6 designs for frames; John Linnell.

'No. 29' A design for a frame, possibly a girandole. The crest is topped by a long urn from which festoons fall. The frame features neoclassical moulding and acanthus scrolls. The apron features an animal head.

'No. 30' A design for an oval pier glass. The frame is vertically aligned. The frame features neoclassical moulding. From the long urn finial fall husk festoons, which continue down the sides supported by acanthus scrolls. The apron features a animal head. The sides have asymmetrical decoration.

'No. 31' A design for a circular looking glass. The frame has simple decoration. A palmette sits on the crest, and leaf scrolls taper to a point at the apron.

'No. 32' A design for a rectangular frame with a curved top. The frame is vertically aligned. Laurel and ribbon moulding as well as acanthus scrolls are used on the frame. Husk festoons fall from the handles of the oval shaped urn finial. The apron features acanthus scrolls and c-scrolls.

'No. 33' A design for a rectangular looking glass. The frame is vertically aligned. The frame features neoclassical moulding. Husk festoons fall from the handles of the urn finial and continue around the frame. Acanthus scrolls curl around the edges. Blue wash.

'No. 34' A design for an oval pier glass. The frame is vertically aligned and features neoclassical moulding. A large urn with s-scroll handles sits on acanthus scrolls on the crest. Husk festoons hang from it. Underneath the scrolls, on either side, is a ram's head, from which husk festoons hang down following the line of the mirror. The apron features acanthus scrolls supporting festoons and a flower medallion.

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.3471-1911