Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. print view role Dealer/Gallery dates 1767- city London other cities Paris, France; country United Kingdom sex n/a historical notes Paul Colnaghi was an art dealer and collector, who began working for Anthony Torre, whose father had established businesses in Paris and London, in 1783 and by 1788 had taken control of the business to form what is now known as P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. from NGA.gov In 1753, Giovanni Battista Torre, a pyrotechnist, arrived in London. Four years later, he opened a shop in Paris for the sale of scientific instruments and books, "Cabinet de Physique Expérimentale". Torre opened a small branch of this shop near Pall Mall, London, in 1767. The firm began a connection with an engraver of colored stipple prints, named Bartolozzi. In 1780, G.B. Torre died, and his son, Anthony, formed a company with Ciceri, a Milanese optician; the partnership was dissolved in 1782, however. Around 1783, Paul Colnaghi came under the employ of Ciceri. By 1784, Colnaghi was acting as an agent in Paris, with a shop in the Palais Royal, to sell English prints for Anthony Torre. The next year, Colnaghi joined Torre in London, working from a shop on Market Lane; in 1786 they moved the shop to 132 Pall Mall. Colnaghi published a popular colored stipple-print series entitled The Cries of London from 1792-97. The shop moved again, to 23 Cockspur Street, in 1799. Around this time Colnaghi was appointed the print-seller to the Prince Regent, and later, to King George IV. Other royal customers included the Duke of Orléans (later King Louis-Philippe). Colnaghi's sons Martin and Dominic became active in the firm around 1810. Martin's share was eventually bought out for 3000£, after which Paul and Dominic re-opened a shop at 14 Pall Mall East. In 1851, Martin Colnaghi died. Sometime between then and 1864, Dominic died at the age of eighty-nine. In 1864, Dominic's nephew (who played some role in the firm) John Anthony Scott died, and his cousin, Andrew McKay, became sole proprietor of Paul and Dominic Colnaghi & Company. McKay's son William joins his father in the firm in 1879, and is in charge by 1794, when he took E.F. Deprez and O.C.H. Gutekunst into the partnership. Deprez retired in 1907; Martin Colnaghi II, who had carried on Martin's separate business at 53 Pall Mall, died in 1908. William McKay retired in 1911, the year that Gustavus Mayer, formerly of Obach and Company (168 New Bond Street), joined the firm. The official name of the firm became Messrs. P. & D. Colnaghi and Obach. In 1912, they moved to a new building designed by Lanchester and Rickards at 144-6 New Bond Street. Four years later the name of the firm was changed back to P. and D. Colnaghi and Company. In 1937, the firm becomes a Limited company with three directors: O.C.H. Gutekunst, G. Mayer, and J. Byam Shaw. Two additional directors were added in 1939--H.J.L. Wright and D.C. Baskett--while Gutekunst retired. The latter died in 1947; Mayer died in 1954. In 1955, a new director was added, R.M.D. Thesiger. decades of activity 1800-1810 1810-1820 1820-1830 1830-1840 1840-1850 1850-1860 1860-1870 1870-1880 1880-1890 1890-1900 website http://www.colnaghi.com email contact@colnaghi.co.uk phone 44-20-7491 7408 updated 03/22/2024 12:09:28 bibliographic search Search Frick Art Reference Library Catalog Search Photoarchive Search Worldcat Search Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) Search Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) Search Wikidata Entry Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details Waddesdon Archive at Windmill Hill Silk Street P & D Colnaghi Ltd, 1800-2000 see details... The Getty Research Institute Research Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Colnaghi records, 1894-1959 [microform]. see details... The Getty Research Institute Research Libraries, Archives and Special Collections P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. letters received, 1802-1851. see details... The Getty Research Institute Research Libraries, Archives and Special Collections David Roberts Correspondence, 1837-1864. see details... National Gallery of Art, Image Collection 2000B South Club Drive Dealer Photo Archives: Colnaghi see details... The Getty Research Institute Research Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Heim Gallery records, 1965-1990. see details... The Metropolitan Museum of Art Please see individual record for location Samuel Putnam Avery Diaries, 1871-1882 see details... Pierpont Morgan Library Archives 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street Morgan Collections Correspondence, 1887-1948 see details... Pierpont Morgan Library Archives 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street Literary and Historical Manuscripts (LHMS) see details... The Getty Research Institute Research Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Photographs of European drawings sold at Colnaghi’s / John R. Freeman. see details... Pierpont Morgan Library Archives 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street Reference Collection--Auction & Dealer Catalogs see details... The Cleveland Museum of Art Ingalls Library and Archives Records of the Director's Office: Frederic Allen Whiting, 1913-1930 see details... see also: Colnaghi, Paul, 1751-1833 Colnaghi, Dominic Paul, 1790-1879 «  back