Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Day 8,
July 9th
INTERIOR
PIX o’

Much of the text on this page is snagged and morphed together from different sources
(from several websites and the Scone Palace BOOK I bought while there).
However, when something is preceded by a (green pointer), I’ve added personal comments!

The State Dining Room:

This very fine
south-facing room
is the first of
“The State Rooms”
you visit when touring
Scone Palace.

Its unique collection of
LARGE European
IVORIES
– amounting to no less
than 72 pieces –
quite takes your
breath away.
This Ivory Collection is … truly awesome!!!

The Ivories Collection
This fabulous collection of large European ivories came from Bavaria, Italy and France.
They were carved in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in elephant and walrus tusk, and collected mainly by the 4th Earl of Mansfield. They are arranged around the Dining Room and make an amazing sight.
Each one is unique and a joy in itself.

 At Left:
Carved from
a single tusk,
Venus balances
in a graceful
if unlikely way
on the shoulder
of Cupid.

At Right:
The Holy Family.
It is French
17th century
and truly
beautiful.

At Left:
18th Century
Bavarian
Farmer

At Right:
Cupid
with
Lion
There are SO many of them! Again, this collection is … awesome!!!

The State Drawing Room

Formerly the 18th century Dining Room of the Palace, this beautiful room is clad in early 19th century Lyons SILK and dominated by a pair of huge Royal portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte, painted by Allan Ramsay.

David Murray, the 2nd Earl, served as British Ambassador to the court of the ill-fated Louis XVI of France. Many Scone treasures were brought by him from Versailles. There is a story that he trained Marie Antoinette’s mother (Maria Theresa of Austria), and her husband, in Scottish dancing.

In token of their friendship, Marie Antoinette presented Murray with one of the three writing desks commissioned to mark her marriage to Louis XVI. Today, that desk is the piece de resistance of the Drawing Room at Scone.
(Three OTHER Marie Antoinette tables are in Scone Palace. Apparently, she really liked him!)

Scone’s Drawing Room
houses an impressive collection
of Baccarat Glass.

You can even buy some
small Baccarat Glass
pieces (such as the
famous paper weights)
in the Scone Gift Shoppe!

About Baccarat Glass:
In 1764, King Louis XV granted the
Bishop of Metz permission to establish
a glassworks in Baccarat, France.

Today, after four foreign invasions and
three revolutions, one name stands alone:
Compagnie des Cristalleries de Baccarat.

To this day, Baccarat makes only the finest full lead crystal. Using the proper amount of molten crystal; blowing and turning it for a perfect balance; then cutting, engraving, and polishing it; the ART of Baccarat lies primarily in its exclusive manufacturing process.

The Library:

The Library now possesses relatively NO books! In their place is the breathtaking array of an extremely fine quality porcelain collection. The Scone Porcelain Collection was begun by the 1st and 2nd Earls of Mansfield. Beautifully displayed in multiple glass-enclosed bookcases, the Scone Porcelain Collection exhibits a greater variety and profusion of porcelain excellence than can be found in any other private home in Britain.
Scone Porcelain manufacturers include Meissen, Sèvres, Ludwigsburg, Chelsea, Derby and Worcester. Many of the Scone pieces are extremely rare.

The 1st Earl's set of heraldic porcelain
– which was made for him prior to
1776, while he was still a mere baron –
was painted in China and bears his motto:
Uni Aequus Virtute
(Faithful Unto Virtue Alone).

Now … I’m not normally “into” porcelain or china patterns – to me it’s all pretty much just “plates,” LOL. BUT, as I wandered from case to case … to case … to case, this collection was too incredible for me to remain unaffected by it.
I found myself thinking of ANNABETH (my sister-in-law), and wishing that she was with me!
Being someone who commonly does appreciate porcelain and china patterns, I know that
ANNA would go GA-GA over this collection!
Each SET of porcelain dishes was incredibly detailed, intricate and lavish – yet entirely original and unlike any of the other sets. Like the Scone Ivories, the Scone Porcelain Collection truly does “take your breath away” – whether you’re “into” porcelain, or NOT!
I can’t believe that there are not more pix
of this porcelain collection available on the internet!

The pic above, this pic, and the pic below,
were scanned from the book I bought.

The apple green and gold
service by Sèvres is
particularly unusual in colour.

It is believed to have been
a gift from Louis XVI,
designed by the King
and the 2nd Earl together.

However, neither would
then have known that the

arsenic
in the green paint
made the service
potentially lethal!

The Royal Long Gallery


Dating from 1580, the Royal Long Gallery is one of the oldest parts of Scone Palace.
The floor of this Gallery has been walked upon by many Kings and Queens,
including Charles II on his way to his coronation on the Moot Hill in 1651;
the Old Pretender (Bonnie Prince Charlie’s father), who visited during the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion;
Bonnie Prince Charlie, visiting on his way south with his army during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion; and
Queen Victoria, who stayed overnight in 1842 and observed a demonstration of curling principles using the polished floor of the Long Gallery instead of ice.


The Royal Long Gallery is 142 feet long. The organ at its end dates from 1813.

 Today, the Long Gallery boasts an incredible collection of
Vernis Martin papier mâché objects d'art.

This fabulous collection of papier mâché objects d'art was made mostly by the Martin family, whose work largely consisted of decorative panels made for carriages, sedan chairs, furniture and the paneling of entire rooms in 18th century France. During the reign of Louis XV, the four Martin brothers patented a unique process for preserving papier mâché objects by painting them with coloured varnishes.

The Scone collection
numbers greater than
70 Vernis Martin pieces
and is probably “unique” –

because the other half of
the King of France's
Vernis Martin collection
was bought by the
Tsar of Russia and
disappeared in 1916!

I cannot decide which of these THREE unique Scone “Collections” I was most impressed with:
The Ivories … the Porcelain … or the Vernis Martin pieces.
Again, you must realize that I’m “not normally into” stuff like this!
But, these collections were so incredibly awesome that I couldn’t help but be floored by them!

Clearly, Scone Palace is a MUST SEE for ANYone visiting this area of the UK!

ABOVE I’ve presented my MOST favorite Scone Palace rooms.
However, there are THREE OTHER rooms that I visited & have snagged pix of.
If you want to see those too, CLICK HERE!
(You’ll find links to the NEXT DAY EIGHT PIX Options at its end!)

Next DAY EIGHT Pix Options (in order of trip occurrence):
The Black Watch’s Museum
CARLISLE “in England” GORGEOUS Croftlands Guest House
Hadrian’s Wall Birdoswald Roman Fort

Return to CHAS’ UK Trip Directory Days 6 through 12

Return to CHAS’ UK Trip Directory Days 1 through 5

Return to the Miller Fandamily PIX DIRECTORY

Return to The Miller Fandamily’s HOME PAGE
(the one with other Main-Directory Page Links)

If you have suggestions for The Miller Fandamily Web Site,
OR contributions to the photo gallery!
please Email WebMistress Chas!
c-d-miller@neb.rr.com
That’s: c-d-miller@neb.rr.com –
those are hyphens/dashes (-) between the “c” and “d” and “miller”