
Majesty
George IV’s reign was defined by two great architectural schemes. Buckingham House, his childhood home, was transformed into a Palace fit to rival any in Europe, under the architectural eye of John Nash. At Windsor Castle a new sequence of elegant, comfortable apartments were built by Jeffry Wyatville and furnished by the firm of Morel & Seddon.
Despite suffering from ill health and living increasingly out of the public eye, George IV continued to acquire works of art in vast numbers to support his public image. He purchased quantities of silver from the royal goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, with the intention of hosting lavish entertainments. From Sir Thomas Lawrence he commissioned a dazzling series of images of the military heroes and statesmen involved in the Battle of Waterloo and its aftermath.
To this day, any visitor to the royal palaces sees the works George IV acquired, displayed in interiors that are the legacy of this most magnificent patron, collector and king.
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830)
George IV (1762-1830)
Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841)
I Pifferari
William Mulready (1786-1863)
The Wolf and the Lamb
Edward Bird (1772-1819)
Village Choristers Rehearsing an Anthem for Sunday
Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841)
A Roman Princess Washing the Feet of Pilgrims
William Mulready (1786-1863)
The Interior of an English Cottage
Attributed to David Roentgen (1743-1807)
Mechanical cylinder bureau
Breguet et Fils [Paris]
Floor standing clock
Morel & Seddon
Set of open armchairs
Adriaen de Vries (c. 1556-1626)
Antiope and Theseus
Philippe Bertrand (1663-1724)
Psyche and Mercury
Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun (1755-1842)
Charles-Alexandre de Calonne (1734-1802)
Leone Leoni (1509-90)
Emperor Charles V (1500-1558)
Leone Leoni (1509-90)
Philip II (1527-98)
Morel & Seddon
A set of open armchairs
Sir Francis Chantrey (1781-1841)
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852)
Tatham, Bailey & Sanders
Pier table
Sèvres porcelain factory
Vase japon
Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (1780-1854)
Mantel clock
Sir Francis Chantrey (1781-1841)
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, later 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (1769-1822)
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92)
George Brydges, First Lord Rodney (1719?-92)
John Hoppner (1758-1810)
Horatio, First Viscount Nelson (1758-1805)
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830)
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
William Theed (1764-1817)