Castle Howard, Yorkshire thumbnail 1
Castle Howard, Yorkshire thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E , Case A, Shelf 150, Box D

Castle Howard, Yorkshire

Architectural Design
ca. 1699 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Vanbrugh (architect)
Hawksmoor, Nicholas (architect)
Place of origin
England (made)

This early plan has no dome and wings springing from the ends of the ranges. Each range has six bays. This plan relates closely to the elevation shown in another drawing in the museum collection (E.420-1951). The kitchen wing here shown is approximately as executed, but it is attached to the end of the long garden range, instead of to the central pile. The main block was afterwards extended considerably in length, the hall was completely re-planned, the quadrants were enlarged and many other details modified.


Object details

Categories
Architecture
Designs
Drawings
Object type
Architectural design
TitleCastle Howard, Yorkshire (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Pen, ink and wash
Pen and Ink
Wash
Architectural Drawing
Brief description
Early plan of the ground floor of Castle Howard by Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor; ca. 1699.
Physical description
Early plan of the ground floor of Castle Howard, Yorkshire with many variations from the design as executed. Scale: 1 inch to 20 feet.
Dimensions
  • Height: 27cm
  • Length: 40.6cm
Taken from Lorimer C. and Newton, C. (ed.), The collection of drawings by Sir John Vanbrugh and his circle in the Victoria and Albert Museum, V & A, 1996, p. 12-13, cat. 3.
Style
Baroque
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
(Inscribed with dimensions and scale.)
Credit line
Given by Art Fund
Object history
Whistler suggests 1699 as the date of this plan (Whistler, 1954). This early plan has no dome and wings springing from the ends of the ranges. Each range has six bays. This plan relates closely to the elevation shown in E.420-1951. The kitchen wing here shown is approximately as executed, but it is attached to the end of the long garden range, instead of to the central pile. The main block was afterwards extended considerably in length, the hall was completely re-planned, the quadrants were enlarged and many other details modified. A block plan of Castle Howard drawn on the back of a drawing for the Charles II building at Greenwich Hospital (E.398-1951) is catalogued under Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Reference is made to E.418-1951 in K. Downes (1959).

Purchased from the Marquis of Bute at auction at Sotheby's (lot 19.1) on 23 May 1951 by the National Arts Collection Fund and given to the V & A.
Subjects depicted
Castle
Plan
Place depicted
Castle Howard
Summary
This early plan has no dome and wings springing from the ends of the ranges. Each range has six bays. This plan relates closely to the elevation shown in another drawing in the museum collection (E.420-1951). The kitchen wing here shown is approximately as executed, but it is attached to the end of the long garden range, instead of to the central pile. The main block was afterwards extended considerably in length, the hall was completely re-planned, the quadrants were enlarged and many other details modified.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Lorimer, C. and Newton, C., The collection of drawings by Sir John Vanbrugh and his circle in the Victoria and Albert Museum, V & A, 1996, p. 14, cat. 9.
  • L. Whistler, The Imagination of Vanbrugh and his Fellow Artists, 1954, p. 74 and Fig 18.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1951 London: HMSO, 1962.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1951, London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1962.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.418-1951

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Record createdMarch 3, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O195686/castle-howard-yorkshire-architectural-design-vanbrugh/
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