{"id":558,"date":"2016-01-11T09:25:48","date_gmt":"2016-01-11T09:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/?p=558"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:22:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:22:04","slug":"bizarre-and-unintelligible-or-unique-and-splendid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/2016\/01\/11\/bizarre-and-unintelligible-or-unique-and-splendid\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Bizarre and unintelligible’ or ‘unique and splendid’?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u2018The<\/a>

\u2018The Palace, Brighton\u2019 from: SCM 08510, J.D. Parry, An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Coast of Sussex \u2026 : Forming a Guide to All the Watering Places, (Brighton, 1833)<\/p><\/div>\n

Prompted both by some research I am doing for an<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\u2018New<\/a>

\u2018New entrance, Pavilion, Brighton\u2019 from: SCM 08510, J.D. Parry, An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Coast of Sussex \u2026 : Forming a Guide to All the Watering Places, (Brighton, 1833)<\/p><\/div>\n

exhibition on the early history of the British in India and by a recent visit to the extraordinary Brighton Pavilion (in which, of course, the \u2018Mogul\u2019 style is very much in evidence) , I wanted to investigate some 19th<\/sup> century reactions to the building, as demonstrated by Leicester\u2019s Special Collections.<\/strong>\u00a0 The Pavilion has always caused controversy, described variously as \u2018silly, charming, witty, light-hearted, extravagant, gloriously eccentric, decadent, childish, painfully vulgar, socially irresponsible\u20191<\/sup>.\u00a0 Although we perhaps tend to think of it as the ultimate flowering of \u2018Chinoiserie\u2019, in fact it is a Romantic confection of \u2018Oriental\u2019 styles, encompassing the Far East and the Middle East \u2013 Indian, Egyptian, Chinese \u2013 together with the Gothic, a sort of exotic stage-set for the Prince Regent, later George IV\u2019s seaside entertaining.<\/p>\n

\"Plate<\/a>

Plate illustrating the delights of Sussex, including Brighton Pavilion. From: SCM 06517, Reuben Ramble, pseud., Reuben Ramble\u2019s Travels Through the Counties of England, (London, [1845?])<\/p><\/div>

\"\u2018His<\/a>

\u2018His Majesty\u2019s Palace, Brighton\u2019 from: SCS 02537, John Baxter, publisher, The Stranger in Brighton, and Baxter\u2019s New Brighton Directory, (Brighton, [1822])<\/p><\/div>Brighton had first become a fashionable bathing-place, thanks largely to the work of local physician Richard Russell, who advocated sea-water bathing (and also drinking) to improve the health of his patients.\u00a0 As Mark Lower put it in 1865, \u2018Dirty old Brighthelmstone, redolent only of fish and rope-yarn, began to develop itself into the stately Brighton that we now behold\u20192<\/sup>.\u00a0 But \u00a0James Rouse notes in 1825 that George\u2019s choice of the town for his seaside residence elevated it to new heights: \u2018This rich and highly-adorned building has caused the prosperity of Brighton, which town had already acquired a high rank as a sea-bathing place, but which the munificence of the royal Inhabitant could alone promote to such a height of opulence, attracting \u2026 the highest and the greatest families of the kingdom\u20193<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The significance of the Pavilion\u2019s Indian elements was immediately obvious to J.D. Parry in 1833: \u2018The general aspect of this front is rather Indian or Persian than Chinese \u2026 It also recalls to us one branch of that mighty continental influence which we wield, it may be hoped and trusted for the general happiness and benefit.\u00a0 The King of England is almost \u2018de facto\u2019 King of India<\/em> \u2026 why should he not have his Oriental <\/em>Marine Pavilion\u20194<\/sup>.\u00a0 It seems that George felt \u2018it was part of his role to dramatize national and imperial glory and status both in his person and in his palaces\u20195<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"\u2018Pavilion<\/a>

\u2018Pavilion at Brighton\u2019 from: SCS 02546, John Bruce, The History of Brighton with the Latest Improvements to 1835, (Brighton, [1835])<\/p><\/div>Right from the early days, the Pavilion attracted many visitors and members of the public were allowed to look around the interiors.\u00a0 Initially, as The Strangers\u2019 Guide<\/em> tells us in 1844, entry was free: \u2018Access to the Pavilion was formerly by no means difficult; but owing to that reprehensible practice, so common among Englishmen, of cutting and maiming whatever curiosities they are permitted to view, an order can now be obtained only by interest\u20196<\/sup>.\u00a0 In January 1820, admission to the state apartments was confined only to those with tickets.\u00a0 An account of a family outing to Brighton in the 1830s, confirms the introduction of ticketing:<\/p>\n

\"Frontispiece<\/a>

Frontispiece and title page from: SCS 04822, The Visit to Brighton, or, Amusement & Information Combined, (London, [183-?])<\/p><\/div>\u2018William exclaimed, \u201cFather, what a beautiful palace.\u00a0 I should think the inside must indeed be grand.\u00a0 I should so like to see it.\u00a0 May we not go in, papa?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThat you cannot, my dear boy,\u201d replied Mr Stevens, \u201cit requires interest<\/em> to obtain admission now, though formerly it was free.\u00a0 The inside is truly splendid\u201d\u20197<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\"\u2018South<\/a>

\u2018South Entrance to the Palace\u2019, \u2018North Entrance to the Palace\u2019 and \u2018Southern Front of the Royal Mews\u2019 from: SCS 02547, The Stranger’s Guide in Brighton \u2026, (Brighton, [1844?])<\/p><\/div>Then as now, the Pavilion\u2019s fantasy mix of styles provoked widely differing reactions, with verdicts ranging from \u2018this unique and splendid edifice \u2026 a noble display of native talent\u20198<\/sup> to simply \u2018a palace of very strange form\u20199 <\/sup>to George Measom\u2019s damning \u2018that bizarre and unintelligible pile of buildings\u2019. \u2018To any person of true taste,\u2019 Measom goes on, \u2018it must appear as anomalous and insipid in idea, as ridiculous, too, in absurdity, as the Kremlin of Moscow \u2026 numerous cupolas, spires and minarets that remind us more of the dwelling of a Mohammedan Pacha, or a Chinese Mandarin of three tails, than of a Prince holding the sway in a Christian country\u201910<\/sup>.\u00a0 However, the building had its many admirers too, J.D. Parry among them: \u2018The idea has not been sparingly disseminated of the Pavilion\u2019s being characterized by frivolity or gaudiness \u2013 a \u2018Fancy\u2019 or a \u2018Folly\u2019, in which costliness is more eminent than taste or beauty \u2026 We assure [the reader] that it is no such thing.\u00a0 The Pavilion is enriched with the most magnificent ornaments and the gayest and most splendid colours; yet all is in keeping \u2026 There is positively nothing glaring or gaudy \u2026\u201911<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

The Pavilion is just one manifestation of the Regency fascination with the magnificence and mystery of India, which spilled out into scholarship, literature and poetry as well as architecture, art and design and which I hope to explore further in an exhibition later in 2016.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Open Learn, The Open University, http:\/\/www.open.edu\/openlearn\/history-the-arts\/history\/history-art\/brighton-pavilion\/content-section-0<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. SCT 01367, Mark Antony Lower, The Worthies of Sussex \u2026,<\/em> (Lewes, 1865), p. 60.<\/li>\n
  3. SCM 08514, James Rouse, The beauties and antiquities of the county of Sussex \u2026<\/em> , (London, 1825), p. 242<\/li>\n
  4. SCM 08510, J.D. Parry, An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Coast of Sussex … : Forming a Guide to All the Watering Places<\/em>, (Brighton, 1833), pp. 114-6<\/li>\n
  5. Open Learn, The Open University, http:\/\/www.open.edu\/openlearn\/history-the-arts\/history\/history-art\/brighton-pavilion\/content-section-5<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. SCS 02547, The Stranger’s Guide in Brighton<\/em> \u2026, (Brighton, [1844?]), p. 11<\/li>\n
  7. SCS 04822, The Visit to Brighton, or, Amusement & Information Combined<\/em>, (London, [183-?]), p. 30<\/li>\n
  8. SCS 02539, Brighton as it is, 1834 \u2026<\/em>, (Brighton, 1834), pp. 14-5<\/li>\n
  9. SCM 06517, Reuben Ramble, pseud., Reuben Ramble’s Travels through the Counties of England<\/em>, ([London], [1845?]), p. 12<\/li>\n
  10. SCS 05477, George Measom, The Official Illustrated Guide to the Brighton and South Coast Railway and its branches \u2026<\/em>, (London, [c. 1855]), pp. 68-9<\/li>\n
  11. SCM 08510, J.D. Parry, An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Coast of Sussex … : Forming a Guide to All the Watering Places<\/em>, (Brighton, 1833), pp. 115-6<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Prompted both by some research I am doing for an exhibition on the early history of the British in India and by a recent visit to the extraordinary Brighton Pavilion (in which, of course, the \u2018Mogul\u2019 style is very much in evidence) , I wanted to investigate some 19th century reactions to the building, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":581,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558\/revisions\/581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}