Decorative Arts
Fulfilling his intention to recreate a piece of the eighteenth century in his Farmington house, W. S. Lewis assembled a number of significant works of art and other objects from Strawberry Hill, Walpole’s “little Gothic castle” in Twickenham. These items demonstrate Walpole’s own wide-ranging collecting interests as well as his adaptation of Gothic elements for the interior decoration of Strawberry Hill.
Foremost among these objects are:
- furniture:
- four of the eight Gothic chairs designed by Richard Bentley in 1755 for Walpole’s Great Parlour
- the Beauclerk Cabinet, designed and built by Edward Edwards in 1784 to display drawings and designs by Walpole’s friend Lady Diana Beauclerk, an amateur artist whom he greatly admired. Several of her drawings, as well as designs for Wedgwood, are set into the cabinet’s door and sides.
- two of the four settees that graced Strawberry Hill’s Long Gallery
- a Boulle coffer on stand
- stained glass: several examples including
- Walpole’s coat of arms by William Peckitt
- the lantern that in Walpole’s day shed “the most venerable gloom” on his staircase
- ceramics:
- metalwork:
- the gold snuffbox left to Walpole by Mme du Deffand
- silver portrait medallions and counters by Simon de Passe
Decorative arts objects that belonged to Walpole are included in Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill Collection.
Information about Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill Collection