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| Watercolor by Edwin Aaron Penley, 1864 Crown Copyright The Royal Collection Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |
The Royal Yacht, not surprisingly called HMY The Victoria and Albert II (launched 1855, scrapped 1904), was as elegantly appointed as possible and was as neatly outfitted as any of the Royal residences. Always prepared for Queen Victoria, Princess Albert and their growing number of children, the yacht was kept in a constant state of readiness.
In 1864, Queen Victoria commissioned artists to create watercolors which would serve as color records of the interior decoration of the Royal residences, including the yacht. This watercolor drawing by Edwin Aaron Penley (1844-1890) shows the Queen’s Drawing Room on HMY The Victoria & Albert II. The furniture in this compartment was of maple. Against the wall to left is a piano by Erard.
Since this was painted in 1864, we know that Victoria was already three years into her mourning the death of Prince Albert. Because of this, her special black-edged writing paper lies on the table in foreground.
I can’t find any evidence of the Erard piano from this drawing. I’m not sure if it was preserved or if it’s still part of the Royal Collection. There are two upright pianos by Erard in the Royal Collection, and, I think, three grand pianos. Picture below is another piano by the same maker which is still rattling around Buckingham Palace somewhere.
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| Piano by Erard Crown Copyright The Royal Collection Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |
2 comments:
Back in the 1970's I noticed a ships washbasin in a second hand shop at the bottom of New Zealand's South Island which carried the VR logo. It had come from a scrapped NZ coastal passenger steamer. I asked at Britannia in Leith in 2004 and their historian told me that when the earlier Royal Yachts were broken up parts were used in other vessels hence it had ended up in NZ. I do wish I had bought it now! Great Blog, keep up the good work.
I wish you had bought it, too! I'd love to have seen that. Thanks very much for sharing!
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