Music Room

This room is a fine example of Adam's neo-classical style. The Axminster carpet, like the carpet in the Yellow Drawing Room, was designed by Adam and its design echoes that of the ceiling.

Musical imagery is present throughout the room. There are lyres woven in the pattern of the carpet and lyres, pipes and trumpets carved on the marble chimney. There are also ormolu trophies of musical instruments on the magnificent Sèvres clock, which may have belonged to Marie-Antoinette. The central ceiling painting depicts Midas presiding over a musical contest between lyre-playing Apollo and Marsyas, who favoured woodwind instruments.

The ten ceiling roundels represent the nine Muses, goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and crafts and the inventor of music. The ceiling paintings and the four enormous Italian landscapes were painted by Antonio Zucchi.

The looking-glasses, pier tables and the elegant frame around the portrait over the fireplace are by Chippendale as are the gilded and upholstered chairs and sofas which were originally supplied for the State Bedroom and State Dressing Room. These chairs were upholstered with Beauvais tapestry in the 1850s.