Lady surrounded by her pets

Copyright

Work in the public domain
Image: Courtauld

Maker

(artist)
1757-1827

Title

Lady surrounded by her pets

Date of Production

1757 - 1827

Medium

graphite, pen and grey and brown ink, watercolour on wove paper, laid down on a historic support

Dimensions

Height: 28 cm
Width: 21.9 cm

Object Number

D.1952.RW.3102

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

Not currently on display

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Keywords

Label Text

By the eighteenth century, the keeping of animals for pleasure or companionship was commonplace, especially in towns, where they were less likely to be needed for functional purposes. Cage-birds were particularly popular. Rowlandson shows a grand lady, seated on a throne-like chair with her monkey at her ear, holding court over parrots, doting dogs and even a wild squirrel among other 'curiosities'. The man supporting the cage possibly alludes to the collecting impulse among the fashionable classes.

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Support (old), Verso: lower right, graphite, Colnaghi number: "A5229".

Collector's mark: Support (historic), Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Provenance

Charles Wynn-Carington, Marquess of Lincolnshire, High Wycombe and London (1843-1928); his estate sale, Christie's (London), 7 December 1928, lot 82; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) (£50); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, 12 October 1942 (£35); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

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

A loan exhibition of important drawings by Thomas Rowlandson, 1756-1827, Ellis & Smith's Galleries, London, 06/05/1948-29/05/1948

Literature

Donald, Diana, Picturing animals in Britian, 1750-1850, New Haven and London 2007
p. 25
plate 20 on p. 24

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 43

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