Authenticity and Authorship: The Chocolate Kitchens at Hampton Court

In this paper we use the example of the Chocolate Kitchens at Hampton Court Palace to explore issues of authenticity and authorship in re-creating historic interiors. In February 2014, Historic Royal Palaces opened a suite of three rooms associated with chocolate making. One is an almost perfectly preserved Chocolate Kitchen with 18th century fixtures and fittings. The second, badly fire damaged, had little surviving historic building fabric. The third, the Chocolate Room, was empty apart from badly broken 18th century ironmongery in the fireplace and the scars of historic shelving on the walls. In the surviving Chocolate Kitchen, we took the unusual step of us ing projection-mapping technology, avoiding physical interventions in this sensitive space. The blank space next door gave us the opportunity for experimental archaeology, making chocolate using historic equipment and recipes. In the Chocolate Room, where the final touches were put to the chocolate, we decided to re-create the historic interior. Unlike many restorations, none of the original contents survived but research uncovered detailed inventories, archaeological fragments and extant examples from other collections. In the Chocolate Room we have mixed real objects and carefully re searched re-creations with our guiding purpose being that the space must feel inhabited. We have also used the latest projection mapping techniques to create an animated diagram, using 18th century illustrative styles, to bring the abandoned Chocolate Kitchen to life. We make the argument that it is possible to produce an “authentic re-creation”. Research has shown that this was the actual Choco late Room. While its contents are not original, the authenticity of the experience lies in the archaeological and technological ac curacy involved in the re-creation of each item. Nonetheless, the question must be asked, have we created an elaborate fake? Visitors expect historic interiors to provide the authentic “history where it happened” experience. Our visitors tell us that they want to “step back in time”, “walk in the footsteps of kings and queens”. In the Chocolate Room, we have pushed the boundaries of au thenticity, creating a world where visitors are transported to a moment in history – they are complicit in this process. Re-creation only becomes fakery when we lie to our audience. By presenting our process on site via our multimedia guide and offsite via our website, we create dialogues about materials and historic craft techniques. Visitor research shows that the process of reconstruc tion is something that visitors find every bit as fascinating as the experience of the room itself. The re-creation of the Chocolate Room becomes an authentic 18th century experience using historic craft skills, but one that is explicitly authored in 2014 using digital media.