This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Property from the Estate of Phyllis Leibowitz
Lot 108*
George Romney(Beckside 1734-1802 Kendal)Study for classical scene, possibly Canidia and the Youth
Amended
19 – 25 September 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, New Bond StreetSold for £2,176 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Old Master Paintings specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
George Romney (Beckside 1734-1802 Kendal)
Study for classical scene, possibly Canidia and the Youth
pencil on laid paper
20.3 x 12.7cm (8 x 5in).
framed: 43.5 x 37.9cm
pencil on laid paper
20.3 x 12.7cm (8 x 5in).
framed: 43.5 x 37.9cm
Footnotes
Provenance
Collection of Alfred A. de Pass (1861-1953), London (L.108a), bequeathed to the County Museum and Art Gallery, Truro, 1928
Sale, Christie's London, 22 February 1966, possibly lot 40
George Ranncey (according to exhibition catalogue)
Charles Carr, New York (according to exhibition catalogue)
Collection of Mr and Mrs Lester Francis Avnet, Great Neck, Long Island, New York, before 1969 (according to a label on the reverse)
Collection of the late Phyllis Leibowitz, USA
Exhibited
New York, The American Federation of Arts, Old Master Drawings From the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Lester Francis Avnet, May 1969- December 1970, cat. no. 82
Alfred de Pass bequeathed his substantial collection of Old Master drawings to the County Museum and Art Gallery, Truro, (now the Cornwall Museum & Art Gallery), in 1928. Owing to funding constraints the museum made the decision to sell a number of these in 1966, among which were five albums of sketches by Romney (lots 21-25 in the Christie's sale on 22 February) and a further 18 group lots (lots 26-43). Whilst the available records do not allow us to identify the present drawing with certainty, it may have been one of the 'Studies of Expressions' in lot 40.
When it was in the Avnet Collection this drawing was identified as being A study of the infant Shakespeare attended by Nature and the Passions. It is perhaps more likely that it is a study for the now-untraced work Canidia and her assistants stripping the youth, where the witch Canidia and her attendants capture a young man with the intention of making a magic potion from him.
Saleroom notices
Please note the following additional information
Literature
M. Joannides, A Loan Exhibition of Master Drawings from the De Pass Collection, The Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, August – September 1994, Phillips, London, exh. cat. in the section at the back 'Drawings in or formerly in the Alfred de Pass collection in Truro', listed under Romney, possibly lot 40 from the Christie's sale.
Additional information
Bid now on these items
