• Undated, probably 1760 - 1763

Pencil, pen, grey wash 550 x 384

Antonio Zucchi (attributed to)

crowned fleur de lys

Like Adam vol.26/161, this is one of several variants of the classical capital by James Adam and may be compared with his designs for British and Scottish Orders of 1762 and c.1764 (see Adam vol.7/69 and 163). Like them, it may be associated with his scheme for Parliament of 1762/3 found in Adam volume 7. The composition here can be compared with that in Adam vol.7/13, which shows a similar nautical character by the use of dolphins, of which there is a version by the Scottish architect John Baxter (d.1798) in the National Gallery of Scotland (RSA 540) and a fuller version in album 1 of the Hardwick drawings in the RIBA (see 1/69). Baxter was in Italy in 1761 and, as a protégé of Sir James Clerk, probably knew James Adam; he 'made many careful copies of these Antique capitals' and possibly worked for Adam in this capacity (see Designs of Desire, Architectural and Ornamental Prints and Drawings 1500-1850, catalogue of an exhibition held at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1999, p.266).
This drawing is the companion to Adam vol.26/161 and like that it may be inspired by the ancient capitals shown in G.B. Piranesi's Trofei di Ottaviano Augusto, which first appeared in 1753. It differs from Adam vol.26/161 in the replacement of the female figure with a shield, ?Britannia, with the elaborate trident.

Drawing

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