Editing 10 Downing Street (section)

=== Furnishings ===
Number 10 is filled with fine paintings, sculptures, busts and furniture. Only a few are permanent features. Most are on loan. About half belong to the [[Government Art Collection]]. The remainder are on loan from private collectors and from public galleries such as the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]], the [[Tate Gallery]], the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] and the [[National Gallery]].{{sfn|Seldon|1999|p=172}}<ref>[http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/location_results.aspx?Place=1008&lt=thumbnails&sb=ArtistName&tl=1008,1065,1070,1195,1140&pg=1 Government Art Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330180845/http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/location_results.aspx?Place=1008&lt=thumbnails&sb=ArtistName&tl=1008,1065,1070,1195,1140&pg=1 |date=30 March 2014 }} gac.culture.gov.uk</ref>

About a dozen paintings are changed annually. More extensive changes occur when a new prime minister takes office and redecorates.<ref>Sheldon. p. 174.</ref> These redecorations may reflect both individual taste as well as make a political statement. [[Edward Heath]] borrowed French paintings from the National Gallery and was loaned two [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir|Renoirs]] from a private collector. When Margaret Thatcher arrived in 1979 she insisted that the artwork had to be British and that it celebrate "British achievers". As a former chemist, she took pleasure in devoting the Small Dining Room to a collection of portraits of British scientists, such as [[Joseph Priestley]] and [[Humphry Davy]]. During the 1990s [[John Major]] converted the first floor anteroom into a small gallery of modern art, mostly British. He also introduced several paintings by [[John Constable]] and [[J. M. W. Turner]], Britain's two best known 19th-century artists, and cricketing paintings by [[Archibald Stuart-Wortley (painter)|Archibald Stuart-Wortley]] including a portrait of one of England's most celebrated batsmen [[W. G. Grace]].{{sfn|Seldon|1999|pp=172–173}}

In addition to outstanding artwork, Number 10 contains many exceptional pieces of furniture either owned by the house or on loan. One of the most striking and unusual is the already mentioned Chippendale hooded guard's chair that sits in a corner of the entrance hall. To its left is a long case clock by Benson of Whitehaven. A similar clock by Samuel Whichcote of London stands in the Cabinet anteroom. The White State Drawing Room contains examples of [[Adam style|Adam furniture]]. The Green State Drawing Room contains mostly Chippendale furniture including a card table that belonged to [[Robert Clive|Clive of India]] and a mahogany desk that is thought to have belonged to William Pitt the Younger and used by him during the Napoleonic Wars. In addition to the large carpet previously described, the Pillared State Drawing Room also contains a marble-topped table by Kent. The State Dining Room contains a mahogany [[sideboard]] by Adam.{{sfn|Seldon|1999|pp=185–188}}{{notetag|name="note1"}} Until the late 19th century, Prime Ministers were required to furnish Number 10 at their own expense with furniture, tableware, china, linens, curtains and decorations. This arrangement began to change in 1877 when [[Benjamin Disraeli]] took up residency. He insisted that the Treasury should bear the cost of furnishings at least in the public areas. The Treasury agreed and a complex accounting procedure was developed whereby the outgoing prime minister was required to pay for "wear and tear" on furnishings that had been purchased by the Treasury. This system was used until November 1897 when the Treasury assumed responsibility for purchasing and maintaining almost all of the furnishings in both the public and private areas except decorating the walls with art work. In 1924 when Prime Minister [[Ramsay MacDonald]] took office, he did not own nor have the means to buy an extensive art collection. He had the Government Art Collection loan pieces. The arrangement became the standard practice.{{sfn|Minney|1963|pp=285–286}}