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Lot 81: PATCH, Thomas (1725-1782). The Life of Frá Bartolommeo della Porta... with his Works, Engraved

Est: £7,000 GBP - £10,000 GBP
Christie'sLondon, United KingdomJune 07, 2006

Item Overview

Description

PATCH, Thomas (1725-1782). The Life of Frá Bartolommeo della Porta... with his Works, Engraved from Original Pictures [drop-head title]. Florence: [T. Patch], 1772. Engraved title-panel and text in English and Italian. 24 engraved plates by Patch after Fra Bartolommeo printed in black, red, and other colours. ONE OF 40 COPIES. Le Blanc Manuel III, p.153, 'Patch' 55-78; F.J.B. Watson 'Thomas Patch... Notes on his Life, Together with a Catalogue of his Known Works', in: The Annual Volume of the Walpole Society, vol. XXVIII, Oxford: 1940, no. 59. [Bound with:]

T. PATCH. Il quadro originale, depointo in tavola a chiaro oscuro da Frà Bartolommeo della Porta, è presentemente nella galleria di S.A.R. [titled thus below first plate]. Florence: [T. Patch], 1773. Double-page engraved title-plate and 22 engraved plates by Patch after Fra Bartolomeo printed in ochre and other colours. VERY RARE. [and:]

T. PATCH. [The Life of Giotto]. Florence: [T. Patch], 1772. Engraved dedication-panel in English and Italian, text in English and Italian. 12 engraved plates by Patch after Benedetto da Maiano and [?]Aretino Spinello printed in black and other colours. ONE OF 40 COPIES. Le Blanc 'Patch' 79-90; Watson 61.

3 works in one volume, 2° (464 x 368mm). (Occasional, very light spotting or marking.) Contemporary Italian half speckled calf over speckled boards, spine gilt in compartments, gilt morocco lettering-piece in one (a little rubbed and scuffed, lettering-piece slightly chipped); modern cloth box with gilt vellum spine-label by James Brockman, Oxford. Provenance: S.T., Florence, 1 May 1787 (English inscription on upper pastedown) -- [sale, Christie's London, 25 November 1992] -- Charles Sebag-Montefiore (bookplate).

A FINE COLLECTION OF THREE RARE SUITES OF ENGRAVINGS BY PATCH RECORDING THE NOW LOST FRESCOES IN THE MANETTI CHAPEL, FLORENCE AND OTHER ART WORKS. Following his early studies of medicine (in part under Richard Mead), Patch left London for Italy and worked in the studio of Claude-Joseph Vernet in Rome, where he also undertook commissions for the Earl of Charlemont. In 1753 he became a member of the British Academy (whose end was accelerated by his quarrels with the director), but in 1755 he was expelled from Rome for what is thought to have been a homosexual incident. Patch settled in Florence, where he remained for the rest of his life, painting and producing caricature groups, dealing in pictures, and undertaking physiognomical studies. In 1770 Patch published The Life of Massaccio, the first of a projected series of engravings after 'every celebrated author', and these three works form part of the series. The first work in this volume depicts paintings by Fra Bartolommeo in the Convent of San Marco, Florence; eight plates are of complete paintings and the remainder show details from these paintings. The second work appears to be of great rarity, and was unknown to Watson when he compiled his catalogue raisonné of Patch's work (and, equally, to Le Blanc); it reproduces the same artist's unfinished 'Pala della Signoria', which was originally commissioned for the Capella del Consiglio of the Palazzo Vecchio, and was held by the Uffizi at the time of the work's publication. The third work records frescoes depicting the Life of St John the Baptist in the Manetti Chapel of S. Maria del Carmine in Florence (and is dedicated to Bernardo Manetti, a descendent of the chapel's patrons); attributed to Giotto by Vasari (an attribution credited by Patch), they have since been re-attributed to Spinello Aretino. The frescoes were destroyed (save a few fragments) by a fire on 28-29 January 1771 -- as Patch notes in his introduction, which states that they 'are no more to be seen, accepting [sic] in the following prints' -- and Patch retained some of the remaining fragments, which he used to prepare his prints, and also marked the underdrawing which was revealed after the fire. The prints contained in the three works are executed with a number of techniques, including etching, soft-ground etching, and engraving, and many are printed in manière de lavis, giving the effect of a light brown wash.

Artist or Maker

Notes

The Property of Charles Sebag-Montefiore

No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium.

Auction Details

Natural History, Plate Books and Cartography

by
Christie's
June 07, 2006, 12:00 AM EST

8 King Street, St. James's, London, LDN, SW1Y 6QT, UK