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M A L L E T T Established 1865

M A L L E T T Gallery

141 New Bond Street, London W I S 2BS Telephone: +44 (0)20 7499 7411 Fax: +44 (0)20 7495 3179

Mallett Gallery 141 xNew Bond Street London W I S 2BS Telephone: + 4 4 (0) 20 7499 7411 Fax: + 4 4 (0) 20 7495 3179

J a m e s Harv ey Director Rebecca Steels

Mallett & Son (Antiques) Ltd 141 New Bond Street L o n d o n \ V 1 S 2 B S Telephone: + 4 4 (0) 20 7499 7411 Fax: + 4 4 (0) 20 7495 3179

Mallett at Bourdon House Ltd 2 Davies Street London W I K 3DJ 'Felephone: + 4 4 (0) 20 7629 2444 Fax: + 4 4 (0) 20 7499 2670

Email: ant iques@mallet t .co.uk Website: w-vv-w.mallettantiques.com

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CONTENTS

BROGUE, ALFRED Lady in an interior 80-81 CHINA TRADE RMN'L'INGS ( p a i r ) Chinese ladies and gentlemen 44-49 D'ARLES, JE.'VN-HENRY ( p a i r ) Classical seascapes 40-43 DANDRIDGE, BARFHOEOMEW Portrait of the daughters of Scroop Egerton 24-27 DEVIS, ARTHUR Philip Howard of Corby Castle 8-13 GILL, EDWARD WARD Boy leading his bay pony 56-57 GREEN, WILLIAM .-I white pointer 54-55 GRIFEIER,JAN rabbit warren 50-53 FORBES, STANHOPE The white hor.se 82-83 HARTNELL, NAL HANIEL The Picnic 72-77 HERRING, J O H N FREDERICK S.\R Portrait of a bay hunter 66-67 HERRING, J O H N FREDERICK.J.NR The Steeplechase 68-71 HOME, ROBERF Colonel Sydenham and his wife Amelia 20-23 JOHNSON, CORNELIUS Portrait of Baroness Bromley 18-19 MATTEINT, T E O D O R O Portrait of Baron Tupinier in Venice 28-29 MONTAGUE, ARTHUR Interior of an artist's studio 78-79 MORPHEY, GARRETT Portrait of Lt. General Aleredyth 14-15 RI'IL ER, CASPAR Portrait of a lady 84-85 ROBERTSON, 1 HOMAS The SS South Australian 86-87 SARTORIUS, FRANCIS Two pointers 60 SARTORIUS, J O H N NOST The Great Match 58-61 SARTORIUS, J O H N NOST Sofia 62-63 SHEE, SIR MARFIN ARCHER Portrait of a Midshipman 16-17 STOC:KLIN, CHRIS'FIAN Capriccio with architectural ruins 36-39 TOMKINS, PEL'FRO WILLIAM George III 30-35

IVoin c o v e r : J A N ( i R I l ' l IICR Detail : .1 rabbit warren (Pases 50-53).

IVoinispiccc: B A R T H O L O M K W D A X D R I l X i i : Detail : one of the daughters of Scroop E^erkm (Pai>e.s 24-27).

I x f t : P K L l R O W I I J . I A M l O M K I X S Detail : .1 courtier eseortin/i (ieorge III (Pages 30-35).

Inside covers: AKI E R I RA.XCIS H A R I . O W Detail : From various Hirds and Beasts Drawn from lAfe. late Britain.

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INTRODUCTION

In the twelve months sincc our last catalogue the Gallerv' has continued to expand both in the levels of stock and in our exposure to clients. We have developed our primary areas of interest in paintings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with a keen eye on decorati\ e as well as highly important artists. We hope that our selection will include subjects and artists that appeal to all tastes.

It is diflicult in this catalogue to single out any indi\ idual painting in terms of importance or rarity. Howe\er, there are two paintings that are particularly noteworthv; Firstly from the eighteenth centur\- the J an Griffier, illustrated on the front cover, combines a level of technical skill that is clearly demonstrated in the painting of both the rabbits and the landscape. The wonderful sense of humour in the subject matter makes this a refreshing work from a period that is often rather formal. From the nineteenth century the painting by Arthur Montague, illustrated on page 78-79, is interesting in that it is not only decorative but also serves as a demonstration of how the fashions and styles of art mo\cments travel across continents.

Many of our existing clients were able to share our excitement of seeing our highly important pair of J M W Turner oil ]jaintings Going to the Ball (San Martino) and Returning

from the Ball (St. Martha) when we showed them for the first time in New York in May. The paintings were received with great acclaim by museum curators, eminent collectors and art critics. For any of our clients who missed this o])])ortunity wc will be exhibiting the paintings for a second time at The Palm Beach International Art and Anticiuc Fair from 31st January-lOth February 2002.

We hope you will have the opportunity to visit us in the galleries on Bond Street, and at Mallett at Bourdon House to see our extensive and varied collection of pictures, alongside the furniture and other works of art. The majority of our stock is now on our website: www.mallettantic|ues.com. We \ery much look forward to welcoming you and having the pleasure of showing you around.

James Harvey Director

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ARTHUR DEVIS \ y " ( 1712 -1787 ) •

ARTHUR DEVIS (1712-1787)

Philip Howard of Corby Castle, Cumberland

Oil on canvas Signed and dated 1759 lower left Unf ramed: 27V, x 36 in / 70.5 x 91.5 cm Framed: 34'/, x 43 in / 87 x 109.2 cm

HROVK N A N C E :

By family descent from the sitter; Mrs. Howard , Corby Castle, Cumber land; Lady Lawson, daughter of the abo\ e, 1941;

J o h n Howard, Esq.

L r r K R . v r U R K :

Sydney H. Paviere, The Devis Farnilj of Painters, 1950, p. 46, No. 70; ( iordon Nares, Corby Castle, Cumber land -11, Country Life, 14th Janua ry 1954, p. 95 illus, pi. 15; Ellen G T)'Ocnch, Arthur Devis 1712-1787, Master of the Georgian Conversation Piece, Yale University; P H D degree, 1979, p. 351, no. 84; Ellen G D ' O e n c h , The Conversation Piece: Arthur Devis and his Contemporaries, 1980, p. 21 and p. 84, no. 85, illus. Fig. 14.

Philip Howard (1739-1810) inherited Corby Casde f rom his father in 1740, becoming the fifth Howard to take Corby as his home. T h e castle, overlooking the river Eden in Cumber land , was first acquired by Philip's great-great Grandfather , the illustrious Lord \\ 'illiam Howard (1563-1640), nicknamed 'Belted Will' by Scott. William had, through a rather strategic marriage to f^lizabeth 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 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 1 708, that the gardens would be landscaped into tlie Arcadian form dejiicted in the p;iintitig.

Philip Howard was educated at the College of the Benedictines at Douai and wrote the Scriptural History of the Earth and Mankind in 1797. He was interested in agricultural impro\ 'ement, introducing clo\er and artificial grasses into Cumber land , and being the first to feed cattle on homegrown turnips. As Devis' painting suggests, he also inherited his father's love of gardens, having been consulted by Dr. Robert G r a h a m in laying out the landscape gardens at Netherby.

T h e painting represents the xiew southwards from the terrace of Corby Castle. Philip sits at the edge of the formal garden beside the house. Beyond him is the River Eden, with its woods to the left, and the famous narrow island in the centre, said to have been constructed some six centuries prior to the landscaping of the gardens, for salmon fishing by the monks of Wetheral Priory^ Above the bank to the right can be seen the old Priory gatehouse, the only [jart to have survi\ed the dis.solution.

Ar thur Devis was a leading exponent of the 'Conversation Piece', an informal group 15ortrait of family or friends usually depicted in private surroundings. He also specialised in small-scale pcjrtraits of single figures.

He was born in Preston and, from the late 1 730's onwards, was working both in London and at home in his native Lancashire. He was patronized mainly by middle-class clients who favoured small-scale portraiture. His neat style and the almost doll like physiognomy of his figures indicate

his use of small lay figures, whilst his observation of ]50sture and property make his work a remarkable record of mid-eighteenth centur\- genteel life.

Devis exhibited at the Free Society of Artists between 1761-1780 and became its President in 1 768.

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THE HOWARD FAMILY OF CORBY CASTLE

I.ORI) WILMAM •Hi:i;i Kl) \VII,L' H()\VAI<I)

ELIZABETH I)AC:RE

PlIIEII' HOW ARD SIR FRANCIS -HOW ARD OI CORBY CAS TLE (l.i!!»-ir>(iO

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TRAXCIS HOW ARD OF CORBY CAS TLE

MAR'*' KnVXLEY

JANE — DALSTOX

WILLIAM HOWARD

ANN HOWARD

FRAXCIS HOWARD

BARBARA M I S ( ; R . \ \ E

THOMAS HOW ARD OF C:()Rin- C:AS TLE

PHILIP HOWARD OF CORBY CASTLE (1730-1810)

HEXR^' HOW ARD OF C()RB^• CAS TLE

MARIA ARCHER

GARRETT MORPHEY (Dublin nVfa 1650-1715/6)

Three-quarter length portrait of Lt. General Thomas Meredyth, with cavalry action beyond

Oil on canvas Unf ramed: 50 x 40 in / 127 x 101.8 cm Framed: 57'/2 x 47V, in / 145.5 x 121 cm

P R O V E N A N C E ;

By desccnt from the sitter to his son, Ar thur Francis Meredyth of" Dollardstown, Count \ ' Meath; His daughter and heir Mary Meredyth. She marr ied in 1775 Sir Richard Gorges Bart (1735-1821) who assumed the surname Meredyth; Their daughter, Mar \ -Anne , who marr ied Sir Marcus Somerv ille of Somerv ille, County Meath (4th Bart, 1775 -1831); Thei r son Sir William Meredyth Somerville (1802-1873) who was created Baron Athlumney & Baron Somer\i l le of Dollardstown;

His son (by his second marriage to Mar ia Jones, 1831-1899) J a m e s Herbert Oustavus Meredyth Somer\ille, 2nd Lord y\thlumney and Somerville (b. 1865); Thence bv direct descent to the last owner.

Ciarrett Morphey was the first Irish portrait painter of international standing and practised his art in Ireland, England and the C^ontinent. His work shows an awareness of the work of Kneller and of Xetscher, an internationalism which is inconceivable a generadon earlier in Ireland. He is a distinguished draughtstnan and has a fine eye for characterisation; his paintings are technically very sound.

Thomas Meredyth was descended from the Rt. Rev. Meredyth, Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, of a family of Welsh origin who settled in Ireland about the turn of the sixteenth century. The family held lands at Dollardstown in County Meath where they built a substantial house. He was destined

for the a rmy and received a commission as Capta in into the Duke of Leinster's Regiment of Horse in April 1691. Dur ing the 1690's he served with distinction in Flanders, re turning to his native Ireland around the end of the decade. He was then appointed Brevet Colonel and Adjutant-General of the Crown forces in Ireland J u n e 1701). Shortly afterwards he raised his own regiment of Foot, being appointed full Colonel of his regiment on 13th February 1702.

He saw much ser\ ice in the War of the Spanish Succession and commanded his regiment at the battle of Blenheim, where he was shown especial favour by the Duke of Marlborough. He was present at the siege of Dende rmonde (of which town he was appointed G o \ e r n o r after its capitulation in September 1706). He was wounded at the siege of O u d e n a a r d e in 1 708 and promoted Ma jo r General on 5th J a n u a r y 1707 and Lieutenant General I st J anua ry 1709.

A friend and favourite of the Duke of Marlborough, who held his military ])rowess in high regard, he was promoted to the c o m m a n d of the 21st Fusiliers (1st May 1710) but .soon undermined after his return to iMigland when the op])osition parts-reported that he and Generals Macar tney and Honeywood had toasted the health of Marlborough and made disparaging comments about the new administration. He was promptly cashiered, despite his long and sterling sen ice, and made to sell his commission and his regiment to a soldier more convi\ial to the (Jovernment . 'The

regiment he founded was later called the 37th Regiment of Foot (founded in 1751).

O n costume and stylistic grounds the ]3ortrait is datable to the first decade of the eighteenth century, and thus contemporary with the sitter's stay in Ireland from before 1701 until 1703, during which period he raised the 37th Regiment of Foot.

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( i arret I M o r p h r y , Portrait of (ieneml Will tarn Whiseley,

sii^K'd and dated 1692, Private Clollection. Ireland.

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SIR MARTIN ARCHER SHEE, PR.\ (1769-1850)

Head and shoulders portrait of a Midshipman, traditionally ident^ed as the Duke of Bordeaux, holding a naval sword

Oil on canvas Unframed: 30 x 25 in / 76.5 x 63.5 cm Framed: 38 x 33 in / 97 x 84 cm

Sir Martin Archer Siiee was born in Dublin in 1769, of a prosperous family of Irish merchants. He was entered into the Dublin Society Schools for liis training as an artist from the age of twelve, under the direction of Francis Robert West. His progress was astonishingly rapid and from an early age he won most of the jjrizes and medals for which he entered. In his teens he started his own studio (in Dame Street, Dublin) as a portrait painter, a role which he continued unabated for the next sixty years. Encouraged by Gilbert Stuart, the distinguished American portrait painter who was then visiting Dublin, in I 788 he departed for London, still only eighteen years old.

His initial experience was the opposite of that in Dublin and he struggled to achieve any recognition, accepting a job as a copyist for the engravers Macklin and Boydell, though in the following year his first two portraits were accepted by the Royal Academy He was introduced to Sir Joshua Reynolds, then the Grand Old Man of British art through his compatriot Edmund Burke. Reynolds advice was for him to take further instruction at the Royal Academy In 1790 he moved into the studio then vacated by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Within a year his career as a society portrait [jainter began to burgeon and b\' 1 798 he was elected AR/\ .

Shee, a man of culti\'atcd mind and amiable manners, enjoyed the friendship atid esteem

of the prominent men of his day. He was something of a man of letters, contributing to periodicals and books on art criticism and literature, writing no\els and plays and was a member of the leading artistic clubs.

Shee enjoyed an illustrious patronage, but was ever in the shadow of Sir Thomas Lawrence, President of the Ro\al Academy, who was the Lion of the English art establishment in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. O n the latter's death, though, he emerged from his shadow and was promptly elected President of the Royal Academy in 1830, a post he held for 30 years until ill-health prompted his retirement in 1845, five years before his death in 1850.

Stylistically, Shee owes much to the style of Sir Thomas Lawrence, whose smooth technique and vibrant palette are closely allied. Likewise the confident and direct draughtsmanship and free brushwork worked up in a 'wet-n-wet' technique. At his best he is scarcely to be distinguished from Lawrence, especially after 1815 and he remains easily the most accomplished Irish portrait painter of his age.

The painting, which has been in a continental collection for many years, has traditionally been identified as a portrait of the young Duke of Bordeaux by Sir Thomas Lawrence, who was travelling in Europe in 1818-20 painting many of the crowned heads of I'^urope. Howe\er, comparison of

the pre.sent portrait with, for instance, the similarK -sized Captain Samuel Hood Linzee (Greenwich, National Maritime Museum, number BHC2842) shows conclusively that this is in fact a portrait by Shee rather than Lawrence. The idcnuty of the sitter remains doubtful, though the traditional identification has a long history.

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CORNELIUS JOHNSON (1593-1661)

Full length portrait of Mary, Baroness Bromley of Gerard's Bromley co. Stafford

Oil on Canvas Painted circa 1633

U n f r a m c d : 83 x 53 in / 211 x 134.6 cm Framed: 93 x 64 in / 236 x 163 cm In a spectacular seventeenth century-aur icular f r ame carved with grotesque heads

PROVEXANCK: By descent to Anthony 13th Earl of Westmorland, (his sale, Christie 's 1892, lot 105, 52 guineas); M a j o r Peter Gribble, Christie 's 2()th J u n e 1975, lot 43 (450 guineas); W h e n sold in 1975, the pa in t ing was still with the compan ion portrai t of her husband .

T h e sitter was the fourth daugh te r of Francis Fane*, 1 st Earl of Westmorland (1579/80-1629) and his wife Mary; daughte r and heiress of Sir An thony a n d Lady Grace Mi ldmay of Ape thorpe . She marr ied , af ter 15th May 1625, B u t t o n Gera rd , 3rd Baron G e r a r d of Bromley (1613-1640). She was bo rn in 1606 and was baptised on August 3rd of that year at Merewor th in Kent , nea r her father 's estate at Badsell, Kent . H e r g r a n d m o t h e r kept a diary; which fo rmed the Autobiography which has been published and is amongs t the earliest female autobiographies in English literature. H e r great-uncle H u m f r e y (her g randfa the r Anthony 's brother) also kept an impor tan t diary, which is a m a j o r source on early seventeenth century theatre-going. H e r grea t -grandfa ther Sir Walter Mi ldmay was the founder of E m m a n u e l College, Cambr idge .

She was buried at her mother ' s house at . ' \pethorpe in Nor thamptonsh i re after her demise in 1634, shortly after the birth of a son and heir C^harles, 4th Baron ( i e r a rd (1634-1667). T h e latter b e c a m e ( ien t len ian

of the Bedchamber to King Charles II in exile 1648-9. T h e latter's son Digby was a 'great swearer, d runkard and very debauched ' who fell down dead after a dr inking match in the Rose Tavern, C o \ e n t G a r d e n aged twenty tv\o; he had already been in the C o u n t y Prison aged fifteen for ' r unn ing through an apprent ice ' with his sword.

*Mr Francis Fane, a man of great hope and forwardness, very well affected in the country already. ..hispossibilitie of living by his wife very much, shee being daughtere and co-heire to Sir Anthony Mildmay; and thought her mother will give hir all hir inheritance aLsoe; the father worth ^'3000 per annum, the mother's £1200. (Manningham's diary 11 January 1601/2).

Cornel ius Johnson is the most satisfying and 'English ' of the portrai t painters working in England in the 1620's and 30's and is certainly the best portrai t painter of the generat ion before Van Dyck. His technique is .splendid and it is a tr ibute to the soundness of it that so m a n y of his paintings survive in good condit ion. His style is restrained and introspectixe, and he gives lo\ ing at tention to the details of the costume.

Fhe large major i ty of his ]5aintings are of head and shoulders size, though he occasionally j jainted, as here, on a scale of life. His admirably accurate portraits never flatter, and are sober and objective in their

por t rayal of his usual patrons: the gentry a n d nobility below the level of the courtiers. His style is easily identified by its coolness and restraint, and he has left us a substantial corpus of signed and dated work which enables us readily to chart his development as an ardst .

M u c h of his work is to be found in family collections f rom the county of Kent , where he was living in the early 1630's. T h e present pa in t ing and its compan ion were formerly at Merewor th Castle, Kent . J o h n s o n also seems to have spent some t ime in Herefordshire , where there is ano ther qui te substantial corpus of his work. At the approach of the Civil War he obta ined a passport to go to Holland, the country of his parents (he himself was baptised in 1593 at the Dutch C h u r c h in London). Thereaf ter , his work is ra ther rarer and declines into a more typically Dutch Baroque style of composit ion. His technique though remains refined th roughout his careen H e died in Ams te rdam in 1664.

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ROBERT HOME (1752-1834)

Portrait of Colonel William Sydenham (1753-1801) with his wife Amelia

Signed a n d dated 1794 Oil on canvas U n f r a m e d : 28 x 30 in / 72 x 77.5 cm Framed: 36 x 42 in / 92 x 107 cm

L H E R A I U R K :

Mildred Arciier, India and British Portraiture 1770-1825, 1979, pp. 306-307, plate 212

Th i s 'Conversat ion Piece', pa in ted in 1794, shows Colonel W'illiam Sydenham s tanding next to his seated wife in Madras . C^olonel Sydenham c o m m a n d e d the I st Battalion M a d r a s Artiller\', units of which are pa rad ing on the left of the picture (see previous page), with the beehive shape of St T h o m a s ' M o u n t beyond. T h e Colonel ser\ ed in the M a d r a s Artiller\ ' f rom 1 768 until 1801 when he passed away. H e was the son of Samuel S y d e n h a m of M i n e h e a d a n d mar r i ed Amelia Pr ime whose uncle also served in the Artillery in India.

M a j o r Sydenham was p romoted to Lieutenant Colonel in July 1786, appoin ted to the c o m m a n d of the 1 st Battalion and m a d e c o m m a n d a n t of artillery with a seat at the Military' Board. T h e artillerv' was divided into two divisions, the 1 st Battalion was based at St T h o m a s ' M o u n t , the 2nd at r r ichinopoly c o m m a n d e d by a Lieutenant Colonel Taimer, who o]Dposed the appo in tment of S y d e n h a m as c o m m a n d e r of the 1st Battalion, claiming he should have the position on die g rounds that he was more senior. However, this was dismissed, as Sydenham was p romoted due to the dea th of the ])revious c o m m a n d e r of his l)attalion. In January 1796 Sydenham was m a d e a C^olonel, the same year Robert H o m e painted this, |)rol)ably as a personal commemora t i on of the event for Sydenham. In May of the same year he was tnade a ( ienera l .

The Sydenham's two sons also s e r \ ed in India, Benjamin as Secretary to the Governor Genera l , the Marc|uess Wellesley, bro ther to the future Duke of Wellington, and George as Ambassador to the Cour t of the Nizam of Hyde rabad . Benjamin also served in the M a d r a s Lngineers f rom 1 794 to 1808. J o h n Russell was commissioned to paint portrai ts of both sons.

Rober t H o m e was b o r n in London in 1752. H e was a s tudent of Angelica K a u l f m a n n and studied in R o m e between 1773 and 1778. H o m e was one of m a n y British artists that travelled to India in the late eighteenth century eager to obtain pa t ronage f rom the prosperous British residents and f rom Indian noble families. However while m a n y left d isenchanted, H o m e stayed in India for over forty years, longer than any o ther British artist of the period.

H o m e arrived in M a d r a s early in J a n u a r y 1791 and soon after, he received permission to accomj^any Lord Cornwall is ' a r m y on its march to Bangalore, witnessing T i p u Sultan's sur render at Ser ingapa tam. H o m e painted a large ])icture of this celebrated event (National . \ r m y Muse inn , London) a n d also a |K)rtrait of Lord C Cornwallis (formerly in the Banc|ueting Hall, Madras) . He worked with Thomas and William Daniell who visited M a d r a s in M a r c h 1792 and ]3ainted se\eral large landscapes. Howex'er his chief interest was in

por t ra i ture and he pain ted se\'eral local residents in Madras , including Colonel Sydenham, before mo\ ing to Calcut ta in 1795.

After H o m e moved to Calcut ta , he pain ted portrai ts of \ arious governor generals and military commande r s , including Lord Wellesley and Lord Minto . He also had impor tan t Indian clients, a n d in 1811 moved to Lucknow to become Cour t Painter to the King of O u d h .

Robert Honic. Recfpliuri of the Mysore /*rinces by Jxtrd

Cormvallis 1791. National Aniiy . \ l u s fum. Ij i i idoii .

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BARTHOLOMEW DANDRIDGE

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BARIHOLOMEW DANDRIDGE (1691-1755)

Portrait of the daughters of Scroop Egerton, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Bridgwater, 1681-1745

Signed lower left, and extensively inscribed on a nineteenth century label on the reverse Oil on canvas

U n f r a m e d : 45 x 54 in / 114 x 136 cm Framed: 5OV2 x 61 in / 128 x 155 cm In a good early Georgian c a r \ c d and giltwood f rame

Painted circa 1 7 3 4 / 5

P R O V E N A N C E

By descent f rom the 1st Duke of Bridgwater to his elder daughte r Lady Louisa (later Viscountess Trentham) , tlie elder of the two sitters;

H e r husband , the ult imate Bridgwater legatee, George Granville, 1 st Duke of Suther land;

T h e n c e by descent to George, 3rd Duke of Suther land at T r e n t h a m Hall, Staflbrdshire, f rom whose wife A n n e acquired by her coiTipanion and neighbour ; Edith Mar i a Whis ton (formerly Hughes, n t e Tideswell) of Sandon Lodge, Stallordshire,

by w h o m l iequeathed to her son (29.12.1888; codicil 4.6.1890); Joseph Tideswell Jackson Hughes; Thence bv descent.

Bar tho lomew Danclridge was ba]jtised in London on 17th Deccmlx-r 1691. His initial t raining was at the St Mart in ' s Lane Academy and with Sir ( iodf rey Kneller, whose studio and practice he took over in 1 731 after tlie hitter's death. Al though lie was trained in the relatively dull style of the .school of Kneller, he was amongst the first in Lngland to respond to the innovations of the rococo whicii were being im]jorted into I'^ngland from I'Vance in the early and mid 1730's. These have a liveliness of

composit ion and freshness of palette which divides them absolutely f rom the stvie of the 1 72()'s. T h e present painting, which is signed and dates f rom \'cry close to 1 735, is a \ e r y early essay in this new English Rococo style, and shows the rapid development which the artist brought about in these years: the following year (1736-7) he pain ted the daughters of the Earl of Gainsborough in what by then was a fully developed French style which looks m o r e towards Watteau than it does towards Kneller. 'This picture, which is, as it were, on the cusp, still has relatively faint echoes of the earlier style.

T h e girls depicted are Ladv' Louisa Egerton (born 30th April I 723) w h o marr ied Viscount 'Trentham in 1778 and Lady Diana Egerton (born 3rd March 1731) who marr ied Lord Balt imore in 1 753. T h e y were the daughters of Scroop Egerton, 5th I'^arl and 1st Duke of Bridgwater (1681-1745) by his 2nd wife Rachel , daughte r of the 2nd Duke of Bedford, w h o m he marr ied on 4th August 1722. Lady Louisa was an ancestor of the pre.sent Duke of Suther land.

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TEODORO MATTEINI (1754-1831)

Portrait of Baron Tupinier in Venice

Signed and dated 1807 bottom right Oil on canvas Unframed: 19 x 14 in / 49 x 37 cm Framed: 25 x 20 in / 63.5 x 52 cm

Teodoro Matteini was an Italian Neo-classical painter. He ran a painting school in Venice and his pupils included Francesco Hayez (1791-1882), one of Italy's greatest exponents of historical Romantic painting, also known for his portraits - skills he probably learned from Matteini.

The career of Baron Tupinier (1779-1850) is rare for the period in that it extends from the revolution to the second Empire. Born in 1 779 at the age of fifteen he joined the 'ecole polytechnique' and was soon part of the corps of maritime engineers. He had a dazzling career that took him to the highest echelons of naval power. For twenty years he held the post of Director of the Ports and Arsenals and he was an outstanding under minister of the Navy.

Whilst a young engineer he went on campaign to St Domingue and served with the fleet in Boulogne, from there he was posted to Italy where until the end of the Empire he was in command of the Arsenal in Venice. He was a naval minister in 1830 and again in 1839. He was a state counsellor and honorary inspector general of the Naval Engineers.

These various roles put him in freciuent contact with many of the great names of the age: Admirals such as ()anteaume, Decres, Bruix, Duperre, Rosamel, Rigny, and ministers with whom he worked closely Portal, Clermont-Tonnere, d'Argout, and he worked particularly closely with King Louis-Philippe. Tupinier led the life of a naval insider between 1800 and 1848. He wrote a book of memoirs that have given a unique insight into the naval and political world

of F'rance in the first half of the nineteenth century.

T h e date of the painting is 1807 and it celebrates two moments. Firstly at the tender age of twenty eight he was given the onerous responsibility of the .\rsenal in Venice a post he successfully filled until Napoleon's fall in 1815. Secondly Napoleon himself came to Venice in 1807 and the city put on a three day festival including naval performances and a special aquatic themed ball at the famous opera house La Fenice (now destroyed by arson). Napoleon's main purpose was to review the possibilities of developing Venice as his primary Mediterranean naval base and Tupinier was on call for the entire visit. The memoirs record that though Napoleon was enchanted by both the entertainments and the beauty of the local women he did not divert from his military purpose. Tupinier's role was thereby confirmed and his reputation enhanced so on the Emperor's departure he had this very charming portrait painted.

28

i / t l

. ' i

M l

4 m

i . f

rv C f

T i U ^ l i ^ l i i i i i U t w u m i i

T - f

. . . . . .

PELTRO WILLIAM TOMKINS (1759-1840)

HMfflMHIRRR J iiiFs Hiininii I

2 J

PELTRO WILLIAM TOMKINS (1759-1840)

A view of Windsor Castle with King George III on a grey hack doffing his hat to Queen Charlotte and the Princess Royal in an open coach, with the Princesses Augusta Sophia and Elizabeth in the carriage behind

Circa 1785-1790

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 28 x 36 in / 71 x 91.5 cm

Framed: 39'/2 x SO'A in / 100.4 x 77 c m

In its original car\'ed and gilded frame

This delightful and wholly unexpected, informal 'Conversation Portrait' of the Hanoverian royal family relaxing outside Windsor Castle has very few analogies in eighteenth century English court painting. For the most part, royal portraits by their very nature are formal and grand. Where occasionally they were depicted in less formal circumstances, they tend to be painted by the more grandiose painters such as John Zoffany, John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West, which are also painted on a large scale suitable for a palace.

Although unsigned, this painting is most likely to be the work of the London-born artist and engraver, Peltro William Tomkins (1759-1840). Born into a family of painters, Tomkins had something of a royal pedigree, having been engaged as drawing master to the daughters of George III, and in 1791 being appointed Historical Engraver to Queen Charlotte. While Tonikins trained as a stipple engraver (under Francesco Bartolozzi at the Royal Academy Schools), the depiction of such scenes would have been a familiar practice. His father, W^illiam Tomkins (1732-1792) was a successful landscape painter, known for his views of country houses, w h o exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy, to which he was elected Associate in 1771.

This painting stands apart in its informal nature, an aspect perhaps best explained by the level of familiarity between artist and sitters. T h e King is easily identifiable in Garter Star and Sash, though here rather more as 'Farmer George' (as he was affectionately known) than traditional monarch. Proceeding around Windsor on what is obviously a favourite hack rather than some splendid blood-horse, the King uncharacteristically raises his hat in a gesture of affection to the group in the carriages, w h o m we can assume to be his family.

George III was a good family man, devoted to his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, with w h o m he had fifteen children. This painting offers a rare and touching insight into this more personal side of the King's character, depicting an idyllic courtly existence. T h e reality was however, when we consider the date of the painting, far less pleasant. T h e American declaration of independence on 4th July 1776, and the resulting surrender by British forces in 1782 can certainly be considered to have marred George's Regency politically, and even personally. T h e strain of these events took its toll o n the monarch, whose health gradually deteriorated during the 1780's.

After falling seriously ill in 1788-9 and again in 1801, the King became permanently deranged in 1810. Mentally unfit to rule during the last decade of his reign, his eldest son (later George IV) acted as Prince Regent from 1811. S o m e historians suggest George Ill's mental instability was the result of a hereditary physical disorder called porphyria.

Unlike his Hanoverian predecessors, George III preferred Windsor to H a m p t o n Court, and initiated a programme to renovate the casde in the Gothic style in 1789, after recovering from his first serious bout of illness. T h e project was continued by his son George IV, (with the advice of Sir J o h n Long), and once completed, the castle remained greatly unchanged until the fire of 1992. With this in mind, we can thus date the work as pre-renovation and therefore pre-1789.

Assuming that the occupants of the carriage are the Royal family, and that the view of the castle is pre-renovation, we can therefore attempt to identify the female sitters with ' some confidence. T h e Q u e e n , Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1 744-1818), sits next to her eldest daughter, w h o appears to be around twenty one years of

32

age. Charlotte Augiista Matilda, the Princess

Royal, was born 29th September 1 766;

assuming she is twenty years old in the

painting, then a date of circa 1 786 suggests

itself, '["his would be consistent with the

apparent ages of her two younger sisters

(seen in the further of the two carriages),

Augusta Sophia (1768-1840) and I^lizabeth

(1770-1840), who would thus be eighteen

and sixteen. This dating is consistent with

the costumes worn by the sitters. 'I'he

jDroposed dating of I 785-90 therefore

seems secure.

THE HANOVERIANS ( I 7 i 4 - i 8 3 7 )

( ; i : ( ) R ( ; i : i n — S O I ' H I A C : H A R I X ) 1 T K O F

M E C K l l A H l R G - S T R H L n /

C : A R ( J I , I . \ K D A I t , n r i : R (J1 D L K i : O F b r i \ s \ v i c : k -\ v ( ) L i i : \ i u n I (11821

( ; f ( ) R ( ; i ; w i ' R i : d f r i c : r

1 ) 1 K F O F ^ ' O R R

W I F I J A M I \ ' C H A R I X r F F F P R F X C F S S R O ^ A F

C H A R F O r i F -<ll!il7 l . \ C I I I I .DHIR I H.

. \ () SI R \ l \ l \ ( ; C H I I . D R I . X

F F O I ' O F l ) O F S A X F - C O l U R ( ;

L V n - R K I N X ; O F I H F l i F I , ( ; i A . \ S

AvWi; (U'dific I I I , liy coiirn-sy ot the N.itioiial I'ortr.iit (i.ilk-iN.

N I C R O R I A O F SX\E-C:()BL"RC;

E L I / A H E l ERXES ' l A L X i U S l U S , D U K E C)E C : L M B E R E . V \ U

A U C i L S l L S . DL KE C)E S U S S E X

A D O E P H I S D U K E O E CLAMBRIDGE

K I N G 0 1 H A X O X E R 1837-1851

NLC.RORIA O E H E R C:H1E1)REX

M A R Y S O P H I A O C I A M L S AEERED AMEEIA

36

CHRISTIAN STOCKLIN (1741-1795)

37

CHRISTIAN STOCKLIN (1741-1795)

Capriccio with architectural ruins and a distant view over a lake

Oil on canvas U n f r a m c d : 26V4 x 63% in / 68 x 162 cm Framed: 35-% x I T / i in / 91 x 184 cm

Christ ian Stocklin was born in Geneva where he received his initial training. In the 1750's lie went to Bologna to work witli the architect, painter and theatrical designer Antonio Galli Bibiena (1700-1774). Stocklin was an i t inerant artist; by 1 759 he was in R o m e a n d f rom 1761-1764 he contr ibuted to the architectural decorat ion of theatres in Stut tgart a n d Ludwigsburg, dur ing which t ime this picture was painted. In 1766 the artist became a citizen of Frankfurt .

As well as pa in t ing classical landscapes with ruins, Stocklin also pain ted architectural interiors mostly of churches, in the m a n n e r of the Flemish artists Hendr ick van Steenwijck the Elder (circa 1550-1603) and Pieter Ncefs the Elder (1578-1656/1661) .

38

JEAN-HENRY D'ARLES (1734-1784)

A pair of Italian classical seascapes

Signed and dated 1 768 O n e on rowing boat , o ther lower left Oil on canvas

U n f r a m e d : 21 x 30'/ , in / 53.2 x 76.8 cm Framed: 2TU x 36V, in / 27.9 x 93.3 cm

J e a n - H e n r y d'Arlcs was a French landsca|)e painter whose theatrically illiiminated landscapes display a close observation of" na ture and its effects. DWrles won first prize of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Marseille in 1753.

This pai r of I talianate seaport scenes follows in the tradition of classical landscapes estal)lished by C laude Lorrain . D'Arles would also have been influenced by Jose])h Vernct (1714-1 789) vvhf)se Tempesl he would have seen at tiie Exhibition du Pasage PVancais in I 756.

D'Arles predominate ly worked in tiie a rea in and a round Marseille. The French con tempora ry taste was for idealised scenes foreign to their own exjierience. T h e r e was a d e m a n d for enchanted \ iews of bays such as Najjies, mounta ins , caves, storms.

shipwrecks, all scenes which, for the major i ty town-dwellers, would be u n c o m m o n to their own lives. In addit ion, Italian scenes were popu la r with aristocratic clientele as they sei-ved to reflect the sites they would h a \ e visited on the CJrand Tour.

T h e artist paints an imaginary seaport in an ancient ])lace with con tempora ry figures and ships, all lit by a soft w a r m sunrise and sunset. The theme of safe arrival in port is one of un iwrsa l appeal . D'Arles ]5aints a Dutch shi]) in the early m o r n i n g that may have been inspired by the presence of

40

'A

/

//

V .1 ' V . J

m .

JEAN-HENRY D'ARLES (1734-1784) continued

A pair of Italian classical seascapes

Dutch squadrons who are known to ha\'e been in the Med i t e r r anean after the treaty of Aken in O c t o b e r 1748. T h e other paint ing at sunset shows a British na\ al vessel.

r i iere is a careful balance of the composit ion with its f r aming trees and hills, united architecture and landscape, misty distance and ha rmonious light, all placing D'Arles within the great tradit ion of Franco-Italian landscape painting.

43

A FINE PAIR OF CHINA TRADE R\INTINGS

A pair of nineteenth century China trade paintings of exceptional quality.

44

45

A FINE PAIR OF CHINA TRADE PAINTINGS

A pair of nineteenth century China trade paintings of exceptional quality.

Chinese, 1803 or 1863 Oil on canvas Unframed: 26V4 x SO'A in / 68 x 77.5cm Framed: 35'A x 39 in / 89.5 x 99 cm In modern car\ ed giltwood frames of eighteenth century design

T h e first painting depicts two blue robed Chinese gentlemen playing a board game at a table on a tree fringed veranda. An at tendant stands by the table and another figure is seated to the left with a hookah. A path bordered by flowering shrubs leads to a small pa\-ilion. In the background to the left there is a pool with a wall beyond, enclosing a house.

T h e second paindng (see page 45) depicts four elegant Chinese ladies on the timbered walk\vays and terraces of a water garden. Flowers and plants surround the terraces and one of the ladies is tending the potted plants. There is a pavilion to either side and a further pavilion stands in the water beyond. In the distance is a high wall with a circular opening leading to further gardens.

T h e reverse of each original canvas is inscribed in Chinese calligraphy. T h e canvases are now relined.

Not all of this calligraphy can be deciphered but what is ascertained is that the.se pictures were jjainted in Hong Kong Central in early March, in either 1803 or 1863, and that one is a portrait of a Mr Fung Kwong, deceased, aged 75 years.

There was a tradition in C^hina for portraits to be painted |X)sthumously of CHiincsc elders, dignitaries or other persons of note as a tribute to them and a memorial for their families. Here, [presumably, other

members of that family or certain close associates have been included. Given that the male figures appear all to be somewhat younger than seventy' five years old, the depiction may be an idealised reference to earlier achievements.

Such memento pictures, although commissioned for personal reasons, were nonetheless painted by the same artists working in the European export fashion. The paintings are not signed but clearly they are the work of a highly accomplished artist of the time.

Some of the great images of the China Trade paintings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are encapsulated in the port scenes of Canton and Hong Kong. However, some of the artists of these prolifically produced scenes also lent their talented hands and their rich palettes to landscape, garden and figurative subjects.

There was a fascination in the Wx-st about the Chinese way of life, various facets of which were regularly depicted in watercolour and in oil, such as tea drinking, card and games playing and garden parlies. Domestic interiors showing Chinese furniture, accessories and other artefacts were painted with meticulous detail.

Fcjually, exotic gardens are depicted in rich colours with a profusion of flowering plants and trees amidst pavilions and terraces.

46

f?

m f

. . - . . . - ^

)

\

pools and bridges. These garden scenes also give an insight into the Clhinese tradit ion for plant ing many of the small trees and shrubs in pots ra ther than in the earth. All the llowers and plants are pa in ted with great accuracy.

While, generally, the c|uality of such paintings began to wane towards the middle of the nineteenth century, one artist in part icular stands out at this time. Youqua was probably the finest painter of the mid nineteenth century of large scale C h i n a T r a d e pictures. He is known to have worked in both H o n g Kong and C a n t o n a n d was acclaimed for his port scenes, as well as portrai ts of ladies based on European prints. A great rarity by him is a still life of fruits, now in the Peabody M u s e u m at Salem, which displays both his versatility a n d an unders tanding of the western market .

A garden scene with elegant Chinese ladies, circa 1845, bear ing the label of ^ b u q u a , is at Mystic Seaport , Mystic, Connect icut . T h e t rea tment and style of this paint ing is similar to this pair of paintings.

From the calligraphy thus far deciphered, this pair was pain ted in either 1803 or 1863. T h e i r quality points to the earlier date, unless it is the work of a painter of the skill of Youqua at the later date.

" i t ' -

JAN GRIFFIER (1646-1718)

A rabbit warren

Oil on canvas Framed: 49 x 51'/-i in / 124.5 x 146 cm U n f r a m e d : 40% x 49 in / 103 x 124.5 cm

J a n GrifTicr was bo rn in Amste rdam yet his career was split Ix'tween Hol land and E^ngland, where he first arrived soon after the Great Fire in 1666. hi Hol land, ( ir iff ier was apprent iced to a carpenter , a tile painter and a flower ]Daititer before studying with the landscapist and etcher Roeland Roghnian [circa 1620-86) as well as (according to Walpole) informally with Adr iaen van de Velde (1636-72) and J a c o b \ an Ruisdael (1628-82).

•After settling in London , GrifTier took lessons f rom the landscape painter J a n Looten (1618-81), ano ther Fnglish-based D u t c h m a n , whose tonality he imitates throughout his career. Griffier was admi t ted to the C o m p a n y of Painter-Stainers in London in 1677 and contr ibuted a iMtidscape with Ruins to their hall.

(iriffier 's work as a d raugh t sman reflects his t ra ining by R o g h m a n . H e was a compe ten t etcher and mezzot inter and p roduced an iinpressive series of plates of birds after Francis Barlow, as well as a n u m b e r of good mezzotint ]K)rtraits af ter such London ])ortrait j^ainters as Peter Lely and (Jodfrey Kneller. In 1695 he re turned to Hol land, apparenth- travelling in his own yacht, which was wrecked ofT the Dutch coast thereby causing the loss of much of his stock of drawings.

51

For the next decade Griflier remained in

Holland, but returned to London in 1705

where he became part of the bustling

Netherlandish emigre art scene, and his style

changed to what might best be described as

a proto-English landscape technique, a

precursor of the pure-English style of

such painters as Wil l iam lomkins and

Thomas Smith.

The last decade of GrilFier's life was devoted

to topographical landscape painting along

the Thames Valley, including Greenw ich,

Windsor, Oxford, and Gloucestershire.

His English views prov ide valuable early

evidence of British topography and Walpole

noted that 'mixed scenes of rivers and rich

country were his fa\orite subjects'. Paintings

such as his |)rospects of Hamplon C.ourt Palace,

1710 (Tate Britain) and Syon House, 1710

(The Duke of Northumberland, Syon

House) arc capriccios, combining real \icvvs

of the houses with fantastic cragg) '

land.scapes.

Griffier's later years also saw a widening of

his subject matter that include exotic bird

pieces in the manner of his fellow emigre

painter Pieter Casteels such as Turkey and

other fowl (Tate Britain) as well as imaginary

landscapes and occasional marine views.

His son Robert Griffier (1688-«>fa 1750)

and grandson J a n GrifTier II (0. 1738-73)

continued in the family landscape tradition.

.'\fU'r I'Vaiicis liarlovs; I'roni Vamu.s liit<I\ (tm/ lictnh Dnnfii /mm Life, 'laic lirilaiii.

53

WILLIAM GREEN OF OXFORD (fl. 1749-1765)

A favourite white pointer standing in a landscape

Signed and dated 1757 lower right Oil on canvas U n f r a m e d : 40 x 50 in / 101.5 x 127 cm Framed: 48 x 58 in / 122 x 147.5 cm In a good c a n e d and gilded Georgian f rame

P R O V K N A N C E :

By family descent until sold at Christie 's 17th February 1982 (lot 5) bought Lane Fine Art for a private collector, USA, f rom w h o m re-purchased 2001.

\Villiam Green is first documen ted in 1749 when he painted a n d signed a portrai t of Sir y\nthony Van Dyck after the portrai t bust by Rysbrack; he may well, too, have been the au thor of the pa in t ing of An Oxford Book Auction (Oxford, Bodleian Libraiy) pa in ted two years earlier in 1747. The initial of the signature on that pa in t ing is illegible - it may be by the painter J(ohn) Green . It seems likely, f rom the evidence of the Waterford manuscripts , that the two were brothers . J o h n was paint ing as late as 1768, when his bro ther was 'recentlv deceased ' .

T h e paint ing is executed in a crisp and detailed technique which demonst ra tes an accomplished and expert hand . Stylistically, it is close to the work of J a m e s Seymour.

This is the only known D o g pain t ing by the artist.

T h e Green family of Oxfo rd were painters in that city for at least two generat ions in the middle of the eighteenth century. The i r out |)ut is relatively small, though it is likely, given the large n u m b e r of pa in t ing types (landscape, conversation pieces, sport ing pictures, still lives) that many more exist than are presently known - presumably becau.se they are unsigned.

54

\ >

- v i

i f . 1 - A

IS:.;.: V 5- 1

EDWARD WARD GILL OF NORTHAMPTON {circa 1 795-aVca 1860)

A small boy leading his bay pony across a field, with his two springer spaniels

Oil on canvas U n f r a m c d : 1 7 x 21'A in / 43 x 54.5 cm

There are several painters called Gill all of w h o m were working in the Midlands dur ing the first hall' of the nineteenth century, and the rccords of whose work have consequently been extremely muddled . The au tho r of the present c h a r m i n g

work is a native of Nor thamptonsh i re . This attr ibution is conf i rmed by the print published by .Ackermann, a leading sport ing dealer of this period. It would appea r that his work is confined to subjects of a rural a n d sport ing nature. His themes are largely those of his contemporar ies Henry Aiken a n d Richard Barret Davis, and he produced numerous paintings of the Qi io rn and the Pytchley hunts in their golden age.

His technicjue is greatly influenced by the earlier generat ion of artists sucii as J o h n Nost Sartorius, William Williams and Str inger of Knutsford . H e also produced portrai ts of such luminaries of the hunt ing field as Squire Osbaldeston. His composit ions are personal and idiosyncratic and have an easy and unassuming c h a r m , exemplified by his g roup portrait of the Rev John Lilly's Mares and Foals at New Court, Hereford exhibited at Acke rmann in 1989.

H e are grateful lu David Fuller ftir confirming the attribution

of this painting.

56

• s

M

skr

i n - ; .-

ii"

•-•> ft

! i

FRANCIS SARTORIUS (1734-1804)

Two pointers in a wooded landscape

Signed and dated 1787 lower right Oil on ean\'as Unfranied: 25 x 30 in / 63.5 x 76.2 em Framed: 32 x 37 in / 81.3 x 94 cm

60

JOHN NOST SARTORIUS (1755-1828)

The Great Match

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 18 x 13 in / 45.8 x 33 cm

Framed: 21'A x IG'A in / 52.6 x 42.6 cm

61

t

JOHN NOST SARTORIUS (1755-1828)

Mr Christopher Wilson''s hay racehorse 'Sophia' with jockey up on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated 1801, and inscribed Sophia

by Buzzard

Unframed: 28 x 36 in / 7 1 x 91.5 cm

Framed: 34V, x 42V, in / 87 x 107 cm

In a fine ( Jeorg ian carved and gi lded l i ame

l>R()VKNA.\t:E:

Painted for CJhristopher Wilson at Oxton

Stud, Yorkshire, 1801

Sophia was a bay racehorse foaled in 1798,

got by Buzzard out of Huncamunka by

Highflyer. She was bred by CJhristopher

Wilson at Oxton, the 'Doyen of the English

Turf and Father of the Jockey Club ' He was

the winner of the very first 1,000 Guineas

Classic with Charlotte and the first 2 ,000

( Ju ineas with Wizard.

Sophia is depicted after winning her match

for 200 Guineas against the Duke of

CJrafton's Ftambeau as a three year old ox er

the Rowley Mi le at Newmarket . This was

the second time she had been painted by

Sartorius: she appears as a foal in his Mares

and Foals at Oxton painted by the artist

in 1798.

63

THE SARTORIUS FAMILY

,)AC:()15 C l H R l S r O I ' H K R S A R I O R I L I S III. Ili<)4-I77:i)

. | ( ) H \ SAR I O R I U S

I RAXCIIS SAR TORIL'S (I7:ii-i!i()t)

J O H N X O S I S A R I O R i r s ,7iral7:).>-l!!L'i!)

J O H N 1 S A R I O R I l . S l irail 773-18!) 1

FRA\C: IS SAR r O R l L S (1777-alUT I a m (inar'nit' funnier)

I 'he Sartorius famih of sport ing artists w ere dcscci idfd f r o m j a c o i ) C;hristo]3hcr (11. 1694-1773), an engraver of Xiirenibcrg. Little is known of the circ umstances in which this faniily camc to iMigland. They were hcwever over four generat ions to p roduce an artistic document of sport ing and country life that today serves as both a decorative and interesting oven iew of coinitry ])ursuits o \ e r a hundred year period.

Each generat ion m a d e London their base, but with the nature of their subjects anel commissions they spent much of their t ime at the great sport ing e \ents . Here they mi.\ed witii the gentry who were to ])ro\ ide tliem with encouragement and ]Datronage that was to allow them to remain true itinerate sjjorting artists.

J o h n Sartoriiis (1 700-1 7f5{)) p roduced many portrai ts of famous racehorses. His first ma jo r commis.sion was f rom M r Thomas Panton ui about 1722 the subject Molly a celebrated Mare 'w hich had never been beaten on the turf, exce])t in the match tiiat cost her her life'. T h e succe.ss of this commi.ssion brought about o ther work such as hivby (1735) for the Duke of Bolton. H e exhibited one picture at the Societ)- of Artists, sixty-two at the Free Society of Artists and one at the Royal Academy. H e \ \as the fatiier of Francis Sartorius, w hose style is very similar.

Francis Sartorius (1734-1804) was John ' s .son and ]3u]5il. His early t raining with his father was followed by a j^eriod s]3cnt in the studios of Thomas Butler, based in Pall Mall, who.se slightly wooden, but c h a r m i n g style influenced him. Francis de \e loped his own style using simple comjDositions and colour skillfully, creat ing a timeless and e\ 'ocati \e

air of cha rm. H e worked for jiatrons such as the Duke of Ckimberland, the Duke of ( i r a f ton , the Marqu i s of Rockingham and King George III, f rom w h o m he had two commissions. This greatly enhanced his reputat ion, and he exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1773-1791. He was a regular contr ibutor to the Sporling, Maga-zine, four engra\ ings of his work a])pear in xolumes ii-\ i (I 793-1 795). Thir ty-eight of his works were shown at \ arious London galleries, t w e h e of which were at the R{)\al .Vcadenn. W h e n he died in March 1804, aged se\enty, he was li\ ing at 17 ( i e r r a rd Street in Soho. W h e n the adminis t rat ion was granted to his only siuA ix ing son of his two marr iages it was \ alued at Just / , 100 . His great ])roducti\ ity seems not to have been com]5ensated b\ his inability to charge high prices. (He was rccei\ ing 15 guineas for a large c a i n a s when middle ranked ]5ortrait artists like \\ ' i l l iam Beechey were recei\ ing 100 guineas for a similar sized h u m a n portrait).

J o h n Nost Sartorius {circa 1755-1828), the most f amous artist of the family conthuied in his fathers foolste])s. p roduc ing ec|ueslrian and country life scenes. He met many of his clients at the Newmarke t races, including .some of the most famous aristocratic sportsmen of the age: Lords Derby, Foley, Kingston, the breeders and trainers C:hnsto])her ^Vilson and Sir C;hades Bunbury, but the grandest was the Prince of Wales. His works are to be fotuid in many country houses a round England, show ing that he was, like his father, i t inerant. He exhibited se\enty-four pictures at the Royal A c a d e n n between 1781-1824, and engra\ ings of his works b y j \Valker, J Webb and others a]5pearcd in the S[mrtinn Magazine f rom 1795-1827. l)es])ite the exclusi\eK

rural content of his ])aintings. he l i \ed the greater |)art of his life in Soho. In 1787 he is recorded as li\ ing at 2 S|)in- Street, Leicester .S(|uare. In the later ]5art of his life he m o \ c d to the then almost rural delights of Kennington . It was in a house near the famous ( ) \ a l CIricket groimd that he died. Ra ther like his father Francis he would have a])|jeared. despite his \ ast output of work and the wealth) circles in which he m o \ e d , to h a \ e died a poor man . His estate was \ a l u e d at / ' 2 0 at the t ime of his death .

He had two sons. J o h n Francis Sartorius [circa 1775-1831) who cont inued to paint equestr ian and countr) ' ]3icture.s, and Francis Sartorius {Mil- af ter f808) w h o was the first of the Sartorius familly to depar t f rom countn- subjects and tin n his at tention to mar ine subjects. Nei ther of them had the same success as their father in regard to their patrons, but J o h n F exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1802-1827, .sending sixteen ])ictiires in total. H e had his work reproduced as engrax ings in the Sporting Magazine a long with his father, but it is \ ery difficuk to dilferentiate between the two as their style is \ ery similar, and often works were just signed 'Sartorius ' .

I 'he Sartorius family were impor tant in ]3roducing images of English Clountry Life, and their works ]5rovide a catalogue of c h a r m i n g images. T h e ) all ha\ e a similar feel to them, but m a n a g e to capture the c h a r m and characters of the animals. The list of aristocratic gent lemen w ho

patronized them indicates the high regard and re]3utation the family held.

11 arc gral(/ut to David I'ultnjiir tiis rneairti an lltf Sartarim Jantity.

JOHN FREDERICK HERRING SNR (1795-1863)

Portrait of a bay hunter

Signed and dated 1835 centre right Oil on canvas Unframed: 22 x 30 in / 55.9 x 76.2 cm Framed: 26V4 x 35 in / 68 x 89 cm

This painting i.s a fine example of Herring's horse portraiture. He had returned to London in 1833 and was establishing hiinself as a leading sporting artist, continuing to paint the principal thoroughbreds, but also hunting and coaching subjects and even two works after Horace Vernet illustrating B\ ron's poem Alazappa, which were purchased by his most important patron at that time, William Taylor Copeland.

There is a long held tradition that those ]5aintings signed in red, as this one is, were commissioned works. Whether this is true or not, they are virtually always of the finest quality.

John Frederick Herring Senior (1795-1865) was the most successful and prolific mid nineteenth century sporting artist. Born in London of Dutch/American descent, he left home at the age of eighteen for Uoncaster where he arrived to see William win the 1814 St Leger. His love of horses and ability to paint them soon led to his emjjloyment as a coach painter and later a stage-coach driver. It was whilst driv ing the Doncaster -Halifax coach that he met Charles Spencer-Stanhope who encouraged his friends to commission jxirtraits of their horses from Herring. One of these, Frank Havvkesworth, guaranteed him work for a w hole year and it was this offer that finally persuaded Herring to become a full time artist. He had exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy in 1815, but it was his series of jiaintings of St Leger winners that were

engraved, first in Doncaster then in London, which established his reputation.

Herring moved to Newmarket in 1830 and three years later back to London where until 1847 he continued painting the Derby and St Leger winners, but also hunting and coaching subjects. He was appointed animal painter to the Duchess of Kent in 1845 and the following year received his first commission from the Queen Victoria. In the late 1840's he started to paint rural and farming scenes in a broader stv ie than his sporting subjects. These somewhat sentimental interpretations of the English Countryside were so popular that their success enabled him in 1857 to purchase Meopham Park in Kent, a small country-estate with an attractive farmyard. Here he spent the last very productive years of his life ably assisted by his younger sons Charles and Benjamin.

Although his early work had been much influenced by James Ward (1769-1859), he soon developed his own crisplv' detailed style, which enabled him to perfectly capture the sheen of a thoroughbreds coat which few artists have been able to achieve so successfulK. It is these works from his early and middle career which raise him to the highest ranks of F-nglisii Sporting Art.

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JOHN FRP:DERICK HERRING JXR (1815-1907)

The Steeplechase

Signed a n d dated 1845 lower left Oil on canvas U n f r a m e d : 24 x 42 in / 61 x 106.7 c m Framed: 47'/2 x 29' / . in / 120.6 x 75 cm

Fred, as he was known within his family, was the eldest of J F Her r ing Senior 's three sons. /Mthough he ccrtainly assisted his fa ther when the Herr ing 's were living at Six Mile Bottom between 1830 and 1833, he did not accompany the rest of the family when they moved to London . It can be assumed that he did not wish to remain an assistant to his father and was keen to make iiis own way as an artist. This he successfully did th roughout a long and productixe life spent entirely in the Newmarke t area.

Both his style a n d subject mat te r were much influenced by his father, and their both having the same initials has in the past led to some confusion in attr ibution. M a n y of

Junior ' s best work have frequently been given to his father. At the start of his career he signed his w o r k j Fred He r r i ng or JF" Her r ing junr , but once working on his own he reverted to J F Herring. Although the tonality of his work is far removed f rom that of his father, as early as 1836 the early Her r ing was adding '.senr' to his signature. Th i s presumably was to stop his son's work being passed off as his own, though there is no evidence that this was ever the case. It would appea r that the rift between father and son was n e \ e r healed, as there is no ment ion whatsoe\ er of Fred in J F Her r ing senr's very detailed will.

Herr ing 's Steeplechase does not dei)ict any recorded race and indeed the r i d e r s colours are not identifiable a])art f rom the red with black cap of M r Allan M c D o n o u g h , the leading Irish amateur , riding the black horse with two white hind socks in the centre of

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' TT. a..-

• i V

•

JOHN FREDERICK HERRING jxR (1815-1907) Conlinued

the field. T h e scene was ])robahly painted to

record the increasing po]Dularity o f the sport

and its date o f 1845 was coincidently tlie

year that a Steeplechase Calendar wAf, (irst

published.

Slecplechasing, riding across coiintry in a

direct line between two given points, is

known to ha\ e taken place in the last years

o f the eighteenth century, but the s])ort did

not become commonplace until the 1830"s

when it was transformed by tlie introduction

of the sweepstake princi])le, the marking o f

courses with flags, concern for the spectators

and l)y the profits made by tiie local

innkee]5ers. All these changes resulted in a

growth from just three meetings in 1832 to

sixty-si.x ten years later, the main courses

being at Chel tenham, the vale o f Aylesbury

and Aintree.

Although the initial development o f

steeplechasing in the 1830's is pictorially

well recorded there are few jjaintings o f

actual races from the 184()'s and even JP"

Herring Senior's well known Steeplechase

Cracks, painted in 1846, does not show an

actual race, but an amalgam o f the leading

riders o f the day T h e r e had always been

some o]5portunity to the s]K)rt and Mmrod,

one o f the leading sporting journalists o f the

period, described it as ha\ ing 'all the false

excitcment o f gambling without it's fair

chances; and all the show of hunting

without its beautiful spirit'. Nex'crtheless,

until about 1850 steeplechasing grew in

esteem as well as in size, but the increasing

number o f small and ill organised meetings

with few major ones starting led to a

reinitation o f scandal and fraud and the

sport did Tiot reco\er until the founding in

18()3 of a National Hunt C'ommittee. By

1870 there were clear rules and a recognised

authority com])()sed maiTily o f members o f

the Jockey Cllub and especially those who

were (Jentleman riders.

I \'f arc ^rahjul !/> David hitter jar tii.s rpsmn h an this /mmthiQ.

71

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NATHANIEL HAR'I NELL

(fi. 1829-18(i4)

The Picnic

Signed lower right on the liani])er

Oil on canv as

Framed: 40 x 48 in / 101.5 x 122 cm

Unframed: 28 x 36 in / 72 x 91 cm

Picnics. 'The Season' is littered with them -

the Fourth of J u n e at Eton (College, Henley

Regatta , Lords, Wimbledon, Glyndehourne,

and the start of grouse shooting on the

"(Jiorious 'I'welfth". Never much recogniscd

for their cul inary prowess, the English

excel at picnics. Smoked salmon, lobster,

strawberries and cream and all ciiased clow n

with Pimm's and cham])agne. Picnics e\oke

memories ol" the perfect English summer's

day and the subject has attracted ])ainters,

])oets and writers tiirotighout history. 'Fhey

reached the height of their popularity in

the nineteenth century and The Picnic In'

Nathaniel I iartnell is a charming document

recording this time.

In the 1854 editie)n of Webster's I 'mihridged

Dictionary, a '])icnic' is defined as, 'an

enterta inment to which each person

contributed some dish or article for the

general table". 'Fhis idea of mutual sharing

and collaboration was fundamenta l to the

original significance of the picnic. It is

thought that the term 'picnic' was first used

around 1740 and was probabK' a deri\ ation

of the iTench \'crb ]5iqucr, referring to

picking at food. The notion of eat ing

outdoors perhaps had its origins in the hunt

feasts of the Middle Ages, where a meal of

pies, cooked meats and sweet tarts took

place in a forest clearing before the start

of the hunt.

File Picnic Society was formed in f^ondon

early in tlie nineteenth century by a grou])

of society ])eo])le who took their ])icnics very

seriously indeed. I he fashion for excin'sions

from the city into the country created a need

for meals eateti outdoors. Po])ular actix ities

such as sketching or collecting rare fungi,

73

butterflies and flowers were a perfect excuse for extravagant |3icnics. Qi ieen Victoria a n d Prince Albert 's fondness for picnics is described in the Queen ' s IjeavesJrom the Journal of our Life in the Highlands, from 1848 to 1861 and added fur ther popular i ty to the picnic. These memoi rs c o m m e m o r a t e d the happy times the Qi ieen spent in Scot land with her husband a n d were first published privately and then publicly in 1868, when the book b e c a m e an immedia te bestseller. T h e Queen ' s entry for Wednesday 16th October , 1861 describes a 'delightful expedit ion ' to Ca i rn Lochan:

'We sat on a very precipitous ]3lace, which m a d e one dread any one moving backwards; and here, at a little before two o'clock, we lunched. T h e lights were charmingly soft, and, as I have said before, like the b loom on a p lum. T h e luncheon was very acceptable, for the air was extremely keen |...J I m a d e some hasty sketches; and then Albert wrote on a bit of pape r that we had lunched here, put it into Sclters-water botde, and buried it there.. . '

Nathanie l Hartnel l ' s pa in t ing therefore celebrates a golden age of picnics. T h e paint ing is in the tradit ion of the conversation piece, a form popula r in England f rom a round 1730. These were portrai ts of two or more individuals, friends or family members , a n d pictured informal events, such as tea dr inking or, as seen here, picnicking. Hartnel l ' s pa in t ing shows an intimate g roup mostly interact ing with each other, ra ther than the viewer Conversat ion pieces often have a theatrical cjuality a n d here certainly a stage appears to have been set, the viewer posit ioned as if about to join in themselves. A further, though slightly more tenuous invitation is offered by the yotnig girl on the left of the painting, as she pushes back the hair f rom her face and smiles at the viewer. Large wicker baskets conta ining a pristine white tablecloth, porcelain [ilates, canteens of silver cutlery and lead crystal glasses h a w been unpacked to a ccommoda t e an extensixe m e n u of lobster, cooked hams, game pie, puddings and fruit. T h e r e are numerous botdes and flagons littering the scene with the copper

tea ketde tossed unwan ted to the side. Surprisingly most of the food is un touched and rather than eat ing the picnickers are engaged in various leisurely pursuits.

T h e nineteenth century was a t ime of new affluence for many, with an emphasis on status and leisure. To be depicted in a pa in t ing engaged in the art of conversation or playing musical inst ruments was a way of placing oneself in society. T h e family a n d h o m e were central to the Victorians and painters emb raced this in their work showing the unity of the family. T h e country life, as opposed to vice-ridden city living, represented innocence and the values of tradit ion. By depict ing a family and their fr iends picnicking in picturesque countryside the artist drew an association between the two. Fortune-tellers were popu la r at the t ime and the two women to the left seem to be in deep discussion with one ano the r about their futures. Har tnel l is not merely concerned with social documen ta ry howe \e r and includes sentimental and humorous touches, such as the ador ing looks the young w o m e n cast towards the young men , and the ra the r portly boy sneakily taking a piece of fruit . It is not known who the subjects are in Hartnel l ' s pa in t ing or whe ther it was a commissioned work. In any event, such decorative scenes were popu la r with buyers w h o wished to h a n g the leisured classes on their walls a n d thus gain status via association.

This piece is typical of Nathanie l Hartnell 's work. H e lived in Kenning ton , London a n d was well represented at the Royal Academy, where he exhibited ten works between 1831 a n d 1853 and at the Royal Society of British Artists, where he also showed ten works between 1831 and 1856. Hartnell was also an accomplished l i thographer H e was equally adept at paint ing landscape and figurative works and often combined the two. The Picnic is undoubted ly one of the finest examples of this. O t h e r paintings by the artist include: Guarding Time: The Errand (1838); Resting by the Way (1842); Rent Collector (1849) as well as Resting in a It boded Evening lMr]dscape (1842), a work that bears notable similarities v\'ith The Picnic.

Hartnell 's painstaking at tention to detail is seen in his depict ion of the willow pa t te rn design of the china. Willow ware became popular with the wealthy classes when the t rade between C h i n a a n d Europe was established. T h e inclusion of the fashionable blue a n d white china in the scene, likewise the silverware, was an oppor tuni ty to show off the family's wealth. 'Willow' applies loosely to the many copies of blue and white porcelain impor ted into England f rom C h i n a dur ing the last half of the eighteenth cetitury. T h o m a s Min ton is widely believed to have been responsible for adopt ing the design a round 1 780 and for nearly two centuries it has been one of the most popu la r of china designs. T h e porcelain is found in royal collections woridwide and the collecting of blue and white wares was very popu la r th roughout the Victorian period. T h e Aesthetic Movemen t of the 1870s and 1880s fu r ther p romoted it and its most famous p roponen t was Osca r Wilde w h o famously remarked, 'I a m trying to live u p to my china ' .

T h e setting of the paint ing is thought to be C h a n c t o n b u r y Ring; looking towards Washington at the foothills of the South Downs. C h a n c t o n b u r y R i n g is a hill with a circle of beech trees p lanted on top of it: a famous l andmark in West Sussex a n d one often pain ted and pho tog raphed . T h e 'Ring ' at C h a n c t o n b u r y actually applies to circular earthworks at the site, ra ther than the later sur rounding trees as is commonly believed. T h e trees were p lanted in 1760 by Char les Goring, heir to the Wiston Estate, who, when he died in 1829, h a d fulfilled a

Queen I'icloriapicmckmg, M a n E \ a n s P ic tu re l . i b r a n .

74

principal personal desire in ha\'ing seen their successful growth into adulthood:

'Oh! Could 1 live to see thy top In all its beauty dress'd That time's arrived; I've had my wish,

and lived to eighty-fi\'e. I'll thank my God who ga\'e such grace, as long as e 'er 1 live'.

The Ring was used as a look-out in 1588 when Philip II sent his Spanish Armada to attack the English and during the

Napoleonic wars. When the threat of French invasion was C|uelled in 1815 the Ring became a po]Dular picnicking spot. Folklore surrounding the Ring has gi\'en the area added mystery. Legend has it that if a man runs around the ring seven limes without stopping on a moonless night the De\ il v\ ill a]jpear and offer him a bov\ l of porridge. Some say that if he acce]3ts, the De\ il will take his soul in payment; others say he will be granted a wish. Further tales claim Caesar and his armies can be raised bv counting the trees of the Ring though

folklore also suggests they are uncountable. Fairies ha\'e been sighted dancing around the Ring on Midsummer Eve. It is a local custom to watch the sunrise on Ma)-morning at the toj) of the hill and the Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men still obser \e that tradition by dancing there at dawn. Today Chanctonbury Ring is barely recognisable after the devastating Great Storm of 1987. Before new trees were planted an excav ation of the area rexealed that an early Iron Age hill fort and a Roman temple had also occupied the site.

Hartnell's painting shows several striking similarities to a painting by Henry Nelson O'Neil (181 7-80). O'Neil's work called A Picnic was painted in 1857 and is similarly lavish with lobster, pies and game being served and a servant in attendance.

bottles'. The 'over-dressed' remark is particularly amusing as Tissot's painting was in fact a parody of the most famous ]5ainting of a picnic - Edouard Manet's Dejeuner sur I'herbe (1863), which is in the collection of the Musee d'Orsav.

'Just tlie place to bury a crock of gold [...] I should like to bury something precious in every place that I've been happy and then, when I 'm old and ugly and miserable, I could coine back and dig it up and remember '

Various motifs that appeared in the Hartnell painting are repeated here: a fortune teller reading the palm of a lady in the shadows on the right; the courting couple and again, the picnickers seem disinterested in food, apart from the man in the foreground who is c a n i n g a bird. As in the painting by Hartnell, only one figure engages with the viewer, the others being engrossed in each other or minor tasks. Again it is a young gid, though in the O'Neil she is the central figure and addresses the viewer seemingly in a trance. The O'Neil was offered by Sotheby's in 1997 and fetched 194,000, making it the most expensive painting to be sold at Sotheby's South. It was sold by the same Kent family which consigned the Hartnell painting.

The fun and the romance of the picnic made it a popular subject with other notable Victorian artists, including Sir Francis Grant, Miss Kate Greenaway, Arthur Hughes, Henry John Yeend King, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, Samuel Palmer, Valentine Cameron Prinsep, Frederick Sandys and

Joseph Mallord William Turner. Fairy painters, including Charles Altamont Doyle and John Anster Fitzgerald, often painted fairy picnics. The picnic was also painted by a host of nineteenth century European and American painters. A very different painting of a picnic produced during the Victorian period was Holyday {circa 1876) byjaccjues Joseph Tissot, which is in Tate Britain's collection. Again the picnic is used to show Victorian leisured society but in a very different way to Hartnell's simple depiction of a country scene. John Ruskin criticised 'Fissot for his 'mere coloured photographs of vulgar society' and when Holyday was shown at the Cirosvenor (iallery in 1878 Oscar Wilde condemned the, 'over-dressed, common-looking people and ugly, painfully accurate representation of soda water

The interest in and status of the picnic in the nineteenth century also pro\'ided some of the most memorable moments in the literature of the period. The picnic on Box Hill in Jane Austen's Emma, published in 1816, is the setting for one of the most dramatic scenes in Austen's work. Charles Dickens' characters were keen picnickers and Thomas Hardy wrote of picnics past in his wistful poem. Where the Picnic Was. One of the most famous picnics of all time took place on 4th July, 1862 when Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and his friend Robinson Duckworth took the Dean of Christ Church's daughters (Alice, Edith and Ina Liddell) on an outing:

'Duckworth and I made an expedition up the river to Godstow with the three Liddells; we had tea on the bank there, and did not reach Christ Church again til quarter past eight... O n which occasion, I told them the fairy-tale of .Mice's Adventures Under Ground.. . '

The children adored the story and Alice asked Dodgson to write it down for her. In 1865 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published under Dodgson's pen name, Lewis Carroll, and it became one of the most popular children's books ever written. The twentieth century saw Mole and Rattie picnicking on the riverbank in Wind in the Willows on a feast of

'coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkinss aladfrench-rollscrcsssandwichespo ttedmeatgingerbeerlemonadesodawater. ' It also saw the writing of the wideK' lo\'ed song, The Teddy Bear's Picnic {\9'i2) and Brideshead Revisited (1945) where Sebastian Flyte and Charles Ryder laze under elm trees, eating strawberries, drinking wine and smoking Turkish cigarettes. Sebastian declares the picnic spot:

It is perhaps this sentiment that goes some way to explain the enduring popularity of picnicking and the attraction of Nathaniel Hartnell's painting. Hartnell painted a delightful snapshot of Victorian picnickers; providing contemporary viewers with information about the fashions and social conventions of the era. The picture's appeal owes much to Hartnell's talent as a painter, coupled with a subject matter that evokes fond memories of sunny days, delicious food and time spent with family and friends.

Henry Nehson O 'Nei l (1817-80), A Picnic, Clmstie's Images, Ijondon, UK/Br idgeman Art library.

Jaf |ues J()sc])h Tissot, Hulyday, Tatr Britain.

lie fjrc grateful to Suzziine Bailey for her research and

compitation of this entry.

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ARTHUR MONTAGUE (fl. 1870-1895)

The interior of the Studio of Arthur Jose de Souza Loureiro, Melbourne

Signed and dated lower right 1892

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 76.5 x 107cm / 30'A x 42'/8 in

Framed: 106.8 x 137.1cm / 42 x 54 in

PROVENANC K:

Acquired in Au.stralia by the last owner

in 1978

This is an exceptionally rare view of the

interior of an artist's house in Austral ia at

the t ime of the Aesthetic Movement . Arthur

Montague lived next door to Arthur Jose de

Souza Loureiro in the late 1880s, and the

])re.sent picture was executed as a memento

of their friendshi|5. A ])laque on the original

gesso frame identified the subject matter.

.•\rthur Jose de Souza Loureiro was iiorn in

Oporto, Portugal, in 1853, but emigrated to

Melbourne, Austral ia in 1884, prom]jted

by his marr i age to a Tasmanian . He had

experienced the revolutionary art that was

sweeping Paris and exhibited at the Paris

Salon. He was taught at the Academic

des Beaux-Arts and won the 1879 Prix

de Rome.

Loureiro was discovered paint ing in Fitzroy

( J a rdens by Louis Buvelot and J a m e s Smith,

who considered his Iree ptein-air style

infinitely preferable to the stale Victorianism

uh ich was the ])re\alent taste at the Victoria

Academy of Art. He was a founder member

of the Australian Artists Association with

Conder, Roberts and Streeton who

disseminated the new ideas in art, leading

to an indigenous .Australian plein-air school

based on impressionist techniciue. Loureiro

e\entually left .Melbourne in 1914.

It is \ery rare to ha\e a \ iew of the interior

of an artist's house at this date, and the

pre.sent painting shows to perfection the

Aesthetic Interior, with its highly fashionable

taste for J apanese works of art and a tnore

sparing use of decoration and furniture. As

such, it is an in\ aluable historical document

in the development of style and taste in late

nineteenth centurv Austral ia.

79

ALFRED BROGUE (1870-1955)

Ixidy in an interior seated at a piano

Signed and dated 1911 lower left Oil on canvas Unframcd: 24V, x 19'/, in / 63 x 49 cm Framed: SO'A x 2574 in / 77 x 64.2 cm

i\lfred Brogue had a classical education at the Academy of" Arts in Copenhagen and won various awards in 1900, 1901 and 1903. He exhibited at the Chariottenberg, the Danish equi\alent of the Royal Academy, from 1892 until 1911. He tra\ellcd widely throughout Europe, visiting Germany, France, Italy and S])ain.

Brogue is known for iiis landscapes and for his idealised interiors of sun-filled rooms, after Holsoe. His paintings were widely reproduced, especially as postcards. In 1906 he married Yrsa Schou, the daughter of Danish painter Peter Schou. During his life he was appointed director of a school to teach drawing to women without financial means.

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STANHOPE ALEXANDER FORBES RA

(1857-1947)

The white horse Signed and dated 1917 lower left

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 24 x 20 in / 51 x 61 cm

Framed: 28% x in / 73 x 62.5 cm

Stanhope Forbes was a leader in the

so-called 'Newlyn Group" foiinded in the

early 1880"s. Born in Dublin, Forbes learnt

to draw under Sparkes at Dulwich College.

Sparkes was an excellent teacher, training

his pupils to work from models and casts

rather than the traditional method of

copying other works of art. Such good

l^ractice was later to ser\e Forbes well.

In 1880, Forbes moved to Paris where he

studied under Leon Bonnet. Whilst in

France he took several trips to Brittany

during the early 1880's, where he first

experienced painting outdoors with both its

pleasures and technical difficulties. Forbes

greatly valued this st)le of painting en plein

air for which his work in Newlyn was to be

much appreciated. He remarked that 'it

needed more than an occasional visit to the

country to get to the heart of its mysteries.'

Newlyn is a small fishing village on the

Cornish peninsula, about a mile west of

Penzance. Forbes found his way there in

early 1884, and joined a number of other

artists already settled there as part of the

'Newlyn (Jrou])'. There were a number of

contributing factors that led to the creation

of the grou]) - the urge among artists of the

time to reject classical and Pre-Ra])haelite

influences in favour of innovative French

styles of |)ainting, as well as the need for

artistic c()ni|)anionship, and the desire to li\e

as close as jjossible to their subject matter.

Newlyn v\as not alone in witnessing the

formation of a colony of artists, bent on

rejecting the rules of conventional academic

painting, as similar groups settled in rural

areas across Furope, such as the French

Barbizon and the Dutch Hague schools.

Closer to home, a further group established

itself in Glasgow, and just a few miles from

Newlyn itself, St. Ives saw the creation of its

own artists colony.

The basic ethic of the group was a plain

one. Reacting against the growing

industrialisation of the country, the Newlyn

Ciroup, as its contem]5oraries, was dri\en by

a nostalgia for the ways and traditions of

what was a fast disa]j]5earing rural life,

which gradually became more and more

idealised. As mentioned earlier, the group

were much influenced by contemporary

French painting, but this was in diluted

form, via the likes of Jules Bastien Lepage

(1848-84) rather than the Impressionists

themselves. The grou]5's notion of living

amongst their stibjects and devotion to

realism can be regarded as a direct result of

the influence of Lepage, and his work no

doubt served as the stylistic bridge between

their traditional education and the shock of

the new, as represented by Impressionism.

Forbes may not have been a founding

member of the Newlyn Group, but the

consistenth' high quality and success of his

work led to his becoming its figurehead,

both amongst its members and the outside

world. The success of works such as A Fish

sale on a Cornish Beach of 1885, led to the

development of the public image of the

group, it being officially recognized by the

foundation of the Passmore I'xlvvards gallery

in 1895. 'Fhrough the foundation of his

school of painting in 1899, Forbes was

central to the development of a new

generation of Newlyn artists, incltiding

F.rnest Proctor and Dod Shaw. lb these he

was known affectionately as 'the professor'

and his position as an influential artist and

tutor in Newlyn continued well into the

twentieth centurv.

In 1910 Forbes was elected a full Royal

Academician, an event that took place at

a time when his work was becoming

increasingly impressionistic. Howe\er the

subsequent years would prove hard for the

painter. In 1912 he suffered the loss of his

wife, fellow Newlyn Elizabeth /\rmstrong,

and he would later lose his only son. Alec, in

the ( ireat War. The potential horrors of the

newly itidustrialised world, that Forbes and

the Newlyn's had attempted to escape, thus

forced their way into the artist's reality.

'Fhough his work became less consistent

during this period, Forbes continued to

produce some fine examples, the style of

which hark back to the rural idealism of his

earlier Newlyn works, such as The While

Horse o( 1917. While his style here is looser

and more confident than in earlier works,

the subject, a rural scene painted from life,

as well as his keen attention to the depiction

of light and shade and successful tonal

harmonies, remain absolutely typical of his

earlier stvle.

Slanliopc Alc.sanclcr liirlx-s (18.T7-1947), 7/le Drinking J'lace. Okll iani .Art (iallt-r)-. I.aiuashiic, I R . Courtesy f)f" tlic artist's estate/liritlgrmati .Art l.ihraiy

82

W .

[^••y- J.--"

CASPAR RITTER (1861-1923)

Portrait of an elegant lady

Signed upper right Oil on cam as Unframed: 36'A x 28'A in / 93 x 73 cm Framed: 43'A x 36 in / 110.5 x 91.5 cm

This charming portrait is a stylish re|3resentation de]5icting the elegance of the 1920's. Reminiscent of artists such as Boidini, Tissot and Helleu, it captures a feeling that all these artists so capably recorded on canvas. Ritter is somewhat dilferent in that he was of German origin and appears not to ha \e been part of a particular artistic group within his home country. He was undoubtedly aware of the other artists working in France, Italy and England, and although not documented it is possible that he was living and working in France at the time this was executed.

As so often, little is known of this highly talented artist's life and work, but with the renewed interest in paintings of this period it is probable that works from his studio will emerge in the near future. The subject matter is as much of a mystery as the artists' life, whether she is visiting a friend or preparing to open the door, she is shown in a continental hotel setting. The elegance of her attire would suggest she is meeting somebody special.

85

THOMAS ROBERTSON (1819-1873)

The SS South Australian

Signed Oil on cam-as U n f r a m e d : 29'A x 48V4 in / 75 x 123.8cm Framed: 38 x 55'A in / 96.5 x 139.8 cm

T h o m a s Rober tson was born in England a n d was t ra ined as a master mar iner ; his interest in pa in t ing was for m a n y years onl\' that of a competen t amateur . After receiving his Master ' s ticket, he emigrated to Australia where he arrived in 1853. From 1860 he was the master of the clipper-shi]) Lightning on the Sydney - New Zea land run. Dur ing his t ime in harbour , he started to p roduce ship portrai ts of his own ship, such as the 1856 portrai t of the R c d j a c k e t ship Lightning that is in the collection of the Aust rahan Nat ional Mar i t ime M u s e u m , and those of o ther ships.

The present pa in t ing shows the artist at his most ambit ious. It depicts a ship of great historic impor tance in Australian mar i t ime history. T h e South Australian was the first s teamship commissioned by the Adelaide Steamship C o m p a n y Ltd, and was for years their flagship.

T h e Adelaide Steamship C o m p a n y was fo rmed in Sep tember 1875 in Adelaide, South Australia, and incorpora ted on 8th October , 1875.

87

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