Belcher, John. St. Clement Danes

Folger bibliographic ID: 262029
Folger call number: ART Box B427 no.1
Folger holdings ID: 345622
Accession Number: cs(1668)

General notes

Artist: Belcher was an architect, president of RIBA in 1904 and a member of the RA. He designed the offices of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (1890) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (1891). The bookseller claims the item to be a drawing by Belcher, from Belcher's collection History: Photolithographs of a few sketches by Belcher may be found in his work Later Renaissance architecture in England, London, 1901 (NA 5410 B2). This printed book does not include a discussion or illustration of St. Clement Danes Provenance: Item was purchased by the Folgers from Thomas Thorp in April of 1927. According to Thorp's letter to Mr. Folger, Thorp had "purchased the following [drawings] from the collection of the celebrated architect, the late John Belcher." Along with this sketch Thorp offered two other drawings of architectural interest, by other artists. The sale of Belcher's collection after his death has not been traced Subject: The drawing illustrates the west front of St. Clement Danes Church, located in the Strand, London. The building was rebuilt according to the design of Christopher Wren in 1679. In 1719 the tower was raised and James Gibbs designed an "elegant addition to the tower" (London encyclopedia). The height of the church was miscalculated in this drawing and the tip of the tower is cut off. A pencil sketch of the top, however, has been executed to the right of the tower. The sketch is composed as a street scene with carriages set in the foreground and views of some of the buildings surrounding the church in the background. It is not strictly an architectural drawing This record contains unverified data from old cards and may contain incorrect or incomplete text. Please consult Curator for assistance Title and artist attribution from bookseller. Paper was badly damaged and item has been removed from a frame, cleaned and repaired by FSL conservation lab (10/84). Executed on wove paper, unsigned

Extended title: St. Clement Danes [John Belcher]

St. Clement Danes (Church : London, England) London (England)

artist: Belcher, John, 1841-1913
depiction: St. Clement Danes (Church : London, England)
former owner: Belcher, John, 1841-1913