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AT THE CORCORAN – PART THREE: Salon Doré

Victoria here. The Corcoran lions guard the doors of the gallery, in Washington, D. C., behind which are many treasures, including the Salon Doré, or Gilded Room, an excellent example of French 18th century décor.

I visited with author Diane Gaston, a long-time friend and fellow traveler to England and elsewhere in search of Georgian/Regency-era delights. Diane was as gob-smacked by the beauty of the Salon Doré as I was and we both snapped picture after picture. She was much faster at blogging about our visit than I was. Click here for her post.

Salon Doré at the Corcoran Gallery of Art

This installation is the third for the sumptuous ceilings and paneling. The room was created in 1770 as a wedding gift to his bride by Pierre Gaspard Marie Grimod d’Orsay (1748-1809). The artist was Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin (1734-1811). Some early descriptions of the room say it was fashioned for the wedding ceremony itself.

In the early 20th century, D’Orsay’s mansion, the building now known as Hôtel de Clarmont (68 rue de Varenne, Faubourg Saint-Germain, Paris), was stripped of the Chalgrin work and it was acquired by American mining millionaire and industrialist (aka robber baron) and Montana Senator William A. Clark (1839-1925). Clark installed the room in his Fifth Avenue, NYC, mansion about 1904. He was a benefactor of the Corcoran in its early years, and the fittings of the Salon Doré were moved to the gallery in 1926.

Count d’Orsay and his wife, the former Marie-Louise-Albertine-Amélie, Princess de Croÿ-Molenbais, had one son who in turn fathered Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, Count d’Orsay (1801-1852) , a famous dandy who was well known in England in the 19th century, friend of the famous and infamous, such as Lord Byron, Benjamin Disraeli, and Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Read about the Duke of Welllington and Count Dorsay here.

Decorative Panels

The Corcoran’s Salon Doré is one of the finest examples of French Rococo style from the reign of Louis Quinze (XV). Another such gilded salon from Paris can be found in San Francisco’s Legion of Honor Museum. Read more about it here.

Detail of paneling: Corcoran’s Salon Doré

Gilded corner tables (encoignures) by Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin

(French, 1734-1811)

The four corner tables, along with most of the other furniture from the original room, were confiscated and dispersed during the French Revolution. Though the other pieces are still lost the Corcoran acquired the four corner tables just a few years ago, in 2008, and placed them in their original positions in the Salon Doré.

Ceiling Details are not the originals but were created for the museum installation

Clock of the Vestals

The Case was made by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (French 1751-1843) bout 1789. The clock was created by Robert Robin, (French 1742-99), signed on the dial Robin/Hger Du Roi (clockmaker to the King). The media are gilded, patinated, and painted bronze, Sevrès porcelain, enamel on copper, and marble.

From the Corcoran’s website: The Clock of the Vestals marked the passing of the hours in Queen Marie-Antoinette’s boudoir, or private sitting room, in the Tuileries Palace in Paris, adjacent to the Palais du Louvre. The royal family was forced to move there in October 1789 after a mob of Parisians attacked the palace at Versailles, the official residence of the king for over 100 years. In the Tuileries the king and queen held court in gilded splendor but were state prisoners nonetheless. Their last unhappy days together were passed in this palace before they were permanently separated in the mean quarters where they awaited their executions in 1793…The scene on the clock may depict the moment when the vestals, warned of the approach of the Gauls (c. 389), took the sacred fire and vessels from the temple and fled from Rome to Caere, a nearby city…At least sixteen versions of the Clock of the Vestals are known, each having some variation in materials and secondary elements. The clock in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, dated 1788, is closest in appearance to the Corcoran clock.”

Paneled Doors of the Salon Doré

From the Corcoran Gallery’s website: “The Salon Doré as we know it today is the product of these two great patrons of the arts, the French Count d’Orsay and the Francophile Senator Clark. Even though one was an 18th-century Frenchman born to wealthand privilege and the other was a 19th-century self-made American industrialist, they are linked across the ages as passionate collectors of the antique and the Old World who at the same time used art and architecture to foster their social ambitions.”

The Corcoran’s Staircase

Other Salon Dorés can be found in palaces, mansions, and museums. Another I have enjoyed visiting was recently re-furbished at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, part of San Francisco’s Fine Arts Museums. Learn about it here.

Salon Doré. from the Hôtel de La Trémoille, Paris

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TOUR — VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS – PART 8

Stratfield Saye

To understand why the Duke of Wellington’s country house is the relatively modest Stratfield Saye, it is necessary to travel back to the victory of the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704 over the forces of French King Louis XIV (and others).. England’s Queen Anne and her ministers were so delighted with the Duke’s victory that they decided to build him a great palace, a rival to their defeated enemy’s Palace of Versailles.

Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

If you visit Blenheim, you will see what the first Duke of Wellington learned from the magnificent but very costly house. For two centuries, the Marlborough family had struggled to complete and maintain the enormous palace. So when offered a great Waterloo Palace as a gift from the nation after his victory over Napoleon, Wellington proceeded cautiously. The Iron Duke knew what a burden Blenheim had been to its owners.

Stratfield Saye

Always the clever strategist, the first Duke of Wellington chose a house he and his descendants could afford, perhaps sacrificing magnificence for comfort.

This pleasant 90-second video shows several views of the house.

The Hall, showing captured battle flags

The present ducal family lives at Stratfield Saye and access to the house is very limited. We could find no videos of the interior, so to see the rooms in which the Dukes and Duchesses lived, you will have to sign up and come along on The Duke of Wellington Tour.

For more exterior views plus the Duke’s Funeral Car, on display in the stables, here is another video. Sadly, the cameraman kept moving — so don’t get seasick while you watch it!

Did you know that the cavalry charge scene from the Spielberg film War Horse was filmed at Stratfield Saye? Actor Tom Hiddleston explains how the Duke’s estate came to substitute for a French Battlefield in this video.

You can watch the cavalry charge film sequence here. How ironic that a scene of British military defeat should be filmed on the grounds of the home of Britain’s greatest military hero.

The Stratfield Saye Website is here.

COMPLETE DETAILS AND ITINERARY FOR

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TOUR CAN BE FOUND HERE

A PINTEREST POST

Here’s another great photo I found on Pinterest recently of the swans at the Bishop’s Palace in Wells, who ring a bell when they want to be fed. The things one learns on Pinterest!

From the Bishop’s Palace website, where you’ll also see a live streaming “Swan Cam”:

The Bishop’s Palace is world famous for its swans who ring a bell alongside the gatehouse when they want food. The swans are trained to pull on a rope which sounds the bell ringing and sends the Palace Caretakers, Paul and Carol Arblaster running to fetch some bread and open the window to feed them. Perhaps you will be lucky enough to see them do this when you visit!

Swans at the Palace were first taught to ring a bell for food by the daughter of Bishop Hervey in the 1870s and the tradition continues to this day. Bread is tied in clumps to the rope attracting the swans to nibble at it and pull it off, when they do this the bell rings. Gradually less and less bread is tied onto the rope as they begin to understand that by pulling the rope and hearing the bell means food will soon follow.

Rest assured, the swans and ducks all get a lot of attention from tourists and staff around The Bishop’s Palace should Paul and Carol be away from the bell so they don’t go hungry, they also feed off the moat silt bed and surrounding environment.

You can watch a YouTube video of the swans ringing the bell here.

REDISCOVERING EGYPT

The Collection of the Dahesh Museum of Art

at The Patty and Jay Baker Museum of Art in Naples, FL, through May 18, 2014.

Click here for the Museum Website.

Charles–Théodore Frère (French, 1814-1888)

Along the Nile at Gyzeh

When Napoleon Bonaparte’s armies occupied Egypt in 1798, they were accompanied by scientists, historians, and archaeologists. The European world developed a fascination with Egyptian art, architecture, and culture. Well into the 20th century and to the present day, European artists have expressed their admiration in their interpretations of the allure of the ancient and modern cultures of the Nile.

Ernst Karl Eugen Koerner (German 1846-1927)

The Temple of Karnak: The Great Hypostyle Hall, 1890

Koerner traveled to Egypt in 1873-74, and painted the huge columns of the temple, placing the human figures to illustrate the vast size of the columns.

The Dahesh Museum of New York City is devoted to collecting academic art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Organizing many exhibitions for museums and contributing loans to other exhibitions around the world is the mission of the Dahesh. This exhibition is co-curated by Director of Exhibitions David Farmer and Associate Curator Alia Nour; it is intended to survey “…the West’s fascination with Egypt and its diverse visual representations from 1798 until 1890.”

Lawrence Alma Tadema (British,born in the Netherlands, 1836-1912)

Joseph, Overseer of Pharaoh’s Granaries, 1874

This painting by Alma Tadema was exhibited at London’s Royal Academy in 1874. The Old Testament’s Joseph is seated on the throne accompanied by a scribe counting the grain. Alma Tadema based the ancient Egyptian decoration and accoutrements in his picture on actual artifacts. Behind the throne is a painting now in the British Museum from the tomb of Nebamun.

The Baker Museum exhibition includes more than 90 works from the Dahesh Museum, the Mervat Zahid Cultural Foundation, and a private collection. In the words of the description, “With its broad themes and rich imagery, this exhibition demonstrates that the West’s visions of Egypt were fostered by many factors — not only political interest, but also new scientific and technological advances, methods of transportation, and communications, as well as Romanticism, and the changing art market.”

Karl Wilhelm Gentz (German, 1822-1890)

The Snake Charmer, 1872

Gentz contrasts the dangerous performance with the noble ruins of the Temple of Madinet Habu in Thebes.

Edwin Longsden Long (British, 1829-1891)

Love’s Labour Lost, 1885

Edwin Long was another artist who used the holdings of various museums and the work of scholars to create the details of his paintings. Here many objects are based on the works of British Egyptologist John Gardner Wilkinson. When the painting was shown at the Royal Academy, a poem by the artists son, Maurice St. Clair, was included.

“When like an opening bud the flower of Youth
Unfolds its petals to the light of Truth,
Then mimic toys and tales of wondorous lore,
By puppets acted, charm not as before.
Amusement wearies out her skill in vain,
And calls the aid of music magic strain;
But happy childhood’s limit passed for e’er
Youth rashly craves reality and care.”

In the painting, the young noblewoman has outgrown the antics of her servants.The central figure, presumably a noble Egyptian girl, has become and adult and is no longer interested in the childish entertainment of her servants.

Hermann David Solomon Corrodi (Italian, 1844-1905)

The Ambush near Gizeh

Corrodi’s work can be found in many collections including the Royal Collection, acquired by Queen Victoria and King George V.

If you are in the vicinity of Naples in the next few weeks, don’t miss these colorful and evocative paintings at the Baker Museum.

Rediscovering Egypt: The Collection of the Dahesh Museum of Art, is on view at

the Baker Museum, Artis,
Naples, Florida, through May 18, 2014.

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TOUR – VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS – PART 7

THE REGENCY TOWN HOUSE, HOVE

Upon leaving the Royal Pavilion, we’ll be traveling to nearby Hove for a tour of the Regency Town House. I visited a few years ago when the project’s originator, Nick Tyson, was still at the beginning of a scheme to restore the Town House to it’s original state. Nick led our tour group through the rooms which were being stripped of years of paint and wallpaper, with each layer being analysed for decorative research. The restoration process is still ongoing and you can read an interview with Nick in which he discusses present and future plans for the Town House here.

From the Regency Town House website:

The objectives of the Regency Town House are threefold:

Raise the profile of Brighton and Hove as a historic location.
Encourage the better preservation of the city’s built heritage.
Foster a wider appreciation of Regency architectural and social history.

To these ends we are working to provide visitors with a traditionally refurbished historic home, to offer a programme of events about the history and architectural heritage of Brighton and Hove, and to develop digital resources relating to life in the Regency period.

Each year we run a variety of courses aimed at providing building professionals and the occupants of historic buildings with a better understanding of the issues surrounding the conservation and upkeep of Georgian and Victorian property.

Their collections include the Bevan and Dewar family letters:

Provided to us by Patrick Baty, a descendant of the Bevan family, these letters give a fantastic insight into family life in the Regency period, covering topics from the everyday domestic, to war and the death of a child. Here we have reproduced the letters together with transcriptions undertaken by volunteers.

I happen to follow Patrick on Twitter, an historical paint consultant who has worked on many stately homes and historically significant properties, including Apsley House. Patrick also has a fantastic blog where you’ll find many articles of interest.

Our visit to the Regency Town House will provide our tour group with the rare opportunity to look behind the walls of a period home and to learn more about the preservation of historic properties.

You can watch a holiday “At Home” with the volunteers at the Regency Town House here in order to get an idea of the current state of the Town House.

To appreciate the enormity of the task ahead of the Regency Town House group, you can watch this clip from one of my favourtie shows, Grand Designs, featuring the restoration of a Georgian Town House in London. (55 minutes)

YOU’LL FIND FULL ITINERARY AND DETAILS OF

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TOUR HERE