Bray's Designs for Cottages and Villas

Joel Bray (1787 - 1846)

Geffrye, Museum of the Home

circa 1825

This book provides valuable evidence of the early development of middle-class suburban housing around London. At least two of the designs show locations in Middlesex, a rural area within easy reach of London, which became increasingly popular with middle-class householders choosing to live in more peaceful locations outside the city during the 18th and 19th centuries. These developments have been linked to changing ideals of bourgeois family life that emphasised individualism and privacy. Business life was increasingly separated from domestic life and property ownership became valued for the status it conferred.

• Medium: ink & watercolour on paper
• Dimensions: 26.5 x 21.5cm
• Art Fund Grant: £6000 ( Total: £13,000)
• ArtFunded in: 2011
• Vendor: Marlborough Rare Books

Provenance

Howard Montagu Colvin, 1699-1840, recorded the work as in ‘private ownership'; bt. by vendor Sotheby's, 2009.

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