Somerset House, View of Front Elevation

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Thomas Sandby was born in Nottingham. He moved to London in 1741 to become a draughtsman for the Board of Ordnance. In this capacity he accompanied the Duke of Cumberland on military campaigns in Scotland and the Netherlands in the mid 1740s. The Duke was Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Sandby became his Steward in 1764 and later Deputy Ranger. He designed several buildings in the Park and was involved with the development of Virginia Water. He lived in Windsor during the late 1750s but moved to London in 1760, returning to Windsor in 1765. He was a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768 and its first Professor of Architecture. In 1777 he became Architect of the King’s Works and, in 1780, Master Carpenter in the Office of Works.

Places

England, London, Somerset House

Subjects

topography, architectural plan/technical drawing, townscape/cityscape, house, archway, steps, window, chimney

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), ink, watercolour (as object name)

Artist

Thomas Sandby (1721 - 1798)

Title

Somerset House, View of Front Elevation

Date

c.1760

Medium

Watercolour with pen and ink

Dimensions

height: 34.5 cm, width: 44.7 cm

Acquisition

Transferred from HM Revenue and Customs, 2016

Inscription

bc in pencil: The upper windows are all very dirty

Provenance

Bequest of Sir Ernest Clark to the Inland Revenue, 1951 (received 1972); transferred to GAC October 2016

GAC number

10211