William Chambers: The Best of Men and the First of English Architects

Sir Richard Westmacott RA (1775 - 1856)

Sir William Chambers
c.1797
SM SC21

Sir William Chambers (1723 – 1796) was born in Sweden, educated in England, and in his youth journeyed to India and China as a cadet in the Swedish East India Company. From 1749 he studied architecture at Jacques-François Blondel's École des Arts, Paris, then undertook further years of study in Italy. Returning to England in 1755, he became the ‘arch-professional and establishment architect in the England of George III’. A founding member of the Royal Academy, he was architectural tutor to the Prince of Wales, later George III, under whom he rose to become Surveyor-General.

This bust is prominently displayed in a niche on the main staircase of the Museum, a testament to Soane’s respect for Chambers. It was an official posthumous portrait commissioned by the Office of Works whose ‘very high esteem for [Chambers] induced them to obtain the skillful services of Mr. Westmacott as the sculptor; and he, sharing their veneration for the deceased, exerted himself as the Bust abundantly testifies’. 

Sir William Chambers

A treatise on civil architecture, in which the principles of that art are  laid down, and illustrated by a great number of plates, accurately  designed, and elegantly engraved by the best hands
1759
SM 1878 

Chambers published extensively, partly to promote his architectural practice, partly from an inclination towards scholarship.

His 1759 Treatise was considered the supreme example of architectural instruction of the period and he was widely acknowledged as the most celebrated English architectural theoretician of his generation. It reveals his talent for enquiry and analysis, his desire to rationalise and codify the principles of architectural theory, his knowledge of the architectural texts of the preceding centuries and his familiarity with the most celebrated buildings of France and Italy.

Horace Walpole described it as ’the most sensible book and the most exempt from prejudices that ever was written on that science’. Soane acquired copies of the Treatise in all three editions.

Sir William Chambers
To the Lord Viscount Charlemont This Design of his Lordship’s Casino at Marino is humbly inscribed by his Lordship’s most Obedient Servant William Chambers
1759
SM 1878

These engravings of the plans and elevation of Chambers’ casino for Lord Charlemont introduce the final section of plates in his 1759 Treatise, reflecting the ‘complete understanding’ that existed between Chambers and Charlemont. This mutual sympathy permitted Chambers to deviate from the pure Palladian style then dominant in Ireland. 

The plan takes the form of a Greek Cross, surrounded by 12 Doric columns. The façades’ blind attics create the illusion of a single-storey temple yet, thanks to ingenious planning, the interior comprises three floors and sixteen rooms achieved via the deployment of faux windows, jib doors, hollow columns, and disguised chimneys.

The casino has been described as ‘the first demonstration in stone of [the] new Franco-Roman wave in Europe’

Office of Sir John Soane
Royal Academy lecture drawing of the exterior perspective of Gower House, Whitehall
c.1806-19 
SM 17/7/2
Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

Office of Sir John Soane 
Royal Academy lecture drawing of the perspective of the main staircase at Gower House, Whitehall
c.1806-19 
SM 17/7/1
Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

In 1765 Chambers received his first significant London town house commission - Gower House, Whitehall. The site, on the corner of Horse Guards Avenue, was irregular and Chambers devised a primary front to Whitehall but placed the tripartite front door, balanced by a corresponding window, unusually, on the secondary façade.

The spatial play of the staircase, derived from that at the Convent of Santa Maria Maggiore, Venice, was particularly acclaimed, as evidenced by Soane’s references to it in his Royal Academy lectures. Its walls were decorated with neo-classical compositions in plaster, probably by Thomas Collins. Gower House, constructed on land leased from the government, was demolished in 1886 as part of wide-ranging changes to Whitehall.

Sir William Chambers 
Perspective of a design for a mausoleum for Frederick Prince of Wales
c. 1751
SM 17/7/11 
Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

This monumental design for a mausoleum for Frederick Prince of Wales is considered to be one of Chambers’ most magnificent conceptions. Although never built, the exercise won Chambers a loyal patron in Frederick’s widow, Princess Augusta.

At the time of the prince’s death, in March 1751, Chambers was studying in Italy and this neo-classical monument is heavily influenced by Roman funerary architecture. Possibly inspired by the tomb of Cecilia Metella in Rome, the design includes a circular drum with a crypt set below. The sculptural elements employ a combination of cinerary urns, draped obelisks and cloaked figures in mourning. Perhaps intended for the prince’s estate at Kew, the monumental scale of the design is indicated by the minute figures depicted in this elaborate perspective drawing.

Office of Sir John Soane
Royal Academy lecture drawing of the buildings in Kew Gardens
c.1806-19 
SM 17/5/6
Photo: Geremy Butler

In the summer of 1757 Chambers was appointed tutor to Frederick and Augusta’s eldest son, George, Prince of Wales. 

‘The Prince employs me three mornings in a week to teach him architecture… The building (and) other decorations at Kew fill up the remaining time.’

Following her husband’s death, Princess Augusta dedicated herself to the execution of Frederick’s vision for their estate at Kew. Chambers was engaged in the project between 1758 and 1763, constructing over twenty buildings and follies.

Often hastily constructed in plaster and wood, few of Chambers’ buildings for Kew survive. Count Kielmansegge marvelled at the illusion produced in their execution: 

‘You could swear that they were solid buildings of quarry stone, unless by knocking them you discovered the truth.’

Office of Sir John Soane
Royal Academy lecture drawing of The Great Pagoda, Kew
1813
SM 17/5/8
Photo: Geremy Butler

Chambers’ designs for Kew allowed him to develop his chinoiserie style, culminating in his Great Pagoda, built in 1762. At 163 feet, the ten-storey octagonal pagoda is one of the few of Chambers’ buildings to survive at Kew. With construction overseen by local bricklayer Solomon Brown, Horace Walpole wryly comments on its progress: 

‘We begin to perceive the tower of Kew from Montpelier Row; in a fortnight you will be able to see it in Yorkshire.’

Chambers’ pagoda was brightly painted, and the iron roofs patterned with alternating bands of white and green. Most spectacular were its eighty dragons, coated in iridescent glass enamels. 

By the time the Great Pagoda was recorded for Soane’s lecture series in June 1813, the famed dragons had already been removed. They were recreated as part of recent restoration prior to the pagoda’s reopening in 2018.

Sir William Chambers

Preliminary design for the State Coach

c.1760

SM 43/6/23

Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

With the accession of George III in 1760, Chambers’ career reached new heights. Commissioned shortly after the king’s succession, this preliminary design for the State Coach shows Chambers’ skill beyond architecture.

First used for the State Opening of Parliament on 25 November 1762, the coach is a product of the successful collaboration between Chambers, Joseph Wilton and Giovanni Battista Cipriani. In his design Chambers employed a combination of classical and French ornament, including monumental tritons sounding conches and bearing the fasces of Rome, all expertly carved by Wilton. Cipriani’s painted scenes celebrate scientific and artistic endeavours, promoting an enlightened and intelligent king for a new age. 

The State Coach has been used in every coronation since that of William IV in 1831, and it will play a key part in the upcoming coronation of King Charles III in May this year.

Sir William Chambers

Design for an astronomical clock case for King George III

c. 1767

SM 43/7/22

Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

This extraordinary design for an astronomical clock case demonstrates Chambers’ ability to apply his distinct style to ornamental elements, such as candlesticks, vases, tureens and clocks.

This design, intended for King George III, takes the form of a domed, Corinthian temple, an architectural miniature comparable to Chambers’ design for the casino at Marino.

Executed by Christopher Pinchbeck, Lady Mary Coke records seeing the piece his workshop in Cockspur Street in January 1768. She stated that the clock was ‘very curious, but too complicated a piece of workmanship to be easily described’. She concludes that the design itself was ‘partly His Majesty’s and partly Mr Chambers’.

The executed clock includes a plainsphere, thermometer and dials recording the time at various locations around the world.

Office of Robert Adam
Design for a lady’s dressing room, Harewood House
c. 1767 
SM Adam volume 14/120
Photo: Ardon Bar Hama

A contemporary and equal in architectural genius, Robert Adam noted Chambers’ ability to draw exquisitely when their paths crossed in Rome. Dismayed and astutely noting a future competitor Adam stated:

‘Time alone can determine whether I am meet to cope with such a rival.’

Adam’s substantial commission for the interiors of Edwin Lascelles’ Harewood House near Leeds would prove a satisfying victory over Chambers. Chambers submitted designs for Harewood, but they were rejected in favour of those produced by Yorkshire mason John Carr. Lascelles later approached Adam for advice on how to improve Carr’s scheme, resulting in Adam’s commission to design interiors for the house.

This elevation for an elegant, circular lady’s dressing room is the simpler of two designs Adam produced for the space.

Office of Robert Adam

Design for an observatory for Richmond Park

c. 1767

SM Adam volume 19/119

Photo: Ardon Bar Hama

In November 1761 Chambers and Adam were appointed joint architects to the King. A keen astronomer, George III commissioned an observatory for Old Deer Park, Richmond from which to view the Transit of Venus in June 1769.

Adam submitted this beautiful design in response. A circular tower in form and four storeys in height, the observatory supports a balustraded viewing platform, surmounted by three domed towers. Possibly rejected for its elaborate nature, George III later stated that Adam’s ornamental design ‘puts me in mind of ginger-bread’. 

Instead, in 1768 Chambers constructed the King’s observatory. There are no surviving designs, but the existing building remains largely unaltered. The two-storey classical villa was executed in stucco and brick. It retains its original cupola for the telescope and glass cabinets for the storage of mathematical instruments.

Office of Sir William Chambers
Plan of the Ground Floor, Somerset House, London
n.d.
SM 41/1/12
Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

Office of Sir William Chambers
Detail of cornice and panel mouldings for the Hackney Coach Ante-Room and Hawkers’ Waiting Room at Somerset House, London
SM 42/4/60
Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

The commission for Somerset House, the largest public building of the era, occupied the last twenty years of Chambers’ life. Sacrificing his private practice to it, it stands as a monument to Chambers’ architectural style and manifest personal qualities such as his ability to liaise with his political masters and engage the respect of the craftsman who worked under him.

The site of this grand project stretched from the Thames to the Strand, and was highly complex. Chambers’ design navigated the falling ground level and truncated width of the plot where it met the Strand, whilst his experience mediated the competing interests of those who would be housed in the new building: government departments and learned societies. 

Chambers masterminded everything from the overall plan to design details such as cornices and mouldings.

Office of Sir William Chambers
Detail of one bay of the Strand front, Somerset House, London
n.d.
SM 42/1/27
Photo: Geremy Butler

This highly-finished drawing, probably produced for exhibition, is, like Somerset House itself, on a grand scale. It depicts a single bay from the Strand front, almost as executed. The relief panel above the first-floor window and the mask and swags above the second-floor window were omitted in the building as built, presumably to save money. The building eventually cost over £462,000 due in part to its scale but also to the quality and quantity of the sculpture deployed on the façades and the interior ornament, made by the best craftsmen of the time. 

The typically Palladian combination of a rusticated, arcaded ground floor, below a piano nobile and square-windowed mezzanine linked by Corinthian half-columns, recalls Inigo Jones’ river gallery to Old Somerset House, demolished to make way for Chambers’ masterpiece. 

Sir William Chambers to John Soane
5 August 1774
SM Archives Priv. Corr.I.C.7.1
Photo: John Bridges

Chambers was Comptroller of the King’s Works and Treasurer of the Royal Academy when Soane won the Royal Academy’s gold medal in 1776. Chambers, architect to the King, showed Soane’s  design to George III to secure the King’s travelling scholarship to Rome for the young architect. Before Soane departed, Chambers shared advice he had previously given to one of his own pupils, a letter which included an introduction to Piranesi, arguably the greatest architectural draughtsman of the age, who Soane did indeed meet. One phrase perfectly encapsulates Chambers’ lifelong attitude to architectural theory and personal diligence, arguably shared by Soane:

‘It is Vulgarly said that taste has no rules, but this, like most vulgar opinion is Erroneous; it has many; some pointed out by books, but more that are not mentioned… it is only by repeated and Careful observations that you can arrive at this knowledge.’ 

William Chambers and Laurent Pecheux
Measured drawing of the Trevi Fountain, Rome; later used by John Soane as a Royal Academy lecture drawing
1753 
SM 22/2/8
Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

Soane became Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy in 1806 and wrote 12 lectures. His office prepared around 1,000 large-scale drawings to accompany the lectures, a visual history of world architecture from primitive times to Soane’s day. 

This depiction of Nicola Salvi’s Trevi Fountain, used during Soane’s fifth lecture in 1817 and 1819, is unusual as it is not the product of Soane’s office but was drawn by Chambers and Pecheux (a painter who briefly taught Chambers drawing) whilst both resided in Italy. Its inclusion is a reflection of Soane’s esteem for Chambers. Soane noted Chambers’ authorship, extolling the drawing’s quality and telling his students that for an architect, ‘a superior manner of drawing is absolutely necessary’

Office of Sir John Soane 
Royal Academy lecture drawing of the elevation of the portico front, Bessborough House, Roehampton
c.1806-19 
SM 17/7/6
Photo: Ardon Bar-Hama

Soane’s Royal Academy lectures taught, among other things, the classical language of architecture and the notion of correct taste and appropriate character and ornament therein. Given Chambers’ eminence, inevitably his works were included. Soane’s was a critical survey of the history of architecture, remarking upon the defects and virtues of the buildings he presented to his pupils.

In his fourth lecture Soane stated that as a principle ‘pedestals placed under detached columns cannot be admitted in regular architecture’ whilst acknowledging that sometimes the practice arose ‘from necessity as at Lord Bessborough’s beautiful villa at Roehampton, the work of that great architect, Sir William Chambers, where the marble columns brought from Italy being too short, pedestals were added to lengthen them’.