British Coins and Medals, Benedetto Pistrucci (1783-1855), hand-written note in five lines, to a Mr. Webb, dated 6th April, 1821 and addressed from the Royal Mint: 'M. Pistrucci presenta i suoi rispetti a M. Webb e gli fa noto che avendo ricevuto il di lui grazioso invito della conversazione, vi farà un onore d'intervenire il giorno prefisso' [Mr. Pistrucci sends his respects to Mr. Webb, informing him that having received his kind invitation for discussions, he will honour you with his presence on the specified day], below, in red and another hand, 'Engraver to the Mint', lightly mounted on heavier paper, approx. 178 x 113mm., in good order
One contender for the recipient of this letter was John Webb (1776–1869), divine and antiquary, who 'was a devoted student of antiquities ... elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1819'. Mostra, Rome 1956 (p.80, 13), identifies him as the sitter in a red wax portrait (in the Mint Museum, Rome), though Stefanelli, vol. I, 164, 152, lists the same wax as 'Ignoto' [unknown]. Stefanelli however quotes a letter (published in 1875) reading, 'In the meantime, Mr. Webb, a great amateur of cameos, heard I had arrived, and, without knowing me, sent me an invitation to call at the house of a Mr. Charman, the owner of a shop for gems and other articles of virtù, at the corner of Albermarle street, Piccadilly ...'
Another contender was John Webb (1799-1880), a London dealer, upholsterer, cabinet-maker and collector of the 1850s and 1860s, of 8 Old Bond Street and 13 George Street. A friend of Sir Henry Cole, he was an adviser to the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum), to whom, on his death, he left £10,000 for the purchase of objects. His biography seems more suited to a man who would go out of his way to meet Pistrucci, but in 1821 he would have been very young to be making such approaches. (150-250 GBP)