From Thomas Hosmer Shepherd’s series London and its Environs in the Nineteenth Century (London : 1829-1832). Steel line engraving on paper. Later hand colour.
Artist Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (1793-1864)
Engraver: M.Fox
Publisher: London, Jones & Co., 1828.
 
 
The New Treasury, Whitehall. Publisher, London : Jones & Co., 1828. Artist: Thomas Hosmer Shepherd
Engraved by M. Fox
Originally produced for Shepherd’s partwork series “Metropolitan Improvements; or London in the Nineteenth Century” (London : 1827-1830). Steel line engraving on paper. Later hand colour.
 
An elegant antique print of the Treasury in Whitehall as rebuilt by Soane between 1824 and 1827. It was the Treasury's third permanent building. The first was in Whitehall Palace which burnt down in 1698   leaving only the Banqueting House (built by Inigo Jones for Charles I) and Cardinal Wolsley’s wine cellar. The second building was erected  between 1733-6  by William Kent which still stands on Horse Guards today. In the 1820s the Treasury expanded into a new building. It is this building that is shown in the engraving. The building was completed in 1827. Soane followed the principle that the style of the exterior should determine the character of the interior decoration and also that the building both inside and outside should reflect its function. Outside the thin columns embracing the ground and first floors convey a restrained grandeur. The rusticated wall surface alluding to fortifications from the past reflect the importance of security. Inside, the Privy Council chamber is grand whilst the other rooms are more simple reflecting their function as offices. Soane's frontage seen in this engraving was not destined to last long. Once again space ran short and the architect Charles Barry was instructed.  Barry re-designed the Soane's front facade, increasing the height by a storey, moving Soane's columns to first floor level and rusticating the ground floor facade.
 
In 1826, the publisher Jones and Co. commissioned the artist Thomas Hosmer Shepherd to produce a large number of drawings to illustrate the changing landscape of central London. This new urban landscape, much of which was designed by the architect John Nash created stately streets and elegant houses. Shepherd would sketch on the spot in the street and then work up finished wash drawings at home in his studio in Chapman Street, Islington. These watercolours could then be engraved on steel by a number of professional engravers in this case by H.W. Bond. Accompanying descriptions of the streets and buildings by the architectural critic James Elmes explain some of the decorative details.