Thomas Rowlandson

Charles William Dyson Perrins (1864-1958), by 1923,

by descent to his wife, Mrs C.W. Dyson Perrins,

her sale, London, Sotheby's, 24 February 1960, lot 57, bt S. & R. Rosenberg;

sale, London, Christie's, 3 July 2018, lot 107,

where acquired by the present owner

J. Grego, Rowlandson the Caricaturist, London 1880, vol. II., pp. 16-19, 396, illus. p. 18;

A.P. Oppé, Thomas Rowlandson, His drawings and watercolours, London 1923, pl. 58

This drawing dates to circa 1800 and is connected to an etching, in reverse, entitled ‘The Sculptor’, which Rowlandson published around the turn of the century.¹ The sculptor is none other than Joseph Nollekens, who was elected a full member of the Royal Academy in 1773 and who became one of the most sought-after artists of his generation.

Rowlandson presents Nollekens hard at work in his studio, which from 1763 was located at 9 Mortimer Street, near Cavendish Square.² A maquette of Venus and Cupid is on his pedestal, while a model poses amongst the classical marbles, two of which appear to deliberately echo the physiognomy of both artist and sitter.

The drawing once belonged to Charles William Dyson Perrins, the grandson of William Perrins, founder of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. Perrins managed his family's firm after his father’s death and from 1901 acted as Chair of the Royal Worcester Porcelain Factory. A great bibliophile, he amassed a highly important library, whose particular strength was in medieval illuminated manuscripts. He owned many great drawings and paintings, including Turner’s Palestina (now in the National Gallery, London). Evidently interested in Rowlandson, his wife’s sale at Sotheby’s in 1960 included thirty-five drawings by him.

1. An impression of this etching is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. 59.533.566

2. For further information on Nollekens' house and studio see, J.T. Smith, Nollekens and his times, London 1949, pp. 180-3