Sir John Soane's Museum

Following our trip the the British Museum's Archives, a small group of us made our way to Lincoln's Inn Fields to the Sir John Soane's Museum. Sir John Soane has been called one of England's great architects. He was commissioned to design the Bank of England in 1788. His house was established as a museum by an Act of Parliament in 1833. The house underwent a five year restoration project in 1995 and the rooms displayed appear almost exactly as they did the day he died in 1837. This restoration project was in keeping with Soane's wish that the house be kept in such a state. According to one of the Wardens on duty, there is currently a plan in place to restore some of the rooms upstairs in addition to walling off a room that was not original to the house plan but built later to showcase some Canaletto's for students to copy. Once this addition is walled off, the Canaletto's will be returned to the picture room so that the view down the hallway will show, in almost window-like fashion, one of the views of Venice that Soane cared for so much.

Originally, Soane's house was originally at Number 12 which he purchased and rebuilt; however, 21 years later, Soane bought and rebuilt Number 13 as both a residence and museum. Ten years following the rebuild on Number 13, Soane bought number 14 and rebuilt it. Soane rented out this house, but used the sables in the back as both a house for his collection and as a studio for his architecture students. The Wardens informed us that it was Soane's wish that his sons should follow him into his profession, but sadly one died at a young age while the other lived a life of dissolution spurning architecture for writing.

The Soane house is a fascinating combination of private residence and museum. The first room is the dining room and library. These rooms were for entertaining, living and also for meeting with potential clients. The study and dressing room let off of these rooms. Little more than a hallway, the combination furniture and fixtures is what I would characterize as an almost IKEA-esque use of space. Not only is the study functional, but is also crammed floor to ceiling with examples of architectural styles. This use of space is further demonstrated in the Picture Room where Soane created additional space for his various pictures and etchings including Hogarth's "A Rake's Progress" and "An Election." We were present when the Warden opened the walls to reveal the additional wall space and an alcove beyond one of the walls in which more models and architectural odds and ends and statuary were displayed. We were informed that originally "A Rake's Progress" was stored within one of the walls as it was considered unsuitable subject matter for ladies.

Below stairs is the Monk's Parlour and Yard. These rooms have a decidedly Gothic feel to them and were designed with "Padre Giovanni" in mind. Father John was an imaginary person. Included with this Gothic theme are portions of the Palace of Westminster (destroyed in the 13th ce) along with a small collection of ancient mesoamerican pottery. The Crypt contains the sarcophagus of Seti I. As you are in the Crypt, you can look up into the Colonnade and Dome. Again, the walls are almost completely covered in architectural bric-a-brac. Many are plaster molds of long gone marvels of the ancient world.

We were fortunate enough to have met with a woman working on the restoration of the Gallery and Shop on the second floor. She explained that she was an art historian by education, but became interested in restoration and has made that her life's work. She showed us microscopic views of strata sampled from the walls and ceiling which provided the museum with a view of the different colors that had graced the walls since Soane's time. She then used those to provide drawing of the different color schemes (all including a blue sky complete with clouds for the ceiling) from which the Director and Board could base the plans for restoration.

Soane House is a registered charity that relies upon grants from trusts and foundations, member support and public donations. The Museum is free to the public. Additionally, Soane's library comprised of approximately 7,000 items is available for research and viewing by appointment. No photographs were permitted in the library; however, many images as well as watercolors of the original rooms are available at the museum's website: www.soane.org