Henry de TRIQUETI (1803-1874) An album of 21 preparatory studies for the first Albert Memorial project. Various techniques 38 x 27.5cm (album dimensions) Stamped leather cover, wear, small accidents in the corners and small stains Partially dismantled, various dimensions Provenance: Château du Perthuis. Note: Projects to honor the memory of Prince Albert began in 1862. Queen Victoria wanted a granite obelisk adorned with sculptures at the base (see lot 21). Triqueti proposed this idea: a column with a pillar uniting the two spouses, surmounted by an allegorical figure brandishing a laurel wreath. Triqueti's project was not retained, but the Queen reserved the decoration of the Wolsey Chapel for him. The obelisk project was abandoned in favor of a neo-Gothic ciborium, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in Kensington Gardens. It was inaugurated in 1872. Our album contains a large number of preparatory drawings for the first project. Some of these drawings are similar to those in a private collection in France (see exhibition catalog, Henry de Triqueti, le sculpteur des princes, Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans - Musée Girodet de Montargis, October 3, 2007 - January 6, 2008, Hazan édition, 2007, p. 116, fig. 131 and 132, rep.). The primacy of drawing was not an empty word for Triqueti, who subordinated all the arts he practiced to it. A sculptor, painter, writer and artistic advisor to the Duc d'Aumale, Triqueti is also known in the world of old drawings as a famous collector of drawings and engravings. Through his wife, he inherited the important collection of Thomas Banks (also a sculptor and collector), which included many drawings by Renaissance masters. A regular visitor to the Hôtel Drouot, Triqueti rubbed shoulders with a circle of illustrious collectors and curators such as His de La Salle (1795-1878) and Frédéric Reiset (1815-1891). Triqueti took his first steps as an artist under the aegis of Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, a family friend and neighbor. Triqueti demonstrated a perfect mastery of the art of drawing. He deploys every facet of drawing, depending on its purpose or the work's destination. Extremely precise in his drawings and copies, he uses a finely-sharpened pencil. He scratches with a feather in his search for compositions and decorations, multiplying variants and options. He can be powerful in his contours, in a Géricaldian vein, or content himself with a fine, thin line for his ornamental subjects. He sometimes drew in sanguine, particularly for academic studies and portraits. His highly finished watercolors are absolutely limpid and distant, imitating to perfection the rendering he aims to achieve in his "tarsia".