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Up for sale a RARE! "English Architect" William Tite Clipped Signature.
ES-721A
Sir William Tite CB FRS (7 February 1798 – 20 April 1873)[1] was an English
architect
who served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
He was particularly associated with various London
buildings, with railway stations and cemetery
projects. He was a Member of Parliament from 1855 until his
death. Tite was born in the parish of St
Bartholomew the Great in the City of London, in February 1798, the son of a
merchant in Russian goods named Arthur Tite. He was articled to David Laing, architect of the new Custom House, and surveyor to the Parish
of St Dunstan-in-the-East. Tite assisted Laing in the rebuilding of St Dunstan's church: according to an
article published in the Architect in 1869, Tite entirely designed the
new building, Laing himself having no knowledge of Gothic architecture. In 1827–8
Tite built the Scottish church in Regent Square, St Pancras, London, for Edward Irving,
in a Gothic Revival style, partly inspired by York Minster,
and ten years later collaborated with Charles Robert Cockerell in designing the London &
Westminster Bank head office in Lothbury,
also in the City. The rebuilding of the Royal Exchange, opened in 1844, was Tite's
greatest undertaking. The previous building was destroyed by fire in 1838, and
a competition to design a replacement was held the following year. When this
proved unproductive, a second limited competition was held between Tite, Charles Robert Cockerell, George Gwilt,
Charles Barry
and Robert Smirke. Tite's winning design has
an imposing eight-column entrance portico, inspired by the Pantheon
in Rome, while the other sides of the building are based on Italian renaissance
models.