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Drawing

June 1773 to July 1773 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Ink, pencil and yellow watercolour
Brief description
Six designs for looking glasses, one design for a girandole; John Linnell.
Physical description
'No. 64' Half a design for an oval pier glass. The frame is vertically aligned. The frame features ribbon and stick moulding. Husk festoons are supported by acanthus scrolls around the sides. On the crest sits a diamond shaped vase.

'No. 65' A design for an oval pier glass with ribbon and stick moulding and an anthemion finial. The frame is vertically aligned. Acanthus scrolls and husk festoons surround the frame.

'No. 66' A design for a rectangular mirror with neoclassical moulding and an urn finial. The frame is vertically aligned. Acanthus scrolls and husk festoons surround the frame.

'No. 67' A design for an oval mirror with acanthus scrolls, husk festoons and a large urn finial. The frame is vertically aligned. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is barely sketched. The frame features neoclassical moulding.

'No. 68' A design for a rectangular looking glass with neoclassical moulding. Acanthus scrolls follow the shape of the frame. Husk festoons also adorn the mirror. The apron features an oval festoon. The crest is topped by acanthus c-scrolls and an oval urn finial, flanked by animal heads or flowers.

'No. 69' A design for an oval looking glass, possibly an overmantel. The frame is horizontally aligned. Half of the design is highly finished, the other half is sketched. The frame features ribbon-and-stick moulding. The crest features a husk festoon that hands high above the mirror in a bow.

'No. 70' A design for a girandole. Leaf forms curve asymmetrically like a plume high above the two candle sockets which sit at the bottom of the girandole. The girandole is curvilinear. A ribbon is tied at the bottom.
Dimensions
  • Mount height: 54.5cm
  • Mount width: 74.6cm
  • Height: 31cm
  • Width: 53.4cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'No. 64' 'Mr Perry Wolverhampton 1 in repd white' '26-18' '29-21' '4:3 1/2' by '2:1 1/2' ('4:3 1/2' by '2:1 1/2' gives the dimensions of the frame.)
  • 'No. 65' '24-18' [gives the glass dimensions] '3 8' [frame dimensions -feet] ('24-18' gives the dimensions of the glass. '3 8' gives the height of the frame in feet.)
  • 'No. 66' 'Mr Miller / oval B. gold 24-18' '1 squre B. gold 15 5/8 - 11 5/8' 'Mr Jones 1 square 14 5/8 by 11 5/8 - July 15th' (This design was bought by several clients. The numbers given relate to the dimensions of the mirrored glass.)
  • 'No. 67' 'Mr Miller 2 in B. gold July 3d' 'length 4 6' '27 1/2' by '21 1/2' ('length 4 6' is given in feet and inches and gives the length of the frame. '27 1/2' by '21 1/2' gives the dimensions of the mirrored glass. 'B. gold' is burnished gold.)
  • 'No. 68' 'Mr Blackford June 30th 1773 for his own plate 37 1/4 - 24' (The figures give the dimensions of the glass)
  • 'Colll [K]ellot 1-28-20 green & white / 2 gerondoles B. gold' 'Sir John Moore of D without ribbon' 'Mr Bown without ribbon' 'Mr Watts wth ribn' (Above nos. 69 and 70. 'B. gold' is burnished gold.)
  • 'No. 69' '28-20' '2 ft 20' ('28-20' gives the dimensions of the mirrored glass.)
  • 'No. 70' '3 ft 1 1/2' (This inscription gives the height of the girandole.)
Subjects depicted
Summary
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.
Bibliographic references
  • Helena Hayward and Pat Kirkham,William and John Linnell; eighteenth century London furniture makers (London, ca. 1980).
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1911, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1912
Collection
Accession number
E.3477-1911

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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