Detail of the Zuber wallpaper at Basildon Park. ©NTPL/John Hammond
The small camel seen through the fretwork at 575 Wandsworth Road, shown in the previous post, inspired Courtney Barnes to do a post about camel motifs.
I want to return the compliment by showing the panoramic Zuber wallpaper at Basildon Park. But apart from featuring a camel it is also emblematic of Regency exoticism.
The Qudsiya Bagh on the river Jumna, Delhi. Aquatint after Thomas Daniell (1749-1840), 1795, at Basildon Park. ©NTPL/John Hammond
Zuber wallpapers began to be produced in 1797. This particular design, called L’Hindoustan, was created by Pierre Mongin in 1807.
©NTPL/John Hammond
Mongin had never been to India, and his idealised, dreamy scenes were based on the Indian views of Thomas and William Daniell.
Eastern gate of the Jama Masjid, Delhi. Aquatint after Thomas Daniell (1749-1840), 1795, at Basildon Park. ©NTPL/John Hammond
The Daniells had seen these views at first hand, but their images are still heavily influenced by the English picturesque and Romantic traditions, with lots of dramatic clouds, crumbling masonry, and artfully placed trees and figures.
©NTPL/John Hammond
The Zuber wallpaper and the Daniell views were installed at Basildon by Lord and Lady Iliffe after the Second World War. In their restoration and decoration of the empty and derelict house the Iliffes were trying to evoke the spirit of Sir Francis Sykes, a ‘nabob’ who had made his fortune in India and who began building Basildon in 1776.
Gate of the mausoleum of Akbar near Agra. Aquatint after Thomas Daniell (1749-1840), 1795, at Basildon Park. ©NTPL/John Hammond
So here we have three different imaginations at work – Mongin, the Daniells and the Iliffes – recreating the exotic on the banks of the Thames.
