Tag Archives: William Kent Architect

glories of ownership

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Dave

The noble houses of eighteenth century England… …For these rooms no expense was spared. The finest plaster workers were brought in from Italy; tons of mahogany and other rare woods were imported from the East and West Indies; gold leaf … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History/Antiquity/Anthropology, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Madame Pickwick Weekend | Tagged Andrea Palladio, Andrew Mellon art collection, Catherine of Russia, David Allan painter Scotland, George Macaulay Trevelyan, Houghton Hall England, Lord Sandys, Madame Pickwick, madame pickwick art blog, Robert Adam Architect, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Peter Beckford, Sir Robert Walpole, Surgeon William inglis, Syon House, Vanbrugh estates England, William Kent Architect | Leave a comment

wanton display: noble disregard

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Dave

The noble houses of eighteenth-century England… Diverse as were the economic enterprises and huge as the domestic staaffs came to be, yet these things do not explain entirely why men built such vast palaces. The need to maintain their social … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History/Antiquity/Anthropology, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged Andrea Palladio, Audley End England, British Aristocracy eighteenth century, Grinling Gibbons carvings, Houghton Hall, Houghton Hall England, Kwakiutl Indians Canada, Madame Pickwick, madame pickwick art blog, Palladio architecture, Paul Sandby paintings, Sir Robert Walpole, Thorstein Veblen, William Kent Architect, Wilton double cube room | Leave a comment

noble houses: home economics

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Dave

The noble houses of eighteenth century England… …In themselves, or rather in their titles, these men symbolized great accretions of social and political power as well as wealth. They were heads of great clans of families who had served them … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History/Antiquity/Anthropology, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged Canaletto, Canaletto in England, Duke of Bedford, Jan Siberechts Dutch Artist, Madame Pickwick, madame pickwick art blog, Paul Sandby paintings, Sir Robert Walpole, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Wentworth Woodhouse, William Kent Architect | Leave a comment

kent: idyllic ideals

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Dave

William Kent was architect of both houses and landscapes. He was consulted, according to Horace Walpole, not only for furniture but “for plates, for a barge, for a cradle.” Of his gardens Walpole said: “Mahomet imagined an Elysium, Kent created … Continue reading →

Posted in Art History/Antiquity/Anthropology, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged Andrea Palladio, Chiswick House, Horace Walpole, John Talman, Joseph Losey, Lord Burlington, Madame Pickwick, madame pickwick art blog, Martin Beek painter, The Servant 1963, Timothy Mowl, William Kent Architect, William talman architect | Leave a comment

new money: fresh smells of success

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Dave

It smelt like the garden of Eden. The fresh scent of new construction that reflected the exalted sense of the Celestial Emperor. Trade softened the edges of barbarism and civilization gradually manifested itself in Europe to be quickly followed by … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion | Tagged Canaletto in England, John Wootton paintings, Lady Mary Churchill, Madame Pickwick, madame pickwick art blog, Robert Adam design, Sir Robert Walpole, Syon House Middlesex, Thomas Gainsborough, William Kent Architect, William Kent Design | Leave a comment

land equaled power

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Dave

Nowhere were the changes from barbarism to sophistication so clearly mirrored as in the houses, the furniture, the clothes, the style of life of the rich. By 1750 the Western world had captured a vast commerce unequaled in history and … Continue reading →