Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)

'Phillips commonly called the God of the Greeks and his Rib'

Details

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)
'Phillips commonly called the God of the Greeks and his Rib'
inscribed 'Phillips commonly called the God of the Greeks and his Rib' and with signature 'Rowlandson' (lower left)
pencil, pen and ink and watercolour
7.7/8 x 5.3/8 in.(20 x 13.5 cm.)

Provenance

H.S. Reitlinger.
with Leger Galleries, London, 1981.

Literature

R. Southey, Mr. Rowlandson's England, London, 1985, p. 78.

Lot Essay

The present drawing depicts the portrait painter Thomas Phillips, R.A., F.S.A. (1776-1845) and his wife Elizabeth Fraser of Fairfield. In 1814 Phillips exhibited two portraits of Byron, one in Albanian costume, dubbed 'Byron: the God of the Greeks'. This humorous epithet was then transferred from the portrait to the artist Phillips, no doubt in irony.

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