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A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details The Decorative Scheme of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton: George IV’s Design Ideas in the Context of European Colour Theory, 1765 – 1845 A thesis submitted in fulfillment of requirements for the degree of PhD in the Department of Art History at the University of Sussex Alexandra Loske PhD Art History School of History, Art History and Philosphy University of Sussex May 2014 1 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature …………………….. 2 Acknowledgements My sincerest thanks are due to my excellent and hugely supportive supervisors Meaghan Clarke at the University of Sussex and David Beevers at the Royal Pavilion. This doctoral research was generally funded by the AHRC in the form of a Collaborative Doctoral Award, which gave me practically unlimited access not only to the Royal Pavilion itself, but also its archives, related collections, and the expertise of the staff there. I am hugely grateful to both the University of Sussex and the AHRC for awarding me this scholarship. Originally this research project was devoted to a study of the Royal Pavilion in relation to J.W. von Goethe’s publications on colour. However, in the course of my research I discovered that the interest in colour theory was much wider than anticipated. Exchange about colour ideas and pigment production was international, with significant publications having come out of English speaking countries. My research thus involved establishing international connections and networks concerning colour theory. In the course of my reseach I visited numerous libraries, collections and historic buildings in Britain, France, Germany and the United States. At the University of Sussex I would like to thank Maurice Howard, Michelle O’Malley, Geoff Quilley, Fiona Courage, Robin Lee (RIP), Matthew Platts, Simon Lane, Maggie Clune, Stuart Robinson, and Tracy Anderson; at the Royal Pavilion and Brighton Museum & Art Gallery Kevin Bacon, Janita Bagshaw, Andrew Barlow, Janet Brough, Nicola Coleby, Neil Cunningham, Gordon Grant, Adrien Joly, Anita Jones, Jenny Lund, Sarah Posey, Anne Sowden, Norman Stevens and Heather Wood. The staff at the Scientific Department of the National Gallery, in particular Ann Stephenson Wright, Jo Kirby and Ashok Roy, have been hugely supportive in analysing pigment samples from the Royal Pavilion and granted me access to Charles Lock Eastlake’s colour library. The Attingham Trust awarded me generous scholarships to attend both the Attingham Summer School (2011) and Royal Collection Studies (2009), which provided me with an opportunity to see a large number of historic interiors and collections under the guidance of experts and form invaluable professional contacts. In 2013 the Yale Center for British Art at Yale University funded my participation in the Graduate Student Summer Seminar ‘Coloring Color – The History, Science, and Materiality of Paint’, during which I was given privileged access to the YCBA Rare Books collection and the Faber Birren Collection of Books on Color at the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library. At Yale I would specifically like to thank Mark Aronson, Gillian Forrester, Jessica David and Jae Jennifer Rossman for their support. INTERREG IV A France (Channel) generously funded the display Regency Colour and Beyond 1785-1850 at the Royal Pavilion in 2013, which allowed me to present some of my research to the general public. 3 At the Royal Collection, Royal Archives and the Royal Library I would like to thank Kate Heard, Jonathan Marsden, Jane and Hugh Roberts, Jennifer Scott and Desmond Shaw-Taylor. Neil Parkinson of the Colour Reference Library at the Royal College of Art deserves special thanks for not only helping me with my research at every stage but also generously lending rare eighteenth and nineteenth century books on colour for the Regency Colour and Beyond exhibition. Further thanks are due to Patrick Conner, James Lomax, Ian Bristow, Abraham Thomas, Klaus Neils, the staff at the National Art Library, the British Library, Historic Royal Palaces, Schloss Nymphenburg (Munich), the Würzburg Residence, the Klassikstiftung Weimar, and the Royal Academy Library. For their friendship and invaluable support I would like to thank Steve Pavey, Eva Bodinet, Chandra Wohleber, Jochen Menge and Franky Bulmer. And finally, I could not have done this without Jeremy’s and Flora’s love, support and patience. They deserve a very special and personal ‘thank you’. 4 Dedication This is for my grandmother Marianne Wiehn (1923 – 2003) and my brother Tommy (1972 – 2013). 5 UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX ALEXANDRA LOSKE Ph.D. Art History The Decorative Scheme of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton: George IV’s Design Ideas in the Context of European Colour Theory, 1765 – 1845 Abstract This thesis investigates the use of colour in the interior decorations of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. The building was created between 1785 and c.1823 by the Prince of Wales (1762 – 1830), later Prince Regent and George IV. The main aims of the thesis are firstly, to analyse the intense colour scheme of the building and set it in the historical context of colour theory and pigment production, and secondly, to establish to what extent personal tastes and fashion influenced these designs. Chapter 1 brings together nineteenth century descriptions of and reactions to the building from early guidebooks and visitors’ accounts, followed by brief outlines of restoration work carried out since 1850 and observations on how the building is experienced by visitors today. The aim of Chapter 2 is to provide an overview of colour theory and literature in Europe between c.1765 and c.1845, in order to highlight the cultural, social and scientific background to the use of colour in art and interior design. Chapter 3 outlines the role of key figures involved in the creation of the building. It first discusses the Prince’s tastes in art and considers to what extent he may have drawn inspiration from other members of the Royal Family and earlier Oriental buildings and interiors. The chapter then discusses the artists and designers John and Frederick Crace, Robert Jones and Humphry Repton. Chapter 4 describes the colour schemes and chromatic layout of the interior of the building in its various stages from the 1780 to the 1820s. The chapter includes a case study of the conspicuous and varied use of silver as a colour in the building, discussed in the context of the use of silver in other European interiors. Three appendices provide detailed information of colour terms found in contemporary account books, pigments identified in the Royal Pavilion so far, their historical context and where they are found in the interiors. The thesis thus analyses the multi-sensory experience of an interior in relation to new ideas about colour as a crucial element of interior design. 6 List of illustrations (see separate volume): Fig. 1: After Augustus Charles Pugin, East front of the Royal Pavilion, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 2: After Augustus Charles Pugin, Pavilion grounds, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 3: After Augustus Charles Pugin, Detail of Pavilion grounds plan from 1826 (fig.2) in correct north/south orientation, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 4: After Augustus Charles Pugin, Detail of cross section of the Royal Pavilion, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 5: After Augustus Charles Pugin, Detail 2 of cross section of the Royal Pavilion, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 6: After Augustus Charles Pugin, Octagon Hall, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 7: After Augustus Charles Pugin, (Green) Entrance Hall, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 8: After Augustus Charles Pugin, The Gallery in its present state, looking towards the Music Room, 1824, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 9: After Augustus Charles Pugin, The Gallery, 1820, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 10: After Augustus Charles Pugin, The Saloon in c.1815, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 12: Augustus Charles Pugin, The Blue Drawing Room, before 1821, watercolour on paper. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 13: Augustus Charles Pugin, The Yellow Drawing Room, before 1821, watercolour and pencil on paper. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 14: Frederick Crace, Design for Blue and Silver Wall Decoration, 1802 or earlier, watercolour and pencil on paper. © Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York. Fig. 15: After Augustus Charles Pugin, Henry Holland’s Marine Pavilion, 1826, aquatint. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 16: R. Alford (engr.), View of the Pavilion Taken from Wright’s Circulating Library, May 1818, engraving. © Alexandra Loske. 7 Fig. 17: Frederick Crace, Fragment of original wallpaper from Long Gallery, c.1815, distemper on hand-made paper. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 18: [Unknown maker] Segment of a pair of decorative pagodas, Chinese, Jiaquing period, c.1800-1815, porcelain in underglaze blue and overglaze enamels. © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. Fig. 19: E. Brain (engr.), The Pavilion No.1. The Royal Banqueting Room, from J. Whittemore’s Brighton and its Environs, 1827 [1825], hand-coloured steel engraving.