bar scale of approximately 1¼ inch to 1 foot and full size

as above, Entablature to / Chimney Piece, Section of Cornice shewing the manner / of fixing the Composition, Wall line, Line of Pannel, Line of Marble (twice), Line of frieze, Composition (eight times), Marble (three times), 3'6", 3'4", 5" (three times); (verso) Gawdy Hall / Chimney Piece / to Drawing Room

• Welbeck Street, Oct 10^th 88

Pen and grey and pink washes, shaded, partly pricked for transfer, on cartridge paper with three fold marks (595 x 495)

badly-nested tags: br

The chimney-piece has panel pilaster jambs and an opening 3 feet 6 inches wide and 3 feet 4 inches high. The pilasters are ornamented with a bell-flower and ribbon motif, vertical waterleaves are repeated across the frieze and the dentils on the cornice are interspersed by pine cones. A roughly drawn guilloche ornament to the lining shows small flowers in each centre. All these mouldings are labelled 'Compositon' inferring that they could be purchased ready-made, and Soane 'paid Lane for Composⁿ Ornaments' relating to Gawdy Hall on 9 April 1789 (SM Journal 1, p. 84).

See also drawing 4 (SM 73/3/20) for Norwich, Norfolk: Norwich Castle Gaol. The verso of which has a plan, laid-out wall elevations and details for a Drawing Room and on the bottom left-hand side of the cut-down drawing is inscribed Holmes. Although with less detail than is shown here the chimney-piece appears to be the same.

Gawdy Hall, for which Soane carried out extensive alterations, was demolished in 1939 and the site is now 'a housing estate between Harleston and Bungay' (Dean, op.cit)


Joanna Tinworth, May 2012

P. Dean, Sir John Soane and the country estate, 1999, p.179; R. Klausner, The history of Gawdy Hall & its occupants, Redenhall, Norfolk, 2007

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