This essay exploring the physical utopia of Sir Thomas More is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…
View More The Utopia of Sir Thomas MoreTag: House of Tudor
The House of Tudor delivered the world some of the strongest-willed monarchs of all time. I explore different aspects of their tenacity here on The Diary of an Improvateur.
Someday, I expect I will move on to Queen Elizabeth I but for the moment, my fascination with the House of Tudor lies with Henry VIII. I’ve written about his built legacy, his devotion to the joust and his cunning use of cloth as a decorative device here on the blog. In terms of his built legacy, one of the palaces he enhanced architecturally is Hampton Court Palace, an extant gem in an oeuvre that gained him a reputation as a master builder.
According to Dr. Simon Thurley, who surveys the entirety of the King’s built legacy in his book The Royal Palaces of Tudor England, he was regarded as “a perfect Builder” as early as Elizabeth I’s reign. The author also notes the King was equally at home designing jewelry, armor “(‘suche as no armorer before that tyme had seen’), siege engines and a new sort of tiltyard.” Upon Henry VIII’s death on January 28, 1547, it took a group of hired commissioners 18 months to compile a detailed list of his belongings.
The first segment of the surviving inventory includes money, jewels, plate, artillery, munitions, ships, arms, armor, horses, masque garments, tents, religious gowns and books. And the second covers other items in the principal royal houses, wardrobes or stores. In total, the lists include hundreds of thousands of objects. This was indeed a legacy of wealth that plays on through his daughter’s reign and I will be exploring more subjects relating to the House of Tudor as time goes on.
The Architecture of Chivalry
This essay about the built legacy of Henry VIII is included in my new book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…
View More The Architecture of ChivalryHenry VIII’s Cult of Cloth
A trip to Frankfurt to attend Heimtextil a week from today has inspired me to share one of my favorite anecdotes about Henry VIII and…
View More Henry VIII’s Cult of ClothThe Built Legacy of Henry VIII
The 2016 Academy Awards are handed out this coming Sunday so I’m celebrating a film that showcases the built legacy of Henry VIII to delve back into…
View More The Built Legacy of Henry VIIIRenovating During the Tudor Era
Hindsight is 20/20, as they say. Looking back to the Tudor Era from this great distance, it’s easy to see how barbaric a sport jousting was.…
View More Renovating During the Tudor EraNarratives That Illuminate Design
Narratives That Illuminate Design If you believe that design-centric coffee table books contain nothing more than visual surveys of portfolios, I am out to change…
View More Narratives That Illuminate DesignFurnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII
As I mentioned in my last Improvateur article presenting a brief history of Hampton Court Palace, I launched into a furnishings fantasy when I heard…
View More Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIIIDecorating Hampton Court Palace
The premise of this article and the next one I’ll post here on The Diary of an Improvateur (next week) began with a rather capricious question:…
View More Decorating Hampton Court PalaceThe Peacock Room à la Whistler
The most recognizable painting by artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler might lead you to believe he was as Puritan as his upbringing. The fact he…
View More The Peacock Room à la WhistlerHorace Walpole Shops The Decorative Fair
The books I’ve been reading about Horace Walpole since I returned from my trip to London to attend The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in…
View More Horace Walpole Shops The Decorative Fair