Two Temple Place

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Coordinates: 51°30′42″N 0°06′45″W / 51.5116°N 0.1124°W / 51.5116; -0.1124
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Two Temple Place, is situated alongside the Victoria Embankment, near Somerset House in London. Known as the "Astor House".

Two Temple Place, known for many years as Astor House, is a Neo-Gothic building

RA, Nathaniel Hitch and Thomas Nicholls.[3][4][5][6]

On 28 October 2011, Two Temple Place opened as a public gallery. It hosts exhibitions showcasing publicly owned art from regional collections in the United Kingdom, and is also used as a venue for private hire.[2][7]

Overview

The building was constructed on Temple Place by John Loughborough Pearson for William Waldorf Astor, in 1895. Originally known as the Astor Estate Office, it had a residential flat above the offices for Viscount Astor's use (Pevsner). It consists of two floors and a lower ground floor and is designed after the Early Elizabethan style. It is built entirely of Portland stone. The exterior stonework features splendid carvings by Nathaniel Hitch.[6]

Above the machicolated parapets is a weather vane, representing the caravel Santa Maria in which Columbus sailed to America. The intention was to symbolize the connection of the path of discovery of his ancestor John Jacob Astor and the linking of United States and Europe.[8] It was executed by J. Starkie Gardner, the English metal worker, who was responsible for all metalwork inside and outside the building.[6][9]

John Dibblee Crace, one of a family of interior decorators, decorated the interior of Two Temple Place for Astor in the style of French Renaissance from about 1892 to 1895. He also decorated Astor's home in Cliveden.[10] In what had been a bedroom, Astor had the walls paneled with "precious woods" and the ceiling gilded.[11]

History

William Waldorf Astor

Waldorf Astoria, owned the gothic mansion[nb 1] on the Victoria Embankment overlooking the River Thames. He built or renovated the home[nb 2] that was to become a "crenellated Tudor stronghold" with three things in mind. It would be his office and it had residential space, supporting his desire to create a home away from the United States[nb 3] where he felt his children would be safer from the threat of kidnapping. Second, he had the wealth to support his vision for an opulent home for himself and his family – and his extensive collections of art work, musical instruments and books. And, lastly, he wanted the building to be both his home and offices for managing his holdings.[2][7][8][15][nb 4]

The building is described by Donald Strachan as follows:

Behind the sturdy Portland stone facade, the interior has a slight strange

Disney vibe with the otherwise straightforwardly opulent rooms (lots of marble and mahogany) adorned with bizarre details, such as the characters from The Three Musketeers (Astor's favorite book) on the banisters of the main staircase and the gilded frieze in the Great Hall showing 54 seemingly random characters from history and fiction, including Pocahontas, Machiavelli, Bismark, Anne Boleyn, and Marie Antoinette.[15]

The architect was John Loughborough Pearson, often called the founder of Modern Gothic architecture.[16] With seemingly unlimited funds at his disposal Pearson was able to design a lavish building with the assistance of eminent craftsmen.[7] John Thompson & Sons Ltd of Peterborough were the builders. After Pearson's death, his son Frank Loughborough Pearson (1864–1947) continued his work on Two Temple Place when the building required some alterations under the ownership of Sun Life of Canada. For these alterations many of the original craftsmen were used again, including Nathaniel Hitch, as well as the original builder.[17]

Intermediate owners

Since the Astor family sold the house it has had various owners:

Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors naming it the Incorporated Accountants Hall. On 19 February 1929 the building was opened as the "Head Office of the Society" by H.R.H. the Duke and Duchess of York.[18] Smith & Nephew purchased the building in 1960 which served as its headquarters.[19]

On 24 July 1944 the building, named "Astor House" at the time, was hit by a German flying bomb, which caused considerable damage to the house, including burst plumbing that resulted in some flooding, damaging expensive works of art, including works by William Silver Frith. The building, called "Accountants Hall" on the damage report, was deemed as suitable to be "partially demolished" and was fully restored between 1949 and 1951.[12][20]

The Bulldog Trust

It is now managed and preserved by The Bulldog Trust, a charitable organization, and is hired out for personal and functions. It opened to the public as a gallery in October 2011.[2]

Two Temple Place gallery

Bulldog Trust, a charitable foundation, manages Two Temple Place, which is available to the public to view its collections and, for revenue generation, is hired out.[2] On 28 October 2011, Two Temple Place opened as the first London venue to specifically showcase publicly owned art from UK regional collections.

The first exhibition to launch the building was in collaboration with the

Greek myth.[2][7][15]

The forecourt and portico

One enters the building through some fine iron gates that lead onto a paved forecourt and lawn with an arcaded boundary wall on one side and on the other a portico designed by Frith.

Balustraded stone steps lead up to the main door, these steps being flanked on either side by two magnificent bronze lamp standards featuring the figures of two small mischievous-looking boys.[6] These cherubs by Frith, with one conversing through a telephone, celebrate the then new age of telecommunication and electricity.[21]

  • The bronze lamp standard on the right of the stairs. The age of the telephone has dawned!
    The bronze lamp standard on the right of the stairs. The age of the telephone has dawned!
  • The first of Frith’s bronze lamp standards-that on the right of the stairs.
    The first of Frith’s bronze lamp standards-that on the right of the stairs.
  • Another view of the bronze lamp standard on the right of the stairs.
    Another view of the bronze lamp standard on the right of the stairs.

The other cherub on the left side of the stairs holds up a globe.

  • The bronze lamp standard on the left of the stairs.
    The bronze lamp standard on the left of the stairs.
  • The second of Frith’s bronze lamp standards that on the left of the portico stairs.
    The second of Frith’s bronze lamp standards that on the left of the portico stairs.

The vestibule

Pavonazetto marble fireplace and a glimpse of Davison’s floor.

Through the entrance doors one enters a stone-lined vestibule with carvings in the early Renaissance style and inside this vestibule there is a War Memorial Stone remembering those members of The Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors who died in the 1914–18 war, this unveiled by the Duke of York and a Commemoration stone recording the Hall's opening by the Duke and Duchess of York on 19 February 1929.[6]

The floor is the work of Robert Davison and is a mixture of marble, jasper, porphyry and onyx all laid in geometrical patterns. This is known as "opus alexandrinum". It was Davison who was responsible for all the marble work in the house.[6] There is a similar floor in Westminster Abbey. The staircase is made of oak and mahogany.[2]

The main staircase and gallery

The main staircase rises up from the Staircase Hall to the Gallery on the first floor and comprises three flights of stairs. The staircase has seven mahogany carvings by Thomas Nicholls on the newel posts, these representing characters from Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, which, it seems, was Astor’s favourite novel.[6]

Nicholls’ characters include

d'Artagnan himself, Madame Bonacieux, Aramis, shown slipping off a scholar’s gown and at the same time reading a love letter, Milady, Bazin, Athos and Porthos. Bazin, the valet to Aramis, was a studious person who later became a lay brother. Nicholls carves him brushing his master's clothes while studying theology.[6]

  • Milady.
    Milady.
  • Porthos.
    Porthos.
  • Aramis and Milady.
    Aramis and Milady.
  • D’Artagnan and Madame Bonacieux.
    D’Artagnan and Madame Bonacieux.
  • Thomas Nicholls’ carving of Bazin, Aramis’ valet.
    Thomas Nicholls’ carving of Bazin, Aramis’ valet.

Thomas Nicholls’ frieze and carvings

"

Scarlet Letter is represented by Hester Prynne and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. The two remaining characters are Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle and his daughter. At the feet of Rip Van Winkle is his dog and at those of his daughter is the gnomes’ keg of liquor, the drinking of which had sent Van Winkle into his long slumber and freedom from his bothersome wife for 20 years![6]

The staircase hall is overlooked by a gallery that features statues made by Nicholls, having American literary associations, and a frieze in relief which features 82 characters from

Shakespeare’s Othello, Henry VIII,[2][22] Antony and Cleopatra and Macbeth. Around this gallery are ten pillars of solid ebony. The statues are positioned on six of the carved oak panels which surmount these pillars. The ceiling of the staircase Hall and Gallery is in stained glass, coved and panelled.[6]

The Great Hall

Study or library

Astor's study, located off the gallery and overlooking the Thames, held his vast collection of collectible books and art. It was also home to business meetings.[2][8] The room was described by a London area architect thus:

There is no more curious room in London than this hall which was intended by its creator to be a sort of temple to culture and expresses in a curious way his own tastes in art and literature.[8]

From the pencil cedar panel walls, 35-foot mahogany ceilings and doors, Astor adorned the room with Spanish

Persian rugs, chandeliers, and portraits of himself and his ancestors.[2][8] Located by his desk in the library was a spinning wheel of New England.[8]

Sir George Frampton’s panels

The entrance door to the Great Hall is made of mahogany, has a beautifully carved head and nine decorative panels in silver gilt by

The Lady of the Lake", "Morgan le Fay" and "Guinevere" (for whom "A man had given all other bliss/And all his worldly worth for this/To waste his whole heart in one kiss/Upon her perfect lips"). The sixth, seventh and eighth panels depict "La Beale Isoude", "Lyonors" and "Enid". The ninth and final panel depicts "Alis la Beale Pilgrim".[6]

  • The Lady of the Isle of Avelyon
    The Lady of the Isle of Avelyon
  • Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat
    Elaine, the lily maid of Astolat
  • The Lady of the Lake
    The Lady of the Lake
  • Morgan le Fay
    Morgan le Fay
  • Guinevere
    Guinevere
  • La Beale Isoude
    La Beale Isoude
  • Lyonors
    Lyonors
  • Enid
    Enid
  • Alis la Beale Pilgrim
    Alis la Beale Pilgrim

Nathaniel Hitch’s frieze

The Great Hall extends the whole length of the building on the river front. The walls are panelled in pencil cedar and surmounted by a frieze in which fifty-four portraits of the heads of characters famous in history and fiction, have been modelled, carved in low relief and then gilded. These 54 portraits are by the sculptor Nathaniel Hitch. The Hall is 35 feet high to the ridge and open to a hammer-beam type roof, a notable example of modern Gothic timber work made from carved Spanish mahogany.[2][8]

The frieze portraits include

Richard Coeur de Lion[6]

Above the frieze and standing within tracery canopies under the roof principals are twelve carved figures from literature, including

Maid Marion.[23]
At either end of the Great Hall are carved pencil cedar chimney pieces and at one end there are some bench ends carved by Hitch these being fine examples of his work. Photographs of these carvings are included in the album of photographs of Hitch's work held at the Henry Moore Archive in Leeds.

  • Two further Hitch portraits from the Great Hall.
    Two further Hitch portraits from the Great Hall.
  • Three further Hitch portraits from the Great Hall.
    Three further Hitch portraits from the Great Hall.
  • Juliet's portrait by Hitch in the Great Hall frieze.
    Juliet's portrait by Hitch in the Great Hall frieze.
  • Another photograph of Hitch’s carvings on the frieze in the Great Hall.
    Another photograph of Hitch’s carvings on the frieze in the Great Hall.
  • Another photograph of Hitch’s carvings on the frieze in the Great Hall.
    Another photograph of Hitch’s carvings on the frieze in the Great Hall.
  • Hitch carving on seat-end.
    Hitch carving on seat-end.
  • close-up of Hitch carving on seat-end.
    close-up of Hitch carving on seat-end.

Stained-glass windows

At the eastern and western ends of the Great Hall are

stained-glass windows which are the work of Clayton and Bell.[24] One of these is called A Swiss Summer Landscape and includes Thun Castle in the Swiss Canton of Bern. Clayton and Bell often collaborated with John Loughborough Pearson, their other work including the stained-glass windows at Truro Cathedral.[25]

  • Panel of stained-glass window.
    Panel of stained-glass window.
  • Part of stained-glass window.
    Part of stained-glass window.
  • View of one of Clayton and Bell’s stained-glass windows.
    View of one of Clayton and Bell’s stained-glass windows.
  • One of the panels.
    One of the panels.

Gallery

Exterior

  • J.Starkie Gardner’s weather vane over 2 Temple Place.
    J.Starkie Gardner’s weather vane over 2 Temple Place.
  • Exterior view of 2 Temple Place showing machicolated parapets.
    Exterior view of 2 Temple Place showing machicolated parapets.
  • View of portico with good example of Nathaniel Hitch carving in stone-work.
    View of portico with good example of Nathaniel Hitch carving in stone-work.
  • Another view of exterior of building
    Another view of exterior of building
  • Nathaniel Hitch “Grotesque”
    Nathaniel Hitch “Grotesque”
  • Another Nathaniel Hitch “Grotesque”
    Another Nathaniel Hitch “Grotesque”
  • Exterior of 2 Temple Place
    Exterior of 2 Temple Place
  • Nathaniel Hitch carvings on exterior.
    Nathaniel Hitch carvings on exterior.
  • Nathaniel Hitch carving over 2 Temple Place entrance.
    Nathaniel Hitch carving over 2 Temple Place entrance.
  • Example of intricacy of Hitch’s carvings
    Example of intricacy of Hitch’s carvings

Interior

  • One of seven “Robin Hood” themed bronzes on main staircase.
    One of seven “Robin Hood” themed bronzes on main staircase.
  • Carvings on fireplace.
    Carvings on fireplace.

Notes

  1. ^ There are also source that say that he built the place.
  2. ^ One source says that he commissioned an extensive $1.5 million renovation. And another says that he built the building for £250,000.[12]
  3. ^ By this time Astor had few emotional ties to the United States. By 1895, his parents and wife Mamie (d. December 1894) were both dead and he was at odds with family members. Being one of the richest men in the world, he had the capability of developing a sumptuous new life in England.[13][14]
  4. ^ Astor was extremely security conscious, fearing for kidnapping of his children and enduring harm himself. With a touch of a button, Astor could bar and lock all windows and entrances of his home. He kept guns in his home for protection. This was at least partly as a result Astor having met with an Italian fortune-teller during a visit to Rome who had warned him of danger that he might endure.[8] Another of his homes, Hever Castle, had its drawbridge brought up each night.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Two Temple Place".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Moore, Rowan (15 October 2011), "Two Temple Place; University of the Arts London – review: Viscount Astor's stately old HQ – lavish, ornate and stuffed with cultural trophies – is to be opened as a new gallery space." London: The Observer.
  3. ^ Uncas and other works by Nicholls. Victorian Web. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  4. ^ Lady of the Isle of Avelyon and other works by Frampton. Victorian Web. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Nathaniel Hitch (1845–1938)". Victorian Web. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Alexander, J. R. Willis (1935). "Incorporated Accountants' Hall. Its History and Architecture." The Society of Incorporated Accountants and Auditors.
  7. ^ a b c d Home page, Two Temple Place. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-1012-1881-5
    .
  9. ^ "Two Temple Place. London WC2. John Loughborough Pearson (1817–1897)". Victorian Web. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  10. ISBN 0195189485
    .
  11. ^ "An American Viscount's Hobbies: The Late Lord Astor's Costly Estates and Expensive Journalism." Munsey's Magazine, Vol. 72, 1921, p. 160.
  12. ^ a b Long, Kieran (2 November 2010). "Gothic glory: Two Temple Place", London Evening Standard. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  13. ^ Kaplin, Justin (2007). When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age. Penguin Books. Chapter 7. He was naturalized as a citizen of Britain in 1899.
  14. ISBN 0-471-38503-4
    .
  15. ^
    ISBN 978-1-118-28862-7
    .
  16. ^ John Loughborough Pearson: The founder of The modern school of Gothic architecture. Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  17. ^ The Craftsmanship. Two Temple Place. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  18. ^ "The Builder – His Predecessors and Successors". Two Temple Place. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  19. ^ 2 Temple Place, Headquarters of the Smith & Nephew Group of Companies
  20. ^ Boyle, Susan (24 July 1944), "Electra House, Temple Place WC2". West End at War. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  21. ISBN 0863411401
    .
  22. ^ "Character from Dumas' Three Musketeers". Victorian Web. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  23. ^ "Details of the Great Hall Frieze", Two Temple Place. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  24. ^ Stained Glass by Clayton and Bell. Victorian Web. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  25. ^ Truro Cathedral. Cathedral Plus. Retrieved 22 August 2012.

Further reading

  • Stourton, James (2012). Great Houses of London. London: Frances Lincoln.
    ISBN 978-0-711-23366-9
    .

External links

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51°30′42″N 0°06′45″W / 51.5116°N 0.1124°W / 51.5116; -0.1124

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