Wentworth Woodhouse the Miracle of its Survival

Thursday 15 November (6.15pm – 8.15pm)

Venue: Friends’ Meeting House, Friargate, York, YO1 9RL

Peter Brown has made an in-depth study of Earl Fitzwilliam’s Wentworth Woodhouse. Furniture specifically designed and commissioned from the leading firms of the day, a unique group of sculpture, some of which is still in situ, but the rest distributed around the world (the Getty in LA, alone, has 9 pieces from the collection). The collection includes silver from the most famous makers, and a superb collection of English paintings, notably by Van Dyck, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Stubbs.

Using the family papers, now held at Sheffield Archive, plus drawings from Lord Burlington’s practice and those by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart, this illustrated talk looks to reimagine, with the assistance of early Country Life photographs, owners and curators, the splendour of this spectacular house.

Peter’s talk celebrates the rescue of this important mansion and shows how the house appeared prior to its abandonment in the mid-twentieth century, and the dispersal of the collections.

Tickets are non-refundable.