(21) bar scale of 1/7 inch to 1 foot (22) bar scale of 1/7 inch to 1 foot, and full size (23) Full Size and to a scale (24) bar scale of 1/7 inch to 1 foot (25) full size and to a scale (26) bar scale of 1/7 inch to 1 foot (27) full size and to a scale (28) bar scale of 1/7 inch to 1 foot (29) Half Full Size and to a scale (30) bar scale of 1/7 inch to 1 foot

21 (upper case) The Marquiss of Buckingham, Plan and Section of / Vestibule, 1:0, (feint red pen) Old Marble Chimney Piece, illegible feint pencil, 4'0", 5'2, 4:0 22 (upper case) The Marquiss of Buckingham, Plan and Section of the / Eating Room, elevations lettered A and B, A. equal margins // B. equal pannels, flush bead[in]g (twice), 1:4 (eleven times), Angle beads full size, (pencil) 6", Aug^st 22 M^r Soane ordered / one of the old Marble Ch^y P^s/ for this Room, July 22^nd 1793 / Finishing to sides, July 22^nd 1793 / M^r Soane ordered the/ Eating Room Pannels in (?)stucco, (red pen) Feby 8 1793 Blue White Green & cream color pannels, Stucco Molding white 23 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham 24 (upper case) Plan and Section of Lower / Drawing Room, The Marquiss of Buckingham, (pencil) July 22^nd 1793 M^r Soane ordered / that no blank door / sh^d be present here, (red pen) Old Marble Chimney Piece / Feb^y 8 1793, Glass, Blank door 25 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, (pencil) Richard wish[es] to know the form of the / Molding at A / Mr Soane not put any on out of darkness of Room, A, follow this angle x
26 (upper case) The Marquiss of Buckingham, Plan and Section of the front Drawing Room
/ on One Pair Floor, (pencil) M^r Soane mark^d this ornament / to be in this Place, 10", (red pen) Stucco, Gilt & cream color & pannel'd, Glass 27 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, Cornice to front Drawing Room One Pair Floor, (pencil) Those ornaments to external a---- (illegible) 28 (upper case) The Marquiss of Buckingham, Plan and Section of the Principal / Drawing Room, (pencil) M^r Soane ordered the / sides to be Plaistered for Paper, Mr Soane ordered / one of the old Marble Chim^y Pieces / for this Room, 9.6, 3, Mr Soane ordered / this a real Door, (red pen) Glass, Pannel'd in Paper & no Gilding, Jib Door 29 (upper case) as above, The Marquiss of Buckingham, Cornice to the First Drawing Room 30 (upper case) The Marquiss of Buckingham, Plan and Section of Anti / Drawing Room, (pencil) Finishing to sides / (?)ang[ul]^ar pannels, Wood & Marble & Compoⁿ / Ornam^t

• badly-nested tags: br

(21-30) Pencil, pen and coloured washes including sepia, burnt umber, grey and blue, red pen, within triple-ruled brown and black wash border on laid paper (451 x 296, 449 x 297, 451 x 295, 451 x 295, 450 x 295, 445 x 301, 451 x 296, 444 x 300, 451 x 296, 450 x 295)

(21-30) Frederick Meyer (1775-?, pupil April 1791-1796) and Soane

(21-23, 25, 28) fleur-de-lis over cartouche with GR below (24, 26-27, 29-30) J Buttanshaw

On 6 February, Frederick Meyer delivered to the Marquess 10 drawings of finishings to the rooms at Buckingham House (drawings 21 to 30). Soane wrote to Lord Buckingham the following day and visited him on the 8th, staying for three hours to discuss the rooms' finishings. Alterations and notes in red pen date from this meeting. Construction on the building was already underway as the finishings were chosen.

The entrance hall is elliptical in plan. As emphasized in pencil on drawing 21, the principal entrance and a front-facing window are separated from the central space by two wide round-headed arches at the north end of the room. Six medallions line the room under the cornice; as noted on drawing 6, these medallions were taken from the drawing room of the existing house. Peter Inskip describes similar terracotta bas-reliefs installed in the Grecian Buildling at Stowe in 1763 as part of the rededication of the Temple of Concord and Victory. The Stowe decorations show scenes from the Seven Years War and were probably designed by James 'Athenian' Stuart (1713-88) with the subjects chosen by the Society of Arts. The Buckingham House medallions may have been also made in 1763, although, as Inskip points out, the Stowe versions have lettering that is not apparent in the Buckingham House set.

The eating room has a segmental end with three south-facing windows. The room's chimney-piece, as noted in pencil, is to be salvaged from the existing house (as is the lower drawing room chimney-piece). A ball moulding lines the room and the ceiling is framed by a soffit of incised lines and bead mouldings, with framed patera placed at regular intervals. Red pen alterations to drawing 22, made during Soane's meeting with Lord Buckingham, show additional ornament, including eight attenuated baluster-shaped pedestals surrounding the room, two on each wall. An alternative design for the pedestals is at the margins of the sheet, showing a panelled form. The pedestals probably supported candles set in glass lanterns, although there is a possibility that they are intended for oil lamps. Oil lighting was increasingly used in domestic settings in Britain after the appearance of the Argand lamp in 1784. Despite the innovation in oil, candle lighting was still common: in the early 19th century, 'drawing rooms and parlours tended still to have candles and hanging chandeliers, dining rooms almost exclusively so unless lamps were placed on pedestals' (Country House Lighting, p.80). The lamps on drawing 22 do not resemble Argand lamps, which required an oil resevoir located above the burner; it was not until the development of the Astral and Sinumbra lamps in the second decade of the 19th century that a pedestal form could be effective.

According to the pencil note on drawing 25, the lower drawing room's soffit was simplified, with the diamond motif omitted on account of the rooom's darkness. The room is 34 feet long and lit only by two north-facing windows at one end. Red pen alterations to the drawing show a looking glass positioned opposite the chimney-piece, probably as a measure to reflect its light into the dark room.

The second drawing room on the first floor has the same dimensions as the lower drawing room, but with a segmental end (drawing 26). An inscription in red pen on drawing 26 specifies 'gilt & cream colour & pannels' for the room's decoration. The cornice has a wavescroll motif of acanthus leaves and rosettes over incised line ornament. The ceiling is framed by a soffit similar to the eating room on the ground floor, with incised lines between beading and framed patera at the corners (drawing 27).

The third drawing room on the first floor, here labelled the 'principal drawing room', has a chimney-piece salvaged from the old house (drawing 28). A jib door on the east wall leads into the adjoining ladies' dressing room. The cornice in the third drawing room has an acanthus motif; it is the same cornice as the drawing room at Bentley Priory, designed in 1790 for Lord Abercorn (q.v.). The ceiling is framed by a soffit with an incised Greek key motif (drawing 29).

The anti-drawing room has two windows facing the street (drawing 30). The ceiling is coved, with a wavescroll ornament over the alcoves that flank the chimney. The note in red pen specifies a wood, marble and composition ornament, presumably for the panel included over the chimney-piece. A dado rail is added in red pen.

Country House Lighting: 1660-1890, Temple Newsam Country House Studies, No. 4, Leeds City Art Galleries, 1992, pp. 79-80; P. Inskip, 'Soane and the Grenvilles', Apollo Magazine, April 2004, p. 20.

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