Peter Kai Thornton CBE (April 8, 1925 – February 8, 2007) was a museum

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

and writer. The son of eminent scientist Sir (Henry) Gerard Thornton and Gerda, daughter of Kai Norregaard, of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

(and related to the actress, director and writer Eva Le Gallienne through the latter's Danish mother, journalist Julie Norregaard), Thornton was educated at Bryanston, which he left aged 14 to enroll at the

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

aeronautical technical school and work on the

Mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

production line at

Hatfield, Hertfordshire Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, 39,201 at the 2011 census, and 41,265 at the 2021 census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House ...

; after serving during World War II in the Intelligence Corps, he went up to

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, where he read Danish and German (B.A. 1950). After being assistant keeper at the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

, Cambridge, and joint secretary to the

National Art Collections Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charitable organization, charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for man ...

, in London, from 1952 to 1954, Thornton joined the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London, serving as keeper of furniture and woodwork between 1966 and 1984, and curator to

Sir John Soane's Museum Sir John Soane's Museum is a Historic house museum, house museum, located next to Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical architect John Soane. It holds many drawings and ...

, in

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

between 1984 and 1995. Thornton was best known for his radical approach to the presentation of historic interiors at

Ham House Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, London, Ham, south of Richmond, London, Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas ...

, Osterley Park and Apsley House. His daughter, Emma Bettina, married the diplomat Peter Jay; she was Jay's second wife.Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 1990, ed. Patrick Montague-Smith, pg 686

Bibliography

*''Seventeenth Century Interior Decoration in England, France and Holland'' (1978). * with Maurice Tomlin: ''The Furnishing and Decoration of Ham House''.

Furniture History Society The Furniture History Society (FHS), which was founded in 1964, is a registered charity in the United Kingdom Background The Furniture History Society is based in London, with close connections at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It was founded by ...

, London 1981. *''Authentic Décor: the Domestic Interior 1620-1920'' (1984). *''Innovation in the Decorative Arts 1470-1870'' (1989). * ''The Italian Renaissance Interior, 1400 - 1600''. H. N. Abrams, New York City 1991, ,

References

* Knox, Tim
Peter Thornton
''The Guardian'', 12 March 2007. * Lightbown, Ronald
Peter Thornton
''The Independent'', 20 February 2007.
Peter Thornton
''The Telegraph'', 24 February 2007. 1925 births 2007 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge British curators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-writer-stub