The Council Room
In this room one can see portraits of
- George Canning, MP
- Catherine Stewart as St Cecilia
- Sir Henry Vane Tempest
- Frances Anne, Marchioness of Londonderry
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry
Also on display is a ceramic vase by Walter Keeler
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830)
1825, oil on canvas, 94 x 58 in, The Royal Collection © 2005, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, lent by Her Majesty the Queen
George Canning, MP (1770-1827)
This is a replica by Lawrence of the portrait of Canning he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1825. The benches of the House of Commons are visible in the background. Like Castlereagh, whom he succeeded, Canning is best known as an outstanding Foreign Secretary (1807-09, 1822-27), though he was briefly Prime Minister in 1827.
The Londonderry Loan
The other pictures in this room are from the collection of the Londonderry family, generously lent by the Londonderry estate. Two of these are by Thomas Lawrence, who succeeded Joshua Reynolds as Painter-in-Ordinary to George III in 1792, was President of the Royal Academy (1820-1830), and who remained the leading portrait painter in England up to his death in 1830. He was a friend of Sir Charles Stewart, Wellington's adjutant-general and later 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (1778-1854), who had him paint portraits of himself and his family from 1807 to 1828.
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830)
c. 1807, oil on canvas, 82 x 54 in, lent by the Londonderry Estate (Reproduced by permission)
Catherine Stewart as St Cecilia (d. 1812)
Lady Stewart was the first wife of Charles Stewart, later 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. She is shown playing a table organ, the attribute of St Cecilia, patron of musicians. Her young son Frederick, later 4th Marquess of Londonderry, appears on the parapet.
Peter Eduard Stroehling (1768-after 1826), 1807, oil on canvas, 234 x 140 cm, lent by the Londonderry Estate (Reproduced by permission)
Sir Henry Vane Tempest (1771-1813)
Sir Henry Vane Tempest was the father of Frances Anne, Marchioness of Londonderry (shown opposite). Her judgment of him was negative: 'Never was any child treated so harshly as I was by my Father, Mother and Governess'.
Stroehling had gained some renown as a portraitist and history painter in continental Europe before he settled in London in the late 1790s, where he is known to have worked between 1803 and 1807 and 1819 and 1826.
Alexandre Jean Dubois Drahonet (1791-1834)
Exhibited 1832, oil on canvas, 292 x 173 cm, lent by the Londonderry Estate (Reproduced by permission)
Frances Anne, Marchioness of Londonderry (1800-1865)
Frances Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Vane Tempest (shown opposite), was the second wife of Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (1778-1854). She has been characterised as autocratic, extravagant and proud, but after the death of her husband she became known as an able businesswoman.
Dubois Drahonet was a French portrait painter who specialised in studies of military uniforms. He exhibited this painting at the Royal Academy in 1832.
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830)
1821, oil on canvas, 113 x 77 in, lent by the Londonderry Estate (Reproduced by permission)
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (1769-1822)
Castlereagh succeeded his father as Marquess of Londonderry in 1821. This portrait shows him in peer's robes at the coronation of George IV. It is a replica by Lawrence of the portrait he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821. Castlereagh was elected MP in 1793, and remains best known as an outstanding Foreign Secretary from 1812.
Also on display
2006, salt-glazed stoneware, British Academy Collection
Ceramic vase
Walter Keeler (b. 1942)
The organic shapes and colours of this piece are typical of the innovative and decorative domestic ceramics made by Keeler.
Keeler is one of the UK's leading studio potters. His work is mainly domestic and functional, and is influenced by Greek pottery, Roman glass, eighteenth-century Staffordshire wares and tin oil cans. Keeler was Professor of Ceramics at the University of the West of England, and was shortlisted for the 2001 Jerwood Applied Arts Prize.