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You are here: CollectionsOnline  /  [21-25] Designs labelled 'B', 'C', 'B2' (in Soane's hand) and 'D' (5)
  • image Image 1 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 2 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 3 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 4 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 5 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 1 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 2 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 3 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 4 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44
  • image Image 5 for SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44

Reference number

SM (21) 36/4/41 (22) 36/4/42 (23)36/4/35 (24) 36/4/43 (25) 36/4/44

Purpose

[21-25] Designs labelled 'B', 'C', 'B2' (in Soane's hand) and 'D' (5)

Aspect

21 Plan of ground floor labelled 'B' 22 Plan of ground floor labelled 'C' 23 Plan of ground floor labelled 'B2', by Soane, as if on a sheet of paper curled at the corners (trompe l'oeil) 24 Plan of ground floor labelled 'D' (same as 'B2' i.e. drawing 23) 25 Plan of ground floor labelled 'D' (same as 'B2' and 'D' i.e. drawings 23 and 24)

Scale

(21-25) bar scales of 1/10 inch to 1 foot

Inscribed

(21) Design B (within a Roman label) Plan of a Design to Render the House of Lords and the Rooms / and Offices Appertaining Thereto More Commodious, River Thames, Mr Delavall's / House, Abingdon Street, Old Palace Yard, Mr Wilberforce, Mr Wharton, Mr Cowper, Mr Rose, Part of King / Henry the Seventh's / Chapel, rooms labelled: The Hall, The / Assistant Clerk / of / Parliament, The Clerk of Parliament, The / Lord Chancellor, The Council / attending / the House, Witnesses / attending / the House, The / Lobby, Black Rod, The / Serjeant / at Arms, The / House of Lords, The / Kings Robing / Room, The / Lord Great Chamberlain, The / House of Commons, The Painted Chamber / Conference Room, The Attendants / on the King, Court, The / Lord's Robing Room, The / Attendants / on the Duke / etca , The / Duke of Gloucester / and / the Rest of of the Royal / Family, The / Prince of Wales, The / Earl Marshall, The Bishops together with passages, doorkeepers, lobbys, anti-rooms and water closets (22) Design C (within a Roman label): Plan of a Design to Render the House of Lords and the Rooms / and Offices Appertaining Thereto More Commodious, labelled: River Thames, Mr Delavall's / House, Abingdon Street, Old Palace Yard, Mr Wilberforce, Mr Wharton, Mr Cowper, Mr Rose, Part of King Henry the / Seventh's Chapel, rooms labelled: Porte Cochere, The / Lord Great / Chamberlain, The / Prince of Wales, The / Assistant Clerk / of Parliament, The / House of Lords, The / Clerk of Parliament, The Lords Entrance, The / Lobby for Witnesses / Attending the House, The / Council Attending / the House, The / Lord Chancellor, The / Witnesses Attending / the House, Court, The / Black Rod, The / Serjeant at Arms, The / House of Commons, The / Painted Chamber / Conference Room, The / Committee Room, The / Lords Robing Room, The / Attendants on / the Lords, The / Earl Marshall, The / Archbishops, The Bishops, The / Duke of Gloucester and / the rest of the Royal / Family together with passages, doorkeepers, lobbys, anti-rooms, water closet and waiting room (23) B2, In this Drawing the Painted Chamber is converted into a House of Lords, labelled: Garden belonging to the House / occupied by the Clerk of the / House of Commons, Mr Delaval's / House, Abingdon Street, Old Palace Yard, Mr Wilberforce, Mr Wharton, Mr Cowper, Mr Rose, Part of King Henry / the 7th Chapel, rooms labelled: Stone Building, Lobby, Posts & Rails or Chains, The Entrance for the Lords, Coffee Houses (crossed out), & part of / Westminster / Hall, The Court of Requests, The Entrance for His Majesty, Portico, The Hall, Lords Robing / Room, Doorkeeper, Stove, The House of Commons, Conferences, Passage, Lords Attendants, Council / attending / the House, Witnesses / attending / the House, Court, The / Servants / Room, Wood / Coals &c, Water / Closet, The House of Lords, Throne, Doorkeeper (twice), His Majesty's Robing Room, Attendants / on the / King, Duke of Gloucester / & the / Royal Family, Attendants, Passage (twice), Bishops / and / Arch Bishops, Serjeant / at / Arms, Earl Marshall, Anti Room, Lord / Great / Chamberlain, Black Rod, Court, Attendants / on the / Prince, Prince / of / Wales, Mr Rose, Anti Room, Mr Cowper, Waiting / Room, Anti Room and Lord Chancellor with some feint pencil amendments to room labels, for example, L[ord] G[reat], Chamberlain (Mr Cowper's room) (24) Design D (within a Roman label) Plan of a Design to Render the House of Lords and the Rooms / and offices appertaining thereto more Commodious, labelled: The River Thames, Mr Delaval's / House, Abingdon Street, Old Palace Yard, Mr Wilberforce, Mr Wharton, Mr Cowper, Mr Rose, Part of / King Henry the Seventh's / Chapel, rooms labelled: Coffee Houses, The Hall, The Court of Requests, Portico, The Hall, The / Lords Robing / Room, Doorkeeper, Lobby, The House of Commons, The Court of Requests, Passage, The / Lords Attendants, The / Council / attending / the House, The / Witnesses / attending / the House, Court, The / Servants / Room, Wood / Coals &c, Water / Closet, The House of Lords, Doorkeeper (twice), His Majesty's / Robing Room, The / Attendants / on the / King, The / Duke of Gloucester / and the rest of / the Royal Family, Passage (twice), The / Bishops / and / Archbishops, The / Serjeant at / Arms, The / Earl Marshall, Anti Room, The / Lord Great / Chamberlain, The / Black Rod, Court, The / Attendants on / the Prince, The / Prince / of Wales, The / Clerk of Parliament, Anti Room, The / Assistant Clerk / of Parliament, The / Waiting / Room, Anti Room and The / Lord Chancellor (25) D (and in feint pencil) F and labelled as drawing 24

Signed and dated

  • (25) (feint pencil) Copy Sepr 25 94

Medium and dimensions

(21) Pen, sepia, red, black, blue and and raw umber washes, partly pricked for transfer, with quadruple-ruled and black wash border on laid paper (740 x 532) (22) pen, sepia, red, black, blue and raw umber washes, pricked for transfer, with quadruple-ruled and black wash border on wove paper (736 x 532) (23) pen, black, red, blue, green and raw umber washes, pricked for transfer, with quadruple-ruled and black wash border on wove paper (742 x 530) (24) pen, sepia, red, black, blue, green and raw umber washes, pricked for transfer, with quadruple-ruled and black wash border on wove paper (740 x 527) (25) pen, sepia, red, black, blue and yellow washes with quadruple-ruled and black wash border on wove paper (739 x 533)

Hand

(21, 22) Thomas Jeans (c.1775-1866, pupil August 1792 - 25 August 1797) (23) Soane with Meyer (24, 25) Frederick Meyer (1775-?, pupil April 1791-1796)

Notes

Of these drawings, 23, 24 and 25 are for the same design - B2/D.

A comparison of designs B, C, B2/D (that is, drawings 21, 22, 23, 24, 25) shows that, as with some earlier schemes (see drawings 10 to 13), B and C both re-use the Court of Requests as the new House of Lords. But for almost the first time, design B2/D makes use of the old Painted Chamber for the new House of Lords (drawing 2 does the same). In all earlier designs it was used for conferences except, that is, for drawing 9 when it was proposed to be 'decorated with Statues of Illustrious men'. The same design has the Court of Requests 'hung with Paintgs illustrative of great actions achieved'. Placing the new House of Lords in the Court of Requests shortens the access route (from Old Palace Yard) though this is clumsily handled in design B so that the royal route is via a portico-hall-three banks of stairs-lobby- twin opening into another lobby and a right turn into the King's Robing Room before entering the House of Lords. Design C has a single centralised entrance with a portico and a wide stepped passage that arrives through a side wall of the new House of Lords. In design B2, access for the peers is via a large vaulted portico, about 36 feet wide, while the King has a generous portico-ed entrance that leads via a hall and stairs to his Robing Room.

A comparison of plans with elevations shows that the riverside elevation of drawing 71 having nine bays and columns arranged 2 1 1 1 1 2 corresponds with (plans) 23 to 25.

S. Sawyer, 'Soane at Westminster'. PhD thesis, Columbia University, 1999, pp. 167-8 puts drawings 23, 24 and 25 as scheme 'D' in Soane's sequence of designs for the House of Lords.

Level

Drawing

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Sir John Soane's collection includes some 30,000 architectural, design and topographical drawings which is a very important resource for scholars worldwide. His was the first architect’s collection to attempt to preserve the best in design for the architectural profession in the future, and it did so by assembling as exemplars surviving drawings by great Renaissance masters and by the leading architects in Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries and his near contemporaries such as Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam and George Dance the Younger. These drawings sit side by side with 9,000 drawings in Soane’s own hand or those of the pupils in his office, covering his early work as a student, his time in Italy and the drawings produced in the course of his architectural practice from 1780 until the 1830s.

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