The music room, Marlfield, West Derby, 1903

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.

Find out more about on le Doux and his relationship with Bukovac can be found in this online feature.