'Study for 'Phoenicians Bartering with Ancient Britons': Composition

Drawing details

Title: 'Study for 'Phoenicians Bartering with Ancient Britons': Composition
Date: 1894-95
Media: Black and white chalk on blue paper
Dimensions: 53.3 x 36.8 cm
Location: The Huntington Art Collections, Los Angeles
Picture credit: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Reference number: 78.7

Interpretation

This design was made to decorate one of 24 panels at the Royal Exchange in London. Identical versions of the wreath at the top of the design were used in other designs, carried out by different artists. For example it is seen in the panel entitled 'The Crown Being Offered to Richard III at Baynard's Castle' painted by Sigismund Goetze (artist, 1866-1939).

Description

Study for the composition of the fresco 'Phoenicians Bartering with Ancient Britons' (1894-95, Royal Exchange, London). The composition is almost identical to that of the finished fresco, although the border has not been drawn in detail, and the wreath hanging in the arch at the top of the composition is thinner in the drawing and is supported in three places, whereas in the fresco it is shown supported by a single fixing. Identical versions of this wreath were used in the same position in other designs for the Royal Exchange. 

Provenance

Purchased by the Huntington Art Collections, from Julian Hartnoll, art dealer, London.