Drawing
ca. 1785 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This presentation drawing is by draftsman and sculptor Jean-Guillaume Moitte (1746-1810). It is a finished drawing that would show how the final product would look, rather than being a working drawing used to plan out a design. It relates to a basin made by French silversmith Henri Auguste (1759-1816). Based in Paris, Auguste sold his pieces to elite society across Europe. He often worked with Moitte.
William Beckford (1760-1844) was one of the wealthiest patrons and collectors of the period. He amassed an incredible collection of antiquities and decorative arts at his home Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. Beckford first encountered Henri Auguste's silver in Madrid in 1787. He admired the quality of Auguste's innovative neoclassical pieces. In 1802 he purchased the basin that the drawing relates to, along with its ewer, directly from Auguste.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
William Beckford (1760-1844) was one of the wealthiest patrons and collectors of the period. He amassed an incredible collection of antiquities and decorative arts at his home Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. Beckford first encountered Henri Auguste's silver in Madrid in 1787. He admired the quality of Auguste's innovative neoclassical pieces. In 1802 he purchased the basin that the drawing relates to, along with its ewer, directly from Auguste.
Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Black lead, pen and grey ink, grey and black wash |
| Brief description | Design for a dish; Jean-Guillaume Moitte, Paris, second half of 18th century. |
| Physical description | Design for an oval dish supported on a single splayed foot. The foot would be decorated with a stylize acanthus leaf chasing followed by a small neck decorated with punched rosettes inscribed within circles. A reeded underbelly to a highly polish bowl would balance a small beading below the chase acanthus leaf decoration at the rim. The two handles, narrowing as the meet the base, attach to the rim with Grecian heads and terminate in scrolling acanthus leaves. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label | Design for a silver gilded basin(16/11/2016) |
| Credit line | The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| Object history | Provenance: Christie's London, 22 May 2008, lot 112. This is the design for a silver-gilt basin, of which two are known. One is in the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection (Loan:Gilbert.736-2008), dated 1787, and the other, dated 1789, is in the Kugel Collection. Historical significance: The Gilbert Collection basin was part of a large set commissioned by William Beckford of Fonthill Abbey from Henri Auguste between 1788 and 1802. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This presentation drawing is by draftsman and sculptor Jean-Guillaume Moitte (1746-1810). It is a finished drawing that would show how the final product would look, rather than being a working drawing used to plan out a design. It relates to a basin made by French silversmith Henri Auguste (1759-1816). Based in Paris, Auguste sold his pieces to elite society across Europe. He often worked with Moitte. William Beckford (1760-1844) was one of the wealthiest patrons and collectors of the period. He amassed an incredible collection of antiquities and decorative arts at his home Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. Beckford first encountered Henri Auguste's silver in Madrid in 1787. He admired the quality of Auguste's innovative neoclassical pieces. In 1802 he purchased the basin that the drawing relates to, along with its ewer, directly from Auguste. Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996. |
| Associated object | LOAN:GILBERT.737-2008 (Object) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | MM 19 - Arthur Gilbert Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | LOAN:GILBERT.1088-2008 |
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| Record created | September 16, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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