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An opulent room measuring circa 90 feet by 25
feet the Saloon is lined with oak panelling adorned with gilded
enrichments. The coving to the ceiling is worth attention as
a good example of late 19th century 'graining ' or paintwork
contrived to simulate wood.
At the turn of the century this room was stuffed with furniture:
oceans of comfortable upholstery, container loads of off-the-shelf
19th century 'Louis' bureaux plats and tables bedraped with
table carpets. All these obstacles lurked in a forest of potted
palms and other tropical foliage, creating for the humble Earl
and Countess of Feversham the agreeable illusion that they
were Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette on vacation in Hawaii.
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At the turn of the last century
the Saloon was stuffed full of furniture. |
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The giltwood sofas are north Italian, probably Piedmontese,
circa 1770. The late George III saloon chairs have been attributed
to the Huguenot cabinet maker Francois Herve, whose work can
also be seen at Chatsworth and The Brighton Pavilion. These
chairs were originally from the ballroom at Dudley House in
London's Park Lane.
The portraits here include those of the children
of the First Earl of Feversham, on either side of the doors
to the Hall. These are the first of a number of portraits
of children in the house worth the attention of the visitor.
The lady in a white dress over the fireplace at the southern
end of the room is Lady Charlotte Legge, wife of the First
Baron Feversham.
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The opulent Saloon in all it's
grandeur. |
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The portrait of the gentleman in the black hat
is of Sir John Lawrence, Lord Mayor of London in 1665, the
year of the Great Plague when, apparently over 40,000
servants in the City were dismissed and turned out into the
streets to perish, for no one would receive them into their
houses. When they tried their luck in villages near to
London these unfortunates were driven away with pitchforks
and firearms. Sir John Lawrence supported them all, as
well as the needy who were sick, at first by expending his
own fortune and then by soliciting subscriptions from all parts
of the nation. 'This Godlike man tho' perpetually exposed to
the infection is said to have escaped the disease '.
The route to the Withdrawing Room lies through
the double doors, between the busts of Horace and Cicero at this
end of the Saloon. |
