Elevation showing the entrance front of the Casino at Marino House, County Dublin for the 1st Earl of Charlemont from the office of leading architect and designer Sir William Chambers (1723-1796). This design is almost exactly the same size as the plate in the Treatise. This, together with the reversed shadows and the quality of draughtsmanship, suggests that it is a copy, in an office hand, of the drawing used by the engraver of the plate. The building was not executed quite as shown in the drawing; the lions at the four corners were not built as fountains so the bowls beneath them were omitted and replaced with relief panels of antique tripods. Other small differences include the urn and steps to the rear. The sketch on the back may be connected with Chambers’s proposed pavilion at Harewood House, Yorkshire, to which the Casino design is related.

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.