The New Tapestry Drawing Room, Castle Howard is Completed
The new Tapestry Drawing Room at Castle Howard is a completely new architectural treatment to a room which was destroyed by fire in 1940. The room had been left as an empty shell of charred stonework ever since. The brief was to restore the room to what Vanbrugh would have done and incorporate the four Vanderbank tapestries which were designed and woven for the room in 1706.
The architect Francis Terry worked in collaboration with interior designers Alec Cobbe and Remy Renzullo to realise this vision. The focus of the design is a baroque chimneypiece made from scagliola with an elaborate overmantel, framing a painting of the ‘Judgement of Paris’. A large entablature crowns the room with a decorative rinceau design in the frieze. The two doors have overdoor paintings depicting the life of Joseph.
Care has been taken to use traditional materials and techniques where possible. All architectural elements of the project were hand drawn by Francis Terry at full size. Unusually, the room uses onsite run plasterwork made in the traditional way, rather than fibrous plaster made off site which is conventionally used. The frieze of the fireplace has a head of Pluto framed by a cartouche which was carved by hand from limewood. The room is painted a dark blue to bring out the colours of the much-faded tapestries. In keeping with the baroque spirit, the decoration is extensively gilded.
Everything in the room, apart from the antiques, paintings, and tapestries, was made in the UK within the past eighteen months. The crafts used for this room include: - hand carved timber classical ornament, traditional run plasterwork, scagliola manufacture and gilding. The craftsmanship is truly outstanding, and it is a joy to see that the UK is still world leaders in these fields.
