This fantastic collection of drawings appear to be the original artwork of an interior designer, possibly for a production set design rather than a domestic interior. The lavish designs, full of scrolling florid decorative elements, epitomise the English Regency style, which incorporates both classical and 'exotic' elements.
The Regency period (the regency of George, prince of Wales, 1811–1820) was a time of great political unrest, not least the recent revolution in France which had toppled the ancien régime and left a power vacuum, culminating in Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Regency style (which was popular throughout George's reign as King George IV, up to 1830) grew out of classical sources, inspired by Roman and Greek architecture. Interior designs would heavily feature motifs such as acanthus leaves and classical columns, and materials such as bronze and marble. Furniture pieces sold off by the French Royal court after the Revolution also brought 18th-century French styles to Britain, introducing fashions for ornate carving and gilding, and items such as extravagant glass chandeliers and candelabras.
These drawings showcase and reimagine all these classical elements, whilst also evidencing the contrasting taste for Orientalism which Regency style incorporated. For Britain it was a time of colonial expansion, and with that came new experimentation with exotic styles from the Far East, India and China. The most notable example of this was the Royal Pavilion in Brighton designed by John Nash, which combined a fanciful Indo-Islamic exterior with a lavish and exotic Chinese interior.
