Assuming, gentle readah, that ye are here to celebrate and not ridicule (not to mention titter (Sir Thomas)), then you will imagine my excitement at this: a professional picture of the entrance hall at Kenwood, taken, I'd guess, sometime in late 1966, or early 1967. The detail is quite amazing, but, in the nature of these things, the picture poses more questions than it answers.
To take the latter first, one thing that has, sadly (in many senses), bugged me for ages is the table sold at auction by Cooper Owen a few years back:
The literature claimed this was a fixture at Kenwood. To prove it, the sale included a photo of John and Julian at Kenwood in front of said table - not included in the catalogue, of course, and not one I have ever seen. (I'd guess it's a hitherto uncirculated June 29th shot.)
So I was, I confess, pleased to spot it there, sitting in the middle of the hall (or rather, beside the completely bleeding obvious mirror) in this new photo:
Looking back, I realise the damned thing was actually there in one of Cathy Kelleher Sarver's '68 Kenwood pics (though the quality was too low to see it before now):
And so to unanswered questions. Why was this picture taken? I suspect it may have had something to do with the lights:
There's actually another pic illustrating the effects of these when the main hall lights were switched off:
Suitably psychedelic (and there's that blue again).
But I don't know. There must be more from this session: as I say, they are professional photos, and unique in being more interested in Kenwood (or at least lights) than celebrity.
Similar shots of the rest of the house would be, to put it bluntly, craaankin'.
Are they just lights - or are they kinetic sculptures? They look a bit like Takis's 'Signal' series to me.
ReplyDeleteLove the lights. They must've looked even better whilst under the influence of some potent 60s hallucinogens! Have a look at the 2nd to last picture - could the lights in the dark have given John the inspiration for the psychedelic eye?
ReplyDeleteYou say the table is "sitting in the middle of the hall", but is that a hall, or is up against a big mirrored wall that just makes it look like it is sitting out in a long room? Nice post by the way.
ReplyDeleteWhat are those little statues on the top shelf? They are (not surprisingly, given their height) in the same positions in both pictures. I wonder if anyone ever dusted them.
ReplyDeleteI have deleted my previous comment because I was talking rubbish - and not for the first time. You are quite right - it is a mirror! The similarly named Ken Wood emailed me and asked me to look again, and there it is. Hmmm.
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