Upton House is a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Ratley Ratley is a village in the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Ratley and Upton, Stratford-on-Avon District, Warwickshire, England. The population of the civil parish in 2011 was 327. It is on the northwest side of the Edge Hill, Warwicks ...

and Upton, in the English county of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, about northwest of

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. It is in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. The house is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

as are the park and gardens.

History

The house was built on the site of the hamlet of Upton, which was destroyed in about 1500 when the land was cleared for pasture. The estate passed through various hands until the early 17th century when it was bought by Sir William Danvers. It remained with the Danvers family until 1688 when Sir Rushout Cullen purchased the estate for £7,000 (equivalent to £ in ). Cullen built the house for himself in about 1695. In 1757 the house was bought by banker Francis Child for use as a hunting lodge and it remained with his heirs in the Jersey family until the end of the 19th century when it was held by

George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey George Child Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey, GCH, PC (19 August 1773 – 3 October 1859), previously George Villiers and styled Viscount Villiers until 1805, was a British courtier and Conservative politician from the Villiers family. He adde ...

.Christie's Sale Catalogue for Upton House, 14 & 15 October 1991 In 1897, the estate was bought by brewer Andrew Richard Motion, grandfather of the writer

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Peter Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and a ...

. In 1927 the estate was acquired by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted, who inherited a fortune from his father

Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, (5 November 1853 – 17 January 1927), known as Sir Marcus Samuel between 1898 and 1921 and subsequently as Lord Bearsted until 1925, was a Lord Mayor of London and the founder of the Shell Transport and Tr ...

, the founder of the oil company Shell Transport & Trading. His wife Lady Bearsted worked with "Kitty" Lloyd Jones to transform the house's garden during the early 1930s. Kitty is credited for converting an area of marshland into the

bog garden A bog garden is a type of garden that employs permanently moist (but not waterlogged) soil to create a habitat for plants and creatures which thrive in such conditions. It may exploit existing poor drainage in the garden, or it may be artificial ...

, centred on a

natural spring A spring is a natural exit point at which groundwater emerges from an aquifer and flows across the ground surface as surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere, as well as a part of the water cycle. Springs have long been important fo ...

in the garden. Lord Bearsted donated the house, gardens and art collection to the

in 1948. Lord Bearsted's son, Marcus Samuel, 3rd Viscount Bearsted, lived at Upton from 1948 until his death in 1986 and added to the gift to the National Trust the collection of porcelain. On the death of the 3rd Viscount, the furniture and other items on view in the rooms were offered to the nation by his daughter, Mrs. R. Waley-Cohen, through the "in lieu" system, on condition that they remain at Upton and on view to the public. Mrs. Waley-Cohen continued to live in the house until 1988, when the family moved to another property on the estate. In October 1991, she offered for sale by

public auction A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...

, a large number of items which were considered surplus to requirements. The sale, by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

, took place at the house, in a total of 1083 separate lots, and included pictures, furniture, porcelain, silver, objects and carpets.

Description

Upton is a long low house built of local yellow

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

. It was considerably expanded from 1927 to 1929 for the 2nd Viscount Bearsted by

Percy Richard Morley Horder Percy Richard Morley Horder (18 November 1870 – 7 October 1944) was an English architect who early in his career worked from offices in Stroud and later in London. His early work was in the Arts and Crafts style, but after the First World War h ...

who retained the Carolean style appearance of the exterior while introducing some

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

elements in the interior, particularly in the bathroom for Lady Bearsted, where the walls are covered in aluminium leaf. The style of interiors at Upton has been described by art critic

Osbert Lancaster Sir Osbert Lancaster (4 August 1908 – 27 July 1986) was an English cartoonist, architectural historian, stage designer and author. He was known for his cartoons in the British press, and for his lifelong work to inform the general publi ...

as Curzon Street Baroque. A main attraction of Upton is the garden. A lawn, with huge cedar trees, sweeps gently down from the house and below is an extensive terraced garden. The garden features a

kitchen garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

, a series of

herbaceous border A herbaceous border is a collection of perennial herbaceous plants (plants that live for more than two years and are soft-stemmed and non-woody) arranged closely together, usually to create a dramatic effect through colour, shape or large scale. ...

s and a large lake with

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' ( ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artistic production during ...

in a small valley. The terracing, unseen from the house and on a first visit unsuspected, contains the

National Collection The UK National Collection is a collection of around 280 historic rolling stock, rail vehicles (predominantly of British origin). The majority of the collection is kept at four national museums: * National Railway Museum, York * National Railwa ...

of ''

Aster Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...

''. In use since the 12th century, the gardens were largely transformed by Kitty Lloyd-Jones for Lady Bearsted in the 1920s and 1930s, including the creation of a rare Bog Garden on the site of medieval

fish pond A fish pond or fishpond is a controlled pond, small artificial lake or retention basin that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, for recreational fishing, or for ornamental purposes. Fish ponds are a classical g ...

Art collection

Perhaps uniquely among country houses owned by the National Trust, its significance lies principally in its art collection. The house is presented more as an art gallery than as a private home, although care has been taken to restore the house to how it looked in the 1930s. It contains a unique

bathroom and a collection of early Shell advertising posters, together with some of their original artwork, by such artists as

Rex Whistler Reginald John "Rex" Whistler (24 June 190518 July 1944) was a British artist, who painted murals and society portraits, and designed theatrical costumes. He was killed in action in Normandy in World War II. Whistler was the brother of poet and ...

. The collection was assembled by Lord Bearsted, helped by his being a Trustee of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

as well as Chairman of the

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...

. In 1948, Lord Bearsted lent his

Old Master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

s collection for an exhibition in Whitechapel, despite the area still being in ruins from

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

. Lord Bearsted's sister

Nellie Ionides The HonorableAs she was the daughter of a peer she was entitled to use the honorific "The Honorable" from 1921. Her father, Sir Marcus Samuel, was created 1st Baron Bearsted of Maidstone in the 1921 Birthday Honours; in the 1925 Birthday Hono ...

also became an avid collector, particularly in the area of porcelain. The collection at Upton includes English and Continental old masters such as:

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; 5 March 1696 – 27 March 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

Anthony Devis Anthony Devis (18 March 1729 – 26 April 1816) was an English Landscape art, landscape painter, working especially in watercolor and oils and active in London.Waterhouse, E., ''Dictionary of British 18th century painters'', 1981, p. 108 Anthon ...

Francesco Guardi Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School (art), Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the clas ...

Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen ( – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Life ...

Melchior d'Hondecoeter Melchior is the name traditionally given to one of the biblical Magi appearing in the Gospel of Matthew. There are many notable people with this name, or close variations. As a first name * Melchior Anderegg (1828–1914), Swiss mountain guide ...

Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (; 14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists o ...

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

Tintoretto Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...

and

Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden (; 1399 or 140018 June 1464), initially known as Roger de le Pasture (), was an Early Netherlandish painting, early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commis ...

. There is also a collection of English fine

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

, including Chelsea,

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, Bow and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

, as well as some French

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

. Highlights of the collection include: *''Self Portrait of the Artist Engraving'' (1783) by Richard Morton Paye *'' William Beckford'' (1782) by George Romney (purchased by 1st Viscount Bearstead in the mistaken belief it was Beckford's father) *''Bacino di San Marco, Venice'' (c. 1725–26) by

Canaletto Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school. Painter of cityscapes or ...

*''Morning'' and ''Night'', two of the

Four Times of the Day ''Four Times of the Day'' is a series of four oil paintings by English artist William Hogarth. They were completed in 1736 and in 1738 were reproduced and published as a series of four engravings. They are humorous depictions of life in the ...

(c. 1736), by

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...

*''

Massacre of the Innocents The Massacre (or Slaughter) of the Innocents is a story recounted in the Nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew ( 2:16– 18) in which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male children who are two years old and u ...

'' (c.1565) attributed to

Pieter Brueghel the Younger Pieter Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger ( , ; ; between 23 May and 10 October 1564 – between March and May 1638) was a Flemish painting, Flemish painter known for numerous copies after his father Pieter Bruegel the Elder's ...

(a copy of the original by

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder ( , ; ; – 9 September 1569) was among the most significant artists of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaking, printmaker, known for his landscape art, landscape ...

in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

): in 2014 an appeal was launched to raise funds to help conserve the painting. *''The Labourers'' (1779), ''The Haymakers'' (1783) and ''The Reapers'' (1783) by

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Joshua Reynolds and Thoma ...

*''The Interior of the Church of St. Catherine, Utrecht (1655–1660)'' by

Pieter Jansz. Saenredam Pieter Jansz. Saenredam (9 June 1597 – buried 31 May 1665) was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age, known for his distinctive paintings of whitewashed church interiors such as '' Interior of St Bavo's Church in Haarlem'' (1636) and '' Interior ...

*''The Duet or "Le corset blue"'' (mid-1660s) by

Gabriël Metsu Gabriël Metsu (1629–1667) was a Dutch painter of history paintings, still lifes, portraits, and genre works. He was "a highly eclectic artist, who did not adhere to a consistent style, technique, or one type of subject for long periods". Onl ...

*''

The Disrobing of Christ ''The Disrobing of Christ'' or ''El Expolio'' () is a painting by El Greco begun in the summer of 1577 and completed in the spring of 1579 for the High Altar of the sacristy of the Cathedral of Toledo, where it still normally hangs. In late 2013 ...

(El Espolio)'' by

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

(c. 1579) (purchased by Viscount Bearstead in July 1938 for the sum of £5,000) *'' Martin Ruzé'' (1612) by

Frans Pourbus the Younger Frans Pourbus the Younger or Frans Pourbus (II) (Antwerp, 1569 – Paris, 1622)Frans Pourbus (II)
at the The Death of the Virgin'' (1564) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, considered one of the finest of his works in

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; , from ''gris'' 'grey') means in general any European painting that is painted in grey. History Giotto used grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua () and Robert Campin, Jan van Ey ...

. *''Adoration of the Kings'' (c. 1495), a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

by a follower of

Hieronymous Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

( version of the original held by

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

in Madrid)

Interior

Dining Room

This room was chosen by Lord Bearsted as a place to display pictures with a sporting theme, consistent with the use of the estate for sporting pursuits. The room also contains a set of dining chairs embroidered by Marcus Samuel, 3rd Viscount Bearsted, as a means of rehabilitation to recover from injuries received during the Second World War.

Long Gallery

The present long, narrow room was created by combining three smaller rooms during the renovations of the 1920s. The art in this room includes an array of

Dutch Masters Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republi ...

. A series of display cases designed by

also showcase a range of English porcelain from Chelsea, Derby and Bow as well as the French factories in

Vincennes Vincennes (; ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Vincennes is famous for its castle: the Château de Vincennes. It is next to but does not include the ...

as Sèvres, predominately featuring

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

figures and decorative objects.

Porcelain Lobby

The highlights of porcelain collection are displayed here, focusing on masterpieces of 18C French ceramics. The works originate from both the Vincennes and the Sèvres factories and include: *A coffee cup and saucer decorated with images of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, dating from his time as French ambassador *Table service commissioned by

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

*A plate ordered by

Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (; 28 August 1744 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being ...

Picture Gallery Passage

The Picture Gallery Passage is a narrow hallway leading to the Picture Gallery, in which hangs a number of masterpieces from the collection.

Picture Gallery

Following the renovations of the 1920s, this room was used as a squash court, and a gallery from that time remains visible. The room was then converted by architect Ernest Joseph into a gallery space in 1936, and serves as the display space for the 15th and 16th-century paintings of the collection.

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Upton House at the National TrustUpton House Garden - a Gardens Guide review
*{{NHLE , num=1024175 Art museums and galleries in Warwickshire National Trust properties in Warwickshire Country houses in Warwickshire Gardens in Warwickshire Grade II* listed buildings in Warwickshire Historic house museums in Warwickshire Articles containing video clips Grade II* listed houses