THE BUTE FAMILY AND MOUNT STUART HOUSE
The Crichton-Stuart family, Marquesses of Bute, can trace their ancestry back to Walter Fitz-alan, who became Steward to King David I and who is said to be the grandson of Fleance who escaped when his father, Banquo, was murdered by Macbeth. The office of Steward became hereditary in 1157 during the reign of Malcolm IV, and it was from this word that the surname of the Butes arose, (Crichton was only adopted as part of the family name by the 2nd Marquess of Bute in 1805, whose mother, Penelope Crichton was heiress of the 6th Earl of Dumfries).
By 1204, these Stuarts held lands in Bute and in 1315 the then Steward Walter, married the daughter of King Robert the Bruce, their son becoming the first Stuart king. Robert II had thirteen children by two marriages and eight out of wedlock. It is uncertain whether John Stuart, who was appointed hereditable Sheriff of Bute in 1385 and granted certain lands on the island, was a member of the second family or one of the illegitimates. In 1498 James I added the titles of hereditary Captain and Keeper of Rothesay Castle.
After the final destruction of the Castle in 1685, the Bute family lived in the Old Mansion House, built circa 1680-81, which still stands in the High Street of Rothesay. The name 'Mount Stuart' first occurs when Sir James Stewart, 3rd Baronet, was created Earl of Bute, Viscount Kingarth, Lord Mount Stuart, Cumra [Cumbrae] and Inchmernock [sic] on April 14th, 1703. The plans for the first Mount Stuart on the present site were drawn up for the 2nd Earl in 1716 and the house completed three years later. Thus the family has been on the Island of Bute for over seven hundred years and has lived on the present site for almost three centuries. It is perhaps not surprising that the family motto, 'Avito viret honore', translates as 'He flourishes in an honourable ancestry.'
Many of the contents of Mount Stuart that are not part of the Victorian decorations and furnishings reflect the taste of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792). The career of this remarkable statesman and patron of the arts is well documented. As well as being the friend, confidant and personal adviser to King George III, he was a Knight of the Garter (1762-63). He was deeply interested in both the arts and sciences. Dr. Johnson and Robert Adam were amongst those who benefited from his patronage. In 1780 he became the first President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and was also a distinguished botanist. He was the first 'director' of Kew Gardens and was largely responsible for the development of Kew as a botanical garden.
The 3rd Earl was succeeded by his son, the 4th Earl who was subsequently created Marquess of Bute in 1796. His first wife, whom he married in 1766, was the daughter of Viscount Windsor and Baron Mountjoy who later inherited great estates in Cardiff and South Wales; his second wife was another heiress, the daughter of Thomas Coutts, the banker. His eldest son, Lord Mountstuart, predeceased him, so at his death, in 1814, the 1st Marquess was succeeded by his grandson. The 2nd Marquess of Bute (1793-1848) was a most remarkable man who secured the family fortune by developing the South Wales estates - having had the vision to build Cardiff Docks, making that city into a major port. But is was his son who would benefit from this shrewd investment; when he came of age in 1868, he enjoyed a gross annual income of 300,000 and was believed to be the richest man in Britain.
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute (1847-1900) was a complex man: scholar, historian, archaeologist, romantic, mystic, and one of the greatest patrons of the arts of his day. On attaining his majority, he shocked many by becoming a Roman Catholic. With his architect, William Burges, he then set about realising his wildest dreams in South Wales: Castell Coch and their masterpiece, the ethereal and wondrous Cardiff Castle. Bute also restored and recreated historic buildings in Scotland: Falkland Palace, the House of Falkland, the Old Place of Mochrum, the Greyfriars at Elgin, Sanquhar Castle, Pluscarden Priory and Dunblane Cathedral. He was sponsor to some sixty building projects and patron to a dozen architects.
The central block of old Mount Stuart was destroyed by fire on December 3rd, 1877, whereupon the 3rd Marquess commissioned the Edinburgh Gothicist, Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, to build a new house on the site of the old one, retaining only the surviving north and south wings. The new Mount Stuart was very much Bute's personal dream and he was largely responsible for the house's sumptuous interiors, often personally supervising the craftsmen and artists involved many of whom had worked at Cardiff Castle for a period of twenty years.
The 4th Marquess (1881-1947) was also, like his father, a great patron of architecture although he preferred the Classical to the Gothic. Deeply concerned with the preservation of Scottish architecture, he was instrumental in saving the north side of Charlotte Square in Edinburgh designed by Robert Adam and later, in 1941, he became the first chairman of the Scottish National Buildings Record - now the National Monuments Record of Scotland. This concern with Scotland's architectural heritage was shared by his grandson, the 6th Marquess of Bute (1933-1993), who served as chairman of both the National Trust for Scotland and the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland.
When the 3rd Marquess died in 1900, Mount Stuart was unfinished. In recent years the 6th Marquess, and his wife, Jennifer, were undertaking a programme to complete many of the unfinished projects as well as securing the future of Mount Stuart. A programme that is continuing under the supervision and guidance of the 7th Marquess,
with both active consolidation and expenditure on new projects as well as selective replacement and addition to the Bute collections.
The items included in this sale are all surplus to requirements, most having remained in store in the attics at Mount Stuart for many years.
A.C-S.
OBJECTS OF ART
A VICTORIAN GILTWOOD AND GESSO MIRROR
Details
A VICTORIAN GILTWOOD AND GESSO MIRROR
With oval plate, in a moulded frame cast with foliage and anthemions
41in. (104.5cm) wide
With oval plate, in a moulded frame cast with foliage and anthemions
41in. (104.5cm) wide