Architectural Colour in British Interiors 1615-1840

"Yes, Architectural Colour in British Interiors 1615-1840. Another nerdy one, I’m afraid. This book is genius – two books actually, and was Ian Bristow’s life’s work. He studied paint and pigment through the ages, how to mix colours, how to use colours. Designers can be frightened of colour but if you look at the ceilings in Pavlovsk or Ostankino you can see 20 or 30 different colours and they work together. It reminds us that we can use colour. Well, they would have been using natural pigments, grinding down lapis lazuli, making a kind of sanguine yellow, a sepia from onion skins. Lamp black is called that because they used to burn a lamp under a piece of porcelain and collect the soot to mix the paint. You can see these colours at Hampton Court, Ham House – that’s an extraordinary house with experimental faux marbling and other paint techniques. Getting colour was expensive so it was a good way of showing off. Chiswick Villa near London has a vibrant blue ceiling in one of the rooms. This book is full of pictures of ceilings and room elevations. I use it when I get panicked, if I’m presented with a painted-over ceiling and I’m worrying about using colours next to each other. You try the samples on the ceiling and think; ‘Did they really use lilac, silver and eau de nil together?’ And of course they did – and it looked fabulous. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . Yes! Robert Adam [1728-1792 Scottish neoclassical architect, designer, furniture maker] would have done. This book will tell you how silver leaf will corrode over time but palladium leaf won’t. And gold won’t, of course. My interiors are not fashion statements. My favourite one, of my own, is probably Farley Hall in Berkshire. It’s owned by this incredibly intelligent family, the Samuels. Lady Bearsted’s uncle is Oliver Sacks, the neurologist, and being in their house, built in 1720, is amazingly stimulating intellectually. Nicky and Caroline have a huge appreciation of their Grade I house and really live in the place. It’s not just a museum. It was my first great job and I was 28. Most of my contemporaries were working on little town houses so when we finished I said; ‘Great! Let’s get it published!’ They said; ‘No way!’ I said; ‘But..b…bu…..’ It was great lesson and it humbled me. Lots of people really believe their own PR but it taught me that I work to create a home, something lasting, intimate and of substance, not for a fleeting moment of publicity. Some people sell a look that is immediately recognisable as theirs – certain designers market an identifiable style, a brand and then they become a one-trick pony. I think a good designer shouldn’t fight the context of the building that they are presented with. Also, of course, you have to reflect the character of the client. The same building will look very different depending on the client. The requirements of a single old man and his wonderful collection of butterflies will be very different from those of a young family. I did a house in upstate New York for Gordon Elliot, who is a television presenter, and he wanted to display his canoe and his gnu in his library. Of course, it’s easy to reflect the personality of an eccentric like that, but for some people it will be a more subtle reflection, done with colours or textures. It has to be functional, practical and comfortable and as timeless as you can get it. Mostly people want to inhabit their space in a comfortable way. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter"