Plaque
1839-1844 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Biemann's work on glass reflects interest in small portraits during the first half of the nineteenth century. Throughout the summer months, he had a business in the fashionable spa town of Franzensbad and relied heavily on the trade of the visiting middle classes, including Joseph Williams Blakesley who visited Europe betwen 1839-1845.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Engraved glass |
| Brief description | Glass portrait plaque, Franzensbad, Bohemia, engraved by Dominik Biemann, 1841-45 |
| Physical description | Roundel of colourless, clear glass with wheel-engraved portrait bust of a man en profil. |
| Dimensions |
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| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'D. Biman F' (Signature)
|
| Gallery label | JOSEPH WILLIAMS BLAKESLEY
C.-a-b-1978
'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900'
Biemann belongs to the long and distinguished tradition of Bohemian glass engraving. His portraits on glass, which reflect the general interest in small portraits during that era, are outstanding in the their detail and perceptiveness. He spent his summers at the spa town of Franzenbad, engraving the visitors, and that is where he may have met his sitter, who was a member of the Apostles Club at Cambridge, a friend of Monckton Milnes and Alfred Tennyson.
Bought with the assistance of Christies's auction house and the N.A.C.F.(1987-2006) |
| Credit line | Purchased with Art Fund support |
| Object history | Bought with the assistance of Christies's auction house and the N.A.C.F |
| Production | According to Paul von Lichtenberg, Munich (letter 17.8.1998 in Obj.Info file) Blakesley (6-3-1808 - 18-4-1885) visited Franzensbad in 1839, 1840 and 1841. On stylistic grounds, Von Lichtenberg suggests 1839 as date. Later he added that the F (not P) in the signature stands for Franzensbad. |
| Summary | Biemann's work on glass reflects interest in small portraits during the first half of the nineteenth century. Throughout the summer months, he had a business in the fashionable spa town of Franzensbad and relied heavily on the trade of the visiting middle classes, including Joseph Williams Blakesley who visited Europe betwen 1839-1845. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Other number | 9372 - Glass gallery number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.5-1978 |
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| Record created | December 13, 1997 |
| Record URL |
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