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Henrietta Howard was a remarkable 18th-century woman: an influential courtier, friend of poets and politicians, and patron of the arts. The interiors of her Thames-side home, Marble Hill, were furnished in the latest fashion with the ‘chinoiserie’ lacquer furniture and blue-and-white porcelain that had become popular through England’s increasing trade with China.
A Chinese lacquer screen is one of the few remaining objects from Henrietta’s own collection because the contents of the house were dispersed before the property came into public ownership in 1902. However, there was a remarkable reunion in the 1980s when a series of Italian decorative paintings by Giovanni Paolo Panini returned to their original positions in the Great Room.
The paintings, furniture and porcelain on display in the house today still evoke the 18th-century love of the Orient, and suit Henrietta Howard’s taste and status. Her position in society is reflected in the portraits of her friends and contemporaries, including the paintings of George II, who financed the building of the house.
Henrietta Howard, 9th Countess of Suffolk, by Charles Jervas
Henrietta Howard, 9th Countess of Suffolk
Date: c.1724
Type: Painting
Material: Oil on canvas
Place Made/Found: London
Artist: Charles Jervas
Lender: Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and the London Historic House Museums Trust
This portrait of Henrietta Howard was painted in 1724 when the initial designs for her new house, Marble Hill, were under way. It was commissioned by her close friend and fellow Twickenham resident Alexander Pope as a companion to a portrait of the writer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. By 1784 it was hanging at Horace Walpole’s home, Strawberry Hill.
Statues in a Ruined Arcade, by Giovanni Paolo Panini
Statues in a Ruined Arcade
Date: 1738
Type: Painting
Material: Oil on canvas
Place Made/Found: Rome
Artist: Giovanni Paolo Panini
The Great Room at Marble Hill contains a unique set of five imaginary views of Rome by Panini. Positioned above the doors and mantelpiece, they are thought to have been either purchased or commissioned for the room by Henrietta Howard. In this painting the direction of the light and the line of the perspective when seen from the doorway of Mrs Howard’s bedchamber both suggest that it was painted for the room.
Pier Table, by William Kent(?)
Table
Date: c.1730
Type: Table
Material: Marble
Place Made/Found: England
Artist: Possibly William Kent
Lender: Purchased with the assistance of the Art Fund (Eugene Cermotti Fund)
This is the only remaining example from a set of four side – or ‘pier’ – tables which were designed and made for the Great Room, the principal reception room at Marble Hill. The design, possibly by William Kent, incorporates a peacock motif. The peacock is the symbol of the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter, the king of the gods. Henrietta Howard, the mistress of George II, may have identified with Juno.
A Chinese Screen
A Chinese Screen
Date: c.1735
Type: Screen
Material: Wood, lacquer
Place Made/Found: China
This eight-leaf lacquer screen was made to order, probably in the Chinese port of Canton. It bears the coat of arms of Henrietta Howard, painted in the original lacquer, and reflects her love of ‘chinoiserie’ with its colourful and fantastic ornaments. According to an inventory of Marble Hill drawn up in 1767 two such screens were used in the Great Room.
Margaretta Mabella Acworth, by Thomas Hudson
Margaretta Mabella Acworth
Date: 1745
Type: Painting
Material: Oil on canvas
Place Made/Found: London
Artist: Thomas Hudson
Lender: Bequeathed by Angus Whiteford Acworth to the National Art Collections Fund and presented to Marble Hill House 1981
This painting shows Margaretta Mabella Acworth at the age of 19 and was commissioned, together with a portrait of her new husband, Abraham, to celebrate their marriage in 1745. Abraham Acworth was a clerk of the Exchequer and had recently inherited a sizeable sum of money from his uncle. It is therefore not surprising that they chose Thomas Hudson, one of the most fashionable portrait painters in London, to paint their portraits.
Catherine Hyde, Duchess of Queensberry, as a Dairy Maid, by Charles Jervas
Catherine Hyde, Duchess of Queensberry, as a Dairy Maid
Date: c.1770 version of c.1735 painting
Type: Painting
Material: Oil on canvas
Place Made/Found: London
Artist: Charles Jervas
The Duchess of Queensberry lived at Petersham on the opposite bank of the Thames to her friend Henrietta Howard at Marble Hill. She longed for ‘wings like a dove’ in order to ‘fly away to Marble Hill and be at rest’. It was extremely fashionable for ladies to be painted in simple rustic roles and here the duchess is shown as a dairy maid. She had her own dairy at Petersham.
George II, by Charles Philips
George II
Date: c.1738
Type: Painting
Material: Oil on canvas
Place Made/Found: London
Artist: Charles Philips
This portrait of George II is thought to allude to the death of Queen Caroline in 1737. The setting for the portrait is probably the ante-room to the new library in St James’s Palace. The library was built to house the Queen’s collection and it was here that she was taken ill. A bust of the Queen is positioned above the door, while the empty throne may symbolise her absence.
View of the Thames near Marble Hill, Twickenham, by Richard Wilson
View of the Thames near Marble Hill, Twickenham
Date: c.1762
Type: Painting
Material: Oil on canvas
Place Made/Found: London
Artist: Richard Wilson
Lender: Purchased with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Art Fund and the Pilgrim Trust
In Richard Wilson’s view of the River Thames, the south front of Marble Hill House can be glimpsed on the far bank among the trees. Inspired by the 17th-century paintings of Claude Lorraine, Wilson has transformed the Thames into an Italianate riverscape, a suitable setting for Henrietta Howard’s Palladian villa.
A Settee, part of the Northey Suite, by Anne Northey
A Settee, part of the Northey Suite
Date: c.1745–1760
Type: Settee
Material: Mahogany, embroidery
Place Made/Found: England
Artist: Anne Northey
Lender: Purchased with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Art Fund
Anne Northey was the talented needlewoman responsible for creating the embroidered covers for this mahogany settee and the accompanying side chairs. She is thought to have adapted earlier petit-point panels depicting pastoral scenes, inserting them within her own gros-point borders of flowers. Anne was the wife of William Northey, Commissioner of Trade and Groom of the Chamber of George III.
La Lecteur (The Reader), by Hubert François Gravelot
La Lecteur (The Reader)
Date: 1745
Type: Painting
Material: Oil on canvas
Place Made/Found: London
Artist: Hubert François Gravelot
Lender: Purchased with the aid of a grant from the Victoria and Albert Museum
This is a rare oil painting by the French artist Hubert François Gravelot, who helped to popularise the rococo style in England. He was better known for his engravings and taught drawing at the St Martin’s Lane Academy in London, where his pupils included Thomas Gainsborough. This elegant painting, of a man reading to a woman in a carefully rendered interior, was engraved in 1745 and became very popular.
An Oriental Beauty
An Oriental Beauty
Date: c.1760
Type: Painting
Material: Enamel and glass
Place Made/Found: China
Lender: The Rosemary and Monty Lazenby Bequest, through the Art Fund
In keeping with Henrietta Howard’s own enthusiasm for ‘chinoiserie’, Marble Hill is now home to the Rosemary and Monty Lazenby Bequest of ‘chinoiserie’ paintings and furniture. This collection includes unusual Chinese mirror paintings carried out in enamel on partly silvered glass. The glass was manufactured in London and then sent to workshops in China for decoration. This example shows the influence of English portrait engravings.
Read a full history of this English Palladian villa and its gardens beside the Thames, from its origins in the 1720s as a retreat from court life for Henrietta Howard to the present day.
Though mainly known as the mistress of George II, Henrietta Howard was a remarkable woman in her own right. Read more about her extraordinary life and how she came to build Marble Hill.
See how artists have depicted the panoramic view from Richmond Hill over the centuries and find out how Marble Hill was saved thanks to a campaign to preserve this view.
