Download image:
Benjamin West
1738-1820
Design for a Medal. Verso: Fragment of sketch
Black chalk on paper; verso: black chalk.
4 x 3 5/8 inches (100 x 91 mm)
Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Robert H. Charles.
1970.11:156
Download verso image:
Provenance:
Estate of the artist; by descent; Harry Margary, the great-grandson of Maria West (daughter of Raphael Lamar West, and granddaughter of Benjamin West); Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London; from whom purchased 60 drawings, 17 June 1964, and 197 drawings, 15 February 1965, by M. Knoedler and Co., Inc.; from whom purchased 257 drawings by the Morgan Library in 1970.
Bibliography:
Kraemer, Ruth S. Drawings by Benjamin West and His Son, Raphael Lamar West. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975, no. 47.
Notes:
West may have designed this medal for a competition to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Royal Academy. The design depicts Britannia and a lion flanked by two female figures holding shields. The date, 1790, is inscribed at the base of the figures.
Associated names:
Margary, Harry, former owner.
Charles, Robert H., Mrs., donor.
Catalog link:
Artist page:
School:
Century:
Classification:
Department: