A reader asks:
Thank you for the question, Joy, and for being a Regency Readers.
I had a gander at a bad YT pirated version for this assignment so the quality is iffy, but I think this is what you are talking about:
In this version of P&P the role of the Bennet home was played by Luckington Court, a manor home in the Cotswolds that recently sold for some serious coin. That enabled me to see some interior shots that demonstrate this crown molding was not still in the home. Whether it was part of the set or part of the home before a remodel, I do not know.
And now we enter the area of wild speculation. You can only really see this high up the wall in this shot and maybe on one other occasion, so it was hard to get a good look.
This molding (or moulding) has the tinge of the neoclassical style, or Greek Revival.
The Principles of Architecture, Containing the Fundamental Rules of the Art, in Geometry, Arithmetic, and Mensuration, with the Application of Those Rules to Practice … (1836).
But the gold rod in the middle would be fairly inconsistent with most styles I have seen of moulding or framework. However, my first guess is that it might be decorative.
My second guess is that it was made to look discreetly decorative but actually was meant to conceal one of two things:
- Wires going from a staff bellpull to the servants quarter bells
- Production’s wiring for light or sound
I suspect the second because in the modern pictures of Luckington Court there is little to no crown molding. Granted, it could’ve been removed to update the home. But the crown molding could’ve been part of the set dressing during the filming of the 1995 P&P.
I am admittedly not an interior designer and did not go to Uni for architecture/design, so I am basing my speculation on my knowledge of the era and having looked at lots of photos of recreations or preserved early 19th century rooms.
What are other readers thoughts about these golden rods?
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