Elevation of the chimneypiece on the east wall of the entrance hall for Charlemont House, Rutland Square, for the 1st Earl of Charlemont by leading architect and designer Sir William Chambers (1723-1796). This drawing is executed in ruled ink lines with the decorative details, to the left of the centre line, added in pencil. These include the waterleaf capitals, the fluting beside the tablet and the ornament on the table itself. This is composed of a central feature, a vase with rams’ heads and feet, and to the side of the tablet, two ribbon bows linked to each other and to the ram’s head by draped ribbon. On the verso, a design for the mouldings of the mantel shelf. It is an enlarged detail of the mouldings at the corner of the mantel shelf. Again the shape of the mouldings is drawn in ruled ink lines and the ornament, two sizes of egg and leaf, is added in pencil. The schematic nature of the drawing suggests that it is an office record based on a standard outline (see also cat.791, treated in exactly the same manner).

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.