The advent of the Quin Tassie Collection Project by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has led to my renewed interest in the Dr. Henry Quin – James Tassie relationship, both personal and interest-wise (materials for casting of engraved gems). One direct connection between the two is found in “A Descriptive Catalogue of a General Collection of Ancient and Modern Engraved Gems, Cameos and Intaglios, Taken from the Most Celebrated Cabinets in Europe; and Cast in Coloured Pastes, White Enamel, and Sulphur by JAMES TASSIE by R. E. RASPE, 1791″ (Raspe Tassie 1791 Catalogue) — This list of the entire James Tassie collection (15,800 impressions), as indexed, includes both those owned by Dr. Quin, “The Quin Cabinet”, and those with the image of Dr. Quin (and his father), “Tassie’s Quin’s”.
I often refer to the images and descriptions of these impressions while researching connections between them and sometimes between one of them and other individuals and collections. In the interest of efficiency and to improve ongoing visual recognition, the following sets of images and descriptions have been prepared (the images are from the University of Oxford Classical Art Research Centre [CARC] online database of the Beazley Archive and the descriptions are from Raspe Tassie 1791 Catalogue ).
THE QUIN CABINET:
From: Raspe Tassie 1791 Catalogue Indices “LISTE, DES CABINETS & NOMS des POSSESSEURS.”
2917 & 9221
#2917 and #9221 are the only items also found in 1775 Tassie Catalogue as # 422 and #421, respectively. In 1775 shown as “Dr. Quin”. These 2 #’s also only two shown as “QUEN, (D.)” in Raspe (above). In Raspe Tassie 1791 Catalogue has differing opinion for #9221:
- 2917 – shows Apollo figure standing “tuning”? lyre atop small female figure;
- 422 & 421 both ditto of Apollo; with lyre; sitting with tripod
- 9221 – shows figure seated with lyre; the item is in the Achilles group; Raspe describes it, “”I know the learned authors of the Description of the D. of Orleans’ Gems, think this an Apollo, but I see muscles and shapes which seem to belong to an inferior rank; and Mr. Mariette is of the same opinion.”
From: Tassie 1775 Catalogue (Listing starts at #399 because that is where “Apollo” is first identified)
[MyI: #2915 is the impression which starts the group that #2917 is in. Raspe gives a lengthy description and interpretation of the identity of the small figure to the right, which is not included here; just the beginning is shown.]
2794
3451
6044
8959 or is it 8958?
8959 is the impression number given in the Raspe Tassie 1781 Catalogue index of Owners Possessors for Quin (see above – near the very top of this post). The impression listing for 8959, however, indicates that the owner is “Stosch”, the 17th century collector from whose estate Tassie obtained thousands of impressions or molds. A quick review of the listing shows that the owner of the listing just above, 8958, is “Mr. Quin”.
The difference easily attributed to a typographical error. 8958 seems to be the more probable choice because of the more direct link to the impression. The difference is more or less academic because the impressions are very similar, both being copies of the famed Strozzi Medusa signed by Solon.
3794? Error?
3794 is most likely another typographical error. It is the only entry that is out of numerical order of all three listings in the index. Also, 3794 is out of character with the other impressions listed, being a mask. It most probably should be 2794 as noted in the other listing and as shown above.
TASSIE’S QUINS:
From: Raspe Tassie 1791 Catalogue Indices “DES CHEFS MEMORABLES NOMS DES SUJETS, & PORTRAITS.”
14381 – 14383
15784
