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Norman Court, West Tytheley, Hampshire, 1810
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Reference number
SM D2/7/13
Purpose
Norman Court, West Tytheley, Hampshire, 1810
Aspect
[14] Alternative N elevations with wall plan of Gothic elevation
Scale
1/8 in to 1ft
Inscribed
(verso, Dance) Elevation of Mr Walls / House & Offices
Signed and dated
- 1810
Medium and dimensions
Pen and sepia washes, shaded within single ruled border, pricked for transfer on wove paper (630 x 900)
Hand
Dance
Watermark
J Whatman 1808
Notes
Dance drew the Corinthian elevation in outline while the Gothic elevation is washed and shaded. Whether this indicates his preference or simply that he did not finish the drawing is not known. The plans show the Classical design with the house fronted to the north by a six-column porte-cochere and to the south by a four-column portico.
The presentation drawings ([SM D2/7/11], [SM D2/7/12] and [SM D2/7/13]) are for a three-storey house separated from the kitchen offices by a walled yard. The 12-sided Polygon Hall and double return stair of all the earlier designs are kept; and the quadrant-curved vestibules of Designs B-D. Alternative elevations offer a Gothic design with drop-arched windows, and a continuous first floor balcony pierced by quatrefoils and polygonal turrets. The Classical design has a Corinthian porte-cochere, string course, entablature and balustraded parapet. Both have a 12-sided tower which in the Classical design has a shallow-pitched roof whose jaunty finial appears rather pagoda-like.
While the Classical design has a semi-Chinese element, the alternative elevation 'used Indian elements for simplifying the forms of Gothic in these designs' (N. Cooper, 'Indian architecture in England, 1780-1830', Apollo, XCII, 1970, fig.7). Indeed, it is possible to read the strongly shaded elevation as Indian: the proportions of the overall building with an apparently flat roof and the placing and proportion of windows to wall though conventional in English terms might also be seen as Indian. The pointed-arch openings outlined by concentric mouldings, the voids emphasised by a dark sepia wash, and the pierced front to the balconies supported on brackets also suggest India. And though the finials to the porte-cochere turrets are crocketed those at the angles have kalasha finials. Leafing through, say, Thomas Daniell's Oriental Scenery nothing strikes as an obvious source and yet the plates confirm the abstractly Indian character of Dance's 'Gothic' design.
For a note on Dance's use of Indian architectural elements see the general notes on the Guildhall, London.
The presentation drawings ([SM D2/7/11], [SM D2/7/12] and [SM D2/7/13]) are for a three-storey house separated from the kitchen offices by a walled yard. The 12-sided Polygon Hall and double return stair of all the earlier designs are kept; and the quadrant-curved vestibules of Designs B-D. Alternative elevations offer a Gothic design with drop-arched windows, and a continuous first floor balcony pierced by quatrefoils and polygonal turrets. The Classical design has a Corinthian porte-cochere, string course, entablature and balustraded parapet. Both have a 12-sided tower which in the Classical design has a shallow-pitched roof whose jaunty finial appears rather pagoda-like.
While the Classical design has a semi-Chinese element, the alternative elevation 'used Indian elements for simplifying the forms of Gothic in these designs' (N. Cooper, 'Indian architecture in England, 1780-1830', Apollo, XCII, 1970, fig.7). Indeed, it is possible to read the strongly shaded elevation as Indian: the proportions of the overall building with an apparently flat roof and the placing and proportion of windows to wall though conventional in English terms might also be seen as Indian. The pointed-arch openings outlined by concentric mouldings, the voids emphasised by a dark sepia wash, and the pierced front to the balconies supported on brackets also suggest India. And though the finials to the porte-cochere turrets are crocketed those at the angles have kalasha finials. Leafing through, say, Thomas Daniell's Oriental Scenery nothing strikes as an obvious source and yet the plates confirm the abstractly Indian character of Dance's 'Gothic' design.
For a note on Dance's use of Indian architectural elements see the general notes on the Guildhall, London.
Level
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