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Initial design for the main (west) front of the house
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Reference number
SM volume 111/48
Purpose
Initial design for the main (west) front of the house
Aspect
Elevation
Scale
10 feet to 9/32 inches (32.5 mm)
Signed and dated
- 1723
Medium and dimensions
Pen and brown ink over pencil under drawing, with additions in pencil; 194 x 254, with 45mm wide section cut out from left side of sheet, above scale bar.
Hand
Colen Campbell
Watermark
CHD monogram
Notes
The drawing appears to be in Campbell's hand, rather than Roger Morris's, as Brindle has suggested on the basis of the style of scale bar (op. cit. p. 90). This scale bar, with its triads of dots on the 10-feet divisions, is indeed unusual for Campbell, but there is no evidence for Morris's involvement in the design of the new building in 1723. Nor has any evidence been produced to show that the style of numeration on this scale bar is unique to Morris. The scale bar appears to be in the same light brown ink as the rest of the drawing.
The fine pen and pencil outline techniques of the drawing and the style of cartouche in the tympanum are close to those of other designs attributed to Campbell at this period. Examples are his elevations at the RIBA for Wanstead House, Essex, in about 1713, and his preparatory drawing for the final design by Campbell, also RIBA, published as '1724' in volume III of Vitruvius Britannicus in 1725, where steps are added at the front and the outer pyramidal roofs are omitted (see J. Harris The Palladians, 1981, figs 35, 36, 44). Another close comparison is with 'Mr Campbels Design for Penpole Gate ... 1723' in K. Downes, 'The King's Weston Book of Drawings', Architectural History, vol. 10, 1967, no. 37, fig. 29, which has an identically drawn block cornice and roof-top pennant. The scale bars are also similar. The design is of considerably importance as the earliest known proposal for an urban villa in the Palladian manner in London in the eighteenth century. One significant advantage of Campbell's proposal over those of Dickinson (2, 3) was that his first floor loggia, facing towards St James's Park, was taller and more richly detailed.
The fine pen and pencil outline techniques of the drawing and the style of cartouche in the tympanum are close to those of other designs attributed to Campbell at this period. Examples are his elevations at the RIBA for Wanstead House, Essex, in about 1713, and his preparatory drawing for the final design by Campbell, also RIBA, published as '1724' in volume III of Vitruvius Britannicus in 1725, where steps are added at the front and the outer pyramidal roofs are omitted (see J. Harris The Palladians, 1981, figs 35, 36, 44). Another close comparison is with 'Mr Campbels Design for Penpole Gate ... 1723' in K. Downes, 'The King's Weston Book of Drawings', Architectural History, vol. 10, 1967, no. 37, fig. 29, which has an identically drawn block cornice and roof-top pennant. The scale bars are also similar. The design is of considerably importance as the earliest known proposal for an urban villa in the Palladian manner in London in the eighteenth century. One significant advantage of Campbell's proposal over those of Dickinson (2, 3) was that his first floor loggia, facing towards St James's Park, was taller and more richly detailed.
Literature
S. Brindle, 'Pembroke House, Whitehall', The Georgian Group Journal, vol. VIII, 1998, p. 90, fig. 4.
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