Recollections of the late William Beckford of Fonthill, Wilts and Lansdown, Bath | Page 6

is that very few of those generally
attributed to him are really genuine, but of mine there can be no doubt,
as this painting and several others that I have were got directly from the
artist himself by means of the English Consul at Venice; but not a
quarter of the pictures that one sees and that are called his were ever
painted by Canaletti." There were several very fine pictures by this
master destroyed in the lifetime of Alderman Beckford at the fire which
consumed the old mansion at Fonthill nearly a hundred years ago.
This Canaletti partakes of the same character of high excellence that Mr.
Beckford's other pictures possess; in fact, as with so many of his
pictures, you see the hand of the master, whose common works you
know, but in this house you find paintings still finer, which give you
more elevated and correct ideas of the style and manner of the genuine
productions of the great masters. There really seems some charm, some
magic in the walls, so great is the similarity of colouring in these chefs
d'oeuvres, the clear, the subdued, the pearly tints, a variety of delicious
colour, and none of the dirty hues you see in mediocre old paintings.
Over the sofa is a constellation of beauties which we merely glanced at
as we passed, but which I hope another day to examine. They are some
of the rarest specimens by G. Poussin, Wouvermans, Berghem, Van
Huysum, Polemberg, and others. On a small table was placed an
elegantly cut caraffe of carnations of every variety of colour that you
can possibly imagine. There is nothing in which Mr. Beckford is more
choice than in his bouquets. At every season the rarest living flowers
adorn the house.
Next to the dining room is a small salon, which we now entered. Here
is a noble drawing by Turner of the Abbey, according to a plan
proposed, but never carried out. The tower is conical, and would have
been even higher than the one that was completed. "I have seen," I said,
"a fine drawing of Fonthill by Turner, originally in your possession, but
now belonging to Mr. Allnutt, of Clapham. It is prodigiously fine. The

scenery there must be magnificent. The hills and beautiful lake in the
drawing give one an idea of Cumberland." "It is a very fine drawing,
but rather too poetical, too ideal, even for Fonthill. The scenery there is
certainly beautiful, but Turner took such liberties with it that he entirely
destroyed the portraiture, the locality of the spot. That was the reason I
parted with it. There were originally six drawings of the Abbey; three
were disposed of at the sale, and I still have the remaining ones." "Are
they going to rebuild the tower, sir? for when I was last in London,
Papworth, the architect, was gone down to Fonthill to do something
there." "Impossible," he said, "unless it were to be made a national
affair, which indeed is not very likely. It would cost at least 100,000
pounds to restore it. But what can Papworth have done there? It must I
should think be something to the pavilion. I assure you I had no idea of
parting with Fonthill till Farquhar made me the offer. I wished to purge
it, to get rid of a great many things I did not want, but as to the building
itself I had no more notion of selling it than you have (turning to his
architect) of parting with anything, with--with the clothes you have on."
On the chimney piece, protected by a glass, is a precious Japan vase.
We examined it for some time under its envelope. It seemed to me (for
I know nothing of Japan work) a bronze vessel, richly and most
elaborately chased, and I could not help joining in the praises due to its
exquisite finish. Mr. Beckford took off the glass, and desired me to take
it to the window. "I am really afraid to touch it," said I, but he forced it
into my hands. I prepared them to receive a massive and (as it seemed
to me) very weighty vessel, when lo it proved as light as a feather. We
were afterwards shown another Japan vase, the exterior of which
exactly resembled the Pompeian designs, elegant scrolls, delicate
tracery of blue, red, green, &c. These colours strongly opposed as in
the remains of paintings at Pompeii. Here are some other precious little
pictures, a small Gerard Dow, a Watteau, a Moucheron, and a
Polemberg. He merely noticed them, and then led us into the next
room.
A noble library. It is an elegant and charming apartment, very chastely
ornamented. Here are no pictures; it is devoted entirely to books and
ponderous folios