Sir Robert Taylor
and his Architectural Designs.
at the Taylor Institution, Oxford.
For the catalogue of Taylor's Architectural books see -
https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=29949118
for more on Taylor and his architectural books and library hear the podcast on:
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/special-lecture-art-architects-books-and-buildings-sir-robert-taylor-his-collection-taylor
for more on Taylor and his architectural books and library hear the podcast on:
http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/special-lecture-art-architects-books-and-buildings-sir-robert-taylor-his-collection-taylor
A Drawing from a collection of 12 highly finished designs for Rococo chimney pieces
by Robert Taylor
at the Taylor Institution, Oxford.
The drawing above from:
Watch this space!
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Sir Robert Taylor, architect, was born in Essex.
was the son of Robert Taylor (d. 1742), master mason and master of the London Masons'
Company in 1733, who 'built himself a villa at Woodford in Essex and lived
beyond his means'
He apprenticed his son to the sculptor Sir Henry Cheere, and sent him to study at Rome.
Returning to England on receiving news of his father’s death,
Taylor found himself penniless, but began a career as a sculptor.
The monuments
to Cornwall and Guest at Westminster Abbey (1743–6) and the figure of Britannia
in the centre of the principal façade of the old Bank of England are his work
as is the sculpture in the pediment of the Mansion House.
The Mansion House was
completed in 1753, and about that time Taylor gave up sculpture for
architecture.
His first architectural design was a house for John Gore of
Edmonton, followed by numerous other houses, Gopsall Hall in Atherstone,
Chilham Castle in Kent, and Stone Buildings, Lincoln’s Inn. He became
architect to the Bank of England, and was occupied in 1776–81, and again in
1783, in making additions to the bank, which included the wings on either side
of George Sampson’s original façade (1733), the reduced annuity office, the
transfer office, and the quadrangle containing the bank parlour. The quadrangle
remains almost unaltered, showing a very tasteful use of the Corinthian order.
Taylor also worked on Ely Cathedral, as well as a number of prominent country
seats. Taylor was one of the three principal architects attached to the board
of works. He was surveyor to the admiralty, and laid out the property of the
Foundling Hospital, of which he was a governor.
He succeeded James (‘Athenian’)
Stuart as surveyor to Greenwich Hospital, and was surveyor and agent to the
Pulteney and many other large estates. He was sheriff of London in 1782–3, when
he was knighted. He died at his residence, 34 Spring Gardens, London, on 27
September 1788, and was buried on 9 October in a vault near the north-east corner
of the church of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields.
His son Michael Angelo Taylor (1757 - 1834) contested his will
The
bulk of his fortune of £180,000 was left for a foundation at Oxford for
teaching the Modern European languages. Owing to certain contingencies the
bequest did not take effect till 1835. The lecture-rooms and library which
compose the Taylorian buildings were built in 1841–5, in combination with the
university galleries.
Info above lifted from:
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Lot 43, 18 November 2004 Christie's
Sir Robert Taylor (1714-1788).
Alternative designs for a
chimney-piece for John Freeman at Chute Lodge, near Andover
inscribed with scale and further
inscribed 'A Monsieur/Monsieur J. Freeman/chez Monsieur le Marquis/Belloni/a Rome/en
Italie/Rcd/George Clemson.' (on the reverse)
grey ink and grey and yellow wash
9¼ x 11¾ in. (23.5 x 32.5 cm.)
Provenance:
John Freeman of Chute and by
descent in the family; Christie's, London, 30 November 1983, lot 185, one of
three drawings in the lot.
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Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788), Architect of the Bank of
England, Founder of the Taylor Institution
William Miller (c.1740–c.1810) (possibly after).
Taylor Institution, University of Oxford
Marcus Binney (biographer of Sir Robert Taylor) says that
the other version/copy of this portrait held in the Royal Institute of British
Architects is 'unsigned' but on the evidence of an engraving in the British
Museum is by William Miller (c.1740–c.1810) and dates from c.1782/1783. Binney
says Sir Robert became a Sheriff of London in 1783 and is wearing Sheriff’s
robes in the portrait. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography also
attributes the painting to William Miller.
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