Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire.
Kedleston Hall was built by the Curzon family between 1759 and 1765 and acquired by the National Trust in 1987. This Neo-Classical mansion was designed by architect Robert Adam. The hall was to be his first major commission upon return from travels to Italy, where he studied for three years.
Kedleston today remains as one of the best examples of Adam’s work, his appreciation for the principles of classical design is prevalent throughout the interior and exterior of the hall. In it’s conception, Kedleston was not intended to be used solely as a family home but as a space to show art and sculpture. The East Wing of the hall was built as private living space for the Curzon family and to this day the wing continues to be used as the family home.
The State Apartment
The State Apartment consists of a number of rooms in a procession, as designed by Adam. It comprises; The Ante Room, The Dressing Room, The State Bedchamber and En-suite Wardrobe.Within The State Bedchamber lies the Scarsdale State Bed.
Narrow width pure silk damask in blue has been used for walling, drapes and furnishings throughout the State Rooms. The all silk fabric is representative of the hierarchy of rooms and their schemes in the 18th Century. The principle rooms were adorned with the highest quality fabrics in order to impress upon guests the status of the owner.
The design was re-drawn from fragments of the original hangings and expertly pieced back together. The length of the design is unusual due to the loom technology available to an 18th Century weaver. A design of this magnitude would have been not only time consuming to make but also very costly.
Project reference: 2075
The Drawing Room, Library & Music Room
The imposing suite of John Linnell guilt furniture in The Drawing Room was the realisation of Robert Adam’s design. The fabric that hangs upon the walls and covers the suite is of a silk and wool construction sometimes referred to as half silk or mixed damask.
Fabrics for these rooms were woven in four separate orders, where each rooms was being methodically restored by the National Trust. The damask was woven at 21 inches wide, sympathetically replicating the original cloth. In The Music Room, the damask pattern is complimented by narrow woven glazed blue worsted tammy for chair back linings.
Project references (damask): 1313/1623/1624
Project reference (tammy): 1522
The Saloon
Complimentary damask and linings in crimson are used to cover the Saloon chairs. Both are woven narrow width to recreate the original 18th Century fabrics.
The damask is a silk and wool, and the pattern can be seen at Marlborough House. It was redrawn from a document at Audley End and there are several drawings of this same design that can be found at the Victoria and Albert Museum and in the Warner Textile Archive.
The tammy linings used on the backs of the chairs is glazed, a finish which gives a great lustre to the cloth. This technique was used in the 18th century not only to help woolen fabrics imitate the look of silk but also helped to repel the soils of everyday use.
Project reference (tammy lining): 1520
Project reference (damask): 1521
