Royal palaces, cathedrals and country houses — documented commissions alongside properties associated with Tijou’s legacy. Each place has its own story.
7 places in the collection
London · Cathedral
Documented gates · c.1700
Gilded screens and chancel gates bring flowing ironwork into conversation with Wren’s classical architecture. Alongside the quire, the Geometric Staircase offers another view of the cathedral’s architectural language.
Explore the ProjectThe chancel gates — gilded iron against marble and stone.
01 / 12
Surrey · Royal palace
Documented commission
Twelve richly ornamented panels mark the edge of the Privy Garden: royal crests, gilded foliage and mythical creatures worked into iron. The palace’s river front and painted stair place this celebrated screen in its wider architectural setting.
Explore the ProjectThe Privy Garden and its ornamental boundary.
01 / 09
Derbyshire · Country house
Original design · Later reproductions
Gilded balustrades animate the Great Stairs beneath painted ceilings. Today’s ironwork reproduces Tijou’s original design; the gates and wider house are considered separately in the project history.
Explore the ProjectThe gates — a complete landscape view.
01 / 06
Northamptonshire · Country house
Documented association · Objects attributed
At Drayton, ornamental ironwork attributed to Tijou brings Baroque detail to a more intimate country-house setting. Curling foliage and finely worked rails follow the threshold between house and garden.
Explore the ProjectIronwork at the house’s entrance steps.
01 / 05
Lincolnshire · Country house
Documented west-front gates
The gates at Burghley turn an entrance into an elaborate composition of scrollwork, gilding and heraldic ornament. Views of the forecourt, stone façade and painted staircase place the ironwork within the house’s rich architectural setting.
Explore the ProjectThe gates, forecourt and house in one composition.
01 / 06
London · Royal palace
Unconfirmed gate attribution
Crowns, monograms and ornamental gates frame a royal threshold. The collection brings together palace architecture and royal remembrance, without treating the photographed gates as a confirmed Tijou commission.
Explore the ProjectThe palace gates — the complete composition.Digitally enhanced photograph
01 / 03
West Sussex · Country house
Tijou Gate · Later design tradition
Ornamental gates and sweeping railings frame Petworth House’s stone façade. These owner-supplied photographs bring the house, its landscape and the intricate detail of its ironwork into view.
Explore the ProjectPetworth House — gates and railings before the façade.
01 / 05
The wider legacy
The preserved archive also records balcony railings, window grilles and stairway balustrades in London’s private residences.
Beyond palaces and great estates, Jean Tijou’s craftsmanship also found its way into the grand private townhouses of late 17th-century London. Wealthy nobles and merchants commissioned Tijou to create bespoke ironwork accents for their city residences – from elegant balcony railings and window grilles to richly detailed stairway balustrades and entrance gates. These custom pieces brought a touch of royal grandeur into private homes, showcasing Tijou’s ability to scale his elaborate designs to more intimate settings. The presence of a Tijou ironwork installation became a status symbol in London, marrying French Baroque flair with English urban sophistication in the heart of the city.
Engraved gates, screens and ornamental patterns carry Tijou’s designs beyond any one building.
Explore the drawings