6 designs for frames; John Linnell.

'No. 76' A design for a small rectangular frame. The frame is vertically aligned. The crest is topped by an anthemion from which acanthus scrolls curl along the top of the frame. The sides feature floral details and the apron features acanthus scrolls.

'No. 78' A design for a girandole. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is barely sketched. The frame is vertically aligned with neoclassical moulding. A basket of overflowing flowers sits on the crest alongside acanthus scrolls. On the side is a festoon with floral detail. Acanthus scrolls rise from the apron, crossing over the glass.

'No. 77' A design for a rectangular frame. The frame is horizontally aligned with neoclassical moulding. A basket of flowers sits on top of the frame. There are acanthus scrolls on the corners. The frame also features festoons. The apron features acanthus scrolls.

'No. 79' A large design for a rectangular frame. The frame is horizontally aligned. The frame features neoclassical moulding. A basket of flowers sits in the centre of the crest. Acanthus s-scrolls continue to the corners, where a chinoiserie style bird sits on either side, possibly a hoho bird. The side of the frame features acanthus scrolls and festoons. The apron features acanthus scrolls.

'No. 80' A design for a girandole. The frame features bead and reel moulding and fluting. Husk festoons fall from the handles of the urn finial and are supported by acanthus scrolls around the sides. Two scrolls cross over the mirrored glass. The apron features a patera and acanthus scrolls.

'No. 81' A design for a girandole. Half of the design is finished, the other half is barely sketched. The frame features neoclassical moulding. Husk festoons fall from the handles of the urn finial and are supported by acanthus scrolls around the sides. There are two candle sockets. A patera sits in the lower part of the glass, over which is draped a husk festoon.

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.3479-1911