Friday 9 September 2016

FRIDAY'S HUNT and WEEKEND REFLECTIONS - The Argory Drawing Room (Part 2)

To fit into Friday's Hunt and Weekend Reflections memes I am going to show you perhaps the most attractive of the reception room at The Argory which is the drawing-room, which lay shrouded in dust-sheets from 1939 until 1979. Friday’s Hunt challenge is the letter K, favourite shot (and I am leaving that up to you to decide) and yellow/gold.  The large group of staff and volunteers from Mount Stewart were divided into 3 smaller groups and we were the first group to be shown the house guided round so wonderfully by Edith Stafford.


The Drawing room was remodelled in the l89Os when the windows were lengthened and a small anteroom and cupboard were run into the room making it larger and brighter. Throughout this post you will see GOLD coloured frames and REFLECTIONS in all the mirrors.


There are two pietro duro round tables which came from Drumsill in 1916, 
one of which is inlaid with butterflies. and the other with the quartered coat of arms of MacGeough and Bond.




       This Steinway rosewood grand piano was bought in 1898 and
 one of our volunteers played it for us very adaptly as 
her hands moved across the Keys.









There are rich curtains and upholstery.

   
This work box is ready for use. 



The ormolu colza-lamp was converted to gas in 1906 when an acetylene gas plant was installed in the yard for £257 17s. 6d. - a sum which included all the fittings, such as the wall brackets each side of the overmantel mirror. The Argory has never been lit by electricity, though the National Trust installed carefully concealed power points when they took over the house in 1979.  

The lampshades above have been restores whereas the ones below still have to be restored.



The Carrara marble chimney-piece with baseless Doric columns is original, but most of the furnishing of this comfortable room is late nineteenth century. There are copies of old masters in gilt frames on the walls,



Oops!  A selfie!  


.The Bond arms appear on the architrave.




I leave you today, not in the Drawing Room but with a KEY from the front door of The Argory and the one below is the KEY and lock from Ardress House.




                                      Finally a KNIFE sharpener.

I hope you enjoyed this post from The Argory today and thanks for your visit.

Many thanks to all those people who leave comments.

29 comments:

  1. So many details and wonderful things to look at! I think my favorite of all is the wonderful and intricate secretary desk. I have a small humble plain one.

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  2. What a great interior. So many details to observe and take photos of.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  3. Fantastic once again to enjoy your wonderful photos of the drawing room!

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  4. Grand photos and I loved looking at all those wonderful old antiques. Thank you Margaret!

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  5. A favorite? - several. The butterfly inlaid table is wonderful but my heart is with the piano.

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  6. Hello, what a beautiful place. Lovely tour and photos. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

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  7. Wonderful post. Love the items and atmosphere!

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  8. Good Morning, Margaret! What a wonderful virtual tour as I sipped my coffee! My favorite, of course, is the butterfly table. I would be happy standing there for hours with a field guide trying to identify them all!

    Gini and I are very well, but anxious to resume our explorations of Nature, which should happen soon. We wish you all the best and truly hope you are enjoying a spectacular weekend!

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  9. oooh i knew it would be beautiful inside. it did not disappoint!!!

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  10. Such a mixture of fine and interesting things there in that room like that butterfly table. Living there would be difficult because I'd be afraid to mess it up. If I ever get to your neck of the woods I'll have to stop in to visit that house.

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  11. So many beautiful things to see. Where would we be without the National Trust to preserve these wonderful buildings for us.

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  12. Thank you for doing a fine job of documenting the interior of this elegant home. Lighting these rooms with gas must have created a list of difficulties and dangers.

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  13. What a wonderful experience it must have been to take a tour of this house. I love the portrait of the young woman in the one photo. And the knife sharpener was cool.

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  14. I like the elegance of days gone by.

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  15. Looks like a fascinating place.

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  16. What a lovely place to visit, so much beautiful well-cared-for antique furniture and decorations. I like all the inlaid work and the piano, I hope it sounded as good as it looks. It's hard to imagine living with so much elegance. I enjoyed your tour and descriptions, Margaret, what an honor to be included.

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  17. What an interesting post and a really beautiful room full of treasures. I really do love the butterfly inlaid table :) Thanks so much for sharing and have a good weekend :)

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  18. I really enjoyed this tour with you. I love that inlaid cabinet.

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  19. Thank you, Margaret, for your wonderful tours of Argory and Ardress House. Pick my favorite? That is hard. I'll settle on three, the piano, the parlor or boudoir chair, and the lovely round cair with the pretty floral arrangement. Lots of furniture, I would hate to down-size from there. We tried but still brought too much. Our SIL said he counted seven tables that we moved. He had to have counted my 'Aunt Minnie' writing desk.
    Again, we do need to visit N Ireland. Thank you for your invites. We came to London this may and ventured north far enough to Northampshire for a friend visit.
    ..

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  20. It looks like a lovely property. The piano is gorgeous. I'm sure the sound was amazing. Thank you for the tour

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  21. Am catching up on your blog with so many beautiful posts, Margaret! What a rich looking drawing room and all the details you selected are looking very luxurious! love the curtain detail, the work box, and the knife sharpening looks intriguing! The sheep for Sat. critters look well taken care of. Since I have been knitting, whenever I see sheep, I wonder what kind of wool they would give:) Happy weekend, blog friend!

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  22. Wow, this was a marvelous series of photographs and what a treat for you to have such a special tour of the house. I think one of my favourite things is that lock with the heart shape inlaid into it, but I also really love the blue and white ginger jars on the lower shelf in one of the early pictures in your post. Just fascinating - thank you for sharing!

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  23. they really knew how to create beautiful things back then. All pieces are wonderfully crafted.

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  24. Wow...to think people actually lived like that surrounded by all that beauty!!! Stunning pictures! Thanks so much for tour!

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  25. Wow, what an amazingly beautiful room. I can't imagine living in that! I love the pictures and thank you for the explanations! So much beautiful workmanship in that room.

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  26. What a beautiful place with plenty of great reflections!

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  27. What an amazing place! I love the selfie. Mirrors are such fun. Thanks so much for joining in Friday's Hunt. Hope you have a great week!

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