The murals and paintings in this elegant room were painted by French artist Louis Laguerre, who charged £500 for the lot. Sir James Thornhill, who painted the ceiling of the Great Hall had originally been commissioned to do this room, but Sarah, the 1st Duchess of Marlborough disputed his fees.
In a similar dispute with the builders, master carver Grinling Gibbons only completed one of the carved marble door cases when work on the house was suspended in 1712. He never returned when work resumed.
The massive, solid silver centerpiece in this room depicts the 1st Duke, on horseback, writing a dispatch to his wife, instructing her to report the victory at Blenheim to Queen Anne. The dispatch, scribbled on the back of a tavern bill, is kept at the British Library (a copy is kept in the First State Room). The centerpiece was made by Garrard, the Crown Jewellers.
