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Rhinoceros resting on its side

Maker

(artist)
1698-1767

Title

Date of Production

(?) 1748

Medium

graphite with some stumping on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 26.3 cm
Width: 42.7 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2164

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

The wrinkled-skinned rhinoceros seen here resting contentedly on its side makes an interesting comparison with Francis Barlow's stiff, armour-plated creature inspired by Durer. The Indian rhinoceros had rarely been seen in Europe before 1748 when the German animal painter and etcher Johann Elias Ridinger saw this particular animal in Augsburg. A print made after his drawing of a standing rhinoceros consequently played a significant role in expelling the myth of Durer's 'unnatural' creature.

Notes

A live rhinoceros was in Augsburg from May to June 1748, and Ridinger made six sketches of it.

Provenance

E. Parsons & Sons (London), cat. no. 44 (between1921-1927), lot 71; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b; Witt Bequest 1952 Parsons didn’t print the publication year on their catalogues so we have to rely on annotations/anecdotal evidence. We know that their catalogue 38 was for a sale in 1921, and we think catalogue 46 was around 1927, so catalogue 44 should be between those dates. The BM has a drawing that came from cat. no. 45, which resold drawings Parsons had purchased from a sale in April 1926 and so must date after that. The V&A has a copy of Parsons catalogue no. 51 which they estimate is dated 1934, which supports the timeline assumed above.

Exhibition History

German Old Masters, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1969-70 (Dec.-Mar.)

Miss Clara, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 30/09/2022-15/01/2023

Miss Clara and the Celebrity Beast in Art 1500-1860, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, 17/11/2021-27/02/2022 ...More

Beauté animale, Grand Palais, Paris, 19/03/2012-16/07/2012

Oudry's Painted Menagerie, J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 01/05/2007-02/09/2007; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 07/10/2007-06/01/2008; Staatliches Museum Schwerin, 04/04/2008-06/07/2008

Captured on Paper, Animals in the Prints and Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2002-11/08/2002

Old Masters from the Witt Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 01/01/1943-01/05/1943 ...Less

Literature

Miss Clara and the Celebrity Beast in Art 1500-1860, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham, 12 Nov. 2021 - 27 Feb. 2022
cat. no. 8a
pp. 16, 66-67, 102
no. 8a on p. 67

Beauté animale, Grand Palais, Paris, 2012
cat. no. 88
fig. 139

Oudry's Painted Menagerie, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Staatliches Museum Schwerin, 2007 - 2008
p. 98
fig. 8 on p. 99 ...More

Clarke, T.H., 'Two rhinoceros drawings re-attributed' in 'Burlington Magazine', October 1994 - pp. 625-29; 126, 979
p. 626
fig. 32

Gijs van der Ham, Clara the Rhinoceros, Rijks Museum: Amsterdam, 2022.
pp.129-152 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: centre: “I VILLEDARY”.

Inscription: Verso: lower right corner, graphite, circled: “D 1005”.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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