Items Similar to 18th century portrait of the painter Nathaniel Dance
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5
Johan Zoffany18th century portrait of the painter Nathaniel Dance1770s
1770s
About the Item
Collections:
Robert Gallon (1845-1925);
Private Collection, UK.
Oil on canvas laid down on panel
Framed dimensions: 11.5 x 10 inches
This highly engaging, previously unpublished portrait by Johan Zoffany represents an important addition to his oeuvre. Exceptionally finely painted, the portrait study is unfinished and thus provides us with some information about Zoffany’s working method. Zoffany’s wide ranging training and career encompassing Germany, England, Grand Tour Italy and India has recently received much scholarly attention: a biography appeared in 2009 followed by a comprehensive survey of his works by Mary Webster in 2011, the same year in which a major exhibition of over a hundred of his works was held at the Yale Center for British Art and Royal Academy of Arts in London. This attention has prompted a reassessment of Zoffany’s role as one of the most versatile and acute observers of British society, but also as one of the finest portraitists of the eighteenth-century.
The sitter of the present portrait has recently been identified as the painter Nathaniel Dance. Given the immediacy, confidence and most importantly scale of the likeness, it seemed likely to be a study for one of Zoffany’s conversation pieces rather than a full-size portrait. Stylistically it dates from the 1770s, the decade Zoffany was at the height of his powers, when he executed several of his most enduring compositions including Portraits of the Academicians of the Royal Academy and Tribuna of the Uffizi. In preparation for the first of these monumental canvases, commissioned by King George III to commemorate the foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Zoffany made a series of small-scale oil studies, at least one of which survives. In February 1772 Zoffany went to Bath to paint Thomas Gainsborough for inclusion in the conversation piece, the resulting portrait study remained with the sitter’s family until it was presented to the National Gallery in 1896 and subsequently transferred to the Tate in 1955. Like the present picture, the portrait of Gainsborough is fluidly painted and left unfinished, the sitter is seen animatedly looking to the right and would have served as a model for inserting the head into the finished conversation piece. Along with Gainsborough – who seems likely to have refused inclusion on the grounds of his growing animosity towards the hanging committee - the brothers George and Nathanial Dance were also omitted from the group. The painting is first recorded in the collection of the nineteenth-century landscape painter Robert Gallon.
For Zoffany friendship was frequently expressed through portraiture and the intimate scale and unfinished nature of the present work reinforces the idea that it was the study of someone he knew well. We know Zoffany was in the habit of painting oil studies during theatrical performances, a fact confirmed by the rare survival of two studies of David Garrick as Abel Drugger in The Alchymist at the Ashmolean. The partially painted canvas reveals Zoffany’s characteristic off-white ground, which is visible at the bottom of the canvas, beneath the sitter’s white stock. Fluid lines of light brown paint are also clearly visible and these are characteristic of Zoffany’s method for blocking in the features and poses of his sitters. The head itself is bought up to an extraordinarily high level of finish, the features are handled with characteristic delicacy, adding unblended passages of highlight to impart a vitality to the expression. The portrait, which was cut-down at some point and laid-down on a mahogany panel, survives in outstanding condition and directly demonstrates the vivacity and incisiveness with which Zoffany drew with the brush.
- Creator:Johan Zoffany (1733 - 1810, German)
- Creation Year:1770s
- Dimensions:Height: 6 in (15.24 cm)Width: 4.5 in (11.43 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Painting preserved in excellent condition, housed in a giltwood frame.
- Gallery Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU150727730712
About the Seller
5.0
Recognized Seller
These prestigious sellers are industry leaders and represent the highest echelon for item quality and design.
1stDibs seller since 2021
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: London, United Kingdom
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View All19th century portrait painted in St Petersburg in 1819
Located in London, GB
Signed, inscribed and dated, lower right:
'Geo Dawe RA St Petersburgh 1819', also signed
with initials, lower centre: 'G D RA'; and signed and inscribed verso:
'Geo Dawe RA Pinxit 1819 St Petersburgh';
Also inscribed on the stretcher by Cornelius Varley with varnishing instructions.
Collections:
Private collection, UK, 2010
Literature:
Galina Andreeva Geniuses of War, Weal and Beauty: George Dawe...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Early oil depicting the Great Fire of London
Located in London, GB
The Great Fire of London in September 1666 was one of the greatest disasters in the city’s history. The City, with its wooden houses crowded together in narrow streets, was a natural fire risk, and predictions that London would burn down became a shocking reality. The fire began in a bakery in Pudding Lane, an area near the Thames teeming with warehouses and shops full of flammable materials, such as timber, oil, coal, pitch and turpentine. Inevitably the fire spread rapidly from this area into the City. Our painting depicts the impact of the fire on those who were caught in it and creates a very dramatic impression of what the fire was like. Closer inspection reveals a scene of chaos and panic with people running out of the gates. It shows Cripplegate in the north of the City, with St Giles without Cripplegate to its left, in flames (on the site of the present day Barbican). The painting probably represents the fire on the night of Tuesday 4 September, when four-fifths of the City was burning at once, including St Paul's Cathedral. Old St Paul’s can be seen to the right of the canvas, the medieval church with its thick stone walls, was considered a place of safety, but the building was covered in wooden scaffolding as it was in the midst of being restored by the then little known architect, Christopher Wren and caught fire. Our painting seems to depict a specific moment on the Tuesday night when the lead on St Paul’s caught fire and, as the diarist John Evelyn described: ‘the stones of Paul’s flew like grenades, the melting lead running down the streets in a stream and the very pavements glowing with the firey redness, so as no horse, nor man, was able to tread on them.’
Although the loss of life was minimal, some accounts record only sixteen perished, the magnitude of the property loss was shocking – some four hundred and thirty acres, about eighty per cent of the City proper was destroyed, including over thirteen thousand houses, eighty-nine churches, and fifty-two Guild Halls. Thousands were homeless and financially ruined. The Great Fire, and the subsequent fire of 1676, which destroyed over six hundred houses south of the Thames, changed the appearance of London forever. The one constructive outcome of the Great Fire was that the plague, which had devastated the population of London since 1665, diminished greatly, due to the mass death of the plague-carrying rats in the blaze.
The fire was widely reported in eyewitness accounts, newspapers, letters and diaries. Samuel Pepys recorded climbing the steeple of Barking Church from which he viewed the destroyed City: ‘the saddest sight of desolation that I ever saw.’ There was an official enquiry into the causes of the fire, petitions to the King and Lord Mayor to rebuild, new legislation and building Acts. Naturally, the fire became a dramatic and extremely popular subject for painters and engravers. A group of works relatively closely related to the present picture have been traditionally ascribed to Jan Griffier...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
18th century allegorical painting of The Triumph of Beauty
Located in London, GB
Exhibited:
London, Royal Academy, 1800, no. 93
What was happening in British history painting in around 1800? In recent discussions of the emergence of a British School of history painting following the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768, this is a question which is rarely posed and one which is not easily answered. Examination of surviving Royal Academy exhibition catalogues reveals a profusion of artists’ names and titles, few of which remain immediately recognizable, whilst endeavours to explain the impact of exhibition culture on painting - such as the 2001 Courtauld show Art on the Line - have tended to focus on the first and second generation of Royal Academician, rather than young or aspiring artists in the early nineteenth century. This makes the discovery and identification of the work under discussion of exceptional importance in making sense of currents in English painting around 1800. Executed by Edward Dayes...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
18th century view of the Elephant and Castle in London
Located in London, GB
Collections:
With Martyn Gregory;
Judy Egerton, 1984, acquired from the above;
By descent to 2014.
Exhibited:
London, Martyn Gregory, Exhibition of English & Continental Watercolours, 1984, no. 94.
London, Lowell Libson...
Category
18th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Vellum
19th century watercolour of a Girl at her Dressing Table
By William Henry Hunt
Located in London, GB
Collections:
Muir Hetherington;
Sir John and Lady Witt, acquired 1974;
By descent to 2015.
Literature:
Tom Jones (ed.), William Henry Hunt 1790-1864, exh. cat., 1981, no. 145 (Girl in a bedroom);
John Witt, William Henry Hunt (1790-1864) Life and Work, London, 1982, no. 553, p. 194, colour pl. 16.
Exhibited:
Wolverhampton, Central Art Gallery, Preston, Harris Museum and Art Gallery and Hastings, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, William Henry Hunt 1790-1864, 1981, no. 145 as Girl in a bedroom (Lent by Sir John & Lady Witt)
Framed dimensions: 20 x 20.75 inches
This unusually charming and well-preserved watercolour was painted by William Henry Hunt in around 1833. Almost certainly depicting his young wife, Sarah, possibly in the interior of her family home at Bramley in Hampshire. This work shows Hunt’s remarkable virtuosity as a watercolourist, Hunt, for example, articulates the profile of his young wife, by leaving a reserve of white paper to suggest the light modelling her features. Throughout the 1830s Hunt made a sequence of richly painted interior views of both domestic and agricultural spaces which pay scrupulous attention to detail.
Hunt was born in London, the son of a tin-plate worker and japanner. J. L. Roget recorded the observation of Hunt’s uncle: ‘nervy, little Billy Hunt… was always a poor cripple, and as he was fit for nothing, they made an artist of him.’ At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to the landscape painter John Varley for seven years, moving to live with Varley at 18 Broad Street, Golden Square, London. There he made close friends with both John Linnell and William Mulready. Hunt worked at the ‘Monro Academy’, at 8 Adelphi Terrace, London, the house of Dr Thomas Monro, an enthusiastic patron of landscape watercolourists. Through Monro, Hunt was introduced to the 5th Earl of Essex...
Category
19th Century Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
18th century pastel portrait of Lady Augusta Corbett and her son, Stuart
By Daniel Gardner
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
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Gouache
You May Also Like
Two royal portraits (the Duc d'Angoulême and the Duc de Berry) by H.P. Danloux
Located in PARIS, FR
These two royal portraits are a major historical testimony to the stay of the Comte d'Artois (the future Charles X) and his family in Edinburgh in 1796-1797. Given by the sitters to Lord Adam Gordon, the Governor of Edinburgh, and kept by family descent to this day, these two portraits provide us with a vivid and spontaneous image of the Duc d’Angoulême and his brother the Duc de Berry. Danloux, who had emigrated to London a few years before, demonstrate his full assimilation of the art of British portrait painters in the brilliant execution of these portraits.
1. Henri-Pierre Danloux, a portraitist in the revolutionary turmoil
Born in Paris in 1753, Henri-Pierre Danloux was first a pupil of the painter Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié (1735 - 1784) and then, in 1773, of Joseph-Marie Vien (1716 - 1809), whom he followed to Rome when, at the end of 1775, Vien became Director of the Académie de France. In Rome he became friends with the painter Jacques-Louis David (1748 - 1825).
Returning to France around 1782, he settled in Lyon for a few years before returning to Paris in 1785. One of his first portraits was commissioned by the Baroness d'Etigny, the widow of the former Intendant of the Provinces of Gascony, Bearn and Navarre Antoine Mégret d'Etigny (1719 – 1767). He then became close to his two sons, Mégret de Sérilly and Mégret d'Etigny, who in turn became his patrons. In 1787, this close relationship with the d'Etigny family was further strengthened by his marriage to Antoinette de Saint-Redan, a relative of Madame d'Etigny. After his marriage, he left for Rome and did not return to France until 1789. It was during the winter of 1790-1791 that he painted one of his masterpieces, the portrait of Baron de Besenval. Set in a twilight atmosphere, this portrait of an aristocrat who knows that his death is imminent symbolizes the disappearance of an erudite and refined society which would be swept away by the French Revolution.
The Jacobin excesses led Danloux to emigrate to England in 1792; many members of his family-in-law who remained in France were guillotined on 10 May 1794. Danloux enjoyed great success as a portrait painter in England before returning to France in 1801.
During his stay in England, Danloux was deeply under the influence of English portraitists: his colors became warmer (as shown by the portrait of the Duc d'Angoulême that we are presenting), and his execution broader.
2. Description of the two portraits and biographical details of the sitters
The Duc d'Angoulême (1775-1844) was the eldest son of the Comte d'Artois, the younger brother of King Louis XVI (the future King Charles X), and his wife Marie-Thérèse of Savoie. He is shown here, in the freshness of his youth, wearing the uniform of colonel-general of the "Angoulême-Dragons" regiment.
He is wearing the blue cordon of the Order of the Holy Spirit, which was awarded to him in 1787, and two decorations: the Cross of Saint-Louis and the Maltese Cross, as he was also Grand Prior of the Order of Malta.
Born on 16 August 1775 in Versailles, Louis-Antoine d'Artois followed his parents into emigration on 16 July 1789. In 1792, he joined the émigrés’ army led by the Prince de Condé. After his stay in Edinburgh (which will be further discussed), he went to the court of the future King Louis XVIII, who was in exile at the time, and in 1799 married his first cousin Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France, the daughter of Louis XVI and the sole survivor of the royal family. The couple had no descendants. He became Dauphin of France in 1824, upon the accession to the throne of his father but played only a minor political role, preferring his military position as Grand Admiral. Enlisted in Spain on the side of Ferdinand VII, he returned home crowned with glory after his victory at Trocadero in 1823.
He reigned for a very short time at the abdication of Charles X in 1830, before relinquishing his rights in favor of his nephew Henri d'Artois, the Duc de Bordeaux. He then followed his father into exile and died on 3 June 1844 in Gorizia (now in Italy).
His younger brother, the Duc de Berry, is shown in the uniform of the noble cavalry of the émigrés’ Army. He is wearing the blue cordon of the Order of the Holy Spirit, awarded to him in May 1789, and the Cross of Saint-Louis (partly hidden by his blue cordon).
Born on 24 January 1778 in Versailles, Charles-Ferdinand d'Artois also followed his parents into emigration and joined the émigrés’ army in 1792. After his stay in Edinburgh, he remained in Great Britain, where he had an affair with Amy Brown...
Category
1790s Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Wood Panel
17th Century Portrait of John Calvin
Located in Stockholm, SE
A Rare 17th-Century Portrait of John Calvin
This small interesting portrait, of John Calvin (1509–1564) offers a rare glimpse into the enduring legacy of the French-Swiss reformer. P...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Angelic Cherubs with Classical Figure in Wilderness Finely Painted Preparatory
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Figure with Cherubim in Wilderness
Italian School, 17th century
oil painting on wood panel
framed 13 x 11 inches
condition: overall for its age very good, though the work is most likely a preparatory...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Portrait of an Elderly Man
Located in Stockholm, SE
This finely executed oil painting, attributed to the circle of Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, captures the contemplative expression of an elderly man, his gaze lowered in quiet re...
Category
Early 19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Portrait of a lady in blue dress ”Countess of Peterborough”
Located in Stockholm, SE
This exquisite portrait, with its new attribution to Theodore Russel, is believed to depict Lady Penelope O'Brien, daughter of Barnabas O'Brien, the sixth Earl of Thomond, and wife of the Earl of Peterborough, whom she married in 1644. The painting thus belongs to a historically significant period, capturing the refined elegance of the time.
The portrait has a prestigious provenance from Elleholms Hofgård, a historic estate in Mörrums socken, Blekinge, Sweden. Elleholms Hofgård, whose two-story, timber-framed main building was constructed in 1730 and expanded in 1804, has changed ownership several times since the 17th century. The ancestors of the present owners acquired the estate in 1915, and from the 20th century until 2023, this painting was prominently displayed in the estate’s main building, making it an integral part of the estate’s history.
Theodore Russel, an English portrait artist born in 1614, studied under the renowned Sir Anthony van Dyck, whose influence can be seen in Russel’s meticulous style. Russel often painted on cabinet-sized panels, such as this one, which measures approximately 39 x 31 cm. This preference for panels is a notable characteristic that sets him apart from contemporary artists like Sir Peter Lely, who exclusively used canvas. The size of the panel is a key reason for the reattribution to Russel from Peter lely, as Lely never used panels for his works. This distinctive format, along with Russel’s characteristic style, strongly supports the new attribution.
Russel, the son of Nicasius Rousseel, a goldsmith and jeweler to James I and Charles I, refined his skills under the mentorship of his uncle, the famous portrait painter Cornelis Janssen. He also worked as an assistant and copyist for van Dyck, further honing his artistic style. This captivating portrait exemplifies Russel’s craftsmanship, reflecting the elegance of the period’s fashion and the artist's refined techniques.
oil on wood panel
with indistinct inscription Countess of Peter[...] upper left.
with inscription on the reverse: ”Countess of Peterborough. P. Lely 1670. S Beatty Picture Restorer [...] Warwick”.
unframed 39 x 31 cm = 15.35 x 12.2 inches
framed 52 x 41.5 cm = 20.47 x 16.34 inches
Condition:
The portrait has just been restored by a professional art conservator in Stockholm and is now in a very good condition. The colors are vivid, and the skin tones appear more natural than before. It is a very fine painting. The frame is newly made and included.
Provenance:
Elleholms Hofgård, Mörrums socken, Blekinge, Sweden **;
Stockholms Auktionsverk, Fine Art & Antiques Autumn...
Category
17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Portrait of an Old Bearded Man With a Black Cap
Located in Stockholm, SE
We are pleased to offer a captivating portrait, most likely painted in the late 18th century, attributed to an artist within the circle of Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich. This oil ...
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
18th Century Panel Painting
18th Century Art On India
18th Century Italian Panel Art
Monumental 18th Century Italian
India Painting 18th Century
King Mahogany Frames
18th Century Oil Painting On Wood Panel
Old Antique Wood Picture Frames
Monumental Old Masters Oil Paintings
18th Century George Iii Painting
Antique Surveying Level
Peter Max Flag Painting
Sculpture Of Sitting Woman
Stipple Engraving
Sun Sculpture Ceramic
Teddy Sculpture
Vintage Clothing Photography
Wine Map France