Niche with musical instruments
Maker
(artist)
1721-1775
Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1734-1789
1721-1775
Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1734-1789
Title
Niche with musical instruments
Date of Production
(circa) 1770
Medium
graphite, pen and grey ink, grey wash, watercolour on laid paper, with black ink framing lines, laid down
Dimensions
Height: 37 cm
Width: 22.2 cm
Width: 22.2 cm
Accession Number
D.1952.RW.4504
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
Delafosse was at the forefront of the revival of classical ornament in the 1760s, evident here in the coffered arches and the column-shaped pedestals, left and right. He also assigned ornament a denotative function: the sphinxes decorating the organ refer to the mystery and potential danger of music’s appeal. Design is close here to its French root ‘dessin’ (drawing) and Delafosse exploits all the effects of the medium to model a space and to create an atmosphere, dramatised by the frame of rushed curtains and the theatrical lighting.
Provenance
Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), n.d.; Witt Bequest 1952
Exhibition History
Drawings Gallery Display - Ornament by Design, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 23/04/2016-12/06/2016
Inscriptions
Watermark: Watermark: none.
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, brown ink: “Lafose”; lower right corner, grey ink: “PV”. Verso (backing sheet): upper left corner, graphite: “4305”; lower centre, graphite: “Lafosse”; lower right corner, graphite: “3/6”.
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, brown ink: “Lafose”; lower right corner, grey ink: “PV”. Verso (backing sheet): upper left corner, graphite: “4305”; lower centre, graphite: “Lafosse”; lower right corner, graphite: “3/6”.
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