Outlines and Sketches by Washington Allston

Various artists/makers

Not on view

Brown cloth over boards cover, the front stamped with gold. Title plate identifies the engravers as J & S. W. Cheney and the publisher as Stephen H. Perkins, Boston. An introductory note, dated January 1850, says that the prints are based on sketches found in Allston's studio after his death, in July 1843. The relevant works were hasty sketches in chalk, plus some designs outlined in umber on canvas, the sizes varying greatly. The larger sizes were reduced for engraving using daguerreotype with the related images then traced onto engraver's plates through the silver.
The captioned plates show:
1-6.Figures from Gabriel Setting the Watch (Paradise Lost, IV), from tracings in chalk on gauze made by Allston from a composition he subsequently destroyed.
7: Sybil, from an outline in chalk on canvas.
8: Dido and Aeneas (Aeneid, Book IV), from an outline in umber on canvas.
9-12: Figures from Jacob's dream, facsimile of pen and ink drawings made by Mr. Allston from his original painting.
13: Uriel, facsimile of pen and ink drawing made by Allston from his original picture of Uriel in the sun.
14: Fairies on the Seashore, disappearing at the sunrise, from a tracing in chalk on gauze made by Allston from his original design on canvas, afterwards destroyed.
15: Titania's Court, from Midsummer Night's Dream, outline in umber on canvas.
16: Heliodorus (Maccabees, Book II, Chap. II, verses 24-27), from a sketch in chalk on canvas.
17: Girl in a male costume, from a sketch in umber on canvas.
18: Ship in a Squall, from a sketch in white chalk on dark canvas.
19: The Prodigal Son, from a pencil sketch.
20: Prometheus, from a pencil sketch.

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