Mallett Gallery 2006

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MALLETT Fine Art

MALLETT I X ) N I K > N - N l : W Yf>KK

141 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W I S 2BS 929 MADISON AVENUE, AT 74TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021

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Over the last ten years Mallett has established a significant reputation for eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings and watercolours. This autumn, after four very informative and enjoyable years in New York, I am returning to London with exciting plans to expand the gallery We will continue to focus on British eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings and watercolours and these will reflect Malletfs tradition of style and quality that appeals to collectors and museum curators alike. We are planning regular exhibitions in London and in New York that we very much hope you will attend - a preview of these can be found on page 133. We will also be exhibiting at the Olympia Fair 6th-12th November 2006.

In a year that has seen numerous record prices achieved in the international art market, it is easy to lose sight of the opportunities that still exist. In this catalogue we have assembled a group of pictures that are both representative of the gallery and illustrative of such opportunities for discerning collectors who are prepared to explore the fringes of fashion rather than the cutting edge. We appreciate that a fair price is an extremely important element of making an acquisition.

Modern technology and accessible archive records have made the mystique of picture buying obsolete, and changed the nature of dealing.

I hope that the appeal of the pictures in this catalogue speaks for itself. Not illustrated alongside each of our acquisitions are the stories and in some cases anguish in the pursuit of finding this collection that precede our temporary custody of them. In looking through the pages. I can recall two enforced layovers avoiding hurncanes, an emergency landing, thousands of air miles, mostly at the back of the plane, and at least a dozen disappointments of the promises of greatness fading through bad condition. Despite these occurrences and probably because of them, every day is a reminder of how fortunate we are to be involved in this fascinating business, and we hope that this enthusiasm is reflected in our choices.

We hope you will take the time to visit us in our galleries in New Bond Street or Madison Avenue, or online at www.mallettantiques.com. We look forward to welcoming you and showing you our new selection of pictures. I am grateful to Dr. Patricia Andrew, Mildred Archer. John Cloake, Clifford Evans, Christopher Foley David Fuller and Thomas Woodcock for their research and help with compiling this catalogue. My particular thanks to Suzanne Satow for her dedicated research and patient editing.

Jdmcs

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Managing Director

Cover detail; Jean-Bapiste Colmart. see page 47 Left detail: John Cleveley. SFNIOR. see page 116

Contents LANDSCAPE 1

ROBERT FREEBAIRN ( 1 7 6 5 - 1 8 0 8 )

A view of Lake Avernus at evening

2

HENDRICK FRANS DE CORT (1742-1810)

A View of Eton College toothing South

3

WILLIAM MARLOW (1740-1813)

A View of Richmond

4

JACOB MORE (circa

A View of Rome and a View of Lake Albano

5

A t t r i b u t e d t o THOMAS JOHNSON (circa

1740-1793)

Bridge

A View of Horseguards'

1634-1685)

Parade.

London

6

WILLIAM HANNAN (active 1751-1772)

A View of West Wycombe.

Buckinghamshire

7

A t t r i b u t e d t o THOMAS CHRISTOPHER HOFLAND ( 1 7 7 7 - 1 8 4 3 )

A River Landscape of Dinting Vale Mill and the Glossop Valley.

8

WILLIAM ORAM (active f r o m 1737, died 1777)

A Wooded Landscape

Derbyshire

with a View of Classical Rums

SPORTING 9

DEAN WOLSTENHOLME, SENIOR ( 1 7 5 7 - 1 8 3 7 )

William Haslehust shooting partridge

10

THOMAS STRINGER OF KNUTSFORD (fl. 1 7 7 2 - 1 7 9 0 )

A Manchester

with his two favourite

Terrier and a black and white Springer

pointers

Spaniel

11

THOMAS GOOCH (circa

1750-1802)

Major Hannay's Favourite Liver and White Welsh Springer Spaniel.

12

THOMAS GOOCH (circa

1750-1802)

A Black and Tan Spaniel with a Partridge: a little owl looking on

13

GOURLAYSTEELL (1819-1894)

14

WILLIAM J. WEBBE (1827- circa

A Scottish Deerhound 1878)

Countess'

and Three Dandy Dinmonts by an open fire

A White Terrier by a mossy bank with flowers

15

SAWREY GILPIN, RA ( 1 7 3 3 - 1 8 0 7 )

A Stag and Hind of the Indian Sambar species in a parkland

16

JEAN-BAPTISTE COLMART

A Gentleman in Red, riding a dappled grey horse and a Lady in Green Riding Habit sidesaddle

riding

on a bay cob

17

JAMES SEYMOUR ( 1 7 0 2 - 1 7 5 2 )

18

RICHARD ROPER (working circa

19

SAMUEL HENRY ALKEN (1810-1894)

20

ARTHUR DEVIS (1712-1787)

Philip Howard of Corby Castle.

21

ARTHUR DEVIS (1711-1787)

Group portrait of a Lady and Three Gentlemen gathered

22

ARTHUR DEVIS (1711-1787)

23

Attributed to MARCUS GHEERAERTS THE YOUNGER (circa

24

PAUL VAN SOMER AND STUDIO (circa

25

SIR PETER LELY (1618-1680)

A dark bay horse held by a liveried groom in a 'Syphax.' a bay racehorse

1749-1765)

enclosure

landscape

in blue and gold liveried training

The Start and Finish of the 1882 Epsom

blankets

Derby

PORTRAITS Cumberland around a

Portrait of William Henry 4th Marquis of Lothian and a companion 1561-1635)

1576-1621)

Portrait of Frances Earle and her Portrait of King James 1 & VI

Harpsichord portrait of his

children (1566-1625)

Portrait of Sibil Masters

26

ROBERT FAGAN (1745-1816)

Three-quarter-length

27

SIR GODFREY KNELLER AND STUDIO ( 1 6 4 6 - 1 7 2 7 )

Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-172

28

ENOCH SEEMAN (Danzig (Gdansk) 1694-London 1 7 4 4 / 5 )

The Children of King George II and Queen

portrait of Lady Emma Hamilton as a Neapolitan 7) Caroline

Peasant

brother

29

JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY (1734-1797)

30

THOMAS HUDSON (1701-1779)

31

NATHANIEL DANCE (1735-1811)

32

GEORGE WILLISON (1741-1797)

33

JOSEPH HIGHMORE (1692-1780)

34

RICHARD BUCKNER (1812-1883)

Portrait of a Lady, in a pink and white dress edged with lace Portrait of a Lady In a blue gown Captain (later Admiral) Sir George Pocock (1706-1792) and Captain Digby Dent Portrait of a Lady in the character of a Sibyl and a Vestal A young couple dressed In the height of fashion Portrait of Miss Agnes Wilson, later Lady Agnes Fletcher, with her pet spaniel

MARINE 35

THOMAS WHITCOMBE (1753-c/rca 1824)

36

THOMAS WHITCOMBE (1753-c/rca 1824)

37

FRANCIS SWAINE {circa 1715-1782)

38

WILLIAM ANDERSON (1757-1837)

39

CHARLES BROOKING (1723-1759)

40

DAVID KLEIJNE (1754-1805)

41 42

FRANCIS SWAINE (.circa 1715-1782)

JOHN CLEVELEY, SENIOR (circa 1712-1777)

The Capture of the Mahonesa' A Three-Masted London Merchantman in two positions Shipping In a Calm off a Fortified Coast An English 3rd rate ship of the line (74-guns) In three positions off Table Mountain A Galliot firing a Salute in a Calm Estuary Dutch Vessels In a Calm Estuary The Royal William (formerly The Prince) flying the flag of an Admiral of the Blue Two 32-gun Frigates receiving their Captains

WATERCOLOURS 43

WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, 1 ST EARL FITZWILLIAM (1643-1719)

44 45

GERMAN SCHOOL (circa 1790)

46

LILIAN STANNARD (1877-1944)

47

THOMAS HENRY HUNN (1857-1928)

SARAH STONE (circa 1760-1844)

48

HENRY M. TERRY (working 1879-1920)

49

JABEZ BLIGH (working 1863-1889)

50

HELEN ALLINGHAM R.W.S, (1848-1926)

51

JOSE ESCOFET(b.1930)

Vellum depicting three Coats of Arms A Collection of German Watercolours Four Parrots upon a branch A Cottage near Haslemere The Gardens at Clandon Park A Tiled Dovecote In the Gardens A Nest of Eggs and A Basket of Mushrooms In Munstead Wood Garden Ornamental Cabbages

EXHIBITIONS AT MALLETT 52

JAMES FORBES (November 2006, Mallett, London)

53

TOOLS OF THE TRADE (Mallett, London and Mallett, New York)

54

EMILY STACKHOUSE (Mallett, London and Mallett, New York)

55

CHATELET FOLIO OF MUSHROOMS (2007 Mallett, London)

Exotic fruits flowers and animals - After James Forbes Early nineteenth-century Rhineland metalwork designs Emily Stackhouse (1811-1870)- Drawings of British Plants Mushrooms and Fungi

1 ROBERT FREEBAIRN ( 1 7 6 5 - 1 8 0 8 )

A view

of Lake

A<s^ernus

at

evening

Signed lower right 'R. Freebairn' and dated 1785 Oil on canvas Unframed: 4 0 ' A x 50 in / 102 x 127 c m Framed: 4974 x 59 in / 125 x 150 cm In a Georgian carved and giltwood frame

Robert Freebairn was born in London on 15th March 1764 and died on 23rd January 1808. Around 1781 he is thought to have studied briefly under Richard Wilson (1717-1782). Wilson greatly influenced Freebairn's painting style and the young artist continued his training at the Royal Academy Schools. He was subsequently apprenticed to the versatile and talented Philip Reinagle, RA (1749-1833) and sent his first picture to the Royal Academy from Reinagle's house in 1782. He regularly exhibited landscapes at the Royal Academy up to 1786.

Freebairn embarked on the Grand Tour in 1787: Robert Freebairn, Inglese Proteste Pittore was living in the via Babuino in Rome by Easter of that year. He remained for several years in and around Rome working as a landscape painter and, by 1790, had a studio in Casa di Battoni near the Strada Condotta. Whaley Armitage visited Freebairn's studio on 10th March, 1791 and thought his landscapes 'the equal of de Loutherbourg's'. Mrs. Flaxman, wife of the sculptor, was a regular visitor to his studio at this time.

During his stay in Rome Freebairn sent views of Roman scenery to the Royal Academy and in 1791 he returned to England. His stay in Italy influenced his style greatly and most of his future works were representations of Italian scenery Although chiefly an oil painter, in 1805 he was one of the first groups of Associates elected to the new Watercolour Society, where he exhibited paintings of Italian subjects.

He also occasionally painted views of Welsh and Lancashire scenery Sir Ellis Waterhouse wrote of Freebairn in his 'Dictionary of British Eighteenth Century Painters', that 'his best work is distinguished' and this View of Lake Avernus (or Lago d'Averno in Italian) is an excellent example. Lake Avernus is a volcanic crater lake located in the Campagna region of southern Italy around 4 km (2.5 miles) northwest of Pozzuoli.

It is near the volcanic field known as the Campi Flegrei and comprises part of the wider Campagnian volcanic arc. The lake is roughly circular, measunng 2km (1 mile) in circumference and 6 0 m (213 feet) deep.

Avernus was of major importance to the Romans, who considered it to be the entrance to Hades. It gained its name from the Greek word aornos, meaning 'birdless', referring to the belief that birds flying over the lake would drop dead from the poisonous fumes that it emitted. The name Avernus was often used by Roman writers as a synonym for the

underworld and in Virgil's 'Aeneid', Aeneas descends to the underworld through a cave near the lake. It is unclear whether the lake actually was as deadly as its reputation held it to be - it certainly holds no fears for birds today - but it is certainly possible that volcanic activity could have produced deadly fumes. Despite the alleged dangers of the lake, the Romans were happy to settle on its shores, and established villas and vineyards. The lake's personification, the deus Avernus, was worshiped in lakeside temples, and a large bathhouse was built on the eastern shore of the lake. In 37 B.C., the Roman General Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa converted the lake into a naval base named the Portus lulius after Julius Caesar. It was linked by a canal to a nearby lake and from there to the sea. The lakeshore was also connected to the Greek colony of Cumae by an underground passage known as Cocceio's Cave, which was 1 km (0.6 mile) long and wide enough to be used by chariots. This was the world's first major road tunnel and it remained usable until as recently as the 1940s.

The present painting is dated 1785, before Freebairn's visit to Italy, and therefore the topography is based on secondary sources rather than direct observation. The painting exhibits all the stylistic traits of the new Romantic Naturalism and it is likely that Freebairn took his inspiration from the work of his first teacher Richard Wilson. Wilson painted numerous views of the Campagna and especially Lake Avernus, as illustrated in the black and white comparison below of Apollo and the Seasons. The present painting stands as a beautiful and sensitive tribute

by Freebairn to his teacher who had died just three years earlier.

Apollo and the Seasons (oil on canvas). Richard Wilson, (1714-82) © Fitzwilliam Museum. University of Cambridge.

UK / The Bridgeman Art Library

1 -^-Wl. .

2

HENDRICK FRANS DE CORT (1742-1810)

A View of Eton College looking South Painted area 1790 Oil on canvas Unframed: 24 x 45 in / 62 x 114 cm Framed: 31 x 48 in / 79 x 122 cm

Hendricl< Frans de Cort was a Flemish topographical painter born in Antwerp in 1742. He spent his formative years in Antwerp and became a pupil of the painter Antonissen. He later became a Master of the Guild of St. Lul<e in 1770. After working as an itinerant topographer on the Continent he settled in England, where he died in 1810. He travelled throughout the United Kingdom and painted many picturesque topographical views, often painted on wooden panels which was unusual for the time. The artist exhibited widely at the Royal Academy between 1790 and 1803 and at the British Institution in 1806. His style is very distinctive and readily recognisable - with foregrounds often painted in deep shades and contrasting with a brightly lit middle-distance and

skies. The present painting was produced relatively early in his career in England. In 1791 he exhibited a View of Windsor Castle from Eton and it is likely that this was executed around the same time.

There are two other versions of this Eton composition by de Cort: one which resides in the Provost's Lodge at Eton College and the other, a smaller version, in 'Pop', in the rooms of the Eton Society The Provost's Lodge picture is illustrated in the book, 'Treasures of Eton' (ed. James McConnell, 1976). It is a little smaller than the present painting (60 x 90 cm) but the composition is virtually identical. The school acquired their versions by gift in the twentieth century

3 WILLIAM MARLOW (1740-1813)

A View of Richmond Bridge Signed W.Marlow and dated 1801 lower left Oil on canvas Unframed: 25 x 36 in / 64 x 91 cm Framed: 31 'A x 4272 in / 80 x 108 cm LITERATURE Colonel M.H. Grant, 'A Chronological History of the Old English Landscape Painters: From the XVIth Century to the XlXth Century', Leigh-On-Sea, Volume III, 1958, p. 235, and illustrated plate 114, fig. 229.

To be included in the Catalogue Raisonne of the artist's works being prepared by Michael Liversidge at Bristol University

William Marlow was born in Southwark in 1740 and died in Twickenham on 14th January, 1813. At the age of fourteen he was appointed as an apprentice for a period of five years to Samuel Scott (1702-1772), the distinguished London marine and topographical painter. He also received instruction at St. Martin's Lane Academy in London, where his work was influenced by Richard Wilson and, more remotely, Vernet. He established a pattern of extensive travel throughout the United Kingdom in search of the picturesque. At the age of twenty five Marlow set out on the Grand Tour to Italy, leaving London in the early summer of 1765.

This was apparently at the suggestion of, and perhaps sponsored by the Duchess of Northumberland. A group of eight paintings of Italian views is in the collection at Alnwick Castle, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland.

Marlow's Continental itinerary is well documented by paintings and drawings. He rarely dated these works, but a watercolour of an English scene at this time is inscribed: 'William Marlow the author of this drawing was a disciple of the ingenious Mr Samuel Scott...and is now studying in I t a l y - J u l y 8th 1765'.

It is evident from the large number of surviving drawings that Marlow must have visited, inter alia. Venice, Florence. Rome, the Campagna, Naples and Capri, as well as numerous towns in France. From these drawings he produced numerous paintings, many after his return to England; and a number of his pictures survive in several versions.

Marlow seems to have stayed a little more than a year on the Continent, and was already submitting views of these travels to the Society of Artists in 1767. His stock of drawings of Italy served him as a source of subject matter for the rest of his life.

His commercial success allowed him to settle in some comfort in Twickenham from about 1785, and in these later years he seems to have painted primarily for his own amusement. He returned from his travels

12

an extremely accomplished artist and these later paintings, of which the present painting of Richmond Bridge is an important example, are usually of views in the locale. They are of a more personal and intimate style, and much closer to nature than his more 'stagey' Italian views.

Marlow's range of painting is extensive and often shows a debt to Richard Wilson. Like Wilson. Marlow's Italian paintings are often suffused with a romantic golden light. His English landscapes tend to be cool, restrained, silvery in tone and naturalistic in feeling.

The view is that seen from the corner of the quay by the White Horse Public House. The tollhouse can be seen at the west end of the bridge.

The gate in the wall on the far left may have belonged to the Castle Hotel. From left to nght: the first house is what was later called Northumberland House. Above the tollhouse is a tall mansion with a protruding pediment on the central section of its fagade. There is however no record of such a building existing. The next house, to the hght of the tollhouse, is thought to be Harbord House. Further to the right, is a mansion built around 1680. which was the first house in Richmond to have a piped water supply Below are a group of two brown coloured houses, a tower and red coloured houses. The brown coloured houses are likely to be Bellevue Place and Bellevue House, and the older Ivy Hall. The tower structure is likely to be the water tower of the waterworks, which provided a piped supply from the river to the town; and the red coloured houses, built in the 1720s, are now called the Paragon. On the skyline, the Star and Garter Inn can be seen. During the First World War, in 1916, this inn became The Royal Star and Garter Home for ex-servicemen and later for women and this is a local landmark today The home is now due to be closed and converted into residences.

We are grateful to John C. Cloake for tfie topographical provided for this entry.

information

he

4 JACOB MORE {circa 1740-1793)

A View of Rome A pair Oil on canvas Unframed; 3 0 ' A x 3978 in / 77 x 99 cm Framed: 36 x 45 in / 91 x 114 c m PROVENANCE Believed to have been acquired by Michael Barker Nairn, 1st Bt. (1838-1915) w/hen he acquired Dysart House from the Earl of Rosslyn in the late nineteenth century

Jacob More was born in Edinburgh and became a pupil of Alexander Runciman (1736-1785). In 1771 More traveled to Rome, where he stayed for the remainder of his life. In Rome, he lived in lodgings over the English coffee house in the Piazza di Spagna until 1787, and later 14

Self Portrait. 1783 (oil on canvas).

Jacob More (c.1740-93) / Gallena degli Uffizi. Florence. Italy/ The Bndgeman Art Library

nearby in the Strada Rosella. He attained a high reputation as one of the most outstanding landscape artists of his generation, surpassing that of any other British painter then working in Italy The esteem in which he was held was reflected in his unanimous election to the Accademia di San Luca in Rome in 1781 and with the rare accolade of having his self-portrait accepted for the gallery of artists' self-portraits in the Uffizi Gallery in 1784 (see black and white illustration left).

These were two of the most prestigious artistic awards available in Italy (see: 'Grand Tour, The Lure of Italy in the

4 JACOB MORE {circa 1740-1793)

A View of Lake Alhano and Caste! Gandolfo Eighteenth Century', catalogue to the exhibition at the Tate Gallery, 1996, no. 26). More's work received praise not only from British contemporaries, such as James Irvine who considered him 'one of the finest landscape painters that ever lived', but also in regular reviews in Roman art journals. Aside from his work as an artist More also acted for some ten years as agent and art dealer in Rome for the 4th Earl of Bnstol, one of the most inveterate grand tourists, and among More's most important patrons. This pair of views is charactenstic of More's artistic output. The panoramic distant view of Rome shows the majestic profile of the city in the context of its surrounding countryside. To the right of the composition is the Vatican with the dome of St. Peter's silhouetted against the sky whilst the formidable structure of the Castel St. Angelo anchors the central part of the view. The view can be compared with others of More's distant views of the city such as those now in the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide and the Perth

Museum and Art Gallery in Scotland, respectively executed circa 1774-5 and sometime before 1784 (see: Patricia Andrew, 'Jacob More, Biography and Checklist of Works', The Walpole Society 1989/90, LV, pp.

171-2, nos Bl.l and B.I. IV). In the eighteenth century Castel Gandolfo on the Western shore of Lake Albano, south-east of Rome, was, as it is now, the Pope's summer retreat. It was also popular with artists who were attracted by the spectacular scenery and its associations with Roman history More is recorded as having executed a number of landscapes featuring the lake and Castel Gandolfo, including one thought to have perhaps been acquired by the 4th Earl of Bristol in the artist's studio sale (September 1779). The format of this painting is unrecorded and it remains untraced (see: P Andrew, op. cit., nos B.7.1 B.7.VI). More often produced pairs of views such as the present pictures unified with similar and sympathetic, rather than opposing, lighting and mood.

We are grateful to Dr Patricia Andrew for her assistance with this entry.

15

5 ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS JOHNSON (circa 1634-1685)

A View of Morseguards'Parade, London, with figures promenading in the foreground

Oil on canvas Unframed; 17 x 43 in / 43 x 109 c m Framed: 23 x 49 in / 58 x 124 c m In a period carved and giltwood frame

' flVs. • •

16

Seventeenth century views of London are surprisingly rare, especially given the rapid rise in European economic success that the city enjoyed during this time. There are, for example, only fifteen oil paintings of London views dated pre 1700 listed in the catalogue of the Museum of London, which has very substantial holdings from later centuries. The lack of pre 1666 paintings may in part be explained by the losses suffered in the Great Fire of London. However, a more likely conclusion is that landscape painting as a substantial genre did not really begin in England until the 1730's, championed by the likes of George Lambert. In

contrast, Holland is extremely rich in such views, perhaps reflecting the urban bourgeois nature of Dutch art patronage, rather than the dominance of the aristocratic landed interest in art in England, with its emphasis on portraiture.

Indeed many if not most of the artists who painted London landscapes were from the Low Countries, and this had been true since the middle of the sixteenth century These artists' visits mostly seem to have been brief, perhaps discouraged by the reception that their compositions met

17

5 -Continued

lb

from local patrons, but their legacy was more long-standing.

Occasionally an artist stayed longer: Alexander Keirinckx in the 1630's did a series of topographical landscapes; Cornelis Bol painted a number of views of London in the days of the Commonwealth (and may be responsible for the famous Great Fire picture in the Museum of London).

Hendhck Danckerts, a versatile Netherlander from The Hague, came to England during the Commonwealth in 1658 and Sir Ellis Waterhouse states that he 'ran almost a small factory for stock designs (four for Pepys 1669)'. He was itinerant, and according to Buckeridge painted 'all the ports in England and Wales; as also the Royal Palaces'. A notably fine example of his work is the large Troy House, Monmouth now in the Monmouth Museum, illustrated here in black and white.

It seems likely that the present painting is very close to, or by the same hand as, Titus Oates at the Pillory (1687) in the Museum of London, which is atthbuted to an imitator of Jan Wyck (1645-1700), another immigrant Dutch artist (see black and white illustration). It is interesting to note that the present painting has historically been attributed to both Danckerts, baring a nineteenth century plaque on the frame, and more recently to Jan Wyck. It is easy to see why Wyck's name has been suggested, in that it bears many similarities to the view of Horseguards Parade which is illustrated below.

Horseguards Parade. Jan Wyck (1640-1700) / Private Collection @ Ackermanna and Johnson Ltd. London.

UK / The Bridgeman Art Library

Troy House. Hennck Danckerts. Monmouth (Monmouth Museum with Lane Fine Art. 1991)

More closely related to our subject are two paintings by Danckerts, both views of Whitehall Palace and St James's, the first is illustrated below in black and white, the second, not illustrated, is helpfully both signed and inscnbed.

View of Whitehall Palace and St James's Park. Hendrick Danckerts (c.1625-88). (attr to) / Private Collection @ Ackermanna and Johnson Ltd. London. UK / The Bridgeman Art Library.

Danckerts retired to Holland in 1679, but seems to have left behind a few English painters who continued in his style, as seen in the present painting. We know little or nothing about the names and personalities of these painters, as the school they were part of was short lived and had died out by about 1700. Danckerts exhibits a painterly technique which is far more refined than that shown in the occasional native British landscapes of the same date. It seems likely that (studio assistants apart) his influence was much more in the generation of a landscape genre than it was in a technical mode of painting. For the most part, these English paintings are much more dry-brush in treatment, relying for their effect on vigorous local colour rather than the subtle build-up of colour in glazes exhibited by the Dutch-trained immigrants.

The scale, composition and techniques of these pictures are very close and the ambiguity of the cataloguing of the Titus Oates picture as an imitator of Jan Wyck is an indication of the uncertainty of scholars as to a definitive attnbution. There is a temptation to continue the attribution on this picture to either Danckerts or Jan Wyck. however the present picture shares much more, both conceptually and technically, with the very rare work of the English landscapist Thomas Johnson.

Johnson is recorded as a member of the Painter-Stainers Company in 1651 when he signed as a subscriber to a Livery Fund - he was one of fewer than one hundred and fifty Freemen of the Livery Fund at that date. It seems likely therefore that Johnson was born no later than 1632, and probably somewhat earlier. Johnson's earliest recorded work is dated 1657 when he painted Canterbury Cathedral with Puritan Despoilers, which he exhibited to the members of the Royal Society in 1685. One of his other important London scenes is Courtyard of the Royal Exchange and is signed and dated 1671, and was exhibited at Leger Galleries in 1970. Whilst perhaps a decade or more earlier than the present painting, it displays a lively naivete in the figure drawing, allied with a careful use of architectural recession, traits which are readily apparent in the present painting. The disentangling of historical attributions made on paintings of this short lived school of artists poses many problems and it is only as the scholarship widens that the true authorship of these paintings emerges.

Imitator of Jan Wyck. Titus Oates at the Pillory. 1687 (Museum of London)

19

6 WILLIAM HANNAN (ACTIVE 1751-1772)

A View of West Wycombe,

Buckinghamshire

Inscribed on stretcher 'verso': "High Wycombe, showing house of Sir John Dashwood, from his collection' Oil on canvas Unframed: 15V4 x 2972 in / 40 x 75 cm Framed: 2372 x 35 in / 60 x 91 cm !!

I PROVENANCE Thought to have been in the collection of Sir John Dashwood according to the inscription 'verso'.

West Wycombe was the family home of the Dashwood family It was built in 1707 by Sir Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer (1708-1781) and extensively remodelled by his son around 1765. Sir Francis was a rake and a politician and worked as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1762 and 1763. He was also the founder of the notonous Hellfire Club.

The beautifully landscaped gardens, which are represented so well in this painting, and in a very similar oil by the artist (see black and white illustration below), were designed mostly by Nicholas Revett and Humpfrey Repton and evolved constantly toward the end of the eighteenth century They were given to The National Trust by Sir John Dashwood, Bt. in 1943.

Visible in the painting is the main house on the far left. The early cascade shown here was demolished in Victorian times as it was considered 'too vulgar' and rebuilt in its current form. The church on top of the hill is the Church of St. Lawrence and was designed as part of the garden. Its golden ball design on the spire was inspired by the Customs House in

Wesf Wycomtx Park, engraved by William Woollett (1735-85) after William Hannan (1720-75) / Private Collection. The Stapleton Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library

20

Wew of the Lake from the Centre Walk in the garden at West Wycombe Buckinghamshire, engraved by William Woollett (1735-85). after William Hannan (1720-75) / Private Collection. Ttie Stapleton Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library

Venice. On the far right can be seen the stern of the galleon that served as an amusement for guests as it floated around the lake. It had several cannons that were fired regularly West Wycombe is considered to be one of England's most splendid theatrical and Italianate houses. Its Rococo landscape gardens with statues, grottoes and ornamental lake have always been much admired. Their popularity was marked and enhanced by William Woollett (1735-1785), one of the most accomplished landscape engravers at this time, who produced a series of fine engravings which are illustrated here.

View ot the Lake tram tne centre waiK in the garden at Wesf Wycombe. Buckinghamshire, engraved by William Woollett (1735-85) after William Hannan (1720-75) / Private Collection. The Stapleton Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library

- - ^

Detail

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7 ATTRIBUTED TO THOMAS CHRISTOPHER HOFLAND (1777-1843)

A River Landscape of Dinting Vale Mill and the Glossop Valley, with a view of Mr Edmund Potter's Calico Works, ('Boggarts looking West.

Derbyshire,

Oil on canvas Unframed: 48 x 66 in / 122 x 168 cm Framed: 5772 x 7572 in / 146 x 191 cm In a giltwood frame . J*;.

Joseph Lyne of Simmondley Hall, Glossop, built the Dinting Vale Mill speculatively in 1817. It was intended for spinning and carding cotton but was never used for this purpose. It remained empty for six years until it was acquired by Edmund Potter in 1823 and brought into use as a calico pnnting mill. The present painting most likely dates from this date or a little later. The smoke from the factory chimney shows that it is in use but before the rapid industrialisation of the area in the years following. It is certainly pre-1842 when the viaduct of the ManchesterSheffield railway was built here and the landscape changed forever. The design for the latter can be seen in a nineteenth century map, showing the plan for the viaduct, illustrated right, and a more visual record is shown in the present day photograph of the area showing the changed landscape.

A contemporary view showing the canalised river and mill-pond (Photograph courtesy of Michael Brown Esq.)

The Mill became known locally as 'Boggarts Mill' dunng the six years it was empty A boggart is a name for a mythical creature who preyed on humans and created mischief, and inhabited mosses and peat bogs in Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire. The name may derive from folk tales about the bog-bunals of Celtic times. The subterraneous creatures were said to live in 'boggart-holes'. It was re-named by Edmund Potter, founder of the Dinting Printworks.

Edmund Potter's family was long known for its connections with Manchester and the textile trade during the eighteenth and nineteenth centunes. The first James Potter (1710 -1770) came from Hindley near 22

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Wigan and later of Pool Fold, near New Market Place, Manchester. James was a flax merchant before becoming a manufacturer. James Potter's son, John lived in 'good style' at Ardwick Green, Manchester. He married Catherine Eccles of Macclesfield and went to America in 1794, on a journey that took thirteen weeks from Liverpool. During the twelve months the John Potters stayed in America they met George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. John and his wife had three sons and two daughters and the eldest son, John was a calico printer from which he made a large fortune. Their third son was James, father of Edmund of Dinting Vale, who was born in 1802 and also lived at Ardwick Green. Edmund marned Jessica Crompton of Lune Villa, Lancaster. Their early-married life was spent at Greenheys, Manchester but by 1842 they resided at Dinting Lodge, Glossop. where they lived for twenty years. They had seven children - four sons and three daughters.

Edmund, the eldest, followed his father as head of the firm at Dinting.

The second son was Rupert, a barnster, who married Helen Leech of Gorse Hall, Stalybridge. They had two children: Walter Bertram, a farmer and an artist; and Beatrix Potter, also a farmer but better known as a writer and illustrator of children's stories.

By the middle of the nineteenth century Dinting Vale was the largest producer of printed calico in the country It exported more than eighty five percent of its considerable production and the idyllic landscape in the present painting was a mass of mills and millponds. It also suffered from the inevitable pollution created by coal-fired industrial production.

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The end of the nineteenth century marked its decline and by 1960 the mills and ponds were derelict and the industry had all but disappeared.

The painting is a somewhat idealised view past the mill towards Mottram and Hollingworth, with the hill of Werneth in the centre distance. On the flat land beyond the millpond is the site of Ardotalia, the Roman Fort that was christened Melandra Castle when it was discovered in the early nineteenth century In the seventh century Ravenna Cosmology it was called 'Zerdotalia' and it was described as lying on the road from Lincoln to Manchester (Mamucium/Mancunium) beyond Aquae Arenmetiae (present day Buxton). It was built in the Flavian Period between 75 and 108 A.D., and abandoned by about 150-55 A.D. An inscription on a stone (R.I.B.219) records that the Friesian Cohort was stationed there. It covers an area of about twenty-one acres, with a Mansio close by which was excavated in the 1960s.

The painting has traditionally been attributed to Joshua Shaw (17761860), a landscape and flower painter from Billingborough, Lincolnshire, who trained as a sign-painter in Manchester and who later had his own business in Bath. Shaw, however, emigrated from England to New York in 1817, the year of the construction of the mill in the painting. The painting itself shows the immediate and very strong influence of the late industrial landscapes of Joseph Wright of Derby (1737-1797), both in its subject

matter and its painterly technique. It recalls to mind, for instance, the views by Joseph Wright of Derby of Cromford Mills, recently acquired by the Derby Museum and Art Gallery Given the high quality of the painting, it is clear that the artist was not one of the numerous provincial artists producing a steady supply of topographical paintings of the North of England in the early nineteenth century Stylistic analogies may be drawn with the landscape painter Thomas Christopher Hofland (1777-1843) who worked for a number of years as a drawing master in Derby in the early part of the nineteenth century, and where he would have been aware of the work of the recently deceased Joseph Wright. Hofland's 'View of the City of Derby', circa 1805, uses a very similar treatment of the foliage, which can be seen in the comparative image on page 23. Most probably painted twenty years earlier than Dinting Mill, it shows a very similar technique.

Hofland was widely itinerant during the early years of the nineteenth century working throughout England, Wales and Scotland, returning to Derbyshire on several occasions. We know from exhibited paintings that he was in the Peak district in 1823-4, the very likely date of this present painting.

We are grateful to Mr Michael Brown of the Glossop Heritage Centre for kindly providing much of the information for this entry.

8 WILLIAM ORAM (ACTIVE FROM 1737, DIED 1777)

A Wooded Landscape with a View of Classical Ruins Signed lower left corner Oil on canvas Unframed: SS'A x SS'A in / 92 x 135 cm Framed: 45 x 62 in / 114 x 157.5 cm In original carved and giltwood English Carlo Maratta frame PROVENANCE Painted for the Duke of Leeds, Hornby Castle, and thence by descent to the Lady Camilla Osborne whose trustees sold the picture in 2004.

Tnumphal Arch to mark the coronation of George III in Westminster Hall on 22nd September, 1761. He enjoyed royal patronage and there are documented murals in Sir William Chamber's Saloon at Buckingham Palace that were painted for Queen Charlotte.

His book. 'Precepts and Observations on the Art of Colouring in Landscape Painting' (the illustration below is taken from the book) clearly illustrates his utilization of his academic studies on colouring in this composition.

William Oram was trained as an architect, but later turned to landscape painting in the Classical tradition. He was greatly influenced by past masters such as Caspar Poussin and, more immediately John Wootton and George Lambert. He was also an occasional landscape topographer on copperplate, and produced an impressive rendition of a view of Datchet Bridge on the River Thames.

Through the influence of Sir Edward Walpole, Oram was appointed Master Carpenter to the Board of Works from May 1748; continuing this work until his death on 17th March, 1777. In this role Oram designed the

Plate taken from Oram's Precepts and Observations on tt)e Art of Colouring in Landscape Painting, illustrating the artist's style whicti derives from ttie genotype of Nicfiolas Poussin

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9 DEAN WOLSTENHOLME, SENIOR (1757-1837)

William Hasleliust shooting partridge with his two jew ourite pointers Painted circa 1825 Inscribed with the identity of the sitter on the reverse.

Oil on canvas Unframed: 2472 x 29 in / 62 x 74 cm Framed: 32 x 36 in / 81.5 x 91.5 cm

William Haslehust II was the son of the like-named William of Lee, Kent who married Ann Pugh on May 31 1756 in the village of Willey in Herefordshire. His eldest grandson, Ernest Haslehust Rl. RBA (18661910) was a noted landscape watercolounst and illustrator. William lived at Forest Gate in Essex, then a rural village on the outskirts of London, and was a prosperous merchant in the sugar trade. His company Wm. Haslehust & Co. had offices in Mincing Lane in the City of London. Like many members of the burgeoning middle-class in the mid-nineteenth century his life was divided between the office in the City and the minor rural squire in the Country The present painting shows him out shooting partridge over cut corn, a scene familiar in late August and early September throughout England, at a time when game was plentiful, and when 'new men' began to qualify under the onerous Game Laws to 'shoot flying'. The gun he uses is a flintlock hammer gun, loaded in the traditional way with ramrod. A few years after this portrait was painted, the traditional game gun was replaced by the breech-loading shotgun which used nitro-caps instead of flints, and soon afterwards the modern cartridge. These guns were so much faster to handle that they transformed the nature of shooting, and driven shooting virtually replaced shooting over pointers.

Jolliffe, a prominent sporting art collector and huntsman, who kept packs of hounds in these counties. Their friendship was such that Joliffe presented the artist with an amusing stirrup cup.

His work is simple and direct and the compositions are highly-coloured in a way which appealed to the sportsmen of the day His paintings illustrate his understanding of both his subject and chosen medium, placing sportsmen and animals in carefully observed landscapes recording the pastimes of gentleman like Mr Haslehurst at leisure flattering yet accurate. This present painting relates closely to the comparative illustration below of a similar subject with identical handling of both the figures and landscape. Many of his paintings were engraved and enjoyed a widespread circulation throughout England.

Dean Wolstenholme Senior is one of the more interesting sporting painters of the late Georgian and Regency age. His fortunate position as the son of a wealthy land owner in Yorkshire afforded him the luxury of combining his talent as an artist with his love of country pursuits. An unfavorable outcome of a legal case concerning a property interest in Hertfordshire around 1793 forced Wolstenholme to focus his talent as a professional artist. It is interesting to note that his skills had previously been observed by Sir Joshua Reynolds who predicted that he would become a professional artist.

His talent soon surpassed many of his professional rivals, and his paintings were keenly sought after by sportsmen in the south of England. By 1803 he had moved to Hertfordshire from where he entered his first picture to the Royal Academy In 1805 he moved to London where he continued to be a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy until 1824. His keenness as a sportsman and skill as an artist endeared him to many of his clients who he met in the field where he took part in foxhunting, shooting and coursing. His lively depictions of these sporting scenes in Essex. Surrey and Sussex, brought him in contact with Colonel

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Partridge Shooting (oil on canvas), Dean Wolstenholme (1757-1837) / ® South African National Gallery.

Cape Town. South Africa / The Bndgeman Art Library

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10 THOMAS STRINGER OF KNUTSFORD (FL 1 7 7 2 - 1 7 9 0 )

A Mdtichester Terrier (ind a hlaek and white Springer One dated 1770 Oil on canvas Unframed; 247.. x 30 in / 61.5 x 76.5 c m Framed: 29V4 x 357, in / 75.5 x 9 0 cm In carved gilt wood frames.

PROVENANCE From the collection of Alastair. Lord McAlpine, by whom acquired from Christopher Bibby circa 1965.

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Spaniel

The work of Thomas Stringer has, until recently long been confused with the work of Francis Sartorius. Many of Stringer's paintings are signed with the monogram T.S. and this has been interpreted as FS. and ascribed to Sartonus. The style and quality of this artist's work is distinctive however and the dogs and the landscapes they inhabit make a handsome pair.

A manuscnpt by William Ford, a Manchester bookseller, was published in the November 1881 issue of 'The Palatine Note-book' under the title of

The Stringer Family, Father and Sons of Knutsford'. This manuscript records that the young Thomas Stringer showed considerable natural talent as an animal painter but was employed as a servant by Peter Legh of Booths Hall in Knutsford. After a quarrel with his employer Stringer left his employment to become a full-time artist and. according to Ford, was 'much encouraged by the neighbounng gentry especially for his portraits of horses, in which he evinced uncommon skill'. Stringer's work is often to be found in grand houses in Lancashire and Cheshire, including Dunham Massey, which is now a National Trust property, and

Peover Hall. Examples of the artist's work are also to be found in Chester Museum in England and the Paul Mellon Collection at the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut in the United States of America.

Marjorie Carnie in her essay in British Sporting Art Trust, Winter 1999-2000 (essay 37), published a complete biography of Stringer's life, with additional details about his artistic family. The present paintings were re-discovered after this publication went to press.

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11 THOMAS GOOCH (circa 1750-1802)

12 THOMAS GOOCH (c/rca 1750-1802)

Major Hannay's Favourite Liver and A Blaek and Tan Spaniel with a White Welsh Springer Spaniel, 'Countess' Partridge; a little owl looking on Signed and dated 1789 nnid right Oil on canvas Unframed: 25 x 30 in / 63.5 x 76 cm Framed: 30 x 35 in / 76 x 89 cm

Painted circa 1790 Oil on canvas Unframed: 40 x 50 in / 101.5 x 127 cm Framed: 49 x 59 in / 124.5 x 150 cm

PROVENANCE Commissioned by Major George Hannay of Kingsmuir, County Fife; his son George Hannay: his son, also called George Hannay and thence by descent.

In its original carved and giltwood neoclassical frame

Thomas Gooch was a pupil of Sawrey Gilpin, RA (1733-1807), and hence a follower of George Stubbs (1724-1806). He was a prolific painter of sporting paintings, which included equestrian and canine portraits, hunting and shooting paintings and racing subjects. He is notable for the clarity of his colour and the precision of his drawing which is both bold and direct in treatment. He was a prolific exhibitor at The Royal Academy - showing seventy-six paintings in all, submitted from Sawrey Gilpin's house in Knightsbridge, London. He was patronised by many of the leading members of the Scottish and English aristocracy including the Duke of Hamilton, the Duke of Portland and George Pitt, 1 st Baron Rivers.

'Countess' has the conformation and colouration of a Welsh Springer Spaniel, making this a very good example of the development of the breed.

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Detail

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13 G O U R L A Y S T E E L L R S A

(1819-94)

A Scottish Deerhound and three Dandy Dinmonts by an open fire Oil on canvas Unframed: 61 x l l ' h / 155 x 197 cm Framed: 6772 X 8772 in / 172 x 223 cm

Gourlay Steell, or the 'Scottish Landseer' as he came to be known, was born in Edinburgh in 1819. His family was an artistic one: his father a wood carver and an engraver, and his brother, Sir John Steell a wellknown sculptor. Early in his career Steell taught modelling classes at the Watt Institute in Edinburgh. His teaching demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the anatomy and physiology of animals and at this time he produced models of animals that were reproduced by silversmiths.

Steell's passion however was painting and he was accepted at the Trustees' Academy where he studied under Sir William Allan and Sir Robert Scott Lauder. Lauder's influence on the artist was significant and

he is credited with having taught many of the most accomplished Scottish artists of the Victorian period. Steell began exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy when he was just fourteen years old. In 1846, at the age of twenty-seven years old. Steell was elected as an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy and an Academician in 1859 - the same year he was selected as the official painter of the Highland Agncultural Society Steell's highest accolade came when he was appointed Animal Painter for Scotland by Queen Victoria, succeeding Sir Edwin Landseer, a position he retained until his death in 1894. The painter was also made Curator of the National Gallery of Scotland in 1882, again a role he

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13 Continued

continued until his death. Steel! exhibited over two hundred and seventy paintings at the Royal Scottish Academy between 1835 and 1894 and also exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. He lived in Edinburgh throughout his life and is known to have lived in Randolph Place between 1 8 7 0 - 7 6 and at 4 Palmerston Place. He also retained a studio in the city at 123 George Street.

Steell's reputation as an animal painter grew very quickly and the artist came to monopolise animal painting in Scotland. He received many aristocratic commissions for his work with patrons including the Earl of Wemyss, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Rosebery, the Duke of Atholl and the Earl of Haddington. Steell painted The Earl of Wemyss with his Huntsman and Pac/c in 1862 and the painting shows Steell's talent at equestrian subjects as well as his obvious affection and understanding of canine form and character. The artist's most notable commissions were from Queen Victoria who felt great affection for dogs. Many of Steele's paintings remain in Queen Elizabeth ll's pnvate collection. The best known of these commissions is A Cottage Bedside at Osborne, which pictures Queen Victoria reading the Bible to an elderly fisherman.

As with other paintings by the artist A Cottage Bedside was engraved which further enhanced Steell's profile and popularity. Queen Victoria also commissioned portraits by Steell of her favourite dogs - including Jeannie in 1858 - showing a similarly vibrant palette of colours to the present painting. He also proudly exhibited sketches of Queen Victoria's dogs, Noble. Corran and Waldmann at the Royal Academy in 1874 and they were marked 'painted by command'.

In the nineteenth century Queen Victoria set a precedent for the commissioning and collecting of portraits of dogs. Her interest in d o g portraiture did much to encourage the careers of animal painters such as Sir Edwin Landseer, Richard Ansdell, Maud Earl, Charles Burton Barbour and Gourlay Steell. Dogs came in to their own in the nineteenth century. They became phmary subjects in paintings, previously having been secondary subjects and often included for decoration or for symbolic reasons. It spawned a new interest in different breeds of dogs and a desire by owners to record their pets.

Queen Victoria's fondness for dogs reportedly gave her great comfort in the more difficult times of her life. So extensive was her family of dogs that she built kennels in 1841 at the Cottage where her kennelman lived and also The Queen's Cottage from which she would watch her dogs play. The cottage's interior decoration scheme was much dominated by portraits of dogs. She became Patron of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1835 and gave it a Royal commission in 1840. In 1842 the Prince Consort gave his wife a Skye Terrier and during the 1840s several more were added to the Royal household. The Royal family's interest enhanced certain breeds' popularity for example, the Skye Terrier, Collie, Pomeranian, Daschund, Scottish Deerhound and the Dandie Dinmont. Crufts dog show was first staged in 1886. Such was the interest in Queen Victona's collection of dogs in 1891 she was

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persuaded to exhibit a Collie and six of her Pomeranians at Crufts and all of them won prizes.

The present painting by Steell features two of Queen Victoria's favourite breeds of d o g - the Scottish Deerhound and the Dandie Dinmont. Steell painted several paintings of the two breeds, which were indigenous to Scotland and the Borders. Dandie Dinmont at Home of 1885 became one of the most popular engravings of Steell's paintings. The Scottish Deerhound was a favourite of Prince Albert and Steell's other portraits include Ghillie with Scottish Deerhounds. The Scottish Deerhound derives from the greyhound - a British breed that has been in existence for several centuries. It was bred as a deer-hunting dog by the Scottish chieftains in the Middle Ages. It adjusted to its environment and tasks and increased in its size and strength and grew a protective coat. The Scottish aristocracy adopted the breed as the Royal dog of Scotland and only those ranked as an Earl or above were allowed to own one. The breed suffered in the decline of deer hunting and the diminishing power of the Scottish clans. However two enthusiasts Archibald and Duncan McNeill revived the interest in Scottish Deerhounds in the 1800's.

Owners such as Queen Victoria and Sir Walter Scott also contributed to their rebirth. Today the breed is usually a companion dog but their speed and sense of smell would still lend them to hunting, tracking, racing and lure coursing. The Dandie Dinmont had less salubrious origins. The breed is thought to derive from the now extinct Scotch Terrier and the Skye Terrier and to have originated from the Borders.

They were originally raised by gypsies and farmers to kill vermin and are also known to have hunted rabbit, otter and badger. They were christened by Sir Walter Scott who named them after a character in his novel 'Guy Mannering' in the 1800's.

William Secord praised Steell highly in his definitive book on dog portraiture: 'Dog Painting 1840-1940: A social history of the dog in art', published in 1992. Secord admires Steell and comments that 'his work includes some of the best dog portraits completed in the Victoria period". The present portrait shows many of Steell's fine qualities - his attention to form and character and the luxurious and vibrant backgrounds with which he frames his subjects. Several similarities can be drawn between the present picture and Bran, a Favourite Deerhound painted around 1880.

Bran was commissioned by Dr. Alexander and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880. Secord comments of Bran that 'He [the deerhound] remains unperturbed by the activities of the churlish Terrier under the stool, who seems about to attack.' Likewise the present picture shows playful Dandie Dinmonts and a dignified and watchful Scottish Deerhound. Both pictures share similar props of a chair with a hunting horn and drapehes slung over it and a skin on the floor: and are set against richly coloured backgrounds with a dramatic use of light.

Interest in the artist has been boosted recently by the inclusion of his 1885 work, A Highland Parting in the highly popular A Picture of Britain' exhibition at Tate Britain in 2005.

14 WILLIAM J. WEBBE (1827-c/rca 1878)

A White Terrier by a mossy bank with flowers Signed in monogram lower centre and dated 1871 Oil on board Unframed: 14V4 x 19V4 in / 37.5 x 50 c m Framed: IQ'A x 14 72 in / 49.5 x 37 c m In period gilt and gesso frame

William Webbe was the son of Charles Webbe and was baptised at Swanborne, near Hemel Hempstead, on 5th February, 1827. His surname is referred to occasionally and erroneously as Webb. Records show that William Webbe was living in Hemel Hempstead at the age of twenty-six in 1853 when he sent his first work to The Royal Academy, but soon after moved to London where he spent the rest of his career Webbe was a versatile painter of genre, topographical landscapes and animals. He travelled and spent some time in Dusseldorf and the Middle East - most notably Jerusalem, where he followed in the

footsteps of Holman Hunt. Holman Hunt was his artistic mentor and Webbe is therefore recognised as a figure on the edges of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. His works are strongly influenced by the painting techniques of that group. Hunt was in Jerusalem in 1854, in 1869 and 1873, whilst Webbe's painting of biblical subjects and views of Jerusalem date from his visits pnor to 1863. This was the year he exhibited his first Middle Eastern subject at The Royal Academy The Lost Sheep - a picture now in the collection of the Manchester City Art Galleries. Webbe exhibited at The Royal Academy between 1853 a n d l 8 7 8 and at the British Institution between 1855 and 1864.

His date of death is presently untraced, but he is not recorded in the British Census of 1881, implying a date of death between 1878 and 1881.

The present painting is a highly unusual and intimate portrait of a pet terner. It is unusual in that it portrays a modest domestic pet in a painstakingly detailed Pre-Raphaelite landscape, a style usually reserved for more cerebral or romantic subject matter.

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15 SAWREY GILPIN, RA ( 1 7 3 3 - 1 8 0 7 )

A Stag and Hind of the Indian Samhar species (Census Unicolor in a parkland enclosure, probably Windsor Great Park.

Signed and dated 1767 Oil on canvas Unframed: 31 'A x 4 6 in / 8 0 x 96.5 cm Framed: 38 x 53 in / 96.5 x 134 cm

The present painting by Sawrey Gilpin is somewhat enigmatic, in that it illustrates a species of Asian deer that was not described in scientific literature until 1792, some twenty-five years after the picture was painted. The artist never visited India - and the landscape is certainly more Surrey than Rajasthan - so this must be an exotic introduction from the subcontinent.

Another painting of the Sambar stag by Gilpin appeared on the art market in 1988 although it was incorrectly identified then as a native Red Deer. The stag was painted in the grounds of Windsor Castle and It seems likely therefore that the setting for the present painting is intended as Windsor Great Park. Certainly at this date Gilpin was being patronised by the Duke of Cumberland, a well-known Royal collector of exotic fauna.

Cerws unicolor. commonly known as Indian Sambar, is native to India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Burma. Sri Lanka, Philippines, Southern China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra and Java. They have a coarse coat of short, dark hair with lighter brown to creamy white hair on their undersides.

The backsides and undersides of their bushy tails are white and, when raised, the tails are used as signals. Males are generally larger than females and possess a dense mane on their necks. Male Sambars have antlers with three or four tines, and these antlers are periodically shed and replaced. These antlers can reach lengths of up to a metre. The

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maximum size for males is 185-260 kg, and about 162 kg for females. In captivity Cervus unicolor can live for over twenty-six years, but in the wild the average lifespan is about twenty years.

Sawrey Gilpin was a member of an old Cumberland family who chose a career in sporting painting. As a young man he was encouraged in this pursuit by the Duke of Cumberland who had suppressed the Jacobite nsing of 1745. Gilpin, though based in London, always retained his northern links, and many of his patrons were northern sportsmen, such as the sporting fanatic. Colonel Thornton of Thornville Royal. Gilpin's reputation has suffered from being under the shadow of his contemporary George Stubbs, but after current re-evaluation he now emerges as a leading horse and animal painter. The artist is an important link between the early English School of Wootton, Tillemans and the like, and later painters exemplified by Ferneley and Herring. He was the teacher of Thomas Gooch, another prolific animal painter and with whose work Gilpin's is sometimes confused. Gilpin was however a talented artist in his own right and an active member of the artistic c o m m u n i t y He became President of the Society of Artists in 1773, and was elected as a member of The Royal Academy in 1797. A clubbable man, he was popular with his fellow Royal Academicians and his work greatly admired.

He frequently collaborated with these artists, adding portraits of favourite animals to numerous pictures by Barret, Walton, Romney Zoffany Reinagle and even the young Turner.

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16 JEA^rB^PTISTE COLMART (Northern France, second half of the eighteenth century)

4 Cenllernan in^f^mding a dappled grey horse and 4 Lady in Green miing Habit riding-side-saddle on a hay coh

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16 JEAN-BAPTISTE COLMART (Northern France, second half of the eighteenth century)

A Gentleman in Red, riding a dappled grey horse and A Lady in Green Riding Habit riding side-saddle on a bay cob A pair The former signed 'J B Colmart' and dated 1775 Oil on canvas Unframed: 2VU x IS'A in / 55 x 46.5 cm Framed: 27 x 2372 in / 68.5 x 59.5 cm In carved neoclassical giltwood frames

The family of Colmart has lived in the Marne department of Northern France since at least the seventeenth century and owned property in the area of Marfour. The date of Jean-Baptiste's birth is not recorded but his younger brothers Nicholas and Nicaise Colmart were born in 1755 and 1775 respectively Jean-Baptiste is thought to have been born around 1750. There is no record of the artist's marriage or death, but he may have still been alive in 1800 when his godson, also named Jean-Baptiste, was born at Marfaux to his brother Nicaise and his wife Marie Francoise, nee Fouquet.

It is thought that the present paintings are the only signed and dated works by the artist that survive. They show a sophisticated and refined technique resulting in an elegant but realist approach to equine portraiture. Colmart's work displays a knowledge and debt to English models of the same period by artists such as Stubbs or Gilpin. The horses are shown in haut-ecole or dressage movements - both animals are doing a piaffe when the horse is effectively trotting on the spot. This

Johann Ernst Hems. Horse and livened groom. 1781.

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denotes sophisticated horsemanship which is appropriate to the obvious stature of the sitters and is echoed in their opulent dress.

Sporting painters are relatively rare in French art of this period, though perhaps Colmart was influenced by an artist such as Johann Ernst Heins (1731-1794). Known as Heinsius, he was a German artist with family in East Anglia who painted numerous elegant equestrian and human portraits for a grand French clientele around this date. The black and white illustration below has a very similar handling and it would not b e unfounded to speculate that Colmart was aware of Heins' work.

17 JAMES SEYMOUR ( 1 7 0 2 - 1 7 5 2 )

A dark hay horse held by a liveried groom in a landseape Signed with artist's initials and dated 1744 lower left Oil on canvas Unframed: 24 x 30 in / 61 x 76 cm Framed: 31 x 37 in / 79 x 94 cm

James Seymour established a great reputation for his pictures of racehorses and hunting scenes. The popularity of his work is illustrated in the great number of his paintings that were engraved by Thomas Burford and Richard Houston over the years. By 1739 the 'Universal Spectator 'stated that he was 'reckoned the finest draughtsman in his way lof horses, hounds etc.] in the whole world.' His chief rival was John Wootton and the patrons of the two artists seemed to occupy two very different camps.

One of Seymour's key patrons was Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. The Duke commissioned the artist to decorate a room at Petworth House in Sussex, with portraits of his racehorses. Walpole tells an illuminating story about the artist and his truculent behavior towards the Duke who took offence at Seymour's claim that they were related.

William Jolliffe, Member of Parliament for Ammerdown, was another of Seymour's patrons.

Seymour's paintings of the horse in various attitudes are highly original.

They display a stylistic naivety in which meticulous attention to detail and static compositions combine

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18 RICHARD ROPER (working circa 1749-1765)

'Syphax,' a hay racehorse in blue and gold liveried training blankets held by a groom in similar livery Inscribed on the reverse with the identity of the horse and the date 1734 Oil on canvas Unframed: 25 x SO'A in / 63.5 x 77 cm Framed: 32V4 x 37V4 in / 83 x 96 cm PROVENANCE The property of the Esterhazy family since at least the mid-nineteenth century

The work of Richard Roper has an immediate charm and is bold in execution and colour. It is widely thought that Roper had a great talent for depicting sitters, as well as horses - not a talent always enjoyed with sporting painters of this type of painting.

and Francis Sartonus. The present painting shows the very strong influence of James Seymour (1702-1752), and it is tempting to surmise that Roper received some instruction from him. It is known that Roper worked with the artist-entrepreneur Thomas Butler of Pall Mall, who also employed Francis Sartorius (1734-1804).

Not only were Roper's paintings 'sufficient to satisfy the gentlemen of the Turf and Stable' as Edwards commented in his anecdotes, but they also evoke the golden age of country sports. The charm comes in Roper's somewhat naive execution, coupled with a boldness and vigour which sets them apart from the run-of-the-mill equestrian portraits of his age.

'Syphax' was a black colt foaled in 1727 by 'Bay Bolton'. The property of the Duke of Bolton, out of 'Golden Locks' (got by 'Mostyn's Grasshopper', her dam by 'Lord Bristol's Hog'). 'Syphax' was full brother to the Duke of Bolton's 'Looby', later painted by Francis Sartorius, illustrated in the painting below.

The work of Richard Roper is gradually being disentangled from that of such contemporaries as James Seymour, Thomas Spencer, William Shaw

IVe thank David Fuller of the British Sporting Art Trust who proposed attribution to Richard Roper

Francis Sartorius. Looby (Lane Fine Art).

48

the

19 SAMUEL HENRY ALKEN (1810-1894)

The Start and Finish of the 1882 Epsom Derby won by the Duke of Westminster's filly 'Shotover' Pair of oil paintings on mahogany panel Each signed H. Aiken and dated 1882 Unframed: 17'/2 x 30 in / 44 x 77 c m Framed: 23 x 35 in / 53 x 89 c m PROVENANCE Private Collection, New Yorl< and Florida, 1930 to present.

One inscribed verso: Preparing to Start for the Epsom Derby 1882: the other inscribed verso: Shotover: Winning the Epsom Derby. 1882.

The All<en family were immigrants from Denmark who arrived in London in the early eighteenth century They had taken residence in Golden Square by 1745 and were to become a dynasty of artists who recorded a century or more of sporting events. Perhaps best known for their racing subjects, their compositions capture the drama and nobility of

50

this sport of kings. Samuel Henry Aiken was born in Ipswich on August 2 2 n d 1810, the eldest son of Henry Aiken Snr Few records of the family have been found; as a result little is known of the artist's early life. It is probable, given the similarity of styles, that Aiken Jr. either worked in his father's studio or perhaps received formal training from him. Like many artists who follow their fathers, his early career was overshadowed by his technically more proficient teacher, whose draughtsmanship was certainly more refined. After his father's death in 1851, Aiken Jr.'s work developed. As in this pair of pictures he combined all his early teachings with a flair that celebrates his own style. Research has shown that the relationship between father and son was not perhaps as congenial as might have been expected. Whether this disregard for his son was on personal or artistic grounds is unclear but it is supported by his absence in his father's will.

Aiken was competent in both oil and watercolour, it is however his oils that truly capture the drama of the race track and grandeur of the

51

19 Continued spectators. In this pair of pictures he has chosen a theme he returned to often - the start and finish of the Derby, the most famous horse race in the English racing calendar. This classic was famously named when Lord Derby tossed a coin with Sir Charles Bunbury to see whose name should be given to this race. This pair records the start and finish of the 103rd annual race in which the Chestnut filly 'Shotover'. owned by the First Duke of Westminster, won.

The transcription from the Racing Calendar of 1882 reads: Shotover, a chestnut filly, out of Stray Shot (bred by Sir J. Hawley in 1872, got by Toxophilite. her dam, Vaga, by Stockwell. out of Mendicant by Touchstone, by Hermit, was foaled in 1879. bred by Mr Chaplin. (General Stud book, vol XIV. 1881. page 443). She was owned by the First Duke of Westminster and trained by John Porter. She won the Two Thousand Guineas, placed third in the St. Leger, and won the 1882 Epsom Derby with T Cannon up. The odds against the winner, The Duke of Westminster's 'Shotover' were 11-2. The favourite. Bruce (9/4 against) was officially placed 4th.

EPSOH ScKiiB M H T n r a .

181

Th« S p n m S U k M (bMdicaf) of 85 tov. Mch, 10 ft with M O added) tbe wcond leceirad SO mv. out of Um •take«i ent n w M S tov.i O M milt u d • half, tUrtiog U the Usgh Level P o * (» «ibi.-5rjZ.) M r L«faTre'tTd»UB.bjrHemU,4jrr».8«tlrtFordh»in I C. W o o d t L d Bndtnrd'i RMraO, S rn, Stt iufe LdllMtingi'iZ«a«,3ri«,6st7lb • . Luhnwr 3 U r CPerkiu't Madame D n Burr, aged. »tt 9 m J.WatU 0 to 4 OD TrUtan, S (o I agst Retreat, SO to I agrt Zeua, aod SO to I ag« Madame D a Barry. W o n by a leti^ and a half, three leni^tht betwocu the leeond and Ujird; Madame D a Barry broke (k»*ii.

H k Chetwynd llate of 200 aor. for tvo j n old; eBtronc* SioT. f.>raec«ptoni the Egntont CoorM.!)** forioM (I96{.} SlrO. OwtwTBd'iCoeT.by 8eaUkiii.«««Ib C W o o d I L d Stamford'; b. e. by Norsanby, o«t of R c m

MiHI, Count Klemfer Battbyany'i La S llfW.Houth'eQoeenoftbeSoiith.8.tlIlb R. Wyatt Ereti on NareiMa, 6 to 4 agst Coiy, and 100 to 7 agtt tbc Uoee da Hoi colt W o n by three leogtha. a length between the Moond and third.

WKDmccDAT.—The I ^ m T o w n PtaU (haadicap) of lOOgaimtrannleor.; gve farlcnga (108/.)

M r G. Thismer-t Whitebine, by Brown Uread, 5 m , 9l - Goat«r 1 Sir J. D. Aitiey'e Cberronel, aged. lOet e&l I), of Hamilton'* Beatrice, 8 yra, 8at Sl> . B.Martm S SB) • Ld Stamford-! Eliadn. 4 yi*.

-P.Webb Ld Sowbery'e Myis. 4 yra. M T.CaDDoa Col. ForotteKi The ShaW, S yn, 8at I t l l F.Aicher M r a. E. I*aget'f Slmael, 4 yn. Set fflb .

OilM Col. Le O. S(«rfcie'i 8alphar. B rr>, M lib J. W a U i M r H. V. IIlggiDi't Sir T h e ^ d , 3 yn, Brt 9ft C. Woo<l M r Crmren's Hawhiil, . Morrell rawhlil, 3 yn, 7it 7l> • M r F. Davia'a Bocharla, 3 yr*, 7et 48) .

O. Barrett 6 to I each agrt CbeTrooel and Whitebioe, < to I a ^ MTra. 7 to I e « h aget The Shaker, Sit Theobald, and Eliadn, 10 to 1 ^ t Snlphar, and 100 to 8 a«t SimneL W o n by a length and a haif, a bead between the eecond and t ^ .

Tito ooe hondrod aod third renewal of the Derby Sukca of 60 Mv. each, h. ft., for three m old. colt*, BM lolb, end flUIei, 8*t Slb{ th« tecood receired 800 wt. and the third I M nr. oat of the itajwes abont a mile and a half, itartiog at the N e w High Urel Stutiog Poet (I»7 •abt.-4775l.)

Illustration taken from the 1 8 8 2 Racing Calendar.

52

RACING CALENDAB, D. of Weetmioster'f ch. f. ShitoTer, by nennitT. Cana w C. W o j d 9 L d Bradford's b. e. Qnicklime . F. Webb » M r V. Lorillard'i ch.& Sachtm . .Mr H. BymiU'e b. c. Brace • 8. Mordan 4 Mr 8. E n w ' t b. e. Marden - B. Wyatt > L d Palmoath'i br. t. Dotch Oven F. Archer Coaot F. de Lagrange'i cb. e. Ezecator . J . GcMter OroTce Oen. itandolph'ebr.c. Ileal Qiit Ult.*«ber7^»b.c. Oareth M r C. rerUu'i b.c. Punebearer D. of Hamilton't ch. c. Ft-nam

- " aS'; :

. Lemairo J. OJxwoe - J. Watl« Major 8tapyton'ich.c.Batnp.

MorUv » to 4 a ^ Bmee. 11 to 2 ant Shotorer, C to I agM Qaicklime, 10 to t ag>t Datch OTen, 100 to 8 each egtt Execator aod Sadiem. 100 to 7 each agit Pvrwbearer and Ftetioo. S5 to i each agrt Marden and Gerald, and 60 to lag»tGarrth. W o n thr«e-<jnarteno£ a length, a bad tUrd, and a head between the third and foarth.

— M r LcHillard declared to win with Sachem.

The Stanley Stake* of 10 eov. each, 8 ft with 800 added, for tH » vreotd; the second rccoived 50 sot. oat of the stakes i entrance 3 »t.} the Egmcwt Cout* (64 suU—5»7i.)

M r C. J. Lc£e»re's Boo-jonr, by Roocrncian, 8*t lift • . .

- Fordham t • T.Cannon 8 M r U. Peck's Keel-row. estlOft M r John Barnard's Antler, 8«t urn - E. Wyatt $ C. W o o d M r W . 8. Crawford's RhineUnd, Bst 71) D. of Portland's A l f o w . »st - F. Archer flft Letnaire M r T. Leader's Sparkler, «st MrP.Lorillafd'sCoBia»che.8«tl»tt • F.Webb E. Rossiter Prince Soltykoff s Lord Brndenell, 8st9^ ft to S each agM Keel-row and Alfoeso, 9 to 2 agst Bonioor, 100 to IS agst Lord Bradencll, and 100 to 8 ac<it Ithineland. W o n br foar lengths; Alfonso whipped round when theflagfell, and took do part in tbe racc.

Tbc Epsom Manor Stakes of 10 sot. each for starters, with 100 added, for two y n old, ccdta, M ,fillies,8st llD); tbo moner to be sdd by aacttm for SOO sor.i entrance 3 sot.; live ruriongs (6 snU.—148/.)

Cannon ) M r T. E. Walker-. h.f. Arajgnie, by OalojrfnT. H. Wyalt t M r Easton Grey's ch. f. Cnba M r K. Archer's b. c. Itoyat George MrBoDkes'*b.orbr.f. Zone C. Loalc* • M r Ufcrre-s VL c. Villen C. W o o d Sir J. D. Astley's to. c. Cnig Glas

L^i" -

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•53

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20 ARTHUR DEVIS (1712-1787)

Philip Howard of Corby Castle,

Cumberland

Signed and dated 1759 lower left Oil on canvas Unframed: 27 x 36 in / 70.5 x 91.5 cm Framed: 34 x 43 in / 87 x 109.2 cm PROVENANCE By family descent from the sitter; Mrs. Howard, Corby Castle, Cumberland; Lady Lawson, daughter of the above, 1941; John Howard, Esq. LITERATURE Ellen G. D'Oench, 'Arthur Devis 1712-1787, Master of the Georgian Conversation Piece', Yale University PhD degree, 1979, p.351, no.84.

Ellen G. D'Oench, 'The Conversation Piece: Arthur Devis and his Contemporaries', 1980, p.21 and p.84, no.85, illus. Fig 14.

Gordon Nares, Corby Castle, Cumberland - 11, Country Life, 14th January 1954, p. 95 illus, pi. 15.

Sydney H. Paviere, 'The Devis Family of Painters', 1950, p. 46, No. 70.

Arthur Devis was a champion of the group of English artists who painted small-scale intimate portraits and conversation pieces in the eighteenth century His highly finished and technically accomplished paintings are redolent of a refined Georgian age and each portrait sets its sitter in his or her social context. In the late 1730's, as Devis' portrait practice expanded, he moved from his native Preston in Lancashire to work and settle in London and was well established there by 1742. Appreciated and sought after by his sitters; Devis also achieved respect and recognition in the artists' community in London. He exhibited at the Free Society of Artists between 1761 and 1780 and became its President in 1768.

Devis' career blossomed through the 1740's and, as well as his conversation pieces, he specialised in small-scale portraits of single figures. These sitters were both 'New Men' of the Georgian age who had made their fortunes through commerce, trade or banking; and anstocrats in their country house settings.

One of Devis' important aristocratic commissions was his portrait of Philip Howard (1739-1810) who inherited Corby Castle from his father in 1740, thus becoming the fifth Howard to take Corby as his home. The castle, overlooking the River Eden in Cumberland, was first acquired by Philip's great-great grandfather, the illustnous Lord William Howard (1563-1640), nicknamed 'Belted Will' by Walter Scott. William had. through a rather strategic marriage to Elizabeth Dacre, acquired significant estates in the North, including Naworth and Henderskelfe (the latter being the site where Castle Howard now stands), and later Corby The

56

building itself would see alteration with each successive generation, but it was not until the time of Philip's father, Thomas Howard (1677-1740), who inherited the house in 1708, that the gardens would be landscaped into the Arcadian form depicted in the painting.

Philip Howard was educated at the College of the Benedictines at Douay and wrote 'Scriptural History of the Earth and Mankind' in 1797. He was interested in agricultural improvement, introducing clover and artificial grasses into Cumberland, and was the first to feed cattle on homegrown turnips. As Devis' painting suggests, he also inherited his father's love of gardens and was consulted by Dr. Robert Graham in the laying out of the landscape gardens at Netherby The painting represents the view southwards from the terrace of Corby Castle. Philip sits at the edge of the formal garden beside the house with the River Eden behind him and woods to the left The monks of Wetheral Priory constructed the famous narrow island in the centre of the gardens for the use of salmon fishing some six centuries prior to the landscaping. Above the bank to the right can be seen the old Pnory gatehouse - the only part of the original building to have survived the dissolution.

Devis' portraits are extremely distinctive with his very clean and neat style. His observations on posture and property make his work a remarkable record of mid-eighteenth century genteel life and he serves as an astute commentator of his time.

v5

If

21 ARTHUR DEVIS (1711-1787) Group portrait of a Lady and Three Gentlemen around a Harpsichord in an Interior

gathered

Painted c/rca 1749-50 Oil on canvas Unframed: 50 x 40 in / 127 x 101.5 cm Framed: 60 x 50 in / 150 x 125 cm In a fine giltwood, carved, pierced and swept frame Arthur Devis was a leading exponent of the conversation piece, an informal group portrait of family or friends, usually depicted in private surroundings. Whilst he did paint a number of aristocratic sitters, he has also left us with a series of invaluable images of the burgeoning and prosperous upper middle class. His work maps the fascinating journey these men made as they progressed from the City to the landed estate and grand house.

The placing of the sitter in a stark classical interior with a door or window in the background is a compositional device often used by Devis from 1741 onwards, and may be seen in such pictures as Lady in a Drawing Room. (Yale Center for British Art, no. 1318); William Atherton and his Wife of 1743 (Walker Art Gallery) and, rather less starkly By the end of the 1740's, when the artist was at his height both technically and commercially, Devis had refined this type of composition in a small series of conversation pieces in interiors which are on a larger than usual scale. They exhibit an eerily evocative timelessness in a setting, which almost seems to reflect the twenty-first century in its use of a classical rectilinear architectonic space and minimalist setting. These

58

pictures of 1747-50 are, to modern eyes, amongst the most significant in Devis' substantial oeuvre. The sitters' gazes are intense as they engage in genteel activities such as making music or taking tea, but in a mysterious way seem wholly uninvolved with each other on any psychological level.

Devis re-used his architectural settings in a way which suggests that these are interior landscapes of the mind rather the depiction of actual rooms. The placement of the figures within them might, autre temps, evoke thoughts of characters from a Pirandello play Devis's Mr and Mrs Richard Bull of 1747 begins the series, but in this painting there are concessions to home-comfort: a Turkey carpet on the floor and Chinese porcelain on the mantelpiece. The room setting of Devis' Robert Dashwood and his wife Anne painted in 1750 has fewer decorative details but is virtually identical to the present painting, with the same fireplace and the landscape painting in its exotic rococo frame above it. Unlike the painting of the Bulls or Devis' painting of The Duet in 1749 however, these latter paintings depict the vast interiors of wealthy men's homes but make no concession to interior decoration - they are almost Shaker-like in their simplicity and severity.

59

22 ARTHUR DEVIS (1711-1787) Continued

Portrait of William Henry, 4th Marquis of Lothian with a companion his brother. Lord Robert Kerr

portrait

Portrait of Lord Robert Kerr signed and dated 1741 lower left; and both portraits inscribed with the identity of the sitter on the reverse of the canvas Oil on canvas Unframed: 1 8 x 1 1 in / 46 x 28 cm Framed: 2374 x 17 in / 58.5 x 43.2 cm In carved and giltwood frames

PROVENANCE By descent in the Cuppage family until bequeathed around 1920 to the father of the last owner Colonel A.P. Daniell of Shropshire. It is thought that the paintings may have been acquired by the Cuppage family from the Kerrs in the mid-nineteenth century when both families had adjacent Grace and Favour houses at Hampton Court Palace.

Arthur Devis belonged to a dynasty of artists, although he is arguably the most well known and admired of them today. A pupil of Peter Tillemans, Devis' work obviously shows a debt to his mentor but the young artist had a very distinctive style of his own. The almost doll like physiognomy of his figures derives from his use of small figurines in his studio when he was working on the poses of his subjects. The artist would dress these lay figures in little suits and dresses and could therefore complete a painting without the subject having to be present.

The Harris Museum in Devis' hometown of Preston, Lancashire owns the collection of the artist's lay figures.

Well-known for his conversation pieces, Devis' full-length portraits of single figures are particularly elegant. In around 1741 the portrait painter was commissioned to paint William Henry, 4th Marquis of Lothian and his brother Lord Robert Kerr William Henry Kerr, Lord Ancrum, was the eldest son of William Kerr, later 3rd Marquis of Lothian, and his wife, Margaret (nee Nicholson) from Kempney In 1741 William Henry was a captain in the 1st Regiment of Foot-Guards, more famously known as the Grenadier Guards. He acted as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cumberland; at Fontenoy in 1745 he received a severe head wound.

Along with his brother he fought at the Battle of Culloden where he commanded the cavalry of the extreme left of the Loyalist line. On the death of his grandfather. Lord Mark Kerr, William Henry was promoted to the Colonelcy of Lord Mark's regiment, the 11th Dragoon Guards. He was subsequently Member of Parliament for Richmond between 1747 and 1763; made Representative Peer for Scotland in 1768 and General of the Army in 1770. In 1735 William Henry married Caroline, daughter of the Earl of Holderness. He died in 1775.

62

Arthur Devis, Unknown

Officer standing by a Cannon (Formerly 12th Lord Home, the Hirsel. until 1919).

of

Lord Robert Kerr, William Henry's younger brother, was a cornet in Lord Mark Kerr's Regiment of Dragoons where he had been commissioned on 16th July 1739. According to an edition of 'Gentleman's Magazine' in 1746 he was a Captain in Barren's Regiment Culloden and was one of the few Loyalist Officers killed in action on 16th April, 1746.

Devis' portrait of the Unknown Officer standing by a Cannon, illustrated in black and white left, is signed and dated 1741 and, according to Devis scholar, Ellen D'Oench in 'The Conversation Piece: Arthur Devis and his Contemporaries' (published 1980), is 'the earliest signed and dated full-length portrait by Devis'. The portraits of the Marquis and his brother are almost identical in composition and also share a Scottish provenance.

The portrait of Lord Kerr has been changed by Devis so that the figure now leans on a tree-stump. It is very clear, that this is pentimento, and that originally the composition also included the cannon. It seems likely however that this must have been an afterthought by Devis, as it is also clear that a part of the wheel of the cannon remains in the bushes behind the sitter. The interchangeable cannon and tree seem therefore to act more as props with Devis' focus primarily on the character and poise of his sitters and the landscapes that frame them.

\

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2 3 ATTRIBUTED TO MARCUS GHEERAERTS THE YOUNGER PL 1561-DIED 1635

Full length portrait of Frances Earle (nee Fountaine) in an opulently emhroidered dress sitting in a chair holding a watch, with her eldest daughter and eldest son John Earle on a portico; their dog sleeps beneath the chair.

Oil on canvas Unframed: 50 x 40 in / 127 x 102 cm Framed: 57 x 63 in / 145 x 160 cm In a fine carved and silvered frame PROVENANCE Erasmus Earle (1590-1667) of Salle and Heydon Hall, who married the sitter, his cousin Frances Fountaine (1592-1675): Their eldest son, John. c. 1624-1697. portrayed on the right of the picture: Augustine Earle of Heydon Hall: Erasmus Earle (d.1768) who d.s.p. leaving his estates to his sister Mary, eldest daughter of Augustine Earle of Heydon Hall and her husband William Wiggett (marriage at Guestwick 1756: died 1798) who took the surname of Bulwer by Act of Parliament in the year of his marnage, as grandson and heir of William Bulwer of Woodalling, Norfolk: Brigadier-General William Earle Bulwer, their son, 1757-1807: William Earle Lytton Bulwer of Heydon Hall, 2nd son of the above (17991874): William Earle Gascoigne Lytton-Bulwer of Heydon Hall (1829-1910), his son: Thence by descent until sold at the contents sale of 20th July 1949: Banningham Hall Collection, Norfolk LITERATURE cf. 'Portraits in Norfolk Houses' (Prince Frederick Duleep Singh and Rev. Edmund Farrer, Volume I. p.229 et seq. (nd., but c.1929) The painting may be dated on costume grounds to area 1631-3.

The help of Thomas Woodcock FSA in elucidating the early provenance of the picture and the identities of the sitters is gratefully acknowledged.

Marcus Gheeraerts was the son of a like-named painter and was born 1561-2 in Bruges; the family was embroiled in the wars of religion and emigrated to England in 1568. He remained here all his life, dying in London 19th January 1635 (O.S.). His career as a successful portrait painter stems from his patronage by Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley for and of whom he painted numerous portraits, most notably the great full-length of the Queen standing on a map of England, her feet placed securely on Oxfordshire. Lee's home county He was related by family and by marriage to many of the known artists in England of the penod, including Isaac Oliver, John de Critz et al.. Gheeraerts enjoyed court paronage in the following reign of James I, though his career appears gradually to

64

have been eclipsed by the new and more fashionable portrait painters arriving from the Continent after about 1615. From the (sparse) evidence of a few signed pictures, his clients in the 1620's seem rather to have been academics, gentry of men in the professions rather than the courtly grandees which were his staple of the earlier tears of his career. The latest signed portrait (of Anne Hoskins) is usually but erroneously (eg Hearn. Marcus Gheeraerts II Elizabethan Artist Tate Gallery 2002) said to date from 1629. However, the Sir Francis Leigh illustrated on page 66 is clearly signed and dated two years later, when the artist would have been in his seventieth year

65

2 3 Continued

At this very late date, the technique of his paintings on canvas has a very different appearance from his more enamel-lil<e portraits on oak panel. They are altogether drier in appearance, the paint very thinly applied in the draperies and the background, but with a much thicker impasto for the principal parts of the composition. This is a painting technique c o m m o n both to the present painting and to the Sir Francis Leigh. Both, curiously, share the motif of a sleeping dog curled up on the floor: a rare conceit indeed in British painting of this penod, In the absence of more than a tiny number of signed or documented paintings by the artist at this period, it is impossible to be dogmatic about the attribution of the present painting to Gheeraerts. Certainly it is the mainstream of English portrait painting exemplified by Gheeraerts, and almost entirely free of the Continental early-baroque which by this date was rapidly transmuting the face of painting in this country under the hegemony of Van Dyck.

Heydon Hall in Norfolk was built 1581-4 by Henry Dynne (d.l586) whose family had owned the manor since the fifteenth century On his demise it was sold to William Colfer, and from his family to Robert Kemp (d.l616) whose son. Sir Robert Kemp of Finchingfield, then sold it in 1650 to Erasmus Earle (1590-1637), the Cromwellian lawyer. A subsequent Erasmus Earle bequeathed it in 1768 to his sister Mary and her husband William Wiggett Bulwer, in whose family it subsequently descended until modern times: it now belongs to the Bulwer-Long family.

The collection of portraits at Heydon was listed by the Rev. Edmund Farrer in 1927 after the visit by Duleep Singh in May 1909. His list is relatively thorough for portraits of the 18th and 19th century though as he notes himself 'there are a great many 16th- and 17th century portraits still unrecorded'. However, it is clear from the documented portraits that the house still contained the 17th century portraits of the Earle family and the identity of the sitters has been established by Thomas Woodcock FSA from family records at the College of Arms (there is no printed pedigree of the Earle family).

Erasmus Earle, lawyer and politician, (1590-1667) was baptised at Sail, Norfolk, the only son of Thomas Earle and his first wife, Anne, daughter of Arthur Fountaine of Sail. He was educated at the Grammar School and matriculated as a pensioner from Peterhouse College, Cambridge, in 1609. He studied law at Furnicall's and later Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the bar in 1618. On February 25th 1617 he married his "beloved cousin" Frances Fountaine (1592-1671), daughter of James Fountaine, by whom he had two daughters and six sons.

66

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Sir Francis Leigh. Signed and dated 1631 (Stoneleigh Abbey Warwickshire). The painting is reproduced in 'Leiy and the Stuart Portrait Painters' as ascribed to George Geldorp, though it is in fact signed (on the paper on the table) by Gheeraerts. upper part of the painting was damaged in the fire at Stoneleigh in th 1960's, though the lower part, notably the dog, are still well preserve The companion piece, of his wife (above) was destroyed in the fire. It not recorded whether it was signed or not, and had, too, been ascrib to Geldorp. Although her costume is more restrained in palette it is stylistically close to the present painting, and is therefore likely to be very close in date.

23 Continued

1

At this very late date, the technique of his paintings on canvas has a very different appearance from his more enamel-lil<e portraits on oal< panel. They are altogether drier in appearance, the paint very thinly applied in the draperies and the background, but with a much thicker impasto for the principal parts of the composition. This is a painting technique common both to the present painting and to the Sir Francis Leigh. Both, curiously, share the motif of a sleeping dog curled up on the floor a rare conceit indeed in British painting of this period. In the absence of more than a tiny number of signed or documented paintings by the artist at this period, it is impossible to be dogmatic about the attribution of the present painting to Gheeraerts. Certainly, it is the mainstream of English portrait painting exemplified by Gheeraerts, and almost entirely free of the Continental early-baroque which by this date was rapidly transmuting the face of painting in this country under the hegemony of Van Dyck.

Heydon Hall in Norfolk was built 1581-4 by Henry Dynne (d.1586) whose family had owned the manor since the fifteenth century. On his demise it was sold to William Colfer, and from his family to Robert Kemp (d.1616) whose son, Sir Robert Kemp of Finchingfield, then sold it in 1650 to Erasmus Earle (1590-1637), the Cromwellian lawyer. A subsequent Erasmus Earle bequeathed it in 1768 to his sister Mary and her husband William Wiggett Bulwer, in whose family it subsequently descended until modern times; it now belongs to the Bulwer-Long family The collection of portraits at Heydon was listed by the Rev. Edmund Farrer in 1927 after the visit by Duleep Singh in May 1909. His list is relatively thorough for portraits of the 18th and 19th century though as he notes himself 'there are a great many 16th- and 17th century portraits still unrecorded'. However, it is clear from the documented portraits that the house still contained the 17th century portraits of the Earle family and the identity of the sitters has been established by Thomas Woodcock PSA from family records at the College of Arms (there is no printed pedigree of the Earle family).

Erasmus Earle, lawyer and politician, (1590-1667) was baptised at Sail, Norfolk, the only son of Thomas Earle and his first wife, Anne, daughter of Arthur Fountaine of Sail. He was educated at the Grammar School and matriculated as a pensioner from Peterhouse College, Cambridge, in 1609. He studied law at Furnicall's and later Lincoln's Inn, where he was called to the bar in 1618. On February 25th 1617 he marned his "beloved cousin" Frances Fountaine (1592-1671), daughter of James Fountaine, by whom he had two daughters and six sons.

66

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Sir Francis Leigh. Signed and dated 1631 (Stoneleigh Abbey Warwickshire). The painting is reproduced in 'Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters' as ascribed to George Geldorp. though it is in fact signed (on the paper on the table) by Gheeraerts. The upper part of the painting was damaged in the fire at Stoneleigh in the 1960's, though the lower part, notably the dog, are still well preserved.

The companion piece, of his wife (above) was destroyed in the fire. It is not recorded whether it was signed or not. and had. too, been ascribed to Geldorp. Although her costume is more restrained in palette it is stylistically close to the present painting, and is therefore likely to be very close in date.

mk

24 PAUL VAN SOMER AND STUDIO (circa 1576-1621) Portrait of King James I & VI (1566-1625), wearing the robes and holding Greater George insignia jewel, of the Order of the Garter

the

Painted circa 1618-20 Oil on canvas Unframed: 35 x 31 in / 8 9 x 79 cm Framed: 42 x 37 in / 107 x 94 c m

As with portraits of his predecessor Queen Elizabeth I, there had been considerable debate over and dissatisfaction with the portraits of James I and the accuracy of their likeness to the King, This is most probably because of the King's well-documented dislike of sitting for his portrait and the consequent necessity for artists to copy other paintings rather than work from life. The early years of the reign of James I were marked by portraits of a style onginated by John de Critz around 1605, as illustrated nght and below in black and white. Some of these are painted in a very masterly fashion but the general consensus was that their likeness to the King was weak. In T h e Gentleman's Exercise,' published in London in 1612, Henry Peacham remarked that he has:

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'Many times wondered why among so many I could never finde any true picture of his Majestie, or that did anything neere resemble him: I know not, but generally in his picture I finde two principal! errors, the one in the complexion and haire, and the other in the mouth, which commonly they draw with a full and great netherlip, wherein they commit the chiefest error.'

It seems clear that Peacham is describing the de Critz portrait type, which does indeed consistently show the King with an exaggeratedly protruding lower lip, sallow complexion and sandy hair - none of which concurs with verbal descriptions of him at the time.

James I. (1566-1625) John de Critz the elder / Roy Miles Fine Paintings / The Bndgeman Art Library

King James I. John De Critz, c.1605 (Formerly in the collection of the Duke of Sutherland)

68

Innumerable derivations of the de Critz portrait type exist, and it was not until the arrival in England of Pauwels van Someren (generally known in England as Paul van Somer) that a new start was made in the production of more accurate portraits of the King. Van Somer had been trained in the more rigorous and modern schools of his native Flanders. De Critz, by comparison, was still largely living in the attenuated Gothic and hieratic world of High Elizabethan portraiture. The contrast between the two artists is stark. Van Somer, although he only worked in England for a few years before his death, effectively forced an evolution and revolution in portraiture. By the early 1630s society saw the old-fashioned national style replaced by the full-blown Continental baroque of the likes of Sir Anthony van Dyck.

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One of the other key portraits of the King by Paul van Somer is still in The Royal Collection and is dated 1618. The King stands by a table bearing the crown, orb and sceptre as he holds the Greater George of the Order of the Garter. In contrast he is dressed in relatively restrained 'day' clothes of black satin and a white lace ruff. The likeness is altogether more animated and psychologically penetrating than that of John de Critz. It suggests James's reportedly rather dour and reticent-character; tinged with melancholy but allied with a beady intelligence.

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The present painting repeats the pattern of the head and hand holding the Garter Jewel, but depicts the King in the opulent ermine and crimson robes of the Order of the Garter used for the greatest state

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occasions. Painting of an extremely high quality enhances the freshness and liveliness of the portrait. As with many important portrait painters of the time it is possible that the background and figure of the subject was painted by the studio of the portraitist but that the face, at least, was painted by Paul van Somer himself.

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Coat of Arms of King James I of England (1603-25) (colour print), Anonymous / Private Collection. / The Bndgeman Art Library

2 5 SIR PETER LELY ( 1 6 1 8 - 1 6 8 0 )

Portrait of Sibil Masters, wearing a green silk dress with brown wrap, and a string of pearls, a wooded evening landscape beyond Painted circa 1648-51 Oil on canvas Unframed: 49 1/2 x 40 in (126 x 102 cm) Framed: 59 x 49 in (150 x 125 cm) In a fine seventeenth century carved and giltwood frame PROVENANCE By descent in the family of the sitter, until purchased by G. Wyrley-Birch, Wretham Norvalspont, Cape Province, who sold the painting to the father of the last owner

Sir Peter Leiy was born on 14th September, 1618 in the garrison town of Soest in Westphalia to Dutch parents, named Van der Faes. His mother, Abigail (nee Van Vliet) came from a prominent Utrecht family His father, Johan van der Faes was a captain in the infantry regiment of Baron Walraven van Gent, in the service of the Elector of Brandenburg. Johan was born in a house in The Hague, bought by the great-grandfather of the artist in 1525. The house had a lily on the fagade and was called 'In de Leiye' - hence the artist's name.

LeIy was a pupil of Frans Pieter de Grebber for some two years and is listed in the Guild of St. Luke in Haarlem for October 1637. He travelled to London in 1641, where he quickly established himself as a portraitist of the English aristocracy, as well as painting landscapes, religious and historical subjects. His paintings at that time were greatly influenced by the Dutch baroque style, and particularly by the work of Van Dyck. LeIy became a Freeman in the Painter-Stainers Company in 1647. He was made the Phncipal Painter to King Charles I and given control over the royal art collection. After the execution of Charles I, LeIy served under Oliver Cromwell and his son. In 1660 King Charles II appointed him his Phncipal Painter in Ordinary In 1661, the king granted him an annual stipend of two hundred pounds 'as formerly to Sr Vandyke'.

During the Commonwealth LeIy adopted a more sombre, occasionally almost puritanical style. His emphasis, as seen in the present painting, was on the psychology of the sitters; rather than the opulence of their costumes. After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, his palette becomes altogether more colourful, and his portraits of women are noted for their bnlliant, sometimes almost showy colouring. LeIy was also praised for his skilful rendering of fabhcs and the air of languid sensuality that they lend to their wearers. This is most evident in the portrait series of court ladies entitled The Windsor Beauties painted in the 1660s and in the collection at Hampton Court in London. These later

72

portraits, whilst often gloriously decorative, lack the more introspective intensity and charm of his early work. Some conform to a very similar facial typology where the sitters strongly resemble each other; as if conforming to an ideal of beauty without a need to differentiate character or individuality Simultaneously between 1666 and 1667, LeIy painted the portrait series of the Admirals at Greenwich, the best of them having rugged and masculine characterizations. Praise was thrown upon LeIy: Pepys referred to the artist as 'a mighty proud man, and full of state' and the artist was knighted in 1679. He died in 1680 apparently passing away with his palette in hand whilst painting a portrait of the Duchess of Somerset.

Sibil Masters, the subject of the present painting, belongs to a family with a fascinating history. Sibil was the daughter of Christopher Masters of the City of Westminster. She married Humphrey Wyrley Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas and a Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire.

Born around 1624, Sibil married 1645-6 and died around 1687. Her husband died two years later, having added a substantial fortune from the law in London to a patrimony of land owning in the Midlands. Both Masters and Wyrleys were typical Elizabethan 'New Men' seeking a fortune in the City Neither family was noted in the 1568 Heralds' 'Visitation of London' which noted all the prosperous men of land or commerce, but a generation or two later they were holding middle-ranking official posts. The Wyrleys were, on the other hand, an old and established county family in Staffordshire where they had estates at Hamstead (or Hampstead) in Handsworth.

In 1228, William de Wirleia was Rector of the church at Hunnesworth, and so continued until his death nineteen years later. This is the earliest record of a Wyrley resident in Handsworth. Robert, the earliest named ancestor, lived in the reign of Henry III, followed by William, who served on a Inquisition with Thomas de Hamstead in 1276. In 1279, he sued

73

25 Continued

Richard, son of Henry of Perry for two-thirds of the manor of Perry and four years later this was conceded to him. The family lived the lives of prosperous gentry throughout the Middle Ages: gradually adding to their holdings of land.

An impression of the status of the Wyrley family and the extent of their estates in Elizabethan times can be gained from a marriage settlement made in 1592 between John Wyrley of 'Hampsted' and Edward Holte of Duddeston. This was in confirmation of the marriage between Humphrey Wyrley heir apparent of John, and Katerin Holte, daughter of Edward.

The original document is held in Birmingham Reference Library Edward Holte was to pay 700 marks and 'diverse goods' to John Wyrley who, in return, covenanted to settle part of his estate on his son. This was to include 'that capital messuage and farm of Holford called Holford House and all lands and tenements adjoining same', as well as the Hammer mill in Holford with the waters, streams and pools that belonged to it and pastures and meadows in Perry Barr. Humphrey was, in addition, to have rights to half the corn mill called Perry Mill with its dams, steams and so on. John Wyrley retained for his own use the fishing rights in the waters of both mills. Settlement was made on Humphrey of lands and pastures in Great Barr and Wednesbury after the death of Dorothy widowed mother of John Wyrley who held these for her lifetime. Finally the inheritance after the death of John Wyrley himself was legalised. This included long lists of named meadows and woods, 'Hampsteed Mylles', the blade mill and 'the capital house of Hampsteed called Wyrley's Hall with all barns, stables, houses, gardens, orchards, hop-yards, courts, fold yards and backside to the same belonging'. Provision was made for Goodith, John's wife, if she outlived him. and very involved arrangements made to cover the eventualities of either of the young couple dying before the age of twenty-two or before producing a male heir. If Humphrey died before reaching twenty two and without a male heir, any daughters were to share between them £233.6s8d but if Katerin were to die. her father Edward Holte. was to be paid £233.6s8d at 'his new dwelling house at Duddeston'. The Holte family were themselves prosperous landowners who in the early years of Charles I's reign built the great mansion of Aston Hall, now part of Birmingham Museum and Art Galleries.

The ownership of the present painting followed the descent of the family In 1680, Sir John Wyrley bought the manor of Handsworth from Richard Best and rebuilt the first manor house. Sir John was followed by his nephew, Humphrey Wyrley His daughter, Sibil, named after the sitter in our portrait, married Dr. Peter Birch. They had two sons, Humphrey and John, who both adopted the name Wyrley-Birch and who both died childless. The estate eventually passed by will to a distant relative, George Birch of Harborne. In 1776, he married Ann Lane, granddaughter of Mary Wyrley and he became the last lord of the manor In 1819, the greater part of the estate was sold to William, Earl of Dartmouth of Sandwell Hall, West Bromwich.

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2 6 ROBERT FAGAN (1745-1816)

Three-quarter-length portrait of Lady Emma Hamilton in her 'Attitude' as Neapolitan Peasant Signed, inscribed 'Roma' and dated 1793 Oil on canvas Unframed: I T ' A x 14 in / 44.5 x 35.5 c m Framed: T i ' U x 20 in / 59 x 51 cm In its original giltwood neoclassical frame Previously unpublished The known oeuvre of the Irish neo-classical painter Robert Fagan is tiny, making the publication of this unrecorded picture, signed and dated 1793. a significant discovery. Equally, the fame of the sitter. Lady Emma Hamilton, makes it a key work of Irish Grand Tour art. At this date Emma had been married to Sir William Hamilton, ambassador to the court of Naples, for two years. Although her period of fame, indeed notoriety, as the mistress of Nelson was in the future, she was already established as one of the most sought after, if least conventional, 'sights' of the Grand Tour. That the flamboyant artist should have wanted to paint the celebrated beauty is of course not surprising. Both led unconventional lives and Emma had inspired a succession of artists, most notably George Romney Both were rather seen as outsiders in the aristocratic world they inhabited. Fagan the son of a baker was mocked for his lack of breeding: Emma daughter of a blacksmith was ridiculed by Lady Webster (herself painted by Fagan) for her lapses in etiquette.' Fagan's passionate interest in classical statuary which he excavated, traded and collected would have been a further incentive for seeking out Emma who was celebrated as the living embodiment of antique sculpture. This had been expressed by Goethe a few years earlier: 'After many years of devotion to the arts and the study of nature (Sir William has] found the acme of these delights in the person of an English girl of 20 with a beautiful face and a perfect figure. He has had a Greek costume made for her which becomes her extremely. Dressed in this she lets down her hair, and with a few shawls, gives so much variety to her poses, gestures, expressions, etc., that the spectator can hardly believe his eyes.'^ Fagan's art was inspired by the classical sculpture he excavated (much of it preserved in the Museum in Palermo). Here for once he had the opportunity to paint the classical ideal made flesh.

The size of Fagan's oeuvre is not surprising. His adventurous, not to say tempestuous, life can have left little time to paint and only some twenty pictures are known. Nevertheless he has been hailed by Trevelyan as an outstanding artist in the neo-classic tradition with Waterhouse going even further to claim him as the 'only British portrait painter who deliberately adopted a neo-classic style.^ However, in addition to stylistic modernity and his embrace of international neo-classicism, Fagan was one of the most interesting and innovative of all Irish artists. A catholic

76

and fierce republican, he naturally alienated many British Grand Tounsts, even refusing to show his pictures to Lady Knight on the grounds that she and her family were 'enemies of the revolution'." Fagan's Portrait of a Lady as Hibernia, described as his 'patriotic masterpiece' is replete with Irish symbolism and can be interpreted as a lament for his native country's loss of independence after the Act of Union.^ The quality of his work, his glamorous life and tragic death certainly justify Professor Crookshank and the Knight of Glin's assessment of Fagan as 'one of the most dramatic characters associated with Irish painting.'^

Robert Fagan Portrait of a lady as Hiberma (nd). Sotheby's 15 November 1989 (61)

Fagan spent almost his entire career in Italy and came into the Hamiltons' ambit from an early date. He shared with Sir William an interest in classical art and at a later date was himself appointed a British diplomat, a task for which he was spectacularly unsuited. Fagan would A. Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, Insh Portraits

; 6 6 0 - I 8 6 0 . Exhibition Catalogue, (London 1969)

65: J- I n g a m e l l s , D i c t i o n a r y of British and Irish Travellers in Italy. I70ht800.

compiled from the

Brindsley Ford Archive (New Haven and London 1997) 456.

• Quoted Ingamells, A Dictionary

of British and Irish Travellers in Italy. 4 5 6

• R, Trevelyan, 'Robert Fagan, and Irish Bohemian in Italy'. Apollo. Ixcvi (October 1972) 300: E. Walerhouse.

Dictionary of British 18th Century Painters in Oi/and Crayons (Woodbridge 1982) 122.

^ Ingamells, A Dictionary

of British and Irish Travellers in Italy. 346.

A. Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, Ireland's Painters • Ibid

/600- ; 9 4 0 (New Haven and London 2002) 118.

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26 Continued have c o m e directly into contact with William Hamilton through his archaeological activities. From 1793, the exact date of the present portrait, he was excavating at Campo lemini in the company of Prince Augustus Fredenck, later Dul<e of Sussex. The prince, sixth son of George III, had been put under the care of Hamilton, who reported to Queen Charlotte on his progress and his inappropriate liaisons.

Fagan painted Emma twice. A further portrait of her as a bacchante was on the art market recently and is now in the Smurfit Collection.' Here he shows her in a calmer pose. Following Fagan's usual pattern he gives the place as well as the date of the execution of the picture. It is signed 'Roma 1793'. It is accordingly an early work following the portraits of Lady Clifford (1791) and Sir Andrew Corbet and his wife (1792) (both private collections). Fagan was based in Rome from 1793 to 1797, however, up to sometime in 1793, Fagan had resided in Naples where no doubt he sketched Lady Hamilton performing one of her attitudes, completing the work later in the year and signing it in Rome.

objects and paintings discovered in the excavations, and thus appeared to have ancient roots.''" These were depicted by local and visiting artists such as David Allan and Pietro Fabris. A direct comparison may be made with Allan's 1775 picture A Proddian Girl (Duke of Hamilton). However, in contrast to Allan's attempt at empirical observation and the woman's rather generic features, in Fagan's picture the element of acting, or role play is clear. The theatrical was of course part of Fagan's own artistic persona, so evidently exemplified in his famous self-portrait with his second wife (Hunt Museum, Limerick). Here he captures Emma's flirtatiousness, but also her vulnerability. It is a striking image and an important document of the lives of both artist and sitter.

Most of Emma's attitudes were taken from classical antiquity One contemporary describes how 'with the assistance of one or two Etruscan vases and an urn' she would become 'a Sibyl, then a Fury, A Niobe, a Sophonisba, a Bacchante dnnking wine'.® This last posture was how she was portrayed in the (undated) picture by Fagan noted above in which he includes a tripod and Greek vase, no doubt from Sir William's own collection as attributes to define Emma as a devotee of the God of Wine. Given Emma's own later alcoholism, this iconography was ironically prescient.

In the newly discovered work considered here, Emma, with a knowing smile on her face, takes on a more humble, if equally seductive part. The same source noted how Emma would drop her classical guise to take on the character of a Neapolitan peasant woman dancing a tarantella with castanets. Emma is shown here in the brightly coloured costumes of the south of Italy about to embark on her dance. Fagan's romanticisation of the life of the Neapolitan peasantry would have attuned well with the Neapolitan court. Ferdinand and Maria Carolina at Naples liked to withdraw from the formality of court life and play at a bucolic existence as humble peasants, perhaps inspired by the example of Mane Antoinette's hameau at Versailles (the French queen was of course Maria Carolina's sister). The royal family were even painted by Philip Hackert in peasant costumes 'indulging in the fantasy that they are helping to harvest the crops' (Museo de San Martino, Naples).'

For Sir William Hamilton and indeed for Fagan, there would not have been a marked distinction between Emma's classical and more contemporary attitudes. It was something of a commonplace to see in the life and customs of the Neapolitan peasantry survivals from the classical past. 'The local customs of the inhabitants were unique and certainly picturesque...Local games such as mora, dances such as the tarantella, and religious customs all seemed to have reflections in

78

' Sold Sotheby's The Irish SafelB May 2 0 0 0 lot 68: see T. Murptiy Smurfit Art Collection 2001 (Dublin 2001) p, Ingamells. A Dictionary

of British and Irish Travellers in Italy. 458.

• Lady Hamilton in relation to the art of her Time. Exhibition Catalogue, Kenwood House (London 1972) 34.

Ian Jenkins and Kim Sloan, Vases and Volcanoes. Sir William Hamilton and His Collection.

Catalogue, Bntish Museum (London 1996) 242,

Exhibition

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2 7 SIR GODFREY KNELLER A N D STUDIO ( 1 6 4 6 - 1 7 2 7 )

Portrait of Sir Jsaac Newton (1642-1727), sitting in a high-backed armchair on which his left hand rests, wearing a grey coat, white cravat and long periwig Painted circa 1719 Oil on canvas Unframed: 50 x 4 0 in / 127 x 102 cm Framed: 58 x 4 8 in / 147 x 122 cm In the original fine carved and double-gilded l e l y Panel' frame PROVENANCE Highly likely to have been sent by Newton in 1720 to Pierre Varignon; thence in a private collection in France.

Newton was sufficiently grateful to, and impressed with, the French mathematician to send him a portrait of himself in 1720. It is therefore not bold to surmise that this is the present picture as the whereabouts in France of that picture are unknown. Other portraits of Newton by Kneller around this date exist and are often in more than one autograph version.

These include the portraits at Grantham and Petworth House that are compositionally identical to each other and both are signed or inscribed and dated by Kneller, see black and white image of the Petworth version illustrated below.

LITERATURE Mile Keynes, T h e Iconography of Sir Isaac Newton to 1800', 2005, Boydell Press, no. VIII-2, pg. 25 as "Studio replica".

The present portrait depicts the most important mathematician of his age - perhaps any age - and is c o m p o s e d by the most important artist of that age in England. The painting dates from the end of both the artist and sitter's brilliant careers. It illustrates the Augustan Ideal in portraiture: sober, straightforward in technique and characterisation, classical and with a fine simplicity and gravitas. The painter has used a restrained colour scheme to project the dignity of his illustrious sitter. Newton's features gazing steadfastly and seriously in contemplative thought. There is no notion here of the levity and playfulness of Continental models of this date which were a precursor to the onset of the Rococo. It is pure English Baroque style which emphasizes the seriousness of both subject and painter and shows an instinctive wariness of show and pomposity The purpose of the portrait is physical likeness and studiousness of d e m e a n o u r a late continuation of the Puritan English predilection for portraits with warts and all'.

Newton, indeed, was wary in the extreme of the Vanities' of personal portraiture, and was loath either to sit for or commission portraits for his legion of admirers and friends.

Given the extent of his fame throughout Europe, images of Newton are surprisingly scarce. Milo Keynes has explored this in his recent book on Newton and confirms that few 'new' portraits of the scholar have c o m e to light. It is all the more interesting, therefore, that the present picture should have re-appeared in France, where Newton is known to have sent portraits of himself He gave one to the Abbe Bignon which was formerly the French Royal Library and is, perhaps, the signed portrait of 1721 in the Grantham Museum. He also presented one to the French mathematician, Pierre Varignon. We know from his correspondence that

80

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Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Godfrey Kneller (1645-1723) / Petworth House. West Sussex. U K / T h e Bridgeman Library

The reverse of the Newton portrait at Petworth House is inscribed 'G. KNELLER BARONT. 1720' on the lining canvas. It is presumed, but not confirmed, that this records an inscription on the original canvas that is now no longer visible. Keynes has confirmed the Petworth House portrait as the autograph original.

81

27 Continued

When the present painting was acquired it was still in its unlined state and covered in an extremely discoloured varnish. It seems highly likely that the picture had never previously been cleaned or restored. The painting has never previously been recorded or published and the identity of the sitter has only very recently been confirmed by Keynes, who has written to confirm the authenticity of the likeness from a photograph, but at the time of this publication had not seen the painting itself. The highly skilled recent cleaning has revealed a painting of very high quality in a perfect state of preservation. It is difficult to dismiss the idea that much of autograph quality is present in the painting, especially in the face and hands. The nght hand, especially is quite beautifully conceived and executed and of the highest quality It is certainly comparable to the highly regarded signed portrait at Grantham Museum which may have been the painting sent to Abbe Bignon.

Keynes notes that Varignon had tried to obtain a portrait of Newton as early as 1715, but without success. Quoting Stukely's 'Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton, 1752' he reports that Newton commissioned a portrait in 1720 to be sent to Abbe Bignon - 'whose name (confusingly) he wrote in misrecollection of Varignon'- he in fact sent both of them a portrait. Newton also received a portrait of Varignon from France in January 1721 in return.

It is debatable as to whether the present portrait or the Petworth House portrait may have been the one sent to Varignon from Newton. It has long been thought that the Petworth House picture is the portrait that

was sent to Varignon. presumably because of the similarity of the date of 1720 for Newton's commission and the date on the back of the painting. The portrait however is not in the inventory of 1763 and is not recorded at Petworth House before 1835 so the definitive provenance before that date seems difficult to clarify Certainly, the painting at Grantham is signed and dated 1721 but others have argued that Kneller did not repeat compositions. It seems equally possible that the earlier composition, namely the present portrait, can be securely dated to 1719 and was repeated in 1720 to be sent to Varignon in France. Given the speed of transport, and the time it takes to produce a painting, it seems likely that the picture sent to Varignon would have been finished relatively early in 1720, since the portrait of Varignon sent to Newton in exchange was received in January, 1721.

The present painting seems to have a long French pedigree and its untouched, unlined state also suggests a portrait not subjected to the occasional trials of the art market: cleaning, lining, restoration or removal from its frame. The painting still even bears the onginal hand-made nails and chassis-strainer, rather than stretcher. The extraordinary condition of the painting supports strongly the evidence that it has long been in pnvate collections in France and on balance this may secure it as a strong candidate for being the Varignon portrait. Above all the viewer is mostly struck by the gentle and noble depiction of the mathematician and its untouched condition has only served to reveal the exceptional original work of Sir Godfrey Kneller.

2 8 ENOCH SEEMAN (DANZIG) 1694-LONDON 1 7 4 4 / 5 )

The Children of King George II and Queen Caroline Signed on the harpsichord case, centre right 'Enoch Seeman' and dated 1741 the last numbers are indistinct Oil on canvas Unframed: 45 x 54 in / 114 x 137 cm Framed: 53 x 62 in / 134.8 x 157.5 cm PROVENANCE Unknown until its recent appearance in a private collection in Italy.

Enoch Seeman (Zeeman) was the son of Isaac Seeman, a portrait painter in Danzig. Isaac came to London at the end of the seventeenth century with his young family Enoch's brother Isaac travelled with them and subsequently they shared his house in St. Martin's Lane. George Vertue remarked in one of his notebooks (Vol. III. p. 155): 'Both these brothers had some merrit in painting after a neat smooth manner by which their silks satins & draperys neat and procurd them much business in a middling way' Enoch Seeman enjoyed success as a portrait painter, usually painting life scale pictures, rather than small conversation pieces, of which this is a fine and rare example. After the artist's death Vertue described the artist: 'he had some years ago much business and his works were well esteemd' (Vol. III. p.125). This esteem was much boosted by his relationship with the Royal Family over a period of several years He painted a three-quarter-length portrait of Princess Mary of Hesse, which was engraved by John Simon. There are also six portraits by him in The Royal Collection: three of George II (full-length portraits of the King in state dress, two replicas, and a bust portrait in a painted oval which may have been cut down), and three of Queen Caroline. Seeman was paid £37 16s on 26th June, 1738 for 'two wole-lenghts and two half-lenghts (sic)' for the Prince of Wales which may well refer to this group.

Although the 1730's and 1740's were the decades of the rise and hey-day of the genre, conversation pieces of the children of King George II are surprisingly uncommon. This was perhaps because relations between the Prince and his sisters were notoriously difficult and sometimes acnmonious. The group had been painted in 1733 by Phillipe Mercier (1691-1760) who produced two variations of the same pictures of the National Portrait Gallery (no. NPG1556). This one illustrated above, is the well-known 'The Music Party' of 1733 which depicts the prince playing the bass-viol, accompanied by Anne at the harpsichord and Caroline on the mandora whilst Amelia reads from Milton. The two princesses appear in the present painting playing the same instruments.

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The MUSIC Party, Frederick, P r i n c e of Wales a n d his sisters, c . 1 7 3 3 (oil o n canvas), Philippe, M e r c i e r ( 1 5 8 9 - 1 7 5 0 ) / C l i v e d e n House, B u c k i n g h a m s h i r e . UK. / T h e B n d g e m a n Art U b r a r y

It seems that the present group portrait by Seeman may have been inspired, albeit indirectly, by Mercier. It is a rare find indeed and a portrait that appears not to have been published previously The sitters are, from left to right: Princess Amelia Sophia Eleanor (1711-1786) painting at the easel: Princess Mary ( 1 7 2 3 - 1 7 7 2 ) holding a drawing; Princess Caroline Elizabeth (1713-1757) playing the mandora; Princess Anne, Princess Royal (1709-1759) playing the harpsichord; and Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-1751) wearing the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter A mezzotint of the period is illustrated in black and white below, in which all of the sitters of this conversation piece are included.

THE

ROY.\L FAMILY

OF

CRF.AT F)RIT,\IN

The Royal Family of Great Britain, artist u n k n o w n . 1724, National Portrait Gallery.

London

85

29 JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY (1734-1797)

Portrait of a Lady, in a pink and white dress edged with lace Painted circa 1755 Oil on canvas Unframed: SO'A x 25'A in / 76.8 x 64 cm Framed: 38 x BS'A in / 96.5 x 85 cm PROVENANCE Walter de Zoete of Layer Breton Lodge, Colchester, and Blenheim House, North Berwick: Christie's, 5th April, 1935, lot 122, as by Allan Ramsay (sold 60 gns.).

The later career of Joseph Wright, one of England's greatest painters of the eighteenth century is well known and exceptionally well documented. The survival of the artist's sitters' books and journal have proved invaluable to art historians. The recent discovery of the present painting by the young Wright adds greatly to our knowledge of the earliest part of his career, which until very recently has been far less known. Benedict Nicolson in his 1968 monograph on the artist titled •Joseph Wnght of Derby, Painter of Light' had surmised that Wright's earliest portraits could be dated to around 1760. This remained the definitive view until a portrait of Anne Bateman, illustrated lower right, was discovered to be signed and dated 1755, at which point Wnght was just twenty-one years old. The Bateman painting was exhibited at an exhibition at the Tate Gallery. 'Joseph Wright of Derby' in 1990 (catalogue no. 2, pg. 35).

The present painting's relationship with the portrait of Anne Bateman could scarcely be closer in technique and in composition. Both share the mannered elongated neck, smooth painting, masterly painting of lace and satin and nchly saturated colours. These are the stylistic characteristics one might expect of a youthful prodigy trained in drapery painting by London's leading portraitist. Likewise, the painting of the posy of flowers, above, on the front of the sitter's dress is reproduced almost exactly in the still life elements of the portrait of Mrs. William Pigot (Nicolson, vol. II, plate 24).

Wright's initial training as a portraitist had been with Thomas Hudson, for whom he worked as a drapery painter between 1751 and 1753, and again 1756 to 1757. Between these years Wright stayed with his family in Derby where he is recorded as painting his parents, his two sisters and his brother (all untraced) as well as portraits of friends and the important families of the area, such as Anne Bateman. It is from this date that the artist's first self-portrait comes. A comparison between the features of the young artist and the present painting suggest the intriguing possibility of a family likeness and it is conceivable that this may be the missing portrait of one of Wright's sisters.

86

The posy of flowers is reproduced almost exactly in the still life elements of the portrait of Mrs. William Pigot,

Anne Bateman. later Mrs. John Gisbourne.

1755. Joseph Wright of

Derby C1734-97) / Private Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library

87

30 THOMAS HUDSON (1701-1779)

Portrait of a Lady in a blue gown Oil on canvas Unframed: 50 x 40 in / 127 x 101.6 cm Framed: 55 x 46 in / 139.5 x 117 cm

Thomas Hudson was born in Devon in 1701. He is first recorded as a painter in documents relating to the Courteney family of Devon in 1728.

These records list three family portraits of the Courteneys and a depiction of St. Mary Magdalene. These paintings all date from the late 1720s when Hudson was a pupil of Jonathan Richardson. Richardson became Hudson's father-in-law in 1725 when the young student married his teacher's daughter.

Between 1730 and 1740 Hudson divided his time between the fashionable towns of the West Country, such as Bath, and London. It seems lil<ely that Hudson studied the portraits of Van Loo in London (around 1737-42) as he succeeded to his fashionable practice in the early 1740s. Hudson established himself as one of the leading portrait painters of the time and produced a more solemn and formal style of portrait than his contemporaries Highmore and Hogarth. Hudson devised a series of stock poses, often using the same clothes and jewellery for the ladies he painted. He employed Joseph van Aken and his brother Alexander van Aken to paint the majority of his draperies. The van Aken brothers also worked for Ramsay, Pickering and others which at times has made it difficult to distinguish between the works of these artists.

In 1748 Hudson travelled to France. Holland and Flanders and to Italy in 1752. These trips influenced his style greatly and he painted group

portraits such as Benn's Club of Aldermen in 1752 (Goldsmiths, London) that clearly show the influence of Dutch models. His technique for painting faces also became looser and more feathery. Between 1742 and the mid 1750s Hudson was the most fashionable painter in London with his main rival being Ramsay. In the 1750s however Hudson's former pupil, Joshua Reynolds, began to receive commissions from his patrons.

Reynolds' style captured much more of the character of his sitters, moving away from the stock poses of Hudson.

The present picture dates stylistically from around 1758—60. The identity of the lady is unknown; her jewels and clothes give us no clues as they were not unique in Hudson's portraits. The costume and jewellery are very similar to those in Hudson's full-length portrait of Mary Panton, Duchess of Ancaster from around 1757. Both ladies wear the same red and white jewellery in swags over elaborate dresses with a feathered hat. These were fashionable at the time and ladies wore them to masquerade and fancy-dress parties. Hudson also uses the same hat and costume in his portrait of Mrs Penelope Bayfield. His technique is visible in the painting of the drapery of the dress - he uses a pink base under painting beneath the sleeves and skirt, with the drapes of the fabric thickly painted. The sleeves are loosely depicted and the blue lace ruffle around her neck is slightly blurred, in contrast to the more detailed treatment of the bows and jewellery and lace cuffs. The hands are softly modelled and her face clearly articulated.

a iff'

31 NATHANIEL DANCE (1735-1811)

Captain (later Admiral) Sir George Pocock (1706-1792) and Captain Dighy Dent RN, before a painting of the bombardment of the Iron Castle at Portobello of November 1739 Painted circa 1753/4 Oil on canvas Unframed; 20 x 26 72 in / 50 x 67 cm Framed; 26 x 3 2 72 in / 66 x 82.5 cm In its onginal carved and giltwood 'Maratta' frame PROVENANCE Acquired from Agnews by Lady Eccles (as Captain Cook and a friend)

Nathaniel Dance was born in London on 18th May 1735, the third son of George Dance the elder and his wife Elizabeth, nee Gould. His forebears were a well-known family of architects and builders. His father was Clerk-of-the-Works to the City of London and designed Mansion House, the home of the Lord Mayor of London.

Nathaniel attended the Merchant Taylors' School between 1743 and 1748, and shortly afterwards became a pupil of the popular and successful painter of history painting and conversation pieces, Francis Hayman. Dance's earliest known work dates from 1753 and is a portrait of George Dance the younger and his sister, Hester. After his training with Hayman, Dance departed for Rome and the Grand Tour, arriving in Rome in May 1754. The present painting must have been executed shortly before his departure. Certainly, it bears strong resemblances, both in tone, technique and composition, to the group of conversation pieces of grand tourists which he executed in Rome in the following years, see black and white illustration below of Lord Charles Hope and his Cicerone.

Nathaniel Dance. Lord Charles Hope and his Cicerone, 1762 (Rome)

Dance remained in Rome for a decade, returning to London in 1765, having received further training from Pompeo Batoni. His work in London took on an altogether grander appearance, and he became a leading figure in neoclassical history painting. He had a very impressive list of patrons for his portraiture in London, including King George. Around 1770 he inherited a fortune and gradually gave up painting, ceasing altogether by 1782. He remained an influential figure in the London art world until about 1790 when he married a very wealthy widow and became a member of parliament He occasionally submitted pictures to the Royal Academy of which he had been a member but subsequently retired. He died in 1811, leaving a vast fortune.

This charming picture had traditionally been identified as Captain Cool< and his friend. Recent research shows that the sitters can be accurately identified from the internal evidence of the picture itself as Sir George Pocock and Digby Dent The dating of the painting to the first half of the 1750s is secured by the fact that the figure on the left is wearing the 'undress' uniform of a post-captain of over three-years' seniority of the pattern introduced in 1748 and in use until 1767. The style of the gentleman's wig suggests a date of around 1755. and the style of the naval officer's wig is that of 1750 or just after. The naval engagement depicted on the wall is thought to pre-date 1748 and is thus likely to be from the War of Jenkin's Ear or the War of the Spanish Succession, which ran from 1739-1748. The most obvious candidate therefore for ship-to-shore action as depicted is the famous bombardment of the Iron Castle of Porto Bello, at Panama in Central America. This expedition to capture Porto Bello was led by Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon (1684-1757) with a squadron of six ships. That such a small fleet could capture such a fearsome target was considered exceptional by contemporary opinion, and the participants were feted on their return to England and streets and pubs were named after them throughout the country It seems reasonable to surmise that the naval officer depicted had either been present at the battle or his ship had been there. Vernon's flagship was H.M.S. Burford which carried seventy guns and was led by Captain Thomas Watson. It was a two-decker third-rate launched at Deptford in 1722 and broken up in 1752. The five other participating ships in the battle and their officers have been researched to see if any had the rank of post-captain between 1748 and around 1755 with three-plus years' seniority Of the six captains, only two were still living and in the rank at that period: Charles Brown and Digby Dent. There is a portrait of Brown at the National Maritime Museum (no. BHC 2578), but Brown would have been much older at this time and the picture bears no resemblance

90

91

31

Continued

to the present sitters. Other portraits of Digby Dent have not been identified.

The Captain portrayed in the present picture bears a remarkable and convincing likeness to Captain Sir George Pocock (1706-1792) in the two portraits painted around 1761 by Thomas Hudson, as illustrated in

5

black on white on the facing page. George Pocock was born in Thames Ditton and entered the navy in 1718. He was appointed Lieutenant in 1725: Master and Commodore in 1733; and Captain in 1738. He lived in London from 1749 until July, 1754 when he was given command of the Cumberland. He became Rear Admiral of the White Squadron in 1755; Rear Admiral of the Red in 1756; Vice-Admiral of the White in 1757; Vice-Adm'iral of the Red in 1758; Knight Bachelor in 1761; and Admiral of the Blue in 1762. He retired from his illustrious navy career in 1766 and was Member of Parliament for Plymouth between 1760 and 1768.

Pocock himself was not present at Porto Bello, but he did serve as lieutenant from 1725 on H.M.S. Burford before he took his first command, of H.M.S. Bridgewa1;er in 1733. By 1748-55, Pocock was living in London as a wealthy ungf^^loyed officer o t i h e rank of post^captain witlj-,^ three years'seniority.

"

"Trt "1763 Pdcdck married'-'Sophia Pitt Dent ( V 7 3 3 r 6 7 r a daughter of George Francis Drake (1696-1741^) and widow'Of Captain Digby Dent RN. The latter had married her in 17§0.^wWn Dent is described as being a friend of Pocock's, a friendship perhaps sealed when they served together on board ship. Given this close relationship, and the fact that

# '•M

Dent had been Captain of H.M.S. Hampton Court at Porto Bello, it seems likely that the figure on the right is him and he was based in England after 1748 until his death in 1761.

.V

mi

A letter written o n board H.M.S. Burford gives a first hand a c c o u n t of tlie attacl< on Porto Bello:

'HcHo is simatc in the (\)(l of(t Bay, (ihoiil a Mile deep, and near llalj a Mile hroad a! the nioii/li of the Harbour, where a strong Castle (Caslle Hierro Ferro], or Iron Castle^ and Fort, stood on the the Side of a steep Hock, with 300 Men and 100 fftrat (lUns. On the different side, hut about a Mile further up, stood ( astle (iloria, larger than the other, hai'ing 100 Men (utd 120 duns, most of them the largest e^'er seen. This was tdso situate on the Side of (I i'ery high Rock, and under the ('annon oj it and l-ort St. Jeron ymo, which was a strong Battery nearly opposite, all the .Ships rode at Anchor belonging to the Harbour.

On the 2lsl of\o^\ about Two o'clock, we came up with Porto Hello Harbour, where the Sjxunards had hoisted upon the Iron Castle the Flag oj Dejiance: aiul as we were told b)' theui.selves afterwards, they wish V/ earnesth 'Jor our attempting to come in, as believing the} ' could sink us all uume diately; but said they fear'il we were only making a .second Bastimento F.rpedition, and would not give them the plea.iiire of engaging ii.s. And indeed the Place was exceeding strong, both by Art and \ature. But they were .soon grali/y'd in their II ishes. f>r the Hampton Court made directly op/>osile to the Castle, being in the 1 an; and as the II ind died away she dropp'd her \nchor before it, receiving a very brisk Fire from the Spaniards at the Distance of little more than a ('able's I.ength. She soon convine V/ them that she was both willing and able to return it, for in about 25 minutes .she jir'd near 100 shot against the Castle; .so that nothing was to been .seen but Fire and Smoak on both Side.s.

The \orwich then came up ne.rt, who met with the same reception; and ahho' she ilid fire tpiile .so //nick as the Hampton Court, yet we could observe that her Shot was so well aim 'd, as to put the Spaniards a good ileal off their Metal, hardly returning her one C,nn for three. In 28 minutes the II orce.ster got up also, who anchoring clo.se by the other two, did no small Execution against the Castle, in a little Time knocking down the higher Part of it, a driving many of the Spaniards from their Cun.s. lie nutde all the Still po.s.sible anil came Infore the Castle with the Blue /'fag at our I'ore- TopMast Head, and the Hoody Flag at our Main-Top- Mast Head, in 20 minutes after the Worcester The \dmiral, who.se Conduct and Courage is hard to be paralleird, ordered our \nchor to be dropped within half a Cable's Length of the Castle, as being resolved to convince them we were in no way afraid of all they could do. \otwithslanding they had discharged very few Ciins for some Minutes before uv came up, yet, as if the) had resolved to summon up all their ( Ourage against the Flag, they welconi V/ us with a terrible I oHey, which being at .so short a distance, took j>lace with almost every Shot. One struck away the Stern of our Barge; another broke a large Cun upon our I pper-ileck; a third went thro' our Lore- Lop- Mast; and a fourth pa.ssing thro'the \wnirig within two Inches of our Main Mast, broke down the BarricaihiofourQuarter-Deck, very near the \dmir(il, and kili'd three Men dead in a Momeut, wounding another jive which stood by thern. This htoked as if we should have bloody 11 ork. but was far from di.scouraging our brave Fellows who in every Ship were .so zealous as hardly to be restrain'd from jlring) f>r UT return V/ their .salute in such a Manner that ahho' they fired a Shot now and iheri, yet they never did us the least Damage afterwards. 11 e drove them from all their lower (iiins the first Broad-side, and by a Spring upon our ( able, bringing about our .Starboard (liiiis ii'c gave thern another

in three Minutes, and .so on for si.r or .seven Bounds, which made thetn ipiite sick of the Affair, and we could observe them flying for Beftge into the Ambuscades.

AH the Boat's crews were on the Platform in three Minutes after landing, and struck the Spanish Flag of Defiance, hoisting the Fngli.sh Colours. The Capitano and Officers which were taken in the Castle, shut themselves up in a strong Lodgement; but on our IJeutenanl \s firing a gun or two thro' the door, the) quickly openeil it and begged (Juarter. Thus this iron Castle was taken by five Fnglish Ships for the Loni.sa was not come up) in two Honrs, which in the Hands of .so many FngHshmen, might have been defended against all the Force of Spain.

The CJoria and.leroiiymo Forts kept firing towards us all the Time of \ction, but most of their Shot fell short, or flew over our Higgiug. After we had got Po.s.se.ssion of the Iron Castle, we try 'd to reach them with our lower-Deck Ciun.s, and could observe that in a few Minutes we were .so fortunate as to have struck down their Flag-Staff at Chria Castle and beat down severtd Hou.ses in the Town; we also sunk a Sloop near Cloria Castle.'

We are very grateful to Stephen Wood MA FSA, former director of the United Services M u s e u m in Edinburgh, for his help in identifying the sitters in the portrait. This entry has b e e n c o m p o s e d from Stephen Wood's report and a c o p y of the full report is also available.

Sir George Pocock. Thomas Hudson. 1761. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

93

1

4-231

mi ^

mm George Willison was born in Edinburgh - the son of a printer and

same year. European artists such as Tilly Kettle, were b e c o m i n g popular

publisher and the grandson of a clergyman. His uncle, George Dempster

at the Nawab's c o u r t and Archer suggests that this may have been a

e n c o u r a g e d his nephew's artistic talents and Willison received training at

contnbuting factor in Willison's decision to travel.

the Edinburgh Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences.

Willison later travelled to Rome where he studied under Anton Raphael

Willison arrived in India in 1774. at the age of thirty-three years old. and

Mengs and on his return he exhibited fourteen pictures at the Society of

his first commission was from Muhammed All for w h o m the artist painted

Artists between 1767 and 1770 and seven pictures at the Royal

two full-length portraits. These were to be presented to the East India

Academy in London in 1771 and 1772. As with the present pair of

Company in London and King George III. Willison received six commissions

portraits, several of Willison's pictures produced during this p e n o d were

between 1774 and 1775 and another two between 1776 and 1777. His

engraved and published.

sitters included the Governor of Madras. Willison was paid well and

Mildred Archer's definitive book. 'India and British Portraiture 1 7 7 0 - 1 8 2 5 '

the extent of his wealth vary - some state that Willison returned home

returned to England via China on June 19th 1780 a rich man. Reports of provides invaluable information on the painter and his travels to India. In

with £30.000. The artist. Paul Sandby wrote. 'Willison has brought from

1772 Willison was granted permission from the East India Company to

thence £15,000, he will now sit by the fire at Auld Reekie [Edinburgh]

travel to India. Again his uncle was probably instrumental in this as

snugly by the ingleside. fortune is seldom raised in the north, south or

Dempster was re-elected as a director of the East India Company that

west. The east, it appears, is the golden point and compass to wealth.'

32 Continued

On his return Willison lived and worked in Edinburgh until his death in Apnl 1797. Archer has c o m m e n t e d that the number of the artist's works that survive makes evaluating Willison difficult. She does note however that Willison's time in India contributed greatly to his style and was instrumental in the artist's graduation from a little known young artist to a well-respected and wealthy one. Willison also contributed to the public's knowledge and impressions of life in India at this time with an exhibition of his portraits in the East India House in Leadenhall Street on his return from the East. Works by the artist can be found in several important collections, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, the National Galleries of Scotland, and Yale Center for British Art in the United States of America.

The re-emergence and identification of this handsome pair of paintings

by Willison is an exciting discovery They add to the small body of works by this interesting portrait painter who made a fortune by travelling speculatively to India to compete alongside better-known artists such as Tilly Kettle. This pair of portraits was exhibited at the Society of Artists in 1767, (see entry from exhibition handbook as numbers 181 and 182,) and also published by Valentine Green in a print (see illustration below,) It has been suggested that the ladies may be from the Trevor family whose family name was Hampden. They illustrate the evolution of Willison's style of portraiture and his brave decision to explore the East in hope of bettenng his opportunities as an artist.

E X H I B I T O R S AT S O C I L T Y OF A R T I S T S , WILLIAMS. S

SculplOf.

Mr. rnuimms.

• 76e. •••Achvil^

i

wtraji of • , chancterof » • It IMto <0 the chiraeier of t •l| Uktoofagenllemiii 176S. lit Poniaii of a giTHlnnan. .14 Uiito of . r<»ng lidy. .1- Uiuo or an officer, lit Juptler v>d lo.

IJ68. (ijNrtW^.U Portf.ll U a younc

» TifurcofOo. 4. ftmt, PiaaMfy. ij S*ppto InUgKo. fro* ihe WILLIAMS. ViUi4m Snanv or ARtma.

<>7 Jupiler and le,

Painter.

Onluni Siml,

ETC.

WILLISON. George

•!< Portiait of ayoiiitg|ctiUcman. with alletoncti ligurei.

• SI Portrakioftwo young ladies.

• ft Ditto of ibdy

K—i.

!}««. iM Tb««»te^&llll.^ber,lllN<lnh W»le.. .t, A tmtU U«Uc.pe.

••I Winter d»vin( twif AMumn. i;«7. '^trt Vie«inStudkrPvk,Yorkibin.

• n Poftnii of * gentian*)), half lenfth. <1. A Utm luKhkip. vith Ortawlo i n j Obtw. •> daenbed by OlM. n the bu K m d Act IV of Shtkeqieu't At Vou Uke IL >:68. .!• A hnddiip with ibefigure*of Sunmer, ind kttetidtnu, u detchbed in the Specutor, No. 4>s.

•I| A unall whole length portiaii oft young iniM, •M B«Bfykle.KiftgoflheCii).ie^

K^u /mint.

17;;.

A portiait of the Nabob of AroMt. whole length.

M*dr»i, El! Imiia.

t;7«. ^ 1-be Nabob of AicM. Mohamn>cdMunlvefCaw^the Nabob-t eldeil ton, y* UbdvU Ally Cawn, ton to UoKtBimed

i;6e.

Libenlny and Modetty Ij6i. 131 Anhittorical iketch, the letum of St. Peter from Pri»on.

n, Ktr. Mr if,/A

I ;6«, •>< A ponrait of t Rentlemaii.

maonlifhl.

• 76t. 0 » » t > Diuo .w AandkLfhl.

WILLS, Mias Fat* Socirrr.

>»< A tmill whole length of Mi. ClUklotert, of the Theatre in NorwKh. >D the chtncter of MhIU. Ml DiHoofascntknun.

Painter.

nU^Omrt.

Cr^ tLmi Strart.

I7;4, )>j Apwceofiniecit p. AdiUo.if.eoo.pai,ion.

Mr m:h«mi, SkftwUvry.

oSo. .71 A Landicapr and Otitle, Morn- WILMOT Painter. ing.

Soeirrv or Aarim >to Dino, Eireoin*.

(An Honorary Eabilatoc.)

F i U Socinv.

Mr. ty.

M» A un^l ftvii pKCC. diao. i7«). M< A landMape, «ith tin taUe of w> A DUtndge^ dilio.

«4> A Wu finch and r>><) dKto.

Society

of Artists

listing

1767

I -sai

A print by Valentine

Green

33

JOSEPH HIGHMORE ( 1 6 9 2 - 1 7 8 0 )

A young couple dressed in the height of fashion: she on a portico in white satin decollete dress with pink satin shawl, he in masquerade hussars' costume and a long green ^ehet cape Portrait of gentleman signed Oil on canvas Unframed: 22 x IS'A in / 56 x 38 cm Framed: 26 x IQ'A in / 66 x 49 cm 98

In their original giltwood rococo frames PROVENANCE From the Collection of Viscountess Eccles

One of the best portrait painters of the reign of King George II, Joseph Highmore was also a versatile painter of historical pictures and scenes from literature. He was born in London on 13th June, 1692 and died in Canterbury on 3rd March, 1780. Highmore was of a scholarly disposition, and studied the law before taking up painting. He initially set up as a painter in 1715, and studied for ten years at Kneller's Academy He was one of the original artist donors to the Foundling Hospital. Numerous signed pictures by him survive, and show a remarkable freshness in approach, inventiveness and creativity in design.

Highmore's work varies from life size state portraits of the King to conversation pieces. He also specialised in small full-length studies and the present painting is indicative of his particular talent and reputation for this format. His development runs parallel with that of Hogarth, and both show an affinity for the freshness of palette and free handling of paint.

99

34 RICHARD BUCKNER (1812-1883)

Portrait of Miss Agnes Wilson, later Lady Agnes Fletcher, with her pet spaniel Signed Oil on canvas Unframed: 36 x 28 in / 91 x 71 cm Framed: 4 8 x 39 in / 121 x 99 cm In original frame EXHIBITED Royal Academy. 1852, no. 509 as Miss Agnes Wilson PROVENANCE By descent from the sitter to Major J. Napier Wilson; his sale. Christies 20th November, 1964 (lot 172: 287 guineas to Bnan); Pnvate collection.

United Kingdom.

LITERATURE B. Stewart & M. Cutten, 'Richard Buckner's Portraits', Antique Collector, vol. 60. no. 4, pages 34-41.

Buckner spent his early career as a genre painter in Rome where he was a friend of Lord Leighton. His art education therefore shows an absorption of both British and Continental prototypes. He was a very successful London-based portraitist from the earliest years of Queen Victoria's reign, and was widely patronised by members of the Royal family and other grandees. He arrived in London from Rome shortly after 1840, encouraged by Leighton, and by 1842 was exhibiting at The Royal Academy and the British Institution. He showed a long series of paintings in an unbroken succession from 1846 to 1877 that were largely portraits of prominent members of Society Miss Agnes Wilson was the youngest daughter of Colonel Sir John Morillyon Wilson, C.B., K.H., of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. On May 10th, 1859 she married Sir Henry Fletcher, RC., C.B.. M.R, 4th Baronet (18351910) of Clea Hall, Cumberland. Sir Henry was the Colonel commanding the Sussex Volunteer Infantry Brigade and Groom-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria. The sitter died on 5th February 1916.

The technique of this painting shows the profound influence of Sir Thomas Lawrence on Buckner and the portraitists of his age. Lawrence had revolutionised the art of portraiture in the first quarter of the nineteenth century with the introduction of a high-toned palette with a highly glazed finish allied to free and impressionistic brushwork. This type of portraiture led on to the more photographic Victorian style, which is sometimes accused of sentimentality In 1851-2 however, when Buckner painted Miss Agnes Wilson, the result was a painting of great charm and one that has such a sensitive touch that one feels that it must be true to life.

100

THE ROYAL ACADEMY BUCKNALL (J.N.)

(W.)

and

COMBER Architects.

7, Quttn Ann^s Gate.

1889. it4o Cluipel for Oundle workhouse, Northamptonshire. >l7« Church of S t Margaret of Scotland, Aberdeen.

b u c k n e r , Richard Painter.

184a. i*o Italian Peasant boy.

791 Carnival.

95, Piaxta Barbtrini, Rime.

1846.

Mrs. Digby and child. i w Shepherd of the Campagna di Roma.

CltvthiHd Row, S/. /ames's.

1847. j j T h e Lady Conitance LcvcsonGower.

36 'I'he Duchess of Sutherland.

Mrs. Maberly.

1848. i v U d y ('harlotte Gues(. }S6 Marchioness of Worcester. j4* Mrs. Morris.

4>4 U d y Orniond and the Earl of Oswry.

Viscountess Sydnc-y.

1849. t v Mrs. Coopc.

1850. i»o Miss l.ane Kox. 590 Mademoiselle Rachel as Camille.

4'* U d y Alfred I'agel.

1851.

T h e Misses Monk, daughters of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.

596 I'ortrait o f a Roman lady. nS Mrs. and Miss Gunning Sutton. ' 6 : l A d y Dorothy Neville. t8s». 3.S Mrs. Hclloway and child, <09 Mtss Agnes Wilson. ..05 Mrs D w i d . >i»4 U d y John Manners.

1853.

T h f Hon. Miss Hobhouse.

295 T h e Bishop of Gloucc-ster and Bristol.

M' Mrs. Philip Crawley. <121 U U y Emily de Rur(:h.

1854. >56 Mr. F. Wickham and children. rresented by his friends t o ihe Rev. K, Wickham, second master of Winchester ColIcge.

Sn Mrs. Richard I'ayne. » 8 i Mrs. Stopford Klair.

1855.

Mrs. l.ionel Aincs.

1856. l i Mrs. Coningham 1857. l.ady Irnkinson.

1858.

9? I ^ d y Men*.

Mrs. Rirhard Nay lor.

1859.

69 T h e Count<-ss dells Torre 109 The Aliati Santini, Rome.

T h e Royal A c a d e m y E x h i b i t i o n s list 1 8 5 2

EXHIBITORS

i86a

i86i. ift6z.

1863.

1864.

1865.

1866.

1867.

1868.

1869.

1870.

1871.

333

177 Mrs. Aubrey de Vere. t<« T h e C o u n t e u of Stradbroke.

4>l T h e Countess of Cardigan. r « » Mrs. C . W . Stoughtoa • 9i Mrs. WiUiam Morant. i } a M n . Locke. t j l Viscountesa Guillamore.

364 Mrs. Matheson, of Ardross.

N.B. 160 Mrs. BischolTsheim.

39S Lady Marion Alford. <7 Mrs. Wollaston Blake.

149 Mrs, Vander Byl. Mrs. Hugh Childera.

Mrs. Hamilton.

14 s T h e Countess of Caledon.

J07 T h e H o n . Mrs. Baisett, ) } T h e Ladies l u b e l and Florence I'aylour.

79 Mrs- Fryer.

•}9 Mrs. Cooper of Bullwell Hall, Nottinghamshire.

115 Italian woman and child.

49) Lady Skelmersdale.

169 T h e Duchess of AthoL 901 Mrs. Bolton.

17J Mrs. Sloanc Stanley.

T h e Countess of Dudley.

XI) U d y Poltimore. i n o l ^ y Duffcrin.

1149 Mrs. A . F. Thistlethwayte.

55 Mrs, Thorjx!. j n Mrs. B. Bashford.

Mrs. Askew, »8* 'i'he l a d i e s Hermione, Helen, and Cynthia Duncombe.

S09 Mrs, Gray, of Gray Mount, Ireland.

1R74. t'irely, Maud, and Violet, children of Lionel Wells Dymoke, Ksq. Mrs. Ix-slie, with Mary. Consiance, Thcodosia, and Olive I ^ l i e .

141- T h e Countess of Feveriham.

1875. n n I.ady Hermione Duncombc.

1876.

6e Miss Tylor.

1877 J04 Mis.s Paris.

i87»,

1873.

BUCKSTONE, 1874. i m

3UDD, H

Frederick . . Painter.

18, .Si4ffo/i .Street.

On the Mugwy, Bcttws, North Wales.

Architect.

43, Warjour Street.

1819. 116S Iksign for roltage almshouses.

I8JO. 999 do. for a villa.

101

I

;

J

35 THOMAS WHITCOMBE(1753-c/rca 1824)

The Capture of the 'Mahonesa by the 'Terpsichore', October 13th, 1796: a Frigate engagement of the Napoleonic Wars Oil on canvas Unframed: 2372 x 37 in / 56 x 94 cm Framed: 24 x 3672 in / 51 x 93 c m In a carved and giltwood frame

Thomas Whitcombe was the leading painter of the French Revolutionary wars and painted over one hundred and fifty actions of the English fleet.

This included fifty plates for T h e Naval Achievements of Great Britain, From the Year 1793 to 1817' by James Jenkins (first published in 1817), a splendid volume issued after the cessation of hostilities. He became one of the most well known artists from the golden age of British manne painting, which included amongst others, Peter Monamy Francis Holman, Nicholas Pocock and Thomas Luny.

Exact details about Thomas Whitcombe's early life are scant but he was born 16th November, 1753 and baptised on 9th December, 1753 at St. James's, Dukes Place. In 1787 it is known he was in Bristol and later travelled to the South Coast and the Channel Islands, with numerous marine topographical views surviving from these dates. In 1789 he was touring Wales and in 1813 he went to Devon to paint scenes around Plymouth harbour During his career he also painted scenes showing the Cape of Good Hope, Madeira, Cuba and the Horn. Judging from the artist's attention to detail, E.H.H. Archibald's speculation in his 'Dictionary of Marine Painters' (p.233) that Whitcombe "knew his ropes' and had first hand experience of the sea may well be true. Whitcombe exhibited at The Royal Academy fifty-six times between 1783 and 1824 and once each at the British Institute and The Royal Society of British Artists.

Curiously very few of these paintings are of the naval actions for which he is best known today In addition to his great contnbution to James Jenkins' publication, engravings document at least one hundred other paintings.

Whitcombe lived in London during his exhibiting career at addresses in Covent Garden and Somers Town, among others. Some of the artist's exhibited titles include: Destruction of the Spanish floating batteries at Gibraltar, September 13, 1782 at night. East Indiaman off the Coast of Good Hope, The Victory sailing out of Portsmouth Harbour and The Trinity Yacht with a view of the light houses on the Caskets. The National Maritime Museum has twenty-nine of his works, the Tate Gallery and The National Gallery in London each own one.

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His range of work embraced naval engagements, ship portraits, coastal scenes with shipping and ships at sea in fresh breezes and storms. The topography of the background is interesting and well observed and the depiction of the ships themselves detailed and technically very correct, a legacy of time spent in dockyards studying the subject matter.

The scene Whitcombe depicted in the present painting is one of the earliest engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The 'Mahonesa' was the second ship lost by the Spanish to English ships: the first was the detention of the 16-gun 'Princesa' by 'Seahorse' (32 guns) a month earlier on 16th September, 1796. The 'Mahonesa' (34 guns) was captured on 13th October by the 'Terpsichore' (32 guns) under Captain Richard Bowen, off Cape Gata. The 'Mahonesa' was subsequently added to the British fleet and the crew rewarded, though it was to be fifty-three years before the few survivors of the crew were to receive a medal granted in 1849 in pursuance of the 'Gazette' notice of 1st June, 1797.

The type of 34-gun frigate depicted was much loved by adventurous and ambitious naval captains of this date. They were one hundred and forty four feet on the lower deck and thirty-nine in the beam. They were the most popular commands, since properly handled they could take on any sort of merchantman, as well enemy frigates of comparable or slightly supehor nominal force, as illustrated in the present picture. They had a complement of two hundred under sail and were found to be ideal for harrying enemy coasts, with cutting-out parties and raids. A lucky and brave - Captain could reward himself with prize-money and his crews tended to be of the best quality for this reason. The wealth captured trickled down to the most lowly able seaman, and Captains seldom had to resort to the press-gang, unlike their colleagues on the big ships of the line. Their armament by the mid-1790's consisted of 18-pounders which replaced the earlier 12-pounders from the 1770's onwards, when heavy-shotted short-barreled carronades replaced the smaller 6-pounders. More than sixty of these ships, and their cousins the 44s, were in service at the height of hostilities.

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3 6 THOMAS WHITCOMBE (1753-c/rca 1824)

A Three-Masted London Merchantman in two positions Signed and indistinctly dated Tiio. Wiiitcombe 1787' lower nglit Further inscribed with the name of the ship on the stern Oil on canvas Unframed: 30 x AV/A in / 76 X 121 c m Framed: 37'/2 x 5 5 ' A in / 95 x 140.5 cm

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37

FRANCIS SWAINE (c/rca 1 7 1 5 - 1 7 8 2 )

Shipping in a Calm off a Fortified Coast Oil on canvas Unframed: 2972 x 39V4 in / 75 x 101 c m Framed: 3 5 ' A x 45 in / 91 x 114 cm

Cleveley. On the wliole Swaine liked to paint general shipping subjects, often on a small scale. He also took commissions for action scenes.

Francis Swaine is listed as a messenger in the Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy of 1735. It is not known how Swaine came to be a marine painter but he was a close contemporary of Charles Brooking. He was also strongly influenced by the work of his father-in-law, Peter Monamy especially in his treatment of studio calms. As a result his work has been mistaken for that of Brooking and Monamy as well as that of John

Swaine exhibited at the Free Society exhibitions from their inception in 1761 until the end of his life. He had also put aside seven pictures for exhibition in 1783. His work appeared from 1762 to 1783 at the Society of Artists exhibitions. He died in London in 1782. Swaine is well represented in museum collections throughout Britain, including those of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

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38 WILLIAM ANDERSON ( 1 7 5 7 - 1 8 3 7 )

An English 3rd rate ship of the line (74-guns) in three positions off Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa, flying the Royal Navy ensign Signed, and indistinctly dated lower right.

Oil on canvas Unframed: 5772 x 30 in / 146 x 76 c m Framed: 47V^ x 38'h in / 121 x 98 cm In its original carved giltwood frame.

William Anderson was born in Scotland in 1757, though the precise details of date and place of his birth are not known. Anderson trained initially as a shipwright, but by the age of thirty he was an accomplished and skilled marine painter and had settled in London. He seems to have applied himself to the study of the Dutch Old Masters of the Van de Velde school and produced numerous small works on panel which are strongly evocative of that style. He first exhibited at The Royal Academy in 1787 from an address in Horsleydown Parish in Southwark. By 1793 however he was living in the more salubrious semi-rural area of Lisson Grove in Marylebone which was just beginning to be developed. It is reasonable to presume that this was a reflection of his commercial success since his pictures 'sold well and still do' according to E.H.H. Archibald in his 'Dictionary of Marine Painters' (p. 116). Anderson seems to have been on the periphery of fashionable artistic life in London: he was a pallbearer at the funeral of Giuseppe Marchi who was Reynolds' favourite assistant. He also appears fleetingly in Fanngdon's 'Diaries'.

Anderson's Royal Academy exhibitions continued annually until 1811, and then intermittently until 1834. His best work was executed in the years 1790-1810, for the demand for marine paintings was at an all-time high during the Napoleonic Wars. Anderson painted many of the naval battles of the period, often receiving commissions from serving officers.

His work shows a meticulous attention to nautical detail: allied to an accurate draughtsmanship and lively colouration. He was one of the leading manne artists of his generation.

Anderson and his wife Sarah were great friends of the landscape painter. Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1759-1817) who also lived in Bell Street, Lisson Grove, and who had also been trained as a shipwright.

Towards the end of his career, Ibbetson moved to Yorkshire, and it seems likely that Anderson visited him there. Certainly, Anderson was a considerable influence on the development of marine painting in the port of Hull, where a lively school developed in the early years of the nineteenth century Most notable was his encouragement of the accomplished marine painter, John Ward (1798-1849).

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The popularity and prestige of the large two-decker 74-gun ships of the line (74) reached their peak during the French Revolutionary War The British found that not only did they sail better than the stately three-decker but that, by superior gunnery and training, their two-deckers could be a match for any enemy warship, even three-deckers of over one hundred guns. In the long Franco-Spanish wars that stretched from 1689 to 1815 the British never lost a three-decker in action, but the French lost three in battle and one, the 'Commerce de Marseille 120', was taken at Toulon in 1793. The Spanish lost seven, all in action - six of them fell to an English two-decker.

In 1782 the 'Ville de Paris 104', the French flagship at the Battle of the Saints, struck to the English three-decker 'Barfleur 98'. At the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797, two Spanish three-deckers, both flagships, were captured, the 'Salvadore del Mundo 112', by the 'Victory 100', and the 'San Josif 112', by the 'Captain 74", though other ships contributed.

There was nothing above a 74 in Nelson's fleet at the Battle of the Nile when the great French flagship 'L' Onent 120' was destroyed. When in 1801 a squadron under de Saumarez defeated a much stronger Spanish squadron, destroying two one-hundred-and-twelve-gun three-deckers, the 'San Hermenegildo' and the 'Real Carlos', all the British ships were two-deckers. Three more enemy three-deckers, all Spanish, struck at Trafalgar. The 'Santissima Trinidad 136', the biggest ship in the world and a four-decker, struck to the 'Pnnce 98'. but earlier in the action the captain of the 'Afnca 74', seeing the great ship silent and apparently beaten, sent aboard a lieutenant to take the surrender. When this officer.

Lieutenant John Smith, appeared on her quarter-deck he found that she had not struck and he therefore withdrew. The 'Santa Anna 112' was taken by the 'Royal Sovereign 100', but was recaptured with her prize crew two days later. The third one, the 'Rayo 100', escaped from the main battle but was captured at anchor off Lucar by the 'Donegal 74' three days later. In 1806 dunng Duckworth's action the 'Canopus 80' drove ashore the 'Impenal', a French one-hundred-and twenty-gun ship which became a total loss. Napoleon Bonaparte was sent to St Helena in the 'Northumberland 74' after he had surrendered to the captain of 'Bellerophon 74'. For years the very words seventy-four were synonymous to the British public with an invincible naval supremacy

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39 CHARLES BROOKING (1723-1759) A Galliot firing a Salute in a Calm

Estuary

Oil on canvas Unframed: 27 x 4572 in / 68.5 x 115 cm Framed: 3372 x 51 'h in / 85 x 131 cm In its original carved and giltwood frame PROVENANCE

Lawrenny House Collection, Pembrokeshire

Charles Brooking was profoundly influenced by Willem Van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707). So great was Van de Velde's influence that Brookings work was frequently passed off as that of the great Dutch marine painter during his lifetime.

Brookings father was a house painter working in Deptford and Greenwich. It is known that Brooking was painting manne subjects from 110

a very early age, as there are at least two extant examples inscribed 'C. Brooking pinxit aged 17 years'. Brooking was never a prolific painter, although many of his works were engraved in the eighteenth century by distinguished engravers like Ravenet, Canot and Boydell. These engravings achieved considerable commercial success and popularity One of Brookings best-known marine paintings is The Alexander in Action with the Solebay off the Isle de Rhe', notable for its high aerial perspective and the exceptionally fine rendition of the ships.

Brookings contemporaries described him as having a 'sickly appearance', and his tragically early death at thirty six years old depnved us of one of the greatest native born marine painters of the eighteenth century The present painting, with its acute observation and accurate draughtsmanship, perfectly captures the mood of a hot, calm summer's day It is the work of a great marine painter at the height of his powers.

The painting is previously unrecorded and has been in the same family collection for generations until now.

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40 DAVID KLEIJNE (1754-1805)

Dutch Vessels in a Calm

Kstiiarj

A pair Each painting signed Oil on canvas Unframed: 16 x 22 in / 41 x 54.5 cm Framed: 23 x 2872 in / 58.5 x 72.5 cm David Kleijne was born in Bergen-op-Zoom w/lnere he trained as a marine painter and draughtsman. He later moved to Middelburg, where he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in 1777 and later the Master.

He died in Middelburg on 11th July, 1805. His style is based on the work 112

of the seventeenth century marine painters, such as Abraham Storck and Willem van der Velde II. Kleijne's paintings are carefully lit and delineated.

The artist pays particular attention to the accuracy of the ships and their rigging, and his pictures are suffused with a clear natural lighting.

There are examples of Kleijne's paintings in the Manne Museum in Amsterdam, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne and the Prins Hendncks Museum in Rotterdam. His paintings are also found in important English collections, notably a pair of manne paintings sold recently from Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.

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41 FRANCIS SWAINE (circa

1715-1782)

The Royal William (formerly The Prince) flying the flag of an Admiral of the Blue saluting the flagship of a Vice-Admiral of the Red as they pass in the channel Oil on canvas Unframed: I T h x SS'A in / 71 x 9 0 c m Framed: 35 x 43 in / 89 x 109 cm

Designed and built at Chatham under the direction of Sir Phineas Pitt, great nephew of the builder of Charles I's fabled 'Sovereign of the Seas'; the 'Prince' was one of the three first rates dating from 1670. All of these were laid down to replace the capital ships destroyed or captured by the Dutch during their famous raid on the Medway in June 1667.

Prince was measured at 1395 tons and was 167 feet in length with a 4 4 3 / 4 foot beam. Mounting one hundred guns, she was a powerful as well as handsome vessel and was first commissioned in 1672, on the outbreak of the Third and last Anglo-Dutch War. Her Lieutenant (later her Captain) Sir John Narbrough called her 'a great and brave-contrived ship' and found that she 'wrought very well in staying and bearing up, and steereth mighty well'. Throughout the Third Dutch War (1672-74), Prince acted as a flagship for several high-ranking officers including the Duke of York, the King's brother and the future James II. This attracted the enemy's special attention, especially at the Battle of the Texel on 11th August, 1673. There Prince was subjected to a particularly determined assault by a group of Dutch ships and barely avoided destruction in what proved to be an epic defence and became the stuff of legend within the Royal Navy Extensively rebuilt at Chatham in 1691-2, Prince had her beam increased to 47 feet 10 inches, and she was renamed 'Royal William' upon completion of the work. She saw her first action under her new name at Barfleur on 19th May, 1692. and even more decisive action at La Hogue a few days later. This effectively ended French naval superiority in the Channel and thereby greatly influenced the successful outcome of the so-called 'War of the English Succession' between 1689 and 1697.

Rebuilt a second time in 1719 the Prince was essentially a new ship but one which incorporated all the usable parts of the original vessel. She then achieved her own fame by her remarkable longevity After participating in the capture of the great Canadian fortress of Louisburg in 1758 and then the city of Quebec the following year, she was last in action at the battle off Cape Spartel when Lord Howe defeated a large Franco-Spanish fleet on 29th October, 1782. Hulked in 1790, 'Old Billy', as she had become affectionately known, was finally broken up in 1813 at which time her ancient timbers were said to be 'tough enough to turn the strongest nails.'

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42 JOHN CLEVELEY, SENIOR (circa 1712-1777)

7lvo

32-gun

Frigates

recewing

their

Captains

Signed and dated lower left 'J. Cleveley PInx / 1768' Oil on canvas Unframed: 35 x 4672 in / 89 x 118 cm Framed: 43 x 5 4 ' A in / 109 x 138.5 cm PROVENANCE This painting is thought to have been acquired by Junius S. Morgan Jr., Locust Valley, New York; thence by descent to John Pierpont Morgan II

Born at Southwark on the southern side of the River Thames in London, John Cleveley was the son of a joiner. He started his working life apprenticed to another joiner in 1726, and worked as a young man in the Royal Dockyard at Deptford - as did his twin sons, John the Younger (1747-85) and Robert (1747-1809) whose paintings are sometimes confused with their father's. His third son, James, was ship's carpenter on the Resolution during Cook's last Pacific voyage between 1776 and 1780.

Through his work in the dockyards, Cleveley gained an intimate knowledge of contemporary ships and their equipment, and likely was influenced by the dockyard painters who decorated the sides of ships.

From the late 1740's he painted a series of ship-launches and dockyard scenes at Deptford, where he spent most of his life and where he died, maintaining his career as a craftsman throughout his life. Letters of administration given to his widow upon his death referred to him as 'carpenter belonging to His Majesty's Ship Victory', so it is possible that he was attached to her towards the end of his life. He also established himself as a painter of ship-portraits and other maritime scenes, including a few commissions showing naval engagements.

A frigate is stnctly a ship of two decks which carries its main armament of 2 0 - 5 0 guns on her upper deck, quarter-deck and fo'c'sle, there being no guns on the gun-deck. Earlier British so-called frigates, the 44's, built pre-1760, had suffered from an inability to utilise the lower-deck guns in windy weather and were heavy to manoeuvre compared with French and Spanish ships which earned their main battenes on one deck. The new class of frigate at first was fitted with 12-pounders on the upper deck, and 6-pounders on the quarterdeck.

The ships portrayed in the present painting are 32-gun frigates (5th-rates). They took their design from the French ship 'The Renomme' which had been captured in 1747, and which started a trend in cruiser design. The first such ship draughted in England was H.M.S Southampton laid down in 1756. In his 1987 book, 'The Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy' E.H.H. Archibald wrote that they were 'the standard and most successful class of frigates until the end of the French Revolutionary

116

Wars'. Some nineteen such ships were built in British yards before 1786. the date of the present painting, and they were constructed in such diverse locations as Deptford, Harwich, Hull. Chatham, Liverpool, Sheerness, Bucklers Hard and Sheerness. Cleveley's background and knowledge of shipping makes his paintings fascinating to study The artist's sense of detail was remarkable, with particular attention paid to the human figures, flags and small craft that populate his paintings and gave them their unique charm.

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43 WILLIAM FITZWILLIAM, I S T EARL FITZWILLIAM ( 1 6 4 3 - 1 7 1 9 )

Vellum (lepiclin^ three (a)(Us of Anns Unframed: 28 /, x 35 / in / 93 x 72.5 cm Framed: 43 A x 50'A in / 111 x 128.5 cm England, area 1669-1716 Compiled by Samuel Stebbing (d.1719) Genealogy of the Fitzwilliam Family c.1713 Tempera on vellum, embossed with gilt

This magnificent achievement of arms would have been the foot of a pedigree prepared for the 1st Earl Fitzwilliam in the year 1713. It features the central crest of the 'Right Honourable William Lord Fitzwilliam of Liffer in the Kingdom of Ireland' flanked by 'The Arms and Quarterings of William

Fitz-William of Witham in the County of Lincoln Esqr.' on the left, and 'The Arms and Quartenngs of William Fitz-William of Clixby in the County of Lincoln Esqr,' on the hght; all listing the various names and quarterings represented. All three crests bear the first four quarterings of Fitzwilliam, Emiey Lizures, and Bertram as well as various others acquired through marriage to heraldic heiresses. The entire pedigree roll was compiled, but not necessahly painted, by one Samuel Stebbing (d,1719), who was appointed Herald of Somerset in 1700 and who edited the second edition of Sandford's Genealogical History of the Kings of England (1707), This exact roll is mentioned in the Official Records of the College of Arms, where a full copy including pen and ink sketches of these three shields IS included, as well as in various period Chapter Books of the College.

Although, no precise mention of the artist has been found, it is undoubtedly of the highest quality and was onginally headed as follows: THE GENEALOGY of the most Ancient, and most Noble Family of FITZ WILLIAM (Who until the Reign of KING EDWARD III wrote their Names Fils Guillaume or Filius Willielmi) lineally Deducted from Sr. William Fitz= W i l l i a m , who entered ENGLAND with King William the First, call'd the Conqueror and attended him out of Normandy as MARSHAL of his Army from whom are Descended the several Branches of Fitz=William of Elmeley and Sprotborough Woodhall, Wadworth, Aldwark, (of which Line was Sr. William Fitz-william Knt. of the Garter and Earl of Southampton) Fenton, Athewyk, Bentley and Hathilsay all in the County of York, Plomtree, Chaworth and Kingsby in the County of Nottingham, Kempston. in the County of Bedford, Mablethorp, Clixby and Witham, in the County of Lincoln, Gainspark Hall in Essex, and of Greens=Norton, Milton, Ringsted and Glapthorn in the County of Northampton of which, the Branches of Milton, Clixby and Witham, yet Survive, the others, (who were all Eminent for their Honourable Birth and Alliances) are become Extinct without Issuew Male, whereby the Right Hon.ble William Lord Fitz-william Baron Fitz-william of Liffer (now call'd Lifford, in the County of Donnegall in the Kingdom of Ireland. (Residing at Milton aforesaid) is become the first and Principal Heir Male of this most Noble and Honourable Family now Existing.

THE FOLLOWING PEDIGREE Containing all the several Branches before Enumerated, is truly and Faithfully Collected from the Books and Regis tnes in the College of Arms, The Records in the Tower of LONDON, Wills and Monumental Inscriptions and other Sufficient Proofs and Authorities, the whole being Illustrated with the Paternal Arms to the several Matches, Painted in their Proper Colours, And Continued to this present year MDCCXIII.

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44 GERMAN SCHOOL (circa

1790)

A Collection of German Watercolours A set of five inscribed: Wasser Melone Pfeffer Turkischer Rube Weisse Zweisse Zwibel weisser Borstorfer Oder Malschanster apfel Unframed: I8V4 x 13V2 in / 47.5 x 34.5 c m Framed: 22 x I6V4 in / 55.5 x 42.5 c m

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45 SARAH STONE {circa 1760-1844)

Four Parrots upon a branch Drawn circa 1789-90 Signed 'Sarah Smith' lower centre Watercolour Unframed: 17 x 13 in / 44x 33.5 cm

The uppermost bird is an Australian King Parrot (Alisterus Scapularis), one of the most colourful of the birds in the Sydney area and perhaps the specimen was brought back by John White in 1789. The other birds viewed from the top of the drawing are identified as; Black headed Caique (Pionites Malanocephala), an Indonesian red-cheeked parrot (Geoffroyus Geoffroyi) and an African (Congo-species) Grey (Psittacus Erithacus Erithacus). The latter portrait is presumably that taken from the taxidermy lot 187 on the 2nd day of the 1806 sale of the Leverian Collection: Psittacus Erithacus which sold for 12 shillings, among a group of lots of birds from 'New Holland' and 'Botany Bay'.

undiscovered, but all four species are recorded in the Leverian Collection of taxidermy, which was finally sold off in 1806. It is tempting to judge it as a presentation drawing, given its unusual richness and complexity

Sarah Stone was the daughter of a fan painter and was born in London in or about 1760. Her initial and probably only training was from her father. Her technique as a natural history watercolourist reflects the cunous demands of the fan-painters' trade. She usually as in the present painting, uses a highly prepared (sized) paper, and has a technique akin to that of a miniaturist, where the emphasis is on a punctilious precision and exactitude, but with a lively palette of well-saturated colours.

Stone died in London aged 82 on 11th January 1844. She is buried at St. Margaret's, Westminster

From the age of about 17, Stone visited the Museum of Sir Ashton Lever, a Lancastrian landowner who put together the largest collection of Natural History specimens of the age, which was open to the public in the vast Leicester House, which he rented for the purpose. Lever soon engaged her to paint the specimens for his own use, and over the next fifteen or so years he assembled a remarkable collection of her work.

About 900 of some 1,000 of these watercolours survive today most notably in The Natural History Museum, London.

She married Midshipman, later Captain, John Langdale Smith in 1789, the same year that she painted Australian birds, reptiles and mammals from specimens brought back to England by the First Fleet surgeon John White. These were subsequently published in his work entitled Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales. The signature on the present work 'Sarah Smith' dates the watercolour to after her marriage on 8th September 1789. and two years after the Leverian Museum was moved from Leicester House to the Rotunda in Albion Place on the south bank of the Thames.

The composition of this picture is unusually complex, in that it introduces four exotic species into the same painting; Stone most often portrayed one species per picture. Its original purpose and pedigree is presently

124

Since she was best known, before and after her marriage, as Sarah Stone It is very possible that this watercolour was painted the year of her marriage; indeed few examples of her work exist after her marriage and certainly after the auction of the Lever Collection in 1806. No signed and dated watercolour survives from after this date.

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125

4 6 LILIAN STANNARD (1877-1944)

A Cottage near Haslemere Signed, also inscribed on label on backboard

enjoyed Royal patronage and Queen Mary, w h o was an admirer of their

Pencil and watercolour heightened with white and scratching out

work, bought regularly at their exhibitions. Another admirer of Lilian's

Unframed 6 ' A x

work was Lady Ludlow who commissioned her to paint the gardens at

in / 17.5 x 24.5 c m

Framed: 1372 x I S ' A in / 34.5 x 4 2 c m

Luton Hoo.

Lilian Stannard was a m e m b e r of the Bedfordshire Stannards, one of the

Their watercolours are certainly among the prettiest of all Victorian

remarkable artistic dynasties of the Victorian period. Lilian's brother,

garden pictures. Many of the gardens painted by the Stannards are not

Henry John Sylvester Stannard ( 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 5 1 ) was best known for his

specifically identified, but Lilian did paint one particular senes of the

watercolours of village scenes. Both Lilian and her sister Theresa

gardens of Cambridge colleges. The Stannards also painted a great

Both the Stannards developed a distinctively bright, impressionistic style.

however, became specialists in garden subjects, and exhibited in London

many cottage gardens, featuring the picturesque old thatched houses

at Ackermann's, the Mendoza Gallery Walker's and elsewhere. They

of their native Bedfordshire and of Hertfordshire.

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47 THOMAS HENRY HUNN (1857-1928)

The Gardens at Clandon Park Signed and dated 1910 Watercolour Unframed: 13 x 1972 in / 33 x 49.5 cm Framed: 23'A x 29 in / 59 x 74 cm Thomas Henry Hunn lived in Guildford, Surrey in England. Whilst the form of his paintings included studies of buildings and portraits, Hunn favoured the gardens around him as his subjects. His work flourished between 1878 and 1910 and his garden subjects included those at Clandon Park, Sutton Place and Great Tangley. His paintings were exhibited at The Royal Academy from 1878.

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48 HENRY M.TERRY (WORKING 1879-1920)

49 JABEZ BLIGH (WORKING 1863-1889)

A Tiled Do<^ecote in the Gardens

A Nest of Eggs and A Basket of Mushrooms

Signed lower left Watercolour Unframed: 11 x 10 in / 28 x 25.5 cm Framed: 17'A x l e ' A in / 44 x 41cm

A pair The first signed and dated 1871 lower left The second signed lower right: also inscribed on old label on reverse Watercolour Unframed: 8 x 10 in / 20 x 25.5 cm Framed: 15'A x 17'A in / 39.5 x 44 c m

Jabez Bligh was a still-life painter from Peckham in London. He exhibited at The Royal Academy between 1867 and 1889 and also at the Suffolk Street Gallenes. Titles the artist exhibited at the Royal Academy included Mushrooms, Fungus and Nest and Primroses. Bligh is particularly noted for his stylized compositions and muted tones.

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5 0 HELEN ALLINGHAM R.W.S. ( 1 8 4 8 - 1 9 2 6 )

hi Munstead Wood Garden Signed; also signed and inscribed on reverse Pencil and watercolour Unframed: 16 x 11 Vs in / 40.5 x 28 cm Framed: 26'A x I T h in / 66.6 x 57 cm In its original gesso frame

Helen Allingham painted the gardens of a number of her friends, but she particularly admired the garden of Gertrude Jekyll at Munstead Wood, near Godalming, Surrey in England. Allingham first met Jekyll through her husband's friendship with the artist Barbara Bodichon. at which time Jekyll regarded herself as more of an artist than a garden designer. She was however, sufficiently regarded to be invited to judge at the Botanic Show, now the Chelsea Flower Show, as early as 1881.

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Both Munstead Wood house and garden were new in the 1890s. The fifteen-acre garden was laid out before the house, designed by the young Edwin Lutyens. The house was built in 1896 and carved out of Surrey woodland and sandy heath land. It was planned so that it would merge gently into the surrounding native woodland. Interestingly, it was unique in being the only house designed to fit one of Jekyll's gardens.

Her subsequent gardens and borders were designed to embellish Lutyens' architecture.

It is believed that this watercolour was first exhibited at The Fine Art Society in 1901 where subjects included spring, summer and autumn.

This watercolour shows the northeast section of the long border, filled with pastel coloured flowers in front of a sandstone wall. Today most of the flowerbeds at Munstead Wood have been removed but the main border and wall remain.

51 JOSE ESCOFET(B.1930) Ornamental

Cabbages

Signed Gouache Unframed: 27 x 33 in / 68 x 83 cm Framed: 35Vi x 41 Vi in / 91cm x 106 cm A still life of ornamental cabbages in a boat shaped, terracotta urn on a stone plinth.

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Kxhihitions

2006-2001

Throughout the year Mallett will be mounting exhibitions in London and New York. The programme will be varied and representative of both our oil and watercolour holdings. The following pages illustrate the first three exhibitions all of which will be accompanied by a catalogue or brochure.

All works in the exhibitions are available for purchase as soon as the catalogue is published.

22nd November - 20th December, 2006 at Mallett, London Exotic fruits flowers and animals - After James Forbes 17th January - 17th February, 2007 at Mallett, New York and Mallett, London Tools of the Trade: an exhibition of early nineteenth-century Rhineland metalwork designs in watercolour

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21st May - 30th May, 2007 at Mallett, London and Mallett, New York Emily Stackhouse

(1811-1870)-

Drawings of British

Plants

13th June - 30th June, 2007 at Mallett, London The Chatelet Folio of Mushrooms

and Fungi

5 2 22ND NOVEMBER - 20TH DECEMBER 2 0 0 6 AT MALLETT, LONDON

Exotic fruits flowers and animals - After James Forbes This is an exhibition of a fine collection of nineteen original watercolour drawings taken from the Natural History plates in James Forbes' 'Oriental Memoirs' published in London, 1813-15. It is one of the most important records of late eighteenth century India and we are delighted to have an opportunity to show it.

In 1775 James Forbes went to India as Private Secretary to Colonel Keating and was later appointed to a post in Baroche in Gujarat. In 1780 he became Collector and resident of Dubhoy and remained in India until 1784 when the distnct in which he lived was ceded to the Mahrattas. In 1810 Forbes was put in charge of his fifteen-month old grandson, the future orator and historian, Charles de Montalembert. Thenceforth his life was divided between caring for Charles and the production of his 'Oriental Memoirs'. The work takes the form of a densely illustrated series of letters describing many aspects of life in India.

The plates from which the drawings are inspired are all dated 1813 or earlier and are contemporary to the period bearing a J. Whatman watermark of 1815. The detail and draughtsmanship of the collection are that of a highly gifted artist. Three of the drawings depict Brazilian subjects whilst the rest relate to India. According to Abbey the work was drawn from one hundred and fifty two folio volumes (some 152,000 pages) that Forbes filled with notes and sketches. This exhibition celebrates an extraordinary achievement - one that Forbes himself described in the preface to his 'Oriental Memoirs' as the 'principal recreation of my life.'

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135

53 17TH JANUARY - 17TH FEBRUARY 2 0 0 7 AT MALLETT, NEW YORK

lools of the Dade: an exhibition of early nineteenth-eentnry uietalwork designs in watereolour We start 2007 with a collaborative exliibition witti Charles Plante, a London-based dealer specializing in Grand Tour watercolours and architectural design drawings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, whose unique style has inspired many collectors. This exhibition will reflect his passion for architectural design with a focus on a remarkable folio of metalwork designs in watercolour.

Great Britain's predominance as the workshop of the world' was much challenged by Germany Whilst obviously inspired by Britain's technical know-how and France's design style, Germany came into its own in the industrial boom of the early nineteenth century. The meticulously drawn records from the Engelbert Muller folio of watercolors produced around 1825 show that the Rhineland metal trades were clearly in competition with the manufacturers of Birmingham and Sheffield. Whilst the early nineteenth century Rhineland household would have procured its high-style objects from France, its everyday needs for the kitchen and workshop could now be supplied locally from its growing metalwork trades. This exhibition stands as an interesting historical insight to the homes of this age with representation of everyday objects, such as coffee grinders and knives, to the more sinister cast-iron mantraps for capturing prowlers or poachers.

These striking works of art reveal not only the design process but also the finished object in a series of watercolour and gouache rendenngs.

Records of such objects are rare, carefully painted onto early nineteenth century English woven Whatman paper. Each work depicted is identified according to a numbered inventory rather than by title or signature.

Stylistically they are old-fashioned for the period, showing Gothick and neoclassical details to brass finials or keys, rather than the Empire or Greek Revival style which by 1815 dominated the higher end of the market.

The importance of design has been recorded for centuries and many museums both in Europe and Amenca have based their collections around this discipline. The resulting collections have not only celebrated the raw design but also documented the development and progress that the objects themselves have brought about. The Cooper-Hewitt, Shelburne and Winterthur are perhaps the most noted of these museums. In our age of mass production, the handmade tools made by craftsmen for craftsmen are enjoying a revival and designs from lesser trades are now able to take their place alongside the more refined and treasured collections of designs for fine porcelain that have long been the focus of collectors and museums alike.

Rhineland

54 21 ST MAY - 30TH MAY 2 0 0 7 AT MALLETT, LONDON AND MALLETT, NEW YORK

Emily Stackhouse

(1811-1870)

Drawings

Emily Stackhouse exemplifies the Victorian fascination with the countryside in this remarkable collection of botanical watercolors.

Stackhouse was born in the West Country in 1811, the same year in which the botanist and whter Reverend Charles Johns was born.

Stackhouse and Johns would later start a long and fruitful collaboration and produced numerous books together. Stackhouse's meticulous attention to detail and keen observation of colouring are evident in all her watercolours. Her technique of outlining her subject in pencil adds a depth to the detail that bridges the gap between decoration and botanical documentation for which she was renowned. Stackhouse's knowledge and dedication to her chosen subjects is clear - from her inscriptions on each watercolor with titles in both Latin and English, to her detailed notes on specimens' locations and the dates they were drawn, along with the appropnate taxonomy The Stackhouse collection has, for many years, been the subject of research by Clifford Evans. This eminent historian helped resolve the

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of British

Plants

contemporary confusion that was associated with the authorship of the illustrations in 'Forest Trees of Britain' (1847- 49), 'A Week in the Lizard' (1848) and 'Flowers of the Field' (1851) by the Reverend Charles Johns. Evans' article titled 'Forgotten Field' in a 1995 'Country Life' magazine documented the full extent of Stackhouse's collaboration with the Reverend Charles Johns. It stated that Stackhouse produced the illustrations for the sehes of books and hghted the injustice of G. S. Boulger's earlier accreditation to Johns' sister, Emily Johns.

The exceptional condition and freshness of colour of these watercolours is a testament to the high technical understanding that Stackhouse achieved. Her skill as an artist and respected botanist elevate Stackhouse far beyond that of a lady of leisure, a stigma attached to many talented women painters and scientists of the era. With this exhibition, and hopefully the publication of the Stackhouse folios, we are happy to offer this collection with its hghtful attribution.

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55

13TH JUNE - 30TH JUNE 2 0 0 7 AT MALLETT, LONDON

llie hate let Folio of Miishroonis and Fungi

This exhibition presents an unusual collection of nineteenth century watercolours of mushrooms and fungi. Madame Augusta Chatelet painted this extensive folio of over one hundred watercolours between 1882 and 1887. Madame Augusta was the wife of a celebrated Parisian politician. Monsieur Dessaignes. These beautiful watercolours were drawn from life in the park at Chateau de la Fontaine, Champigny-en-Beauce.

Madame Augusta's works are the observations and interpretations of an artist rather than a scientist and she explored the subjects for their whimsical fantasy rather than as botanical references.

The tradition of talented amateur artists working in watercolour is well documented. It was a social science at its height in the 1880's and frequently the standard of work by such artists is equal to that of professional painters. With this large group the possibilities are endless, whether it is an individual mushroom that appeals as a cabinet picture or a much larger group as a decorative feature of a room, the artist's freer style lends itself perfectly to the ornamental nature of these subjects.

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