Practice completes work to repair and re-present King’s State Apartments
Conservation specialist Purcell has completed work to repair and re-present the King’s State Apartments at Kensington Palace as part of a project to bring back “authenticity and vibrancy” to rooms that were once at the heart of British court life.
As part of the work, which was based on curatorial research by Historic Royal Palaces, the Cupola Room, the King’s Drawing Room and the King’s Gallery have been restored to accurately reflect the best of 18th century courtly interior design.
Purcell said the grade I-listed palace had been “progressively stripped” of art and furniture and had lost its historic integrity since it stopped being occupied by the reigning monarch in 1760.
Under the just-completed project, the King’s Gallery has had its interiors re-presented as they would have looked at the end of William Kent’s redecorations more than 250 years ago.
Purcell’s enhancements of the King’s State Apartments include the installation of long, diminishing-width oak boards, re-presentation of the fireplace, reinstatement of chandeliers with the addition of concealed safety upgrades, and repairs to the sash windows.
The work comes ahead of the dressing of the King’s Apartments for the upcoming Crown to Couture exhibition, which will explore courtly dress and red-carpet fashion. It opens next month.
Kensington Palace was built in 1619 as a courtier’s suburban villa and purchased by King William III and Queen Mary in 1689. They commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to carry out modifications between 1689 and 1695.
Further alterations made by Colen Campbell on behalf of King George I between 1719 and 1721 resulted in the demolition of the old Jacobean house and its replacement by the central suite of rooms that form the King’s State Apartments.
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