Merchant Palaces

Exhibition open daily 10am - 5pm at Sudley House from 26 May 2007 to 28 September 2008

The music room, Marlfield, West Derby, 1903

Black and white photograph of the lavish interior of a large room

Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR (BL17541)

Marlfield was the home of Richard le Doux. Born in Germany, he moved to Liverpool is 1868 and became director of a company supplying antifouling paint for ships' hulls. He was a friend and patron of the Croatian artist, Vlaho Bukovac, whose paintings appear in this photograph.

Some aspects of this room are quite conventional, but others are more unusual: the stylised floral patterns on the wall and ceiling reflect continental Art Nouveau, while the most eye-catching feature, the curious chandelier, has no obvious precedent. The decorators were Waring & Gillow.

More on le Doux and his relationship with Bukovac can be found in this online feature.