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Female right hand

Model
about 1750 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This life-size terracotta model of a hand is one of a pair and is perhaps made by Louis François Roubiliac in ca. 1750. The hand would almost certainly have been used as a model, although no marble versions on monuments corresponding to it have been identified. It could alternatively have served as an example for students and assistants to copy. The Roubiliac sale from which these may have been purchased contained a number of anatomical models, including arms, legs, and knees.

Louis François Roubiliac (1702-1762) was one of the leading sculptors of his generation, and his busts and monuments are among the most important produced in Britain in the first half of the 18th century. He was born in Lyons, and probably trained in Dresden. He was later in Paris, but from 1730 he was based in London, apart from a brief visit to Rome in 1752.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleFemale right hand (named collection)
Materials and techniques
Terracotta
Brief description
Model, terracotta, hand (right female), one of a pair, perhaps by L.F. Roubilliac, English, ca. 1750
Physical description
Terracotta model, female right hand. The hand rests horizontally on a block.
Dimensions
  • Length: 30.5cm
Object history
In the possession of the Victorian painted and sculptor, Edward Henry Corbould (1815-1905), father of the donor Mrs Reginald Pott, who gave the present piece together with a further five models for hands in 1944.
Subject depicted
Summary
This life-size terracotta model of a hand is one of a pair and is perhaps made by Louis François Roubiliac in ca. 1750. The hand would almost certainly have been used as a model, although no marble versions on monuments corresponding to it have been identified. It could alternatively have served as an example for students and assistants to copy. The Roubiliac sale from which these may have been purchased contained a number of anatomical models, including arms, legs, and knees.

Louis François Roubiliac (1702-1762) was one of the leading sculptors of his generation, and his busts and monuments are among the most important produced in Britain in the first half of the 18th century. He was born in Lyons, and probably trained in Dresden. He was later in Paris, but from 1730 he was based in London, apart from a brief visit to Rome in 1752.
Associated object
A.17-1944 (Pair)
Bibliographic references
  • Baker, M, 'Roubiliac's models and eighteenth century English Sculptors' working practices' in Volk, P (ed.) Entwurf und Ansführung in der europaischen Barockplastik Munich, 1936, p. 64
  • Bilbey, Diane and Trusted, Marjorie. British Sculpture 1470-2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002, p. 124, cat.no. 170
Collection
Accession number
A.18-1944

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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