Sezincote House
Encyclopedia
Sezincote is a British estate, located in Gloucestershire
, England
. It was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell
in 1805, and is a notable example of Neo-Mughal architecture
, a 19th-century reinterpretation of 16th and 17th-century Mughal architecture
from the Mughal Empire
.http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/Sezincote-Gloucestershire.htm
Sezincote is dominated by its red sandstone colour, typical in Mughal architecture
, but features a copper-covered minaret instead of the typical white marble. The fenestration is composed of a sequence of extra-large windows with an arch-shape at the top. The arch, however, is not a simple or typical design, but instead a shell-like fan that is evidence of the Mughal influence.
The interior design is more typical European style.
The landscape was designed by Humphry Repton
. It is essentially a renaissance-style garden with elements of Hindu style, as seen in the crescent bridge with columns.
, "set on high ground in the shelter of the Cotswolds
."http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/Sezincote-Gloucestershire.htm Col. John Cockerell purchased the estate in 1795 upon his return from Bengal
. After his death in 1798, his youngest brother, Charles Cockerell, inherited the property who then "employed another brother, Samuel Pepys Cockerell
, to build him a house in the Indian manner."http://www.sezincote.co.uk/
Samuel Pepys Cockerell
worked as surveyor for the British East India Company
and as an apprentice to Sir Robert Taylor, where John Nash
was also apprenticed. In spite of his tenure as Surveyor to the East India Company, Cockerell never travelled to India
; his encounters with Mughal architecture
, a building style that flourished in India in the 16th century, were strictly through the medium of drawings and engravings, such as those by Thomas Daniell
(who designed the garden for his "old Indian ally" Sir Charles Cockerell and its temple, bridge, dairy and farm buildings) and his nephews. Cockerell had already experimented cautiously with Indian elements at Daylesford, Gloucestershire
, built for Warren Hastings
, first governor-general of British India, nearby. Here the style is characterized by a striking revival of Islamic architecture in Northern India, where Persian, Indian, and various provincial styles were fused to produce works of great refinement. Favoured materials included white marble and red sandstone. A notable example is The Taj Mahal
, completed in 1648 by the Emperor Shah Jahan
.
re-interpretation of classic Mughal forms. Emperor Akbar, who ruled the empire from 1556 to 1605, "deliberately mixed Islamic and Hindu elements in architecture in an effort to culturally integrate" his kingdom.http://www.sezincote.co.uk/. Typical forms that are utilized by Cockerell are:
However, instead of the traditionally white marble, Cockerell uses copper.
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell was an English architect. He was the son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezincote House, Gloucestershire, where the uniquely Orientalizing features...
in 1805, and is a notable example of Neo-Mughal architecture
Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture
The Indo-Saracenic Revival was an architectural style movement by British architects in the late 19th century in British India...
, a 19th-century reinterpretation of 16th and 17th-century Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture, an amalgam of Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture, is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is symmetrical and decorative in style.The Mughal dynasty was...
from the Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
.http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/Sezincote-Gloucestershire.htm
Sezincote is dominated by its red sandstone colour, typical in Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture, an amalgam of Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture, is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is symmetrical and decorative in style.The Mughal dynasty was...
, but features a copper-covered minaret instead of the typical white marble. The fenestration is composed of a sequence of extra-large windows with an arch-shape at the top. The arch, however, is not a simple or typical design, but instead a shell-like fan that is evidence of the Mughal influence.
The interior design is more typical European style.
The landscape was designed by Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...
. It is essentially a renaissance-style garden with elements of Hindu style, as seen in the crescent bridge with columns.
Site and commission
The site is located in the country 1.5 miles from Moreton-in-MarshMoreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh is a town and civil parish in northeastern Gloucestershire, England. The town is at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road and the A44. The parish and environs are relatively flat and low-lying compared with the surrounding Cotswold Hills...
, "set on high ground in the shelter of the Cotswolds
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
."http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/Sezincote-Gloucestershire.htm Col. John Cockerell purchased the estate in 1795 upon his return from Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
. After his death in 1798, his youngest brother, Charles Cockerell, inherited the property who then "employed another brother, Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell was an English architect. He was the son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezincote House, Gloucestershire, where the uniquely Orientalizing features...
, to build him a house in the Indian manner."http://www.sezincote.co.uk/
Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell
Samuel Pepys Cockerell was an English architect. He was the son of John Cockerell, of Bishop's Hull, Somerset, and the brother of Sir Charles Cockerell, 1st Baronet, for whom he designed the house he is best known for, Sezincote House, Gloucestershire, where the uniquely Orientalizing features...
worked as surveyor for the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
and as an apprentice to Sir Robert Taylor, where John Nash
John Nash (architect)
John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London.-Biography:Born in Lambeth, London, the son of a Welsh millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor. He established his own practice in 1777, but his career was initially unsuccessful and...
was also apprenticed. In spite of his tenure as Surveyor to the East India Company, Cockerell never travelled to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
; his encounters with Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture, an amalgam of Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture, is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is symmetrical and decorative in style.The Mughal dynasty was...
, a building style that flourished in India in the 16th century, were strictly through the medium of drawings and engravings, such as those by Thomas Daniell
Thomas Daniell
Thomas Daniell was an English landscape painter.-Life:Thomas Daniell was born in 1749 at the Chertsey inn, kept by his father, and was apprenticed to an heraldic painter. Daniell, however, was animated with a love of the romantic and beautiful in architecture and nature. Up to 1784, he painted...
(who designed the garden for his "old Indian ally" Sir Charles Cockerell and its temple, bridge, dairy and farm buildings) and his nephews. Cockerell had already experimented cautiously with Indian elements at Daylesford, Gloucestershire
Daylesford, Gloucestershire
Daylesford is a small village in Gloucestershire, England, on the border with Oxfordshire. It is situated off the A436 near Stow-on-the-Wold and five miles west of Chipping Norton. The village is on the north bank of the small River Evenlode...
, built for Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
, first governor-general of British India, nearby. Here the style is characterized by a striking revival of Islamic architecture in Northern India, where Persian, Indian, and various provincial styles were fused to produce works of great refinement. Favoured materials included white marble and red sandstone. A notable example is The Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
, completed in 1648 by the Emperor Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) Shah Jahan (also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan, , Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592 – January 22, 1666) (Full title: His Imperial Majesty Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan...
.
Architecture
The architectural character of the estate can be described as a British, Georgian eraGeorgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
re-interpretation of classic Mughal forms. Emperor Akbar, who ruled the empire from 1556 to 1605, "deliberately mixed Islamic and Hindu elements in architecture in an effort to culturally integrate" his kingdom.http://www.sezincote.co.uk/. Typical forms that are utilized by Cockerell are:
- a chattri, or Hindu term for a domed kiosk, usually onion shaped, open-sided, and supported by 4 columns
- a MinaretMinaretA minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
, a slender tower with balconies from where prayers are called; also copper plated
However, instead of the traditionally white marble, Cockerell uses copper.