windows an attic level while lodgings provided for important courtiers and carved reeds in the form of lion skins surround the circular windows Queen Mary sent her emissaries to the Canary Islands in Virginia in the Americas to obtain new specimens for her collection of hotels plants she always had freshly cut flowers in her apartments including the most highly prized flower of their reign the center folia rose it appeared in wall paintings and in the carved decoration hood grinning Gibbons completed for the Kings apartment Daniel Moreau designed the great part here at Hampton Court in 1689 its size was predetermined by the semicircle of lives planned by Charles a second but only planted between 1689 and 90 the guns were restored between 1991 to 1995 over the centuries many of the 304 new trees and the 24 silver hobby trees that had been planted had grown world in 1993 ring counting them proved that they were the original trees planted during the reign of William and Mary and so they were very carefully and purposely trimmed into the conical shapes they are today noticed survives of the original ornamental planting so all the current colorful compartmental layouts were disposed in accord with what is known about planting systems during the first years of the 18th century much research was done into precisely the right clone for dwarf box of which 30,000 plants were propagated to edge the parties and the maze Queen Mary's Bower a tunnel of which elm that run along the western side of the privy garden has also been reinstated using hornbeam the original plants had survived until the 1970s when they had been killed off by a devastating attack of film disease the destroyed thousands of ancient and historical trees in Britain statues were copied from surviving originals and jean tissues superbly wrought iron and gilded screens which were designed to encompass all of the gardens were superbly restored the result is a restoration faithful to both the history and the character of the place and now it's time for us to take a break until part two of England and its great treasure houses you

Channel: Carolyn McDowall

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Keywords: Treasure Houses Of England (Project Focus), United Kingdom (Country), Design (Industry), Design HIstory, England (Country), Architecture (Industry), Interior Design (Industry), Artists, Artisans, London

Id: TH4HnOajIoo

Length: 29min 0sec (1740 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 09 2015