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The Adam Style

Robert Adam, later assisted by his brother James, introduced about the middle of the eighteenth century a modified form of Neo-Classic, partly influenced by the Palladian School, not altogether oblivious of the modified Rocaille style and the Chinese introductions of Sir William Chambers. On the whole, however, the Adam style is distinctive. In all the brothers did there is evidence of a preference for the rectilinear over the curvilinear, though the latter is not excluded, a lightness and slimness, a lavish ornamentation of surfaces by painting, inlay or low-relief carving and appliqués, an intolerance of plain unoccupied spaces. The prevailing motifs are broad but flat, and not over-intricate cornices, unbroken pediments, simple plinths, columns, and capitals. For borders and similar purposes we find constant use of beading, guilloche, interlacing key, egg-and-dart and kindred patterns. Other motifs are the characteristic slim urn and vases, plain or fluted, repeated in the flat, medium relief and the round, paterae, ribbons, drapery and garlands (often in association with masks), spandrel fans, palmettes, pineapples, the honeysuckle or anthemion (Grecian pattern), fuchsia drops, roses, acanthus and other leaves, rams’ heads, goats’ heads and feet, lions’ masks and legs, griffons, birds, and the human figure. All these, except the last (which is treated classically) are conventionalised, not naturalistic, are usually of small dimensions, smooth and precise, without the easy freedom of the best work of Greece or the robust exuberance of Imperial Rome, which so captivated Raphael and gave birth to the Renaissance. However, there is great simplicity and an entire absence of the coarse in details, such as the arabesques.

Circles, semicircles, ovals and semi-ovals, we find occasionally in solid contours, though more often in decorative details, such as panels, carved, moulded, inlaid, or painted. The brothers employed some of the noted artists of the day-Angelica Kauffmann, Zucchi, Pergolesi, and others-to paint these panels, generally in the classic style, often symbolic or dancing singers, almost always as miniatures, seldom as broad compositions. Thus a ceiling may have a good deal of painting on it, but it is usually confined to circles, ovals, oblong panels, borders, the surface not being treated as a large unbroken canvas, but cut up by mouldings and scrolls.

Most of the decoration is light and slender, carving and modelling being mostly in low relief. But there are exceptions. Some of the carved mirror frames are bold and architectural; occasionally windows and alcoves are framed with carved cornices and valances, cut from the solid wood in luxurious folds, with heavy fringes, the whole painted and gilded so as to resemble draped silk and gold brocade. Yet this treatment is rare. A good deal of decoration was carried out in a patent stucco. composition, which was cast in moulds, the casts then being transferred to walls, ceilings, and even the furniture, and finally painted and gilded. Unfortunately this often led to a loss of sharpness of outline and an exaggeration of the tendency to flatness and tameness of design. There was much greater success with the Bossi system of decoration-the use of coloured stones or pastes fitted into the gouged-out patterns. Marquetry was used to a comparatively limited extent. There were inlays of Wedgwood jasper ware with designs by Flaxman, and also metal mountings, the latter embossed and chiselled, rather flat and subordinated.

Colours are nearly always in the minor key, pinks, pale blues, dull greens, greys and browns, opaque yellows being the rule, a note which is rather emphasised by the use of the Wedgwood plaques and the sombre hues of the inlays. On the other hand, the miniatures and gilding gave brightness, also helped by the large mirrors, some of the circular ones being convex, cleverly placed to reflect light and produce repetition views of the apartments.