Forward end of the First Class Smoking Room on the 'Aquitania' (1914)

Interior of the passenger liner 'Aquitania' (1914). The fireplace at the centre of the forward end of the First Class Smoking Room (Carolean Smoking Room), on the Promenade Deck (A Deck). Photographed from a position slightly to starboard. Above the mantelpiece is a full-length portrait of James II, a copy of the painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The design of the interiors on the 'Aquitania' was largely the work of Arthur Joseph Davis (1878-1951) of the architects Mewès & Davis, London. The decoration of the First Class Smoking Room was carried out by W. & E. Thornton-Smith Ltd, London. The general effect suggested architecture of the late seventeenth century. The central area was panelled in oak and based on a Charles II room in the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich. Applied to the panelling were pieces of limewood carved in the manner of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721). Two large drops of carving can be seen in this photograph. The silver andirons in the fireplace were reproduced from examples at Knole House, Sevenoaks.

Object Details

ID: G10857
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Bedford Lemere & Co
Vessels: Aquitania (1914)
Date made: 1914
People: John Brown & Company; Mewes & Davis
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Overall: 305 mm x 254 mm
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