A certain sparseness in the decoration belies the grandeur of this Georgian country house room. Within the curved end wall an alcove has been contrived for the large sideboard, flanked by doors leading to the domestic offices. A large folding screen shields the family from the activities of the servants. The fact that there are no pictures, floor-coverings or curtains, means that attenion is not distracted from the noble dimensions, the bold rosettes under the gilded and moulded chair rail, the frieze picked out in pink above the panelling and the suite of fashionable furniture. Holland roller-blinds and shutters are used instead of curtains and the bare floorboards would have been regarded as more practical and hygenic for a Dining Room. Although Argand lamps like the classically-inspired pair on the chimneypiece had been available since the late eighteenth century most people showed a decided preference for candlelight until well into the nineteenth century.

'Mr Blunt' has so far eluded identification; his work shows many traits of the amateur, notably in the disproportion between the scale of the fireplace and the towering stature of his wife and children