18th C. Colored Engraving, The Chinese House at Ranelagh Gardens After Canaletto

Description

A view of the floating Chinese House at Ranelagh Gardens with a masquerade, the Rotunda in the background, after Antonio … more A view of the floating Chinese House at Ranelagh Gardens with a masquerade, the Rotunda in the background, after Antonio Canaletto (1697 - 1768). Engraved by by Thomas Bowles, 1754.

Hand colored engraving, in an ebonized and giltwood frame.
18 inches wide 12.5 high 1 deep
Provenance: Collection of Ralph E. Carpenter.

Ranelagh Gardens was one of several pleasure gardens in London, and opened in 1741. Its principal attraction was an heated rotunda designed by William Jones, modelled on the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople with a diameter of 150 feet. The print shows the Chinese House, afloat on the canal with costumed revelers at a masquerade around it. The Rotunda behind.

The print was made after a painting by Canaletto, commissioned by his patron Thomas Hollis, a political philosopher, who had met the painter while making the Grand Tour. Canaletto visited Britain repeatedly from 1746, building on contacts he had made in Italy and painting many scenes of British urban life. less