Explore Fairfax: Great Staircase
Described by historian, Gervase Jackson-Stops, as 'a minor architectural masterpiece of its age', it is easy to see why.
Detail of the ceiling of the Great Staircase
Ascending the Great Staircase, with its splendid wrought iron Ballusters and magnificent Venetian Window, look above at the Stucco Ceiling pregnant with symbolism and meaning. This branch of the Fairfaxes were devout Catholics and the emblems reveal a deep and desperate meaning. A ferocious Stucco Dragon, for example, were meant to represent the Devil and innocent looking Putti were used to convey support for the Catholic cause.
In the 1920s the building was converted into a dancehall and the adjunct to a cinema. The pictures of the staircase before and after restoration show the state the house was in. In 1982-84 York Civic Trust returned the building to its former glory as a permanent home for the Noel Terry collection of English furniture.
The combination of exquisite wrought iron by Leeds based Maurice Tobin, powerful symbolic stuccowork by Italian, Giussepe Cortese and a Venetian window without parallel in Britain, makes this space an outstanding architectural set-piece.
In the 1920s the building was converted into a dancehall and the adjunct to a cinema. The pictures of the staircase before and after restoration show the state the house was in. In 1982-84 York Civic Trust returned the building to its former glory as a permanent home for the Noel Terry collection of English furniture.
The combination of exquisite wrought iron by Leeds based Maurice Tobin, powerful symbolic stuccowork by Italian, Giussepe Cortese and a Venetian window without parallel in Britain, makes this space an outstanding architectural set-piece.
MORE ABOUT the Great Staircase
Balusters
The design of the ironwork, by Leeds ironsmith Maurice Tobin, with its figure of eight pattern and interlacing scrollwork is similar to that seen at Aske Hall near Richmond, Yorks.
Category: Architectural feature
Putti
The chubby little figure holds aloft in one hand a pendant on a ribbon. Within the pendant are seen a pair of hearts (symbols of sacred and profane love) and a rose which together, identifies this as a metaphor for the Roman Catholic religion.
Category: Architectural feature
Stucco Ceiling
Lord Fairfax will have worked closely with the stuccoist, Giuseppe Cortese, to create this complex medley of message and meaning.
Category: Architectural feature
Stucco Dragon
In western civilisations, the dragon is often used as a metaphor for the devil and this is the intention with the display.
Category: Architectural feature
Venetian Window
The finely proportioned window has solid Siena marble columns, the original glazing bars and a stone balustrade below.
Category: Architectural feature
BalustersThe design of the ironwork, by Leeds ironsmith Maurice Tobin, with its figure of eight pattern and interlacing scrollwork is similar to that seen at Aske Hall near Richmond, Yorks.
Category: Architectural feature
PuttiThe chubby little figure holds aloft in one hand a pendant on a ribbon. Within the pendant are seen a pair of hearts (symbols of sacred and profane love) and a rose which together, identifies this as a metaphor for the Roman Catholic religion.
Category: Architectural feature
Stucco CeilingLord Fairfax will have worked closely with the stuccoist, Giuseppe Cortese, to create this complex medley of message and meaning.
Category: Architectural feature
Stucco DragonIn western civilisations, the dragon is often used as a metaphor for the devil and this is the intention with the display.
Category: Architectural feature
Venetian WindowThe finely proportioned window has solid Siena marble columns, the original glazing bars and a stone balustrade below.
Category: Architectural feature