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Record drawing of the front panel of a sarchophagus showing in relief a circular portrait of a man supported by two sea gods and female figures. Alongside these are two putti, one with a horn and the other with a lyre, and two seated female figures each with a child on her lap.
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Reference number
Adam vol.26/55
Purpose
Record drawing of the front panel of a sarchophagus showing in relief a circular portrait of a man supported by two sea gods and female figures. Alongside these are two putti, one with a horn and the other with a lyre, and two seated female figures each with a child on her lap.
Aspect
Elevation
Inscribed
Inscribed in ink in a contemporary hand Ex Museo J.A.
Signed and dated
- Undated
Medium and dimensions
Pencil, black chalk, black wash with white heightening on grey paper
150 x 553
Hand
Unidentified eighteenth-century hand
Notes
This panel has been identified as that described in lot 20 of the Adam sale of 1773 as 'An urn or Sarcophagus with marine figures in bas-relief, 4ft.10 ins by 1ft.2ins' (see A. A. Tait, Robert Adam: drawings and imagination, Cambridge, 1993, p.83). It was acquired for 12 guineas by 'Rose', who bought other lots of a decorative nature and may have been Robert Adam's principal plasterer Joseph Rose (see D. Stillman, The Decorative Work of Robert Adam, London, 1966, p.47-8). However, it does not match any of the sources given in James Adam's 1762 list of 'Good Antiquitys' (National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, Clerk of Penicuik Collection, GD18/4954), and may well have been acquired from a dealer. The draughtsmanship, especially in the use of chalk and wash, is unusual in this volume and is of a high quality.
Literature
Repr. A. A. Tait, Robert Adam: drawings and imagination, Cambridge, 1993, p.84, fig.66.
Level
Drawing
Exhibition history
'Bob the Roman': Heroic Antiquity and the Architecture of Robert Adam, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 27 June - 27 September 2003; New York School of Interior Design Gallery, 29 September - 4 December 2004
The Adam Brothers in Rome: Drawings from the Grand Tour, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 25 September 2008 - 14 February 2009
The Adam Brothers in Rome: Drawings from the Grand Tour, Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 25 September 2008 - 14 February 2009
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk