Peter Hubert Desvignes

Peter Hubert Desvignes (born April 29, 1804 in Constantinople , today Istanbul, † December 27, 1883 in Hither Green, Kent , today Lewisham ) was an architect of British-French origin who was born in the Levant and mainly active in Central Europe .

life and work

Desvignes, also Devigny or Devignes grew up in London from 1806 on. He was the son of a diamond dealer. Desvignes, who later described himself as a civil engineer and architect, studied beginning in 1823 at the Royal Academy of Arts with William Atkinson , took part in the competition for the Houses of Parliament in 1835 and worked 1837–1849 as house architect for the Anglophile Prince Alois II. (Liechtenstein) from and to Liechtenstein in Vienna and Eisgrub, today Lednice , Moravia . Alois Josef II was enthusiastic about the neo-baroque interior design in the style of Louis-quatorze and Louis-quinze , which was current in the British aristocracy in the 1830s , and he commissioned Desvignes with a corresponding design of his Vienna city palace in Bankgasse. Desvignes worked on this project for twelve years, sometimes with great difficulty, and the lavishly decorated state rooms caused a sensation after completion. Desvignes was also responsible for essential parts of the mobile equipment. His designs were carried out by local craftsmen such as master carpenter Carl Leistler or his then contract employee Michael Thonet , whose later fame overshadowed Desvignes' own contribution for decades. During this activity Desvignes also built the Liechtenstein Palm House in Schloss Eisgrub. In 1849 Desvignes returned to Great Britain. Nothing is currently known about his activities there. After his death in 1883 on his estate southwest of London (now Lewisham), he was buried in the Desvignes family grave in St. Mary's Church.

literature

C. Witt-Dörring: A kind of revelation. The redesign of the interior of the Liechtenstein City Palace (1837–1848) . in: Parnass , 11.1995, pp. 72-78
Michael Huey: Peter Hubert Desvignes and the Neo-Rococo redesign of the Liechtenstein City Palace 1837-1849 , Master's thesis, University of Vienna 1999 Proof from ÖNB

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ See document "Memorandum Book Showing amount of various purchases and other sums of money expended and sums received by PH Desvignes ..." of August 24, 1848, Princely Liechtenstein House Archive, signature K. H1853.
↑ Michael Huey, "Peter Hubert Desvignes and the Neo-Rococo Redesign of the Liechtenstein City Palace 1837-1849", Master's thesis, University of Vienna 199, p. 33.

personal data
SURNAME	Desvignes, Peter Hubert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British architect
DATE OF BIRTH	April 29, 1804
PLACE OF BIRTH	Constantinople
DATE OF DEATH	December 27, 1883
Place of death	Lewisham , Kent , England

[1] See document "Memorandum Book Showing amount of various purchases and other sums of money expended and sums received by PH Desvignes ..." of August 24, 1848, Princely Liechtenstein House Archive, signature K. H1853.

[2] Michael Huey, "Peter Hubert Desvignes and the Neo-Rococo Redesign of the Liechtenstein City Palace 1837-1849", Master's thesis, University of Vienna 199, p. 33.