Mid-18th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

French School - 18th century Paris, Louis XV-Transition period Portrait of a man seen from three quarters Mid-18th century Sanguine 40 x 29 cm 59 x 50 cm framed Superb Transition pe...

In this charming scene a maid appears bashful as she is introduced by her mother to the shepherd’s son. Ink and wash on hand made, cool-toned cream laid paper, 6 3/4 x 8 7/8 inches...

Pastel on paper Image size: 13 x 17 1/2 inches (33 x 44.5 cm) Mounted and framed This original pastel drawing by Thomas Frye is a half-length portrait of a man dressed in a turban. This drawing is the original sketch for one of the heads depicted in Frye's collection 'Twelve Mezzotint Prints' of 1760 and it can be assumed that this pastel work was created earlier of this same year. Two versions of the print, created from this original work, are currently held in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Frye's evocative figures, although presumably based on living models, exceed the conventions of portraiture, and also function as character studies. The man shown here - dressed in the fashionable 'Turkish' manner - turns with parted lips as if poised to speak, while raising the elegant fingers in one hand in a rhetorical gesture. His long eyelashes and smoothly rendered wrinkles and dimples are hallmarks of Frye's refined style. The Artist Thomas Frye (c. 1710 – 3 April 1762) was an Anglo-Irish artist, best known for his portraits in oil and pastel, including some miniatures and his early mezzotint engravings. He was also the patentee of the Bow porcelain factory, London, and claimed in his epitaph to be "the inventor and first manufacturer of porcelain in England," though his rivals at the Chelsea porcelain factory seem to have preceded him in bringing wares to market. The Bow porcelain works did not long survive Frye's death; their final auctions took place in May 1764. Frye was born at Edenderry, County Offaly, Ireland, in 1710; in his youth he went to London to practice as an artist. His earliest works are a pair of pastel portraits of boys...

A pair of oval drawings for Ovid, Metamophoses Left: The Triumph of Amphitrite (Book I) Right: Diana and Actaeon (Book III) From: Ovid, Metamophoses These mythological studies are a...

French School 18th Century, L'étonnement, Astonishment as a form of expression, Titled on the lower right "L'étonnement N°9" Black chalk on paper 43 x 29 cm In good condition, a sta...

French School 18th Century, Le Mépris et la Haine, Contempt and Hate as a form of expression, Titled on the lower right "Le mépris et la haine N°7" Black c...

French School 18th Century, Le Rire, Laughter as a form of expression, Titled on the lower right "Le rire N°12" Black chalk on paper 43 x 29 cm In quite good condition, stains vsibl...

A fine sanguine chalk drawing on paper of Letitia aged about ten dating to around 1765. Unsigned, inscribed verso and presented in a 19th century mount and frame. “When Letitia Pres...

Italian School 18th Century An Ancient soldier in profile, red chalk on paper 35 x 23.5 cm in good condition, traces of folds in the lower right corner Framed : 46.5 x 35.5 cm This...

Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809) ‘Ambassadeur de Siam’ and ‘La Sultana Reine’ Both titled lower centre, the drawing of the ambassador inscribed with colours intended for the prints, e...

A lovely, early drawing of the Roman god Mercury. Pen and brown ink on cream laid paper, with a partial crown and shield watermark, 7 1/4 x 4 7/8 inches (184x 123 mm) (matrix). In go...