magnificent apartment, 81 feet long by 30 in width, and very lofty.
The ceiling is divided into compartments, each of which contains
a beautiful painting set in richly-gilt framing; the whole of the
intermediate parts being painted in fresco, with medallions of crest
and coronet and monogram of the Duke. Prominent among the subjects
on the ceiling are Sir James Thornhill’s “Perseus and Andromeda,”
paintings by Louis Charon, and a view of Chatsworth, with allegorical
figures in the front. Over this room is the open PAVILION, from which
extensive and charming views of the surrounding country are obtained.
[Illustration: _The Pavilion and Orangery, from the East._]
The lower, or BASEMENT STORY, remains to be noticed. This, like the
other stories we have described, runs round the four sides of the
quadrangle of the main building; the basement of the north wing being
devoted to the kitchens and domestic and business offices. The grand
staircase occupies the inner south-east angle, the grand hall and
various private apartments taking up the east side. On the north is
the entrance, the sub-hall, the north corridor, and various private
apartments. The west front is occupied by the Duke’s private suite of
rooms, the Marquis of Hartington’s private rooms, the west entrance,
the west staircase, and corridor. The south side comprises the south
corridor, the Chapel at the south-west corner, the Oak Room, the south
entrance, the Stag Parlour, and other apartments. It will only be our
province on this story (having already described the sub-hall, north
corridor, and grand hall), to speak of the corridors, the Chapel, and
cursorily of one or two other of the apartments on this floor. Passing
beneath the grand staircase in the great hall is the “GROTTO ROOM,”
the ceiling of which, supported by four massive pillars and twelve
pilasters, is divided into compartments; some of them being enriched
by the _insignia_ of the Order of the Garter. Opposite the entrance is
a boldly and powerfully sculptured fountain-piece, the central subject
of which is Venus at the Bath; the accessories being dolphins, crabs,
lobsters, fish, and other appropriate objects. To the east of this
room is an ante-room giving access to the south-east sitting-room (a
charming apartment filled with interesting pictures and other works of
art), and to the apartments on the east, as well as to the grounds. On
the west is the SOUTH CORRIDOR, from which doors open into the various
rooms on this side. In this corridor are several curious old paintings,
and it is further adorned with bronzes and some splendidly-carved
antique coffers. In the centre of this corridor a door opens into
the OAK ROOM, and, although this is not shown to visitors, it is so
truly and strikingly beautiful that we cannot resist the temptation
of just alluding to it. This was formerly the “Chaplain’s Room,” but
by the good taste of its late noble owner was altered and made what
it certainly now is, one of the gems of the house. It is lined on all
sides with the most magnificent old oak carving of panels, figures,
busts, &c.; and the ceiling is supported by four majestic twisted oak
pillars, with composite capitals, carved in foliage, and reminding
one forcibly of Raffaelle’s celebrated cartoon. The entablature is
heraldic: it is composed of thirty shields of arms, emblazoned in their
proper colours. The lower part of the “wooden walls” are arranged as
book-cases, and above these the panels are doubly filled with a series
of beautiful landscapes and sea-pieces, by Carmichael. The centre of
the floor, within the oak piers, is of oak parqueterie; the remainder
is filled with tiles, in imitation of tesselated pavement. Adjoining
this room is the Chapel.
The CHAPEL at Chatsworth, which occupies the south-west angle of the
mansion, is perhaps the most striking and peculiar to be seen in any of
the “stately homes” of our country. Its arrangement also—for its altar
is at the _west_ end—is somewhat unusual, and its decorations are of
the most exquisitely beautiful character. This elegant chapel is 47
feet 4 inches in length by 23 feet 10 inches in width, and in height
it occupies two entire stories, reaching from the ground-floor up to
the floor of the upper, or state-room, story. At its east end, midway
in height, and communicating with the gallery of paintings and with the
billiard-room, is a gallery supported upon two massive pillars of black
marble, with white marble capitals and bases. The chapel is lighted
by three windows on the upper story. The floor is paved with marble,
and the altar-piece is also of marble; the pillar and steps of black,
and the remainder of white marble. On the sides are two fine figures
of Faith and Hope, by Caius Gabriel Cibber (father of Colley Cibber),
who was much employed at Chatsworth from 1688 to 1690, or thereabouts,
and who, besides these marble figures, carved two large Sphinxes,
statues of Pallas, Apollo, a Triton, and other figures. The top of the
altar-piece is exquisitely sculptured with cherubs and festoons, and at
the sides are vases of flowers. In the lower pediment or recess is a
dove, and there are also some charming figures of cherubs, &c.; under
the recess is a most chaste and beautiful bust of our Saviour.
[Illustration: _Carving over one of the Doors of the Chapel._]
The chapel is wainscoted throughout in its lower story with cedar,
which, besides its beautiful rich colour, gives a peculiar yet very
grateful odour to the place, and accords well with the subdued light
and its general effect. The reading-desk also is of cedar. The ceiling
and the upper story of the apartment are painted in the same remarkably
fine manner as those of the state-rooms, by Verrio and Laguerre; the
subjects being, “The Incredibility of St. Thomas,” “Christ and the
Woman of Samaria,” “Christ Healing the Blind,” and the “Ascension of
our Saviour.” There are, also, figures of the Christian attributes,
Justice, Mercy, Charity, and Liberality.
[Illustration: _Carving over one of the Doors of the Chapel._]
The great glory, artistically, however, of the Chapel at Chatsworth,
and, indeed, as we have already said, of the state-rooms of this noble
pile, are the splendid wood-carvings which adorn its walls and the
heads of its upper doors. Between the large panels of the cedar walls
are exquisite pendants, ten in number, and others occur on each side of
the altar. The pendants consist of flowers, fruit, foliage, and corn,
festooned and entwined with drapery in the most free and graceful
manner, and so true to nature in every detail as to be deceptive.
Over the doors in the gallery are fine figures of Cupids with musical
instruments. These, and some of the pendants, we engrave.
[Illustration: _Carvings in the Chapel._]
And now it becomes necessary to say a word or two as to the authors
of these and the other exquisite carvings which adorn the rooms of
Chatsworth. Those in the chapel, as well as some others, are generally
believed and generally stated to be by Grinling Gibbons; and if
marvellous skill in execution, masterly conception, delicate handling,
and purity of design, be any special characteristic of the work of
that great genius, then, most assuredly, there is sufficient in these
examples to lead the most able judges to appropriate them to him;
judgment, however, and popular belief must not be allowed to usurp the
place of facts, and it is an undoubted fact that in the accounts of
the building of Chatsworth, although the names of all the more noted
artists and contractors appear, that of Grinling Gibbons does not, it
is stated, once occur; still it is possible that work might have been
done by him, and it is conjectured that as the sum of £14 15_s._ was
paid to Henry Lobb, the carpenter, for cases in which some _carved
work_, statues, and pictures, were conveyed to Chatsworth from London,
this carved work _might_ be by Gibbons.
The principal wood-carvers were Thomas Young, William Davies, Joel
Lobb, and Samuel Watson, to the latter of whom is undoubtedly due
the credit of much of the work which has of late been ascribed to
Gibbons. Those who have admired the exquisite carving of flowers, dead
game, fish, nets, festoons, &c., in the State Dining-room, to which
we have alluded, and have considered them to be by the master-hand of
Gibbons, will perhaps learn, with some little surprise, that they are
the creations of the genius of Watson (a Derbyshire worthy), and his
co-labourers, Lobb and Davies. The following is the memorandum relating
to the agreement as to this work, contained in the original book of
work done by Watson from 1690 to 1712. “Sept. 9, 1692. Joel Lobb,
William Davies, and Samuel Watson agreed with the Earl of Devonshire
to execute in lime-tree, the carving of the great chamber, to be done
equal to anything of the kind before executed, for which they were to
receive £400; this carving consists of flowers, wreaths, dead game,
cherubs,” &c. The original designs by Watson for some of the carving in
this room (as well as in others) are preserved.
Samuel Watson was born at Heanor, in Derbyshire, in 1662, and is said
to have studied under—indeed to have been an apprentice of—C. Oakley,
in London. Soon after completing his apprenticeship he commenced work
at Chatsworth, and here he continued to be employed, as the accounts
show, until 1712, only three years before his death, which took place
in 1715. He was buried at his native village, Heanor, where a tablet
remains to his memory, bearing the following verse:—
“Watson is gone, whose skilful Art display’d
To the very life whatever Nature made;
View but his wondrous works in Chatsworth hall,
Which are so gazed at and admired of all
You’ll say ‘tis pity he should hidden lie,
And nothing said to revive his memory.
My mournful friends, forbear your tears,
For I shall rise when Christ appears.
“This SAMUEL WATSON died 29th March, 1715, aged 53 years.”
There is nothing, so far as we are aware, to show by whom the carvings
in the chapel were executed, but they have been pronounced by competent
judges, and by no less an authority in late years than Mr. Rogers, to
be the work of Gibbons. The probability is they are by him, and it is
also equally probable that he was the presiding genius of the place,
supplying designs, and, besides working himself, directing the labours
of others. We regret that space will not admit of our speaking at
greater length upon this tempting and fascinating subject; but, giving
one or two engravings of portions of the carvings,[39] we must now pass
on to say a few words concerning the exquisite modern decorations of
the private library and rooms adjoining.
The WEST LIBRARY and the LEATHER ROOM are, without exception, the
most purely elegant and chaste in their fittings and decorations of
any apartments we know, and nothing could possibly exceed the purity
of taste displayed in them. The ceiling of the Library is delicately
frescoed in arabesque foliage, and groups of figures in rich colours,
and the spaces between the book-presses are similarly decorated.
Among the decorations of the ceiling are several beautifully painted
medallion-heads of Virgilius Maro, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Horatius
Flaccus, Titus Livius, and others: over the book-cases are also
medallion-portraits, supported by figures and foliage, of famous poets,
with appropriate sentiments: thus, over Shakspeare occurs “Exhausted
worlds and then imagined new;” over Milton, “A Poet blind yet bold;”
Byron, “The wandering outlaw of his own brave land;” Scott, “The
Ariosto of the North;” Chaucer, “Well of English undefiled;” Thomson,
“As Nature various, and as Art complete,” and so on. The doors of this
and the adjoining room are so arranged with imitation book-backs, that,
when they are closed, it is impossible to see any means of egress or
ingress. The books on these doors (like those in the Great Library)
have fictitious names, many of which, written by Hood, although perhaps
not in good keeping with the excellent taste of the rest of the
fittings, are extremely amusing, and worthy of his inimitable vein of
humour. Of these it is difficult to resist giving an example or two.
Here they are:—“Horn Took on Catching Cows;” “Wren’s Voyage to the
Canaries;” “Dyspepsia and Heartburn, by the Bishop of Sodor;” “Dibdin’s
Cream of Tar;” “Minto’s Coins;” “Merry’s Gay;” “Esterhazy on Spring
Fogs;” “Inigo Jones on Secret Entrances;” “Hyde upon Wood;” “Macadam’s
Rhodes;” “Egg, by Shelley;” “Skye, by McCloud;” “Bramah’s Rape of the
Lock;” “Beveridge on the Beer Act;” “D. Cline on Consumption,” and many
others.
[Illustration: _The Private or West Library._]
The “Leather Room” has its walls and ceiling formed entirely of
embossed leather richly gilt; the ceiling heightened in medallions
with blue ground and relief-painted figures, and with richly decorated
pendants. Adjoining these rooms is the West Entrance, the floor of
which is of mosaic, and the ceiling bears an allegorical painting of
the Arts; in the centre is Architecture, holding a drawing of the west
front of Chatsworth, crowned by Fame, and beneath are Cupids with plan
of Chatsworth, and compasses, &c. In the coving are Cupids, and on the
walls hang some interesting pictures.
In the West Corridor are preserved some highly-interesting Roman
inscribed sepulchral stones, and other sculptures. One of these is
inscribed:—
“DIS MANIBVS
LUCCIAE · NYMPHICES
QVAE · VIXIT · ANNIS · XVIII
FECIT
M · ATILIVS · PHILOLOGVS
CONIVGI
CARISSIMAE
ET · SIBI.”
And another is inscribed as follows:—
“DIS MANIBVS
TI · CLAVDI · THALLIANI
VIX · AN · XX · DIEB · XX
CLAVDIA · FELICVLA
MATER · FILIO
PIISIMO.”
In the West Lodge, at the entrance gates, are also preserved many
fragments of ancient sculpture, and a portion of a Roman tesselated
pavement with _guilloche_ pattern and other borders. Among the
sculptures is a marble cinerary urn bearing the following inscription:—
“DIS MANIBVS
CARIIAPMIIB MVSA F · APOIII
NARIS · PATRONVS CONIVGI BENI
MIRENII H IVIIA MYRAMAIIRE F PIIS.”
Another cinerary urn is inscribed:—
“D M
REMNO.”
There are also other portions of inscriptions, and among the more
interesting of these remains are:—A fine _torso_ of Venus, and
another _torso_ of a female, of very similar dimensions; the head of
a stag, life-size, presented to the Duchess of Devonshire by the King
of Naples; heads of fawns, of Jupiter, of a Cupid, of Silenus, &c.;
part of a colossal medallion of Lucius Verus; a bas-relief of Bacchus,
supported by a younger male figure; an _alto-relievo_ of a procession
of Silenus, in which that god is shown seated on a chariot, and leaning
on a young Bacchante, and a fawn is playing on the double pipe; a
number of architectural ornaments; some fine masks and portions of
masks; an _alto-relievo_ of three female figures and the dog Cerberus;
a fragment representing Diana and Actæon; two right hands, one grasping
the other firmly, as if struggling in wrestling or fighting; some
Egyptian figures, &c., and many other fragments.
[Illustration: _The Sculpture Gallery and Orangery._]
Above the Lodge, too, some good architectural and other fragments of
sculpture are preserved.
[Illustration: _Bust of the late Duke of Devonshire._]
The gardens and grounds of Chatsworth are marvels of beauty, and are,
indeed, in many respects, matchless both for their picturesqueness,
their elegance, and the skill with which they have been laid out.
Leaving the mansion from the door of the Orangery, to the left is a
spacious alcove, and to the right, running in a direct line for more
than a quarter of a mile in length, is a broad gravel path, at the
summit of which, beneath a lofty avenue of trees, is seen a gigantic
vase, bearing the simple name of “Blanche,” in touching memory of the
much-loved and accomplished Lady Blanche Georgiana Howard, the wife of
the present Duke of Devonshire.
From this spot the view on all sides is truly grand (embracing the
mansion, the gardens, the lakes, basins and fountains, the woods and
shrubberies, the park and the river, and the distant country towards
Rowsley), and paths lead in various directions among the beauties of
the place: here a delightful little dell or a fernery where ferns and
heaths grow in wild profusion, there another dell of rhododendrons, or
with statuary among heathery banks and masses of rock. Near here, too,
is a sylvan slope, headed by a gigantic bronze bust of the late Duke,
mounted on a pillar, composed of fragments of an ancient Greek fluted
column from the Temple of Minerva at Sunium. On the base are these
beautiful verses by Lord Carlisle:—
“These fragments stood on Sunium’s airy steep;
They reared aloft Minerva’s guardian shrine;
Beneath them rolled the blue Egean deep;
And the Greek pilot hail’d them as divine.
“Such was, e’en then, their look of calm repose.
As wafted round them came the sounds of fight,
When the glad shouts of conquering Athens rose
O’er the long track of Persia’s broken flight.
“Tho’ clasped by prostrate worshippers no more,
They yet shall breathe a thrilling lesson here;
Tho’ distant from their own immortal shore,
The spot they grace is still to freedom dear.”
Of this classic pedestal, with its crowning bust, we give an engraving
on the preceding page.
Opposite to the Orangery is the FRENCH GARDEN, with its forest of
pillars surmounted by busts, its grand old Egyptian figures, its
Chinese beakers and vases, its sculptured figures and groups, and its
raised parterres: near this are green-houses, conservatories, and
camelia and orchid houses, with their endless store of beauties; while
here and there an antique tomb, or sculptured figures, or groups of
statuary, add their charms to the place.
[Illustration: _The French Garden._]
From above this part of the gardens a broad path to the right leads on
to the Great Conservatory, passing on its way the Cascade, the Willow
Tree, and other interesting spots. The Grand Cascade, of which we
give an engraving, the Willow Tree, and other parts of the artificial
water-works, were designed and executed, as already stated, in the
early part of last century, by M. Grillet, and added to and repaired
by the late Duke, under the direction of Sir J. Paxton. The water
supplying the Great Cascade, the fountains, and the other portions of
the works, falls, as will be seen in our engraving, from the summit of
the wooded heights at the back of the grounds, and is then conveyed
along a lofty arched aqueduct, from the end of which it falls with
considerable force, and is then carried underground to the temple, at
the head of the cascade. Here it rises to the domed roof of the temple,
which becomes a sheet of water, and, rushing through the various carved
channels prepared for it in the groups of figures, &c., makes its way
down the cascade, formed of a long series of stone steps with flats at
regular intervals, and at the bottom sinks into a subterranean channel
at the spectator’s feet.
[Illustration: _The Great Cascade._]
The Temple, which is open, is of circular form in its interior, with
recess and niches with stone seats, the niches enriched with carved
shell-heads and festoons of flowers. Externally, an open temple
supported on six pillars surmounts the dome. In front, over the central
arch, is a powerfully-carved recumbent figure of Neptune holding an
urn; below him, on either side, is an immense dolphin, with head
downwards; and on the sides are water-nymphs with vases. On either side
the open archway is a gigantic dolphin’s head, and at the base are
dragons. From the whole of these figures and heads the water rushes
out, and, simultaneously, two beautiful fountains rise in front of the
temple.
[Illustration: _The Alcove._]
In the grounds not far from this temple is a charming ALCOVE of
Moresque design, which forms a beautiful retreat, at a bend in the
drive, with a pleasant little rill running down near it. The front
of the alcove is formed of two horse-shoe shaped arches supported on
granite pillars, the spandrels carved with monograms; on the ceiling
are the Cavendish arms and motto twice repeated. On the wall inside are
two tablets, one bearing the following lines:—
“Won from the brow of yonder headlong hill,
Through grassy channels, see the sparkling rill
O’er the chafed pebbles, in its murmuring flow,
Sheds freshness on the thirsty vale below,
Quick’ning the ground till trees of every zone
In Chatsworth’s soil and clime, forget their own.”
H. L. Sept. MDCCCXXXIX.
On the other is this inscription:—
“Ecce, supercilio clivosi tramitis undam
Elicit: illa cadens raucum per levia murmur
Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva.”
[Illustration: _Waterworks—The Willow Tree._]
The WILLOW-TREE, one of the most striking and clever of the
water-works, is a weeping willow, about twenty feet in height, entirely
formed of copper and lead, and coloured in imitation of a real tree. It
stands in a charming little circular dell, overhung with forest-trees,
and surrounded by banks and rockeries covered with luxuriant ferns and
other plants, itself rising from a central rock-work, around which runs
a path. At the entrance to this little dell are a vase and fountain,
and at the opposite side is a leaden statue of Pan, holding in his hand
the Pandean pipes, and having a goat at his feet. From each leaf and
stem of this remarkable tree, the water, when turned on from a small
hidden cave in the rock in front, rushes out in a rapid stream, and
thus forms a novel kind of “shower-bath” to any luckless visitor who
may happen to be beneath it.
[Illustration: _Part of the Rock-work._]
At the same time, a number of jets rise up from hidden pipes all around
the dell, and these streams being directed angularly upwards towards
the centre, while those from the tree fall in all directions downwards,
there is no way of escape without being caught in the heavy shower. Of
this tree we give an engraving from a photograph taken specially for
the purpose, with others of our illustrations, by Mr. George Green, of
Worthing, an eminent photographic artist, whom we specially engaged for
these Chatsworth views, and whose skill deserves high commendation.
Near the Willow-tree, passing onwards towards the grand conservatory,
is a rocky archway of wondrous construction, and a little beyond this
a “rocky portal”—an immense block of unhewn stone, turning upon an
axis with such ease as to be moved with the pressure of a single finger.
Passing through this portal, one of the next most striking objects is
a perpendicular rock, of great altitude, down whose face a stream of
water is for ever falling, and this water supplies some charming little
lakes filled with aquatic plants, in whose windings and intricacies the
botanist and lover of nature might revel for hours.
[Illustration: _The Great Conservatory._]