Robert Adam FRSE

Robert Adam FRSE, FRS, FSA (Scot), FSA, FRSA (Scottish 1728-1792)

Design for Altering the South Front of Blackadder House, the Seat of Alexander Boswall Esq

Signed, dated 1784, titled, and with a scale

Pen and black ink, grey wash and watercolour within black framing lines

35 x 51cm; 13¾ x 20in

Provenance:

Houstoun-Boswall Collection;

By descent

Blackadder House, near Allanton, formed part of the medieval Blackadder estate positioned on the Scottish border. Robert Adam's designs, dating to c.1784, were made for Alexander Boswell (alternatively spelt Boswall). The house, to which Adam's scheme relates, was thought to have been originally built around 1764, possibly incorporating part of an earlier medieval structure in the process. Adam's designs propose a number of alterations with the aim of regularising the overall plan, with additions to the front and side elevations. As the house was demolished in 1925, it is difficult to ascertain whether Adam's scheme was ever executed.

The Sir John Soane's Museum, London contains a number of Adam's designs for the house, including an earlier, less worked up, version of the south front (SM Adam volume 32/77).