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BIJOUTERIE

Currency:GBP Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 GBP
BIJOUTERIE
BIJOUTERIE - A George III Irish award in the form of an artists palette, engraved with the crest and motto of the Dublin Society within a shield cartouche suspended from a ribbon bow on a field of flowers, the reverse with engraved inscription, 'Presented by the Dublin Society to Mr George Cowen of Grafton Street Dublin in testimony of their Approbation of Water Colours in cakes invented by him which in their opinion are Superior to any made in Ireland or hitherto Imported', 2.5in high, Richard Williams, Dublin 1783 The Dublin Society was founded in 1781 to support and encourage the establishment of industry and to promote the arts and sciences. John Turpin in his history of the Dublin School of Art records that in 1782, George Cowan and Henry Graham submitted a range of specimen watercolour paints for the Society's approval. A sub-committee of ten artists and print sellers was assembled to test the paints and to proclaim on their quality. The committee announced on 20th March 1783, that the manufacturers had 'great merit in their invention of watercolours and deserved the Countenance of the Public.' John Turpin mentions that a silver palette was offered to Henry Graham as a mark of the Society's approbation of his product. Clearly George Cowan was presented with the same award. His name also appears on some of James Maltons late 18th century topographical views of Dublin. Literature: John Turpin, A School of Art in Dublin Since the Eighteenth Century, A History of the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, 1995. Walter G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists, vol. II, Dublin & London, 1913