He perished on the Goodwin Sands in the great storm "such as of
late o'er pale Britannia passed," in 1703.
=King's Grand Staircase.=
Sir Christopher Wren was the original builder of this staircase,
although Kent's name has usually alone been associated with it. To the
great architect, however, we certainly owe the "shell" of the building,
its proportions, the black marble steps, the black and white chequered
marble on the landings, and the fine balustrade of wrought iron. This
ironwork was doubtless designed by Jean Tijou, whose name we have found
in the contemporary accounts relating to this palace, and in whose style
the design certainly is. As to the stair-treads, it is worthy of note
that in an estimate of Wren's for the completion of the King's Great
Staircase at Hampton Court, in 1699, he proposed that they should be
made "of Irish stone such as are at Kensington, but longer and easier,"
which, in fact, they are.
In King William's time the windows must have been of a different type to
those now here, which are in the style of Kent. As to the walls, they
were then probably painted with simple ornaments. Among the Kensington
accounts for the year 1692, we have found the following record of a
payment relating to such work:
"To Robt. Streeter, Serg^{t} Painter, for japanning, gilding and
painting several Roomes and Lodgings in the said Pallace, painting
severall staircase, and the Guard Chamber, and other places in and
about the said Pallace--£3,599."
Kent's Alterations in the King's Grand Staircase.
Kent's improvements, which must have been carried out about 1725,
included--besides the painting of the walls and ceiling--the alteration
of the approach to the staircase on the ground floor, where he inserted,
in the area or "well," an arcade of two plain arches, which support, or
rather appear to support, the landing above. Under the first arch begins
the wide flight of black marble steps, with two landings in the ascent,
paved with alternate squares of black and white marble, as is also the
long top landing or balcony. The balusters are now painted blue, their
original colour, found under successive coats of more recent paint. The
hand-rail of oak has had its dirty paint cleaned off.
[Illustration: THE KING'S GRAND STAIRCASE.]
No one who did not see this staircase before the restorations were begun
can conceive the woeful state of dust, filth, decay and rot which it
then presented. With the fine iron balusters broken, damp oozing from
the walls, the paintings indistinguishable from incrustations of
smoke, and strips of the painted canvas hanging from the walls in
shreds--it seemed impossible that it could ever be restored to its
pristine splendour. The visitor must judge for himself whether this
result has not been triumphantly accomplished.
The Painted Walls of the King's Grand Staircase.
Opposite the balustrade, on the right side as one goes down the stairs,
is a low wainscot of plain moulded panelling; and above this, level with
the top of the second landing, is painted a large Vitruvian scroll. The
square space thus formed beside the first landing, and the spandril
space beside the rise of the stairs, are filled with representations, in
chiaro-oscuro, of sea-horses, armorial trophies and other devices, and
scroll-work, heightened by gilding. These, as well as similar paintings
on the arcade, opposite and under the stairs, show that Kent's taste and
skill as a decorative artist were by no means contemptible, whereas as a
painter of subjects or figures he was no artist at all.
The two walls of the staircase above the Vitruvian scroll are painted to
represent a gallery, behind a colonnade of the Scamozzian Ionic order,
supporting a corresponding entablature, with a frieze embellished with
unicorns' heads, masks of lions, and festoons of foliage, divided by
fleurs-de-lys, richly heightened with gold. Between these columns is
painted a balustrade; with numerous figures of personages of George I.'s
court, looking over it.
In =the first and second compartments= on the left are yeomen of the
guard and various ladies and gentlemen; and a young man in a Polish
dress representing a certain Mr. Ulric, a page of the King's, "and
admired by the court," says Pyne, "for the elegance and beauty of his
person;" while the youth standing on the plinth outside the balcony is a
page of Lady Suffolk's. In the third or right-hand compartment on the
same wall are seen, among many other unidentified persons, a Quaker and
an old man in spectacles.
Two other servants of the court appear in this group, Mahomet and
Mustapha, who were taken prisoners by the Imperialists in Hungary. At
the raising of the siege of Vienna in 1685, George I., then elector of
Hanover, was wounded, and was attended by these two Turks, who had been
retained in his service, and who were said to have saved his life.
Mahomet apostatized from the faith of his fathers and became a
Christian; married a Hanoverian woman and had several children. King
George, on his accession to the British throne, brought these two
faithful servants with him to England in his suite. They were constantly
about his person, and were credited with obtaining large sums of money
from persons who purchased their influence to obtain places about the
court. Mahomet, however, in whatever way he may have obtained his
wealth, made a noble and benevolent use of it; for among many other
recorded acts of benevolence, he released from prison about three
hundred poor debtors by paying their harsh creditors.
Pope, at any rate, believed in Mahomet's integrity, for he mentions him
in his Epistle to Martha Blount in these lines:
"From peer or bishop 'tis no easy thing
To draw the man who loves his God or King.
Alas! I copy (or, my draught would fail,)
From honest Mahomet or plain Parson Hale."
Mahomet died of dropsy in 1726, just after these walls were painted.
Mustapha, after the death of George I., continued in the service of his
successor, and is supposed to have died in Hanover.
In the same group are also a Highlander, and a youth known as "Peter the
Wild Boy." He was found in the woods of Hamelin, near Hanover, in 1725,
and when first discovered was walking on his hands and feet, climbing
trees with the agility of a squirrel, and feeding upon grass and moss of
trees. He was supposed to be about thirteen years of age. He was
presented to George I., then in Hanover, when at dinner, and the King
made him taste of the different dishes at table. We get this information
from Pyne, who adds:
"He was sent over to England in April, 1726, and once more brought
before his Majesty and many of the nobility. He could not speak,
and scarcely appeared to have any idea of things, but was pleased
with the ticking of a watch, the splendid dresses of the King and
princess, and endeavoured to put on his own hand a glove that was
given to him by her royal highness. He was dressed in gaudy
habiliments, but at first disliked this confinement, and much
difficulty was found in making him lie on a bed: he, however, soon
walked upright, and often sat for his picture. He was at first
entrusted to the care of the philosophical Dr. Arbuthnot, who had
him baptized Peter; but notwithstanding all the doctor's pains, he
was unable to bring him to the use of speech, or to the
pronunciation of words.... He resisted all instruction, and existed
on a pension allowed in succession by the three sovereigns in whose
reigns he lived. He resided latterly at a farmer's near
Berkhampstead in Hertfordshire, till February, 1785, where he died,
at the supposed age of nearly ninety."
The =east wall= of the staircase is painted as far as the width of the
second landing with a continuation of the arcade, showing a fourth
compartment, in which are again figures of yeomen of the guard and
ladies--one holding an infant in her arms over the balustrade. Further
up, on the same wall, is painted a pedimented niche, with a figure of a
Roman emperor; and higher up still, on the top landing or balcony, are
figures of Hercules, Diana, Apollo, and Minerva.
All these paintings are on canvas, stretched on battens fixed to the
wall.
Painted Ceiling of the King's Grand Staircase.
The ceiling of the staircase being square and flat, it did not afford
much scope for the exercise of imaginative design, and Kent was obliged
to content himself with a very commonplace pattern--sufficiently
apparent in the accompanying plate. In the four corners are a sort of
double oblong panels, with similar square ones intervening between them.
The ground colour is gray. The oblongs are painted with ornamental
scroll-work and horses' heads, the squares with human heads. These
panels are bordered with very heavy projecting frames of plaster work,
white and gilt, as is also the great square compartment in the middle.
The panel of this last is painted with a representation of a circle,
within which are four semicircular spaces or apertures, apparently
intended to portray a pierced dome with galleries--but they are all in
quite impossible perspective. In three of these spaces are seen
musicians playing on various instruments, and spectators looking down
upon the company below. In the fourth "the painter," says Pyne, "has
introduced his own portrait, holding a palette and pencils, with two of
his pupils, who assisted him in the decoration of the walls, and a
female of a very pleasing countenance, which is supposed to be a
resemblance of an actress with whom he lived in the habits of peculiar
friendship, and to whom he left a part of his fortune."
All these decorations--including "the female of a very pleasing
countenance"--the visitor can make out, if he thinks it worth while to
incur a stiff neck in doing so; but, in truth, the figures, as well as
the perspective, are all so badly drawn and painted, that the less they
are examined the better. They prove to us once more that Kent, as a
pictorial artist, was beneath contempt. If, however, we are content to
look on his paintings on this staircase as mere formless colour
decoration, the general effect is rich and sumptuous enough.
The paintings of the staircase were finished, as we have said, about
1726. Three years after we find among the records the following warrant:
"For the delivery of the following for the King's service at
Kensington, viz. for the Great Staircase 6 lanthorns, 12 inches
square and 17 high, with a shade over each, an iron scroll and 2
flat sockets for candles, 1 lanthorn for a pattern 11 inches square
and 19-1/2 inches high, with scrolls, etc."
Our illustration, taken from Pyne's drawing dated 1818, shows these
lanthorns still in it. Except for these, which disappeared a long time
ago, and the tall German stove, which was only removed a few months ago,
the staircase appears exactly the same to-day.
=Presence Chamber.=
In this room we have a blending of the style of Wren, who originally
built and designed it, and of Kent, who redecorated it for George I. The
chimney-piece and over-mantel, with its fine Gibbons carving of foliage,
fruit, and flowers, the beautifully designed and richly carved oak
cornice and the panelled dado are Wren's; whereas the painted ceiling
and the doors are Kent's. It was, doubtless, he also who altered the
spacing of the window sashes, and substituted the present ugly large
panes for the originally picturesque small ones. There is record of this
being done in 1723, among the old accounts.
The walls appear originally to have been entirely lined, like most of
Wren's rooms, with oak wainscot, but this had entirely disappeared long
before the beginning of this century, when they were covered with
tapestry, over which were nailed a great quantity of pictures--among
them several which have now been brought back here from Hampton Court.
At the same period, in 1818, there was still hanging between the windows
"a looking-glass of large dimensions, tastefully decorated with festoons
of flowers, painted with great truth and spirit by Jean Baptiste
Monnoyer.... Queen Mary sat by the painter during the greatest part of
the time he was employed in painting it."
This looking-glass has disappeared. =Gibbons' fine carving=, however,
over the chimney-piece, of foliage, fruit, and flowers in lime wood
fortunately remains. When recently cleaned and repaired, it was found to
be so fragile and friable as to necessitate its being all painted over
in order to hold the fragments together. An oaken colour, "flatted," in
accord with the prevailing tone of the panelling in the room was thought
most suitable.
The two windows of this room, the sashes of which were altered by Kent,
look into a small courtyard.
The dimensions of the room are 27 feet 4 inches long, 26 feet 10 inches
wide, by 16 feet 4 inches high to the top of the cornice, 18 feet to the
highest part of the ceiling.
We presume it to have been in this room that William III. in May, 1698,
received the Count de Bonde, Ambassador Extraordinary from the Court of
Sweden, when he returned to the King the insignia of the Order of the
Garter, which had belonged to Charles XI., King of Sweden. "The
Sovereign assembled the Knights Companions upon this occasion in the
Presence Chamber, and all appeared in their mantles, caps, and feathers,
attended by the officers of the order in their mantles, and the heralds
in their coats."
Painted Ceiling of the Presence Chamber.
The ceiling of this room, like most of those in the state apartments
built by Wren, is "coved" or "saucer-domed," and was no doubt originally
quite plainly-coloured, with a light cream-tinted wash. As we see it
now, it gives the idea of an attempt by Kent to imitate Raphael's Loggie
in the Vatican. The paintings have been stated to be in imitation of
those "then recently discovered on the ruined walls of Herculaneum and
Pompeii," but these were not unearthed until twenty-five years after.
Kent has, however, carefully followed what indications he could get of
the decorative treatment of Roman classic art. The colours are
bright-reds and blues, enriched with gilding on a white ground. The
ceiling, or rather the plaster behind the cornice, bears the date, 1724.
Faulkner, in his "History of Kensington," considers that "a proof of his
liberal zeal for the interest of his profession is clearly evinced by
his adopting this antique ornament rather than his own historical
compositions." Why this should be the case, however, he does not deign
to explain.
Ceremonial Pictures of the Queen's Reign.
In this room are arranged the ceremonial pictures of the reign of the
Queen, copied from well-known pictures by British artists. They afford
most accurate representations of the events depicted, and no doubt will
live to remotest history, as interesting and curious specimens of early
Victorian art. The scenes, and the participants in them are all too well
known to require explanation. Perhaps later on the numbered "key-plans"
will be put up to assist in the identification of each personage.
271 Coronation of the Queen in Westminster Abbey, June 28th, 1838. Her
Majesty taking the Sacrament . . . . . _After_ C. R. LESLIE, R.A.
When the Queen had been formally invested with the insignia of her
sovereignty, and had received the homage of the peers, she laid
aside the crown and sceptre, and following the Archbishop, advanced
to the altar to receive the sacrament.
272 Marriage of the Queen and Prince Albert at the Chapel Royal, St.
James's, 10th February, 1840 . . . . . _After_ HAYTER.
273 Christening of the Princess Royal at Buckingham Palace, 10th
February, 1841 . . . . . _After_ C. R. LESLIE, R.A.
274 Marriage of the Princess Royal to Prince Frederick William of
Prussia in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, 25th January,
1858 . . . . . _After_ J. PHILLIP, R.A.
275 Christening of the Prince of Wales in St. George's Chapel, Windsor
Castle, 28th of January, 1842 . . . . . _After_ HAYTER.
276 Marriage of the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra of
Denmark in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 10th March,
1863 . . . . . _After_ W. P. FRITH, R.A.
277 A Sketch of the Queen leaving Westminster Abbey after her
Coronation . . . . . _By_ CAMILLE ROQUEPLAN.
Camille Roqueplan was a French artist sent over by Louis Philippe
to make sketches at the Queen's Coronation.
278 The Marriage of H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and
H.R.H. Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia in St. George's Chapel,
Windsor, 13th March, 1879 . . . . . _After_ SIDNEY P. HALL.
[Illustration: Decoration]
[Illustration: Decoration]
CHISWICK PRESS:--CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
* * * * *
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: