拍品專文
This is a view of the dining hall at Uplands, showing part of the important collection of arms and armour assembled by John Beardmore. The drawing repeats plate II in the illustrated catalogue of the collection of arms and armour assembled by John Beardmore himself and published in 1844. Edwin Fudge, a local architect in Fareham, showed this drawing, under the title The Gallery of Uplands, Fareham, Hants, at the Royal Academy in 1845, which suggests that he may have had a hand in the design of the Tudor-style interiors inserted into this large late-Georgian brick house.
As well as the display in the dining hall, more of the collection was shown in the entrance hall, a high room into which a mediaeval-style beamed roof had been introduced. The items of arms and armour in the dining hall were mainly European, among them objects of some historical importance, for example the first shield high on the wall to the left, is the sixteenth century 'Gonne' shield which is thought to have come from the Tower of London, and the second suit of armour from the left, which was once in the Royal Armoury in Madrid.
Following in the footsteps of Horace Walpole, who had decorated the stairway at Strawberry Hill with arms and armour, collecting in this field had become immensely popular in the early nineteenth century. The standard work on the subject at this time was Samuel Rush Meyrick's A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour as it existed in Europe but particularly in England from the Norman Conquest to the reign of Charles II (1823). Meyrick started publishing illustrated volumes on his collection in 1826, and when it was finally installed at Goodrich Court it was regularly open to the public. Beardmore may have been inspired by this to publish his own collection. As armoury displays such as those at Windsor Castle, Sir Walter Scott's at Abbotsford (both of which were arranged with Meyrick's help), and Alton Towers became known, they became an essential adjunct of the great house, but not all their contents were as authentic as the collectors would have wished to believe.
Beardmore's collection was sold at Christie's on 5th July, 1921 in two-hundred lots, but it had already been 'picked over by collectors' according to the account in A Record of Armour Sales, 1881-1924, by F.H. Cripps-Day (London, 1925). However, sufficient remained, including the two items mentioned above (lots 17 and 51), to make an impressive event. Uplands still stands on the outskirts of Fareham.
The drawing is reminiscent of the interior views prepared by C.J. Richardson for his Studies from Old English Mansions, 1841-48, using much the same limited range of tints which could be reproduced by a lithographic process (see lot 23 for an example of Richardson's work) . Both Richardson and Joseph Nash also repeated drawings already used as illustrations for exhibition at the Royal Academy and elsewhere
As well as the display in the dining hall, more of the collection was shown in the entrance hall, a high room into which a mediaeval-style beamed roof had been introduced. The items of arms and armour in the dining hall were mainly European, among them objects of some historical importance, for example the first shield high on the wall to the left, is the sixteenth century 'Gonne' shield which is thought to have come from the Tower of London, and the second suit of armour from the left, which was once in the Royal Armoury in Madrid.
Following in the footsteps of Horace Walpole, who had decorated the stairway at Strawberry Hill with arms and armour, collecting in this field had become immensely popular in the early nineteenth century. The standard work on the subject at this time was Samuel Rush Meyrick's A Critical Inquiry into Ancient Armour as it existed in Europe but particularly in England from the Norman Conquest to the reign of Charles II (1823). Meyrick started publishing illustrated volumes on his collection in 1826, and when it was finally installed at Goodrich Court it was regularly open to the public. Beardmore may have been inspired by this to publish his own collection. As armoury displays such as those at Windsor Castle, Sir Walter Scott's at Abbotsford (both of which were arranged with Meyrick's help), and Alton Towers became known, they became an essential adjunct of the great house, but not all their contents were as authentic as the collectors would have wished to believe.
Beardmore's collection was sold at Christie's on 5th July, 1921 in two-hundred lots, but it had already been 'picked over by collectors' according to the account in A Record of Armour Sales, 1881-1924, by F.H. Cripps-Day (London, 1925). However, sufficient remained, including the two items mentioned above (lots 17 and 51), to make an impressive event. Uplands still stands on the outskirts of Fareham.
The drawing is reminiscent of the interior views prepared by C.J. Richardson for his Studies from Old English Mansions, 1841-48, using much the same limited range of tints which could be reproduced by a lithographic process (see lot 23 for an example of Richardson's work) . Both Richardson and Joseph Nash also repeated drawings already used as illustrations for exhibition at the Royal Academy and elsewhere