Scale
to a rough scale
Inscribed
Angle / ground line / Window / these form the Circular mouldings / round all the principal Arches in the / Court of Chancery. / Closed up / x Section of Mouldings / A See parts at large / 1 2 3 4 5 (x 2) / Running Ornament under the Court of Exchequer dimensions given
Signed and dated
- 29/03/1823
29th. March 1823
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, pink wash, pen, on wove paper bound in volume (211 x 272)
Hand
Arthur Patrick Mee (1802 - 1868), draughtsman
The Day Book entry for 29 March 1823 notes that Arthur Mee was Making Sketches of the old / Courts at Westminster.
Notes
In the inscription, the principall Arches of the Court of Exchequer appear to be those of the original thirteenth-century building, of which parts were incorporated into the Elizabethan reconstruction. The drawing therefore appears to be mislabelled Chancery for Exchequer. Two of these arches remained visible on the Court's south wall, as shown in SM Vol 48/27. They are distinct from the arches of the Tudor period, since the latter were true or pseudo four-centred and lacked mouldings. The moulding profile corresponds with that taken in John Buckler's 1822 survey (illustrated in Colvin, 1966, p.39, Fig. 70). A detailed elevation and section of A is given in SM Vol 48/22. The location of the carved frieze of guilloche between rosettes in circles is not identified. It would appear to be found on the structural framed members, since no details of wainscot or other furnishings are given for the ground floor.
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation.
This catalogue of Soane’s designs for the New Law Courts was generously funded by The Worshipful Company of Mercers and The Pilgrim Trust.
Sir John Soane's collection includes some 30,000 architectural,
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