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Dr. Evans has worked at the National Museums of Scotland since 1982. He is now the Principal Curator of European Applied Art. His interest in the 10th Duke of Hamilton and the Hamilton Palace collection was aroused by the two great Napoleonic services that were owned by the 10th Duke of Hamilton and bought by the National Museums in 1976 and 1986.
This richly illustrated lecture focuses attention on the Duke's desire to project his status as the premier peer of Scotland and claimant to the French dukedom of Châtelherault. It examines the Duke's role in the design of the intimidating new north block of Hamilton Palace and his purchases of superb eighteenth-century French furniture, including outstanding pieces made for Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.
The lecture concentrates on the Duke's interest in Napoleon, infatuation with Napoleon's sister, Princess Pauline Borghese, and friendship with Napoleon's mother and uncle, Cardinal Fesch, between 1810 and 1830 and on his amazing acquisitions of Napoleonic items.
The lecture ends with the marriage of the Duke's son and heir to Princess Marie of Baden, the daughter of the adopted daughter of Napoleon and cousin of the Emperor Napoleon III, and the consequences of this upon the family and the collection.
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