ABSTRACT
Between August and September 1812, the renowned British architect John Soane composed a curious and frantic manuscript entitled ‘Crude Hints Towards an History of my House’, an account of his home in London’s Lincoln’s Inn Fields imagined as a ruin. Written from the perspective of ‘An Antiquary’, the narrator surveys the space and its contents, with suggestions for various interpretations for its former use or functions. One of the main themes of the text is the use of misidentification. The Caryatid figures from the house exterior were identified as Greek sculptures, supporting the Antiquary’s suggestion that the site was a temple. These figures were in fact modern sculptures, adapted from the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion in Athens and produced by the Coade & Sealy Company in 1812. The reference is a sly wink to the reader, who would have known explicitly that the figures were a modern production, also used by Soane for his designs for the Bank of England. Soane in fact owned several classical-style sculptures from Coade’s manufacture including reproductions of famous classical works such as the Borghese Hercules. Using ‘Crude Hints Towards an History of my House’ as a linchpin around which to explore the use of Coade Stone, this case study reassess the role of Coade Stone as an object created by a woman for artistic and scientific purpose and used as an architectural and decorative tool for Soane as a practicing architect, as well as a collector of ancient art. This short case study provides an exploration of how the Soane Coade Stone acted in concert with other objects of Soane’s assembled collection, creating a space which visually engaged with antiquity as well as modernity simultaneously, placing Soane as overseer of classical heritage and its modern adaptations.
