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Lot Essay
The connoisseur Thomas Hope (d. 1831) played the leading role, alongside George, Prince of Wales (later George IV) in promoting British arts and manufactures at the commencement of the 19th Century. He established a mansion/museum in London's Duchess Street and executed its interior decoration in an eclectic antique fashion, that drew inspiration from a serial publication issued from 1801 by the French architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine and entitled Recueil de décorations intérieures.
This pencil-and-ink drawn pattern-book is executed in oblong octavo form, and features, with one or two additions, the contents of the guide that Hope published for his collections and inventions and entitled Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807. These drawings, which are executed on paper bearing the undated watermark of 'Morgan and Sons', is bound with a copy of Hope's text executed on paper bearing the date 1814 and watermark of 'S & C Wise'. It is possible that this book was intended as a prototype for a pattern book intended for craftsmen, and from which they could directly work.
Hope's engravings and text concerning the contents of his 'Temple of the Muses', demonstrated his interest in promoting an archaeological and poetical approach to design. His Household Furniture and Interior Decoration was to provide an important quarry for architects and artificers, and for publications such as the Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, issued in 1808 by George Smith, 'Upholder' to the Prince of Wales. The origins of the present pattern-book have yet to be established (see also: D. Watkin, Thomas Hope and the Neo-classical Idea, London, 1980; P. Thornton and D. Watkin, 'New Light on the Hope Mansion in Duchess Street', Apollo, September 1987, pp. 162-177).
This pencil-and-ink drawn pattern-book is executed in oblong octavo form, and features, with one or two additions, the contents of the guide that Hope published for his collections and inventions and entitled Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, 1807. These drawings, which are executed on paper bearing the undated watermark of 'Morgan and Sons', is bound with a copy of Hope's text executed on paper bearing the date 1814 and watermark of 'S & C Wise'. It is possible that this book was intended as a prototype for a pattern book intended for craftsmen, and from which they could directly work.
Hope's engravings and text concerning the contents of his 'Temple of the Muses', demonstrated his interest in promoting an archaeological and poetical approach to design. His Household Furniture and Interior Decoration was to provide an important quarry for architects and artificers, and for publications such as the Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, issued in 1808 by George Smith, 'Upholder' to the Prince of Wales. The origins of the present pattern-book have yet to be established (see also: D. Watkin, Thomas Hope and the Neo-classical Idea, London, 1980; P. Thornton and D. Watkin, 'New Light on the Hope Mansion in Duchess Street', Apollo, September 1987, pp. 162-177).