m "* * V V V A Ex Ubris \ : C. K. OGDENiDEN 1 j THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES OFFICIAL CATALOGUE OF THE Royal United Service Museum, WHITEHALL, S.W. COMPILED BY Lieut.-Colonel Sir ARTHUR LEETHAM, F.S.A. (Curator). FOURTH EDITION. Printed for the Council of THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION by J. J. KELIHER & Co., LIMITED, Craven House, Kingsway, and Marshalsea Works, Southwark. 1914 PRICE ONE SHILLING. to Ufa PREFACE.131* In the Compilation of this Catalogue I have endeavoured to provide, in as concise a form as possible, a book which will be of general historical interest to the many thousands of Visitors who annually come to see the Museum. Having regard to the nature of the Museum (especially the vast field of Naval and Military History which it covers), the limited space, and the consequent necessity of having at times to' remove certain objects in order to exhibit others, it was found quite impos- sible to classify the numerous exhibits under groups or collections : but the index, which has been added, is of an exhaustive nature and will assist the Visitor in readily finding the objects of special interest. I would point out that the value of a work of this kind lies in its accuracy, and should any mistakes have crept into its pages in the course of compilation and printing, I hope they will be pointed out to me, that they may be rectified in future editions. In the first edition of this Catalogue I was greatly indebted to the assistance which I received from Mr. B. E. Sargeaunt, formerly Assistant Secretary of the Institution, and now Treasurer to the Government of the Isle of Man. Commander W. F. Caborne, C.B., R.N.R., has also rendered me much valuable help in describings the! Naval Exhibits, and Mr. A. N. A. Pinhey, the Assistant Secretary and Curator, has assisted me generally. ARTHUR LEETHAM. o z o H-l W E h Q i-} .5 E -g w - . o W S C/3 C3 KI ^ H 3 g g, O -z Z 5 < ^5 PQ .n w History of the Museum and Building. The Royal United Service Museum, which is under the control of the Council of the Royal United Service Institution, was founded His 1 1 by Majesty King William IV. on 25th June, 83 , it then being known as "The Naval and Military Library and Museum." Its home was originally Vanbrugh House, situated in Whitehall Yard, a house designed and built by Sir John Vanbrugh out of the ruins of that portion of Whitehall which was destroyed by fire. In 1833 the Government, at the express instance of the Sovereign, and with a due consideration of the public utility and benefit likely to result from the establishment of the Institution, were pleased to grant it the use of a more spacious building. This consisted of the former office of the Board of Works situated in Inner Scotland Yard the two buildings being connected by a passage which led to a small house, on the site of which the lecture theatre was built in 1849-50. In 1895 the Museum was transferred to its present building, which is the Banqueting House of Old Whitehall Palace, a building sentimentally and historically connected with the life of the English nation. In the reign of James I., the old Palace of White- hall had become so ruinous, the greater part having been destroyed by fire in 1 589, that it was determined to rebuild it, and the splendid structure which now contains the Museum is a part of the original design by Inigo Jones, to whom the building was entrusted. Horace Walpole says : "The intended Palace of Whitehall, if it had been carried out, would have been the most truly magnificent and beautiful fabric of any of the kind in Europe." The Banquet- ing House, so called from having been placed on the site of the apartments called by that name erected by Queen Elizabeth, was commenced in 1619, and completed in 1622, at a cost of about 1 6,000, the stone for the building having been drawn from the quarries at Portland. Charles I. commissioned Rubens to paint the it is ceiling ; divided by a rich frame-work of gilded mouldings into nine compartments, with allegorical subjects. The centre one the of I. represents apotheosis James ; on either side of the ceiling are oblong panels expressing the Peace and Plenty, Harmony and Happiness, which, according to the painter's fancy, signalised the I. in reign of James ; and the other compartments Rubens* patron, Charles, is introduced in scenes intended to represent his birth, and his coronation as King of Scotland ; while the oval compart- ments at the corners are intended, by allegorical figures, to show the triumph of Virtue over Vice. Rubens was paid by Charles I. the sum of three thousand pounds and received the honour of knight- hood for his work, in which, according to Sir Godfrey Kneller, he was assisted by Jordaens. The sketches were made in England, probably on the spot, but the actual painting was executed and completed in Antwerp in the year 1635. The Ceiling has been five times restored. In the reign of George II. by Kent; in 1785 by Cipriani; in 1837 under the direction of Sir Robert Smirke (when the entire building was 1 Sir restored at a cost of 5,000 by John Soane) ; again at a later in 1 1 date in the 1 9th century ; and finally the years 906 and 907. In July, 1 906, by direction of the First Commissioner of His Majesty's Office of Works, a close inspection was made of the Roof and of the Ceiling, with a view to all necessary repairs being carried out. THE CEILING OF THE BANQUETING HOUSE, painted by Rubens, and completed in 1635. (Frtm thi Engravinf 1) GrUilin.) T The oil-paintings, in places, were scarcely discernible from the floor owing to their dirty condition and to their uneven surface (the pictures were held up at intervals by canvas bands and this caused an irregular surface resembling that of a quilt). The light, too, acting on the uneven surface, gave the paintings the appearance of being damp. The pictures were suspended by iron hangers screwed to the tie beams of the roof : these iron hangers were locked into iron plates fixed on to the picture frames and on to the battens across them. The hangers were at intervals of about four or five feet. The backs of the picture frames were covered with an old-fashioned oilcloth to keep the paintings free from dust. The pictures were attached to the frames and battens at the back by pieces of canvas twisted round them at intervals of about three feet. Upon the report being referred from the Office of Works to the Treasury, a sum of money was granted in November, 1 906, for the restoration of the Rubens paintings and for the repairing regilding, and renovation of the ceiling. The Museum was closed to the Public, and a scaffolding, extending to the Ceiling, was erected from the floor in November, 1 906. When the paintings were taken down from the Ceiling, upon examination, some of them were found to be in very bad condition, the canvas in many cases being broken away from the attachments on the frames. Before taking the paintings off the frames, they were properly cleaned and made pliable, and covered over with tissue paper. After being taken off the old frames they were found to be attached to another canvas. On the back of this second canvas was a coating of what appeared to be glue and finely powdered glass, evidently put on as an attempt to stiffen the paintings and to prevent the sagging which was so visible from the floor. This old lining canvas was taken off and the backs of the paintings were scraped to remove all foreign substances which had adhered to them ; the canvas was very carefully repaired, and the paintings, each one going through the same process, were carefully rolled up for safety whilst the frames were being repaired. When the old frames were exposed, they were found to be in a very dilapidated and worm-eaten condition, but it was decided that it would be better to retain them than make new ones, owing to the difficulty in procuring properly seasoned wood for such large frames. The old frames were carefully repaired and the worm-eaten parts were, painted with a solution to kill the worm in the wood, and new timber intermediates were put in to strengthen the old wood. Owing to the damage done to the paintings by the original method of attachment to the frames, it was deemed advisable, after careful consideration, that they should be fixed in a different way, so as to obviate the sagging. One of the oval frames was prepared accordingly in the following manner : The frame was repaired and strengthened as before described, and the face planed down to a level surface. Laminated boarding half-an-inch thick and consisting of five pieces of wood, the outside boards being maple, was then screwed on to the frame and the intermediates with brass screws. These screws were countersunk and covered with a stopping used by picture restorers. Where the joints of the laminated boarding butted together, similar stopping was used and the face was carefully sandpapered until a smooth surface was obtained. This boarding was then covered with a strong canvas pasted down to it by means of hot irons, the canvas being then nailed to the edges of the frame.