A Tour of Chatsworth House - VIII

A malachite clock presented by Czar Nicholas I

On my tour of Chatsworth House, having had a good look at the reredos in the Chapel, I retraced my steps along Chapel Passage back to the Painted Hall and then walked up to the Great Stairs, which were built by William Talman from 1689 to 1690. 

A view up the Great Stairs

Pausing to take a single photograph of the view down into the Painted Hall, I then looked up to the top of the stairwell, where more fine stonework by Samuel Watson – carved in Ashover Grit - surrounds niches that are filled by Italian white marble statues by Caius Gabriel Cibber. 

A black and white marble basin

Stopping half way up the stairs, there is a basin made in black and white marble that has similar characteristics to the bianco e nero di Portoferraio and the giallo e nero di Carrara, which form part of the Faustino Corso Collection. 

An alabaster doorcase and carved niches with statuary

At the top of the stairs, I just took a couple of photographs of an ornate doorcase, which was also made by Cibber using alabaster from the family estate at Tutbury, and a window sill made of Derbyshire fossil marble with crinoids. 

A Derbyshire fossil marble window sill

The State Rooms are full of masterpieces, but not noting any interesting decorative stone used in the structure, I quickly walked through them to the South Sketch Gallery, where a pair of large glass cabinets contain the mineral collection of the Duchess Georgiana. 

A part of Duchess Georgiana's mineral collection

A special exhibition was being held at the time of my visit but, with general visitors not being allowed to take any photographs allowed; however, having explained to the guide that I had been invited to specifically photograph objects that I would use for my talk at St. Peter’s church in Edensor, I managed to take a furtive general view. 

The Oak Stairs

Continuing along the West Sketch Gallery and carrying on to the Oak Stairs, the large malachite clock that was presented to the 6th Duke by Czar Nicholas I - a good friend and fellow minerals enthusiast, forms the centrepiece of the landing. 

A malachite table presented by Czar Nicholas I

This distinctive green mineral has been applied as a veneer with long strips laid in a book matched pattern, which is normally seen on expanses of marble walling. This , and this technique is also used in a table at the top of the stairs, which was also given by Czar Nicholas I and the urn on the stairs. 

A square urn on the Oak Stairs

Behind the balustrade, on each side of the stairwell, there is also a row of three white marble busts, which have pedestals that may be made of ‘oriental alabaster’- a banded calcite deposited in hot springs that probably comes from Italy. 

White marble busts on pedestals of 'oriental alabaster'

Another table at the top of the stairs is made of what I think of as typical serpentinite used as a decorative stone - perhaps verde di Polcevera from Genoa. It has large dark green clasts in a lighter green serpentine and calcite matrix, with the whole rock traversed by calcite veins.

A serpentinite table