Noble Households

“… excellent publication … As a tribute to the eminent John Cornforth, it could not be a more appropriate commemoration of his achievements during 40 years of studying English houses, both as houses and as temples to the muses of artistic creation”. Charles Cator, Country Life

John Cornforth (1937-2004), the eminent architectural historian and passionate advocate of the historic interior, believed that inventories were an unrivaled primary resource for the interpretation of the historic interior. The book serves as a tribute to his lifelong interest in the field. Cornforth saw the importance of inventories in inspiring not just changes in approach to the history of the great house, but in underpinning the interpretation of the way in which these houses were used and lived in. Now that there is such fascination with the history of food and life below stairs, the contents of the kitchen and scullery assume as much interest as the grand rooms of entertainment. These inventories provide an opportunity to compare the arrangements of the interiors of the great country houses and town houses of the same noble families in different generations. They will inspire yet fuller interpretations of the households they document, and appeal to country house visitors and historians of interiors, patronage and collecting, and creative designers.