Design for a Dish: Standing Male Nude Holding a Scallop Shell on His Shoulders, and Other Sketches. Verso: Acanthus Scrolls with Male Nude
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Formerly attributed to Manno di Bastiano Sbarri.
As first noted by Philip Pouncey, the drawing is by the same hand as a double-sided study descended from the collections of August Grahl and Benno Geiger, now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.1 The London drawing, executed in pen and ink over black chalk, bears a design for a grotesque mask flanked by a pair of naked boys among acanthus scrolls and an alternative mask above. The verso contains a design for a sauce-boat or other dish as well as a faintly sketched medallion containing a bearded man’s head in profile.
The drawing was purchased by its former owner Charles Fairfax Murray as by Benvenuto Cellini and entered Morgan’s collection as school of Cellini. The author of the designs remains unknown, though he appears to have been left-handed.
Footnotes:
- Victoria & Albert Museum, London, inv. E.4474-1920.
Lawrence, Thomas, Sir, 1769-1830, former owner.
Woodburn, Samuel, 1785 or 1786-1853, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Morgan, J. P. (John Pierpont), 1867-1943, former owner.