| Description | This notebooks appears to have been used by Oppé to keep a record of the works he had seen in public and private collections and in auction houses. The information is organised alphabetically by artist name, but only covers surnames beginning with A-H (John Abbott White to John Hoppner). However, the entries for G & H are not listed in alphabetical order. A second volume or continuation of this notebook was not included in the collection.
Oppé's entry for each work usually includes some or all of the following details:
- where the work was seen (eg. British Museum; Christie's etc.)
- title/description of the work (eg. Portrait of Joshua Reynolds)
- comment on quality (eg. pure good Battoni tradition)
- medium (eg. sepia washed drawing, oval)
- date
The title used above in quotation marks was inscribed in the notebook's inside front cover, along with Oppé's name and the date.
There are several inserts in the notebook (both loose and pasted in) containing additional information. These have been left in place. |