The concept is that the Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill have been temporarily returned for a once-in-a-lifetime experience but like the curate’s egg it is only good in parts.
When I went in July the walls were bare and I was looking forward to juxtaposing those pictures with the loaned treasures. You will recall Horace Walpole’s eclectic collection was sold at auction over twenty-four days in 1842. Enough has come back to give a flavour of Horace’s magpie mentality. Not enough has come back to recreate his over-crowded treasure box.
When Strawberry Hill was more or less unfurnished, wallpaper, woodwork, plaster ceilings and cornices stood out. Now the partial restoration of some of the contents is a distraction. On the other hand it is quite a showy distraction. Let’s start with Thomas Gray’s Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat.
The Earl of Derby has lent Walpole’s Chinese goldfish bowl, in which his cat drowned. Beats me why Selina couldn’t climb out. The treasures that caught my eye include a magnificent group portrait by Reynolds of Walpole’s nieces daughters, the Ladies Waldegrave, on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland.
Another Reynolds, lent by Bristol Art Gallery, depicts three of Walpole’s friends but is not a patch on the group portraits he did for the Dilettanti Society that hang in my club. There is a good Young Man as a Shepherd by Lely, lent by Dulwich Picture Gallery, but Frans Hals Portrait of a Young Man is better – thank you, Lord Derby. Unusually it is painted in oil on copper. There are two views of Dublin in the hall at Barmeath executed in this way but I digress. There are two portraits by van Dyck; one from Burghley and the other from a private collection. That’s a Top Tip if you lend a van Dyck and want to keep the burglars at bay.
There are no before and after photos because, unlike in July, photography is forbidden. There are not even postcards because of copyright issues. Also the windows have been covered with film to filter out UV rays – some chance in December – making the interiors jolly dark. It took us ninety minutes to look round and we rushed a bit because we had something on our minds – lunch.