LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Art Fund has given a grant of £45,137 to the Royal Institute of British Architects for the purchase of the most important 17th-century architectural model still in private hands. The design model for Nicholas Hawksmoor’s Easton Neston, Northamptonshire, was sold at Sotheby’s in May during an auction of the contents of Easton Neston.

Its acquisition by the RIBA followed a period of frantic fundraising by Charles Hind, HJ Heinz Curator of Drawings. Additional funding came from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the British Architectural Library Trust and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council’s PRISM Fund. The total cost was £150,000.

The oak model, which was commissioned by William Fermor, 1st Baron Lempster in the 1690s, dismantles to reveal its interior, and features plasterwork details carved into the wood. Easton Neston is an astonishingly grand house for its size and its interiors, as originally built, formed a dramatic sequence of rooms packed cleverly into a relatively small area. The architect, Nicholas Hawksmoor (1664-1736) was a protégé of Sir Christopher Wren and one of the most original of English baroque architects.

The model will go on temporary display shortly in the new Architecture Gallery at the Victoria and Albert Museum, opened last November by the V&A and the RIBA as part of their Architecture Partnership. The Easton Neston model is a key addition to the 17th- and 18th-century drawings and manuscripts of the RIBA’s Collections, which include other material by Hawksmoor.

David Barrie, Director of the National Art Collections Fund, said: 'This model is of great significance in the history of British architecture, and an extraordinary survival; we are delighted to have been able to support RIBA in making this acquisition'.

Charles Hind, HJ Heinz Curator of Drawings, said: 'We are incredibly grateful to the bodies that have given us the money to buy the model. I’ve known this model since I first saw it as an undergraduate in the 1970s, and although it’s a tremendous shame that it is leaving the house after more than 300 years, there is nowhere else more appropriate for it to be than the RIBA'.

Stephen Johnson, Head of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, said: 'The Easton Neston model, a rare and intricate example of Hawksmoor’s approach to his architectural designs, has not been on public display in this country for a quarter of a century. This year is the 25th anniversary of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, so it seems appropriate that because of our support visitors to the RIBA Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Architectural Gallery will now be able to marvel at the design vision of one of our most celebrated architects'.