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Garden ornament

Maker

(artist)
1713-1789

Title

Garden ornament

Date of Production

1700 - 1799

Medium

red chalk on laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 36.9 cm
Width: 32.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.4371

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

In this seductive ornamental drawing, the warmth of colour and the soft, plastic texture of the red chalk, have been exploited in broad sweeping strokes across the paper. The artist, a painter, depicts the inert stone of the carved caryatids as if living, female flesh. The natural swinging curves of bodies and tree mirror each other, seemingly working together to prefigure or reclaim the forms of the stone structure from both sides. The design thus explores the transformative power of ornament, at once originating in nature and destroying its forms by its stylizing artifice.

Provenance

probably Gilbert Paignon-Dijonval (1708-1792); W. Parker (19th century), L.2012d; John Halswell Kemeys-Tynte, 9th Baron Wharton (1908-1969); purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 3 August 1949; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, 21 February 1950 (£18); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Ornament by Design, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 23/04/2016-12/06/2016

France in the eighteenth century, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 06/01/1968-03/03/1968

Literature

Aaron, Oliver, Pierre, Jean-Baptiste Marie, and Nicolas Lesur. Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, 1714-1789 : premier peintre du roi (Paris: Arthena, c.2009)

France in the eighteenth century, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1967-1968
cat. no. 563

Bénard, M., Cabinet de M. Paignon Dijonval, Paris 1810
no. 3537

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: Verso, lower centre: “M GIS” (not found in Heawood).

Inscription: Recto: lower right corner, light brown ink, signed by the artist: “Pierre”. Verso: upper left corner, graphite: “1173”.

Collector's mark: Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b); lower right corner, stamped in blue ink: W. Parker (L.2012d).

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