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This item WAS NOT SOLD. Auction date was 2002 Jun 04 @ 11:00UTC-08:00 : PST/AKDT
Michael William Sharp (d. 1840) A Capriccio Interior with Connoisseurs Examining Thomas Hope's Antique Sculptures Signed and dated M. S. Sharp Pinx 1811 Oil on Canvas 481/2 x 40 in. 123.5 x 101.5 cm - $40,000-50,000 provenance Collection of Ernest J. C. Savory (sold Christie's London 3 August 1933, lot 131); Christie's London, 4 May 1995. Michael Sharp studied under Sir William Beechey at the Royal Academy and exhibited 46 paintings there between 1801 and 1836. Among his patrons was the banker and connoisseur Thomas Hope (1769-1831). Sharp's 'The Music Master' won the first prize in 1808 from the Directors of the British Institution and Hope, one of the Directors, bought the painting for himself and hung it at his mansion in Duchess Street where in 1819 it was warmly praised by the architect James Elmes. In 1820, Hope bought nother painting by Sharp entitled 'Cup of Tea'. The ancient sculptures shown in the present painting all belonged at this time to Hope who housed his exceptional collection of antiquities at Duchess Street. In the center of the painting is his bust of Antinous from Hadrian's Villa. On the right is his magnificent life-size Greek statue of Athene discovered in the mouth of the Tiber at Ostia in 1797 and regarded during the 19th century as the work of Phidias himself. Beyond is a Greco-Roman lion which also belonged to Hope. The architecture of the interior is a fanciful amalgam probably based on the grand Neoclassical interiors at Duchess Street. When the painting was sold in 1933 the entry in the Christie's catalogue identified the figures in the scene as 'well known actors and actresses of the day, including Madame Vestris, Kemble, Tom Cooke and Liston'. It is certainly true, for example, that the figure with his arm draped around Antinous is a close likeness of John Phillips Kemble (compare with Beechey's portrait, Dulwuich, no. 111). The uniform on the right is a theatrical interpretation of a Hussar's uniform. The theatrical poses struck by the figures would seem to confirm that the figures are indeed a group of actors almost certainly associated with the new theatre in Drury Lane, to the committee of which Thomas Hope was appointed in 1811.
Auction Location:
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Tuesday May 28 10:00AM to 5:00PM;Wednesday May 29 10:00AM to 5:00PM;Thursday May 30 10:00AM to 5:00PM;Friday May 31 10:00AM to 5:00PM;Saturday June 1 10:00AM to 5:00PM;Sunday June 2 1:00PM to 5:00PM; Monday June 3 10:00AM to 5:00PM
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