Portrait Bust of Stephen Ardesoif, Esq.

Description Rouw was a highly successful wax modeller who, in 1807, was appointed "Sculptor & Modeller of Gems and Cameos" to King George III. In the catalog of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Peter Rouw is listed as having exhibited a "medallic portrait, in wax, of Stephen Ardesoif, Esq." (See Royal Commission, "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851: Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue," vol. II: p. 839) It is not known if the Walters wax is the one exhibited. A similar example can be found in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Their portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1819.

Provenance Charles Huggins, London [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1930, by purchase (?); Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Signature] on bottom edge of wax: P. Rouw Sculptor London 1817; [Inscription] on reverse: Portrait of / Stephen Ardesoif Esq. / - / Peter Rouw / Sculptor + Modeller of Gems, & Cameos, / to his R.H. the Prince Regent / - / 44 Cirencester Place / Fitzroy Square / London / 1817

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1930