1999 Mallett Gallery Catalogue

MALLET T Established 1865

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MALLETT Gallery

An Exhibition of Sporting and Marine Paintings

141 New Bond Street, London W I Y OBS Telephone: +44 (0)20 7499 7411 Fax: +44 (0)20 7495 3179

Mallett Gallery 141 New Bond Street London W I Y OBS Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7499 741: Fax: + 44 (0)20 7495 3179 J a m e s Harvey Gallery Manager

Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd 141 New Bond Street London W I Y OBS Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7499 7411 Fax: + 44 (0)20 7495 3179 DIRECTORS

Lanto Synge Managing Director T h e H o n Peter Dixon Paula H u n t Giles Hutchinson Smith J o h n Smith Associate Director James Harvey Associate Director

Mallett at Bourdon House Ltd 2 Davies Street London W I Y ILJ Telephone: + 44 (0) 20 7629 2444 Fax: + 4 4 (0) 20 7499 2670 DIRECTORS

Lanto Synge T h e H o n Peter Dixon Paula H u n t T h o m a s Woodham-Smith Henry Neville Mallett Website: http://www.mallett.co.uk E-mail: antiques@mallett.co.uk

Front cover (clockwise from top left): L D M a n , A Barge coming alongside the Carolina, with other Vessels in Calm Waters (page 46-47); Richard Roper, A Gentleman in Hunting Pinks with his Groom holding a Bay Hunter (page 32-33); Charles Brooking, A Galliot firing a Salute in a Calm Estuary (page 45); John Frederick Herring Senior, A Portrait of the Racehorse Memnon with William Scott Up (page 10).

Back cover: Attributed to Peter Turnerelli, Horatio, Admiral Lord yelson (page 66-67).

Frontispiece: George Stubbs, Mrjenison Shafto's Bay Racehorse, Squirrel, standing in a Landscape (detail) (pages 28-29).

Foreworc For the past few years the Mallett Gallery- has p r o d u c e d catalogues that have r e p r e s e n t e d the Gallery's \'aried areas of dealing. VVe h a \ c always h a d an interest in S p o r t i n g a n d M a r i n e paintings hut this is o u r first catalogue de\'0ted solely to these two specialised fields. T h i s exhibition follows almost a year of p l a n n i n g a n d searching.

O n the S p o r t i n g side, we have a m i x t u r e of racing a n d h u n t i n g paintings. O f special note is the G e o r g e S t u b b s ' portrait of Squirrel, p a i n t e d in a b o u t 1 765, a n d illustrated o n p a g e 28. T h i s h a n d s o m e horse portrait is a w o n d e r f u l e x a m p l e of S t u b b s ' work, a n d clearly shows why he is r e g a r d e d as the greatest of the eighteenth c e n t u r y sporting artists. We are also delighted to offer a g r o u p of Sartorius paintings, including the fytckleji Hunt illustrated o n p a g e 26. T h i s is a m a j o r disco\ ery of a p a i n t i n g of this f a m o u s prix ate h u n t club, with im ited m e m b e r s only. It is an exceptional painting, not least for its historical significance, i m m e n s e decoratix e c h a r m a n d large scale.

From the early twentieth c e n t u r \ ' we have an i m p o r t a n t a n d rare p a i r of horse portraits by Sir . \ l f r e d M u n n i n g s , illustrated on pages 38 & 39. M u n n i n g s , p e r h a p s best k n o w n for his r a c i n g scenes, was also a m a s t e r of plein air p a i n t i n g of which this pair is a n extremely good example, bringing together horse p o r t r a i t u r e a n d the magic of British Impressionism. It is thrilling that this c h a r m i n g pair of paintings, with such n a t u r a l w a r m t h , h a \ e survived together since they were p a i n t e d almost a h u n d r e d years ago.

O u r selection of M a r i n e paintings represent the eighteenth c e n t u r y particularly well. T h e L D M a n illustrated o n pages 47, 4 8 & 4 9 is of particular interest since it is o n e of only a h a n d f u l of his works that are signed, a n d as such it m a r k s a c o r n e r s t o n e f r o m which m o r e m a y be l e a r n e d a b o u t this relatively u n d o c u m e n t e d artist. T h e portrait of Captain William Peacock by R i g a u d on p a g e 6 4 & 6 5 is also of n o t e since not only are b o t h the artist a n d the subject of naval significance, b u t the inscription of the sitter's n a m e o n the p a i n t i n g has helped identify a second version which is in the N a t i o n a l Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

We h o p e you enjoy this catalogue a n d will find the opportunity' to visit us at the Gallery in B o n d Street, or at the variety of shows we attend, to see these a n d o t h e r pictures which we have to offer.

We arc grateful to David Fuller of the British S p o r t i n g Art Trust.

R o g e r Q i i a r m of the National M a r i t i m e M u s e u m a n d C h r i s t o p h e r Foley of L a n e Fine Art Ltd for their assistance in researching a n d compiling catalogue entries.

J a m e s H a r \ ey Gallery Manager

Sporting -•Si

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I'

William Tasker 1808-1852

A Race Meeting: The Finish

encouragement in the arts. He studied drawing under Robert I^orris and was trained as a lithographer, painter and decorator.

Oil on caiuas 21 X 25 in / 53.5 X 63.5 cm

William Taskcr was born in CJoldcn Square, London, where his father was a journeNman cabinet-maker. The family mo\ed to Chester while William was still young, and he attended the Bluecoat School, recei\'ing nincli

Tasker soon took up sporting painting, a n d accjuired a n u m b e r of patrons in Cheshire, Lancashire a n d Shropshire. T h e most important of these was Robert Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, for w h o m he painted a ntnnber of ecjuestrian portraits and racing scenes.

It is quite likely that the meeting in this painting is at the racecourse at Chester, where Tasker was an habitue. T h e pinkand-white stripes worn by the second jockey are similar to those of the family of the Cheshire racehorse breeder and trainer. Sir Charles Bunburs; who was a strong supporter of racing at Chester in the earlv nineteenth century-.

3

li

John Frederick Herring Senior 1765-1865

A Portrait of the Racehorse Memnon

Sporting the portrait of the jockey is described

with William Scott Up

as 'very like and well put u p o n the saddle'.

His subjects are virtually all based on

Memnon's victory was tremendously popular

animal themes: portraits of horses,

Bears old labels verso

amongst the racing fraternity in \brkshire

h u n t i n g scenes, farmyards, dogs a n d other

Oil on canvas

since this was a 'home-bred' horse, owned

domestic creatures are all to be f o u n d in

14'/2X 19 i n / 37 X 48 cm

i)y Richard Watt, a \ b r k s h i r e m a n , who was

his work. He was born in L o n d o n , the son

one of the greatest supporters of flat racing

of an .American father of Dutch

of the era a n d winner of the only Classic

extraction, a n d took up painting in about

the first half of the nineteenth century.

Tiiis painting commemorates Memnun's win in

race held in the county Memnon's popularity

1815. By 1820. his style h a d developed to

the (ireat St Leger Stakes at Doncaster in

is such that there are at least five portraits of

b e c o m e notably fluid a n d fine. His best

1825 ridden by William Scott. T h e race was

him by Herring.

work dates from approximately 1820 to the mid 1840's a n d he has left us with an

one of huge popularity: there u e r e eighty one subscribers to the race, of which thirty were at the start. In the November 1825 Annals of 10

J o h n Frederick H e r r i n g Senior is p e r h a p s

un])aralleled visual history of the English

the best known English sporting |)ainter of

countryside in its heyday.

Harry Hall 1814-1882

Mr Cartwright's Bay Racehorse Maurice

of J o h n Frederick H e r r i n g Senior. H e

Daly with the Jockey Boyce Up

worked largely at Newmarket, and has left us with the record of very m a n y of

Oil on canvas

the racehorses of the mid nineteenth

2 7 % x 3 6 in 7 69 x 91 cm

century, a period of great interest in the increasing quality of thoroughbred breed and racing in liritain.

Maurice Daly was owned and bred by Cartwright and trained by William King. He was placed second in the G r a n d National of 1852, and won many other steeplechases.

Hall is widely recognised as the major racehorse painter of his day after the death

11

John Wootton circa 1682-1764

A Grey Stallion held by a Groom Signed with m o n o g r a m Oil o n canvas 108 X 147 in / 274.5 X 373.5 c m (See pages 14 a n d 15) P e r h a p s Wootton's greatest legacy was the g r o u p of life-size paintings of horses which still a d o r n the walls at A l t h o r p , B a d m i n t o n a n d Longleat. T h i s magnificent picture is o n the same scale a n d m a y have b e e n commissioned by Charles, 3rd D u k e of M a r l b o r o u g h , for Langley Park in Buckinghamshire. It has a g r a n d e u r that foreshadows similar life-size portraits of horses by G e o r g e Stubbs.

T h e striking R o m a n nose of the horse suggests that it is a Barbary horse, originally f r o m the wild stock indigenous to M o r o c c o a n d .Algeria a n d characterised as a breed by flat shoulders, a r o u n d e d chest a n d relatively long head.

British breeders h a d imported Eastern stallions since T u d o r times but, following the Restoration, breeders b e g a n crossing the stallions with British mares m o r e regularly to p r o d u c e the English t h o r o u g h b r e d racehorse.

J o h n W o o t t o n is the most distinguished of the early English school of sporting painters. His work was influenced by the continental masters T i l l e m a n s a n d Wyck, u p o n w h o m his early style m u c h depends. H e is the first artist to give us a \ isual r e c o r d of the early days of the h u n t a n d the turf a n d his work was p o p u l a r with his distinguished clientele.

Wootton was b o r n at Snitterfield, Warwickshire, and m a n y of his most important works are to be found in the great houses of the English midland shires. As Sir Ellis Waterhouse points out in his Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters, p 421, he was 'for fifty years the liorse painter for the aristocracy'. .Apart from his s])oiting paintings, Wootton was also one of the prime creators of the f^nglish landscape and \irtually cornered the market in his early career for batde pictures of the War of the Spanish Succession.

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15

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J o h n Wootton circa 1682-1764 and

Ben Marshall 1768-1835

Greville, a Chestnut Thoroughbred held by a Liveried Groom Signed a n d inscribed Greville hy B. Marshall Landscape (^ figures by [ I ootton Oil on can\ as 4 0 x 50 in / 102 x 127 c m In original giltwood f r a m e

T h i s p a i n t i n g is surely unique, b e i n g p a i n t e d by two ol" the best sporting artists of tlieir respective generations, but w h o are separated in time by the best p a r t of a c e n t u r y The p a i n t i n g started life in a b o u t 1730 as a horse portrait, possibly of Hying Childers, by J o h n W o o t t o n . T h e b a c k g r o u n d , landscape a n d figures a r e still those ])ainted

by W o o t t o n , b u t at s o m e point [circa 1800) M a r s h a l l has p a i n t e d in a n o t h e r t h o r o u g h b r e d of m u c h finer c o n f o r m a t i o n over the t o p of the earlier horse. W h a t we see n o w represents the best of b o t h painters: the free a n d effortless b r u s h w o r k of W o o t t o n , together with the bold delineation a n d vibrant colour of Marshall.

Thomas Stringer of Knutsford 1772-1790

Beauty, a Dappled Grey standing

as m a n y of his p a i n t i n g s a r e signed w i t h t h e

in a [jindscape

m o n o g r a m T S , which has been wrongly i n t e r p r e t e d as FS. In 1881, howex'cr, a

S i g n e d a n d i n s c r i b e d o n s t o n e tablet Portrait

m a n u s c r i p t by W i l l i a m Ford, a M a n c h e s t e r

of Beauty, aged tenyrs; the Property of

bookseller, w a s p u b l i s h e d in t h e N o v e m b e r

Wtn.

Davenport Esq. painted in 1782 by T.S.

issue of The Palatine Note-Booii u n d e r t h e title of ' T h e S t r i n g e r Family^ F a t h e r a n d Sons, of

Oil on canvas

K n u t s f o r d ' . T h i s article r e c o r d s that I h o m a s

34 x 4 7 i n / 8 6 . 5 X 119 c m

S t r i n g e r s h o w e d g r e a t t a l e n t in his y o u t h as a n a n i m a l p a i n t e r , b u t w a s e m p l o y e d as a

PROVENANCE By d e s c e n t in the D a v e n p o r t f a m i h '

s e r \ a n t by Peter L e g h of B o o t h s Hall, K n u t s f o r d . A f t e r a q u a r r e l w i t h his e m p l o y e r , h e left to b e c o m e a full-time artist a n d w a s ' m u c h e n c o u r a g e d by t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g •

T h i s w o r k w a s c o m m i s s i o n e d by W i l l i a m

gentry, especial!)- for his p o r t r a i t s of horses,

D a v e n p o r t of B r a m h a l l H a l l , C h e s h i r e , in

in w h i c h h e e v i n c e d u n c o m m o n skill.'

1745. D a v e n p o r t s u c c e e d e d his f a t h e r at t h e a g e of f o u r in 1749 a n d w e n t o n t o b e H i g h

T h e r e a r e p a i n t i n g s by S t r i n g e r in m a n ) ' old

Sheriff of C h e s h i r e in 1781. H e d i e d at

h o u s e s in L a n c a s h i r e a n d C h e s h i r e ,

B r a m h a l l in 1829.

i n c l u d i n g D u n h a m M a s s e y ( N a t i o n a l Trust) a n d Peover Hall. His w o r k c a n also b e f o u n d

U n t i l recently, m u c h of S t r i n g e r ' s w o r k h a s

in t h e C h e s t e r M u s e u m a n d in t h e M e l l o n

b e e n c o n f u s e d w i t h t h a t of Francis S a r t o r i u s

C o l l e c t i o n at Yale.

19

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Sawrey Gilpin, RA 1733-1807

Henry Walton 1746-1813 and

George Barret 1728-1784

A Grey and A Bay Hunter with a Spaniel and a Pointer; a Groom with a Feeding Tray approaching Signed .V. Ciilpin and dated 1 779 Oil on ean\ as 30 X 46 in / 76 X 11 7 cm

SAWREY

GILFIN

Savvrey Gilpin was born in Cariisle on 31st October 1733 and has been described as 'an animal painter of super kind'. His talent as an animal painter was encouraged from a young age, and in 1 747 he was sent to London where he entered the studio of Samuel Scott.

It was during this period of apprenticeship that he obser\ed tlie horses coming to Co\ent Garden market and that he began painting animals. His ajjprenticeship with Scott lasted until 1758, when he left the studio to pursue iiis own career under tlie patronage of the Duke of Cumberland.

Sir Ellis Waterhouse, in his book The Dictionary of 18th Century British Painters, writes

that Gilpin was the finest horse painter after George Stubbs and that he also possessed a mastery of landscape. He is an important link between the early English School of Wootton and Tillemans and the later painters exemplified by Ferneley and Herring. Gilpin exhibited regularly at the Society of Artists, becoming President in I 774, and at the Roval Academy from 1786 to 1807, where he was voted an a.s.sociate member in 1 795 and a full m e m b e r in 1797. He was popular with his fellow Royal Academists, with whom he frequently collaborated, adding portraits of animals to ntmierous pictures by Barret, Walton, Romney, Zofiany, Reinagle and e\en the young Turner.

21

HENRY WALTON

Henry Walton was an accomplished portrait painter specialising in single portraits and com ersation pieces. He had his own private income and did not need to earn his living by painting. As a result, he chose his subjects with great care, never undertaking commissions that he did not want to paint.

H e exhibited at the Royal Academ\between 1777 and 1779 and at the Society of Artists in 1776. Walton never exhibited after 1 779 so the present work, dated 1 779, indicates that this was a project of which he wished to be a part, working on it from his retirement in Suffolk.

G E O R G K H.\RRET

George Barret was born in Ireland at some time between 1728 and 1 732. O n his arrival in England in 1 763 he specialised in landscape painting. His patronage by the Dukes of Portland and Buccleuch brought him much acclaim and many coinmissions.

Barret exhibited at the Free Society in 1 764 and at the Society of Artists from 1764 to 1768, during which time he became a foundation member of the Royal Academy.

By the 177()'s his style had become more picturesque and clearly shows the influence of Richard Wilson, whose work he had studied. O n e of his major commissions in the mid 1770's was to paint the walls of a room in Norbury Park which was jointly utidertaken with Sawrey Gilpin and Cipriani. This successful collaboration was the start of a history of Gilpin and Barret working with each other.

22

John Nost Sartorius 1759-1828

The Charlton Hunt Drawing Cover

of animals and racing and hunting .scenes at

Wilson and Sir Charles Bunbury, and

the Royal Academy between 1 781 and

grandest of all, the Prince of Wales. His

Signed and dated 1 783

1824, and some of his works were published

])aintings are as popular today as they

Oil on cam as

in The Sporting Magazine.

were in his own lifetime.

Like his father (and, to a degree, his own son J o h n Francis Sartorius) he was itinerant, and his paintings are to be found in many country houses the length and breadth of England. He painted many sporting .scenes for peo])le he met at the Newmarket races, and his clientele numbered many of the most famous aristocratic sportsmen of his age: the Lords Derby, Foley and Kingston, the breeders and trainers Christopher

'Fhe present work dates from early in his career when his techniciue is most like that of his father. It is entirely t\pical of the slightly nai\e and charming style which the family e\oK'ecl and which has made them a faxoinite of generations of collectors of s])orting art.

16 X 23% in / 40.5 x 60 cm In original giltwood frame

John Xost Sartorius was ilic son and pupil of the s])orting painter I'rancis Sartorius, whose style is very similar to his own. i^rolilic painter of every asjiect of country life and rural sports, J X Sartorius has left us with a brilliant record of the s]3orting life of the late Georgian era. He exhibited seventy portraits

24

Francis Sartorius 1734-1804

Colonel Jolliffe's Hunt in Full Cry

Sevmour, altliough he developed a very indi\idual style of his own a n d his pictures

Oil oil canvas

ha\ e great qualit}- d e r i \ e d from the simjjlicity of his compositions a n d skilful use of colours.

35V4 X 72V, in / 90 x 185 c m

H e exhibited at the Royal A c a d e m y from 1775 to 1790, showing mostly portraits of horses

PRO\l-\A.\CE The JollilTc family; J o h n Scott-Lcwis, Pangliourne

a n d dogs, including a portrait of Her Majesh>'s Coach Horses. According to his obituarv- in The Sportini^ Magazine of 1805 he was 'married a n d co-habited with fi\e successive wives".

Francis Sartorius is the best known of the dynasty of English sporting jjainters which

'l"hc ])resent ])ainting is typical of the best of

begins with the obscure J o h n Sartoriiis, an

the painter a n d illustrates a type of

emigre artist from Xiiremberg in (iermany.

composition which was imnien.sely p o p u l a r in

Francis was considerably inllnenced b)'James

the eighteenth century.

25

Francis Sartorius 1734-1804

Members of the Pytchley Hunt Club at Covertside Signed and dated 1783 Oil on can\'as 48 X 72 in / 122 X 183.5 cm

hunt servants superbly and formed a pack of hounds second to none, his stallion hounds being used by all the leading kennels.

The Club, based at Pytchley Hall, was limited to forty members chosen tjy ballot.

The earliest sur\'i\ ing list dated 1 766 names twenty six members, roughK' half being local landowners. A further list dated 1777 gi\es The Pytchley Hinit CUub was founded in llie mid-eighteenth ccntun; hunting the southern thirty foui' names, of whom fourteen \vere half of the ancient Forest of Rockingham, but members of the nobility. it was the first I-^ad Silencer (who became Master around 1765) who transformed it into The painting shows members wearing their the most famous name in fox hunting. He liad distinctive white collars, amongst whom the hunted the .\lthorp hounds since 1 756 and legendary- Dick Knight is at the centre, joined them to the Pytchley at his own mounted on a grey. Mr Knight was the club's expense, e-xcejit for the £ 2 0 0 annual payment huntsman from 1777 until 1 79() and was by members of the club. He mounted his renowned for his patience and his dash. It is 26

possible the painting was commissioned to celebrate John, the second Kari Spencer, becoming Master in 1 783 on the death of iiis father, and if so, it is likely that he is the figure moimted on the bay ijeside Mr Knight.

The origin of the club's white collar is uncertain. A portrait of the club member Samuel Isted, painted nVra 1 780 by Opie, shows him wearing it and ()\y Paget in his I/istorv of The lyichley, 1937, records that Lord Xunburiiholme then had a painting by Sartorius, said to be of Lord .\lthor]5 wearing the collar. Lord Ahlior]5 wrote to his father from university in 1810 thanking him for ])utting him u]5 for the Pytchley Cllui) and says how pleased he would be to wear the white collar on his coal next vear.

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.5

George Stubbs, ARA 1724-1806

Mrjenison

Shafto's Bay Racehorse

was ]Dublished in 1 766 a n d was called

Squirrel standing in a iMndscape

sim]3ly The Anatomy of the Horse.

Signed a n d inscribed Squirrel, Geo. Stubbs Pinxit

In 1 759 Stubbs m o \ e d to L o n d o n where he

Oil o n c a m as

soon b e c a m e established as a p a i n t e r of note. His skills of composition a n d portrayal

40 X 50 in / 101.5 x 127 c m

of animals, people a n d landscapes with outstanding d e p t h a n d strength won him

PROVEXAXCE

m a n y im])ortant ]3atrons including Lord

M r G r e e n w o o d , his sale, L o n d o n , F e b r u a r y

R o c k i n g h a m a n d the Dukes of Grosx'cnor,

18th 1791, lot 101: 'Squirrel, a celebrated

R i c h m o n d , Bolingbroke, G r a f t o n a n d

r u n n i n g horse'

Portland. T h e present [jainting, which can be dated to circa 17()4-l 766 on the g r o u n d s

G e o r g e Stubbs was the greatest of English

of technic|ue a n d style, is f r o m this era.

a n i m a l painters, a m a s t e r whose work stands alone a n d w h o has h a d a greater influence

Stubbs first exhibited at the Royal A c a d e m y

o n sporting p a i n t i n g t h r o u g h o u t the western

in 1 775, w h e r e he was r a t h e r looked d o w n

world t h a n a n y o n e else. Born in L i \ c r p o o l

on by the Academicians, w h o categorised

the son of a currier, at fifteen S t u b b s was

h i m as an a n i m a l ])ainter, not a resijected

a p p r e n t i c e d to H a m l e t W'instanley. H e did

f o r m of artist at that time. H e is now

not r e m a i n with h i m for long, howe\'er,

a c c e p t e d as a genius uncc(ualled in English

seeking instead to m a k e a li\ ing as a portrait

sporting art.

painter in the north of England. By the age of twenty six he was living in \ b r k where he

J e n i s o n .Shafto was a l a n d o w n e r a n d

painted a n d studied anatomy.

b r e e d e r of r a c e h o r s e s in C^o. D u r h a m with a large collection of excellent s p o r t i n g

By 1 758 he h a d m o v e d with his wife, M a r y

p a i n t i n g s by such artists as W o o t t o n ,

Spencer, to H o r k s t o w in Lincolnshire, w h e r e

S t u b b s , S e y m o u r a n d Sartorius. S h a f t o is

his son G e o r g e Townley S t u b b s w a s b o r n . It

k n o w n to h a \ e w o r k e d with the G r o s \ c n o r

was h e r e that he b e g a n o n e of the most

family, which m a y have b e e n h o w S t u b b s

i m p o r t a n t projects of his life, o b t a i n i n g d e a d

first c a m e to S h a f t o ' s a t t e n t i o n . T h e

horses which he slung in his studio a n d t h e n

G r o s v e n o r s in Clheshire c o m m i s s i o n e d o n e

dissected, layer by layer, m a k i n g detailed

of t h e most i m p o r t a n t p a i n t i n g s of his

d r a w i n g s of the muscles, the sinews a n d the

career, the m a g n i f i c e n t Grosvenor Hunt (in

skeleton as he went. T h i s e x t r a o r d i n a r y work

the collection of t h e D u k e of VVe.stminster).

29

William Williams fl. 1 7 5 8 - 1 7 9 7

Equestrian Portraits of Edward Parker

e n t e r e d i n t o a u c t i o n w h e r e , d u e t o its mis-

(1730-1797)

a t t r i b u t i o n it w a s left u n s o l d .

of Browsholme Hall with

his favourite hunter Button and his son John, their groom and three foxhounds outside their home

Since then, m u c h research has been d o n e i n t o t h e possibility of this w o r k b e i n g t h a t of William Williams. Following the discovery of a signed a n d d a t e d w o r k in a p r i v a t e E n g l i s h collection, w e feel c o n f i d e n t t h a t t h e

(Dil o n c a m as

m y s t e r y s u r r o u n d i n g t h e a u t h o r s h i p is n o w 4 0 ' / 2 X 5 2 ' / 2 in /

103.5 X 133 c m

finally

solved.

PROVENANCE

W i l l i a m Williams w a s a n i t i n e r a n t p r o v i n c i a l

By f a m i l y d e s c e n t at B r o w s h o l m c ,

p a i n t e r of p o r t r a i t s , r u r a l g e n r e a n d s p o r t i n g

L a n c a s h i r e ; to C o l o n e l R o b e r t Parker, by

subjects, w h o s e works a r e k n o w n in m o s t of

w h o s e a g e n t sold to A c k e r m a n n , L o n d o n

the M i d l a n d s a n d N o r t h w e s t e r n c o u n t i e s of

EXHIBITED

England. T h e present painting may be dated

M a n c h e s t e r Cuty A r t Gallery, Works of Art

to circa 1 7 6 3 - 1 7 6 5 w h e n the artist w a s

from Private Collections in the J^'orth West and J^'orth

r e c o r d e d in M a n c h e s t e r , t h e n e a r e s t city to

Wales, 21st S e p t e m b e r - 3 0 t h O c t o b e r 1960,

B r o w s h o l m e . S u c h a d a t i n g is s u p p o r t e d by the a p p a r e n t a g e of J o h n P a r k e r w h o a p p e a r s in t h e p i c t u r e to b e in his early teens. It h a s t h e closest possible t e c h n i c a l

T h i s p i c t u r e h a s \ e x e d art historians for

c o r r e l a t i o n w i t h W i l l i a m s ' s i g n e d p o r t r a i t of

m a n y years. Historically it w a s r e f e r r e d to by

the Elwes f a m i l y of G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e , d a t e d

t h e f a m i l y as D e \ is a n d it w a s w i t h this

1766, still in t h a t family's collection.

a t t r i b u t i o n t h a t it w a s e x h i b i t e d at t h e M a n c h e s t e r C i t y A r t G a l l e r y for t h e i r 1960

T h e P a r k e r f a m i l y h a v e li\ e d at B r o w s h o l m e

e x h i b i t i o n Works of Art from Private Collections in

H a l l since it w a s built in 1507. E d w a r d

the North West andJ\''orth Wales (lent by C o l o n e l

Parker, t h e m a i n figure o n t h e r i g h t of o u r

R o b e r t Parker). It is p r e s u m a b l y a f t e r this

p i c t u r e w a s b o r n in 1730 a n d in 1750

e x h i b i t i o n t h a t t h e P a r k e r f a m i l y sold t h e

m a r r i e d B a r b a r a , d a u g h t e r of Sir W i l l i a m

p a i n t i n g to M e s s r s A r t h u r A c k e r m a n & S o n ,

F l e m i n g of Rydal H a l l , W e s t m o r e l a n d .

w h o sold it t o t h e ' H o u s e h o l d I n t e r n a t i o n a l

T h e i r first s o n , J o h n , w a s b o r n in 1751 a n d

C o r p o r a t i o n C o l l e c t i o n ' . A r o u n d this t i m e

is d e p i c t e d as the y o u t h s t a n d i n g n e x t to his

t h e p a i n t i n g w a s mysteriously r e - a t t r i b u t e d to

father. H e w a s a M e m b e r of P a r l i a m e n t ,

B e n j a m i n Killingbeck, a n d s u b s e q u e n t l y

a n d d i e d in 1 797.

.

30

V

31

Richard Roper fl. 1 7 4 9 - 1 7 6 5

A Gentleman in Hunting Pinks with his

contemporaries as J a m e s Seymour, T h o m a s

ha\'e a tremendous c\'ocati\'e c h a r m which

Groom holding a Bay Hunter, and two

Spencer, V\'illiam Shaw and Francis

is redolent o f the golden age o f coinitry

Gouples of Foxhounds at the Portico of a Country House

Sartorius. His work has an immediate c h a r m

sports, and a boldness and vigour which

and is bold in execution and colour, and his

sets them apart from the run-of-the-mill

sitters are better characterised than many o f

equestrian portraits o f his age.

the sporting painters o f this t\pe o f subject.

Oil on canvas 5 2 . x 7 0 in / 132 X 178 cm

The ]Drc.sent painting is on as grand a .scale Edward Edv\ ards, in his Anecdotes of Painters

as almost anything by the artist, who

(1808)

exhibited only three ])aintings at the

who have resided or been born in England says o f R o p e r that his pictures were

Society o f Artists before he disa]i]3eared

The work o f Richard R o p e r is onK' slo\\ly

"sullicient to satisfy the gentlemen o f the

from \ iew in 1 7 6 5 , the date on his last

being disentangled from that o f such

T u r f and Stable". In truth, his paintings

recorded |)icture.

32

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Joseph Van Aken circa 1699-1749

A Sporting Conversation Piece: two gentlemen with their guns and dogs rest at the edge of a wood, a third approaches them whilst a fourth, gun in hand, walks into the wood Painted circa 1730 Oil o n canvas 2 3 V 2 x 2 8 ' / 2 i n / 6 1 x 73 c m In fine original carved w o o d f r a m e

J o s e p h Van M e n is best kiiovvn as the draper%' p a i n t e r to m a n y fashionable L o n d o n portraitists including T h o m a s H u d s o n , H e n r y Pickering a n d .AJlan Ramsay. H e was extraordinarily a c c o m p l i s h e d at p a i n t i n g clothes a n d worked with a rapidity which e n d e a r e d h i m to his fellow artists. O n e of the reasons that good L o n d o n portraits of this period are so difiicult to attribute to one artist or a n o t h e r lies simply in the fact that Van Aken p a i n t e d a considerable proportion of so m a n y of t h e m . T h e r e exists an amusing cartoon depicting the funeral cortege of Van Aken which was followed by the weeping figures of London's artistic community: they are weeping not for their d e p a r t e d colleague, but for the fact that they will now have to work a great deal h a r d e r to finish their portraits!

Van Aken's early c a r e e r w a s c e n t r e d o n Belgium, w h e r e h e received a t h o r o u g h g r o u n d i n g in t h e t e c h n i q u e s of life d r a w i n g a n d c o l o u r a t i o n , facilities which he never lost.

His arrival in L o n d o n (noted by Vertue) coincided with a revival in the arts in this c o u n t r y a n d t h e first blossoming of a native style in i n f o r m a l domestic p o r t r a i t u r e . \ a n Aken's early paintings h e r e a r e a m i x t u r e of c o n t i n e n t a l t e c h n i q u e a n d a bucolic English c h a r m . T h e r e a r e a n u m b e r of sporting conversations of the present t\-pe, for e x a m p l e the Sporting Conversation exhibited in the recent Manners and Morals e.xhibition at the T a t e Gallery (from the collection of N a t h a n i e l R o b e r t s o n , U S , \ ) which depict the rural squire e n j o y i n g his sport in the c o m p a n y of his friends.

34

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Ben Marshall 1768-1835

A Welsh Springer Spaniel Trotting in a Landscape Signed and dated 1800 Oil on canvas 28 X 39 in / 71 X 99 cm I.ITERATURK

Aubrey Xoakes, Ben Marshall, 1978, p 32, no 34 and illustrated pi 48

Benjamin Marshall was born at Seagrave in Leicestershire. He worked initially as a schoolmaster and seems not to ha\e taken up painting until about 1790. He was introduced in the following year to William Pochin, the local Member of Parliament, who in turn introduced him to his first master, the portrait painter Lemuel Francis Abbot. Marshall's progress was rapid, and by the middle of the 1 790's he was being patronised b\' the Prince of Wales. Marshall was at his artistic peak in the years 1798 to 1818 and the paintings produced from his brush during this period rank with the very greatest works of the English School of animal painting.

This painting, with its free and \ ibrant brushwork and li\ely colouration, its precise drawing and accurately obser\'ed canine animation, is from the period of Marshall's best paintings.

37

Sir Alfred Munnings, PR.\ 1878-1959

Bay Mare in a Paddock A Mare and Foal Beside a Sunlit Wood

M u n n i n g s b e g a n his c a r e e r with an

horses a n d his first m a j o r composition, A

apprenticeship to a firm of lithographers,

Suffolk Horse Fair, was executed in 1901. In

whilst at the s a m e time studying p a i n t i n g at

1910 he .spent the s u m m e r p a i n t i n g outside,

evening classes. Despite losing the sight in

li\ ing in a cara\ an in the R i n g l a n d Hills

A ])air

his right eye after an accident in 1898. he

n e a r Norwich a n d p r o d u c i n g a series of

O n e signed a n d dated 1912

was d e t e r m i n e d to [saint a n d the following

beautiful paintings. The enthusiasm a n d

Oil on canvas

year two of his paintings were shown at the

success which greeted this .scries led him to

20'/: X 24 in / 51.3 x 61 c m

Royal Academy.

join the artists' colony at Xewlyn in C o r n w a l l the following summer, f r o m wiiere

H e h a d a lifelong fascination with p a i n t i n g

38

it is likely that he painted the pre.sent ]iair.

Early in 1912 M u n n i n g s h a d his own

Turner. His ability to express volume, space

1920 he p a i n t e d the Belvoir Hunt (now in

m a r c sent by train to h i m in Clorinvall.

a n d m o \ e m e n t with a few decisive b r u s h

the Paul Mellon Private Collection) which

The resultant jjainting, Hunter Out to Grass,

strokes separates h i m f r o m the l a b o u r e d

was included in a succe.ssful exhibition at

shows her in what is almost certainly the

'colour p h o t o g r a p h ' style of late \ ^ c t o r i a n

the .AJpine C l u b in L o n d o n the following

same jjacklock as tlic present jjair of

horse painting.

year, a n d in 1925 he was in\-ited b\'

paintings, a n d indeed she m a y even be

Q t i e e n M a r y to j^aint The Ascot Procession

tlie same m a r e . All three jiaintings h a \ e

At the e n d of the First World W a r

Crossing Windsor Park (Royal Collection).

the s a m e spontaneity a n d directness,

M u n n i n g s exhibited his portrait of General

H e was knighted in 1944, a n d for the next

showing M t m n i n g s as a m a s t e r of plein air

Seeley on Horseback to great acclaim, creating a

five years s e r \ e d as the President of the

p a i n t i n g in the tradition of (Nonstable a n d

new d e m a n d for his equestrian portraits, hi

Royal Academy.

39

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Charles Parker ana

1828

A Still Life of Bell's Life in Ijondon and

p a i n t e d by the artist C:harles Parker. This

f r o m as early as 1826. The S a n d r i n g h a m

Other Sporting and Gambling Accessories

\ e r s i o n is similar in handling, content a n d

version is a little earlier t h a n this one, which

conijjosition to the o n e in the Royal

slun\s Belt's Life in iMndon d a t e d D e c e m b e r

D a t e d 1828

C^ollection at S a n d r i n g h a m whicli was a

1827, while the Annals of Sporting a n d b a n k

Oil on cain as

gift to K i n g E d w a r d \ ' I I d u r i n g his reign.

notes are d a t e d 1828.

21 X 26 in / 53 X 6 6 c m While little is k n o w n of the artist, all known

Full in c o n t e n t a n d rich in colour, such

\crsi()ns of the ])ainting include publications

sporting still lifes are not only decorative, but

This ]5ainting is one ol' sex'cral known

dated in the later 182()"s, .so it .seems

also historically interesting for the

versions of a sportsman's t r o m p e I'oeil

r e a s o n a b l e that Parker m a v h a \ e b e e n a c t i \ e

publications a n d objects that they depict.

41

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Francis Holman fl. 1 7 2 9 - 1 7 8 4

Shipping off the Coast

Artists b e t w e e n 1767 a n d 1772 a n d at the Royal A c a d e m y b e t w e e n 1767 a n d

Signed a n d d a t e d 1775

1 784 (a total of seventeen pictures). H e

Oil on canvas laid o n panel

was a r e a s o n a b l y prolific artist a n d his

29'A. X 4 7 ' / . in / 75 x 120 c m

best k n o w n pupil is T h o m a s Luny, whose early work is very like that of H o l m a n ' s .

His work e n c o m p a s s e s all aspects of

Francis H o l m a n was b o r n in L o n d o n

m a r i n e p a i n t i n g s but he is best k n o w n for

a n d baptised in 1729, b u t relatively little

his ship p o r t r a i t u r e .

is k n o w n a b o u t h i m . H e was t r a i n e d as an h e r a l d i c a n d d e c o r a t i v e p a i n t e r in

T h e m a i n ship in this p a i n t i n g is a 2 4

the 1 750's a n d died a p r o s p e r o u s m a n

g u n Royal X a v y 6 t h r a t e of the 1750's,

in 1784.

s h o w n twice, Hying the j a c k f r o m the f o r e m a s t . T h e o t h e r vessel, also s h o w n

H o l m a n exhibited s o m e a m b i t i o u s

twice, a p p e a r s to be a small m e r c h a n t ,

s h i p p i n g pieces at the Free Society of

p r o b a b l y a pink n a m e d Antonetta.

44

Li

Charles Brooking 1723-1759

A Galliot firing a Salute

p a i n t i n g m a r i n e subjects f r o m a very early

in a Calm Estuary

age since there are at least t\\'0 extant

its high aerial p e r s p e c t i \ e a n d the

e x a m p l e s inscribed ' C . Brooking pinxit aged

exce|)tionally fine rendition of the ships.

with the Sole Bay off the Isle de Rhe, notable for

Oil o n canvas

17 years'. H e was p r o f o u n d l y influenced by

27 X 45'A. in / 68.5 x 115 c m

W'illem \ a n D e \ e l d e the Younger, the great

Brooking's c o n t e m p o r a r i e s describe him as

In original c a r \ r d a n d gilded f r a m e

D u t c h m a r i n e p a i n t e r w h o died in 1 707, a n d

of 'sickK- appearance", a n d his tragicalK'

PROVE.XANCi:

indeed Brooking's work was frecjuenth- passed

early d e a t h at thirty six r o b b e d us of the

off as \ a n D e Velde's d u r i n g his lifetime.

greatest native b o r n m a r i n e p a i n t e r of the

Brooking was ne\'er a prolific painter,

acute o b s e r \ a t i o n a n d a c c u r a t e

although m a n \ ' of his works were e n g r a \ e d in

draughtsmanshi]) perfectly c a p t u r e s the

18th century. T h e pre.sent painting, with its

L a w r e n n y H o u s e Collection, Pembrokesiiire

Little is k n o w n of the b a c k g r o u n d of

the 18th c e n t u r y by such distinguished

m o o d of a hot calm stimmer's day a n d is the

C h a r l e s Brooking, although it has frequently

engravers as Ravenet, C a n o t a n d Boydell a n d

work of a great jjainter at the height of his

been asserted that his father was a house

they enjoyed considerable c o m m e r c i a l success

powers. It is prex-iously u n r e c o r d e d a n d has

p a i n t e r working at D e p t f o r d a n d G r e e n w i c h .

a n d po|iularity. P e r h a p s the most f a m o u s of

been in the .same family collection for

W'e know, howe\'er, that Brooking was

his m a r i n e paintings is The Alexander in Action

generations until now.

45

LD Man fl. circa 1707-1725

A Barge coming alongside the Carolina,

T h e t i m e of his arrival in E n g l a n d ties in

with other Vessels in Calm Waters

with the d e a t h of Van de Velde t h e y o u n g e r in 1707 w h i c h w o u l d suggest that M a n h a d

Signed

little or n o c o n t a c t within t h e V a n de Velde

Oil o n cam-as

studio, i n c l u d i n g the p a r t that c a r r i e d o n after his d e a t h . M a n ' s work h a s a distinctive

24'/2X 3 0 % i n / 6 1 . 5 x 7 6 . 8 c m

a n d u n i q u e style a n d unlike t h e familiar tonal ranges of t h e Van d e Velde a n d

PROVEXANXE A r t h u r T o o t h & Sons, L o n d o n , 1943

M o n a m y studios, he a d o p t e d a cooler a n d h a r s h e r palette in which h e favoured steel blue seas c o n t r a s t i n g with grey p i n k tones in

L D M a n is a n i m p o r t a n t figure in early

the sky. His f o r m a l c o m p o s i t i o n a n d

m a r i n e p a i n t i n g in E n g l a n d . It is only

s t r u c t u r e was also a d e p a r t u r e f r o m the

recently, t h r o u g h t h e extensive research of

studios of t h e day a n d this p a i n t i n g

the m a r i t i m e a u t h o r FB C o c k e t t , t h a t his

illustrates his detailed style, in the n u m e r o u s

work has b e c o m e m o r e d o c u m e n t e d a n d

figures p o r t r a y e d in busy activity a n d t h e

individual pieces have b e e n able to be either

elaborately carved a n d gilded work o n t h e

fully ascribed o r a t t r i b u t e d to his catalogue.

vessel. In fact, M a n ' s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of this

T h e e m e r g e n c e of this signed e x a m p l e is

d e c o r a t i o n is so exceptionally sophisticated

a n o t h e r link in p i e c i n g t o g e t h e r t h e c a r e e r

that it is belie\ ed he m a y have b e e n

of a relatively o b s c u r e artist w o r k i n g at a

e m p l o y e d by the king as o n e of t h e

time of i m m e n s e naval d e v e l o p m e n t .

c r a f t s m e n working o n t h e ship's gilding.

M a n was almost certainly D u t c h , a n d it is

In 1706 there was an a t t e m p t to standardise

p r o b a b l e that he h a d u n d e r t a k e n some

the dimensions, if not the designs, of the

formal training f r o m one of the m o r e

larger warships. T h e title of "yacht' c a m e

established artists such as A b r a h a m Storck or

f r o m the D u t c h w h o presented the first

possibly L Backhuysen. T h e ships that he

English e x a m p l e to t h e restored K i n g Charles

p a i n t e d a n d the c h a n g e of the ensign to the

II in 1660. Originally the p u r p o s e of a yacht

union flag would date M a n to working in

was for scouting, but in the early days of

E n g l a n d over the period 1701-1720. ( T h e Act

their introduction to E n g l a n d they were used

of U n i o n with S c o d a n d h a d b e e n signed in

as despatch vessels for t r a n s p o r t i n g i m p o r t a n t

1707 which h a d b r o u g h t the smaller Scots

people a n d for the sport of racing. Most of

X a \ 7 alongside the larger English fleet.) T h e

the British yachts were used as royal yachts

period of 1706 to 1718 saw very little naval

a l t h o u g h s o m e lesser ones were used by

action a n d the majority of the fleet was in

C o m m i s s i o n e r s of the Na^y, the Viceroy of

h o m e waters, being based a r o u n d the

Ireland a n d the G o v e r n o r of the Isle of

dockyard in D e p t f o r d . It is believed that M a n

Wight. In this p a i n t i n g we see a b a r g e

m a y have been employed in the dockyards

c o m i n g alongside the Carolina (rebuilt as the

a n d that he painted the \'essels he saw a r o u n d

Royal Caroline in 1 733) with a t r u m p e t e r o n

him, rather t h a n being a j o u r n e y m a n artist.

the t o p deck a n n o u n c i n g h e r arrival.

46

47

48

49

50

Thomas Whitcombe circa 1752-1824

HA I Corvette iMurel off Table Mountain,

South Africa

Signed a n d d a t e d 1808 Oil o n canvas 35 X 58 in / 8 9 x 147 c m I'ROVKNANOE Acquired f r o m the Parker Gallery, circa 1960, a n d t h e n in the same private collection in South .\frica.

T h o m a s W h i t c o m b e was the leading p a i n t e r of the F r e n c h R e \ o l u t i o n a r y w a r s a n d p a i n t e d o\ er o n e h u n d r e d a n d fifty actions of the English fleet including lifty plates for The Xaval Achievements of Great Britain, a splendid v o l u m e issued after the cessation of hostilities. T h e q u a r t e t of m a r i n e painters to w h o m we owe so m u c h for the \'isual d o c u m e n t a t i o n of this d r a m a t i c p e r i o d of histor\' (Pocock, Luny, D o d d a n d W h i t c o m b e ) b e t w e e n t h e m p r o d u c e d s o m e exceptional work of the highest s t a n d a r d , a great deal of which is to be f o u n d in the N a t i o n a l M a r i t i m e M u s e u m , G r e e n w i c h , a n d in na\ al collections a r o u n d the world.

T h e present [jaintiiig m a y justifiably be described as one of the finest productions of a talented artist. His ship portraiture included m a n y of the ships of the line a n d the a r m e d m e r c h a n t m e n of the East India C o m p a n y T h e iMurel was o n e of the fast g r o u p of c o r \ e t t e s which were used for long distance patrols a r o u n d Africa a n d the Indies, a n d she is p o r t r a y e d here in the Bay of T a b l e M o u n t a i n , South .\frica. Built by Bools a n d ( i o o d of Bridport a n d classed as a \essel of 22 guns of Henslow design, siie was o r d e r e d on J a n u a r y 3()th 1805. h e r keel was laid in J u n e 1805, a n d she was l a u n c h e d on 2nd J u n e 1806. She was in French h a n d s f r o m 1808 to 1810 a n d was r e n a m e d Laiirestinns.

She was wrecked in 1813, just seven years after her launch.

51

Thomas Whitcombe circa 1752-1824

An Indiaman in Two Positions off the Island of Ascension Indistinctly signed O i l on can\as 41'Ax 64 in / 105 X 162.5 cm In original carwd and gilded frame

The present painting is compositionally wholly tvpical of the artist, although it is conceivcd on a much grander scale than is usual for him. It may thus he numbered amongst his most substantial commissions.

This type of ship

fast, armed, hugely

seaworthy and cajsable of sailing closer to the wind than many of its contemporaries - was the backbone of British trade with the Indian subcontinent which so enriched England in the eighteenth century It is depicted olf the coast of the Island of Ascension in the South Atlantic, then, as now; an important na\ al staging post and the site of a coixsiderable British garrison.

It was one of the few .safe ports of call for fresh water and supplies on the long and dangerous journey to India

mjuL m

Robert Cleveley 1747-1809

A Scene from the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 1797: HMS Victory (Capt. Horatio Nelson) engaging the Salvator Del Mundo, with the Britannia (Sir Charles Thompson) beyond Inscribed Evan Nepean Oil on canvas 3 4 % x 5 r / 2 i n / 8 7 x 131 cm In original gilt frame PROVKXAXCE Commissioned in 1800 by Sir E\ an Xepean, Bt, Secretary of the Admiralty, and given by him to the widow of Sir Charles T h o m p s o n (1740-1 799), Captain of the Britannia and Second in C o m m a n d at the Battle of C a p e St Vincent (under Admiral Sir J o h n Jer\'is); By descent to Lady Thompson's granddaughter, by whom given to Vice-Admiral PVancis Kirby on his retirement from the Na\-\' in 1911, and by whose widow gi\ en in 1950 to: Sir William .Andrews KCB, DSO, CB, whose mother was a cousin of Lady Kirby; Lady Andrews This paintingformerly hung in Admiralty House, Bermuda

This splendid painting records the famous action that took place off C a p e St Vincent, Southern Portugal in 1797. AdmiralJervis, aboard the Victory, had taken up stadon with his fleet in the mouth of the Tagus. T h e alarm in England was at this time very great as it was known that the French and Spanish were supreme in the Mediterranean. It was belie\ ed that they would make a strenuous

54

effort to obtain the c o m m a n d of the English Channel, and to give effect to their long talked-of scheme of invasion. Jervis realised that at all costs he must prevent any fleet from the Mediterranean passing to the north to effect a junction with the French at Brest.

In this determination he posted himself ofT C a p e St \ ' i n c e n t in the early days of February- 1797. H e had intelligence that the Spanish fleet h a d sailed from Cartagena, and day by day he recei\ed news of its approach. O n the morning of St Valentine's day it was in sight, consisting of twentyseven sail of the line. There were only fifteen of the English, but most of these had during the past year been subjected to the most severe discipline, and were in exceptionally . good order, while the Spanish ships, newly commissioned, with ignorant officers and untrained crews of landsmen, were utterK ineflicient. Their fleet was in straggling disorder when, at a fe\\' minutes past noon, the English in close line of battle passed through it, cutting off and forcing to leeward about one third of its numbers, and tacked in succession towards the larger division, which at once hauled to the wind and virtually fled.

Robert Cleveley came from a family of marine painters: his father, J o h n , had been a professional painter since the late 1 740's after an initial apprenticeship as a carpenter, and his twin brother, J o h n , worked with Robert in the Royal Dockyard in Deptford.

H e was appointed Draughtsman to William, 4th Duke of Clarence (later William IX"), and specialised in battle scenes. H e exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1780 and 1803 and more than thirty of his drawings are now in the National Maritime Museum.

55

[

Cornelius Van de Velde 1675-1729 • •

A Royal Tacht Approaching the Fleet Signed and dated 1 703 (on reverse) Oil on canvas 24'/2 X 37V2 in / 62 X 95 cm

Cornelius Van de Velde and his father, William, were invited to England b\' King Charles II in 1673. T h e king had taken a keen interest in the race to discover longitude and was activeK- im olved in developing the fleet, building the Royal Observatory- and patronising marine painting.

T h e Van de \'elde studio became so popular that it expanded to become a highly ]5roducti\'e studio with many of the assistants working on a \'ariet>- of paintings and no one artist solely responsible for any individual painting. This signed and dated example of 1703 is therefore of particular interest and can be wholly ascribed to Cornelius Van de Velde. Indeed, very- little documentaryevidence exists of their work and it is only through signed examples such as this one and others in museum collections that we are able to piece together this important part of the history of marine painting.

56

•

57

Robert Dodd 1748-1815

The Bellmont (758 tons, China Run) Weathering a Squall Signed and dated 1796 Oil on canvas 3 9 x 57 i n / 9 9 x 145 cm In original gilt frame PROVENANCE

Painted for Sir Robert Preston of Valley-field, Fife, owner of the vessel; thence by descent to Charles Dashvvood Preston Bruce, Lord Elgin, until 1979, when sold to a collector in South Africa.

This superb ship portrait ranks amongst the finest of its type of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. It portrays an East Indiaman of the type which formed the backbone of English maritime commercial success in the Napoleonic period and after.

They were chartered by the East India Company from private owners (this particular ship being joindy owned by M r Foulis and Sir Robert Preston) and then used to convey goods between the distant parts of the rapidly expanding British Empire in South Africa and India. They were surprisingly well armed, and capable of sailing fast and independently in hostile waters without convoy assistance.

Robert Dodd was one of the leading maritime artists of his day and was responsible for many of the images we have of the Napoleonic Wars. Apart from his stirring paintings of naval engagements, Dodd's speciality was ship portraiture and he has left us with a substantial number of accurately delineated and vigorously drawn ships of both merchant and naval types.

Dodd was not only a painter of considerable merit, but also an engraver of his own works.

Consequently, his work achieved a much wider reputation than that of many of his contemporaries.

58

59

Pierre-Joseph Petit 18th c e n t u r v

The Bay of Naples Looking Towards

Pierre-Joseph Petit was b o r n in T o u r n a i in

the Salons of 1793, 1795, a n d 1800, but

Santa Lucia

Belgium, a n d was a student of J e a n - F r a n c o i s

a l t h o u g h he c o n t i n u e d to show there until

The Bay of Naples Ijooking Towards Vesuvius

H u e , a m a r i n e a n d landscape painter. H e

1819, his p r o d u c t i o n of Italian views

regularly tra\elled to ItaK' a n d exhibited at

stopped in 1820.

the Salon, a n d it has b e e n suggested that this pair of" N e a p o l i t a n views was exhibited at

Two works i)\' Petit are n o w in the collection

A pair

the Salon in 1793 (no 100) as simply 'a pair

of the M u s e u m in Saint-Ktienne, The Tower

Each signed a n d d a t e d 1791

of landscapes'.

of Clappe a n d On the Banks of the Ijoire.

Oil on canvas 21'/2 X 3IV4 in / 55 X 8 1 c m

60

Petit exhibited a n u m b e r of Italian views at

61

Studio of Joseph Vernet 1714-1789

A British Merchant Ship at Anchor in a Harbour Painted circa 1760 Oil on canvas 53 x 72 in / 134.5 x 183 cm In contemporary giltwood frame

Joseph Vernet began his career in Avignon, where he was influenced by the works of Claude Lorrain, Gaspard Dughet and Salvator Rosa, whose paintings hung in local private collections. In 1734 he travelled to Italy, settling quickly into the well established French artistic community catering to Grand Tour visitors. Vernet quickly became the dominant figure among this artistic community' and was elected to the Accademia de S Luca. By the middle of the eighteenth century, Vernet's fame was well established and his works were to be found in many international collections, particularly those of Russian noblemen.

Another, signed version of the present painting is illustrated as no 986 in the Catalogue Raisome of Vernet by Florence Ingersoll Smouse published in 1926. This painting, entitled Le Matin was hung as a pendant with I j i Nuit, both signed and dated

62

1774 and exhibited at the Ancien Academic des Beaux Arts (nos 587 and 588). Both pictures were then in the collection of the Hermitage in St Petersburg.

The canvas size of Le Matin is exactly the same size as the present painting and there is little difference between the two works, except that the rising sun seems more clearly outlined in our painting. Unfortunately Le Matin is no longer in the Hermitage. It is presumed to have been deacquisitioned in the early 1930's, and therefore it has only been possible to study it from a poor black and white reproduction. Interestingly, however, this reproduction shows Le Matin in an identical frame to ours.

M a n y of the figure postures in the present painting are typical of Vernet's work, and are believed to have been painted by the master himself The figure of the fishermen beneath a tree with a net and a boat is reversed in his later painting Pecheurs Sur Le Rivage (Stockholm Museum); the two ladies, one holding a basket, are again repeated in a painting entitled Marine (collection of Paul Cailleux); and the last figure, which can be seen in a number of Vernet's works, is the man pulling a net of fish from beneath the wooden cradle. This is repeated in La Miit.

63

John Francis Rigaud, RA 1742-1810

Portrait of Captain William Peacock m

extensively d o c u m e n t e d in the biography

at t h r e e - q u a r t e r l e n g t h . T h e y a r e f a r m o r e

p r e p a r e d by his son (the m a n u s c r i p t of which

analytical of c h a r a c t e r t h a n t h e lofty (and

is n o w in the Beinecke Library at Yale

s o m e t i m e s a r r o g a n t ) p r o d u c t i o n s of

Oil on canvas

University) which was edited in 1984 for the

R e y n o l d s , a n d m o r e solid t h a n t h e light-

5 0 x 4 0 in / 127 X 101.5 c m

Walpole Society. In consequence, we know-

h e a r t e d r o c o c o of G a i n s b o r o u g h .

In c o n t e m p o r a n - gilded f r a m e

m o r e of R i g a u d t h a n almost any of his

Inscribed CAP^

WILLLLM

PKiCOCK

contemporaries. His reputation a m o n g s t his

R i g a u d is at his best with sitters whose

EXHIBITED

fellow artists was high (although towards the

personality c o m e across as m o r e central t h a n

Royal A c a d e m y 1781, N o 9, 2 4 or 201.

e n d of his life he seemed to have b e c o m e

the finery of their dress or the pretension of

R i g a u d exhibited three portraits of naval

quarrelsome, a n d thereby lost several

their class. H e seems to have m a d e s o m e t h i n g

officers at t h e Royal A c a d e m y in 1781:

elections for posts as officer of the R-A) a n d

of a speciality of portraits of officers of the

C a p t a i n William Pcacock, C a p t a i n Charles

that j u d g e m e n t is a m p l y vindicated by his

Royal Navy, starting in 1778 with his Royal

M o r i c e Pole a n d C a p t a i n H o r a t i o Nelson.

survix'ing portraits which are seldom to be

A c a d e m y e.xhibit of A d m i r a l William Parry

His portrait of Nelson is n o w in the

seen on the art market.

(National M a r i t i m e M u s e u m , Greenwich), a

collection of the National M a r i t i m e

deliberately conservati\'ely posed portrait of

Museum, Greenwich.

an ageing a n d conscientious officer. It harks

LITER.\TURE

generation earlier.

back to the work of T h o m a s H u d s o n a

W'alpole Society, 1984, A Memorial of John Francis Rigaud by his Son (John Francis Dutilh

T h r e e years later, R i g a u d exhibited what

Rigaud), pp.65-67.

must rank a m o n g s t the finest small g r o u p of Naval portraits e\ er shown at the A c a d e m y T h e contrast with the Parry portrait could hardly be stronger; here is the n e w generation

J o h n Francis Rigaud was b o r n in Turin on M a y 18th 1742, a n d he received his ardstic

taking over f r o m the old. His g l a m o r o u s

training in most of the principal towns of Italy,

portrait of the y o u n g H o r a t i o Nelson leaning

notably the A c a d e m y in Bologna (Member,

confidently on his sword has long b e e n

1766) a n d Rome. In R o m e he met the

considered the most attractive portrait of that

distinguished Irish painter, J a m e s Barry, w h o

great m a n a n d it is inscribed in the same

persuaded him to seek his fortune in England.

early h a n d as b o t h the portraits of Peacock a n d Pole, suggesting strongly that the g r o u p

R i g a u d arrived in E n g l a n d , \ ia Paris, o n 14th

were intended to h a n g together. T h i s

D e c e m b e r 1771, already a fully trained a n d

certainly makes sense f r o m an historical point

versatile p a i n t e r after his experience a n d

of \ ievv since all three were y o u n g stars of

training in Italy. In L o n d o n , R i g a u d was

the Royal Navy recendy r e t u r n e d f r o m the

swiftly accepted into the centre of artistic life

R i g a u d was at t h e h e i g h t of his success in

N o r t h A m e r i c a n a n d C a r i b b e a n station w h o

and within twelve m o n t h s of his arrival was

t h e 1780's to t h e m i d 1790's. H e w a s a

h a d achie\'ed senior r a n k at a \'ery y o u n g age.

a p p o i n t e d a n Associate of the Royal

c o n t r i b u t o r to the seminal S h a k e s p e a r e

, \ c a d e m y in recognition of his talents. H e

G a l l e r y f o r m e d by A l d e r m a n Boydell,

Nelson h a d r e t u r n e d to P.ngland after the

exhibited there f r o m 1772 until his d e a t h in

w h i c h was the first a t t e m p t (and an heroic

s t r e n u o u s assault o n S a n J u a n in 1780, a n d

1810, having b e c o m e a full m e m b e r in 1 784.

one) to establish a native school of H i s t o r y

rested for a few m o n t h s before a s s u m i n g t h e

H e m a r r i e d a n English w o m a n , M a r y

p a i n t i n g o n t h e g r a n d scale. It is not for t h e

c a p t a i n c y of t h e Albemarle frigate (28 guns) in

Williams, in July 1774, a n d they h a d several

g r a n d e u r a n d p o m p o s i t y of history

August 1781. Pole h a d b e e n o n the N o r t h

children including his son a n d biographer,

p a i n t i n g t h o u g h t h a t R i g a u d is k n o w n : ' H i s

•America station with t h e Hussar, r e t u r n i n g

Stephen R i g a u d .

best works a r e his p o r t r a i t s in a n a t u r a l a n d

briefly to E n g l a n d late in 1 780 before

u n f l a t t e r i n g style' (Waterhouse, Dictionary of

a s s u m i n g c o m m a n d of Success. Peacock h a d

A \ ersalile painter, R i g a u d was commissioned

18th Century British Painters). These p o r t r a i t s

been p r o m o t e d C a p t a i n of the Cary.fort

to paint histories, decorati\ c schemes a n d

cover all aspects of t h e g e n r e : small

frigate on 28th O c t o b e r 1 780, a ship o n

m\thologies, but was most successful as a

conversation pieces, large family pieces, a n d

which he saw two years' c o n t i n u o u s serv ice

portrait painter. T h e life of R i g a u d is

especially quiet a n d studious single figures

in N o r t h A m e r i c a .

64

Attributed to Peter Turnerelli 1774-1839

Horatio, Admiral Lord Nelson (1758-1805)

wearing the Order of

H e h a d spectacularly engaged the Santissima Trinidad (130 guns), then the largest ship in

the Bath and a Naval Reward Medal

the world, with the Captain (80 guns), a n d

M a r b l e bust

unsailability, h a d so reduced her capacity as

Height: 21 in / 53cm

though himself e\'entually battered to to m a k e her surrender inevitable. H e then b o a r d e d the San Nicolas, which he captured,

PROVENANCK

a n d the San Josef, which likewise surrendered.

CoUection of M a u d M a n - (1865-1943),

For this feat of procuring the surrender of

niece of Horatio, 3rd Lord Nelson; acquired

three ships whose c o m b i n e d

f r o m the Nelson family trust

o u t n u m b e r e d his own by four to one, Nelson

firepower

was m a d e Knight of the Bath a n d raised to the rank of Rear Admiral, though still not yet T h e iconography of Nelson is as complex

forty years old.

a n d extensive as the f a m e of the sitter, the greatest fighting Admiral in history. H e is the

T h e vigorous modelling of this sculpture a n d

subject of a vast collection of portraits in oil,

its elfectiveness as a work of art in the round

vvatercolour a n d other media, sculpture,

suggests that this piece is of a u t o g r a p h quality,

prints, ceramics a n d bronzes (although he

unlike m a n y of the later Nelson busts which

displayed remarkably little patience for

seem at best to be based on frontal face masks

sitting to the large n u m b e r of artists w h o

(or indeed painted portraits). T h e r e is clear

wished to portray him) f r o m his earliest

documentation that Turnerelli was working on

m a j o r portrait by R i g a u d to his splendid

the sculptured portraiture of Nelson before his

t o m b memorial by F l a x m a n .

death in 1805 (see Rupert Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculpture, p. 402), a n d a large n u m b e r

T h e present sculpture has its strongest

of his earliest commissions were of naval

analogy in painting in the sensitive portrait

heroes (including a fanciful Sir Francis D r a k e

of Nelson by Lemuel Francis Abbot

for Lord Heathfield a n d Admiral H o o d for

(National Portrait Gallery), where the sitter

Lord Bridport).

wears similar decorations. T h i s enables us to date the piece to 1797 or shortly after, a n d it

Turnerelli was b o r n in Dublin, the son of

thus depicts the sitter immediately after his

G i a c o p o Tognarelli, an immigrant ItaHan

successes at the Battle of C a p e St Vincent.

sculptor.

66

..J t s

/ 1 b

\

-

''

/

^

•^as' T

.

Charles Napier Hemy 1841-1917

Life!

Signed and dated 1913 Inscribed on rex erse Oil on c a m as 4 9 x 72 in / 124.5 X 183 cm PROVKXAXCK Royal Academy 1913, no 163

T h e painting is inscribed on the reverse as follows: ILi no 1 Life! / .1 wet sheet and a flowing

sea / A wind that follows fast

/ And fills

the white and rustling sail / And bends the gallant mast / C Napier Hemy /

Falmouth

1913. T h e \ erse comes from a p o e m by Allan C i m n i n g h a m .

Charles Napier Hemy was born in Newcastle in 1841, the son o f a com|)oscr.

W h e n he was ten his famih' mo\ ed to Australia and for a time the yotmg CUiades worked as a gold m i n e r He returned to England in the late 1850's with the intention o f entering the priesthood, but shortly before taking his final \ ows changed his mind and decided to become a professional painter. He returned to Newcastle and studied at the Newcastle Art Scliool.

H e m y exhibited o\er eighty times at the Royal A c a d e m y from 1865 until his death in 1917. hi the 1880's lie moved to Falmouth and from this point dexoted his career to marine painting. While his early coastal scenes show a strong PreR a p h a e l i t e influence. ])articularly in the detailed rocks, by this time his style was b e c o m i n g freer. A keen sailor himself his dee]3 understanding and lo\e o f the sea is well e\ ident in his works and a faxourite device was to place the horizon cjuite high on the c a i n a s in order to dejjici the lull majesty ol' the sea. As a result, the to|j ol" the ship masts are often t n m c a t e d , as in the present painting.

(59

- A

y .

/

/

- — j .

j

-A

X

J?"

riiis picture shows three of Heniy's sons (he h a d ten children) sailing the yacht Barbara which was n a m e d after his sixth child. T h e artist's n o t e b o o k s in the A s h m o l e a n M u s e u m describe h o w H e m y was insijirecl to paint this picture while he was sailing ofT I'almouth a n d how the b o a t was hauled u p to his g a r d e n w h e r e he p a i n t e d a n u m b e r of studies of t h e ligures.

71

Index Artist Barret, George; Gilpin, Sawrey & Walton, Henry

Title

Pag

Grey and A Bay Hunter

20-2

Brooking, Charles

A Galliot Firing a Salute

4

Cleveley, Robert

A Scene from the Battle of Cape St Vincent

54-5

Dodd, Robert

The

58-5

Hall, Harr\

Maurice

Hemy, Charles Napier

Life

Herring, J o h n Prederick (Senior)

Memnon

1

Holman, Francis

Shipping o f f the Coast

4

Man, L D Man

A Barge Coming Alongside the Carolina

46-4

Marshall, Ben

A Welsh Springer

36-3

Marshall, Ben & \Vootton, John

Greville

12-1

Munnings, Sir .\lfred

A Mare and a Foal in a Landscape; A Hunter in a Landscape (a pair)

38-3

Parker, Charles

Bell's Life in lj)ndon

40-41

Petit, Pierre-Joseph

The Bay of Naples (a pair)

60-61

Rigaud, J o h n Francis

Portrait of Captain William

Roper, Richard

A Gentleman in Hunting Pinks

Sartorius, Francis

Colonel J o l l i f f e ' s Hunt in Full Cry

Sartorius, Prancis

A Meet of

Sartorius, J o h n Nost

The Charlton Hunt Drawing

Stringer, Thomas, of Knutsford

Beauty

18-1

Stubbs, George

Squirrel

28-2

Tasker, William

The Finish

Turnerelli. Peter (Attributed to)

Admiral Horatio, Viscount Nelson

66-6

Van /Vken, Joseph

A Sporting Conversation

34-3

Van de Velde, Cornelius

A Royal Yacht Approaching the Fleet

56-5

Studio of Joseph \'ernet

A British Merchant Ship at Anchor in a Harbour

62-6

Whitcombe, T h o m a s

HM Corvette Laurel o f f Table Mountain

50-51

Whitcombe, T h o m a s

An Indiaman in Two

Positions

52-5

Williams, William

Fdward Parker with his Hunter

30-31

Wootton, J o h n

A Grey Stallion

14-1

Bellmont Daly

1 68-7

Spaniel

Peacock

Foxhounds

64-6 32-3

2 26-2

Cover

2

8-

Piece

Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd 1999. Designed by Theo Hodges Business Design Clonsultants, 020 7351 0749. Printed by Hyvvay Printing Cirou 72