Designs on the landscape: Paul and Thomas Sandby in North Britain

Bonehill, J. and Daniels, S. (2017) Designs on the landscape: Paul and Thomas Sandby in North Britain. Oxford Art Journal, 40(2), pp. 223-248. (doi: 10.1093/oxartj/kcx023)

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Abstract

In 1747, a young Paul Sandby took up the role of chief draughtsman on the Military Survey of North Britain undertaken by the Board of Ordnance. This ambitious mapping project was part of a series of measures directed at ‘pacifying’ the Scottish highlands in the wake of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, linking with a large-scale road building programme and the planning of new settlements. In his work for the Board, Sandby was employed in projecting as well as recording the progress of these improvements. Taking forward issues the authors first addressed in the catalogue to a 2009 exhibition of Sandby’s art, this article reviews the artist’s work in North Britain and its role in the remaking of the nation state, locating it in relation to various designs on the landscape. It focuses on drawings made in connection with ‘Utopian’ improvement schemes for planned settlements: firstly, in prospects of the west-coast town of Inveraray, made in collaboration with Sandby’s elder brother Thomas, and secondly, in a view of a surveying party at work near Loch Rannoch, in the southern highlands. They are works which open up wider perspectives on the roles of drawing and design in the period, raising questions too about the significance and scope of the ‘topographical’ as a genre.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:Paul Sandby, Thomas Sandby, military survey of North Britain, topography, drawing.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Bonehill, Dr John
Authors: Bonehill, J., and Daniels, S.
Subjects:D History General and Old World > D History (General)
D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GA Mathematical geography. Cartography
N Fine Arts > NC Drawing Design Illustration
N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > History of Art
Journal Name:Oxford Art Journal
Journal Abbr.:OAJ
Publisher:Oxford University Press
ISSN:0142-6540
ISSN (Online):1741-7287
Published Online:07 September 2017
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2017 The Author
First Published:First published in Oxford Art Journal 40(2):223-248
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.
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