Architectural Design
18th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
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.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink, pencil and pale-blue washes |
| Brief description | Elevation of the decoration of a chimneypiece tablet or an overdoor; William Chambers. |
| Physical description | Elevation of the decoration of a chimneypiece tablet or an overdoor. This drawing, in an office hand, shows the left-hand part of a symmetrical design. It has recently been created by reuniting two sheets; the right-hand part is missing. This design cannot be exactly matched to any recorded Chambers chimneypiece; it could equally well have been used as an overdoor. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Bought from J. Starkie Gardner, 1910. |
| Summary | 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. |
| Bibliographic reference | Snodin Catalogue Number: 800 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.5019-1910 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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