Paintings at Cragside

ITALIAN GIRL WITH DOVES, 1866 by Rafaello Sorbi (1844-1931)

Lord Armstrong, the man behind the construction of Cragside, died without an heir and his estate passed to his great nephew. In the tradition of undeserving inheritors, he quickly spent much of the fortune and to pay his bills many of the prime artworks in the family collection, including paintings by  Millais, Turner, Wilkie and Leighton, were sold in 1910.

The collection is therefore now sadly depleted, but there's a good Turner and this painting which I particularly liked.

Cragside Wall Tiles

This is a view of Cragside from the gardens below:

Some of the corridor walls at the house were covered in rather splendid ceramic tiles. Here's a selection.

William Morris at Cragside

It's some years since I was last at Cragside, the house and estate built by Lord Armstrong in the 19th century. Now owned by the National Trust, the house is a fascinating place to visit, full of labour-saving devices invented by Armstrong himself, including a hydraulic lift, automatically-turned spits, and the Library which was the first room in the world to be lit by Joseph Swan’s newly invented filament light bulbs. 

With our good friends Roy and Kathleen, Pat and I went to Cragside last week. The weather was excellent, the food in the Visitor Centre well made and delicious and the walk round the house made more interesting by the helpful attendants.

In one of the rooms, on either side of the chimney breast, are these four stained glass windows designed by William Morris.