Part 5

In the view of the ordinary Londoner, with eye too much dazzled and demoralized by the tawdry vulgarities of the over-gilded, over-looking-glassed, blazing, modern "Restaurant" style of decoration, this beautiful staircase, in its just proportions and its subdued simplicity, may appear plain, if not mean.

Yet as an example of the genuine, unaffected old English treatment of oak wainscoting, as a cover and ornament to large wall spaces, nothing could be more pleasing and more appropriate. The deep rich, almost ruddy, tone of colour of the wood, the admirable proportion and balance of the stiles and rails to the sizes of the panels, their adjustment to the rise of the stairs, and their fitment to the various spaces on the walls, produce an effect of soundness and comfort, most admirable and nowhere to be matched.

Old Oak Wainscoting of the Staircase.

When the work of cleaning down this woodwork was taken in hand last autumn, it was, as the phrase is, "as black as your hat;" and it was then supposed to have been smeared over, at some time or other, with a black stain. It proved, however, to be only ingrained with dirt and dust, which had been coated over with red-lead and boiled oil, and which quickly yielded to cleansing.

Nevertheless, the oak is not English, but probably Norwegian, which seems to be richer in the grain than our own native tree. It is clear that the wood must have been carefully cut in such a way as to show as much "figure" as possible--the cuttings being, with this distinct object, as nearly as possible radiating from the centre of the trunk of the tree--the "medullary rays" of the wood being, in fact, sliced through, instead of intersected transversely. This has the effect of displaying the largest amount of the grain.

Window Sashes of the Staircase.

The visitor should notice the difference in the sashes of the two windows on the left-hand side of the stairs as you go up, as compared with the other two on the landing at the top. The first two windows have had large panes of glass--2 feet 1 inch high by 1 foot 2-1/2 inches wide--and thin bars, substituted for the original smaller panes--12-1/2 inches high by 9-1/2 inches wide--and the thick moulded bars, which still remain in the landing windows. This side by side comparison enables us to estimate how deplorable and stupid was the want of taste, which led to the destruction here, as elsewhere in this Palace, of the picturesque, well-proportioned spacings of the window panes, to insert instead ill-proportioned panes and thin bars.

Not until the time of George II. did this foolish, inartistic fancy come into vogue. Wren, of course, knew what he was about when he selected the sizes of the spaces and bars. He determined them on definite principles of scale and proportion, according to the sashes they were intended to fill, and according, also, to the dimensions of the room, and the plan and shape of the surrounding wainscot. He had, in fact, eight or ten different types of sashes--the mouldings, as well as the widths and sizes of the bars varying, and the shapes of the panes--square or upright--varying also; not like your ingenious modern builder, who runs out "mouldings" at so much a foot, mitres them up into equal spaces, and, regardless of scale and proportion, sticks in the same sized sashes, panes, and bars everywhere, in large lofty rooms or small low ones--all alike.

The dimensions of this staircase are 24 feet 3 inches long by 22 feet 10 inches wide, and 25 feet high.

=Queen Mary's Gallery.=

Queen Mary and Queen Anne are the sovereigns with whom this gallery is mainly associated; and indeed, it is now--since the restorations of the last twelve months, which have mainly consisted in repairing the panelling, and removing the paint with which it was all smeared over in the reign of George I.--to be seen for the first time for a hundred and seventy-four years, exactly as it appeared in their time. It remains, indeed, more intact than any other room in the Palace; and with its beautiful deep-toned oak panelling, its richly-carved cornice, its low-coved ceiling, and its closely-spaced, thick-barred window-sashes, it has a most comfortable, old-fashioned air.

There is no storey above this gallery, but only a span roof; and it was originally--we do not know exactly when--a true "gallery" in the old English meaning of the word, that is, a long chamber with windows on both sides. The window spaces or recesses, on the right or west side, still remain behind the panelling, and are exactly opposite the existent windows on the left or east side. We may observe, also, that the room seems at one time to have terminated just beyond the sixth window, reckoning from the entrance, the line of the wall behind the wainscot on the right, setting back at this point about a foot; while on the left side, both inside and out, there is a straight joint in the brickwork, and a break in the line of the wall.

Wainscoting and Carvings of Queen Mary's Gallery.

The wainscoting, as we have already indicated, was fixed here in the early years of the reign of Queen Mary. The panels, which are very thin and of unusual breadth, nevertheless have remained but little twisted or buckled to this day, owing to Wren's particular and invariable insistence that only the best seasoned wood should be used in all the work under his charge. In the course of the restorations, it has, however, been necessary to take it all to pieces in order to repair the injuries of nearly two centuries of misusage and neglect. Here, as in the staircase, are to be noticed the extreme richness in grain of the old oak, and its deep warm tone of colour.

From the old enrolled parchment accounts of the years 1689-1691, we find that Henry Hobb and Alexander Forst were the joiners who made the wainscoting, as well as the "shashes," shutters, window-boards, chimney-pieces, picture frames, shelves, etc.; while Nicolas Alcocke, William Emet, and Grinling Gibbons carved "1,405 feet Ionick medallion and hollow cornish; 942 feet of picture frame over the doors and chimneys, and 89 feet of astragall moulding, about the glasses in the chimneys." Another item of payment in the same accounts, also relating to the work here, is the following:

"To Gerard Johnson, Cabinet maker, for severall pannells of wainscot, covered with looking-glass for chimney pieces in the King's dining-roome, the gallerie, and over the doors, and for putting them up--£100."

Among others here referred to were doubtless =the looking-glasses= over the two chimney-pieces in this gallery. These are particularly fine and worthy of notice. When the restorations were begun last summer, they were literally dropping to pieces, falling in shreds, we might say. The greatest care has been taken to piece the bits together; and to replace the missing portions. Only such patched and added parts have been regilt; the old gilding still remaining almost as bright and untarnished as when these glasses were first put up, two hundred years ago, by Gerard Johnson, cabinet maker, and Robert Streeter, serjeant painter. Honour to their names, as two good old English handicraftsmen, whose honest work thus survives to this day!

Over each of the four doors are long richly-carved brackets of oak, similar to those on which rest the looking-glasses over the chimney-pieces. We know from Pyne's drawing in 1818, that these brackets over the doors then still supported looking-glasses, with richly carved frames. Unfortunately, all trace of them has now disappeared.

=The chimney-piece= of the first fire-place on the right as you enter the gallery is the original one of Wren's design, of marble streaked and veined blue-grey. The second, of white marble streaked with red, technically known as "Breche-violett-antico," is new--copied from the first. This fire-place was, until last summer, filled with a common cooking range, inserted many years ago for the use of the soldiers, when this gallery was used as a barrack!

=The window-sashes= in this gallery are of the charming old-fashioned type, divided by thick, deeply moulded bars, into small rectangular spaces. Through these windows we have a pleasant view eastward of the private gardens of the Palace, and of Kensington Gardens beyond.

The dimensions of this gallery are: 88 feet 4 inches long by 22 feet broad by 13 feet 3-1/2 inches high to the top of the cornice, and 17 feet 13 inches high to the highest part of the ceiling.

=Pictures in Queen Mary's Gallery. Portraits of the Time of William and Mary to George II.=

1 Queen Mary . . . . . KNELLER.

Full-length, standing, in royal robes; her left hand lifting her ermine cloak; her right holding the orb on the table by her side, on which also is the crown on a cushion. In the right distance is seen the parapet of the roof of Wren's building at Hampton Court.

This and its companion piece of King William, at the other end of this gallery, were painted by Kneller about 1692, in which year he was knighted.

2 George II. (_718_) . . . . . _By Shackleton, after_ KNELLER.

Seated, in robes of the Garter, facing to the left.

3 _Unassigned._

4 Frederick, Prince of Wales (_619_) . . . . . VANLOO.

Full-length, face turned to the right. His right hand is extended, his left holds back his crimson and ermine cloak. His dress is blue with rich gold lace. He has a short wig. On canvas, 7 ft. 9 in. high, by 4 ft. 9 in. wide.

Vanloo came to England in 1737, and this portrait was probably painted about two years after. He became a very popular artist, and made a great deal of money, for, as his French biographer observes:--"L'Angleterre est le pays où il se fait le plus de portraits et où ils sont mieux payés." Engraved by Baron.

This picture, therefore, dates from the time when the Prince was about thirty-one years of age, and had been expelled from St. James's Palace, and was in declared enmity with his father. His insignificant character, which excited contempt rather than dislike, is very happily satirized in the famous epitaph:

"Here lies Fred, Who was alive and is dead; Had it been his father, I had much rather; Had it been his brother, Still better than another; Had it been his sister, No one would have missed her; Had it been the whole generation, Still better for the nation; But since 'tis only Fred, Who was alive and is dead, There's no more to be said."

5 _Unassigned._

6 Caroline, Queen of George II. (_784_) . . . . . ZEEMAN?

Full-length, standing, figure to the left, face a little to the right. Her left hand holds up her cloak, her right is on a table, on which is a crown and sceptre. She wears a blue velvet dress trimmed with broad gold braid, and a white satin skirt, richly worked with gold and jewels. Her hair is short and powdered. On canvas, 7 ft. 9 in. high, by 4 ft. 9 in. wide.

This was formerly attributed to Kneller, but it cannot be by him, as she is represented as queen, while Kneller died four years before her accession. Caroline was forty-five when her husband became king.

"Her levées," says Coxes, "were a strange picture of the motley character and manners of a queen and a learned woman. She received company while she was at her toilette; prayers and sometimes a sermon were read; learned men and divines were intermixed with courtiers and ladies of the household; the conversation turned on metaphysical subjects, blended with repartees, sallies of mirth, and the tittle-tattle of a drawing-room."

7 _Unassigned._

8 Portrait of George I. (_782_) . . . . . KNELLER.

Seated, facing in front. He is in the robes of the Order of the Garter. His left hand on the arm of the chair, his right on a table, whereon are a crown and a plumed helmet. On canvas, 7 ft. 9 in. high, by 4 ft. 9 in. wide.

George I. was the tenth sovereign who sat to Kneller, and for this portrait, which was painted soon after his accession, the king made him baronet. Addison refers to it in his "Lines to Sir Godfrey Kneller on his picture of the King," beginning:

"Kneller, with silence and surprise We see Britannia's monarch rise, A godlike form, by thee displayed In all the force of light and shade; And, awed by thy delusive hand, As in the Presence Chamber stand."

9 William III. when Prince of Orange (_864_) . . . . . KNELLER.

Half-length, facing to the right, with his right hand extended.

10 George II. in his Old Age (_598_) . . . . . _By Shackleton, after_ PINE.

Full-length; in a rich dress, with the Order of the Garter, his left hand on his sword, his right in his bosom. His eyes are cast upwards.

11 Peter the Great, Czar of Russia (_60_) . . . . . KNELLER.

Full-length, in armour, with a truncheon in his left hand, and his right hand on his hip. From his shoulders hangs a mantle lined with ermine and embroidered with the double eagle. To the left is a table, on which is the crown imperial. The background, which shows some ships, is said to be signed by _W. Vandevelde_, but no trace of this exists. On canvas, 7 ft. 9 in. high, by 4 ft. 9 in. wide. There is also an inscription, of which I can only make out the words: "_Petrus Alexander Magnus Domimus Cæsar & Magnus Dux Moscouiæ ... Eques. Pinxit 1698_." Engraved by Smith.

This picture was painted for William III. during Peter the Great's visit to England, in the early part of 1698, and probably in the house in Norfolk Street, where he took up his residence and lived in close seclusion. It is considered one of the best portraits of the Czar extant, and well portrays "his stately form, his intellectual forehead, his piercing black eyes, and his Tartar nose and mouth." His age was then twenty-six years. He naturally excited the greatest curiosity, and became the principal topic of conversation. Every one was full of stories of him; "of the immense quantities of meat which he devoured, the pints of brandy which he drank, the fool who jabbered at his feet, the monkey which grinned at the back of his chair," and last, but not least, of his filthy habits. When he went to stay at Evelyn's house, Sayes Court, at Deptford, in order to more conveniently indulge in his favourite pursuit of shipbuilding, Evelyn's servant writes to him:--"There is a house full of people, and right nasty. The Czar lies next your Library, and dines in the parlour next your study. He dines at ten o'clock and six at night, is very seldom home a whole day, very often in the King's Yard or by water, dressed in several dresses." Evelyn himself afterwards remarked "how miserably the Czar had left his house, after three months making it his Court."

Peter visited King William in Kensington Palace, as we have noted in our "Historical Sketch," and as we shall notice again in our account of the King's Gallery.

12 King William III . . . . . KNELLER.

Full-length, in royal garter robes; his left hand by his sword, his right on his hip. The crown and orb are on a table on his left; pillars and a curtain behind.

This is a companion piece to the portrait of Queen Mary at the other end of this gallery.

13 Portrait of Mrs. Elliott . . . . . JOHN RILEY.

Half-length, seated; turned to the left, but facing in front. She is dressed in black; her right hand rests on the arm of the chair; she holds a handkerchief on her lap in her left.

This was in Queen Anne's catalogue, No. 331:--"Mrs. Elliott at half-length." It is a good specimen of a portrait-painter who flourished in the time of Charles II. and James II., and whose talents have hardly had justice done them.

Mrs. Elliott was the wife of Mr. Elliott, Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles II., and sister to Secretary Craggs.

14 Two Daughters of George II . . . . . MAINGAUD.

The eldest is to the left, standing, her right arm clasping a stem of tree, round which twines a vine; her left hand giving a rose to her younger sister; she is dressed in white. Her sister is kneeling to the right, facing in front, and takes the rose with her left hand; her right rests on a lictor's fasces. On canvas, 4 ft. 6 in. high, by 3 ft. 7 in. wide.

=Queen's Closet.=

This small room, which is but 23 feet 3 inches long by 12 feet wide, and 12 feet 9 inches high, is called in Pyne's drawing, published in 1817, "The Queen's Closet,"--and this most probably is its correct designation, though in Faulkner's "History of Kensington," published but three years after, it is described as the "Queen's Dressing Room." Its walls were at that time still entirely panelled with the oak wainscot with which Wren had covered them. Afterwards all this was removed and the walls plastered and distempered, the room being used as a kitchen. The existent oak chair-rail and cornice, inserted during the last few months, are copied from old models in this palace.

* * * * *

Across the angle, where was originally the fire-place, is temporarily fixed a very beautiful =stone chimney-piece=, formerly in Westminster Palace, in one of the rooms on the north side of Westminster Hall. When the old law-courts on that side were removed, this chimney-piece was preserved by the Office of Works. It is one of the finest specimens extant of a late Tudor domestic chimney-piece work, bearing the initial and crown of Queen Elizabeth.

Pictures of Old London.

In this chamber are collected various pictures of Old London, moved from Hampton Court and other royal palaces. Few of them, excepting one or two attributed to Scott, have much artistic merit, but they are interesting as representations of the topography of London, and especially of the banks of the Thames.

20 View of the Horse Guards from St. James's Park (_1022_) . . . . . JAMES.

The buildings of the Horse Guards are seen on the right, and in the centre distance, Westminster.

21 View on the Thames--Old London Bridge and Fishmongers' Hall (_1044_) . . . . . JAMES.

The view is taken eastward; and right across the picture is the old bridge, with the houses built on it. On the left are Fishmongers' Hall and the column on Fish Street Hill.

These are two of a series of views of Old London from the Thames, by William James, an imitator and probably a pupil of Canaletti's, though he resembles him in little except his mechanical precision. His works, however, are interesting to the antiquarian, as they are almost photographic in their accuracy.

22 View on the Thames--Old Somerset House and Temple Gardens (_1023_) . . . . . JAMES.

The north bank of the Thames is seen, looking eastward, from about the position of the middle of the present Waterloo bridge. On the extreme left is old Somerset House, with its landing-stairs, next comes the Temple, and in the distance St. Paul's. Behind are seen the spires of St. Mary-le-Strand, St. Clement Danes, St. Bride's, Fleet Street, etc. On canvas, 2 ft. high, by 3 ft. 8 in. wide.

23 View on the Thames--The Savoy, the Temple, &c. (_1031_) . . . . . JAMES.

On the left is the old Savoy Palace with its curious chequered brickwork; more in the middle old Somerset House, the Temple, etc. On the right is seen a portion of the south bank of the Thames.

24 View on the Thames--Old Fleet Ditch (_1043_) . . . . . JAMES.

The mouth of the Fleet Ditch is in the centre of the picture, crossed by a stone foot-bridge of a single arch. On both sides of it are large buildings.

25 View on the Thames--The Adelphi, Whitehall, and Westminster (_1032_) . . . . . JAMES.

The view is of the north bank looking westward, and shows, on the right, Inigo Jones' water-gate; next the octagonal tower of the waterworks, then Whitehall, and beyond, Westminster Abbey and the old bridge.

26 View on the Thames--Greenwich Hospital (_1079_) . . . . . JAMES.

The view is taken eastward, and shows Greenwich Hospital on the left, and the church to the right.

27 View on the Thames--Old Savoy Palace (_1045_) . . . . . SCOTT?

The view is the same as No. 23. In an old inventory there is an entry relating to it:--"Rec^{d}. 23^{rd} March 1819. View of the Savoy, with old Somerset House, on the banks of the Thames, painted by Scott, the English Canaletti. Bought of Colnaghi, £265." Samuel Scott, the marine painter, is the artist referred to. He was a companion of Hogarth's, and a jovial one too--but he was also much more, being an admirable painter of marine and topographical subjects. There are three characteristic views of London by him in the National Gallery, where is also his own portrait by Hudson.

28 The Thames from the Hill above Greenwich (_1016_) . . . . . DANCKERS.

To the left is the Observatory rising high up. Below is Greenwich and the Hospital, and the river winding round the "Isle of Dogs," and London seen in the distance. Though hitherto unnamed, this is doubtless:--"The Landscape of Greenwich, the prospect to London; by Danckers," in James II.'s catalogue, No. 195. (_Royal Catalogue._)

=Queen Anne's Private Dining Room.=

This picturesque little room remains almost exactly in the same state as it was when finished about 1690 for Queen Mary, who, perhaps, as well as Queen Anne, used it as a private dining room. It is, indeed, a very characteristic example of one of Wren's comfortable and eminently habitable rooms. The protruding doorway in the right-hand corner, the picturesque recess on the left-hand side of the fireplace, and the porch-like treatment of the similar recess on the other side--where is the doorway into the Queen's Closet--all show how the accidents of construction and convenience may be so judiciously laid hold of, as to render what would otherwise have been a mere uninteresting commonplace room, a charmingly homelike and picturesque one. Such an example as this of Wren's artistic adaptability should be a most valuable "object-lesson" to modern builders, who, when not planning exactly rectangular rooms, go to the other extreme of straining after a designed and artificial "quaintness."

The coved ceiling, rising from behind the oak cornice, adds greatly to the apparent height of the room.

The dimensions are: 17 feet 9 inches long by 14 feet wide.

It was in this and the similar adjoining rooms that took place those many curious intimate conversations between Queen Anne and the Duchess of Marlborough, both when "Mrs. Morley" and her "dear Mrs. Freeman," were all in all to each other, and also when "Atossa" vainly endeavoured by fury, invective, and torrents of reproaches and tears, to regain her fast-waning influence over the dull and feeble, but stolid and obstinate, mind of the Queen. It was at Kensington Palace too, and perhaps in this very room, that took place their famous interview, one April afternoon in the year 1710, when the only reply which the great Duchess Sarah could get to her inquiring entreaties was the phrase "You desired no answer and you shall have none,"--reiterated with exasperating and callous monotony by her whilom friend and mistress.

Pictures in Queen Anne's Private Dining Room.

40 Installation of Knights of the Garter at Kensington Palace, on August 4th, 1713, by Queen Anne . . . . . PETER ANGELIS.