{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O40421"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O40421/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JE0204/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JE0204/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JE0204","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0205","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0206","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0207","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0208","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0209","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0210","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0211","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0212","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0213","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0214","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JE0215","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O40421/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O40421","accessionNumber":"A.20:1,2-2000","objectType":"Group","titles":[{"title":"Venetian Boy Catching a Crab","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"This bronze sculpture representing a Venetian boy catching a crab was made by the sculptor Henrietta Skerrett Montalba, in ca. 1892-93, before her early death in Venice in 1893. The crab appears to have been cast from life. According to the obituary of the sculptor in the Art Journal, the figure depicts a Venetian fisher-boy.\n\r\nHenrietta Montalba (1848-1893) was the youngest of four artist-sisters. She followed many art forms but was most successful in sculpture, which she studied at South Kensington. The Montalba family moved to Italy, where she continued studying at the Scuola delle Belle Arti in Venice. When still in London she worked under Jules Dalou, when he himself was residing in London. The larger proportion of her work were portrait busts which she mainly executed in terracotta.","physicalDescription":"A naked boy is lying on a formation of rocks supporting himself with his left arm and with the right arm is catching a crab. Signed.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Henrietta Skerrett Montalba","id":"A3918"},"association":{"text":"sculptor","id":"x43862"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"J.W. Singer & Sons","id":"A4000"},"association":{"text":"cast-maker","id":"x41023"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"bronze","id":"AAT10957"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Bronze","categories":[{"text":"Bronze","id":"THES49033"},{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SCP","id":"THES48600"},"images":["2016JE0204","2016JE0205","2016JE0206","2016JE0207","2016JE0208","2016JE0209","2016JE0210","2016JE0211","2016JE0212","2016JE0213","2016JE0214","2016JE0215"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"21A","id":"THES49844"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"21A","id":"THES49844"},"free":"","case":"FS","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Group","id":""}],[{"text":"Part of group, crab","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Venice","id":"x29237"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1892-1893","earliest":"1887-01-01","latest":"1896-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Depth","value":"12","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Crab","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"19","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Crab","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"3.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Crab","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Crab","note":"with screws "},{"dimension":"Length","value":"1512","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Whole Object ","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"492","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Whole Object","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"675","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Whole Object ","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"330","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Combined weight of sculpture and plinth "},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"138","unit":"kg","qualifier":"Plinth","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"192","unit":"kg","qualifier":"Bronze sculpture","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions were taken by SCP on 12.11.14 for <b>Bronze Zoo: A Sculptural Menagerie </b>\r\n\r\nWhole object measurement from widest and tallest parts of the sculpture. \r\n\r\n18.06.24 - Plinth measurements: 191 cm W x 89 cm D x 99.5 cm H.  ","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Henrietta.S.Montalba'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"in the rocks beneath the left leg of the figure"}],"objectHistory":"On loan to the Bethnal Green Museum from Miss Clara Montalba, from 16 October 1905. Clara Montalba was the sculptor's sister, and a painter in her own right. She appears to have been the last surviving member of the Montalba family: attempts to locate any heirs in 1968 and 1976 were unsuccessful. Transferred from Bethnal Green Museum to the Department of Architecture and Sculpture, later Sculpture Department, in 1978. As a redundant loan the present piece was formally accessioned by the Sculpture Department in 2000.\n\nThis bronze was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1893, and later in the same year at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Group, ' Venetian Boy Catching a Crab', bronze, Henrietta Skerrett Montalba (1848-1893), English, made in Venice, ca. 1892-3","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Bilbey, Diane and Trusted, Marjorie. <u>British Sculpture 1470-2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum</u>. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002, p. 340, cat.no. 514"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Hepworth-Dixon, M., ‘Henrietta Montalba:-A Reminiscence’, in: <u>Art Jorunal</u>, July 1894, pp. 215-6, illus. on p. 217"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Graves, A., <u>The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904</u>, (8 vols), 1905-1906, V, p. 274, no. 1674"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Barber, Tabitha and Batchelor, Tim. Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920. London: Tate Britain, 2024, pp. 144-5, cat. no. 126. "}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"rocks","id":"AAT11692"},{"text":"crab","id":"x30102"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Henrietta Skerrett Montalba (1848–1893)\r\n<i>Venetian Boy Catching a Crab</i>\r\nSigned; about 1892–93\n\r\nMontalba trained at the National Art Training School (now the Royal College of Art) under Jules Dalou and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. Specialising primarily in portrait busts made from terracotta, she won numerous medals for her modelling. This life-size idealised sculpture depicting a Venetian fisher-boy was exhibited in 1893 at the Royal Academy and the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, receiving critical acclaim.\n\r\nVenice\r\nBronze, cast by J.W. Singer &amp; Sons","date":{"text":"2021","earliest":"2021-01-01","latest":"2021-12-31"}},{"text":"Henrietta Skerrett Montalba (1848–1893)\r\nVenetian Boy Catching a Crab\r\nSigned; about 1892–93\r\nMontalba trained at the National Art Training School\r\n(now the Royal College of Art) under Jules Dalou and at\r\nthe Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. Specialising primarily\r\nin portrait busts made from terracotta, she won numerous\r\nmedals for her modelling. This life-size idealised sculpture\r\ndepicting a Venetian fisher-boy was exhibited in 1893 at\r\nthe Royal Academy and the World’s Columbian Exposition\r\nin Chicago, receiving critical acclaim.","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["A.20:1-2000","A.20:2-2000"],"accessionNumberNum":"20","accessionNumberPrefix":"A","accessionYear":2000,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Previous loan number","id":"THES50326"},"number":"Montalba Loan.1"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Group, Venetian boy catching a crab","Part of group, crab"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-12","recordCreationDate":"2000-06-13","availableToBook":false}}