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Presentation drawings of a preliminary design, 2 and 12 April 1790 (4)
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Reference number
SM (6) 33/1/24 (7) 33/1/33 (8) 33/1/23 (9) 33/1/22
Purpose
Presentation drawings of a preliminary design, 2 and 12 April 1790 (4)
Aspect
6 Plan of the Ground Floor; rough plan of the portico; and rough part-plan of the portico
7 Plan of the One Pair Floor
8 Plan of the One Pair Floor
9 Plan of the Attic Floor
Scale
(6-9) bar scale of 1/5 inch to 1 foot
Inscribed
6 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, Design for the addition to the House in Pallmall, plan labelled (upper case): Portico, The Hall, Great Staircase, Porters Bed, Closet, Recess, The Lower Drawing Room, Eating Room, Lord Temples Room, Dressing Room, Second / Staircase, Water / Closet, Strongcloset, The Library, lettered A to C (multiple times) corresponding to key: A. In the finishing [to] the frontispiece / the Hall door will appear / regular in the Front // B. All the Recesses & Apertures / are to be (?)bristolled over at the / height of the windows, & over each / of them one of the Medallions in / the present drawing Room is to be placed, C. Pedestals with statues supporting / the Lamps &c / The Great Staircase to be wainscot
7 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, plan labelled (some in upper case): Landing of Best Staircase, Corridor, The Common / Staircase, Jewel Closet, Water / Closet, Bed Room, Ladies Dressing Room, Third Drawing Room, Second Drawing Room, Anti-Chamber, First Drawing Room 8 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, plan labelled (some in upper case, dimensions in red pen): Landing of Best Staircase, The Common / Staircase, Jewel Closet, Water / Closet, Bed Room / 12.10, Ladies Dressing Room / 12.10, Third Drawing Room / 17.0, Second Drawing Room / 17.0, Anti-Chamber / 17.0, First Drawing Room / 15.3
9 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, plan labelled (Soane): Chamber (seven times), Skylight over the Great Staircase, Corridor, Arch (nine times), Corridor, Door sashed / as the windows, Nursery Apartments, The Nursery Apartments, Second / or / common Staircase, lettered A corresponding to A These steps are not essentially requisite, (pencil, Soane) door, chy, (feint pencil, Soane) ----- / 3--- wide / & - deep, 12 [feet] 10 [inches], 15 [feet] 3 [inches]
7 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, plan labelled (some in upper case): Landing of Best Staircase, Corridor, The Common / Staircase, Jewel Closet, Water / Closet, Bed Room, Ladies Dressing Room, Third Drawing Room, Second Drawing Room, Anti-Chamber, First Drawing Room 8 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, plan labelled (some in upper case, dimensions in red pen): Landing of Best Staircase, The Common / Staircase, Jewel Closet, Water / Closet, Bed Room / 12.10, Ladies Dressing Room / 12.10, Third Drawing Room / 17.0, Second Drawing Room / 17.0, Anti-Chamber / 17.0, First Drawing Room / 15.3
9 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, plan labelled (Soane): Chamber (seven times), Skylight over the Great Staircase, Corridor, Arch (nine times), Corridor, Door sashed / as the windows, Nursery Apartments, The Nursery Apartments, Second / or / common Staircase, lettered A corresponding to A These steps are not essentially requisite, (pencil, Soane) door, chy, (feint pencil, Soane) ----- / 3--- wide / & - deep, 12 [feet] 10 [inches], 15 [feet] 3 [inches]
Signed and dated
- (6-7, 9) John Soane Archt Albion Place April 2d 1790 (8) Albion Place April 12th 1790
Medium and dimensions
(6-7, 9) Pen and black and pink washes, pencil, within double-ruled and wash border on laid paper (495 x 714, 495 x 711, 496 x 710) (8) pen and black and pink washes, red pen, pencil, within double-ruled and wash border on laid paper (495 x 709)
Hand
(6-9) attributed to Thomas Chawner (1774-1851, pupil 1788-94) and Soane
Watermark
(6-9) J Whatman and fleur-de-lis within crowned cartouche with ornate W below
Notes
As in earlier designs (drawings 4 and 5), the west building is completely replaced while much of the east structure has been retained. The three bays of the east building are replicated in the proposed west range. Unfortunately, the front door is not at the exact centre of the front elevation because of the existing party wall. Instead of altering this (probably essential) structural wall so that a door may fit, Soane proposes finishing the frontispiece so that the 'hall door will appear regular in the Front'.
On the ground floor (drawing 6), a four-bay library and a bowed eating room are at the rear of the house (and overlooking courtyards as in drawing 4) and the drawing room and Lord Temple's private suite are facing the street. The entrance vestibule is lined with medallions preserved from the old drawing room, as noted on the drawing (see drawing 21). The vestibule leads directly into the large semicircular-ended stairwell at the centre of the plan. The stairwell is the most remarkable feature of the plan as well as the heart of the building, as it gives onto all of the ground floor rooms. The inclusion of an additional three steps spanning the room at the bottom of the staircase skillfully solves the difference in floor levels between the east and west buildings. The steps also distinguish the private rooms in the west from the more public areas in the east building. Two 'Pedestals with statues supporting / the Lamps &c' are at the bottom of the principle staircase. These 'lamps' were probably intended as glass shades containing candles. Principle staircases in the late 18th and early 19th centuries were lit in various ways, including suspended hall lanterns, hand-rail lanterns, or lamps designed to be fixed to pedestals at the foot of a staircase, as in this design for Buckingham House. James Wyatt designed similar lamps for the feet of the banisters at Heaton Hall, Manchester (Country House Lighting, p.74).
The first floor rooms are also all in communication with the central stairwell (drawings 7 and 8). Three drawing rooms for entertaining, are at the top of the stairs: two overlook the street and one occupies the bowed room facing south. The south-east corner of this floor is occupied by a private lady's bedroom suite, complete with water closet and jewel closet. Drawings 7 and 8 show the same design, with the rough changes and erasures to drawing 7 included in a more finished form on drawing 8. For example, erasure marks on drawing 7 include alterations to the semicircular ends of the stairwell and the chimney-piece in the 'second drawing room'; these changes are in final form on drawing 8.
The attic floor (drawing 9) has seven bedrooms of varying dimensions arranged around the central stairwell and accessed by narrow corridors. Quarter-stairs reconcile a difference in floor levels between the east and west sides of the house (as in drawings 4 and 5). Two large rooms at the west end are reserved for the nursery apartments. The south-facing nursery has three windows overlooking a roof that covers the first floor bay window. Erasure marks show that the chimney-piece in one nursery has been altered, as in the 'second drawing room' chimney-piece directly underneath. Soane's pencil alterations to the drawing include a door between this north-west nursery and the adjacent bedroom. He has also added a chimney-piece to the bedroom adjacent to the other nursery.
On the ground floor (drawing 6), a four-bay library and a bowed eating room are at the rear of the house (and overlooking courtyards as in drawing 4) and the drawing room and Lord Temple's private suite are facing the street. The entrance vestibule is lined with medallions preserved from the old drawing room, as noted on the drawing (see drawing 21). The vestibule leads directly into the large semicircular-ended stairwell at the centre of the plan. The stairwell is the most remarkable feature of the plan as well as the heart of the building, as it gives onto all of the ground floor rooms. The inclusion of an additional three steps spanning the room at the bottom of the staircase skillfully solves the difference in floor levels between the east and west buildings. The steps also distinguish the private rooms in the west from the more public areas in the east building. Two 'Pedestals with statues supporting / the Lamps &c' are at the bottom of the principle staircase. These 'lamps' were probably intended as glass shades containing candles. Principle staircases in the late 18th and early 19th centuries were lit in various ways, including suspended hall lanterns, hand-rail lanterns, or lamps designed to be fixed to pedestals at the foot of a staircase, as in this design for Buckingham House. James Wyatt designed similar lamps for the feet of the banisters at Heaton Hall, Manchester (Country House Lighting, p.74).
The first floor rooms are also all in communication with the central stairwell (drawings 7 and 8). Three drawing rooms for entertaining, are at the top of the stairs: two overlook the street and one occupies the bowed room facing south. The south-east corner of this floor is occupied by a private lady's bedroom suite, complete with water closet and jewel closet. Drawings 7 and 8 show the same design, with the rough changes and erasures to drawing 7 included in a more finished form on drawing 8. For example, erasure marks on drawing 7 include alterations to the semicircular ends of the stairwell and the chimney-piece in the 'second drawing room'; these changes are in final form on drawing 8.
The attic floor (drawing 9) has seven bedrooms of varying dimensions arranged around the central stairwell and accessed by narrow corridors. Quarter-stairs reconcile a difference in floor levels between the east and west sides of the house (as in drawings 4 and 5). Two large rooms at the west end are reserved for the nursery apartments. The south-facing nursery has three windows overlooking a roof that covers the first floor bay window. Erasure marks show that the chimney-piece in one nursery has been altered, as in the 'second drawing room' chimney-piece directly underneath. Soane's pencil alterations to the drawing include a door between this north-west nursery and the adjacent bedroom. He has also added a chimney-piece to the bedroom adjacent to the other nursery.
Literature
Country House Lighting: 1660-1890, Temple Newsam Country House Studies, No. 4, Leeds City Art Galleries, 1992, pp. 73-77.
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