A Roman Table Support

A Roman Table Support
A Roman Table Support
A Roman Table Support
Private Collection, England / Photograph by John Hammond
title=Credit line
Artist
Ascribed to Wilson
Title
A Roman Table Support
Date
c.1753 (undated)
Medium
Black chalk heightened with white on grey paper
Dimensions
Metric: 159 x 242 mm
Imperial: 6 1/4 x 9 1/2 in.
Collection
Private Collection, England
Accession Number
RF110
Wilson Online Reference
D223
Description
An ancient altar, tilted upwards to the right. A carved half-figure appears at the left end and a small and complete carved figure at the right.
Exhibited
Exeter 1946 (23 - A Classical Fragment); Tercentenary 2014 (21)
Provenance
Marianne Ford 1807; thence by descent
Signature/inscription
Inscribed verso
Verso inscriptions
[1] In Lady Ford's hand: Marianne Ford
[2] In Lady Ford's hand: Wilson
Subject
The figures on the support, formerly in the Villa Madama, Rome, but since 1796 in the Naples Museum, represent Scylla and a centaur with a cupid on his back. Antiquities of a similar type occur in the foregrounds of P117 Villa Emiliana near Rome, Private Collection, England and P104 Strada Nomentana I, Tate, London.
Related Paintings
P104 Strada Nomentana I, Tate, London
P117 Villa Emiliana near Rome, Private Collection, England
Related Works by Other Artists
Joseph Farington, Sketchbook, 1763, Victoria and Albert Museum (P72-1921), drawing inscribed 'A Tomb after H.' Brinsley Ford suggested that the 'H' in the Farington copy inscription signified Wilson's pupil in Rome, A.F. Harper (1725-1806).
Critical commentary
The detail in the drawing and its worn condition, suggesting frequent handling in the studio, indicate that it may be Wilson's original, recorded in several copies by pupils and followers, rather than by either A.F. Harper or William Hodges, as previously believed.
Bibliography
S. Reinach, Repertoire de Reliefs, Paris, 1912, vol. 3, p. 67; Ford 1951, p. 53, no. 14; Walpole Society 1998-I, p. 74 (attributed to A.F. Harper); Wilson and Europe 2014, p. 220
Condition/Conservation
The paper is torn and worn