Drawing

Physical description

General Description: Design for illuminations to celebrate the birthday of George III, 1763

Place of Origin

Great Britain, UK (made)

Date

1763 (made)

Artist/maker

Cipriani, born 1727 - died 1785 (maker)
Robert Adam, born 1948 (office of, maker)

Materials and Techniques

Pencil, pen and ink, wash, watercolour and bodycolour heightened with Chinese white

Dimensions

Height: 42.2 cm, Width: 59.4 cm

Object history note

Item Provenance: Provenance: J. Leslie Wright, acquired 1936, Mrs Cecil Keith, Sotheby's, St. George Street Gallery, Architectural Watercolours, 28 April 1988

Exhibitions: London, Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of the J.Leslie Wright Collection of Masters of British Watercolour (17th-19th centuries), 1949, no.100. London, Arts Council of Great Britain, British Life, 1953, no.98. Worthing Art Gallery, English Watercolour Drawings from the Collection of Mrs. Cecil Keith, 1963, no.10. London, Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd., The Watercolour Collection formed by Mrs. Cecil Keith, May 1984, no. 119. New York, Armin B. Allen Inc., An Exhibition of Ornamental Drawings, 1520-1920, October 29th - November 15th 1986, no. 64.

Notes: This drawing and its companion, which was later to appear in the Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam, (engraved by Cunago, 1775. plate 5, vol.1, pp38-39) were formerly attributed to Clerisseau and Zucchi when they were exhibited at the RA in 1949. The illustrations were commissioned from Adam by the Queen and the large finished designs are in the Royal Collection at Windsor. Both Oppe and Adrian Bury have argued convincingly that the figures were drawn by G.B. Cipriani. Oppe further suggests that "The designs ... which may have been sent to the Queen by Adam to commemorate the event can scarcely be attributed to his own hand". Indeed, the somewhat unconfident handling of the architectural details would seem to indicate that at this stage they were the work of one of the many draughtsmen employed by the Adam office. The festivities documented in the design are fully described in The Gentleman's Magazine, June 1763 and in Watkin's Memoirs of Queen Charlotte, 1819, pp171-172. The Queen is said to have prepared the illuminations as a surprise for the King, who, in the meantime, was kept at St. James's Palace where he was entertained by the attendance at court of ladies in the masquerade costumes prepared for a grand ball given by the Duke of Richmond on that night. Thus the King knew nothing of the preparations at Buckingham House until the shutters were suddenly thrown back on his arrival at 10 o'clock. In the caption to the engraving of the companion design in the Works in Architecture Adam noted that only part of the structure was actually executed for the birthday celebration. This design is a much simplified version of the engraving and represents the illuminations as carried out.

Descriptive line

Design for illuminations to celebrate the birthday of George III, 1763

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

A.P.Oppe, English Drawings at Windsor Castle, 1950, p.22, no.20 Adrian Bury 'Old English Watercolours and Drawings in the Collection of Mrs Cecil Keith' The Old Watercolour Society Club, vol XLII, 967, p.10, pl.1

Collection code

PDP