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

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

Date 26/4/1999

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

Catalogue Number D 47112 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 764730

Scope and Content Drawing Room, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway, from the north-east This great drawing room, with windows overlooking the terrace and the formal gardens to the south, occupies the central portion of the first floor of the south front. The Jacobean-style plasterwork ceiling dates from the 19th century, but the oak wall-panelling is original, dating from the 17th century. 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. Much of the furnishing is French, including the high-backed chairs with gilt woodwork and crimson coverings at the windows which date from the period of King Louis XII, and the small, open-arm gilded chairs (foreground) covered in Beauvais tapestry, which were made in 1756. The brocade curtains and pelmets were copied from the originals in 1974. The drawing room was originally the state dining room, the most important room in a great sweep of state apartments on the first floor. It was a public room designed for the most splendid receptions, and it was here that events were held for fashionable society at the castle, and where royalty, leading politicians of the day and other important guests were entertained. The highly decorated room reflects the tastes of successive Dukes of Queensberry, and provides an appropriate setting for the display of some of the great family treasures. 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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