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18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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Period: 18th Century and Earlier
Portraits of the Hon. Mary Shuttleworth and Anna Maria, 9th Baroness Forrester
Located in London, GB
THE HON. MARY SHUTTLEWORTH, NÉE COCKBURN (D. 1777) and her sister ANNA MARIA, 9TH BARONESS FORRESTER (D. 1808) Pastel and gouache on paper laid on canvas, on their original backb...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Pastel

Old Master Drawing, Roccoco, 18th Century, German Artist, Animal Drawing
By Johann Martin Metz
Located in Greven, DE
Black chalk, partly washed, on paper, sheet 27.5 x 19.7 cm Plain gold moulding, 44.8 x 36 cm The Rhenish still life painter Johann Martin Metz was ...
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Rococo 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Crayon

Portrait Old Master, Joseph Vivien, Mme Silvestre, French Rococo, Pastel
By Joseph Vivien
Located in Greven, DE
The portrait shows Mme Silvestre. Born in Paris, Silvestre was the daughter of Charles-Antoine Hérault and his wife Marie-Geneviève, who were her first teachers. In 1706 she married the painter Louis de Silvestre, moving with him in 1716 to Dresden. The couple's daughter Marie-Maximilienne became a pastellist. Silvestre died in Dresden, the year before her husband retired and returned to Paris. Her surviving pastels show the influence of Rosalba Carriera...
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Rococo 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Oil Pastel

18th century portrait drawing of the Rev. William Atkinson
Located in London, GB
Collections: Henry Scipio Reitlinger (1882-1950); Private collection, UK to 2019 Framed dimensions: 14.50 x 15.38 inches This drawing is one of only two known portrait drawings by Romney (as opposed to preliminary studies for portraits) and is dated by Alex Kidson as being executed no later than 1769. It is likely that the present drawing was originally part of a sketchbook, now largely dismembered (Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal), which Kidson notes, contained some of Romney’s most beautiful early drawings. This drawing, and a second sheet formerly with Andrew Wyld, have been identifying as depicting the Rev. William Atkinson...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

A Musical Party
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Dr. George Hamilton, Massachusetts; and by descent. Private Collection, Ohio, until 2021. Exhibited: (Possibly) Clark Art Institute, Massachusetts (according to a handwritten inscription on the reverse). This drawing by an anonymous, 16th-century German hand presents a delightful scene of nymphs—mostly nude but some draped with cloth—making music in an outdoor setting. The composition is executed within a roundel and centers on the harpsichord played by the figure seen from behind. She is accompanied by a host of other instruments, including horns, a harp, and a lira da gamba played by figures gathered nearby, several of which are positioned along the curved edges of the visual field. Two satyrs observe the merrymaking—one leans on the harpsichord while the other holds aloft a cup, presumably of wine, adding a bacchic element to the revelry. The drawing was previously owned by Dr. George Hamilton, scholar of modern art and Director of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown (1966–1977). Hamilton played...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper, Pen

Planimetry of the Vatican - China Ink After G.L. Bernini - Mid-17th
Located in Roma, IT
Planimetry of the Vatican After G.L. Bernini is an original China Ink realized by an unknown artist in mid-17th century. Good condition except for some spoiled yellowed paper on mar...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Fenzoni, Painting AND preparatorial Drawing, John the Baptist, Italy Renaissance
By Ferrau Fenzoni
Located in Greven, DE
The painting and the preparatory drawing are offered together. Provenance Private collection, Germany, Trier, c. 1980- 2013 Saint John the Baptist Brown ink and wash over red chalk on oatmeal paper 31 x 20.5 cm Inscribed: „Ferrau Fenzonio da Faenza invt. esque … imp. da Fran. Villamena …“. bears the collector's mark of Henry Scipio Reitlinger (1882-1950; Lugt 2274a) on a tiny label glued to the verso On the reverse is a partial drawing of a Pieta, pricked for transfer. Provenance New York, Doyle, 14. October 2015, No. 6 The painting and the preparatory drawing resemble the composition of an engraving after Ferraù Fenzoni by Francesco Villamena. Drawing, engraving and painting are almost identical, except for minor differences. Even the measurements nearly correspond: painting (32 x 25,5 cm), drawing (30 x 20,5 cm), engraving (31,1 x 23,5 cm). Dr. Guiseppe Scavizzi confirmed the attribution of the present panting to Fenzoni and he dates it to c. 1590. The inscription on the drawing reads “Ferrau Fenzonio da Faenza invt. esque. . . imp. da Fran: Villamena . . .”. The engraving’s inscription also lists place and date “Ferra Fensionius inventor/F. Villamoena sculpsit Rome/Aspectu fruitur… antra puer/cum Privilegio… 1613”. Interestingly, the engraving is not mirrored as it is in most printing processes. Painting, drawing and engraving are not reversed but the same. It is remarkable to note that there are further paintings by Fenzoni which were engraved in the same order and not reverted. They also show strong parallels regarding the compositions and the measurements (see for example “Deposition of Christ” ). Ferraù Fenzoni was an Italian painter mainly active in Todi. He is also called Il Faenzone after his birthplace (Faenza). He apprenticed in Rome during the papacy of Gregory XIII and contributed to numerous fresco cycles under pope Sixtus V, such as the Loggia della Benedizioni in the Lateran Palace, the frescoes on the walls and vaults of the Scala Santa of the adjacent Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, and the decoration in the Sistine library. His expressive canvases straddle the styles of Mannerism and Baroque. In 1594, he moved to Todi. A “Last Judgement” by him is housed in the cathedral of Todi. He returned to Faenza in 1599, where he decorated chapels in the cathedral from 1612 to 1616. In 1622, he completed a “Deposition”, now in the local Pinacoteca. In 1640, Fenzoni was named “cavaliere dello speron d’oro” by Cardinal Colonna and, on 25th April 1634, he was nominated vicar and “castellano of Granarolo”. Fenzoni‘s style is characterized by a mixture of the Mannerism of the Northern Netherlands and the Italian Baroque. Saint John the Baptist, Old Master, 17th Century, By Fenzoni, Religious Scene, Rome Art...
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Mannerist 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas, Handmade Paper

Figure of Woman - Original Ink Drawing - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Figure is an original drawing in china ink on paper. Good Conditions. Applied on a Passepartout. The artwork represents a figure of a woman through deft and smooth strokes, delica...
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Modern 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

French Art, Rococo, Portrait Queen Marie Antoinette France, Oval, Circle Vivien
Located in Greven, DE
French School, Portrait of Queen Marie Antoinette of France, Pastel /oil Pastel on Paper, Rococo, 18th Century. The Pastel is made in the style...
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Rococo 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Oil

Tribuna della Basilica - Drawing by Giovanni Fontana - 16th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Tribuna della Basilica Labicana is an original old master artwork realized in 16th century by Giovanna Fontana. IIvory colored paper attached on an ivory colored sheet (cm 27 x 36.7...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pencil

L'Annunziata in S. M. - Drawing by Giovanni Fontana - 16th Century
Located in Roma, IT
L'Annunziata in S. M. sopra Minerva is an original old master artwork realized by Giovanni Fontana. Ivory colored sheet attached on an ivory colored cardboard ( cm 35.8 x 26.7) Bea...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pencil

A Mother and Child, Two Children, and a Dog
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Elsie de Woolfe, Lady Mendl, Paris; by whom given in 1950 to: Arlene Dahl, New York (until 2021) Inventive, whimsical, and fantastic; delightful, imaginative, and maca...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pen, Ink

Old Master Drawing, Baroque, Jacob de Wit, Allegory of Victory, Putti, Ships
By Jacob De Wit
Located in Greven, DE
Two putti with symbols of war and victory (cannons, cannonballs, armour, anchor, lion's head, laurel branch/ olive branch, flag, staff with helmet) in pediment triangle. Probably a d...
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Baroque 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Crayon

Monumento al Popolo - Drawing by Giovanni Fontana - 16th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Monumento al popolo is an original drawing realized by Giovanni Fontana in the 16th century. Ivory colored paper attached on an ivory colored sheet. Includes frame: 48.5 x 1 x 44 ...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Anfora - Drawing - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Anfora is an original black and white old master artwork probably realized in the early 18th century by Anonymous artist. Ink and Watercolor on thick filigree paper, representing a ...
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Modern 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

18th century portrait of the Royal Academy model George White
Located in London, GB
Collections: Russell sale, Christie’s, 14 February, 1807: ‘John Russell, Esq., R.A. deceased, crayon painter to His Majesty, the Prince of Wales, and Duke of York; and brought from his late Dwelling in Newman Street’, lot 92, ‘St Peter’, bt. Thompson (£1.13s); Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 25th September 1980, lot 113; Private collection, UK, 2016. Literature: Martin Postle, 'Patriarchs, prophets and paviours: Reynolds's images of old age', The Burlington Magazine, vol. cxxx, no. 1027, October 1988, pp. 739-40, fig. 9; Martin Postle, Sir Joshua Reynolds: The Subject Pictures, Cambridge, 1995, p.136, repr.; Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, online edition, J.64.2928. Signed and dated: J Russell/ fecit 1772 (lower right) Framed dimensions: 25 x 31 inches John Russell was admitted to the Royal Academy in March 1770, at the same time as Daniel Gardner. The nascent Academy Schools were still establishing their teaching structures, but central to the syllabus were the twin components of drawing after the antique and from life models. By 1772 Russell had already been awarded a silver medal and progressed to the life academy, where he produced this remarkable pastel study of George White. White was the most famous model employed by the Royal Academy and prominent artists in the second half of the eighteenth century. A paviour – or street mender –by profession White had been discovered by Joshua Reynolds, who in turn introduced him to the Academy. Russell’s striking head study demonstrates his abilities as a portraitist and pastellist, at the same time showing his interest in the Academy’s preoccupation with promoting history painting. George White was one of the most celebrated models in eighteenth-century London. According to the painter Joseph Moser: 'Old George…owed the ease in which he passed his latter days, in a great measure to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who found him exerting himself in the laborious employment of thumping down stones in the street; and observing not only the grand and majestic traits of his countenance, but the dignity of his muscular figure, took him out of a situation to which his strength was by no means equal, clothed, fed, and had him, first as a model in his own painting room, then introduced him as a subject for the students of the Royal Academy.' As Martin Postle has pointed out, whilst characterful studies of old men posed as biblical figures, prophets or saints by Continental old masters were readily available on the art market – Reynolds himself had copied a head of Joab by Federico Bencovich in the collection of his friend and patron, Lord Palmerston - finding a model in Britain from whom to execute a painting was more difficult. White therefore offered a rare opportunity for artists to combine portraiture and history painting, by painting a model in the guise of an historical or literary character. In 1771 Reynolds showed at the Royal Academy a picture of White entitled Resignation. It was engraved in 1772 and accompanied by a stanza from Oliver Goldsmith’s Deserted Village, implying a literary context to what is essentially a portrait. In his annotated Royal Academy catalogue, Horace Walpole noted: ‘This was an old beggar, who had so fine a head that Sir Joshua chose him for the father in his picture from Dante, and painted him several times, as did others in imitation of Reynolds. There were even cameos and busts of him.’ White sat to, amongst others Johan Zoffany, John Sanders, Nathaniel Hone and the sculptor John Bacon...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

The Flight into Egypt
Located in New York, NY
Inscribed: 3. una Madonna che va in Egitto, verso, and Madonna che va in Egitto, recto Provenance: Private Collection, UK, since 1999 This expressive and boldly executed drawing is the work of Luca...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper, Chalk, Pen

Old Master Drawing, Westerkerk Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, 17th century, Dutch
Located in Greven, DE
Jan van der Heyden (1637 Gorinchem - 1712 Amsterdam), attributed. Old Master Drawing, Westerkerk Keizersgracht in Amsterdam, 17th century, Dutch Westerkerk and Keizersgracht in Amsterdam Backside: later drawn backside with village church of the 18th century Chalk and pen on paper 23,5 x 18,5 cm Preliminary drawing for a painting from the creative period c. 1667 - 1670. This painting has been published a few years ago by Peter C. Sutton in the catalogue raisonné of the artist. Van der Heyden was initially a pupil of a glass painter, but later turned exclusively to architectural painting and went to Amsterdam, where he painted views of churches, castles, palaces, public squares, streets, canals, etc., most of which are richly decorated with staffage. In addition, van der Heyden was also active as an inventor, for example, he developed a street lighting system for Amsterdam by means of oil street lamps, which was in operation from 1669 to 1840. After a stay in London, he painted the London fire of 1666, which he either witnessed himself or had seen the consequences of. Certainly influenced by this, he did much to further the technical and organisational development of the fire brigade from 1669 onwards. His greatest invention was probably the fire hose, which enabled significant improvements in fire-fighting technology and tactics. He also improved the hand-operated fire engines of the time by making them smaller, more mobile and more powerful, and he developed the series connection of several pumps to increase the pressure in order to achieve a greater range for the water jet. In 1690, together with his son, he was the author and illustrator of the Brandspuiten-boek, the first manual for fire fighting. Johann Lingelbach, Adriaen van de Velde and Eglon van der Neer...
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Dutch School 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Chalk

The Assumption of the Virgin
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Unidentified collector’s mark “D.G.R,” lower right (Lugt 757b) Wilhelm Suida (1877–1959), New York; by descent to: Robert L. and Bertina Suida Manning, New York, until 1996 Private Collection, USA This impressive drawing of the Assumption of the Virgin is the work of the Genoese artist Giovanni Battista Paggi. The son of a nobleman, Paggi received a humanist education and was a self-taught artist. According to Paggi’s first biographer, Raffaele Soprani, it was only after encountering Luca...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper, Pen

18th C Italian Classical Grand Tour Ancient City Old Ruins & Figures
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: The Italian City Artist/ School: English/ Italian School, late 18th century; a Grand Tour work. Medium: pencil drawing. Size: 6.75 x 9.75 inches Provenance: from a priva...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

A Young Lady and Two Beaux - 18th Century British Wash Drawing by Paul Sandby
Located in London, GB
PAUL SANDBY (1731-1809) A Young Lady with Two Beaux Pencil and brown wash Framed 11 by 13.5 cm., 4 ¼ by 5 ¼ in. (frame size 27.5 by 30 cm., 10 ¾ by 11 ¾ in.) Provenance: R F Pearce; Agnew, London; Private collection. Sandby was born in Nottingham and moved to London in 1745. He and his brother Thomas first worked in the military drawing department at the Tower of London, later working on a military survey of new roads and bridges in the Highlands. On leaving this post in 1751 he spent some time living with his brother who had been appointed Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park. There he assisted his brother, and made a series of drawings of the castle, town and neighbourhood. In 1760 he settled in London where he contributed to the first exhibition of the Society of Artists where he regularly exhibited until the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768, becoming one of its founder members. In same year he was appointed chief drawing...
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Realist 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Flemish School, Portrait Young Boy, Old Master Drawing, Baroque, 17th Century
Located in Greven, DE
Old Master Drawing, Flemish School, Portrait or Sketch of a standing young boy. Condition : see photos.
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Baroque 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Crayon

The Martyrdom of the Santi Quattro Coronati
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Private Collection, UK After initial training under Justus Suttermans and Vincenzo Dandini, in 1673 Anton Domenico Gabbiani embar...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Paper, Ink, Pen

The Rape of the Sabine Woman, ink and pencil. After Nicolas Poussin
By (Circle of) Nicolas Poussin
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Poussin’s subject is the abduction of the Sabine women. Historically, this subject was known as The Rape of the Sabines (rape being derived fro...
Category

Baroque 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper, Pencil

Eighteenth-century Irish portrait of the Rev. Henry Dabzac
By Hugh Douglas Hamilton
Located in London, GB
Pastel on paper, oval 9 x 7 ¼ inches; 230 x 185 mm Inscribed on the verso: ‘The Revd Henry Dabzac D.D./ late Senior Fellow of/ Trinity College Dublin/ ever to be lamented by all that knew/ Him. Extensive learning, zeal, gently tempered/ by a spirit of charity & above all, a strong/ faith & a piety deservedly gained/ the character of a great and good man./ This exceptional man died 12th May 1790/ This picture was his give to Jane [Mary] Crofton, his sincerely [missing] sister.’ Collections: Rev. Dr Henry Dabzac gift to his sister, Jane Crofton (d.1797); Sir Hugh Crofton (1763-1834); By descent to 1990; Private collection, Dorset to 2020. Literature: Robert Staveley, Traces of Past and Present, Dublin, 1895, p.74; Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800, online edition, no.J3751247 This characteristic pastel portrait by Hugh Douglas Hamilton was made early in his career; it depicts precisely the kind of education, well-connected Irish sitter who fuelled his success. The Reverend Henry Dabzac was from a distinguished Huguenot family, a celebrated academic historian, Dabzac received the Donegall lectureship in 1764 and from 1785 was Librarian and Senior Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. According to his earliest biographer, Hamilton was the son of a peruke-maker based in Crow Street, Dublin. As Anne Hodge has pointed out, this places Hamilton’s father at the heart of the city: Crow street was a narrow thoroughfare formed part of the busy warren of streets bordered by the old Houses of Parliament and Trinity College at one end, and by Dublin Castle at the other. It is perhaps telling that in this early portrait, Hamilton shows Dabzac in a splendid powdered wig and his clerical bands. In 1754 Hamilton was apprenticed to James Mannin, a ‘pattern drawer’ who two years later was appointed master of the school of ornament at the Dublin Society’s drawing school, run by Robert West. Here Hamilton took the first prize in the 1755 competition, winning a premium of £1/16/. Hamilton developed a popular and profitable method of making pastel likenesses of sitters in a distinctive oval format. Hamilton developed a technique of using a sharpened pastel to hatch shaded areas of the features and, in the case of this portrait of Dabzac, the white powdered wig, which is drawn with particular care. In 1764 Hamilton moved to London where this small, oval pastels proved...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

FINE 18th CENTURY OLD MASTER CHALK DRAWING - ROMANESQUE FIGURES INTERIOR SCENE
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, 18th century Title: Classical figures within an interior. Medium: chalk on paper, mounted. Size: drawing: 11.5 x 13.5 inches Provenance:...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk

Cupid Sleeping - 18th Century British watercolour by Richard Westall RA
Located in London, GB
RICHARD WESTALL, RA (1765-1836) Cupid Sleeping; from a poem of Mrs Robinson - The Duchess of Devonshire Discovers the Sleeping Cupid Watercolour on paper, oval 36 by 44.5 cm., 14 ¼ by 18 in. (frame size 55 by 66 cm., 21 ¾ by 26 in.) Exhibited: London, Royal Academy, 1792, no.448. Richard Westall was bon in Reepham, near Norwich. Initially apprenticed to a London silver engraving he began studying at the Royal Academy Schools from 1785 and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy between 1784 and 1836. Westall became an Associate member of the Royal Academy in 1792 and a full member in 1794. Westall painted in both oil and watercolour, his works being romantic and neoclassical in style. He contributing to both Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery and Fuseli’s Milton Gallery and was also a prolific book illustrator of both fiction and poetry including works by Sir Walter Scott and Byron, whose portrait he also painted. For a time he was also art master to the young Princess Victoria. This is probably Westall’s 1792 Royal Academy exhibit (no.448). The subject was inspired by the poem Cupid Sleeping by the poetess-actress Mary Darby Robinson, which had been published in the previous year. The poem was dedicated to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and the picture show the Duchess discovering the sleeping cupid who she then relieves of his bow and arrows. Mrs Robinson was not only the Duchess’s protégée but also the first public mistress of the Prince of Wales. William Nutter’s engraving of Westall’s picture was also dedicated to the Duchess of Devonshire. Close in a woodbine's tangled shade, The blooming god asleep was laid; His brows with mossy roses crown'd; His golden darts lay scatter'd round; To shade his auburn, curled head, A purple canopy was spread, Which gently with the breezes play'd, And shed around a soften'd shade. Upon his downy smiling cheek, Adorned with many a "dimple sleek," Beam'd glowing health and tender blisses, His coral lip...
Category

Realist 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Study for « The Chinese Masquerade » by Jean-Baptiste Pierre (1714 - 1789)
By Jean-Baptiste Pierre
Located in PARIS, FR
Arriving in Rome in June 1735 as a resident at the Royal Academy, Pierre was unable to attend the Winter Carnival festivities of 1735, which he nevertheless immortalised in an engrav...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite

French 18th Century Pastel Portrait
Located in Cotignac, FR
Late 18th Century French pastel portrait on paper of a young lady in period dress in a 'feigned oval'. In gilt wood frame presented under glass. Very much of its period and similar ...
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French School 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Paper, Crayon

Herdsmen Resting /// Animal Art Landscape Farm Cows Bull Goat Work on Paper Ink
By (After) Nicolaes Berchem
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: (Follower of) Nicholaes Berchem (The Elder) (Dutch, 1620-1683) Title: "Herdsmen Resting" *No signature found Circa: 1790 Medium: Original Ink Drawing on wove paper Framing: Not framed, but matted with white rag matting from Holland and gold filet Matted size: 15.25" x 17.75" Sheet size: 7.25" x 10" Condition: Light toning to sheet. A few foxmarks and a small area of discoloration upper left. In otherwise very good condition Biography: Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces. He was a member of the second generation of "Dutch Italianate landscape" painters. These were artists who travelled to Italy, or aspired to, in order to soak up the romanticism of the country, bringing home sketchbooks full of drawings of classical ruins and pastoral imagery. His paintings, of which he produced an immense number, (Hofstede de Groot claimed around 850, although many are misattributed), were in great demand, as were his 80 etchings and 500 drawings. His landscapes, painted in the Italian style of idealized rural scenes, with hills, mountains, cliffs and trees in a golden dawn...
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Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Drawing of a captive woman
Located in London, GB
Collections: Sir Thomas Lawrence, who acquired the contents of Fuseli’s studio; Susan, Countess of Guilford, née Coutts (1771-1837), acquired from the Lawrence estate; Susan, Baroness North (1797-1884), daughter of the above; Mrs A. M. Jaffé, acquired in France, c. 1950 to 2016. Black chalks, on buff-coloured paper Stamped verso: ‘Baroness Norths Collection / of Drawings by H Fuseli Esq.’ Framed dimensions: 26.38 x 20.63 inches This boldly drawn sheet depicting a seated figure was made by Fuseli at an important and highly productive moment in his career. The monumental drawing is closely related to another sheet by Fuseli in the British Museum which Schiff published as subject unknown. Both drawings were made when Fuseli was designing his most important sequence of historical works, including scenes from Shakespeare and Milton, The Nightmare and The Death of Dido which was exhibited at the Royal Academy to great critical acclaim in 1781. The present drawing does not relate directly to any of Fuseli’s finished historical paintings of the period, but evidently the image of a slightly menacing, seated and covered old woman was precisely the sort of motif he was playing with. It is notable that the same figure reappears later in Fuseli’s work as the witch from Ben Jonson’s Witch’s Song which Fuseli produced as both a painting and engraving in 1812. Fuseli returned to London in 1779 from a highly creative and productive period in Rome and established himself as one of the leading history painters of the period. Fuseli re-established contact with his old mentor Sir Joshua Reynolds, becoming a regular guest at his dinner table and visitor to his studio. The earliest and most striking manifestation of this strategy was Fuseli's Death of Dido, exhibited in 1781 at the Royal Academy. Executed on the same scale as Reynolds's version (Royal Collection), Fuseli's vertically oriented picture was hung directly opposite Reynolds's with its horizontal orientation, inevitably inviting comparison between the two works and garnering Fuseli much publicity and favourable reviews in the newspapers. The present, previously unpublished sheet, relates closely to a drawing now in the British Museum. That sheet shows the same seated old woman, drawn on a smaller scale and more schematic in design, seated next to an anatomical drawing of a man. The pose of this figure is related to the pose of Dido in his Death of Dido; the foreshortened torso, arrangement of head, oblique view of Dido’s features and arms all suggest that the study can be viewed as an initial thought for the composition. Fuseli may have initially thought of including the figure of the hunched and covered old woman. Drawn on identical paper to the British Museum sheet, our study is an enlarged depiction of the same figure, more elaborately delineated and developed. The presence of a chain to the right of the figure, suggests that the iconography was related in some way to a scene of imprisonment. Fuseli had first explored the motif of the hooded old woman in an early Roman drawing, 'The Venus Seller'. The idea of a grotesque old woman, hooded and with angular nose and projecting chin seen in profile was most spectacularly used by Fuseli in his sequence of paintings depicting The Three Witches from Macbeth. Fuseli seems to have kept the present sheet and may have returned to it when preparing a painting of The Witch and the Mandrake from Ben Jonson’s Witch’s Song from his Masque of Queens in 1812. Here the same seated figure looks out from under her hood and picks a mandrake by moonlight. Jonson’s drama had been performed at the court of James I in 1609, inspired the subject. To throw the nobility of the queens into relief, the poet added a coven of witches, one of whom declares: ‘I last night lay all alone, On the ground, to hear the mandrake groan; And plucked him up, though he grew full low, And, as I had done, the cock did crow.’ The figure was reversed in the associated etching which was published in 1812. It seems likely that the present drawing remained as part of Fuseli’s working archive of figure studies. The present drawing was presumably purchased with the bulk of Fuseli’s drawings after the artist’s death by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Lawrence’s large group of Fuseli drawings were then acquired by Susan, Countess of Guildford (1771-1837). Lady Guildford was the eldest daughter of the banker Thomas Coutts (1735-1822), who himself had supported Fuseli’s journey to Rome in the 1770s and had remained one of the artist’s key...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk

Attributed to Francesco Casanova (1727-1803), A Mamluk fighting , watercolor
Located in Paris, FR
Attributed to Francesco Casanova (1727-1803), A Mamluk fighting on his horse, watercolor and ink on paper 35 x 26 cm In quite good condition : yellowed by time as visible on the photographs. Vintage frame with little damages (see photographs please), the mat and the back have been recently changed. 54 x 44 cm The first indication about attribution was given by the name indicated on the vintage frame with what could look as a mistake about the date of death of the artist, if the exact date of Francesco Casanova'death was not known with certainty. It's estimated he died at the beginning of the 19th century, Maybe in 1803, 1805 or as late as 1807. The style and execution are really close to the artist's known compositions, the way he draws the horse for example. Francesco Giuseppe Casanova was an Italian painter who specialised in battle scenes. His older brother was Giacomo Casanova, the famous adventurer, and his younger brother was Giovanni Casanova; also a well-known painter. He was born in London, and returned to Venice when he was still young,upon his brother Giovanni's advice, he went to Paris and became an apprentice of Charles Parrocel. As a result of favourable criticism from Denis Diderot, he began to receive commissions from the aristocracy. His fame soon spread eastward and he received commissions from Catherine the Great for the Hermitage, beginning in 1768. Two years later, he produced his four famous "disaster paintings...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Eighteenth century Old Master drawing - Apollo destroying Niobe's children
Located in London, GB
Pen, ink and wash Framed dimensions: 13 x 11 ¼ inches Drawn c.1765 Verso: a study of a hanged man Mortimer has filled this small sheet with action, depicting in the top right, Apollo and Artemis...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pen, Ink

Landscape with Figures in the English Countryside
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Landscape with Figures in the English Countryside Pen, ink and graphite with gray and brown washes on laid watermarked paper, c. 1740 Signed by the artist lower left of image: "Chatelain fecit" (see photo) A finished drawing, signed by the artist, showing his inspiration by Claude Lorain (1600 or 1604/5-1682) Provenance: Mathias Komor Works of Art Mary Whelan Prue Warburg (1909-2009) Mary Whelan Prue Warburg (1909-2009), widow of Edward M.M. Warburg, founding Trustee and Board member of MoMA (1932-1958); Metropolitan Museum of Art Honorary Trustee 1983-1992 Regarding the artist: "Topographical draughtsman and printmaker; son of Huguenot parents named Phillippe (he probably took name Chatelain later), worked and died in London in 1758 (not 1771 as stated by earlier authorities). Chatelain worked for notable London publishers, including John Rocque, Francis Vivares and Arthur Pond...
Category

Romantic 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

18th century ink study for the Leveson-Gower Children
Located in London, GB
Collections: J. Goodfriend, USA. Brown wash and pencil on laid paper Framed dimensions: 13.25 x 11.75 inches This powerful drawing was made at the time that Romney was painting the famous group portrait of the Gower Children now in Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal. Romney was a bold and incisive draughtsman who made numerous rich brown ink studies, principally for historical compositions; by contrast, comparatively few studies linked directly to his portraits survive. The existence of a group of studies for the Gower Children underscores its importance to Romney. The sitters were the five youngest of the eight children of Granville, 2nd Earl Gower who, at the time the portrait was commissioned, was President of the Council in Lord North’s government and one of the best-connected and most influential people in England. The present drawing which is a large scale treatment of the composition in its final form perfectly distils Romney’s conceit: the younger children dancing whilst their elder sister, in the guise of a Bacchante plays the tambourine. The bold and dramatic study underlines both the artistic confidence and classical grandeur Romney gained during his trip to Italy between 1773 and 1775. The commission from Granville, 2nd Earl Gower to paint five of his children came shortly after Romney’s Continental tour. The initial idea, as represented by the present drawing, seems to have been to paint Lady Anne, the figure on the right of the composition playing the tambourine, who was the youngest of Gower’s first four children by his second wife Lady Louisa Egerton and who married the Rev. Edward Vernon Harcourt, later Archbishop of York, with three of her younger half-siblings by Gower’s third wife, Lady Susanna Stewart: at the left Lady Georgina, who became Countess of St Germans following her marriage to the Hon. William Eliot; at the right Lady Charlotte Sophia, later Duchess of Beaufort and in the centre Lady Susanna, later Countess of Harrowby. Romney added a fifth child to the finished portrait, Gower’s son: Lord Granville, later created Viscount Granville and Earl Granville. In Italy Romney had produced a large number of studies of classical antiquities and old master paintings. The commission from Gower offered Romney the opportunity to explore a complex multi-figural group, putting into practice the kind of ambitious classical quotations that Reynolds was currently exploiting. In 1773 Reynolds had completed the remarkable group portrait of the Montgomery Sisters, now in the Tate Gallery, London, which showed them adorning a herm of the Roman god Hymen; the composition used a garland to link the three figures who were shown in classical costume dancing at the foot of a Roman sculpture. Scholars have long pointed to a similar sources for the two compositions: the works of Nicolas Poussin. Whilst the Montgomery Sisters is based, in part, on a Bacchanal now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the Gower Children has always been associated with Poussin’s Dance to the Music of Time, now in the Wallace Collection, London. It seems more likely that Romney was looking to an antique source in the form of the Borghese Dancers, a Roman relief, then in Palazzo Borghese in Rome. Romney would have seen the relief of interlocking, dancing maidens and would also have known Guido Reni’s Aurora...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil, Ink

George Edwards: c18th Engravings of Birds in Decalcomania Frames
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: "A History of Uncommon Birds", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural Histo...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Etching, Watercolor

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Study for a Frieze - Original Pen Drawing - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Study for a Frieze is an original drawing in pen realized by an anonymous artist in the 18th Cent. Good conditions but aged. The artwork is depicted through perfect hatching in a w...
Category

Modern 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pen

George Edwards: 18th Century Engravings of Ducks And Wading Birds
Located in Richmond, GB
George Edwards: ""A History of Uncommon Birds"", 1749-1761. A prominent English naturalist and ornithologist, George Edwards (1694 -1773) is best known for his work, ""A Natural His...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Sanguine drawing "Shepherdess on a Donkey" by Nicolaes Berchem
By Nicolaes Berchem
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Provenance: Mercedes von Dietrichtein, Buenos Aires. Alexander von Dietrichstein. By descendants Morritz von Diestrichstein. Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces. He was a member of the second generation of "Dutch Italianate landscape" painters. These were artists who travelled to Italy, or aspired to, in order to soak up the romanticism of the country, bringing home sketchbooks full of drawings of classical ruins and pastoral imagery. His paintings, of which he produced an immense number, (Hofstede de Groot claimed around 850, although many are misattributed), were in great demand, as were his 80 etchings and 500 drawings. His landscapes, painted in the Italian style of idealized rural scenes, with hills, mountains, cliffs and trees in a golden dawn...
Category

Dutch School 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Chalk

Portrait of a Young Man Original Charcoal and Pastel French 18th Century
Located in London, GB
French School 18th Century Portrait of a Young Man Charcoal and pastel on paper Image size: 11 x 7 inches Contemporary gilt frame
Category

Rococo 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

Portrait of an Old Woman - Pencil Drawing - Late 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait of an old woman is an original drawing realized in the late 18th Century. The artwork is a black and white pencil and pastel drawing depicting an old woman. Mint condition...
Category

Modern 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pencil

18th century pastel portrait of Lady Augusta Corbett and her son, Stuart
Located in London, GB
Collections: Commissioned by Andrew Corbett, husband of the sitter; The Venerable Stuart Corbett; Sir Stuart Corbett; By descent to 2002; Sotheby’s, London 21 March 2002, lot.104; Lowell Libson...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Pastel

Study of a girl sitting and reading a book
By William Hoare
Located in Bath, Somerset
A study in red chalk of a girl sitting and reading a book. Red chalk on paper under glass in a giltwood and gesso frame. This small drawing has a sense of intimacy in the capturing of a moment where the sitter is seemingly unaware of being observed, unlike the feeling of formailty and self-awareness in a staged portrait sitting Provenance: Private collection, Somerset With J. Davey & Sons Ltd, Liverpool William Hoare...
Category

English School 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Chalk, Glass

Francesco Furini Sanguine Drawing before 1642
Located in Florence, IT
Preparatory Drawing (sanguine on paper, 42 x 28 cm) by Francesco Furini for the making of the Saint Sebastian, ordered by the prince Lorenzo de' Medic...
Category

Baroque 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Color Pencil, Paper

French Art, Rococo Portrait, Oval, Pastel, Portrait of a Lady, Circle of Vivien
Located in Greven, DE
French School, Portrait of a Lady, Rococo, 18th Century, Fine drawing in Pastel/ Oil Pastel on Paper in the style of Vivien. The Lady might be a woman from Marie Antoinette's Court. It is part of a Pendant (see the other listing with the portrait of Queen Marie Antoinette...
Category

Rococo 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache

Landscape - Drawing by Jan Peter Verdussen - 1745 ca
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is a beautiful drawing in pencil and watercolor on paper realized by Jan Peter Verdussen in 1745 ca. In good condition, excpet for some foxing on the right. The artwork r...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Pair of 18th Century watercolour drawings by Old Master Carle Vernet
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Carle Vernet (French, 1758 – 1836) ‘La Marchande de Coco’; and ‘La Tour de Babbe d’un Charbonnier’ Ink, watercolour on paper Both signed C Vernet and Carle Vernet (lower left and lower right respectively) 12.1/4 x 9 in. (31 x 22.8 cm.) A pair Vernet was born in Bordeaux. At the age of five, he showed an extraordinary passion for drawing horses, but went through the regular academical course as a pupil of his father and of Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié. Strangely, after winning the grand prix (1782), he seemed to lose interest in the profession, and his father had to recall him back from Rome to France to prevent him from entering a monastery. In his Triumph of Aemilius Paulus, he broke with tradition and drew the horse with the forms he had learnt from nature in stables and riding-schools. His hunting-pieces, races, landscapes, and work as a lithographer were also very popular. Carle's sister was executed by the guillotine during the Revolution. After this, he gave up art. When he again began to produce under the French Directory (1795–1799), his style had changed radically. He started drawing in minute detail battles and campaigns to glorify Napoleon. His drawings of Napoleon...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper, Watercolor

Consecration of a Church 15th Century English School Illuminated Manuscript
Located in London, GB
English School 15th Century The Consecration of a Church Illuminated manuscript on Vellum Image size: 5 ½ x 5 inches (14 x 12.7 cm) 18th century ornate Tabernacle frame
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Vellum, Ink

Portrait of Lady, 18th Century English Pen and Ink
By Ozias Humphry
Located in London, GB
Ozias Humphry 1742-1810 Portrait of Frances Abington Pen and brown ink Image size: 7 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches Giltwood frame The actress Frances (Fanny) Barton, better known as Mrs. Abing...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pen, Ink

Johann Weinmann: c18th Botanical Engravings in Decalcomania Frames, Set of 6
Located in Richmond, GB
A group of mezzotint engravings of flowers from: "Phytanthoza Iconographia", c1739, presented in hand-made parcel-gilt, ebonised and decalcomania frames. Johann Weinmann (1683-174...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Mezzotint

Study in the Antique Style, a neoclassical drawing by Augustin Pajou
Located in PARIS, FR
In this lively and fresh drawing, probably taken from one of the artist's notebooks, Pajou presents us with a composition freely inspired by antiquity, as a souvenir of a visit to th...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Rome, The Countryside - China Ink Drawing by Jan Pieter Verdussen - 1742
Located in Roma, IT
Rome is a beautiful artwork realized by Jan Peter Verdussen in 1742. In good condition except for some pencil marks and traces of sealing wax on the back and diffused foxings. Hand...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Reclining Youth, 18th Century Nude Graphite on Paper
Located in London, GB
French School 18th Century Reclining Youth Graphite and charcoal on paper Image size: 15 x 23 inches (38 x 58.5 cm) Wash line mount and gilt frame Painting in eighteenth-century Fra...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite, Charcoal

Landscape - Pencil and Watercolor by Jan Pieter Verdussen - 1750
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is a beautiful drawing in watercolor and pencil on ivory-colored paper realized by Jan Peter Verdussen. In good condition; only a smallspots at the edges of the drawing an...
Category

Old Masters 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Johann Seligmann: Engravings of Parrots After George Edwards, 1770, Framed
Located in Richmond, GB
"Sammlung Verschiedenr Auslandischer und Selener Vogel", Nuremberg 1770-1773. Edited by Johann Michael Seligmann (1749 -1776): engravings with original hand-colouring after the drawi...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Portrait - Original Ink and Watercolor on Paper - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait is an original Modern artwork realized in the half of the 18th Century in France. Original watercolor on ivory paper. The work is surrounded by a colored frame. The sig...
Category

Modern 18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Ink

Johann Seligmann: Engravings of Parrots After George Edwards, 1770, Framed
Located in Richmond, GB
"Sammlung Verschiedenr Auslandischer und Selener Vogel", Nuremberg 1770-1773. Edited by Johann Michael Seligmann (1749 -1776): engravings with original hand-colouring after the drawi...
Category

18th Century and Earlier Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

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