Andrew Fountaine (architect)
Encyclopedia
Life
Attending Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
(as a King's Scholar
King's Scholar
A King's Scholar is a foundation scholar of one of certain public schools...
) and then Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
(graduating BA in 1697), William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire KG, PC was a British nobleman and politician, the eldest son of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire and Lady Mary Butler. A prominent Whig, he was sworn of the Privy Council in 1707, and served as Lord President of the Council from 1716 to 1717 and...
(a friend of his father, the gentleman Andrew Fountaine) introduced him at court and he received a knighthood in 1699 for the Latin oration he had made to William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
on his entry to Oxford the previous year (a task he had been selected for by Christ Church's dean Henry Aldrich
Henry Aldrich
Henry Aldrich was an English theologian and philosopher.-Life:Aldrich was educated at Westminster School under Dr Richard Busby. In 1662, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, and in 1689 was made Dean in succession to the Roman Catholic John Massey, who had fled to the Continent. In 1692, he...
).
When shortly afterwards Lord Macclesfield
Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield
Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield was born in France and was naturalized in England by Act of Parliament in 1677.-Biography:...
took the Act of Settlement
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that was passed in 1701 to settle the succession to the English throne on the Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. The act was later extended to Scotland, as a result of the Treaty of Union , enacted in the Acts of Union...
to the elector of Hanover in 1701, the younger Andrew Fountaine accompanied him and thus became known in the courts of Europe in what became the first of his two grand tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
s. He was in correspondence with Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
between 1701 and 1704, was admitted to the Royal Society of Berlin, became friends with Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici was the penultimate Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Cosimo's 53-year long reign, the longest in Tuscan history, was marked by a series of ultra-reactionary laws which regulated prostitution and...
on travelling to Italy in 1702, and was part of the mission to the States General
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
in 1705 (using it as an opportunity to add to his book and coin collections).
On his father's death in 1707, he was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod and, whilst accompanying Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke
Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke
Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke, 5th Earl of Montgomery, KG, PC, FRS was a British politician during the reigns of William III and Anne....
to open the Irish parliament, became friends with Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
(as is mentioned in Swift's letters and his Journal to Stella). He took a second grand tour in 1714, collecting maiolica, paintings and sculpture for himself and for the Earls of Pembroke (he later catalogued the 8th Earl's collection for his son the 9th earl
Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke
Lt.-Gen. Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, 6th Earl of Montgomery PC FRS was the heir and eldest son of Thomas Herbert and his first wife Margaret...
). He succeeded Walter Cary as warden of the Royal Mint Aug 12 1727, but retired from London in 1732 or 1733 to redesign the family seat of Narford
Narford
Narford is situated in the Breckland District of Norfolk and covers an area of 970 hectares .Narford village has all but disappeared, with a population of only 41, except for the large 18th century Narford Hall built by Andrew Fountaine, art collector and amateur architect. To the rear of the hall...
Hall (working with the professional architect Roger Morris
Roger Morris (1695-1749)
Roger Morris was an English architect whose connection with Colen Campbell brought him to the attention of Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke, with whom Morris collaborated on a long series of projects.-Biography:...
). At Narford
Narford
Narford is situated in the Breckland District of Norfolk and covers an area of 970 hectares .Narford village has all but disappeared, with a population of only 41, except for the large 18th century Narford Hall built by Andrew Fountaine, art collector and amateur architect. To the rear of the hall...
he hung a portrait of his patroness Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
on the staircase (she had made him her vice-chamberlain and tutor to her third son, William Augustus, and was William's proxy for his installation as knight of the Bath on 17 June 1725).
He died unmarried in Narford
Narford
Narford is situated in the Breckland District of Norfolk and covers an area of 970 hectares .Narford village has all but disappeared, with a population of only 41, except for the large 18th century Narford Hall built by Andrew Fountaine, art collector and amateur architect. To the rear of the hall...
in 1753, and was buried there. When sold and dispersed in 1884, his collection was so large it took four days to auction.
External links
- Letters, 'Pignatta's Sir Andrew Fountaine and Friends in the Tribune', 1715, by Graham Pollard, The Burlington Magazine © 1986
- Portrait bust of Fountaine by Louis-François RoubiliacLouis-François RoubiliacLouis-François Roubiliac was a French sculptor who worked in England, one of the four most prominent sculptors in London working in the rococo style, "probably the most accomplished sculptor ever to work in England", according to Margaret Whinney.-Works:Roubiliac was largely employed for portrait...
- Fountaine's tomb at Narford
- Images of Fountaine at the National Portrait Gallery
- The Fountain Collection of Maiolica, Andrew Moore, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 130, No. 1023 (Jun., 1988), pp. 435-447