Coade's Lithodipyra or Artificial-Stone Manufactory For all kinds of Statues, Capitals, Vases, Tombs, Coats of Arms, & Architectural ornaments &c. &c. particularly expressed in Catalogues, & Books of Prints of 800 Articles & upwards;
RA Collection: Book
Record number
07/4297
Imprint
Sold at ye Manufactory near Kings Arms Stairs, Narrow Wall Lambeth, opposite Whitehall Stairs, & at Mr. Strahan's, Bookseller No. 67 Strand,, London.: (after 1784?)
Physical Description
[68] pl. (incl. title-pl.).; 235×285 mm.
General Note
Numbers are carried by several plates - 'N.1' by plates [20, 28, 36, 37, 51, 58, 65]; 'N.2' by plates [22, 27, 33, 34, 52, 57, 66]; 'N.3' by plates [26, 67]; 'N.4' by plate [30]; 'N.5' by plate [31].
Responsibility Note
The title plate is signed as engraved by R. Wray. Other plates are not signed.
References
A. Kelly, Mrs. Coade's stone (1990); N. Penny, The Materials Of Sculpture (1993), p.188-9; T. Clifford, 'John Bacon [senior] and the manufacturers', in Apollo, 122 (1985), p.288-304.
Summary Note
No publication-date is given on the title-plate. Thirteen plates carry publication-dates, of 1777 or 1778; but the title refers to 'Catalogues, & Books of Prints of 800 Articles & upwards', and the 'Descriptive Catalogue' of 1784 lists only 778 items - which implies that this is a later catalogue than that.
The title plate shows Time being repulsed, before a kiln containing a statue of the three Graces. The first plate is captioned, 'The River God, a 9 Feet Figure, at Coade's Lithodipyra, or Artificial Stone Manufactory, Narrow Wall, Lambeth'; the rest are uncaptioned. They show architectural ornaments made of 'Coade stone' (a weather-resistant ceramic material). A few are in Gothic style, but most were designed in the Neoclassical style (by the sculptor, John Bacon, R.A., who worked for the firm from ca. 1771 to his death in 1799).
Provenance
The title-plate verso carries the bookplate of John Yenn. The title plate is inscribed in pencil, 'John Yenn RA'.
Copy Note
Several plates are annotated in ink. The title-plate is inscribed, 'Price 3 Guineas'. Most annotations relate to measurements and prices. Most illustrations are inscribed with numbers, which key them to the lists in 'A Descriptive Catalogue Of Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory' (1784), with which these plates are bound.
Binding Note
19th-century half brown morocco, brown cloth-covered boards; gilt-decorated spine lettered 'Coade's Lithodipyra' and 'R.A.' Bound with 'A Descriptive Catalogue Of Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory' (1784).
Architecture details - Architectural elements - Molding material - Moldings (object components) - Building materials - Coade stone - Great Britain - History - 18th century - Neoclassical
Catalogues - Great Britain - 18th century
Pictorial works - Great Britain - 18th century