Queen Victoria close up

These are just some of the amazingly intricate details from the statue of Queen Victoria by William Silver Frith (1860 - 1934) which stands at the top of the Doulton Fountain.  It was sculpted as a celebration of Victoria's golden jubilee.  The fountain is sometimes called the Victoria Fountain.

The Doulton Fountain is just outside the People's Palace in Glasgow.  Originally it was situated in Kelvingrove Park as part of the International Exhibition of 1888 and later gifted to the city by Sir Henry Doulton (you may have heard of Doulton Pottery).

The fountain itself was designed by Arthur Ernest  Pearce (1859 - 1934) who worked for the Doulton Company.  It has lots of other beautiful sculpture and it is hard to believe that the fountain was almost destroyed by vandals in the 1990s before it was moved to its present position. 

You can read more about this amazing fountain at Glasgow - City of Sculpture.

Love, Liz

Heart of the home

My Victorian house has quite a large kitchen.  Just a few weeks ago, I decided to paint the mantle.

I presume at one time this was where the large range would have been.  I would love one of the new range-style cookers, but maybe …  someday (in my dreams).

Here's how it looked before.

Most of the things on top (such descriptive writing) were already elsewhere in the house, but I decided that I needed a nice red and white plate as a finishing touch.  Next day I toured the charity shops and there it was - hidden under a pile of not very attractive china!

Just what I was looking for!

Not bad for 60p!

Love, Liz

Family Room Fireplace

This is the fireplace in my family room.

It is orignal to the house and made of marble.

I have decorated the mantlepiece with blue and while china.

A pretty tea pot and butter dish.

Candles and flowers.

Love, Liz

Its nice to sit by the fire and read.

Victorian Rose

Here's another wee glimpse of my home.

This is the ceiling rose in the hall.  I think this is an acanthus leaf design. 

The cornicing is very different from the others in the house - it is much more plain.

We have quite a high staircase.

I really like this light fitting.  The little shades on the light remind me of Lisa Simpson's dress! 

It is absolutely freezing here in Greenock today!  Glad to be indoors and warm.

Love, Liz

I'm hopefully going to be making some changes to the design of my blog - so if you can't find me (well, my blog), you'll know I wasn't successful!  Oops!

Victorian Home

We live in a two storey Victorian apartment built sometime in the 1860s.

It has lots of original Victorian decorative details.

Today I want to show you the ceiling rose and ornate cornicing in our drawing-room. 

 

This is the ceiling rose.  An ornate chandelier would probably once have hung here, powered by gas.

Did you know that there were ventilation grills in the central rose to take away the gas fumes.

This must have been the main reception room, as the detailing in the family room is a lot less ornate - I'll show you that another time.

I think that these details are really lovely, but as the ceilings are about 13 ft high, not very easy to keep dust-free!  (Well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

I think Victorian builders and architects were absolutely amazing!

Love, Liz