John Carter FSA (1748–1817): A New Corpus of Drawings, and the Painted Chamber

Abstract

This essay examines a corpus of drawings at the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, that I discovered and attributed to John Carter (1748–1817) in 2010. Of Carter’s seventy-five drawings in this collection that cover Westminster, four offer further detailed insights into the Painted Chamber’s wall paintings and tapestries c.1800. Annotated by Carter, these drawings can be read alongside his other earlier drawings of the Painted Chamber found today in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Museum in London. Not only do these drawings record a precious moment in late-Georgian London where some of the most remarkable medieval wall decorations were uncovered, but they also contextualize Carter’s attitude to medieval architecture and their ‘improvement’ by his contemporaries.