Would Beckford approve of what I've done to his
legendary spaces? I highly doubt it. Moderation and
aesthetic restraint had little place in his world. The five
large windows in his picture gallery and the three on the
bridge were all hung with red velvet curtains. Bookcases
encircled the gallery at waist height and I imagine that the
walls were heavily papered if not heavily flocked. The
collector who looked down his nose at the items on sale
in the auction devoted to Horace Walpole's acquisitions
at Strawberry Hill – but who nevertheless purchased quite
a few of them, bidding
against his son-in-law, the
Duke of Hamilton – would
surely not condescend to
relish anything that I've
collected over the years.
But all of the pictures and
prints and most of the
furniture were created
during Beckford's lifetime,
and that much (at least)
we have in common. But
whereas Beckford was
notoriously reclusive in the final decades of his life, I
cherish the opportunity to put these rooms to good use
by entertaining my friends on a regular basis. The picture
gallery, in particular, has "party" written all over it: drinks
party, dinner party, book launch party, even a private
recital. And where, precisely, is Wolfgang Amadeus now
that I need him? H
HYLAND
