Lot 7: DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI | Lady Lilith

watercolour heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic

52 by 43cm., 20½ by 17in.

watercolour heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic

STRUCTURE The paper is flat and appears to be giving a stable structural support. There are localised areas of uneven colouring, for example on her chest but these are the artist's original pigments rather than retouchings - the effect could be reduced with sympathetic, localised cosmetic restoration. The gum Arabic has cracked in areas but this is consistent with age and only visible upon close inspection. FRAME The watercolour is contained in the original artist's gilt moulded frame with a gilt mount - in excellent condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, Pictures, Drawings, Designs and Studies by the late Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1883, no.55;
London, New Gallery, Pictures Ancient and Modern by Artists of the British and Continental Schools, including a Special Selection from the Works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1897-8, no.42;
Tokyo, Bunkamura Museum of Art , Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery and Ishibashi Museum of Art, Rossetti, 1990-1991, no.42;
Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, June in Britain: 250 Years of British Art from Hogarth to Hockney, 2005, no.25;
Gunma Museum of Art, Tatebayashi, Rossetti and Burne-Jones, 2006, no.2;
Kawagoe City Art Museum, Chiba City Museum of Art and Gunma Museum of Art, Tatebayashi, City and Country in Modernity: 18th and 19th Century Paintings, Watercolours, Prints, and Illustrated Books in France and Britain from the Collection of Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, 2007, no.XV; 
Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts and Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Natsume Soseki and Arts, 2013, no.I07

F.G. Stephens, 'The Private Collections of England - No.IV., Tynemouth, Gateshead', in Athenaeum, 27 September 1873, p.407;
H.C. Marillier, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, An Illustrated Memorial of his Art and Life, 1899, pp.134, 249, no.202;
Virginia Surtees, The Paintings and Drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) a Catalogue Raisonne, 1971, p.118, no.205 R.2.;
Rowland Elzea, The Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft, Fr. And Related Pre-Raphaelite Collections, 1978, p.113;
Hew Stevenson, Jobs for the Boys, The Story of a Family in Britain’s Imperial Heyday, 2009, illustrated p.137

Commissioned from the artist in 1867 by Alexander Shannan Stevenson of The Old House, Tynemouth and thence by direct descent to his grand-daughter Mrs Nancy Thompson from whose estate it was sold in 1988;
Sotheby’s, London, 21 June 1988, lot 39, where purchased by Mr Tomonori Iwakura from whom purchased by a private collector