The Chinese House, Stowe, Buckinghamshire
The Chinese House at Stowe is the oldest surviving pseudo-Chinese (or chinoiserie) garden pavilion in Britain. It was originally situated on poles in the middle of a pond built into a pseudo-military 'bastion' east of the Elysian Fields at Stowe, where it is first mentioned as being in 1738. It may have been designed by William Kent, who was working at Stowe at that time. The pavilion was provided with painted chinoiserie decoration by Francesco Sleter (1685-1775), traces of which seem to survive underneath subsequent repaintings. Contemporary descriptions suggest that the interior may have been decorated with East Asian lacquer panels. Additional pseudo-Chinese touches included vases filled with flowers mounted on the balustrade of the bridge linking the pavilion to the bank, models of Chinese ducks floating in the pond, and a statue or mannequin of a sleeping Chinese woman inside (none of which survive).
The Chinese House, Stowe, Buckinghamshire
The Chinese House at Stowe is the oldest surviving pseudo-Chinese (or chinoiserie) garden pavilion in Britain. It was originally situated on poles in the middle of a pond built into a pseudo-military 'bastion' east of the Elysian Fields at Stowe, where it is first mentioned as being in 1738. It may have been designed by William Kent, who was working at Stowe at that time. The pavilion was provided with painted chinoiserie decoration by Francesco Sleter (1685-1775), traces of which seem to survive underneath subsequent repaintings. Contemporary descriptions suggest that the interior may have been decorated with East Asian lacquer panels. Additional pseudo-Chinese touches included vases filled with flowers mounted on the balustrade of the bridge linking the pavilion to the bank, models of Chinese ducks floating in the pond, and a statue or mannequin of a sleeping Chinese woman inside (none of which survive).