The Stately Homes of EnglandJewitt, Llewellynn Frederick William
History
The Stately Homes of England
Jewitt, Llewellynn Frederick William
Historic buildings -- England
The OLD STATE-BED-ROOM, the first apartment seen through the doorway in
our engraving, is a fine and very interesting apartment. The ceiling,
which is coved, is splendidly painted, the principal subject being
“Aurora chasing away the Night;” and the walls are hung with embossed
leather of rich arabesque pattern, heavily gilded; the frieze, also
of embossed leather, is richly foliated, with medallions bearing
respectively the bust of the late Duke of Devonshire, his crest and
coronet, and his monogram, alternating round the room. Over the
doorways are splendid examples of wood-carving of groups of musical
instruments; on one group is suspended a medallion head of Charles II.,
and the words “CAROLVS II. DEI GRATIA,” and on the other a watch. Over
and around the chimney-piece are cherubs’ heads, birds, foliage, &c.,
of the same fine class of wood-carving. In this room (besides cabinets,
vases, and beakers, and a charming model of the tomb of Madame Langlan,
at Hildebank, near Berne, in which the spirits of the mother and child
are seen bursting through their broken tomb) is a noble and ancient
embroidered canopy and state-chair, the work of Christiana, Countess of
Devonshire, the wife of the second Earl of Devonshire.
[Illustration: _The Old State Bed-room._]
The canopy is of crimson velvet, exquisitely covered with needlework
in gold and colours, in groups of figures, trees, animals, and
insects;—here, a goat, a stag, a fox, a rabbit, a pig, dogs both
leashed and single, a horse, an eagle, and a swan; there, butterflies,
flies, and innumerable other devices around; while inside the top
a group of three figures within a border is in the centre, and the
rest dotted with animals, flowers, &c., with a border of figures and
foliage. The back of the canopy bears, above the chair, the arms of
Cavendish (_sable_, three bucks’ heads caboshed, _argent_, attired
_or_) impaling those of Bruce of Kinloss (_or_, a saltire and a
chief, _gules_, on a canton, _argent_, a lion rampant, _azure_), with
mantling, helmet, crest, &c. Supporters, dexter, a stag, proper,
gorged with a wreath of roses, _argent_ and _azure_, attired _or_,
for Cavendish; sinister, a wild man, proper, wreathed round the
head and loins with laurel, _vert_, for Bruce. Motto, CAVENDO TVTVS
FVIMVS; the first part, “Cavendo Tvtvs,” being the Cavendish motto,
and the latter part, “Fvimvs,” that of Bruce; the rest of the velvet
is covered with flowers, animals, &c., and surrounded by a border of
groups and flowers. The chair is of the same character, Christiana,
Countess of Devonshire, to whose fair hands is owing this charming
piece of embroidery, and to whose good taste the arrangement of these
blended armorial insignia is due, was the daughter of Edward, Lord
Bruce of Kinloss, and sister of the first Earl of Elgin, from whom the
present ninth Earl is lineally descended. The armorial bearings upon
this canopy are therefore peculiarly interesting as showing, not only
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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