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A fragment of an elm tree
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A fragment of an elm tree
Museum number: M584
On display: Museum South Passage
All spaces are in No. 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields unless identified as in No. 12, Soane's first house.
For tours https://www.soane.org/your-visit
Curatorial note
This piece of twisted timber, still with its bark attached, was added by Soane to his museum because of its resemblance to the shape of the volute of an ionic capital. The earliest inventory of the Museum (1837) described it as 'A Piece of an elm tree, the internal wood decayed, and the Bark curved spirally as a volute'. It is indicative of his interest in the origins of architecture in nature. The timber has been carefully cut to create this specimen.
Associated items
M614, another similar
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