The trip to Osborne

On the recent trip to the Isle of Wight, I revisited Osborne House, it's the sort of place I could visit any number of times and still see things I hadn't noticed before, and really enjoy seeing things I had enjoyed previously. It was interesting to read the blog post I'd written after my first visit two years ago which can be seen here. I won't copy what was written in the introduction of that post, although it's really good and gives an insight into how Queen Victoria and Prince Albert felt about Osborne, I can see why it's called Osborne without the 'house' suffix because it's so much more than a house. Many of the photographs I took were from inside the house, although this time we visited the beach which we didn't do last time and I was was very impressed by how idyllic it is down there.

I'm going to start with a photo taken when walking up from the beach, it shows how magnificent the house it looks when approached from that direction

It's interesting to see how many photos are the same, I know I loved this light fitting seen below the first time I saw it, and did so again this time. According to the guide book, this chandelier is in the audience room when Queen Victoria received ministers before privy council meetings. 'The remarkable coloured glass and ormolu (gilt brass) chandelier represents convolvulous Albert's favourite flower) and arum lilies climbing out of a basket. It was probably manufactured in Berlin'

I do love tantilising views of the garden seen from the house

I think this is one of the small plaster copies of friezes from the Parthenon, modelled and supplied by the sculptor John Henning in 1846 in the Grand Corridor.

This portrait of the couple with five of their children is on an end wall in the dining room, it seems to capture something of their life as a family.

Another garden view

The drawing room has three cut glass chandeliers, replicas apparently, the originals were candlelit and wired for electricity in 1893. The reflections of the chandeliers are wonderfully caught in the full length mirrors at the ends of the drawing room. The trick is to photograph them disappearing into infinity, not managed well this time.

This fresco below was hard to photograph because we couldn't go all the way up the main staircase this time.. It depicts 'Neptune Resigning the Empire of the Seas to Britannia' by William Dyce who came to Osborne in 1847 to paint it. It demonstrated Britain's supremacy as a world power

This painting is near the Prince Consort's bathroom, in a corridor, it's called 'Hercules and Omphale painted in 1830 by Joseph Anton von Gegenbauer . There are lots of paintings depicting the two lovers in passionate embraces, this is a brief history of their affair: 'Initially, Hercules was treated as a slave by Omphale, but gradually, she fell in love with him for his super strength and physical beauty and a relationship grew between them. They travelled to the grove of Dionysus and planned to celebrate the rites of Bacchus at the dawn. Finally, they got married and had a child named Lamos.'

I saw this vase and thought it delightful, I didn't read anything about it however, so can't say more.

Queen Victoria was created Empress of India in 1876 by Disraeli, and although she wanted to visit India, she didn't do so, but had a Durbar Wing built in 1890 to house her youngest daughter and her family. In the Durbar Corridor and Durbar Room, Queen Victoria created a reminder of India.

Along both sides of the Durbar Corridor are a series of portraits by Rudolf Swoboda, there are 43 in all and are quite remarkable. It's hard to pick any out, but I photographed these two.

Below is a photo of the Durbar Room, a magnificent room with beautiful plaster on the ceiling and walls. The peacock over the fireplace was suggested by one of the daughters and 26 craftsmen worked on the overmantel and chimney breast, with over 500 hours on the peacock.

This bust forms one of a pair on either side of an archway near the exit, and was the last thing I saw in the house

The gardens in October were looking tremendous, reaching their peak as opposed to what one might have expected which was looking a bit tired.

After looking round the garden we walked down to the beach where I was very impressed with the idea of the beach alcove, allowing enjoyment of the scene without getting wet or blown about too much. I'd love one in the garden