Adam volume 54/3/22 is inscribed Sir Nathaniel and therefore must date from before April 1761 when Curzon was created Lord Scarsdale, and Adam volumes 25/2 and 25/3 are inscribed Lord Scarsdale and therefore must date to after April 1761.

Scarsdale approached Adam as early as 1758 for a design for an organ case. The original organ was an instrument by Snetzler, but this was deemed too large and overpowering for the music room at Kedleston, and it was replaced with a more modest version, with new designs being made by Adam for the case in 1765. None of these designs were executed, although the executed organ case, supplied by a local craftsman in December 1765, is a much simplified version of Adam volumes 25/2 and 25/3, without the winged figures, arms, or decorative panels. It does make use of the Ionic pilasters, the frieze, and is surmounted by the same urns. Moreover, these winfed figures were reproduced in Adam's design for an organ case for Sir Watkin Williams Wynn for his house in St James's Square. Stillman notes that the heaviness of these designs is typical of Adam's early style, and that the caryatids and winged figures recall the caryatid chimneypieces which Adam designed for various early projects including the drawing room at Kedleston (Adam volume 22/15).

Group

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