THE SMITHSON DRAWINGS 33 



portion, and they go to prove that John Smithson must have 

 been concerned with that particular building. But there is one 

 drawing of a large doorway (No. 40) which closely resembles the 

 central doorway on the terrace front of the gallery, and the 

 general detail of this building, which is large in scale, heavy and 

 rather spoilt by laboured freaks, is akin to much else that is to 

 be found among the Smithson drawings. This gallery block is 

 evidently of two dates. The eastern portion has a certain 

 amount of detail in the simpler style of the Jacobean period, 

 while that of the western half is more laboured and contorted- 

 At the eastern end are five small projecting stones bearing 

 initials and dates ; one of them has on it H. S. 1629, and may 

 conceivably commemorate Huntingdon Smithson. But as it 

 has four neighbours with other initials and the dates 1629, 1630, 

 it would appear that in any case he was only one out of five 

 persons entitled to recognition. However, the evidence of tradi- 

 tion, the datestone and the drawings clearly point to the 

 Smithsons being responsible for the design of the buildings 

 generally, and it may well be that the influence of the father is 

 visible in the earlier and simpler work, and that of the son in 

 the grandiose gallery, with which he may have been busy at 

 some time between his father's death in 1634 and the outbreak 

 of hostilities in 1642. The riding-house is much quieter in 

 treatment than the gallery, and its detail is more refined. In 

 spite of the tradition that the designs were collected in 

 Italy, the work shows more affinity to Dutch models than 

 to Italian, as may be gathered from the illustrations (Figs. 



13, 16). 



The riding-house at Welbeck (Fig. 20) follows the established 

 lines in its treatment ; it has steep gables with finials, mullioned 

 windows, and an open hammer-beam roof: the very heavy pedi- 

 ments over the doors are in keeping with those at Bolsover, and 

 with many other details in the collection, and they show how crude 

 Smithson was in his treatment of classic features. It is import- 

 ant to bear this in mind, because he may be considered (although 

 he had an uncommonly heavy hand) as typical of the majority of 

 English designers before the influence of Inigo Jones began to 

 be felt. 



Smithson's house-plans are of great interest, inasmuch as 

 they belong to the order of things which was shortly to pass 

 away. Some of them follow the traditional lines which made 



4 



