Heritage III - Caroline Murphy follows the chintz trail from India to a Victorian house in Doncaster
''Chuck out your chintz!" urged Ikea in 1996. This message came too late for Brodsworth Hall, near Doncaster. A solid, Italianate house completed in 1863 by the Thel- lusson family, Brodsworth Hall was given to English Heritage in 1990. Inside, a cache of 107 different chintzes was unearthed which included fabrics dating from 1860 to 1980.
An exhibition at Brodsworth aims to challenge the general view of chintz as irredeemably twee, forever associated with frills, furbelows and grandmothers. It shows us a fabric that in the 19th century was not only excitingly modern, but also functional. It reminds us, too, that this most quintessentially English of fabrics originated in India (the word "chintz" is derived from the Hindi "chint", meaning a painted calico cloth), and that it was, when first imported, distinctly exotic.
Brodsworth initially adopted chintz as the stylish way, when not entertaining guests, to cover and preserve the lavish damasks used for the walls, curtains and upholstery of its downstairs rooms. The fabric's shiny starch glaze (originally a distinguishing characteristic of chintz) lent it a wipe-clean property that the house-proud Victorians adored.
The Thellussons ordered two sets of chintzes for the new house. One, named "The Favourite", was a design of pink roses intended for summer; the other, "The Champion", featured an autumnal maple-leaf design. There were covers for everything: every chair, every sofa, every curtain. In the drawing room, what appear to be chintz slippers hang from the elaborately gilded pelmets. They are, in fact, tassel covers - objects so arcane that, for a while, even English Heritage was baffled as to their function.
Over time, the family's fortunes declined. Expenses that had seemed reasonable to the early Thellussons - such as erecting a headstone in the pet cemetery for a beloved parrot - must have appeared an absurd indulgence to their successors. With ever fewer servants, such practices as hanging different sets of protective covers according to the season were abandoned. The chintzes were shoved into cupboards and forgotten; the unprotected silk damasks faded and those on the walls rubbed away.
Worse was to follow: the last owner, Sylvia Grant-Dalton (a relative by marriage), kept Brodsworth going almost by force of will alone until her death at the age of 87. Over the years, she barricaded herself into ever smaller portions of the house, abandoning entire floors to decay. The closed rooms were ventured into only to plunder serviceable furniture or textiles.
When English Heritage acquired Brods-worth, the structure of the house was severely damaged through nearby mining subsidence and acid rain. Its interiors were in an equally perilous state: damp, exposure to sunlight, insect infestation and Sylvia's incontinent dog, Binky, had all played their part in its deterioration. Everywhere the house spoke of Sylvia's resourcefulness and parsimony. There were carpets composed of old ones cut up and stitched together, and leather chairs patched up with bandages and paint.
English Heritage has now done what was necessary to stabilise the decay, but has resisted the temptation to return the house to its 1860s heyday. Instead, it has preserved the interiors almost as they were found - Binky stains, bandage patches and all. So instead of recreating a brash but unexceptional Victorian pile, it has preserved the melancholy story of its gradual decline, which is the story of so many English stately homes.
The original 1860s chintz covers are displayed as part of a "chintz trail" through the house. All of the chintzes are lavishly floral, but there is not a flounce in sight: they are simple, sleek and lend the grand rooms a curiously domestic air.
These interiors are a tonic to the modern obsession with magnolia. In this thoroughly Victorian decorative riot, pattern vies with pattern and colour with colour. Everything is faded and worn. By accident, the house achieves that look so loved by the English: shabby chic.
"Chintz Yatra" (Chintz Journey) is at Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire (01302 722 598) until next year
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