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Niche with musical instruments

Maker

(artist)
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

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”.

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