Grosvenor Prints

Watching the excellent series Unbuilt Britain on BBC4 reminded us of how often unsuccessful architectural and engineering proposals are preserved in printed form. Some material covered in the series has already been highlighted on this blog (such as our printed plans for rebuilding London by Wren and Evelyn ) but here we draw attention to other unsuccessful and aborted projects: London Bridge has changed a lot since the 19th century, but it is worth remembering the spectacular design submitted by Thomas Telford when a competition to improve the bridge was held in 1799-1801. Telford's scheme was 'for a single-span cast-iron bridge of 600ft. But not enough was known about the technical factors involved and the whole project was shelved' ( The London Encyclopaedia ). We have both an overhead plan and a large perspective view of Telford's audacious design: ...Design for A Cast Iron Bridge Drawn and Aquatinted by Tho.s Malton. The Bridge Engraved by Will....

The Houghton Revisited exhibition currently taking place at Houghton Hall in Norfolk provides the opportunity to see some of Robert Walpole's collection displayed in its original setting for the first time since Walpole's famous collection was sold to Catherine the Great of Russia in 1779. Like several other famous collections, the paintings in the Houghton collection were engraved and published, in an ambitious project organized by the Georgian print world's 'Commercial Maecenas' John Boydell, with the result that even after the paintings had left for Russia, they continued to exert great influence on British artists and connoisseurs in engraved form. Here we show a selection of engravings from paintings in the Walpole collection: This full-length portrait of Robert Walpole hung in his 'blue damask bed chamber', although like several of the prints in this list it is not part of the Houghton exhibition: Sir Robert Walpole, afterwards Earl of Orford....

Windsor conceived as a stage design, the artistic education of a young aristocrat, and reflections on the Thames Embankment in a selection of prints connected with painter and printmaker Paul Sandby (c.1731-1809). Sandby started out working for the Board of Ordnance as a draughtsman, honing the skills he would subsequently exploit in his prints and watercolours, but aside from his skills as a landscape artist he was also a talented caricaturist. He produced a set of biting satires against Hogarth and also a set of London Cries which avoid the generic sentiment so often found in such subjects. The following two prints also show Sandby's skill as a caricaturist: The Well Fed English Constable. P.Sandby Invt. MDarly sc. Pubd. according to Act of Parlt. Octr. 1st: 1771 by MDarly Engraver No.39 Strand. Etching, 350 x 250mm. 13¾ x 9¾". Some offsetting. A watchman in profile patting his enormous belly, holding his staff, two dogs slavering at a dead fowl in h...

Sets of prints showing the times of day: morning, noon, evening and night. This 17th century set was published in Antwerp, then one of the major print-publishing centres. It focuses on a woman's activities throughout the day: [Four Times Of Day]  Mart. vanden Enden execudit Antwerpiae. Set of four engravings. 203 x 292mm. The composition depicts female figures in contemporary dress engaged in 17th century occupations and pastimes. Martin van den Enden. A publisher and printmaker from Antuwerp, flourishing 1630 - 1645. Most associated with works after Van Dyck. [Ref: 7046]  £950 Unlike the scenes in van der Enden's set, which maintain a compositional conformity (the woman is stood in the middle of each scene), a set by Bonnart shows more diversity. In this set midday is represented by eating, and evening by sleeping: [Times of Day] Le Matin [&] Le Midy. [&] La pres disner. [&] Le ...