STANLEY, George
[Sale catalogue. 1821:05:22--24]
A catalogue of the very curious and valuable assemblage of miscellaneous articles of taste and virtù, the property of ... Richard Cosway, Esq. R.A. consisting of ancient armour, buhl & india cabinets, antique bronzes, marbles, terra-cottas, candelabra of rich ormolu, ... and numerous other articles of taste and curiosity; which will be sold by auction, by Mr. Stanley, at Mr. Cosway's late residence, No.20, Stratford Place, Oxford Street, on Tuesday, May 22, 1821, and two following days, ...
[London,, 1821].
17, [1] p. ; 26.1 cm. (4º)

Not in Lugt. Through his agent, a Mr. Watson, Soane bought lot 120 - a pair of marble vases - on the first day of this sale (cost 13s., SM Inv. L 99 & L 102), and a further fourteen lots on the second day, including, most notably, lot 30, Arnold Quellin's important terracotta model for the statue of Charles II erected by the Grocers' Company in the Royal Exchange (cost 2 guineas, SM Inv. MP 211 - see Margaret Whinney, Sculpture in Britain 1530--1830, 1964, p. 55, pl. 42B); lot 47, 'A figure resting on an urn, in terracotta', in fact a study by G.B. Guelfi for the Craggs Monument in Westminster Abbey (cost 1 guinea, SM Inv. MP 190 - see Whinney, op. cit., pp. 80--1, 255 n. 10, pl. 54A, who judges the finished work 'something of a landmark in English art'); and lot 53, which included, with two other items that cannot now be identified, a 'Figure of a Gentleman, in T.C.' similar to the documented plaster statuette of Vandyck at Stourhead by Rysbrack (cost, with lot 54, £1 4s., SM Inv. MP 171 - see M.I. Webb, Michael Rysbrack, 1954, Appendix 2, p. 226). However, it is clear Soane was not exclusively, or even especially, in pursuit of English sculpture at this sale; he was just as interested in - and indeed paid far more for - a very wide range of other objects of 'taste and virtu', including 'Three fragments in terra-cotta -- Caryatidae, &c.' (lot 15, cost £2 6s., two unidentified, one possibly SM Inv. M 1331); 'An Oratory, with image of the Virgin, and a Female reclining on emblems of Mortality, both in marble' (lot 17, cost £2 4s., the former unidentified, the latter SM Inv. S 31 [stolen]); 'Four small bronze figures, Hindu' (lot 59, cost £2 4s., unidentified); 'The Bull breaking the egg, on a marble stand' (lot 67, cost £2 12s.6d., SM Inv. S 136); 'The triform Diana, on marble pedestal' (lot 68, cost £2 10s., SM Inv. A 50); and, finally, 'A pair of [bronze?] Egyptian figures, on small plinths, and a Chinese Female' (lot 83, cost £1 13s., the former possibly SM Inv. MR 62 and MR 68, the latter unidentified). Of Soane's other purchases (lots 19, 56, 63 & 70), for which he paid only a further £2 17s.6d., at least some he may have wished to obtain as mementoes of his friendship with Cosway. Soane's interests did not, however, extend to the 'quite significant collection' of antique and exotic arms and armour, which turned out to be the most valuable part of his friend's extraordinary collection of studio props and furnishings (see Clive Wainwright, The Romantic interior, 1989, p. 64).

Copy Notes Copy 1: This copy, which is annotated in pencil with the prices of most lots (apart from the china sold on the third day), seems to have been used by Soane's agent, Mr. Watson, since his initials appear against all the lots bought by Soane. A detailed invoice for these, made out to Mr Watson and countersigned and dated JS./ May 24/ 1821, is inserted at the front. Earlier markings in ink may well indicate those lots that Soane was initially most interested in, viz. nos. 62, 109 & 120 on the first day and nos. 54, 67 & 68 on the second. Bound in a collection of sale catalogues, 1784--1823.
Copy 2: 26.3 cm. Unannotated apart from an address, 31 Edgware Road, in ink on p. 4, and pencil marks against the description of lot 67 of the second day and lots 51 and 52 of the third day. Bound after copy 1.

Binding Both copies: Recent half goatskin. Bound together.

Reference Number 3349

Additional Names Cosway, Richard (1740--1821) - Collections