Williamson, George Charles | A sumptuously produced deluxe catalogue of the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan

Williamson, George Charles

Catalogue of the Collection of Jewels and Precious Works of Art. The Property of J. Pierpont Morgan. London: Privately printed at the Chiswick Press, 1910

Folio (365 x 275mm). Printed on vellum, title printed in red and black, 94 photogravure plates, 47 plates with an extra suite of proofs fully hand-colored and heightened in gold and silver leaf, each within a hand-drawn gold leaf border, lettered tissue guards; lacking the silk markers with brass endpieces. Original dark green crushed morocco, the upper cover with large inlaid panel of shagreen, finely wrought cornerpieces, centerpiece, and openwork clasps silver-gilt, by the Goldsmiths’ and Silversmith Co. Ltd, London, 1910, the cover mounts probably also silver, likely marked on the backs, the cornerpieces representing stylized dragons, the centerpiece incorporating a griffin and a gargoyle and with a mounted amethyst, two wrought metal clasps with griffins and catches with grotesque heads, spine gilt paneled in six compartments with five raised bands, green morocco doublures with heron design in lighter green inlaid morocco surrounded by gilt tooled floral sprays, green silk liners with gilt ruled border, gilt edges; spine and upper board evenly faded to brown, lower board lightly scuffed, upper joint cracked and lower weak and rubbed (as expected), some tarnishing to silver-gilt components and surrounding morocco, silk liners fraying at edges.

A sumptuously produced catalogue featuring the collection of J. Pierpont Morgan; limited edition, number 8 of 20 deluxe copies printed on vellum, and with the extra hand-colored suite of prints.

"The art historian George C. Williamson advised Morgan on some of his purchases and wrote three commissioned catalogues of Morgan's collection... this edition is the most luxurious, both for its binding and for its colored illustrations. Morgan began collecting works of art in the early 1900s. By his death in 1913, his collection was vast and generally considered one of the best in the world" (see, Metropolitan Museum of Art, object 146.8 M821 Q). The objets d'art illustrated include rings, rosaries, reliquaries, necklaces, pendent jewels, silver and niello medallions, portrait medallions, ivory and enameled caskets, buttons, seals, chalices, cups, perfume bottles, vases, clocks, a cabinet and a chest of drawers.