Nostalgic fans will enjoy this latest book from Atlantic Publishing, specialists in monographs illustrating the photographic remains of English heritage. London: The Lost Interior, written by historian Stephen Brindle, draws on several vast but little-published photographic archives, including invaluable records created by Country Life and the RIBA. I am.
54 Mount Street, Mayfair, home of Robert Windsor Clive, Earl of Plymouth
(Image credit: Photograph 1899. Bedford Lemere)
There are also less widely published sources, such as the work of Bedford Lemer & Co., once one of Britain’s leading architectural photographers. The company, which operated from 1839 to 1911, left an archive of 21,800 glass plate negatives and 3,000 prints, all of which were acquired by the British History Archives in 1955.
35 Wimpole Street, Marylebone. Home of arts patron Edward James and his ballerina wife Tilly Roche. The bathroom with fluorescent tube lighting was designed by Paul Nash.
(Image credit: Photography by Bedford Lemle, 1932)
Brindle also had access to other important photographers such as Newton and Company and Miller and Harris. Miller & Harris is another firm that is regularly asked to document new architecture for publications such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Brindle has created a wonderful monograph that wades through the bewilderment of architectural riches and shows the ultimate results of ever-changing tastes. All of these interiors are gone.
W1, 5 Connaught Place, headquarters of RN Commander Edward Heywood Lonsdale, designed by Serge Chermayeff. Picasso is prominently placed within the frame
(Image credit: Photographed by Bedford Lemle in 1937)
That reality is the hallmark of Elegy in these pure black and white pages arranged to variously explore the world of aristocracy and plutocratism, the evolution of Art Deco and modernism, and a rare foray into perhaps the most heartbreaking world of all. is giving. Interior design by true eccentrics and aesthetes.
The latter category is perhaps overshadowed by the palatial saloons and lavish plasterwork, stretching from Georgian London to the overstuffed aesthetic of Victorian treasuries. Even if the interior is no longer in our hands, not all of these were destroyed, but most are somehow victims of development, if not enemy bombs.
35 Cliveden Place, Belgravia, SW1, home of architect Oliver Hill. The figures above the fireplace were sculpted by Eric Gill.
(Image credit: Photographed by Miller and Harris in 1938)
This book is not only an introduction to what defined taste and distinction in upper-class interiors, but also serves as a useful social and architectural history. A great many of the capital’s “mansions” were lost to redevelopment, as the space occupied by mansions and their grounds was swallowed up by the expanding city. Other buildings have been repurposed as clubs, casinos, or ‘lost’ to secret private estates, meaning these images are the only way their interiors can be revisited.
18 Yeoman’s Row, Chelsea, SW3, home of pioneering modernist architect and designer Wells Coates
(Image credit: Photographed by Miller and Harris in 1937)
The roll call of featured designers and artists includes William Morris, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sybil Colefax, Marion Dorn, Liberty, Serge Chermayeff, Philip Webb, Rex Whistler, Paul Nash, Detmar It’s an impressive one, including brows. Its previous owners have been just as great, including most of the royal family, movie stars like Fay Wray and Greta Garbo, and even JFK.
Even more mundane content is covered. The kitchen of Mrs Vernon Tate’s home, Flat 14, 7 Prince’s Gate, Knightsbridge, SW7.
(Image credit: Photographed by Miller and Harris in 1950)
The book covers the period from about 1880 to World War II, with a particular focus on works created during the brief Deco craze of the 1920s and 1930s. In all, the book’s pages contain 650 images, documenting every conceivable aspect of the capital’s most spectacular, eccentric, and most of all, forgotten residential designs.
London: Lost Interiors, Steven Brindle, with foreword by the Duke of Wellington, Atlantic Publishing in association with Historic England, £50, AtlanticPublishing.co.uk, HistoricEngland.org.uk, Amazon.co.jp
