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[30] Unfinished design for a commode for the great drawing room (now the portico room), 1778, possibly as executed
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Reference number
SM Adam volume 17/35
Purpose
[30] Unfinished design for a commode for the great drawing room (now the portico room), 1778, possibly as executed
Aspect
Elevation of a segmental commode with a tripartite front and tapering legs, ornamented with ox skulls, rosettes and drop of calyx. The capitals contain cameos and the frieze is ornamented with anthemia enclosed by semi-circular bands of beading. The central compartment is ornamented with a central figurative roundel enclosed within a wreath and flanked by portrait medallions, swags and arabesques. The central compartment is flanked by side compartments ornamented with a central patera enclosed within a wreath, and with ox skulls and festoons
Scale
bar scale of 1 ½ inches to 1 foot
Inscribed
Commode for the second Drawing room at Apsley House
Signed and dated
- October 1778
Adelphi / 29. Oct. 1778
Medium and dimensions
Pen, pencil and coloured washes including Naples yellow, pink and olive green on laid paper (460 x 250)
Hand
Possibly
Office hand, possibly Joseph Bonomi or Robert Morison
Office hand, possibly Joseph Bonomi or Robert Morison
Verso
Preliminary design for a commode, comparable to SM Adam volume 17/35. With central figurative medallion, portrait medallions, paterae, wreaths, ox skulls, and with tapered legs, to a scale, (pencil), inscription Commode for Lord Bathurst (pencil)
Watermark
GR surmounted by a fleur-de-lis within a crowned cartouche
Literature
Bolton, 1922, Volume II, Index p. 44
Harris, 1963, pp. 57, 76
Harris, 2001(b), p. 100
Lea, 2005, p. 12
For a full list of literature references see scheme notes.
Harris, 1963, pp. 57, 76
Harris, 2001(b), p. 100
Lea, 2005, p. 12
For a full list of literature references see scheme notes.
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