Robert Adam, watercolour design for a carpet, 1760

ADAM, ROBERT

Design for a carpet,

watercolour plan depicting a large central circular compartment, containing a rosette, enclosed by a fan, encircled by fleur-de-lis and anthemia, within a circular frame ornamented with Greek crosses and octagons enclosing rosettes, framed by rinceaux within a border ornamented with guilloche enclosing rosettes, inscribed "Design for a Carpet for Mrs [Elizabeth] Montagu 19½ feet square" at the head, signed and dated ("Robt Adam 1760") and with a scale at the foot, laid down on card, framed and glazed (463 x 463mm), tears and small nicks, worn at previous folds, small hole at centre

This watercolour, in the fashionable Chinoiserie style, appears to be a preliminary design for the drawing room of the London home of author and literary hostess Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800) at 23 (now 31) Hill Street, Mayfair. A group of three related drawings, including the finished watercolour in which the outer portion had been redesigned, are in the Sir John Soane Museum (especially SM Adam volume 17/166-167). The other designs are, however, dated to 1766. Adam's ceiling mirrored the carpet design. The carpet is not known to survive.

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