|
 The
Chatsworth House Attic Sale has caught the attention of the media
and the public interest, with 4 days of public viewing preceding an
auction lasting three days (5-7 October 2010). Aside from Chatsworth
items, attic retrievals have been gleaned from the fine houses
associated with the Devonshire family since the sixteenth century
including Holker Hall, Hardwick Hall, Chiswick House and the massive
London seat of Devonshire House.
Point Source Productions, working in conjunction with Fine Art
Lighting, has supplied the lighting solutions to auctioneers,
Sotheby’s, for over 20,000 sale items. These are estimated to raise
over £2.5m and are arranged in one thousand four hundred lots within
a series of marquees in the grounds of Chatsworth House.
The marquees were chosen specifically to give the ambience of a
country house sale and arranged in a square around a central
courtyard in which are sited the larger objects such as cars,
carriages, garden items, carts, chimney pieces and architectural
elements.
The team from Sotheby’s - James Miller, David Macdonald and Tom
Heaven, under the leadership of Sotheby’s Head of UK Country House
Sales, Harry Dalmeny - wanted to create an environment which was
understated, where visitors would feel comfortable exploring and
rummaging, and could discover ‘lost items’ of history for
themselves. Set designer Nicky Aubrey, with Mark Blann, used high
walls within the marquees to delineate corridors and ‘rooms’ that
represent attic rooms where the main lots were laid out.
Fine Art Lighting’s Rupert von Wehrenalp has worked with Sotheby’s
on a number of occasions and understands well what was required. “It
was my job to light the marquees in a way which would maintain the
integrity of the attic-feel the Sotheby’s team had created.
“I therefore steered away from making it too bright or clean in
style, in favour of a design which would encourage that feeling of
exploration in the main part of the marquees. I then added subtle
keylights to over 60 areas which still allowed the star lots to
shine out.”
 Point
Source Productions’, Mike Cutting continues: “To complement the
shape of the marquees, we decided a discrete central Litec
spine-truss would be the most versatile and aesthetically pleasing
solution to lighting the interiors. Strand Coda 1s were used for
general lighting which, being tungsten, give a warm, even light. The
keylights on the major artefacts were provided by 650W CCT Minuette
Fresnels and the remainder by birdies. We deliberately kept the
fixtures small to suit the limited power supply and weight-loading
capabilities of the marquees.”
Exhibits situated on the outer edge of the false walls forming the
corridors also needed to be lit. “At 7ft 6in the marquee walls are
rather low to hang lights from without passers-by casting shadows
over the objects,” says Cutting, “so we used Kader clamps to attach
5mm steel cables to the roof purlins and suspended ‘budgie bars’ on
which we could rig fixtures to successfully light the outer edges
without causing obstruction or being obtrusive.”
The central courtyard is an important feature, viewable through the
clear sides of the marquees and forming a backdrop to the entrance.
“It was important that this area should appear ‘included’ and not as
a forgotten outside element,” says von Wehrenalp. “We therefore lit
it from a single direction using exterior par cans mounted high on
one of the marquees. The par cans were focused to light as many
pieces as possible but, tantalisingly, just catching the head of a
statue or the top of a chimney pot so that the shimmers of light
would draw the eye of a passer by to something they might otherwise
have missed.”
On Tuesday, the East marquee is to be transformed from an exhibition
area to an auction room for the final 3 days of the event. “This
also affected our choice of lighting,” says Cutting. “The lighting
needed to be able to operate in the first instance as creative light
on the artefacts, and secondly to light a large auditorium for the
auction, with very little time or space for change rounds. It is
very important for the auctioneer to have lots of light on the room,
but none in his eyes, so he can see the bidders clearly. We were
therefore able to use the Minuettes to focus on the auctioneer from
a steep angle, and increase the intensity of the Codas on the
audience.”
Finally, and importantly, all cabling throughout is neatly bound to
truss work and concealed behind the tent lining so as to cause as
little impact on the scene as possible.
“It is very satisfying to be able to carry out a project to this
standard,” says Cutting. “As a company we take a great deal of pride
and value in how neat the finished effect appears to the general
public as well as the professional. We know this was an important
job for Sotheby’s and we wanted to make it look as good as it
possibly could for them. We have a lot of experience in working in
this kind of environment and execute total quality management when
we go on site. We want Point Source Productions’ name to be
synonymous with the high standard of service we give.”
Point Source Productions also supplied the working lights for
deliveries and removals and for car parking, all of which was
controllable by the client. |
