Madame Melba
(c. 1902)

Rupert BUNNY

Medium: oil on canvas
Measurements: 245.5 × 153.0 cm
Place/s of Execution: London, England
Inscription: inscribed in black paint l.l.: Rupert C. W. Bunny
Accession Number: A70-1980
Department: Australian Painting
Credit Line: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of Dinah and Henry Krongold CBE, Founder Benefactors, 1980
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation
Gallery location: Not on display
Subjects (general): Musical Portraits
Subjects (specific): dresses (garments) full-length figures hats Melba, Dame Nellie opera singers single-sitter portraits women (female humans)
Frame: Original, by R. J. Stannard, London, surface not original

Frame

The frame is in the manner of those used by Thomas Lawrence, which would seem to be appropriate to the formality and grandeur of the portrait. The painting was shown at the Royal Academy, London, 1902. Despite having been resurfaced, the frame is a fine example of the large formal portrait frames from the early decades of the nineteenth century being reproduced at the beginning of the twentieth century. Framing styles are often revisited long after their date of introduction in order to develop our response to paintings through the association of the frame.
Framemaker: R. J. Stannard

30 Great Russell Street London W.C.
Date: (1902)
Materials: The frame is made up of composition ornament on a wooden chassis. The corners are secured with large screws in the manner of frames which are intended to be taken apart, though here the ornaments across the face of the mitres are bonded to the substrate. Little evidence remains of the original finish, though it was more than likely gilded with a mixture of matte and burnished surfaces.
Frame Condition: Losses in the composition ornaments have been replaced at various times. The ornament of the inner scotia is not well adhered. The surface has been over-painted with gold coloured paint throughout.
Dimensions: 270.0 x 178.5 x 14.0 cm; sight 241.0 x 150.0 cm
More Information: National Portrait Gallery


Colourman: FOINET FILS & LEFEBVRE
Location of stamp: Reverse of canvas
Transcript: TOILES & COULEURS/EXTRA-FINES/P.FOINET Fils & LEFEBVRE/PARIS/54 R NOTRE-DAME-DES CHAMPS
Medium: Ink stencil
More Information: National Portrait Gallery

Guide Labreuche (FR)