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In January the conservation work on the
wallpaper and the paint work on the walls was completed.
We are now coming to the end of the project and the final
conservation work is being carried out by Crick Smith, specialist in
Research and Conservation of Historic Decoration.
Visitors can see this conservation work, in progress as they walk
through the Hall and once the decoration has finished, some of the
furniture from the room will need conservation work and this will be done
in-situ so that visitors can see this taking place when the house is open.
Olga
Damant, Assistant House Manager said:
“The
Red Room is now a warm red and the eggshell paint finish really highlights
the original flock wallpaper. The
cornices are a wonderful cream and the whole room looks so much brighter.
The visitors are always fascinated by the conservation work
continuing in front of them.”
Research has also shown that for the first 150 years of its life,
the Red Room was decorated with a predominantly white scheme, with gilding
on some of the mouldings around the doors and windows.
It was used as a Drawing Room until the 1840s and as a Dining Room
from the 1840s until World War II.
The room was known as the Red Drawing Room or the Red Dining Room
even when it was decorated with white paint.
We think this is because there were red curtains and furnishings
and the upper wall faces may have had red paper or textile from the outset.
With
further information from successive owners, inventories of furniture,
fixtures and fittings, we were able to piece together the uses
of the room. From
this information the decision was taken to recreate the colour scheme of
the last historic paint scheme used, which was done in the 1890s. The 1881 flock wallpaper is still on the walls of the Red
Room, although it has been painted over a number of times up to the
present day.
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