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Cadaver of a horse

Maker

(artist)
1625-1654

Title

Cadaver of a horse

Date of Production

1600 - 1699

Medium

red and black chalk on laid paper, with grey ink framing lines

Dimensions

Height: 20.8 cm
Width: 40.6 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.1824

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords





Label Text

Potter’s striking study of a skeletal horse shows the corpse stretched across the width of the entire sheet. He uses the chalk in a highly graphic manner. With precise lines and subtle crosshatching, he not only describes the horse’s emaciated exterior and sagging flesh, but also suggests its bone structure and anatomy.

Provenance

unidentified collector, not in Lugt; August Grahl, Dresden (1791-1868), L.1199; Richeton; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: centre: crozier above a house (larger version of Heawood 1207 - 1613-14-20).

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right corner, stamped in black ink: August Grahl (L.1199). Verso: left lower edge, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228); lower left corner, stamped in black ink: unidentified collector’s mark (not in Lugt).

Inscription: Verso: centre, graphite: “No. 1”.

Label: Old mount. verso: (lower left) 558 497, (center) Paul Potter Fecit. recto: (upper right) 14, (center) N. 105. Paul Potter

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