Full-size plan of a stall pier

WRE/4/2/8

c.1694

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, Nicholas (c.1662–1736) Hawksmoor

Pen and brown ink over pencil under-drawing, and some pencil additions. Thick laid paper, stained brown and with modern repairs to tears and losses along top of sheet. 52.7 x 37.7 cm. Watermark: Strasbourg lily WR.

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Microsoft Sans Serif;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 System;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue128;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs20 Inscribed by Hawksmoor (in ink over pencil), \lquote\i Pillar between ye Stauls\i0\rquote , this is the only surviving full-sized (1 : 1 scale) design from Wren\rquote s office for any feature at St Paul's. Datable c.1694.\par \par The drawing probably dates soon after the Commissioners instructed Wren on 1 May 1694 to proceed with work on the choir \lquote as fast as he could conveniently do\rquote , after he had advised them that he was ready to \lquote set the Joyners to wainscot the same\rquote (Wren Society 14, pp.76-77). It shows the plan of the piers that separate the pairs of choir stalls and the bays of the middle galleries above them (see WRE/4/1/11-13). The pillar is 8 inches square between its outer extremities (marked with ruled pencil lines), and connects with a beam for the stall arm 4 inches wide. Both dimensions agree with the fabric. The main pillars were enriched on their front faces with long acanthus festoons that grow upwards into foliage wreaths encircling the waists of the winged-cherub brackets that support the gallery front. The ink-drawn profiles are close to their final form. A pencilled alternative for the framing moulding in the left-hand corner was not adopted but demonstrates that significant variations could be made to joinery details when the design was at the stage of a full-size template. At All Souls College is a closely related half-scale study of a bay of a middle gallery that includes a nearly identical plan of this pier (Geraghty 2007, no.96). \cf0\b\f1\par }

Access to the Wren office drawings held at London Metropolitan Archives is available only with advance notice and at the discretion of the Heritage Services Director, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB.

WRE/4/1/11, WRE/4/1/12, WRE/4/1/13