Name: CIRCLE OF JOHANN ZOFFANY, R.A. (FRANKFURT 1733-1810 LONDON)
Brand: Two gentlemen playing dice, watched by a gentleman and an attendant pouring coffee, in an interior
Price: 9500.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

CIRCLE OF JOHANN ZOFFANY, R.A.
(FRANKFURT 1733-1810 LONDON)
Two gentlemen playing dice, watched by a gentleman and an attendant pouring coffee, in an interior
oil on canvas, shaped top
41 x 45³⁄₄ in. (104.2 x 116.3 cm.)
in an 18th century running pattern shaped frame

with Sinclair, Dublin, from whom acquired jointly by,
with Edward Speelman, London and Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, as 'Benjamin Wilson', where acquired on 11 October 1949 by,
with Leggatt Bros., London.
The Viscounts Wimborne,
thence by descent to the present owner.

'Old Masters in London - From Four Centuries and Four Countries', The Illustrated London News, 17 June 1950, p. 955, illustrated, as 'Benjamin Wilson'.
'Art in London: Fine Pictures by Old Masters', The Scotsman, 10 June 1950, p. 9, as 'Benjamin Wilson'.
'The Summer Exhibition of Pictures by Old Masters at the Agnew Galleries, Jun-July 1950', The Connoisseur, CXXVI, August 1950, p. 66, as 'Benjamin Wilson'.

For further information on the collection of the Viscounts Wimborne please visit the tab ‘The Wimborne Collection’ on the main sale page.

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Lot Essay

Although the original context for the painting and the identity of the sitters have been lost, the narrative of this conversation-piece presumably centred around the game of dice. From their facial expressions, it is possible that the seated gentleman on the left owes his companion money, maybe kept in the blue bag hanging from a chair. They both make a claim on the unfurled paper on the floor, one with his foot and the other with his cane, perhaps an ‘I owe you’.

At the time of the painting’s acquisition by Agnew’s in 1949, it appears to have belonged to a group of three pictures with identical dimensions and the same shaped top, depicting a fishing party and a hunting party. Given their unusual shape, it’s possible that the paintings were commissioned for a specific interior.

The painting has traditionally been attributed to Benjamin Wilson (1721-1788), in whose studio Johann Zoffany worked during the early 1760s as a drapery painter.