Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker Ltd

  • Pencil
  • 7 × 5 ¼ inches · 177 × 132 mm
  • Drawn c. 1800

Collections

  • Edward Croft-Murray (1907-1980);
  • By descent to 2016.

This spare sheet of figure studies shows Flaxman working out poses for a funerary monument. The studies relate to the monument to The Children of Sir Thomas Frankland in the church of All Saints, Great Thirkleby, Yorkshire. Designed as a Roman stele with a figural group in high relief, the sculpture shows a standing figure holding the hand of a seated figure, both in attitudes of deep mourning. The three pencil studies on this sheet show Flaxman experimenting with the poses and arrangement of the two figures. The monument was commissioned by Sir Thomas Frankland in 1800. Flaxman’s account book specifically mentions that the design was to be ‘according to a Drawing agreed on’, suggesting the importance of his designs in preparation for his sculptural projects.