Denton Welch:
An Inventory of His Art Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
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Administrative Information
Acquisition:
Purchases (R3326, R4815, R4228, R13557), 1957-1995
Processed by:
Helen Young, 1997, 2001
Restrictions
Access:
A minimum of twenty-four hours is required to pull art materials to the Reading Room.
Biographical Sketch
Maurice Denton Welch was born March 29, 1915, in Shanghai, to Arthur Joseph Welch, whose parents were English, and Rosalind Basset, whose family was originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts. Denton Welch was the youngest of four boys and spent his early childhood in Shanghai, with many visits to England.
In 1924, Welch was enrolled in a school in Kensington, and then in 1926-1929 he attended St. Michael's, a preparatory school in Uckfield, Sussex. While he was in school, his mother, with whom he was especially close, died in Shanghai during March of 1927; this event had a profound effect on her son. In 1929 Welch started attending school at Repton in Derbyshire. Welch started at the Goldsmith School of Art in New Cross in 1933, where he studied for three years; among his teachers was the printmaker and graphic designer Edward Bawden. At first he lived in a house where his brother Bill was also rooming, and then he moved into a house near Greenwich Park where the landlady was Evelyn Sinclair, who became a close lifelong friend.
On June 7, 1935, Welch was traveling by bicycle to go visit his aunt, when he was hit by a car. His spine was fractured, and for a few months he was paralyzed from the chest down. He was able to learn to walk again, but with difficulty. For the rest of his life he had kidney and bladder infections, which would cause frequent severe headaches. After the accident, Welch first spent time at National Hospital, and then in the Southcourt Nursing Home in Broadstairs, Kent. When he left the nursing home July 1936, Welch rented an apartment with Evelyn Sinclair in Tonbridge in order that he could be close to his doctor, John Easton. Sinclair remained with Welch as his housekeeper at his different residences until May 1946, two months after Welch and his partner Eric Oliver moved to Middle Orchard, the country house of Noël and Bernard Adeney at Crouch, near Borough Green, Kent. However, Sinclair returned to Middle Orchard in July 1948 to assist Welch until his death.
Welch continued to paint and draw after his accident. In 1941 the Leicester Galleries in London first exhibited some of his paintings, and continued over the next few years to include his paintings in their exhibits. The Leger Gallery and Redfern Gallery, both in London, also exhibited his works. Welch began writing in 1940, and some of his poems appeared in minor publications in 1941. In 1942, after the death of the painter Walter Sickert, Welch's article "Sickert at St. Peter's" (an amusing account of his having tea with Sickert shortly before Welch left the nursing home in Broadstairs) was published by Cyril Connolly in the August Horizon. Welch received a letter of praise from Edith Sitwell. Soon after, Herbert Read, editor at Routledge, accepted Welch's manuscript for "Maiden Voyage", and Dame Edith offered to write the foreword; she also wrote a review for the book. With her support, Maiden Voyage sold out before its May 1943 publication. The book received enthusiastic reviews, and Welch began writing In Youth Is Pleasure, which was published in February 1945. He also wrote several short stories, and in the fall of 1945, as his health was worsening, Welch resumed his work on A Voice Through a Cloud, a novel that he had begun earlier, and that was to remain unfinished at his death. Although Welch was to consider himself primarily a writer after the success of Maiden Voyage, he kept painting and drawing. Nine of his late paintings, created during a time when his health was failing, were reproduced in A Last Sheaf (published in 1951). He died December 30, 1948, at Middle Orchard Cottage in Crouch, Kent.
Sources:
De-la-Noy, Michael. Denton Welch (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Viking, 1984).
Laughlin, Charlotte Gay. "A Catalogue of the Denton Welch Collection at the University of Texas." Ph.D. diss., University of Texas at Austin, 1975.
Phillips, Robert. Denton Welch (New York: Twayne, c1974).
Welch, Denton. The Denton Welch Journals, edited and with an introduction by Jocelyn Brooke (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1952)
Scope and Contents
The Ransom Center's Denton Welch Art Collection is organized in two series: I. Works by Denton Welch, and II. Works by Other Artists. All works are arranged by accession number. Titles given in the list are transcribed from the works; cataloger's titles appear in brackets.
The Works by Denton Welch comprise most of the collection. These include 36 oil paintings, 7 watercolor paintings, 26 drawings (pencil, ink, and/or watercolor), and 2 sketchbooks. Most of the works are still lifes and landscapes, many done in a surrealistic style. There are also a few portraits, including three self portraits, two portraits of his friend and housekeeper Evelyn Sinclair, a portrait of his brother Bill, and portraits of unidentified subjects. Among the drawings are also designs for the title page and a decorative border for Maiden Voyage. One of the sketchbooks was created during Welch's hospital stay in 1935.
The Works by Other Artists are comprised of a miniature portrait of Welch's maternal grandfather, Thomas Bassett, an award medallion of Welch's maternal great-grandfather, William Pitt Denton, and ten watercolor paintings by William Pitt Denton's wife, Elizabeth H. (Randall) Denton.
The Ransom Center also has Denton Welch material in its Manuscript Collection, the Library, and the Photography Collection.
Container List
I. Works by Denton Welch, 1935-1946, most n.d. |
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| 65.299 [Self portrait; verso: still life with tea pot, pitcher, fruit]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 58 x 51.9 cm. FAC Vault F6-B-b |
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| 1 | 1 | 66.72.1 [Denton Welch seated, writing; rough sketch of person on verso]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (pencil) 21.8 x 25.7 cm. |
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| 2 | 66.72.2 MAIDEN VOYAGE BY DENTON WELCH ...[title-page design]. ca. 1943 Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink & pencil) 24 x 18.1 cm. |
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| 2 | 3 | 66.72.4.1-39 [Sketchbook "Done in my first days in the hospital June 1935": human figures, surrealistic figures, still lifes, various objects]. 1935 Artist Welch, Denton sketchbook (39 drawings, ink, pencil) 16.1 x 24.2 cm. |
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| 1 | 3 | 66.72.5 SUN. [sun above mimeographed poem]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 15.1 x 15.5 cm. |
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| 4 | 66.72.6 The moon was arched like a finger nail ... [moon above mimeographed poem]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 15.5 x 14.7 cm. |
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| 5 | 66.72.7 [Still life with fish skeleton, snake, hyacinth]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 12.2 x 18.5 cm. |
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| 6 | 66.72.8 [Surrealistic design with woman's head; verso: sketch of the word"END"]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 18.3 x 8.9 cm. |
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| 7 | 66.72.9 [Surrealistic figures and objects]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 10.3 x 16.1 cm. |
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| 8 | 66.72.10 [Woman reading behind lamp]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 19.2 x 13.3 cm. |
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| 9 | 66.72.11 [Seated man; verso: 2 sketches of figures]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 29 x 22.1 cm. |
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| 10 | 66.72.12 [Tea serving with cake, madeleines]. ca. 1946 Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 17.5 x 11.1 cm. |
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| 11 | 66.72.13 [Surrealistic creature on wheels; flower]. ca. 1944 Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 22 x 13.8 cm. |
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| 12 | 66.72.14 The END [book illustration design; verso: sketches of objects and figures]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 22.8 x 17.7 cm. |
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| 13 | 66.72.15 Suggested frame for Edith Sitwell's Foreword for "Maiden Voyage" by Denton Welch [border design]. ca. 1943 Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 18.9 x 12.6 cm. |
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| 14 | 66.72.16 [Man's head with chalice]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 20 x 15.8 cm. |
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| 15 | 66.72.17 [Grazing cow]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 17.7 x 22.9 cm. |
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| 16 | 66.72.18 [Surrealistic mermaid]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 20 x 12.5 cm. |
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| 17 | 66.72.19 [Design with profile of head of man wearing crown of laurel; verso: ms. poem "By the cold wash Of the fountain waterfall ..."]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 12.5 x 20 cm. |
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| 18 | 66.72.20 [Fish with belt and human face; man and woman in front of house]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 10 x 25.5 cm. |
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| 19 | 66.72.21 [Three flowers; verso: part of holograph letter from Noel Adeney]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 11.4 x 17.7 cm. |
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| 20 | 66.72.22 [Surrealistic graveyard]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 17.2 x 20.3 cm. |
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| 21 | 66.72.23 [Two female nudes and tent; verso: nude torso]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink & watercolor) 17.5 x 18.5 cm. |
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| 22 | 66.72.24 [Vegetable garden with clothes on stakes]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (watercolor & ink) 22.2 x 27.9 cm. |
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| 23 | 66.72.25 [Graveyard scene; verso: still life sketch]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (watercolor & crayon) 23.8 x 30.3 cm. |
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| 24 | 66.72.26 [Neptune with horses; verso: sketches of centaur and other figures]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (watercolor) 26.5 x 37.6 cm. |
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| 25 | 66.72.27.1-16 [Sketchbook: painting of female nude, drawing of group of 4 figures in classical costumes, sketches of figures, buildings]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton sketchbook (15 drawings, pencil & ink; 1 painting, watercolor) 26.5 x 37.8 cm. |
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| 66.72.28 [Nude male bathers in stream]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 40.1 x 58.2 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-5 |
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| 66.72.29 LOVING CUP [still life with cup, bottles, jade plant]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 51.3 x 61 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-10 |
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| 66.72.30 [Still life with table setting]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 34 x 44.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-3 |
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| 66.72.31 [Farmhouse with moon and clouds]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 47 x 62.4 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-8 |
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| 66.72.32 [Still life with bottle, sea shell, toothbrush]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on canvas board) 35.1 x 30.4 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-1 |
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| 66.72.33 [Young man wearing crown of laurel:3/4 head portrait; verso: math figures and faint sketches]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on masonite) 47 x 37.7 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-2 |
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| 66.72.34 [Cubist still life design; verso: vase of flowers]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil and collage on board) 28 x 50 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-10 |
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| 66.72.35 [Still life in pastel colors, face in window above; verso: painter with easel next to brick wall]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 45.4 x 55.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-5 |
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| 66.72.36 [Sea shells with figures; verso: surrealistic design with woman's face, wall]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on canvas) 44.2 x 50 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-2 |
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| 66.72.37 [Still life with pitcher with flowers, fruit, knives]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 51.2 x 61.2 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-9 |
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| 66.72.38 [Still life with fruit and flowers, figure standing outside window; verso: still life with 3 green apples, box, can, 2 hands reaching from above]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 54.5 x 45.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-8 |
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| 66.72.39 [Clothes on clothesline, sundial in garden]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 53.2 x 61 cm. FAC Tinker FF 3-3 |
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| 66.72.40 [Centaur; verso: still life with stein, ear of corn]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 75.8 x 55.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-3 |
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| 66.72.41 [Surrealistic design with ear, hinges, plants, table leg; verso: still life with pitcher of flowers, pipe, sea shell, brush]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 61 x 76.8 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-1 |
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| 66.72.42 [Three figures at table, dog below; verso: house on road]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 63 x 75.6 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-4 |
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| 66.72.43 Farmhouse, Yalding. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 76.4 x 61 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-4 |
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| 66.72.44 Pond Farm. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 55.3 x 81 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-7 |
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| 66.72.45 [Small church & cemetery]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 55.6 x 81 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-6 |
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| 66.72.46 [Landscape with small buildings, stacks of bricks, barrels, road]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 50.7 x 71 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-8 |
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| 66.72.47 [Country houses and trees]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 55.5 x 80.8 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-7 |
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| 66.72.48 [Standing female playing rebec, seated female at table with 2 candles]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 62.7 x 74 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-5 |
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| 66.72.49 [Pitcher with flowers on table, 4 figures (including woman with violin) around table, nude angel in sky, background landscape with man with bow at pond; verso: 3 nude figures and swan]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on panel) 85.3 x 76.5 cm. FAC Vault shelf |
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| 66.72.50 [Seated Chinese woman holding blond baby in lap; verso: Outside still life at night, with blue pitcher and fruit]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 92.2 x 61.2 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-9 |
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| 66.72.51 [Still life with squash gourd on book]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on canvas board) 29 x 25.1 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-1 |
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| 66.72.52 The Gilded Serpent. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 21.7 x 28.4 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-1 |
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| 66.72.53 [Still life with pitcher of flowers, cabbage, egg with swastikas; verso: vase with lilies, painted over]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on canvas) 45.8 x 30.7 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-1 |
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| 66.72.54 [Still life with tape measure, brush, chess board; verso: still life with mask, plants]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 69 x 58.6 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-2 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 26 | 66.72.55 The Moon Was A Great Egg Born In Blood When I Trampled My Baby's Face In The Mud. 1943 Artist Welch, Denton painting (watercolor & ink) 25.7 x 36.8 cm. |
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| 27 | 66.72.56 [Four women's heads]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 26.7 x 37.5 cm. |
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| 66.72.57 [Road leading through farmhouse and buildings, bare trees]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (watercolor) 25.3 x 36.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-2 |
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| 1 | 28 | 68.49 Cat Waiting for its Master. 1946 Artist Welch, Denton painting (watercolor & ink) 34.5 x 23 cm. |
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| 70.3.1 [Self portrait, figure reclining against pillow, hand holding pipe]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on canvas) 50.6 x 71 cm. FAC Vault F6-B-b |
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| 70.3.2 [Prince Belosselsky: head & shoulders portrait of man with pipe, wearing hat]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 59.8 x 40.7 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-10 |
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| 70.3.3 [Unidentified woman, head and upper torso, arms folded; verso: preliminary version of same portrait]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 71.1 x 50.6 cm. FAC Tinker FF 3-4 |
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| 70.3.4 [Evelyn Sinclair]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 81.6 x 55.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-6 |
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| 70.3.5 [Flowers in Worcester tea pot]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 71.7 x 50 cm. FAC Tinker FF 3-2 |
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| 70.3.6 [Capel Church]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 74 x 49.4 cm. FAC Tinker FF 3-1 |
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| 70.3.7 [Bill Welch holding book, 3/4 head and shoulders portrait]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 61.3 x 43.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 2-10 |
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| 70.3.8 [Kentish farm with large house, stables, 2 towers]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (oil on board) 50.9 x 63.7 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-3 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 29 | 70.3.9 Pigs in an Orchard. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton painting (watercolor) 25.3 x 36.4 cm. |
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| 70.3.10 [Macbeth in armor]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (pencil & watercolor) 37.7 x 26.5 cm. FAC Tinker FF 1-1 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 30 | 84.60 [Kneeling woman; verso: sketch of figures?]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink & wash) 37.4 x 26.3 cm. |
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| 31 | 84.61 [Design with three figures; verso: sketch design with figure]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (pencil) 26.5 x 37.8 cm. |
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| 32 | 96.1 [Evelyn Sinclair]. n.d. Artist Welch, Denton drawing (ink) 37.5 x 26.6 cm. |
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II. Works by Other Artists, 1838-1866 |
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| 2 | 4-13 | 66.72.1-10 [Leaves, fruits, flowers]. ca. 1866 Artist Denton, Elizabeth H. Randall 10 paintings (watercolor) 35.3 x 25.9 cm. and smaller |
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| 1 | 72.71a Thomas Bassett (circa 1840) of Boston Mass. [miniature portrait of Denton Welch's maternal grandfather]. ca. 1840 Artist Unidentified painting (oil on paper) 6.9 x 5.5 cm. |
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| 2 | 72.71b Fourth Prize Chauncy Hall School- Awarded to Wm Pitt Denton [award medallion]. 1838 Artist Unidentified 1 medallion 4.4 cm. in diameter |
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