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Specimen of Mummery - a boy riding on a crocodile, with a man holding its tail, and a fettered monkey

Maker

(artist)
1782-1842

Title

Date of Production

(circa?) 1834

Medium

graphite on wove paper, treated with varnish

Dimensions

Height: 20.7 cm
Width: 30 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.4033

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

Provenance

presumably by descent to the artist’s great-grandson, John Sell Cotman; his sale, Sotheby's (London), 26 November 1948, lot 84; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (£35); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Exhibition of works by John Sell Cotman and some related painters of the Norwich School, Tate Britain, London, 07/04/1922-09/07/1922

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 13

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, lower right, cut off: "[...]TMAN /[...] MILL"; Countermark: upper right, in cursive: "N" (neither Churchill nor Heawood lists this among the Whatman marks but check against Balston's 1998 volumes on Whatman).

Inscription: Recto: lower left, graphite: "JS Cotman, Kings College. / A Specimen of Mummery"; lower right, graphite, erased: "[...] of 1815[?]". Verso: upper left, graphite: "Exhibited / at Tate / Gallery"; upper right, graphite: "16 1/2 x 13 P". Mount (removed, see photo): ), lower left, graphite: "J J C."; left lower edge, graphite: "R"; lower right, graphite: "#7".

Collector's mark: Mount (removed, see photo): lower left, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228).

Label: On mount (removed, see photo): lower left: "Exhibited / Tate Gallery".

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