John Webb (1799-1880) was a prominent art dealer in England. His father, Charles Webb, was in the business of recovering precious metals from fabrics and garments, which influenced his training as an upholsterer and cabinetmaker. Webb also acted between 1850-1860 as an agent for the South Kensington Museum and the British Museum, representing them at auctions in London and Paris. Thanks to his judgment, the museum acquired fundamental pieces, from medieval ivories to emblematic objects such as the Gloucester Candlestick or the Carolingian panels from the cover of the Lorsch Gospels. Webb not only bought works, but also informed and advised on major private collections, even advancing funds when the museum could not bid immediately. In the last years of his professional career he came to an agreement with the South Kensington Museum; this institution rented a large part of his holdings with the intention of buying them from him progressively.
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Traded this work in the past [ca. 1861 - ca. 1866]