Buscot Park - part 1

Buscot Park - The Saloon Room

Buscot Park was built from 1779 to 1783. The room is eighteenth century, with a completely original ceiling and doors. The room features an original Burne-Jones piece of work inspired by Sleeping Beauty.

Lord Farringdon saw the paintings and brought them to Buscot Park. Burne-Jones came and inspected the way the paintings were hung and didn't like it. Burne-Jones then went back and created panelling that was painted, gilded and carved to house the paintings. Originally, there were four large paintings, and he then created infill.

The room is, therefore, an eighteenth-century room with a huge nineteenth-century influence.

The Dilemma of Finding the Right Period

The dilemma was what is this room. Is it the eighteenth century or nineteenth century? I decided to go somewhere in between, a space that was pleasant to the eye as a whole. I started scrapping the ceiling to find some original colour, then infilled the rest.

The Saloon

The question was what to do and where to start? The room came with a set of empire pieces of furniture, including side tables from a mix of different periods. The chandelier was bought in the great London exhibition of 1851 and is Venetian glass.

The demi-lune side tables are thought to have been given by George III to the then owner.

Choosing the Right Colours

When the ceiling was coming together, I went to Suffolk to start the process with the fabrics. I took bits of scrapings of the colour with me. I visited the factory where the yarn was dyed in front of me.

All the panelling was re-gilded but in a way that made it still feel old.

Restoring the Fireplace

In the beginning, there was a white fireplace. But with the paintings gone, it became apparent that the fireplace had been put in during the 1930s. It was not appropriate for the room as it covered some of the original panelling.

I designed an original fireplace for the room. I made loads of different prototypes.

Approaching the Soft Furnishings

In this project, everything happened at the same time. The question was, how far do I go with the yellow? I wanted the space to feel as if it had been there from the beginning.

The Embroidered Pelmet

For the curtains we settled on a final embroidered pelmet, using different fabrics such as damask and velvet. Each fabric gives its own contrasting texture.

The Damask

The damask is silk and cotton, so the background is really shiny and the design is quite matte at the same time.

Using Modern Lighting in an Old Room

Almost everything in the space was inherited. The Murano chandelier was from 1851. We gave it a glow so that it glowed at night. The paintings had picture lights with a naked bulb inside initially. So we used the latest technology at the time to light the paintings.

Respecting the Evolution of the Room

The saloon room is one that is making a statement. It is almost like a picture gallery. We largely left the room as it was and respected the history that came with the room.

The Ceiling

I was very aware that I had to respect the ceiling and its period. Although the ceiling is very balanced, it was difficult and time-consuming achieving this balance.

Burne-Jones

Edward Coley Burne-Jones was a leading painter and designer during the late nineteenth-century in England. A number of his romantic paintings use medieval imagery, which was among the last expressions of the Pre-Raphaelitelite style. While studying at Exeter College, Oxford, the painter met William Morris, an artist-poet.

His first big success came with an exhibition in 1877 where he displayed oils like "Days of Creation" The Beguiling of Merlin," "The Mirror of Venus" (1867–1877) and "The Kelmscott Chaucer" of 1896 is considered among the world's finest printed books, and he made 87 designs for it, along with illustrations to other books published by William Morris' prestigious Kelmscott Press.

The Legend of Briar Rose

Edward Burne-Jones "The Legend of Briar Rose" is a painting of Sleeping Beauty. The original paintings of "The Briar Wood", "The Council Chamber", "The Garden Court", and "The Rose Bower" can be seen at Buscot Park in Oxfordshire, England.

As for Burne-Jones, he was inspired by the 'Sleeping Beauty' story, which had been retold by Charles Perrault in Contes du Temps Passé and by Tennyson in his 1842 poem DayDream. Burne-Jones chose to emphasise one moment in the famous story - the fight between the brave prince and the enchanted woods.