BENJAMIN ZOBEL (German/British, 1762-1831)
Vulture and Serpent in a Woodland
Sand painting on panel, 56 x 40cm
Signed with initials 'BZ'

Benjamin Zobel was born in Germany in 1762. His...

BENJAMIN ZOBEL (German/British, 1762-1831)
Vulture and Serpent in a Woodland
Sand painting on panel, 56 x 40cm
Signed with initials 'BZ'

Benjamin Zobel was born in Germany in 1762. His father was reputed to be a master pastry chef and the family ran a confectionery business in Bavaria.

At the age of eighteen Zobel travelled to Amsterdam, where he studied painting for several years, before moving to London. His first job in the English capital was working as a designer of wallpapers, linens and silks for the Ecchard Brothers of Chelsea. Not long after Zobel was employed by the Prince Regent's chef and became a `Table Decker' at Windsor Castle.

Table Decking was a fashion created during George III rule and involved elaborately decorating a table cloth with designs of coloured sands, marble dust, powdered glass or bread crumbs to create pictures and motifs. These painstaking images would then be removed with the table cloth at the end of the meal.

The King suggested making longer lasting pictures and Zobel created a process using coloured sand fixed to wood or board using glue to make permanent paintings. Influence by the work of his friend George Morland, Zobel's sand-paintings often feature animals and country scenes.

 

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