bar scale of 1/7 in to 1 ft

• datable to c. 1757-8

Pen, sepia washes, shaded on laid paper folded to fit (307 x 439)

George Dance (1741-1825)

fleur-de-lis within a crowned cartouche and VDL below (Heawood 1769) see note below

Style and draughtsmanship might suggest Dance the Elder as the author of this design. However, the young George Dance received some training in his father's office before setting off for Italy in December 1758 and this drawing seems to belong with other of his juvenile exercises in design made 1757-8 (see J.Lever, Catalogue of the drawings of George Dance the Younger (1741-1825) …, 2003, catalogue [1]-[5]). A clue is the bar scale which, with its numbering and three dots over the marks of division, is found on those other early drawings. And it does seem unlikely that Dance the Elder as Clerk of Works to the City of London would have made designs for a villa as part of his official duties. On the other hand he did accept private commisssions for churches as well as, for example, shops. His other drawings, bound into volumes, stayed with the Dance family until purchased by Soane (with Dance the Younger's drawings) in 1836.For drawings by George Dance the Elder (1695-1768) in the Soane Museum see J.Lever, Catalogue of the drawings of George Dance the Younger (1741-1825) and of George Dance the Elder (1695-1768), 2003, pp.394-412 and (S.Jeffery, Mansion House) pp.422-449. The fairly unusual watermark is found in one of George Dance the Elder's drawings (Lever, op.cit., catalogue [137].5) which is a copy of a contract drawing for the Corn Exchange, Mark Lane, City of London built 1747-50.

Drawing

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