Album of Prints by and after Claude Gillot

Following Gillot’s death in 1722, the contents of his studio were sold and a large number of unfinished plates were acquired by print dealers, who finished them and published the prints throughout the 1720s and 30s and beyond. These print series were gathered into albums for sale to collectors around mid-century. Because the plates came directly from Gillot’s estate, albums often contain retouched proof impressions and proof states made while Gillot was working on the plates. These rare states are evidence that Gillot was more ambitious as a printmaker than the number of works in circulation during his lifetime would suggest. The Morgan’s album, containing 586 prints by and after Gillot mounted on 100 leaves, was bound in red morocco in Paris around 1750. After it was acquired by the Duke of Newcastle, his arms were added to the cover.