DURING the autumn of last year, the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, perhaps the most celebrated and opulent creation of the Prince Regent (later George IV), received an extraordinary loan from The Queen. Over the period of a week, about 120 objects, including vases, clocks, and furniture, were returned here after more than 170 years of absence. Further objects will join them later this year after the closure of the current ‘George IV: Art and Spectacle’ exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, SW1, in May. As a result, it is now—and will be for at least the next two years—possible to experience the astonishing interiors of the Pavilion more completely than at any time since its abandonment as a royal residence in 1845.
This loan, which shares the spirit of such projects as ‘Houghton Revisited’ (the temporary return of Walpole’s collection from Russia to his great Norfolk house in 2013), has come about as a result of the ongoing 10-year project to restore Buckingham Palace. Many of the items on display have formed part of the permanent decoration of the east wing of the palace, which was constructed in the 1840s. That this has come to pass at all is testimony to the generosity of the Royal Collection Trust. It also reflects on the curatorial team at the Pavilion itself, led by David Beevers, and builds on their remarkable restoration of the Saloon, completed last year (COUNTRY LIFE, March 6, 2019).
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