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View of the Corridor at the Bank of England leading from the Pay Hall to the Cashiers Office. / A Design for the Entrance Hall at Macartney House, Blackheath, the seat of the Honble G.F. Lyttleton / View of the Corridor at the Bank.
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Henry Hake Seward (1778 - 1848)
View of the Corridor at the Bank of England leading from the Pay Hall to the Cashiers Office. / A Design for the Entrance Hall at Macartney House, Blackheath, the seat of the Honble G.F. Lyttleton / View of the Corridor at the Bank.
c 1802 - September 1808
Watercolour on paper. The three separate drawings have been mounted on one sheet and the narrow black borders painted round them. That sheet has then been mounted on a larger single wove sheet that fits the frame. This appears to be how the drawings were framed in Soane's day.
Inscription: John Soane Archt [lower right edge of left-hand drawing]
Museum number: P106
Not on display
Curatorial note
Soane office: designs for the Bank of England and Macartney House, Greenwich. 1. Perspective of a corridor leading from the Pay Hall to the Cashier's Office at the Bank. 2. (centre) Design for the entrance hall of Macartney House. 3. Perspective of a Corridor at the Bank.
These three watercolour perspectives, framed together, were drawn while Seward was a pupil in Soane's architectural office (May 1794 – Sep 1808). Their muted colours and striking contrasts of light and shade convey the brilliance of Soane's use of natural light in narrow and confined spaces while the multitude of figures in the Bank's corridors are a reminder that the Bank of England was a busy public building in the early 19th century.
The elegant Regency couple in the Hall at Macartney House are presumably intended to represent Soane's client, the Hon. G.F. Lyttleton and his wife, for whom Soane carried out alterations between 1802 and 1809. It seems likely that these three identically sized small perspectives, designed to be displayed together, were executed at some point during that project.
These three watercolour perspectives, framed together, were drawn while Seward was a pupil in Soane's architectural office (May 1794 – Sep 1808). Their muted colours and striking contrasts of light and shade convey the brilliance of Soane's use of natural light in narrow and confined spaces while the multitude of figures in the Bank's corridors are a reminder that the Bank of England was a busy public building in the early 19th century.
The elegant Regency couple in the Hall at Macartney House are presumably intended to represent Soane's client, the Hon. G.F. Lyttleton and his wife, for whom Soane carried out alterations between 1802 and 1809. It seems likely that these three identically sized small perspectives, designed to be displayed together, were executed at some point during that project.
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