Lion and Lioness - YCBA Collections Search

George Stubbs, 1724–1806, British, Lion and Lioness, 1770

Creator:: George Stubbs, 1724–1806
Title:: Lion and Lioness
Date:: 1770
Materials & Techniques:: Enamel on copper
Dimensions:: 9 1/2 × 11 inches (24.1 × 27.9 cm), Overall: 17 1/2 × 15 3/4 × 2 1/4 inches (44.5 × 40 × 5.7 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:: Signed and dated, white, lower right: "Geo Stubbs pinxit 1770"
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B2006.14.2
Classification:: Paintings
Collection:: Paintings and Sculpture
Link to Frame:: B2006.14.2FR
Subject Terms:: animal art | forest | lion | lioness | lions | octagon | stone | teeth
Access:: Not on view
Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:21177
Export:: XML
IIIF Manifest:: JSON

George Stubbs produced several experimental enamels on copper in the late 1760s and early 1770s. Enamel painting was usually the preserve of miniature painters, but Stubbs gradually began using the technique for full-sized paintings. This offended the Royal Academy and occasioned a dispute with Stubbs over the poor hanging of his enamels in an exhibition in 1782. This example, a lion and lioness, remained in Stubbs’s studio until the contents were sold after his death in 1807.

Gallery label for A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13)

George Stubbs depicted dramatic scenes of big wildcats—playing, hunting, or at rest—in oil, enamels, engravings, and drawings. This is one of the experimental enamels on copper he produced in the late 1760s and early 1770s. It remained in his studio after his death in 1807.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

Stubbs produced a number of experimental enamels on copper in the late 1760s and early 1770s. Enamel painting was usually the preserve of miniature painters, but Stubbs gradually began using the medium for full-sized paintings. This offended the Royal Academy and occasioned a dispute with Stubbs over the poor hanging of his enamels in an exhibition in 1782. This example, a lion and lioness, remained in Stubbs's studio until the contents were sold after his death in 1807.

Gallery label for Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11)

A Decade of Gifts and Acquisitions (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-06-01 - 2017-08-13) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Connections (Yale Center for British Art, 2011-05-26 - 2011-09-11) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

George Stubbs in the Collection of Paul Mellon: a Memorial Exhibition (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2000-02-14 - 2000-05-15) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

George Stubbs in the Collection of Paul Mellon: a Memorial Exhibition (Yale Center for British Art, 1999-04-30 - 1999-09-05) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

George Stubbs (1724-1806) Tate Gallery (Yale Center for British Art, 1985-02-13 - 1985-04-07) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

George Stubbs (1724-1806) Tate Gallery (Tate Britain, 1984-10-17 - 1985-01-06) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Malcolm Cormack, George Stubbs in the collection of Paul Mellon : A memorial exhibition, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1999, p. 40, no.20, NJ18 St915 G54 1999 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Domestic Occurences, Universal Magazine, vol. 7, London, Accessed July 21, 2023, p. 77, C19: The Nineteenth Century Index [ORBIS]

Judy Egerton, George Stubbs, 1724-1806, [exhibition] Tate Gallery. , Tate Publishing, London, 1984, p. 100, no. 68, NJ18 St915 E43 (YCBA) + [YCBA]

Judy Egerton, George Stubbs, painter : catalogue raisonne, , Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2007, pp. 49, 177, 268, 301, 362, no. 116, NJ18 St915 A12 +E44 2007 (YCBA) [YCBA]

George Stubbs, 1724-1806, an exhibition held from 13th July to 25th August at the Walker Art Gallery, 1951. , Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 1951, p. 18, no. 40, NJ18 St915 A12 1951 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Algernon Graves, The Society of Artists of Great Britain, 1760-1791, and The Free Society of Artists, 1761-1783 : a complete dictionary of contributors and their work from the foundation of the Societies to 1791, Kingsmead Reprints, Bath, 1969, p. 250, no. 153, N5053 G73 1969 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Nicholas H. J. Hall, Fearful symmetry : George Stubbs, painter of the English Enlightenment, , Hall & Knight Ltd., New York, 2000, pp. 52, 106, 108, 112, no. 20, fig. 52, NJ18 St915 F4 2000 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Geraldine Norman, Sale room : Bonington equals highest auction price, Times (London), Accessed July 19, 2023, p. 2, Times Digital Archive [ORBIS]

Sotheby's sale catalogue : sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century British paintings : 14 March 1984, Sotheby's, London, March 14, 1984, pp. 156-157, no. 119, Auction Catalogues

Spink & Son. Ltd., Apollo, vol. 42, The Spectator, London, Accessed July 19, 2023, p. iii, Art & Architecture Archive [ORBIS]

Stubbs, an exhibition in honor of Paul Mellon : National Gallery of Art, 4 May-2 June 1985. , National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1985, p. 8, no. 25, V 0413 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Bruce Tattersall, Stubbs & Wedgwood, unique alliance between artist and potter , Tate Publishing, [London] Paris :Distributed by Idea Books, 1974, pp. 48-49, no. 8, NJ18 St915 T37 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Basil Taylor, Josiah Wedgwood and George Stubbs, Proceedings of the Wedgwood Society, The Wedgwood Society, London, 1961, p. 223, no. 2, Sporting 2223 (YCBA Rare Bks) [ORBIS]

Basil Taylor, Stubbs, Phaidon, London, 1975, p. 210, pl. 63, NJ18 St915 T39 1975 (YCBA) + [YCBA]

Basil Taylor, Stubbs, Phaidon, London, 1971, pp. 54, 130, 210, no. 153, 63, NJ18 St915 +T39 1971B (YCBA) [YCBA]

Whitechapel Art Gallery, George Stubbs, 1724-1806., Catalogue of an exhibition of paintings, drawings and engravings held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, from 27th February--7th April, 1957. , London, 1957, p. 22, no. 50, NJ18 St915 T36 1957 (YCBA) [YCBA]

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