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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1960.243.B
People
Prentice Duell, American (New Albany, IN 1894 - 1960 Boston, MA)
Title
Etruscan Fresco Palette
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
20th century
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/308536

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Painted out pigment samples, typewriter ink off-white wove paper, mounted to heavy off-white wove paper
Dimensions
34.7 x 24.3 cm (13 11/16 x 9 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: brown watercolor, l.r.: Prentice Duell
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: ETRUSCAN PALETTE / FROM THE PAINTINGS IN THE TOMBA DEL TRICLINIO (480-470 B.C.) AND IN THE TOMBA DEL / LETTO FUNEBRE (470-460 B.C.) AT TARQUINIA / The paintings are done in a thin coat of lime plaster about one eighth to one quarter / of an inch in thickness. The plaster is half lime carbonate (made from the limestone / in which the tombs were cut) and half sand. When the plaster was dry a thin coat of / fine whitewash (lime carbonate) was first applied to the walls and ceilings. Its / purpose was, presumably, to provide a whiter, smoother, and more satisfactory surface than the more porous plaster.
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: YELLOW: a naturally occurring ochre or clay which owes / its color to a hydrated form of iron oxide / (Fe2O3 - H2O)
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: GOLDEN YELLOW. One of the several yellows in the paintings which / have a golden and sometimes reddish hue. These / colors could be various naturally occurring ochres, / but their varying hues could, however, have been / obtained by gently heating or calcining the natural/ ochre to various degrees.
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: LIGHT RED: A naturally occurring ochre or clay which owes / its color to an anhydrous iron oxide (Fe2O3)
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: DARK RED: a naturally occurring ochre or clay which owes / its color to an anhydrous iron oxide (Fe2O3). This color, however, could have been obtained / by gently heating or calcining the light red / color.
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: BLUE: An artificial pigment (CuO-CaO-4SiO2) made by / fusing together copper, calcium, and silica into / a glass which was then ground into a powder. / This pigment was probably imported from Egypt.
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: GREEN: A mixture of malachite, a naturally occurring / basic copper carbonate (CuCO3-Cu(OH)2) and / Egyptian blue.
  • legend: black ink, typewritten: BLACK: Apparently soot or lamp-black-- nearly pure / amphorous carbon.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Prentice Duell; his bequest to the Fogg Art Museum, 1960.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Duell Collection
Accession Year
1960
Object Number
1960.243.B
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Each section of text is typewritten and adhered to backing; each color sample is painted on a separate piece of paper and then adhered to backing. Pinholes at all corners of sheet. Sheet is taped to backing mat; verso cannot be examined 12/01.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2220 18th-19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/20/2018 - 02/05/2019

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu