Collection highlights at Oxburgh Estate

Portraits

Oxburgh has a rich collection of portraits. The earliest depicts the powerful Tudor bishop and politician Stephen Gardiner who would have known Sir Edmund Bedingfeld and his son Henry. Sir Henry – who Mary I appointed as gaoler to Princess Elizabeth between 1554 and 1555 – is shown in a portrait dated 1573. There are two portraits by Jacob Huysmans, a Catholic painter favoured by the court of Charles II, and a likeness by Angelica Kauffman, one of two female founding members of the Royal Academy (1768).

Jacob Christoff Le Blon Mezzotint

Following analysis by National Trust experts, a work of art seen by thousands of people every year here at Oxburgh has recently been identified as an exceptionally rare survival of a work by the 18th Century inventor of colour printing, Jacob Christoff Le Blon.

The portrait of the Three Eldest Children of King Charles I at Oxburgh is a copy of a well-known work by Sir Anthony van Dyck in the Royal Collection (1635-6). It had always been assumed to be oil on paper until removed and sent to the Trust’s Royal Oak Conservation Studio at Knole in Kent for analysis and assessment for conservation treatment.

It is not known for certain how and when the print came to Oxburgh Hall, the home of the Bedingfeld family. Royalists and devout Catholics, it is possible that the print arrived at Oxburgh soon after it was created in 1721/22, in the time of the 3rd Baronet, Sir Henry Arundell-Bedingfeld (1689-1760).

The print will be on show at Oxburgh alongside some astonishing 16th century textile fragments, preserved beneath the floorboards of the Hall and conserved after being found during the recent building works to restore the roof.

The conservation of the Le Blon mezzotint and the textiles will both feature in the new series of Hidden Treasures of the National Trust which will be broadcast on Friday 10 May on BBC Two at 9pm. Oxburgh Hall features in the sixth episode, which will be available on iPlayer from 10 May.

A show of faith

The family’s Catholicism is expressed strongly in the collection. The family’s faith in divine protection is represented in a 17th-century votive picture of the Madonna della Misericordia protecting Sir Henry Bedingfeld, 1st Bt, and his family, following his safe escape from the Battle of Marston Moor. There are portraits of Bedingfeld daughters who became nuns in Lierre, Belgium in the 17th-century, and a 16th-century Antwerp altarpiece purchased by the family in the 1860s for their new chapel, built in 1835 after the relaxation of laws against Catholicism.

Oxburgh's historic wallpaper

Oxburgh’s wallpapers reveal the family’s decorative tastes and the functions and hierarchies of spaces. Many rooms retain vibrant 19th-century wallpapers inspired by patterns from the medieval past by leading designers Cowtan, Crace and Willement. In places 18th-century papers survive beneath these, and there are important remnants of less flamboyant papers in the attics. A significant archive of samples includes designs from the 18th to 20th centuries. The walls of the north and west staircases and the north corridor are hung with striking embossed hand-painted leather made in the Low Countries c.1710-30 in the Spanish style.

Oxburgh's furniture collection

In the 19th century Oxburgh was remodelled in a revival style evoking its medieval origins. Much of the dark oak furniture came from Belgium, such as the richly carved pieces supplied by cabinetmaker Jean Francois Malfait. Many items are composed from original medieval or Renaissance elements, including the extraordinary composite Dining Room sideboard and the flying tester bed in the North Bedroom. Few other furniture collections of this style and quality survive. Several items sold from Oxburgh in 1951 have been repatriated, including a 17th-century Breton oak and chestnut armoire (acquired in August 2020).

Medieval and Tudor manuscripts

Rare and important manuscripts can be seen at Oxburgh, most of which are on loan from the Bedingfeld family. They include: a 1482 licence to crenellate, giving permission for the building of Oxburgh; a letter from Mary I to Sir Henry Bedingfeld concerning his forthcoming appointment to the Lieutenantship 'of our Tower of London'; a letter from Elizabeth I dated 1559; correspondence between Sir Henry and the Privy Council concerning matters of religion; and an inventory of Oxburgh’s contents dated 1585.