We went for a tour of the gorgeous House of Dun today, a Georgian home built for the Erskine family in 1743 by the architect William Adam. In 1980, the 21st and last Laird of Dun, Millicent Lovett (nee Erskine), died without an heir and left the house and contents to the National Trust of Scotland who have run it since.
The main saloon has some quite magnificent plaster detailing on the ceiling which is the work of Dutchman Joseph Enzer.
It’s difficult to see in this image but there are shells in the plasterwork, real shells. Rather than moulding the shells out of plaster the artist went to the beach, gathered some shells, dipped them in plaster and stuck them on the walls and ceiling. He did the same with some other 3D objects in the artwork including the strings on a violin and also a wicker basket.
Most intriguing to me was this very early shower from the 1840s manufactured by Sibbald and Sons. The container at the top is manually filled with water which then showers down on the person inside while a servant pumps the water back up at the same time using the pump by the floor, recycling the same dirty water over and over again. I didn’t realise there were showers from so long ago. I thought they were a more recent invention but it turns out the first shower was invented in 1767 by William Feetham.
Also interesting was this bath which has a small opening at the top but is otherwise enclosed.
These are the early fire extinguishers – leather buckets filled with sand.
There’s a wonderful woodland walk on the estate.
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