Although Raby has been the seat of the Vanes since 1626 when it was purchased by Sir Henry Vane the Elder, the family preferred to live at the ancient ancestral home of Fairlawn in Kent, which, being much nearer to London, facilitated their careers as Members of Parliament and courtiers. It was not until 1723, on the death of the 1st Lord Barnard, who has been raised to the peerage in 1698 by William and Mary for political services, that Raby became their home.
Lord Barnard had become estranged from his eldest son and heir, Gilbert, of whose marriage he disapproved, to the extent that he attempted to destroy Raby completely, taking off its roof and selling the entire contents, an act with resulted in his being forced to make restitution in 1721. At the same time, he left Fairlawn, with its contents, to his second son William, later to become Viscount Vane.
The period following the death of Lord Barnard in 1723 was a time of major change at Raby; the Park, until then occupied by tenants who farmed it, was landscaped, work beginning in 1726 and continuing until 1747, when Henry, son of 2nd Lord Barnard reported that the work on the Low Pond had finally been finished, but that its owner was not gratified by the result. Meanwhile alterations were carried out in the Castle itself, mainly on the South and West fronts, under the direction of Daniel Garrett and James Paine. Garrett, a London architect, carried out work there for the 2nd Duke of Cleveland and Southampton, whose sister, Lady Grace Fitzroy, had married Henry Vane, 3rd Lord Barnard and later 1st Earl of Darlington. Following the death of his wife, the Duke made Raby his main home, living there until the death in 1774. Garrett's work is confined mainly to Joan's Tower on the South West corner of the Castle.
James Paine, a Northern architect, was employed to carry out a more ambitious scheme, creating a series of rooms in the South front, as well as the Hunter's Gallery and Dining Room and Drawing Room on the first floor of the west side of the Castle. On the ground floor of the South front, Paine altered a number of rooms, created in about 1630 out of the original mediaeval curtain wall, for Sir Henry Vane by Inigo Jones, retaining the structure of the rooms, but altering the decorative scheme. The elaborate ceiling in the present Small Drawing Room, carried out by Thomas Perritt for Paine remains, although Burn altered the window embrasures in about 1850. While the present Library, originally created as two rooms by Jones out of the mediaeval curtain wall, had its dividing wall removed at this time, Paine replacing the wall with two pairs of Corinthian columns, which remained in situ until 1866, when they in turn were removed on the instructions of the 4th and last Duke of Cleveland. Little of Paine's scheme for this room now remains, apart from the picture frames above the fireplaces and classical mouldings, which also appear on lot 158, a pair of grained and painted torchères, designed by Paine and identified from drawings in the Raby archives.
Paine continued to work at Raby until 1768, although the bulk of his work was completed by 1761. On the South front, he replaced the ancient Barbican with an elegant two storey tower in front of the Barons' Hall, which was at that time disused, but this tower burned down later in the century and became the site of later work by Carr. Paine and his patron parted company in a most elegant and amicable fashion, Paine praising the Earl's choice of John Carr, another Northern architect.
Carr worked at Raby until 1791, his first commission being a humble one - a 'necessary house for the servants', now the scullery off the Kitchen. As well as domestic offices, he was responsible for the Coach Houses and associated buildings to the North of the Gardens, which necessitated the razing of the mediaeval Raby Village, whose inhabitants were rehoused across the new turnpike road built in 1774. The village was predictably called New Raby and it stood until the early 1970s. As well as the Entrance Hall, in the Gothick manner, with its unique carriageway through the Castle, he designed a Round Saloon, also in Gothick style, on the site of Paine's tower which had burned down. This room was furnished entirely in the Gothick fashion, the carpet being designed by Carr himself, to echo the design of the
ceiling. This carpet survives and is now in the Barons' Hall. Sadly,
the Round Saloon was, in its turn, destroyed by William Burn in 1848
during his work for Duke Harry, the 2nd Duke of Cleveland.
At the beginning of the 19th Century, Raby was owned by William Harry, 3rd Earl of Darlington, who inherited on his father's death in 1792.
He was a wealthy young man, moving in the highest circles as a friend of the Prince Regent, who honoured Raby with a visit in 1805. The Prince's interest in the Oriental was shared by the Earl, who created a Chinese Drawing Room at Raby, furnished with a vast collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelains, some of which formed part of the ceramics sale. Furniture of the type created for the Pavilion at Brighton by Elward, Marsh and Tatham was also bought by the Earl for this room (lots 224 and 225). When in 1827 the Prince purchased for Windsor Castle a large suite of furniture in oak with gilt enrichments designed by the young A.W.N. Pugin in the Gothic revival style, the Earl bought a similar set for Raby Castle, to be placed in Carr's Round Saloonm, ousting the earlier Gothick furniture there. Of this suite, lots 181 and 182 formed part, the remainder of the large suite occupying much of the Barons' Hall still.
Little now remains in the Public rooms at Raby of the decorative schemes created by Garrett, Paine and Carr. In his work for Duke Henry, the 2nd Duke of Cleveland, William Burn superimposed a Victorian mediaevalism which recognised none of the merits of his predecessors. Earlier furniture was consigned to the towers used by visitors to the Castle, or to the attics, where it has remained until now. Locations of some of the lots identified as belonging to earlier rooms has only been made possible by reference to the Inventories, themselves somewhat sparse, compiled in 1842 on the death of the 3rd Earl of Darlington, who had been further raised in the peerage in 1883 as the 1st Duke of Cleveland.
On the death of his father in 1792, the Earl had also inherited Cleveland House which became his London home, and which the family owned until about 1892. This had been built for the 2nd Duke of Cleveland and Southampton, grandson of King Charles II and Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland and Southampton, by Roger Morris, on the site of an earlier house. Dissent between the Duke and Morris about its construction and Morris's bills, bankrupted Morris, and the Duke rarely lived there, preferring to live with his sister and her family at Raby. The house was completed by Garrett for the Duke and on his death, the house and its contents passed to his nephew, the 2nd Earl of Darlington. From Cleveland House, come lots 40-47 as well as several smaller pieces, identified by circular inventory labels.
Through his great-grandmother, Anne Pulteney, 2nd wife of Charles Fitzroy, son of King Charles I, 1st Duke of Cleveland and Southampton, the 3rd Earl of Darlington became the residuary heir of William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, her nephew, and thus, in 1803, on the death of Henrietta Laura, Countess of Bath in her own right, inherited Bath House as well as other property. None of the contents of this house have been positively identified in this sale, and it is likely that the furniture was mainly sold with the house, the Earl retaining only family portraits and some silver.
All of these strands come together in one fascinating house, Raby Castle, and it is these associations which make the sale an important one for amateurs of both furniture and family history.
FIRST DAY'S SALE
MONDAY 10 OCTOBER 1994
OBJECTS OF ART AND FURNITURE
MORNING SESSION AT 11.00 A.M.
(Lots 1 - 182)
A PAIR OF VICTORIAN GRAINED BED-STEPS with caned backs and turned front legs with carpeted treads
Details
A PAIR OF VICTORIAN GRAINED BED-STEPS with caned backs and turned front legs with carpeted treads
17in. (43cm.) wide; 26in. (66cm.) high (2)
17in. (43cm.) wide; 26in. (66cm.) high (2)