The Butler's Room
This room was one of the service rooms in the Catherine Palace,
hence the name. According to plans by Charles Cameron, it was
divided by a cross-wise screen into two "foyers," one
of which was dark and led to the staircase. The architectural
style was of the classical period. The interior of the Butler's
Room suffered greatly during the fire in 1820. The interior composition
created by the architect Charles Cameron with its double pilasters
on the walls and broad frieze with archivolts was reproduced with
a few changes by the architect Vasily Stasov. Due to the absence
of original drawings of the detail executed by Charles Cameron,
the design was modelled after sketches by Vasily Stasov . Since
there was nothing to put in the place of the mural, the ceiling
was left white. During the 1840s, Vasily Stasov was commissioned
by Emperor Nicholas I to remove the butler's screen, and the two
"foyers" became one well-lit, spacious room. The basic
principle by which the interior had been decorated, with its symmetrical
division of the wall space by wooden pilasters with flutes painted
to look like marble and united by plaster arches, was preserved.
The inlaid floor with its fine geometrical pattern comprised of
precious woods (rosewood, amaranth, mahogany and light-coloured
wood, oak and maple) went well with the interior's strict classical
décor. The inlaid floor from one of the "foyers"
was used as the centrepiece. In 1855, in accordance with plans
by architect Andrei Shtakenschneider, a painting by Pietro Liberi
of the 17th-century Venetian school was mounted in the centre
of the ceiling of the Butler's Room. It was framed by gilded arches
and stucco ornaments complemented by decorative painted medallions.
During World War II the interior of the Butler's Room was destroyed.
The carver-restorer A.K. Kochuev and a team of carpenters recreated
18 pilasters based on the surviving pair. The inlaid floor was
restored by the parquet restorers A. M. Kvadrin and D.M. Lebedev.
The ceiling was once again left white since the sketches by Charles
Cameron haven't yet been found. The room was re-opened following
restoration in 1959. Today the architectural décor of the
Waiters' Room is enhanced by elegant card-tables of inlaid wood
from the late 18th century, as well as Russian-made 19th-century
Chippendale chairs.

