5 designs for frames; John Linnell.

'155' A design for a girandole. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is less detailed. The urn finial has a central patera and c-scroll handles. It is supported by a flat base, which is sits on serpentine acanthus scrolls. A ram's head sits under the base. Husk festoons are supported by acanthus scrolls around the sides. The apron has a patera with c-scrolls underneath, with a flat base, from which husk festoons hang.

'154' A design for a rectangular looking glass. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is less detailed. The frame is vertically aligned. The crest is topped by a bow from which fall husk festoon which follow the length of the mirror supported by acanthus scrolls. An urn sits below the bow, with acanthus s-scrolls either side. The apron features a central patera which supports a husk festoon, as well as acanthus scrolls.

'No. 153' A design for an oval pier glass. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is barely sketched. The frame is vertically aligned. The frame features neoclassical moulding. Husk festoons fall from a bow at the top of the crest. A short wide urn sits on a base supported by three rams' heads. The husk festoons follow the line of the mirror to the apron which features acanthus scrolls, a swag and bellflowers.

'No. 152' A design for an oval pier glass, with an urn finial and bead and reel moulding. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is barely sketched. Husk festoons fall from the c-scroll handles of the urn, under which is an anthemion. Husk festoons are supported by acanthus scrolls around the sides. The apron features acanthus scrolls and husk festoons.

'No. 151' A design for an oval pier glass. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is barely sketched. The frame is vertically aligned. The frame features neoclassical moulding and paterae. The urn finial, is triangular. It is supported by cabriole legs, with a ram's head at the top of each leg. Husk festoons fall from the urn, following the line of the mirror to the apron where there are acanthus c-scrolls which support a swag.

This design is part of a group of over 900 drawings of frames, mainly for pier glasses, overmantels, and girandoles. Many of these workshop designs share similar characteristics such as leaf scrolls and festoons of husks. Most of them are numbered, contain information about who ordered them, the date, the price (written in code), the colour of the frame and the dimensions of the finished object.

The drawings from John Linnell's workshop survive over the period 1773 to 1783. From April 1773 to August 1778, the workshop produced about twelve pieces a month. Production decreased over the next two years to 3 or 4 pieces a month. In 1783 these designs were no longer produced.

Robert Adam, a leading architect, was a key influence on the neoclassical designs of John Linnell. Linnell worked with Adam for the first time at Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire, and they worked together on a number of other occasions. In the early 1770s festoons of husks began to be used on pier glasses and they are very prominent within these workshop designs.

John Linnell (1729-1796) was the son of the famous furniture maker William Linnell (ca. 1703-1763). Unlike most furniture makers, John Linnell gained a design education at the St. Martin's Lane Academy, which was founded by William Hogarth in 1735. In 1750, aged 21, he joined his father's firm as a designer. On his father's death in 1763, John Linnell took over the family firm. During his lifetime John Linnell produced high quality furniture, which rivalled that of other leading furniture makers such as Thomas Chippendale, John Cobb and William Ince and John Mayhew.

E.3494-1911