Houghton Hall: The Prime Minister, the Empress and the Heritage

Front Cover
Andrew Moore
Bloomsbury USA, 1996 - Architecture - 176 pages
During his lifetime, Sir Robert Walpole (1675 - 1745), first Prime Minister of England, amassed a magnificent collection of paintings and sculptures at Houghton Hall, the house he built in Norfolk. This book recreates the Houghton of Walpole's day, with many of its original paintings, drawings, and objets d'art, arranged room-by-room as Walpole and his friends and advisors, notably the great designer William Kent, would have shown them.

The innovative grandeur of the building and the splendour of its contents combined to make Houghton one of the premier houses of England, and thus it has remained. But a large part of Walpole's collection of paintings was sold for just £40,000 by his grandson George, Earl of Orford, to Catherine the Great, enlightened and acquisitive Empress of Russia's Golden Age. The majority remain in Russia, and only family portraits, furniture and sculpture are still to be seen at Houghton.

Essays by experts including John Harris and John Cornforth discuss the building and furnishing of Houghton, the Prime Minister as collector, the sale to Catherine the Great, and its legacy. This lavish book is the first to do justice to the rich and complex heritage of Houghton, one of England's greatest treasures.

From inside the book

 

Contents

Foreword
6
Britains First Prime Minister
12
The Architecture of the House
20
Copyright

19 other sections not shown

Common terms and phrases

3rd Earl Aedes Walpolianae architectural artist Bedchamber Boydell's bust Cabinet Campbell carved catalogue ceiling chairs Charles Charles Jervas chimneypiece Christie's cm Inscribed cm Prov Colen Campbell Cornforth decoration descent to present Downing Street Drawing Room Dressing Room Duke Dyck Earl of Orford early eighteenth century Empress frames furniture garden George Vertue George Walpole Gibbs gilded green velvet hang Horace Walpole Houghton Gallery Houghton Hall Houghton pictures hung included inventory James John Boydell Kent's Kneller Lady Cholmondeley landscape later London Lord Cholmondeley Lord Orford mahogany Marble Parlour Marquess of Cholmondeley mezzotint Museum Norfolk Oil on canvas overmantel painter park Paul de Lamerie plates portrait Poussin present owner Lit prints recorded Richard Earlom Room at Houghton Rysbrack Saloon shows Sir Robert Walpole Sir Robert's collection sold Stone Hall survives Thomas tion walls Walpole's Whigs William Kent

About the author (1996)

Andrew Moore assisted James McNair on the last 10 of his cookbooks, including recipe development and editing. James and Andrew divide their time between a home in Northern California and their lodge on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.

Bibliographic information

TitleHoughton Hall: The Prime Minister, the Empress and the Heritage
EditorAndrew Moore
ContributorsNorwich Castle Museum, Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood (London, England)
Editionillustrated
PublisherBloomsbury USA, 1996
Original fromthe University of California
DigitizedAug 20, 2010
ISBN0856674389, 9780856674389
Length176 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Architecture / Buildings / Residential
Architecture / History / General
Art / General
  
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