Philip Norman

“ At this great time in the nation’s history, when changes moral and material are following each other with such speed that we “know not what a day may bring forth,” it seems all the more incumbent on us while we live in the present not to forget the past. Accordingly, the Committee felt that pictures and drawings of the London of our ancestors would have exceptional interest, and the present exhibition is the result. ”

“ With an effort of faith we may believe that we are looking at representations of old St. Paul’s, the Tower, London Bridge, Ludgate, and the church of the Black Friars, but the design is symbolic rather than imitative.
Illuminations in manuscripts of the previous century in one or two instances give us clearer topographical hints. A volume of the English poems of Charles, Duke of Orleans, among the royal manuscripts at the British Museum, shows the duke, who was captured at the battle of Agincourt, as a prisoner in the Tower of London, where he was kept for many years. ”

“ A gay scene and evidently a noisy one, the river crowded with state barges belonging to the Corporation and the City Companies, adorned with flags, streamers, pendants, etc., and there is much loud music. To spectator’s left is old Somerset House, every point of vantage occupied by spectators watching the show. Behind is the steeple of St. Mary-le-Strand. St. Paul’s Cathedral is conspicuous, and many church towers and spires appear, also the Monument, part of old London Bridge before the removal of houses, and in the distance the Tower of London. ”

“ The furniture in this exhibition lent by the Secretary of State for India, the Worshipful Companies of Carpenters, Stationers and Clothworkers, and the Master of the Charterhouse, has been chosen as a fitting accompaniment to the drawings and paintings of Old London. They form a representative selection of such relics of London’s history as have survived the vicissitudes of Time. A certain individuality stamps the furniture. ”

“ The artist, however, is still not imitating nature directly, but introduces conventional renderings of the more important buildings with which he was familiar, without troubling himself much about their relative positions.
Two fine representations of Tudor London deserve special mention. The first of them as regards time is a view of London, not from Suffolk House as is generally supposed, but from the tower of the church of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, with Suffolk House, or part of it, in the foreground. ”

“ Of these the most disastrous was the Great Fire of 1666, which wrought havoc with their Halls and historic possessions. Most of the Halls were destroyed or suffered damage. Many were rebuilt under the influence of Sir Christopher Wren and his successors, but in most cases have been reconstructed in the nineteenth century. Fortunately, some of the panelling, carvings and furniture have been preserved and incorporated in the new buildings. The octagonal table in this exhibition, lent by the Carpenters’ Company, is one of the few existing pieces earlier in date than the Great Fire. ”

“ The splendid Elizabethan staircase and some of the panelling belong to the period when the Duke of Norfolk occupied the building as a residence. Other furniture and decoration commemorates the foundation of the hospital by Thomas Sutton, a wealthy trader and philanthropist; worthy of special mention is the small communion table in the chapel, bearing his arms and a mutilated date (16—) , perhaps the most distinguished piece of furniture of its period which the country possesses. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to secure this table for the present exhibition. ”

“ As mistakes are frequent on the subject we will add that “Cockpit Steps” leading from Birdcage Walk into Dartmouth Street have no historical connection with Whitehall. They adjoined a later Cockpit surmounted by a cupola, which is marked in a map belonging to Strype’s Stow 1720, and was taken down in 1816. There was also a “Royal Cockpit” in Tufton Street, Westminster, described in the “London Magazine,” November 1822, and in the “Every Night Book” as late as 1827, which was probably the last in London. ”

“ The distance is somewhat idealized. To left is Somerset House. Waterloo Bridge is not yet built, but near its site at south end is one of the shot towers, still standing though put to other uses. The bridge shown is old Blackfriars, opened 1769, as we have said elsewhere.
John Claude Nattes, painter of this and of the next watercolour, numbered 110, was an industrious topographical artist. He exhibited occasionally at the Royal Academy and was one of the foundation members of the Old Watercolour Society, but was expelled for exhibiting what was held to be not his own work. ”

“ To extreme left in background a louvred structure is the Great Hall, Whitehall, more clearly visible in Wijck’s view from the river, No. 91. Facing park we see the old Guard House as in No. 87. The upper portions of Holbein Gate-house and of a battlemented structure are also visible; for description of the latter and of the great staircase see note on No. 96. A large brick building some distance to right preceded Kent’s Treasury, both occupying the site of Henry VIII’s Cockpit, which still remained when No. 96 was painted. Little is known about the brick building ”

“ Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret’s church tower, Westminster Hall, and St. Stephen’s Chapel are prominent, the last foreshortened. The old bridge is already finished. In foreground the painter has introduced part of a tower of Lambeth Palace, much too near the bridge, but improving composition. Nets with large meshes, doubtless salmon nets, are hanging on the rails. ”

“ In 1550 the nave was made over to the Dutch community in London, and it has been in their hands ever since. The choir and steeple were destroyed by the then Marquess of Winchester at the beginning of 18 the seventeenth century. In 1862 what remained of the church was very much injured by fire, the roof and all the fittings being burnt. It was “restored” at a cost of about £12,000.
The interest of this drawing is due to the fact that it shows the church, with its decorated tracery and staircase turret, before the disastrous fire. Lent by Sir E. Coates. ”

“ The space at our command being limited, we can only show a tithe of the material still in existence, but, through the kindness of owners, many fine works are on our walls, with others which, although as regards craftsmanship they have only average merit, are valuable as showing noteworthy scenes and buildings of a former day. Among the number that have not been exhibited before we would mention the drawings from Windsor which His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to lend, also those belonging to Sir Edward Coates—but a trifling instalment of his unique collection. ”

“ Chief building to left is the Banqueting House, designed by Inigo Jones and erected 1619-22, afterwards a royal chapel, now added to (with loss of symmetry) and used by the United Service Institution. The first English example of pure Palladian design, and still containing Rubens’s painted ceiling. Beyond it is wall of Privy Garden. Crossing road is the Holbein, or Whitehall, Gate just mentioned, of which there is an interesting engraving by Vertue in “Vetusta Monumenta,” 1725. ”

“ Attractive design and colour give charm to a subject not easy of treatment.
Rowlandson, trained in Paris and at the Academy schools, was an accomplished artist, capable of something much more refined than his clever caricatures, which most people know by coarse reproductions of them. ”

“ Another carriage is seen on the right proceeding towards Chelsea through a lane lined with high trees. On the same side of the picture is a village fair, with a number of figures, among which may be recognized the fire-eater, seen in Hogarth’s 'Southwark Fair.’ On the left a man strongly resembling Colonel Charteris, is conducting a young lady attended by two maids, near whom is the puzzling inscription: kee pont hiss ide [keep on this side] . The distance is a perspective view of a long row of trees with houses on each side, to the present day called Ranelagh Grove. ”

“ In the foreground is a man seated on a rail, with what looks like a plan or drawing in his left hand. He turns to the spectator and, with his right, points in the direction of Spencer House, the park front of which still remains unaltered. ”

“ Hard by, to left of staircase, is a doorway to passage through the Tiltyard. To right of staircase is a long gallery dating from Henry VIII’s time. Farther to right is a two-storied building which appears in Fisher’s plan as part of the Duke of Albemarle’s lodgings. ”

“ Charles handed it over to his Queen, Henrietta Maria, and caused a chapel for Roman Catholics to be added to the building. This was designed by Inigo Jones and consecrated in 1635, and he did other work there. A picture at Dulwich, engraved for Wilkinson’s “Londina Illustrata,” shows it before his chapel and alterations destroyed the uniform character of the building. It can hardly be from nature, as the artist was Cornelis Bol, who also portrayed the Great Fire. ”

“ Next is York Water-tower, a slender wooden building about seventy feet high, part of the waterworks established 27 Charles II to supply the West End with Thames water. They were burnt down and re-erected in 1690. Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall are prominent. Westminster Bridge is unfinished. Lambeth Palace appears in the distance to spectator’s left. A drawing apparently copied from this is in the print room of the British Museum. ”

“ Indian ink with shields of arms coloured. 173⁄4 by 201⁄2 in.
This screen replaced one made in the time of Edward III, an illustration of the cresting of which appears in Professor Lethaby’s “Westminster Abbey and the King’s Craftsmen” (1906) . Trickings of the coats of arms are given in a Lansdowne manuscript, and they have been identified by Mr. Lethaby from a manuscript in his own possession, once belonging to H. Keepe, of the Inner Temple, who died in 1688. An inscription under the drawing states that the screen was “removed for the Coronation early in the eighteenth century.” ”

“ Watercolour. 12 by 103⁄4 in.
A piece of the Piazza designed by Inigo Jones is here shown.
The letters “PS” are stamped on the lower left-hand corner of the drawing, a proof that it was in the collection of Paul Sandby, but according to the pencil note beneath it was by Thomas Sandby. Each brother drew subjects of this character. They were accomplished artists, and foundation members of the Royal Academy. Thomas was the first R.A. Professor of Architecture. Paul is believed to have been the first in this country who practised the art of aquatint. ”

“ After the removal of the houses on the bridge, its east path was continued along a passage then formed through the church tower. Fish Street Hill is a continuation of Gracechurch Street to the south, and was the main thoroughfare to old London Bridge.
The painting is unsigned and undated: it belongs perhaps to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Lent by Sir E. Coates.
23 CAMP NEAR SERPENTINE, HYDE PARK, 1780. Plate XII.
Watercolour. 19 by 10 in.
Tents near the water. In the foreground a group of figures. To the left a dog is harnessed to a barrow, a man pushing behind. ”

“ Lent by the Master of the Charterhouse. 73
Near the South Wall Desk, mahogany, with hinged slope for writing and drawing in upper part, the stand fitted with a drawer supported on two central legs.
Height, 4 ft. Width, 3 ft.
End of the XVIIIth century. Lent by the Master of the Charterhouse.
On the Long Table Vase, “crater” shaped, with two handles. On each side are painted the arms of the East India Company, with a rose spray below: the ground is pink, and all mouldings are heavily gilt. Mark impressed on the base, F B B under a crown (Flight, Barr and Barr, Worcester, 1813-40) . ”

“ Watercolour. 93⁄4 by 81⁄2 in.
Signed “T. Rowlandson.” Written in pencil, but hidden, are the words: “Richard Trevithick’s Railroad, Euston Square 1809.” 34 In fact, the Square dates only from 1825; as late as 1820 its site was a large nursery garden, and a group of farm buildings occupied ground on which the London and North Western Railway now stands. Trevithic, “father of the locomotive engine,” the main facts of whose remarkable career are recorded in “Dict. Nat. Biog.,” must have hired the ground in order to test and exhibit his invention. ”

“ By S. Ireland. Lent by Sir E. Coates.
31 INTERIOR OF SECOND ROYAL EXCHANGE. Plate XIII.
Watercolour. 211⁄2 by 16 in.
The first Royal Exchange was founded by Sir Thomas Gresham, being opened by Queen Elizabeth 23 January 1570-71. It was destroyed in the Great Fire.
The second Exchange, designed by Edward Jarman or Jerman, City surveyor, and begun 1667, was, like the earlier one, a quadrangular building, with a clock tower on the chief front facing Cornhill. Business was transacted in the covered walk or cloister within. The statue of Charles II in the centre was by Grinling Gibbons. ”

“ It forms one block with No. 11, and from the style of the pair they cannot have been built much before the middle of the eighteenth century, when they appear in views by J. Maurer, partly occupying the site of the building with gable and low tower, shown in our picture to the extreme right. On this subject the late Mr. C. Eyre Pascoe in his volume entitled “No. 10 Downing Street” was misinformed.
In studying these old pictures it must always be borne in mind that artists attached small importance to rigid accuracy ”