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Ancient Egypt Magazine Issue Three - September / October 2000
Egyptian
Elegance in a Gothic Setting Mount
Stuart House, a huge Victorian mansion house on the island of Bute off the
southern part of the west coast of Scotland, is home to the Bute family. The
Crichton-Stuarts, Marquesses of Bute, can trace their ancestry on the island
back over seven hundred years. The family has lived on the present site for over
three hundred years, with each successive generation adding to the vision of its
forebears. Vivienne Campbell
describes the
background to several pieces of Egyptian-inspired furniture now at home on Bute.
Mount Stuart House, a
gothic fantasy, was the vision of John Patrick Crichton Stuart (1847-1900), 3rd Marquess of Bute. This great
patron of the arts commissioned architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson to make his
complex imaginative plans reality after the old Mount Stuart house was destroyed
by fire in 1877. The result is a breathtaking vision of primarily medieval
inspiration. The 3rd
Marquess pursued many interests and was a scholar, historian, romantic, mystic
and archaeologist. It was around these fascinating elements that his home was
designed. The Horoscope Room, in which four pieces of Egyptian inspired furniture are now placed, was originally the sitting room of the 3rd Marquess. The visitor looks up at an ornate, gilded ceiling on which is depicted a birth chart showing the exact placing of the planets at the time of birth of the 3rd Marquess. Since his time, his descendents have added their touch to the house, which is particularly evident in this room. The Fourth Marquess of Bute (1881-1947) shared his father’s passion for the arts and for architecture, and it was during this time that the first of the Egyptian inspired pieces found its way to this setting, to be complemented in 1989 by the purchase at auction of two further chairs and an elegant day bed. These were one of the many contributions to the development of Mount Stuart made by the late 6th Marquess of Bute. “There are various links which make this furniture an appropriate addition to Mount Stuart,” said Andrew McLean, Archivist to the family. “The 3rd Marquess was very interested in ancient Egypt and made several visits to that land. His youngest son, Lord Colum Crichton-Stuart (1886-1957), brother of the 4th Marquess of Bute, served as a diplomat in Egypt and was friendly with both Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, the discoverers of Tutankhamun’s tomb.” About
the Furniture The
first of the Egyptian inspired pieces at Mount Stuart arrived in the 1920’s, a
legacy of the 4th
Marquess of Bute who knew both Howard Carter and
Lord Carnarvon. Its history is unknown, but it is likely that it was inspired by
the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the early 1920’s. Originally the
chair was placed in Lady Bute’s Sitting Room. This elegant room was designed
for Gwendolen Fitzalan-Howard, wife of the 3rd
Marquis. The chair is of dark wood with carved open-work back showing the god Bes flanked by two hippopotamus deities, wearing gilt head-dresses and carrying a pair of knives, symbolic, perhaps of the roles of Bes and Taueret, the hippopotamus goddess, in pregnancy and childbirth. The three are standing on images representing the Egyptian hieroglyph for “gold” – nubt. The detail on the side of the chair shows an ibex, with gilding, with two ankhs and an Isis knot interlinked, again mounted on the symbol for gold. Trumpet-shaped flowers, lotus, or more possibly convulvulus, which has connotations with birth, complete the design harmoniously. The legs of the chair are shaped like the legs of a great cat, with feet, and the whole is in keeping with chairs of ancient Egyptian design. In 1989, the late 6th Marquess discovered, at auction, three further pieces to complement the original chair. The first is a beautifully shaped day bed with bolsters, and animal shaped legs with clawed feet standing on gilded terminals (buns). The headboard shows a design of various crowned deities including hippopotami. There are two chairs to accompany the day bed; the first, a side chair, shows a scene of seated ladies, with sistra and menat-necklaces, being presented with collars by serving women. Above the hieroglyphs, which include the signs for “king”, “gold” and “Son of Ra” there is a winged disk. The second, an armchair, has side panels showing a scene of Bes-like figures with knives and, possibly, a drum, accompanying a stately figure of the goddess Taueret. A similar scene of ladies and serving women appears on the back of this chair. Projecting from the front of the chair are the heads of women wearing short wigs and crown-like head-dresses. The last three pieces are described as being in the style of J Moyr-Smith. Miriam A Bibby
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