Category Archives: Design

On Organic Geometry

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Montacute Pavilion

In Luke Syson and Dora Thornton’s Objects of Virtue there is a nice comparative illustration of a carved ivory knife handle after Francesco Salviati (Fig. 1)[1] and a print by Cherubino Alberti of two designs of knife handles by Salviati … Continue reading →

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Onion Domes and the Spire of the Dresden Hofkirche (1738-51), with asides on the Frauenkirche

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Montacute Pavilion

Onion domes are seen here as being extravagantly exotic. They are certainly un-English and un-Australian. While ogee curves are common enough here in neo-Elizabethan buildings and Victorian bandstands, I cannot think of an example of an ‘onion’ dome. But first … Continue reading →

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On Natural Timber Finishes

Posted on February 6, 2018 by Montacute Pavilion

My experience with using natural timber finishes on the Montacute carport and other projects. Continue reading →

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The Bed in the Marriage of Alexander and Roxane in the Villa Farnesina (1517)

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Montacute Pavilion

  This fresco is ground upstairs in the Villa Farnesina, Rome. The Villa Farnesina was the villa of Agostino Chigi, the banker to Julius II and the richest man in Rome. His first wife had died childless and his mistress, … Continue reading →

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On Garden Gateways: Part 1. Serlio’s Libro Estraordinario

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Montacute Pavilion

Sebastiano Serlio’s Libro Estraordinario (Lyons, 1551, also 1558 and 1560) contrasts thirty rustic gateways with twenty ‘delicate’ ones. In a well-known passage, Serlio describes how he came to conceive them: ‘… finding myself continually in this solitude of Fontainebleau, where … Continue reading →

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More Dragon Spouts: Schwäbische Hall

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Montacute Pavilion

The Rathaus at Schwäbische Hall has some splendid dragon spouts (Fig. 1). The main channel is only half-round, with the top of the jaw completing it. It clarifies the ornamental ‘ears’. At Krakow there are both ‘ears’ and wings.  Here … Continue reading →

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The Scale of Schloss Luisium in the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Montacute Pavilion

Looking at Montacute through the autumn leaves I was reminded of Schloss Luisium near Wörlitz. I have always like the way this little vertical building is tucked away in the woods. It struck me as a delightful miniature building, and … Continue reading →

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The Garden of Bagatelle, Paris

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Montacute Pavilion

Visit to Bagatelle, May 2011 Bagatelle was a disappointment. Partly it was the effort getting there. My guidebook rather unhelpfully listed various metro stops and left it at that, and it was off the edge of their map. I made … Continue reading →

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A Curious Impost Block at Iford Manor

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Montacute Pavilion

At Harold Peto’s Iford Manor by there is a neo-Romanesque pavilion called the Casita on the upper terrace. Its wonderfully weathered architrave is supported on double stone columns with fused capitals (apparently pink Verona marble dating from c. 1200) with … Continue reading →

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