Lot 31: WILLIAM GRIMALDI

WILLIAM GRIMALDI 1751 - 1830 PORTRAIT OF SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, P.R.A. (1723-1792) with powdered hair, wearing glasses, a dark coat, white waistcoat and cravat signed l.r.: W / Grimaldi / 1811; inscribed u.l.: Sir Josh. Reynolds Kn:t / OB: FB: 23 1789 / AE 69. , and further inscribed on backing paper verso : [Si]r Josh: Reynolds, / [Pai]nted in Enamel / Grimaldi; - / Painter in Enamel to His / R H: the Prince . Regent enamel, held in an ormolu frame 12.7 by 10.6 cm.; 5 by 4 1/4 in.

London, Royal Academy, 1812, no. 626

A.B. Grimaldi, A Catalogue of the Works of William Grimaldi, 1873, no. 20

Stacey Grimaldi (1790-1863), second son of the artist;
by family descent;
Margaret Orton, her sale, Christie's London, 23 May 1989, lot 121;
Anonymous sale, Bonhams London, 18 November 2003, lot 134

Grimaldi has taken Reynolds' Self-Portrait, 1788, as his model for the present work (Royal Collection and Dulwich Picture Gallery, London) . The present work was executed by Grimaldi in 1811. In his notes he recorded that it 'took 46 days labour and is a very fine enamel'. It was fired a total of 23 times to achieve the rich and tenebrous quality of the original oil painting.

Edmond Malone (1741–1812) suggested that the above mentioned oils were 'extremely like him [Reynolds].... exactly as he appeared in his latter days, in domestick [sic] life' (see D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds, A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, 2000, p. 51).