Two Designs for Mantels in the Adam Style 1700 - 1800

Here are two mantel designs in the Adam style, captured in ink on paper. Note the recurring motifs: swags of fabric, urns, and stylized acanthus leaves. These symbols, rooted in classical antiquity, spoke of elegance and refinement to the 18th-century eye. The urn, a vessel for ashes, is an ancient symbol, gracing Greek and Roman monuments as reminders of mortality. Yet, here, filled with cascading foliage, it suggests life and renewal, a motif carried through the festoons of laurel, echoing the Roman triumph. Consider how the acanthus leaf, originally adorning Corinthian columns, transformed from a symbol of divine inspiration to a mere decorative element, stripped of its sacred context, yet retaining a whisper of its former power. It speaks of how symbols evolve through time, adapting to new cultural landscapes, their primal energy subtly reshaped, appealing to our collective memory. The classical motifs tap into a deep-seated longing for order, harmony, and idealized beauty.