Lot 25 | Rom | Delicate micromosaic with seated dog

DELICATE MICROMOSAIC WITH SEATED DOG.

Rom.
Date: Around 1800.
Maker/Designer: Attributed to Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836).
Technique: Polychrome micromosaic. In brass mount and wooden frame.
Description: Captured in the finest micromosaic, a wonderfully nuanced depiction of a white dog on a
small patch of grass, his gaze turned upwards to the right against a dark blue background.
Measurement: ø Mosaic approx. 7,5cm. Square shaped wooden frame 13x13,5x2cm.

Provenance:
Private collection Munich.

Literature:
Jeanette Hanisee Gabriel: The Gilbert Collection: Micromosaics, London 2000. For a mosaic with the same motiv see p.57, no.6.

THE ART OF THE MICROMOSAIC

The term "micromosaic" was coined by Sir Arthur Gilbert, a businessman and art lover who over many years built up one of the most important collections of micromosaics. The so-called "Rosalind and Arthur Gilbert Collection" is now kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The art of micromosaic has existed for centuries. The production of the two pieces offered here dates back to the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, when the technique of micromosaic was revived in the Vatican workshops for a very mundane reason. The order situation for large mosaics was rather modest at the end of the 18th century. So the idea came up to produce the large paintings of St. Peter's Basilica as small micromosaics and to sell them as souvenirs to the Italian tourists of the so-called Grand Tour. The Vatican workshops had a not inconsiderable additional source of income from the sale, so that there were soon other workshops of this kind. Around 1810, around 20 private workshops existed around the Spanish Steps. The little stones of glass flow not only formed small pictures as paperweights, they also adorned tabatiers, pieces of jewellery or even table tops. Most of the pieces remained unsigned and undated. The depiction of a sitting dog from the end of the 18th century also exists in various versions and goes back to the discovery of a painting in a ruin in the 18th century. Inspired by this discovery, Giacomo Raffaelli (1753-1836) created one of his most famous motifs. Characteristic is the two-dimensional representation of the dog in front of a simple background. Our micromosaic offered here can probably also be attributed to Raffaelli due to its quality and execution. The other micromosaic from this auction, with the sights of Rome from the 19th century, is a fine example of the Grand Tour souvenirs mentioned above. On display here are the popular Italian vedute - centrally, of course, the Roman Forum, and in the four small circular mosaics, St Peter's Square, the Circus Maximus, the Temple of Hercules Victor and the Pantheon.

Literature:
Hanisee Gabriel, Jeanette: The Gilbert Collection Micromosaics, London 2000.