John James (architect)
John James | |
---|---|
Born | c.1673 possibly Basingstoke, England |
Died | Greenwich, London, England | 15 May 1746
Nationality | English |
Occupation | Architect |
Buildings | Appuldurcombe House St. George's Hanover Square |
John James (c. 1673 – 15 May 1746) was a British architect particularly associated with
Life
The son of a
In 1714 he started work on St George's Church, Tiverton, which was finally completed in 1733.
In 1716 he replaced
He was the professional on site for the construction of East India House, Leadenhall Street, London, to designs by the merchant and amateur architect Theodore Jacobsen, 1726–29.[5]
Among several buildings in and around Twickenham, John James designed St. Mary's Church after it collapsed in 1713 (with the exception of its surviving west tower).
Also in south-east London, James designed Wricklemarsh, "a pioneer
The house he designed for himself around 1725 – Warbrook in Eversley, Hampshire – is one of the few surviving houses built by an eighteenth-century architect for his own use. He may also have designed Hursley House, Hursley, Hampshire, for (later, Sir) William Heathcote, and Barnsley House in Gloucestershire is now usually attributed to him, c. 1720.
Writings
He published a pamphlet (1736) in the pamphlet war over the design of Westminster Bridge, for which he had submitted a design, which, though not accepted by the Commissioners, was accounted "clearly and well described".[8] Competent in Latin, French and Italian, he translated Andrea Pozzo's treatise on perspective as Rules and Examples of Perspective, proper for Painters and Architects (1707, 2nd edition c. 1725) and from the French of Claude Perrault, A Treatise of the Five Orders of Columns in Architecture (1708), and from the French of Dezallier d'Argenville, The Theory and Practice of Gardening (1712, 2nd edition 1728, 3rd edition 1743. Thus John James can be seen as one of the intermediaries who made Baroque Continental practice in architecture, decorative painting and formal garden planning available to English patrons and craftsmen.
Gallery of architectural work
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Appuldurcombe House, Isle of Wight
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St. Alphege's Greenwich, upper part of tower by James
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St. Luke's Old Street, London, with Nicholas Hawksmoor
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St. John's Horsleydown, London, with Nicholas Hawksmoor, bombed in London Blitz and demolished
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St. Mary's Church, Twickenham, rebuilt by James apart from the medieval tower
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St George's, Hanover Square, London
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St. Mary's Rotherhithe, London
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Cannons House, Middlesex, one of many architects involved in the house's design
Notes
- ^ Colvin (1995)
- ^ His altar was removed in 1886 (Colvin).
- ^ Downes, Kerry (1987) [first published 1970]. Hawksmoor. World of Art. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 104.
- ^ Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1990) [1983]. London 2: South. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin Books. p. 245.
- ^ Mildred Archer, "The East India Company and British art", Apollo (November 1965:401-09.
- ^ Wricklemarsh was demolished in 1787, depriving it of a deserved reputation as one of the Palladian incunabula; the site now forms part of the Cator Estate at Blackheath, London. The portico and other materials were re-used at Beckenham Place, Kent, and four marble chimneypieces were removed to the First Lord's house, Whitehall (Colvin)
- .
- ^ Commissioners' minutes, quoted by Colvin
References
- Howard Colvin, 1995 (3rd ed.). A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1660–1840. (Yale University Press): "John James"