Benjamin West

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Benjamin West
1738-1820
Moses Consecrating Aaron and His Sons to the Priesthood. Verso: Figure of priest with knife and fragment of compositional sketch
Pen and brown ink, on paper.
7 1/16 x 4 3/4 inches (180 x 120 mm)
Purchased as the gift of Mrs. Robert H. Charles.
1970.11:250

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Notes: 

Watermark: Vryheyt (similar to Churchill 107, p. LXXV).
This drawing illustrates the Old Testament passage in Exodus XXIX. West made a painting of the same subject in 1795 intended for the King's Chapel, Windsor Castle, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1795.

Provenance: 
Estate of the artist; by descent; Harry Margary, the great-grandson of Maria West (daughter of Raphael Lamar West, and granddaughter of Benjamin West); Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London; from whom purchased 60 drawings, 17 June 1964, and 197 drawings, 15 February 1965, by M. Knoedler and Co., Inc.; from whom purchased 257 drawings by the Morgan Library in 1970.
Associated names: 

Margary, Harry, former owner.
Charles, Robert H., Mrs., donor.

Bibliography: 

Kraemer, Ruth S. Drawings by Benjamin West and his son Raphael Lamar West. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1975, no. 55.

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