HISTORY
A Wooden Performance
Wednesday 13 September 2006 15:45-16:00 (Radio 4 FM)
Richard Foster recounts stories based on old accounting documents.
Soon after the famous actor and theatre manager David Garrick bought a house at 6 Adelphi Terrace in 1771, Dr Johnson observed: 'He now lives rather as a prince than as an actor'. The surviving bills of Chippendale, Haig & Co for the furnishing of Garrick's house prove the good doctor's point - the total cost was £931 9s 31/2d. Thomas Chippendale had expanded his furniture-making business to offer a complete interior decoration service, and his bills detail every room of Garrick's house.
What is the modern equivalent of Garrick's trendy and ostentatious decor? Richard accompanies a contemporary interior designer on a similar project.
