The Music Party

Laroon was born in The Hague, the son of Marcellus Lauron (1648-1702), a painter of French extraction who settled in the Netherlands. Although perhaps best known for the drawings he made of The Cryes of London, engraved by John Savage, some of his most successful works are his conversation pieces. Laroon executed a series of drawings of The Music Party. Raines (op. cit., p. 80) suggests that these drawings are unique amongst English Art at this time, being both finished drawings intended as works of art in their own right and preliminary sketches. Raines quotes George Vertue, 1737, that 'he lately has amused himself more particularly to painting & drawing. Conversations, in small with much variety & pleasant entertainment of musick’ and again in 1740 'Some large drawings of merry makeings-etc. on a sheet of paper black lead & washt in Frames and Glases- well drawn & good Spirit & design-of these he made presents-some to friends & Gentlemen of his acquaintance’ (Raines, ibid.). The dedication on the sketch for the present drawing and also on Raines, (ibid., no. 51) 'The finished Drawing for Mr Bendall Martyn: Secretary to the Excise:1773’ confirms Vertue’s observation that these drawings were given away (Vertue, Walpole Society, III, 1913-14, pp. 65 and 100).

Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli (1699/1700-1773), to whom this drawing belonged, was one of the leading Italian violinist-composers active in London at the same time as Handel. His sole surviving music is a set of twelve violin sonatas.

Works by Laroon of this quality and scale seldom come on to the market. The other finished drawings from this series are all now in public collections: The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; The Courtauld Institute; the J. Leslie Wright Bequest, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery; and the British Museum. For these and other preliminary sketches see Raines, op. cit., nos., 45, 50, 51, 53, 54, 85, 86, pls. 10, 18, 22, 23, 24 and figs. 54 and 55.