Live Auction 20450Old Master and British Works on Paper: Drawings, Watercolours and Prints 1500-1900
THOMAS ROWLANDSON (LONDON 1756-1827)
Lot 75

THOMAS ROWLANDSON (LONDON 1756-1827)

Dressing for a birthday

Closed5 July 2022

Estimate

GBP 12,000–18,000

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THOMAS ROWLANDSON (LONDON 1756-1827)
Dressing for a birthday
signed and dated 'T. Rowlandson 1788.' (lower right)
pencil, pen and grey ink and watercolour
11 3⁄4 x 17 in. (29.8 x 43.3 cm.)

Baron Alain de Rothschild (†); Christie's, London, 3 July 2018, lot 103, where purchased by the present owner.

Specialist note

In this satirical scene, two women are dressing for a royal birthday party. On the left, a bald headed lady admires her reflection in a mirror supported by a boy who plays with a dog. A vast wig with a feather plume is being placed upon her head. On the right, the other lady is having her hair dressed whilst being shown a new dress by an older woman wearing a wide brimmed hat. Similar etchings derived from the present work are in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Royal Collection Trust, London.