Lot 138: Study for 'Death of the First-Born'

Study for 'Death of the First-Born' pencil and white chalk 36.2 x 46.3cm (14 1/4 x 18 1/4in). Sold together with seven further works by the same hand laid down on six sheets, various sizes (7): i. Study for Christ's drapery from the Chapel of the Ascension ii. Study for Christ kneeling from the Chapel of the Ascension iii. Drapery study for two figures iv. Study of a male head, inscribed 'R Potter/aged 84' v. Study for 'It would be better a Millstone was hanged about his neck' from the Chapel of the Ascension vi. Study of Roman armour from the Chapel of Ascension vii. Study for the 'Raising of Lazarus' from the Chapel of the Ascension

36.2x 46.3cm

The study for 'Death of the First-Born' relates to an illustration of the same title for Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year, (London, 1862). For further reference please see Ernestine Mills ed., The Life and Letters of Frederic Shields, (London, 1912), pp. 80-81. The fully realised version 'It would be better a Millstone was hanged about his neck' was on the North Wall of the Chapel of the Ascension beneath the depiction of St Peter, for further reference please see F. Shields, Chapel of the Ascension; its Story and Scheme, (London, 1912), p. 50. The fully realised version of the 'Raising of Lazarus' was also on the North Wall of the Chapel of the Ascension, another stained glass version of the work can be viewed in the parish church of Mereworth, Kent.