![[THE DEATH OF WOLFE]](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2015/CSK/2015_CSK_11172_0084_000(the_death_of_wolfe_a_toleware_tray_painted_with_the_death_of_wolfe_aft063236).jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Compare the closely similar tray, of the same size, in Wolverhampton (The Museums, Galleries & Archives of Wolverhampton, object no. LP311) and another in the the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for which see C. McNamara, Benjamin West: General Wolfe and the Art of Empire (exhibition catalogue, University of Michigan Museum of Art), Ann Arbor, 2012, illustrated in colour p.3.
The source for the image was Woollett’s engraving, published on 1 January 1776 after Benjamin West’s painting. ‘Tole work oval trays with reproductions of the Death of General Wolfe were produced in quantity and Wolverhampton iron tray-plaques manufactured around 1800 were decorated with the stirring scene.’ (A. McNairn, Behold the Hero, General Wolfe and the Arts in the Eighteenth Century, Quebec, 1997, p.156).
The source for the image was Woollett’s engraving, published on 1 January 1776 after Benjamin West’s painting. ‘Tole work oval trays with reproductions of the Death of General Wolfe were produced in quantity and Wolverhampton iron tray-plaques manufactured around 1800 were decorated with the stirring scene.’ (A. McNairn, Behold the Hero, General Wolfe and the Arts in the Eighteenth Century, Quebec, 1997, p.156).