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| James Stephanoff Buckingham House - The Staircase 1818 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Buckingham House - The Saloon 1818 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
"The Saloon was the largest room in Buckingham House and occupied the first and second floor in the centre of the entrance front of the house, immediately above the Entrance Hall. George III's works in the late 1760s may have involved a complete reconstruction of this room: as shown in this view, it is the work of a combination of King's Architects – Robert Adam, William Chambers, John Yenn and probably also James K. 'Athenian' Stuart. The room was evidently in a fit state to receive the seven vast Raphael Cartoons from Hampton Court in 1763. They were described in the Saloon by Horace Walpole in 1783, hanging edge to edge on all except the window wall, with 'light green Damask' below. Cipriani's finely detailed ceiling, possibly designed by James Stuart, was presumably in place by 1763; it replaced one painted by Laguerre. The chimneypiece on the north wall was designed by Robert Adam; it was included in his Works in Architecture with the date 1761. Adam's design for a massive doorway, flanked by Ionic columns, may have been intended for the opening on the left leading to the Crimson Drawing Room. After the Raphael Cartoons were removed in 1787 (to be taken first to Windsor, then back to Hampton Court), the walls of the Saloon were decorated in the manner shown here. Elevations for the new decorative scheme were supplied by John Yenn. Stephanoff's view also records the furnishings supplied in 1799 by the carver and gilder William Adair: six large sofas and three small ones (for the window bays). These were originally covered with white cotton velvet, painted with flowers by Princess Elizabeth. Further changes were made after the fire at St. James's Palace in 1809, the declaration of the Regency in 1811 and Parliament's decision in 1812 to grant Queen Charlotte her own establishment, including income for the upkeep of Buckingham House. A number of formal receptions previously held at St. James's were now transferred to Buckingham House, hence the presence of the fine canopied throne in the Saloon. New upholstery (in red) was introduced at the same time. The site of George III's Saloon is now occupied by Nash's Green Drawing Room."
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| James Stephanoff Buckingham House - Crimson Drawing-room, with paintings by van Dyck, Rubens, and Domenichino 1817 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Buckingham House - Second Drawing-room, with paintings by van Dyck, del Sarto, Maratta, and Cagnacci 1818 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Buckingham House - Queen's Breakfast-room, with black-and-gold painted paneling 1817 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Buckingham House - The Octagon Library 1818 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
"This view of one of the King's four library rooms shows the fine octagonal room added to the southern end of the original building soon after the arrival of Consul Smith's books in London in 1763. After the Great (or West) Library of 1762-64 came the South and the Octagon Libraries in 1766-67, and finally the East Library in 1772-73. . . . The principal access to the library rooms at the ground-floor level was via a door from the King's bedroom, which led immediately into the Great Library. A staircase in the heart of this wing allowed access by staff and visitors from the basement floor, which contained the offices and rooms for the bookbinders. George III was keen to ensure that his library was as comprehensive as possible and scholars were encouraged to use it. An early visitor was Mrs. Philip Lybbe Powys who in March 1767 described the three library rooms then extant. Samuel Johnson's famous interview with George III took place in these room in the same year. In the Octagon Library, which was 42 feet wide, books filled all the available shelf space. The arrangement of the books is largely undocumented. In this view the shelves between the door and the chimneypiece appear to have the added protection of cupboard doors, which may have been glazed; the remaining books were apparently on open shelves. The octagonal desk in the centre of the room was supplied for this position, probably by Bradburn, and survives – in altered form – in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle."
– descriptions of the Octagon Library and the Saloon from an exhibition catalogue issued by the Royal Collection in 2004: George III & Queen Charlotte : Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste
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| James Stephanoff Buckingham House - The East Library 1817 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Kensington Palace - Queen Mary's Drawing-room, with portraits of Admirals after Godfrey Kneller 1817 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Kensington Palace - Queen's Gallery, with royal portraits 1819 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Hampton Court Palace - Gallery for Raphael's cartoons 1818 watercolor Royal Collection, Windsor |
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| James Stephanoff Fanciful arrangement of British Museum antiquities, including many of the Elgin Marbles 1819 watercolor British Museum |
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| James Stephanoff The Virtuoso - idealized gallery setting for selected antiquities from the British Museum 1833 watercolor British Museum |
"When this drawing was exhibited at the Old Water-colour Society in 1833 it was titled, The Virtuoso, with the description: 'the surrounding antiquities are a selection from the Elgin Marbles, the Hamilton Vase, and the Mosaic pavements in the British Museum; on the walls are the metopes, representing the battle of the Centaurs and Lipithae; underneath is the celebrated frieze; on the left of the picture is the mutilated group of the Fates; opposite to which are the remains of the statues of Ceres and Proserpine; and on the table stands the marble bust of Pericles, under whose direction the Parthenon was erected.' The room is very loosely based on the temporary Elgin gallery in the British Museum."
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| James Stephanoff Imaginary arrangement of the Xanthos Marbles, acquired by the British Museum in 1842 1843 watercolor British Museum |
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| James Stephanoff The Connoisseur - an idealized, imaginary, domestic setting for antiquities from the British Museum ca. 1817 wash drawing British Museum |
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| James Stephanoff Imaginary assemblage of antiquities, mainly from collections at the British Museum 1845 watercolor British Museum |
"The following caption accompanied this watercolour when it was exhibited at the Old Water-colour Society in 1845: 'At the base of the picture are specimens of Hindu and Javanese sculpture, and on either side are the colossal figures and bas-reliefs from Copan and Palenque; those above them are from Persepolis and Babylon, followed by the Egyptian, Etruscan, and early Greek remains, and surmounted by the pediment from Aegina; bas-reliefs and fragments from Xanthus and Phygalia; the Theseus, Ceres and Latona, the Fates, and other figures from the Parthenon; and terminating in a portion of the equestrian bas-reliefs of the Panathenaic procession in the Temple of Minerva.' The watercolor received the following mention in the contemporary press: 'It is well executed, and arranged with great ability, but we confess that we value it more for its curiosity as a work of comparison and reference than we do artistically.'
– from curator's notes at the British Museum