Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

emarkable Stonehenge Cabinet that Britton commissioned, is the epitome of suburban
antiquarianism. 19 Octagonal rooms had been a feature of Gothic Revival architecture since
Fonthill. 20 Abbotsford, though not Gothic, also had one and as a centralised yet not a classical
space it had many uses and could be successful even on a small scale. Britton’s description of his
room, however, somewhat justifies Scott’s reservations about the tastefulness of such accounts:
It is lighted by a stained glass window, and contains a Cabinet of Celtic Antiquities, a series of Portraits of
Antiquaries, with a small Collection of choice Books, some of which were privately printed, and are presents from
their respective authors, while many of the others are presentation copies, with autographs and portraits of the
donors…The miser repeatedly counts his money, and gloats over its amount and value; but is incapable of obtaining
any other pleasure or advantage from it than the selfish exultation of possession. Not so the man who possesses
choice works of art and of literature: these are calculated to impart other and more dignified feelings than ever can
be known by the worshipper of Mammon… virtue, patriotism, glory, wisdom. 21
Such powerful boasting is implicit in Britton’s own portrait, [fig: 38] painted by John
Wood in 1845 and possibly indebted to Allan’s of Scott. Britton looms much larger,
proportionately, than Scott does. He stares straight out rather than being absorbed in thought and
his carved oaken chair is virtually a throne. Britton is nevertheless contextualised by objects:
busts of William Camden, greatest of the early antiquaries, and Shakespeare, one of Britton’s
favourite subjects. The bust was also, as will be seen later, a product of one of his many
commercial enterprises. Another great passion, Stonehenge, is the subject of the drawings on
which his hand rests. In the background, under glass, is a model. The catalogue of the National
Portrait Gallery, which now owns the picture, notes that this is ‘yet to be identified’. 22 I would
suggest that it is Britton’s design for a cenotaph to Chatterton, published in 1847. 23 More
socially anxious than Scott and much less subtle, Britton was reluctant to let the objects do the
talking. He dominates the scene. Yet his portrait, like his room, is testament to the belief that
19
For a full discussion see Chippindale, ‘John Britton’s “Celtic Cabinet” ’.
20
Notable examples include Alton Towers in Staffordshire (various architects, 1810-1852) and the central lobby of
Charles Barry’s New Palace of Westminster, 1835.
21
Britton, Autobiography, (1850), 3, p. 158.
22
Online catalogue of the National Portrait Gallery http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait [accessed 10
April 2008].
23
Illustrated in Britton, Autobiography, (1850), 3, between pp. 64-65.
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