
Carlton House
Carlton House, on London’s Pall Mall, was presented to George when he came of age in 1783. Over the next forty years he created an elegant sequence of colourful interiors, rich in textiles, filled with masterpieces of furniture, sculpture, porcelain and paintings, many of them purchased in Paris in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Among them were Dutch and Flemish Old Master paintings by artists such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Teniers. These hung in carefully arranged groups above elegant furniture with elaborate veneers or incorporating porcelain and hardstone panels with gilt-bronze mounts.
At Carlton House George first experimented with schemes in a Chinese fantasy taste, which would later bear fruit at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton. During the Regency and in the early years of George IV’s reign, Carlton House became the centre of court life, its lavish interiors acting as backdrop to increasingly spectacular entertainments. The building, however, suffered from structural defects and in 1827 it was demolished. Its furnishings were reused in the new architectural schemes at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle that became the focus of the final decade of George IV’s life.
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88)
Diana and Actaeon
Adam Weisweiler (1744-1820)
Commode
Rembrandt van Rijn (Leiden 1606-Amsterdam 1669)
Agatha Bas (1611-1658)
Attributed to François Hervé (active 1781-96)
Side chair
Rembrandt van Rijn (Leiden 1606-Amsterdam 1669)
"The Shipbuilder and his Wife": Jan Rijcksen (1560/2-1637) and his Wife, Griet Jans
Sèvres porcelain factory
Vase ferrés
Sèvres porcelain factory
Pot-pourri vase and cover (pot-pourri à vaisseau or pot-pourri en navire)
Adam Weisweiler (1744-1820)
Commode
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640)
Landscape with St George and the Dragon
Georges Jacob (1739-1814)
Settee
Jan Both (Utrecht c. 1618-52)
Landscape with St Philip Baptizing the Eunuch
Breguet et Fils [Paris]
The 'Sympathique' clock
Sèvres porcelain factory
Vase à monter
Martin Carlin (1730-85)
Cabinet
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640)
Portrait of a Woman
Attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732)
Floor standing clock
Thomas Parker (active 1808-30)
Pair of coffers-on-stand
Sèvres porcelain factory
Pair of mounted vases
Attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732)
Two medal cabinets
French School
William III garlanded by Victory
Étienne Levasseur (1721-1798)
Secretaire
Sèvres porcelain factory
Vases à monter
Attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732)
Two medal cabinets
Thomas Parker (active 1808-30)
Pair of coffers-on-stand
Aelbert Cuyp (Dordrecht 1620-Dordrecht 1691)
The Passage Boat
David Teniers the Younger (Antwerp 1610-Brussels 1690)
Peasants dancing outside a Tavern
Aelbert Cuyp (Dordrecht 1620-Dordrecht 1691)