Art collections of Holkham Hall

The building most influenced by Holkham is Kedleston Hall, the first architect of which was Matthew Brettingham the Elder, who probably designed the entrance hall, the house was to have four wings, though only the two northern were built. The portico leads to grand entrance hall with its 25 feet (7.6 m) high alabaster Corinthian columns. The interiors at Holkham were the culmination of designs based on Roman public buildings and temples, even before they were completed they were old fashioned. Robert Adam had returned from his grand tour in 1758. His interiors are some of the earliest Neo-classical designs influenced by the newly discovered Roman domestic interiors at Pompeii which are all together lighter in style. He designed the state rooms at Kedleston and lightened the design of the entrance hall. This was the future of domestic design, the grand style of Holkham would never be repeated in a British House. Although Palladio would remain a major influence in British architecture, never again would a great house be built that was so closely influenced by the Italian's designs and theories.

The extensive archives at Holkham list all the materials that went into building the house, their cost and the names of craftsmen employed. Annual expenditure varied between £500 and £2,500, but peaked at £6,500 in 1755 and fell to £1,200 in 1759. The chronology of the building is as follows:

• 1707 – Thomas Coke aged ten inherits the estate on the death of his father.
• 1712–18 – Begins acquiring works of art during the Grand Tour.
• 1718 – Marries Lady Margaret Turton.
• 1722 – Thomas Coke makes a loss of £37,928, 14s. 8d. in the South Sea Bubble seriously delaying construction work.
• 1726 – First designs for the House produced.
• 1728 – Thomas Coke granted title of Baron Lovel.
• 1729 – Landscaping of the Park to William Kent's designs commences.
• 1730 – Obelisk half a mile south and on axis with the house erected.
• 1734 – 4 May foundation of Family Wing laid.
• 1738–41 – Family wing completed, decoration designed by William Kent who was paid £50 for his services. Carving of door friezes and chimneypieces by Mr Marsden. Furniture made by William Bradshaw and Benjamin Goodison.
• 1740 – October foundations of Corp de Logis commenced. December Joseph Pickford of Derby (uncle of the architect Joseph Pickford) was paid for chimneypieces.
• 1741 – Gilding and Painting in the family wing, Benjamin Carter provided chimneypiece for 'My Lady's Closet'.
• 1742 – Statues set up temporarily in wing.
• 1743 – Foundation stone for main house acquired.
• 1744 – Timber acquired. A mason Joseph Howell searching for suitable stone in Yorkshire. Bricklayers and carpenters assembled. Thomas Coke granted title of Earl of Leicester.
• 1747–54 – Matthew Brettingham the Younger in Italy buying art works. Bath & Portland stone acquired.
• 1748 – William Kent dies.
• 1753 – The Statue Gallery and North Dining Room glazed. The wood carver and joiner James Lillie at work as is the plasterer Thomas Clark. The Earl of Burlington dies.
• 1754 – Purbeck marble and paving stones delivered. The staircase in the Chapel Wing built. Statues and Pictures being installed in the Corp de Logis. Benjamin Carter's chimneypieces are installed in the Saloon.
• 1755 – Alabaster from Castlehay arrives. Benjamin Carter and Joseph Pickford carving chimneypieces. The decision was made to alter William Kent's design for the Marble Hall, the plan to place the statue of Jupiter in the centre of the staircase is abandoned as are the planned fireplaces, these are replaced by a heated floor, also it was decided to have a wrought iron balustrade instead of a stone one and the order of the columns is changed from Corinthian to Ionic, the columns were also originally going to continue along the north wall leaving the ground floor as a square, the wall to support them had been built.
• 1756 – More alabaster delivered. Statue niches in the Marble Hall being created. Alabaster columns and sculptures being delivered. The Kitchen wing completed and in use.
• 1757 – John Neale gilding rooms including the bookcases in the South Tribune. James Lillie carving models for sofas and chairs. Clark continues plastering. The old house being demolished to make way for the Guest Wing. The white marble Ionic capitals for the Marble Hall begin to be delivered. The bricklayer John Elliott is modifying the Marble Hall to the revised design of 1755.
• 1758–9 – Floor behind columns in Marble Hall being laid. Lillie continues carving. William Townson is fabricating the mahogony doors for the Marble Hall and William Atkinson is carving the alabaster door surrounds.
• 1759 – The Earl of Leicester Thomas Coke dies on 20 April. Matthew Brettingham the Elder is sacked as executive architect and replaced by the carver James Miller who designs the Chapel and Interiors of the Guest Wing.
• 1760 – Timber acquired for Chapel ceiling. The plasterwork by Thomas Clark in the Marble Hall completed.
• 1761 – Wrought iron balustrade in Marble Hall forged and installed probably by Thomas Tilston. The Birmingham locksmith Thomas Blockley was paid for providing locks, bolts, hinges and screws £110. 5s. 0d..
• 1764 – The Chapel is plastered by Thomas Clark, while Robert May and Peter Moor carve mahogany doors and the cedar screen and altar rails.
• 1765 – Building of the House complete, workmen dismissed.
• 1769 – Matthew Brettingham the Elder dies.
• 1771 – Lady Leicester pays the final installment for the furniture.
• 1773 – The final works of art are installed, purchased by the heir to Holkham 'Coke of Norfolk' on his Grand Tour.

The total amount spent on building and decorating the House was nearly £90,000. with a further £8562. 3s. 5d. spent on furnishings. Including £3,166. 16s. 0d. on damask, velvet and other textiles from a London mercer called Carr. Between 1734 and 1762, 2,700,000 yellow bricks were manufactured at Burnham Market at £1 per thousand bricks.

The Corp de Logis

• The Marble Hall: This is the grandest and most complex room in the House. Rising the full height of the house the room is nearly 50 feet (15 m) high, the main body being 46 feet (14 m) square, at the upper floor level taking up most of the south wall is a large apse, which in turn has a coffered-exedra in its centre. The ground floor is a rectangle, it being surrounded by walls to the east, west and south sides, which support a Colonnade of eighteen full columns and two matching pilasters on the north wall 20 feet (6.1 m) high of the Ionic order, which in turn are surrounded by a passageway. There are six columns down each flank of the room, with two more at the end, the remaining four columns follow the curve of the apse. The apse contains a wide flight of white marble steps that rises to the upper level at the southernmost columns. The columns have an extremely rich plaster entablature, the soffit has richly decorated plaster panels edged in egg and dart, the frieze has bucrania and putti between festoons of fruit, the cornice in turn supports the deep coffered cove of the ceiling that rises to the flat centre over both the apse and the main part of the room, which is enriched with molded plaster beams also richly decorated with rosettes and other decoration. The fluted columns are of pink-veined Derbyshire alabaster, with white marble capitals. The walls surrounding the ground floor are also faced in the same alabaster, there are two arched doorways at the northern end of the walls leading to the service areas. These walls have a skirting of black marble decorated with a white marble meander, there is also a band of black marble decorated with a white marble scroll pattern just below the bases of the columns. The floor is white marble edged with grey marble. Between the columns is an elaborate black painted s-scroll wrought iron balustrade, supporting a mahogany hand rail. The upper corridor behind the columns is more restrained in its decoration, the alabaster is restricted to the skirting and door frames, with a white marble floor, the flat ceilings having simple large coffers between each column, separated by a rich band of guilloché patterned plasterwork, the walls like the ceiling being white plaster. The east and west walls of the upper level have four plain statue niches alternating with three doors, the southern apse is flanked by doors with windows above, then within the apse are two more statue niches flanking the central exedra with its hexagonal coffering, this contains two more statue niches flanking the doorway into the Saloon with its alabaster door surround with rich entablature and brackets, these like all the doors in the state rooms are of panelled mahogany. All the statue niches are semicircular in plan and rise from dado level to a half domed termination. The northern wall continues the alabaster and marble decoration across the ground floor, above is a Venetian window framed in white plaster, consisting of Corinthian pilasters and matching entablature, this is flanked by two sash windows. Beneath the central window is the main entrance which is flanked by black marble Ionic engaged-columns, supporting an alabaster pediment in the frieze of which is this inscription:

THIS SEAT, on an open barren Estate
Was planned, planted, built, decorated.
And inhabited the middle of the XVIIIth Century
By THO's COKE EARL of LEICESTER

• 
  The Marble Hall, looking south
• 
  The Marble Hall, looking north
• 
  Detail of column capital and entablature, Marble Hall

The North Dining Room

• The North Dining Room: Is a cube of 27 feet (8.2 m) a side, with a large apse in the middle of the south wall, this is richly coffered, and flanked by pilasters with richly carved rinceaux and mirrored panelling on their side facing the apse. Within the apse just behind the pilasters are two doors leading to a staircase that links to the service areas and kitchen. The two fireplaces are carved from Sicilian Jasper & white marble, with reliefs from Aesop's Fables, the eastern fireplace with The Bear and the Bee-Hive and the western The Sow and the Wolf, were carved by Thomas Carter, above are oval niches surrounded by plaster swags held in the talons of gilt plaster eagles. The ceiling has a small cove above a cornice, the edge of the ceiling proper being edged by a plaster beam that enclose a circular plaster beam both decorated with rinceaux, the centre of the ceiling is a shallow dome. The four doors that flank the fireplaces have pediments. The Venetian window is framed by Corinthian pilasters and columns. A large classical style porphyry table from Italy is in the centre of the apse, the curve of which follows that of the apse, with a red granite wine-cooler, two marble top tables flank the apse above which are brackets to support a bust. There is an elaborate silver candelabra over three feet in height in the centre of the circular dining table, the dining chairs are mahogany originally the sets were of red leather and the richly patterned and coloured Axminster carpet mirrors the form of the ceiling dome and plaster beams. The room is white with some gilding. An early 18th century bracket clock sits in the centre of the porphyry table.
• The Statue Gallery: Is a tripartite room 105 feet (32 m) long by 20 feet (6.1 m) wide, consisting of two plain-domed octagonal tribunes 32 feet (9.8 m) high with elaborate entablatures and are linked by arches to the coffered-exedras at either end of the rectangular central room that is 24 feet (7.3 m) high and 46 feet (14 m) long, 58 feet (18 m) including the exedra. The Northern Tribune has large niches in the form of exedras in the corners that extent down to floor level to take large sculptures on plinths, there are busts in the open pediments above the two doors. The Southern Tribune has bookcases in the corners with swan-neck pediments, which like the doors take busts, above the window flanked by Corinthian pilasters, in plaster is the year 1753. The statue niches in the central room rise from dado level, two in each of the exedras and three either side of the fireplace the central one of which is larger than the flanking ones. The elaborately carved chimneypiece carved by Joseph Pickford is of white marble with coloured panel, is surmounted by a niche with a carved pedimented frame, all the other niches are plain. The busts sit on brackets projecting from the walls, the central Palladian window is framed by elaborate Corinthian columns and pilasters, the room has a gilt cornice around the plain ceiling. The walls are painted a very pale grey, with the ceiling, dado, window surrounds and niche over the fireplace white with gilt highlights. In the tribunes hanging from plaster pendants are two cut-glass crystal chandeliers, English dated c1760. In the central room are two chandeliers of gilt bronze, there are two side tables between the windows, that have richly veined marble tops, the frames richly carved and gilt. On the tables are two matching marble urns. Flanking the chimneypiece are sofas flanked by matching chairs of parcel-gilt wood with dark blue leather upholstery made by Saunders in 1757.

The Southern Exedra the Statue Gallery

Looking through the southern tribune of the Statue Gallery along the southern enfilade

• The Drawing Room: Is 20 by 30 feet (9.1 m), the fireplace of white marble was richly carved by Joseph Pickford, the frieze of which has two swags of fruit either side of a plain cartouche, the walls are covered in patterned red velvet, the plaster ceiling divided into nine rectangular compartments, divided by plaster beams richly decorated with foliage and masks where the beams cross, it has a rich entablature the frieze decorated with standing griffins between foliage. The four doors on the side walls have open pediments. The dado, ceiling and door surrounds are white highlighted in gilt. The seat furniture is designed by William Kent, an upholstered in red patterned velvet there are sofas each side of the chimneypiece and arm-chairs on each side wall flanking tables, there is a fine carved and gilt pier glass between the windows carved by James Millar, below which is carved gilt pier-table with marble top.

The Drawing Room

The Drawing Room

• The Saloon: Is 28 by 40 feet (12 m). The ceiling has a rich entablature, the frieze of which is of rinceaux of acanthus leaves, with a small family coat of arms flanked by ostrich and a dragon in the centre of each wall, this supports the deep octagonal coffered-cove, each coffer containing a rosette, rising to 32 feet (9.8 m) in height to the flat area of the ceiling, also coffered but with a mixture of octagonal, hexagonal and square coffers. On the north wall are two fireplaces the work of Benjamin Carter, of white marble with Sicilian marble Ionic columns and Frieze with carvings in white marble including central plaques of Cybele with a lion and a personification of astronomy, which flank the large central door, the frame being richly carved, including acanthus foliage in the frieze and surmounted with a segmental open pediment. The four doors at the ends of the side walls are surmounted by an Earl's coronet above two crossed palm branches. The walls are clad in red patterned Genoa caffoy, the dado, ceiling and door cases are white with gilt highlights. In the middle of the east and west walls are William Kent side tables, whose supports are carved eagles (probably the work of Matthias Lock) and their tops are covered by geometrical mosaics dated 123–125 AD from Hadrian's Villa. Between the five windows are four sets of mirrors with elaborately carved & gilt frames consisting of two oval mirrors with a girandole between and matching marble topped pier-tables below, . The seat furniture gilt and red velvet upholstered, to match the walls, is by William Kent. There are four gilt wood torchieres flanking the fireplaces.
• The South Dining Room: Is 20 by 30 feet (9.1 m), the fireplace is of white marble with an inlaid panel of Lapis Lazuli and richly carved boys heads beneath large corbels, the walls are covered in patterned red velvet, the plaster ceiling divided into nine compartments the central one enclosing an oval, divided by plaster beams richly decorated with vine leaves and masks where the beams cross, has a rich entablature the frieze decorated with seated griffins. The four doors on the side walls have open pediments. The dado, ceiling and door surrounds are white highlighted in gilt. The seat furniture is designed by William Kent, an upholstered in red patterned velvet there are sofas each side of the chimneypiece and on each side wall, there is a fine gilt pier glass between the windows probably carved by James Whittle, below which is carved gilt pier-table with marble top of giallo antico.
• The Landscape Room: Is 20 feet (6.1 m) square, the fireplace is of white marble with inlaid panels of coloured marble, the walls are covered in patterned red Damask, the plaster ceiling is divided into nine compartments the central one an octagon, divided by plaster beams decorated with a guilloché pattern with rosettes where the beams cross. The four doors, flanking the fireplace and in the centres of the east and west walls have entablatures. There is a Venetian window with Corinthian columns and pilasters. The dado, ceiling and door surrounds are white highlighted in gilt. The furniture consists of a small desk and two carved gilt, two seater sofas upholstered in red velvet and a pair of torchieres flank the fireplace.
• The Green State Bedroom: Is 32 by 20 feet (6.1 m), the fireplace is of white marble including two Caryatids at the corners and a carved plaque in the centre backed by yellow marble with black veins. The ceiling

The Green State Bedroom

The Green State Bedroom

has shallow plasterwork beams outlining a circle in the centre with two semicircles from the side walls touching it, there are large rosettes in each corner and paired above the fireplace and opposite in front of the middle window. The four doorways on the side walls have entablatures. The dado, ceiling and door surrounds are white highlighted in gilt. The central chandelier is of gilded bronze and hangs from a plaster pendant. The walls are covered by the tapestries of the four continents, Europe, America & Africa are Brussels tapestries all signed A. Auwercx. Asia is a Mortlake tapestry in the same style, either side of the central window are two small Mortlake tapestries of Sleep & Vigilance, all woven by Paul Saunders and George Smith Bradshaw in 1757. The canopied bed, seat furniture and curtains, have retained their original multicoloured Genoa velvet upholstery and was designed by William Kent. There are two small pier-tables with marble tops between the windows.

• The Green State Dressing Room: a small fireplace of white marble with dark-veins, the frieze being of white marble inlaid with black marble of unusual geometric design, the walls are covered in patterned green velvet.
• The North State Dressing Room: fireplace of white marble with yellow and black veins, the frieze of yellow marble with a raised meander of white marble and a white marble plaque of a swag, the walls are covered in patterned green velvet.
• The North State Bedchamber: Is 20 feet (6.1 m) square. The fireplace is of white marble, the side pilasters carved with shallow reliefs of eagles, patera and other motifs, the frieze is of a darker white-veined marble with carved central plaque and meander of white marble. The ceiling has a rich entablature, the frieze decorated with palmettes, the centre of the ceiling has a circle outlined by a richly molded plaster beam. The dado, ceiling and door surrounds are white highlighted in gilt. There is a table with a top made from a mosaic bought as originating from Hadrian's Villa, now believed to be an 18th-century copy. The four-poster bed is Regency. The walls are covered in patterned red velvet.
• The State Sitting Room: Is 27 by 15 feet (4.6 m). The fireplace with shallow carvings of dark green marble with white veins, the frieze of onyx with a plain central plaque of polished red granite. The dado, ceiling and door surrounds are white highlighted in gilt. The walls are covered by 17th century Brussel's tapestries designed by Peemans, depicting the twelve months of the year. There is a Kent sofa and arm-chairs covered in red velvet and a pair of torchieres.

The Family Wing

• The Long Library: Is 54 by 18 feet (5.5 m) and is on the west side of the wing. This was the first major interior of the House to be completed, in 1741, and has a chimneypiece carved by one Marsden, of yellow Siena marble with black veins with details in white marble. The overmantel with a pediment enclosing acanthus foliage and a shell, contains a mosaic depicting a lion fighting a leopard. Originally from the Roman theatre at Gubbio, the mosaic once adorned Palazzo Gabrielli-Mignanelli in Rome, and was acquired in that city by Coke of Norfolk, during his Grand Tour in Italy in c1772. The built-in bookcases were designed by William Kent, there are four matching large bookcases with open pediments flanking the fireplace and the central window of the west wall, plus eight smaller bookcases flanking the windows in the south and north walls, and at each end of the east and west walls. The ceiling has a deep plain cove that is half groin vaulted, three on the end walls and seven on the long walls, the flat centre of the ceiling has a meander plaster beam along the edge, centered by three octagon medallions defined by plaster beams, with two gilt brass chandeliers hanging from the two side medallions. The two doorways have entablatures with richly carved friezes. There is a third door, disguised as part of the bookcase between the south door and fireplace, this is covered in leather books spines. The walls, bookcases, ceiling, overmantel and door cases are all white with gilt highlights on the mouldings. Most of the furniture is of little historic interest, being for comfort, as this is the main room in the family wing.

Section of the Long Library

Fireplace wall of the Long Library

• The Classical Library: Is 18 by 24 feet (7.3 m), created in 1816 by 'Coke of Norfolk' from a former ante-room and is the central room on the north side of the wing. The fireplace is fairly plain of white-veined dark marble. It is flanked by two doors with entablatures with decorative friezes. The doors in the middle of the side walls are surmounted by open pediments; four built-in bookcases in the style of Kent, flank the doors (with open pediments). The ceiling is divided into nine zones by plaster beams with simple decoration. The walls, bookcases, ceiling, overmantel and door cases are all white with gilt highlights on the mouldings.
• The Manuscript Library: Created in 1816 by 'Coke of Norfolk' from the former dressing room belonging to the main family bedroom, pedimented bookcases flank each door of the side walls.
• Lady Leicester's Sitting Room: Is 18 by 24 feet (7.3 m) and is the central room on the south side of the wing. The fireplace carved by Marsden is of white marble richly carved with egg and dart around the grate, and the frieze with acanthus foliage and a central rosette. The overmantel with its Canaletto painting is richly decorated and is surmounted by a small oval portrait beneath an open pediment with two flanking urns. The four doors have entablatures with carved friezes. The ceiling has a decorated frieze, the ceiling divided by plaster beams into various geometrical shapes. The walls, ceiling, overmantel and door cases are all white with gilt highlights on the mouldings.

The Guest Wing

• The Venetian Room: Is 18 by 24 feet (7.3 m), is the main guest bedroom and is the central room on the north side of the wing. The fireplace is of black marble with white veins, the carved frieze of white marble has a plain central plaque of green marble with mottling. The plaster decorative overmantel has an open pediment and surrounds an oval portrait. Two doors flank the fireplace with two more on the side walls near the window, all have entablatures with decorative frieze and surmounted by portraits. The ceiling has a rich entablature with a rinceaux frieze, and plaster beams dividing the ceiling into various geometric shapes. The window Venetian with central Corinthian columns and matching pilasters. The walls are covered by 18th century tapestries with a pastoral theme with playing cupids. There is a gilt wood chandelier.
• There are a total of six bedrooms in the Guest Wing, four on the first and two on the second floor. Including: The Red Parrot bedroom named after the painting by Frans Snyders, the Red Bedroom and The Yellow Tapestry room.

The Red Parrot Bedroom

The Chapel Wing

• The Chapel: Is 54 by 18 feet (5.5 m), rising through two floors, the ground floor and piano nobile. The cedar-wood gallery supported by two Corinthian columns, was for use by the family and is at piano nobile level. The lower walls are clad in alabaster, the upper in white plaster with the paintings inset in plaster frames and a white plaster richly coffered-ceiling surrounded by a rich plaster entablature. The paintings above the altar are enclosed in an alabaster reredos with engaged-Corinthian columns flanking the central painting and matching pilasters the side paintings, these support a segmental alabaster pediment and moulded plaster work surrounding the window above. The walls, ceiling, overmantel and door cases are all white.

The Chapel

The Kitchen Wing

• The Kitchen: Is 24 by 54 feet (16 m). Rising through the ground and first floors running north to south across the centre of the wing, the north wall has a Venetian window at upper floor level. The east wall has a series of cast iron cooking ranges. The extensive copper Batterie de cuisine survives. This kitchen has not been used as such since 1939.