Drawing
18th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This drawing was made either for potential clients or as academic drawing exercises.
Chambers was born in Sweden and died in London. He travelled widely, visiting China, and studied architecture at the Ecole des Arts, Paris, from 1749 and in Italy from 1750 to 1755. Many of his drawings from this period are contained in his important 'Franco-Italian' album, held in the V&A. Chambers moved to London in 1755 and published his influential Treatise on Civil Architecture in 1759. Chambers demonstrated the breadth of his style in buildings such as Gower (later Carrington) House and Melbourne House, London, in such country houses as Duddingston, Scotland, and in the garden architecture he designed for Wilton House, Wiltshire, and at Kew Gardens. He became head of government building in 1782, and in this capacity built Somerset House, London.
Chambers was born in Sweden and died in London. He travelled widely, visiting China, and studied architecture at the Ecole des Arts, Paris, from 1749 and in Italy from 1750 to 1755. Many of his drawings from this period are contained in his important 'Franco-Italian' album, held in the V&A. Chambers moved to London in 1755 and published his influential Treatise on Civil Architecture in 1759. Chambers demonstrated the breadth of his style in buildings such as Gower (later Carrington) House and Melbourne House, London, in such country houses as Duddingston, Scotland, and in the garden architecture he designed for Wilton House, Wiltshire, and at Kew Gardens. He became head of government building in 1782, and in this capacity built Somerset House, London.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink, pencil and watercolour |
| Brief description | Elevation of a plain Doric gateway, with a plan of the top of the arch and various additions and emendation; William Chambers. |
| Physical description | Elevation of a plain Doric gateway, with a plan of the top of the arch and various additions and emendations. On the verso, is a pencil sketch of an archway. The drawing, in an office hand, shows a small plain-pedimented gateway with short flanking walls. All surfaces are plain, and the pediment has just nine exaggeratedly large dentils. The watercolour has been used to suggest a weathered construction. The drawing is framed by wash lines of black and grey, and has been trimmed to just outside these. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | '6' (in pencil, twice.) |
| Object history | Bought from C.J. Richardson, 1864. |
| Historical context | This drawing was made either for potential clients or as academic drawing exercises. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This drawing was made either for potential clients or as academic drawing exercises. Chambers was born in Sweden and died in London. He travelled widely, visiting China, and studied architecture at the Ecole des Arts, Paris, from 1749 and in Italy from 1750 to 1755. Many of his drawings from this period are contained in his important 'Franco-Italian' album, held in the V&A. Chambers moved to London in 1755 and published his influential Treatise on Civil Architecture in 1759. Chambers demonstrated the breadth of his style in buildings such as Gower (later Carrington) House and Melbourne House, London, in such country houses as Duddingston, Scotland, and in the garden architecture he designed for Wilton House, Wiltshire, and at Kew Gardens. He became head of government building in 1782, and in this capacity built Somerset House, London. |
| Bibliographic reference | Snodin Catalogue Number: 772 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 3378 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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