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Two seated soldiers

Maker

Forgery in the manner of
Tiepolo family (artist)
active 18th century (Life dates)

Title

Two seated soldiers

Date of Production

20th century?

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash on laid paper, laid down on a support with brown ink framing lines and laid down on a secondary purple support

Dimensions

Height: 27.4 cm
Width: 31.2 cm

Accession Number

D.2011.XX.8

Mode of Acquisition

Francis Ford, gift, 28.11.2011

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This vigorously drawn scene of two soldiers turning to the left is executed in a manner reminiscent of the Tiepolo family; both the pen drawing and the manner of wash applied is typical. However, the superficial application of the wash on the paper surface and the lack of clarity in the modelling excludes the attribution to one of the Tiepolos.

Provenance

Henry Oppenheimer, London (1859-1932); his estate sale, Christie's (London), 10 and 13 - 14 July 1936, lot 460 (as a forgery, along with D.2011.XX.5 and D.2011.XX.6); purchased there by Sir Brinsley Ford (1908-1999); by descent to his son, Francis Ford; Gift of Francis Ford, 2011

Exhibition History

Art and Artifice: Fakes from the Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/06/2023-08/10/2023

Inscriptions

Watermark: centre: letters "A S" with an unidentified object above (letters match those used in Heawood 3084, listed as Italy? no date, and the A matches that in Heawood 3103, listed as Venice, c. 1725. A Morgan library drawing has a watermark with the same initials and a trefoil - 1996.58).

Inscription: Primary support, Recto: lower right edge, graphite: “Tiepolo”. Secondary support, Verso: upper left, graphite: “£5/-/-”; lower left, red crayon, lot number in Oppenheimer sale (also appears on D.2011.XX.5 and 6): “460”.

Collector's mark: none.

Label: Handwritten in black ink: "These were bought as / FAKES of Guys / Goya / and Tiepolo / and might be of interest to / the Courtauld Institute".

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