Interior, 1st. floor, drawing-room, view from south east

Description Interior, 1st. floor, drawing-room, view from south east

Date 26/4/1999

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number D 47109 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 711370

Scope and Content Drawing Room, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway, from the south-east This great drawing room occupies the central portion of the first floor of the south front. The Jacobean-style plasterwork ceiling probably dates from c.1840 when other principal rooms in the house were remodelled, but the fine oak wall-panelling is original, and dates from the 17th century. The veined marble fireplace in the centre of the north wall is carved with the Queensberry coat-of-arms, and framed by Corinthian pilasters adorned with French gilded candle scones dating from c.1750. The overmantel is richly carved with fruit, foliage and dead birds, possibly by the master English wood-carver, Grinling Gibbons, or one of his school. The room is lit by a pair of elaborate gilded bronze and glass chandeliers which date from the first half of the 19th century, and the French Savonnerie carpet is of the same date. The small, open-arm gilded chairs (foreground) are covered in Beauvais tapestry, and were made in France in 1756. The walls are hung with a collection of 17th- and 18th-century full-length portraits, including those of King James VI and his Queen, Anne of Denmark, on the west wall (left). The paintings, which flank a highly ornate 17th-century French cabinet made for King Louis XIV, have been attributed to the eminent Scottish artist, George Jamesone (1586-1644). The drawing room was originally the state dining room, the first room of the 17th-century state apartments. It one of the public rooms of the castle, and the most important, designed for the most splendid receptions for the fashionable society of the time. The 1st Duke was a prominent figure in Scottish politics, and wielded great power as Justice-General of Scotland, Extraordinary Lord of Session, High Treasurer of Scotland, and Governor of Edinburgh Castle. Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture, was built between 1679 and 1690 for William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, on the site of a late 14th-century Douglas stronghold. The castle passed to the Dukes of Buccleuch in 1810, and is now the home of the 9th Duke (11th Duke of Queensberry). It houses many great family treasures and important works of art, including magnificent carvings and a fine collection of paintings. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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