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DECORATIVE ARTS AND DESIGN HISTORY


Special Collections Material


From Delineations of Fonthill and its abbey by John Rutter (London: 1823): Sp Coll q63

The ceiling is of oak, reticulated in square panels, placed at some distance from each other, and their intervals filled with meshes of a lozenge form, with bosses at their intersections, and an heraldic emblem on each of the square panels.
An enriched cornice of oak surrounds the room; its frieze has quatre-foils separated by a short range of trefoil-headed apertures or panels; in each quatre-foil is placed an emblazoned shield, surrounded by the garter.
On the west side of the apartment are seven lofty pointed-arch windows, with massive mullions, transoms, and tracery; the lower parts filled with plate, and the upper ones with stained glass, covered with armorial decorations; opposite to six of these windows, and on the other side, are recesses for books, with armoires beneath them; opposite to the middle, and to the seventh one, is the chimney piece, of variegated marble in the gothic style; each end of the gallery is nearly occupied by the arch-ways, which open to the apartments beyond them.
Dimensions 68 ft. long, 16 ft. 10 in. wide, 17 ft. 10 in. high.

(page 36)
 

Interior of King Edward's Gallery, Fonthill Abbey
Fonthill Abbey: Interior of King Edward's Gallery, looking across the Octagon into St. Michael's Gallery
(Plate 6: drawn by C.F. Pordon; etched by John Cleghorn; engraved by Robt Havell & Son)

 

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