(17) bar scale of ¼ inch to 1 foot (18) to a scale (19) bar scale of ½ inch to 1 foot

18 as above The Bank of England and (verso) (mislabeled) Longitudinal Section 19 as above, The Bank of England, Section of the Bank Stock Office, (pencil) Make these panels like the other side, (pencil) calculation and some dimensions for the door given

• (17-19) datable to 1792

(17) Pen, pencil, pale red ink and sepia wash on wove paper with one fold mark (520 x 646) (18) pen, pencil, pale red ink and sepia wash on wove paper with three fold marks (511 x 648) (19) pen, pencil, pale red ink, sepia, brown madder and pale blue washes, partly pricked for transfer on wove paper with three fold marks (520 x 662)

Soane office

Drawing 17 shows the banded rustication and fluted pilasters approximately as executed, but little else in detail. Soane experiments with raising the height of the side-aisle arches up to the level of the entablature (similarly to the triple-lantern scheme in drawing 2), giving the hall a greater sense of vertical monumentality. However, elevating these arches would have resulted in raising the height of the corner bays to the level of the side-arm vaults and thus presumably eliminating the clerestory lunettes. This scheme was not pursued because it would have darkened the periphery of the hall. The drawing may be related to drawing 13, which also omits the clerestory lunettes.
Drawing 18 accurately shows the dimensions of the hall as realised, the elevation of the side-aisle arches, and the banded rustication used to decorated the walls. However, the design does not precisely match that of the executed hall. Omitted are three fielded panels in the upper zone of the north wall, similar to those found above the side-aisle arches. Furthermore the fasciated Ionic architrave was replaced by a fret moulding, and the projecting cornice by a much flatter roll moulding. The section also does not attempt to show the surfaces of the pendentive dome or side-arm barrel vaults.
Similarly drawing 19 shows the dimensions, structure and decoration more or less as built, including the banded rustication surmounted by panels, counters, grilles, a corner cupboard for storing ledgers and other Bank books, and the iron and glass lantern. However, the shaded doorway was not cut through this north wall, but in the opposite south wall leading to the Rotunda. The dimensions of the wall panels are also not exactly as executed.
There are some sketches on drawing 19, presumably by Soane, including a blocking course above the right bay, and on the bottom of the sheet a foundation arcade and a pattern for the soffit of one of the lateral arches.

Drawing

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk