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James Stephanoff (1789-1874)

The Guard Chamber, Hampton Court Palace c.1819

Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour | 20.1 x 27.3 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 922130

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  • A watercolour view of the interior of the Guard Chamber at Hampton Court Palace. The room contains displays of swords, rifles, daggers, and armour above wooden panelling and pictures. The watercolour was prepared for one of the plates in Henry William Pyne's 'History of the Royal Residences' (1816-19). Engraved by R. Reeve and published on 1 February 1819.

    Pyne's 'History of the Royal Residences' was a three-volume publication which encompassed a number of royal residences, including Windsor Castle (vol. 1) and Buckingham House and Hampton Court Palace (vol. 2), presenting 100 hand-coloured engravings of exteriors and interiors accompanied by descriptive texts. The 100 watercolours which were engraved for the publication survive in the Royal Library; these watercolours are exactly the size of the image on the printed plates, and may perhaps have been intended as colour guides for the artists responsible for hand-painting the monochrome prints.

    Most of the paintings visible here belong to the set of admirals painted by Kneller and Dahl, currently in the National Maritime Museum; 10 can be made out out of the total of 18. The nearly full-length portrait on the right wall is probably Dahl’s Prince George of Denmark (no longer in the collection). The over-mantle is Canaletto’s landscape with Coliseum (404432).
    Provenance

    Probably acquired by George IV

  • Medium and techniques

    Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour

    Measurements

    20.1 x 27.3 cm (sheet of paper)

  • Other number(s)