Christian Friedrich Hecker (active Italy circa 1770-1790)
Christian Friedrich Hecker (active Italy circa 1770-1790)

Design for a portrait medal, perhaps showing Jacob Künhans, in a circular cartouche topped with a ribbon

Details
Christian Friedrich Hecker (active Italy circa 1770-1790)
Design for a portrait medal, perhaps showing Jacob Künhans, in a circular cartouche topped with a ribbon
signed, inscribed and dated 'Christiano Federico Hecker di Bernsbach in Saxsonia Venezia li 1. Giugno. 1779.' and with number '7'
black chalk
5 7/8 x 8 3/8 in. (15 x 21.2 cm.); with three other drawings by various hands, including Design for a double-sided portrait medal representing Jacob Künhans and the collector of medals Abate Angelo Bottari; Fame and Time by Giuseppe Carlo Zucchi, commemorating the defence of Gibraltar from the Spanish by Elliot in 1782; and Frontispiece of Jacob Künhans's Album Amicorum, 1780 (4)
Provenance
Theophil Friedrich Jakob Künhans, Venice.

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

Sign in
View condition report

Lot Essay

Hecker is primarily known for his execution of cameos, an art to which he playfully refers in this medal design, showing a figure in profile. The identification of the sitter as Künhans cannot be confirmed, although the profile does share some similarities with the other medal design in this lot, which identifies the sitters as Künhans and the numismatist Angelo Bottari.

Giuseppe Carlo Zucchi, who executed one of the other drawings in this lot, was a printmaker and the brother-in-law of Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807), of whom he wrote a biography.

More from Old Master & Early British Drawings & Watercolours

View All
View All