We work with our Licensing Partners to create beautiful and unique products that are inspired by our rich collection. Introducing the first in a series of dialogues between our historic collection and our creative partners, Haddonstone Ltd - a world leader in the production of beautiful garden, landscape and architectural stonework. Based in Northamptonshire, they work in traditional, classical, and contemporary styles – making a natural commercial partner for the Museum. 

In this blog, Joanna Tinworth, Curator, (Collections) at Sir John Soane’s Museum reflects on some of the inspiration behind the Soane X Haddonstone collection:

Soane Caryatid Statue

The Soane caryatid statue is my favourite item in the Soane X Haddonstone collection. I particularly like the strength and serenity in the face, the elaborate hairstyle and the elegant folds of the robe which seems to flow over the woman’s body. The originals are made of Coade stone, based on those at the Erechtheion in Athens, and are set high on the façade of number 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields. A receipt in the Museum’s archive shows that Soane paid Coade and Sealy £40 for them on 6 November 1812. They form part of Soane’s original design for the building, as depicted in the watercolour below from the collection, datable to 1812.

Though Soane adapted and added to the façade in his lifetime, the caryatids remained, flanking the windows of what Soane described in his 1830 Description of the building as ‘the Chamber floor’, that is the second, bedroom floor. The rooms behind the façade were Eliza Soane’s Morning Room and bedroom. It seems apposite that the caryatids should be placed adjacent to perhaps the most female spaces in the house.

A drawing of the facade of Sir John Soane's Museum. The front of the building is white stone with 6 arched windows prominent. On either side, white stone sculptures of women - known as Caryatids - stand. A white stone sculpture of a women - known as a Caryatid.

Above left: Design perspective for the front elevation of 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, drawn by Joseph Michael Gandy, late August 1812, SM 14/6/2. © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.
Above right: Photo courtesy of Haddonstone Ltd

Soane Apollo sunburst plaque 

The original of this Haddonstone piece is from a frieze, a long horizontal band often found on the exterior of buildings and adorned with sculpture or decorative ornament. In this case the ornament is marble, and the head, presumed to be an impression of Apollo, is youthful, unmarked by the passage of time, and rendered dynamic by the wavy flowing hair that seems to billow away from the face. The highly articulated, very linear sunburst behind the head provides a distinctive and surprisingly modern contrast. 

The ornament is displayed outside, in one of the Museum’s three courtyards, known as Monument Court, because at its centre sits a ‘monument to architecture’ designed by Sir John Soane. The Apollo ornament sits on a parapet on the east side of the courtyard. I suspect that it was positioned on the east side, (rather than on the north or south sides of the court) with typically Soanean deliberation. It speaks to the sun, rising in the east each morning. Soane had a small desk in his Breakfast Room, beneath the window looking across Monument Court, where, as his eyesight worsened in later life, he may have worked to catch the morning light. The sun, rising above this Apollo sunburst, bathing it in light, would have been a familiar sight to him. 

A grey stone sculpture which depicts the head of a youthful looking person, presumed to be an impression of Apollo. A sandy coloured sculpture which depicts the head of a youthful looking person, presumed to be an impression of Apollo.

Above left: An Apollo(?) sunburst head in the Monument Court at Sir John Soane's Museum, marble, SM MC23. © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.
Above right: Photo courtesy of Haddonstone Ltd

Soane Shakespeare Bust

The Haddonstone x Soane Shakespeare Bust is one of the icons of the collaboration. Soane was deeply interested in Shakespeare’s works, and Shakespeare is a dominant presence in Soane’s collection, which contains dozens of items relating to the Bard: busts, paintings, prints, and a copy of the rare ‘first folio’ of Shakespeare’s works. 

Soane was a keen theatregoer, witnessing several memorable Shakespearean performances, including, on 5 June 1817, Charles Kemble’s benefit performance of Macbeth at Covent Garden in which the title roles were played by brother and sister John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons – their final performance on stage together.

Soane was so familiar with the works of Shakespeare that he would frequently quote them in the lectures he gave, as Professor of Architecture, to his students at the Royal Academy. When considering Gothic architecture, he describes it as ‘not expressive of cheerfulness or comfort. The fine dressed lawn with its enlivening rivulet, ‘The bank “whereon the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows”, require a different style of architecture’. This glorious evocation of nature comes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

This plaster bust is inspired by the figure designed by William Kent on the poet’s monument in Westminster Abbey. An identical marble bust in the Royal Collection is attributed to John Cheere (1709-1787). Soane placed his bust on the curve of the staircase on the third floor, a little further up from his Shakespeare Recess, a small niche filled with works relating to Shakespeare.

Bronze/brown coloured Bust of William Shakespeare, after his monument in Westminster Abbey A white stone bust of a man, depicting William Shakespeare

Above left: Bust of William Shakespeare by Giovanni Battista Gianelli after Peter Scheemakers, plaster cast, SM SC68. © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.
Above right: Photo courtesy of Haddonstone Ltd

 

To explore the full Soane X Haddonstone inspired collection, head to the Haddonstone website by clicking here.