London in 1710, from the travels of Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach On the morning of 25 Oct. we drove to
Kensington. The house is not very large but
new and regular, having many handsome and well-furnished rooms.
In several we saw various
pictures of Holbein and other fine
paintings, of which the Birth of Christ, a
night-piece, and the Sacrifice of Elijah were
the most elegant.
We saw also here a barometer of Tompion with a round disc as a clock.
We were taken into a room where
paintings of the English admirals,
fourteen of them, were hung.
This opened into a small room in which were portraits of the four
Indian kings who some time ago paid a visit
to London.
In another we saw a curious screen
before the fireplace, on which there were all manner of Indian birds in relief with their natural feathers stuck on it.
The so-called Great Hall is narrow and long but adorned with handsome paintings. Above the
chimney-piece in this room stands an anemoscope.
The paintings in this room are
fifty-nine in number. By the door is a large painting by Tintoretto with several nude figures. Over one door is the
Beheading of St John and over the other a Cupid drawing his bow, both remarkably well
painted. There are, moreover, several portraits by famous artists, some
perspective-pieces, a Lucretia, a Susanna, which are all very excellent.
In one corner stands a curious striking clock with a fine black case ornamented with gilt
figures. The clock does not only tell the time but also the course of the sun.
Above stands the knight St. George in silver-gilt of the most excellent workmanship. We were told that it was presented to King William by the Frenchman who made it, and that the latter received a hundred guineas
for it.
On the table lay a small box of amber with several figures on it, extremely well wrought.
The paintings hung high on the walls all
round the room are of little
account.
In one corner was the bust of a Moor very well done from lifeāmade, indeed, of nothing but coloured stones, with great skill.
In another room we saw a prodigiously fine bed of red velvet and costly stuffs;
in yet another, in which hung
the Czar's portrait,
was a most curious clock,
of which a description with copper engravings
has appeared in London. It has four great round dials, in the middle being a
small one showing the hours. Above one sees the course of the sun and moon according
to Ptolemy's system and next it the system of
Copernicus, with the course of all the
planets. The lowest discs have all manner of special divisions. In one of these was
written: Samuel Watson, now in London; and in the other: Coventriae fecit.
In most of the rooms stood very elegant inlaid
tables. The garden round this palace is large, and in it hedges alternate with
lawns, yews and flower-beds. The prospect from this garden and the zoological garden
next it is most agreeable. On the left hand is the orangery, which is very well and
elegantly planned in a straight line with round vaulted chambers at either end. The
shrubs were for the most part laurels, but among them were some fine plants. There
are no statues here, and only a very wretched and paltry fountain and some mere
basins. The walks are extraordinarily large and handsome, especially the middle one.
The open space, which is laid out like an amphitheatre, is vastly elegant, though
the hedges and bushes on both sides are not fully grown. After we had seen all we
drove back to London.