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Bust portrait of a lady

Maker

(artist)
1710-1762

Title

Bust portrait of a lady

Date of Production

1761

Medium

black and coloured chalks, some moistened with a brush to form a wash, on laid paper, the verso prepared with black chalk with remnants now only around the edges, along with some brown wash accidentally transferred

Dimensions

Height: 50.8 cm
Width: 34.6 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3578

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







Related Works

Portrait of a Lady

Label Text

In the early 18th century, chalk was mainly used for studies for, or copies after, portraits in oil. Gradually chalk came to be used for finished drawings, and by the mid-18th century, small, decoratively framed chalk portraits, sometimes tinted with watercolour, had become popular. Frye's drawings stand out from this tradition because of their scale (the faces are life-size) and his intense scrutiny of the sitters' faces, heightened by the dramatisation of the effects of light and shade. It seems likely, however, that the awkwardly placed watercolour washes were added later by another hand in an attempt to add to the commercial value of this drawing; the others in this series of Frye's drawings, which were used as a basis for a series of mezzotint prints, were executed in black chalk only.

Notes

There is a related print in the collection - G.1990.WL.2931, which is signed and dated 1761 (Chaloner Smith, British Mezzotints, no. 20).

Provenance

then Vice-Admiral Arthur John Layard Murray (1886-1959); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 27 October 1943, lot 29 (with the related print G.1990.WL.2931); purchased there by Colnaghi (London) (£10.10); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, 20 June 1944 (£15); Witt Bequest 1952

Literature

Wynne, Michael, 'Thomas Frye (1710-1762)' in 'Burlington Magazine', February 1972 - pp. 78-85; CXIV, 827
cat. no. 45
p. 84

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 20

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: centre: "IV".

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

Inscription: Verso: lower left, red chalk: "Latour M.Q."; right lower edge, graphite: "15"; lower left corner, graphite: "Till [or "Toll"]", lower right corner, graphite: "1004".

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