Visit to the Scottish Borders 28 June – 1 July

Some twenty members of the Chippendale Society and the Leeds Art Collections Fund took part in this visit to a number of houses with wonderful 18th century decorative art collections and many with specific Chippendale associations.

Our first stop was Alnwick Castle, the seat of the 18th century Earl of Northumberland to whom Chippendale dedicated the first edition of the Director (in the vain hope of future patronage). An important anniversary was being celebrated on the day we arrived, with free admission to the general public. Despite the enormous crowds we were given privileged treatment with a senior guide who was an excellent raconteur. The Castle’s sumptuous interiors are being extensively redecorated but many improvements are already in place. The great Domenico Cucci cabinets from Versailles were absent (one on loan to the Baroque exhibition at the V&A), but there was plenty else to enjoy. In addition to the famous furniture by Linnell and Morel and Seddon (much of it originally at Northumberland House, London) we noted a particularly unusual and handsome suite of splat backed mahogany chairs in the dining room, with tapering fluted legs, scrolled backs and shaped sides.

We departed next morning from our riverside hotel at Kelso, the 1760s Ednam House (originally known as Havana House), for Dalmeny House where we were welcomed with coffee in the Library. The house has been very deliberately themed to display the many treasures of the Roseberys and from their several houses, not least some of the finest pieces once assembled at Mentmore. Among the fine English and Scottish furniture were a remarkable suite of chairs once belonging to Warren Hastings at Daylesford, as well as pieces designed by the architect William Wilkins and others supplied by Trotter of Edinburgh.

We moved south to Arniston House where we were given a warm welcome (and later a very substantial cream tea in the Chinese Room) by the owner Mrs Dundas Bekker and her daughter who acted as our guides through this fascinating William Adam house, the seat of one of Chippendale’s early patrons. Identifying his furniture is complicated because of the lack of documents, but there were plenty of items which clearly indicated the master’s hand: gilt pier glasses in the dining room – not dissimilar to examples at Dumfries House (their accompanying tables in store), a pair of candlestands and a breakfast table in the Oak Room, as well as a spectacular library writing table. As a coup de grace while we were boarding the coach the owner produced her ancestor’s copy of the Director which has probably never left the house.

Our day ended with a private evening visit to Floors Castle where we admired some of the well known treasures: in addition to the French pieces collected by Duchess May, we saw her grand suite of William and Mary chairs from Hornby Castle and of course the Pascall side tables from Temple Newsam – surely some of the boldest examples of pre-Director rococo carving to be found anywhere in Britain.

We began the next day at Robert Adam’s  Mellerstain House, seat of the Earl of Haddington, with its elegant neo Classical (and some Gothick) interiors replete with fine English and Scottish furniture. We particularly admired a group of walnut pieces and a pair of Paxton-style gilt mirrors on the staircase landing.

Prior to our visit to Gosford House we were very kindly entertained to lunch at the new home of the Dowager Lady Wemyss, a few miles away, and who then remained with us as our guide. The magnificent pink marble staircase and gallery at Gosford never fails to astonish. As well as its superb paintings, especially portraits, its furnishings are also of the greatest interest and stylishness, many of them from the finest Regency makers in London and Edinburgh, contemporaries of Chippendale junior. Not least are a group by Trotter, and most memorably a crocodile couch which looked as though it had escaped from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton.

From here we travelled east to Tyninghame House, another former seat of the Haddington’s, where we were welcomed to the West Wing by the owners Sir Timothy Clifford, former Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, and Lady Clifford. They have made the magnificent former ballroom into a spectacular setting of their own eclectic collection of paintings, furniture and works of art of all kinds. Sir Timothy’s enthusiasm as he guided us round the room was truly infectious, as he described the stories of how each treasure had been found and the subsequent research and conservation of each piece. After a welcome cup of tea and biscuits we returned to Kelso.

Next day we spent the morning at Paxton House, where the Director of the Paxton Trust, Mr John Malden welcomed us and acted as our guide. Mr Malden very kindly provided us all with photocopies of the Chippendale correspondence and the 1786 – 90 accounts with the firm to which we could refer to as we toured the house. We began in the newly restored kitchen wing and then moved on to the main block with its distinctive ‘neat but substantially good’ mahogany pieces so characteristic of the Chippendale firm during the mid to late 1770s. For those of us familiar with the Dining Room at Harewood it was instructive to compare the same essential models but here in slightly simplified forms and partly scaled down. Both the Dining and Drawing Rooms here must count as some of the most complete interiors of their date to be found anywhere in Britain, retaining in situ almost all their original furnishings. A particular thrill to see was the newly returned architect’s table sold from the house in 1970. Mr Malden also kindly enabled us to visit the Textile Store with its remarkable collections of costume and upholstery materials. 

After an excellent lunch in the Stables we crossed the Tweed and made our way southwards.

Particular thanks for this very successful visit must go to all the private owners and administrators of the houses who so kindly shared their treasures with us. Tony Mills, our Hon Events Organiser, planned the itinerary and worked hard to ensure all the arrangements went smoothly, and James Lomax, our Hon Curator, provided much of the commentary and background information.