The Great Cabinet and The Count’s Roundel

About 1790

The Great Cabinet is the count’s entertaining room as it could have appeared in the late 18th century. The background for this narrative is Count Jørgen Scheel and his young wife Christiane Mette Bille-Brahe, who took over Gammel Estrup and the entire extensive estate empire in 1790.

The young couple quickly had children and created a home for themselves according to the fashion and ideals of the time. People distanced themselves from the artificial world of the rococo, with its powdered wigs, stiff costumes and robes and endless rounds of parties and banquets, where everyone played a specific role. It was now all about discovering the natural and individual aspects in people. The magnificent halls and elegant rooms of the rococo were replaced by the ideal of the home as a place of domestic comfort and more informal social gatherings, for example salons with music, readings and discussions.

The new ideals and social mores were reflected in the decoration and furnishing of the home. The rococo’s gilt intricacies were replaced by the simpler and more practical Louis Seize furnishing style, inspired by the straight lines of antiquity. The Great Cabinet was used for larger gatherings, while the Count’s Roundel was where he could receive individual guests.