This is a large fine 19th century Welsh landscape oil on canvas depicting cattle and men with horses working in the fields at the foot of mountainous peaks by the important Victorian landscape painter Sidney Richard Percy (1822-1886). ‘Summer in Snowdonia’ is signed by the artist and hangs in a very beautiful Louis XVI style swept giltwood frame.
Sidney Richard Percy was the fifth son of the celebrated English landscape painter Edward Williams (1781-1855), and a relative and pupil of the eminent early 19th century English painters James Ward and George Morland. The name Williams is one of the most famous in British art history, and S.R. Percy was perhaps its most gifted painter. Just as his brothers Henry John Boddington (1811-1865) and Arthur Gilbert (1819-1895) had done, Sidney Williams changed his name in order to distinguish himself from the other members of the Williams family.
Between 1842 and 1886 Percy exhibited at all the leading Victorian art venues showing 76 paintings at the Royal Academy, 48 at the British Institution, and 73 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery. Today, landscapes by S.R. Percy are in great demand and sell at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and through many of the world’s most eminent dealers.
Dimensions: (framed) 96cm x 68cm (37¾” x 26¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 77cm x 49cm (30¼” x 19¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Early-20th century Louis XVI giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Professionally lined and restored circa 1950. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine mid-19th century Pre-Raphaelite oil on canvas depicting a ‘Mother and Child with Poppy’ by the eminent Victorian painter Frederick Richard Pickersgill RA (1820-1900). The painting is signed by the artist with his monogram and dated 1862. It is sold here in its superb original fine Victorian Louis XIV gilt frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Frederick Richard Pickersgill studied under his uncle, the eminent Royal Academician William Frederick Witherington (1785-1865) before entering the Royal Academy Schools in 1840. A fellow student of Millais, Rosetti and Holman Hunt, Frederick Pickersgill’s technique and great attention to detail was heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. He found great success as a painter of finely executed historical and literary subjects, and exhibited 50 paintings at the Royal Academy between 1839 and 1875. Elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1847, Frederick Richard Pickersgill became a full Royal Academician ten years later.
Dimensions: (framed) 93cm x 84cm (36½” x 33”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 62cm x 51cm (24½” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine Victorian Louis XIV style gilt frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a young mother and three children ‘Gathering Kindling’ for firewood in a coastal woodland by the distinguished English landscape painter Edward Henry Holder (1847-1922). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1882. It is sold here in its original gilded Victorian frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Edward Henry Holder was a successful Victorian painter of English and Welsh landscapes. Between 1864 and 1917 he exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the Royal Society of British Artists where 33 paintings were shown between 1866 and 1894.
Dimensions: (framed) 103cm x 78cm (40½” x 30½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gilded Victorian swept frame.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century English summer landscape oil painting depicting two figures enjoying ‘Summer by the Stream’ by the celebrated Royal Academy artist, James Edwin Meadows (1828-1888). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1879. It is sold in a superb quality newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
The most accomplished and successful painter of the famous Meadows family of Victorian artists, James Edwin Meadows exhibited 26 works at the Royal Academy, 17 at the British Institution, and 55 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery, as well as at the prestigious Walker Art in Liverpool, Manchester City Art Gallery, and the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin.
Dimensions: (framed) 95cm x 70cm (37½” x 27½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century summer landscape oil on canvas depicting two figures in a punt ‘On the Thames near Goring’ by the eminent Royal Academy artist Henry John Kinnaird (1862-1929). The painting is signed by the artist and presented in a fine quality newly commissioned Baroque style giltwood swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Henry John Kinnaird was an eminent and successful painter of English rural landscapes whom became most celebrated for his rich harvest scenes depicting the countryside around Surrey and Sussex. Between 1880 and 1891 Kinnaird exhibited 7 paintings at the Royal Academy, a further 7 times with the Royal Society of British Artists, and at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 90cm x 64cm (35½” x 25¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine quality Baroque style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are made to order for us by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine mid-19th century oil on canvas depicting a thoroughbred horse named ‘Cardinal’ by the eminent Victorian artist John Paul (1804–1887). The painting hangs in a fine water gilded English frame and is one of a pair we are currently selling. An inscription verso suggests that Cardinal belonged to Cosmo Little, probably Major Cosmo Little of the Queen’s 6th lancers, a well-known Victorian horseman and polo player.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
John Paul was known for architectural views of London and for his fine equine portraits, some of which were painted with John Frederick Herring Snr (1795-1865). Paintings by John Paul are in the collections of The Guildhall Art Gallery in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 81cm x 68cm (32” x 26¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 64cm x 51cm (25¼” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine water gilded English frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine mid-19th century oil on canvas depicting a thoroughbred horse named ‘The Collier’ by the eminent Victorian artist John Paul (1804–1887). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1859. It hangs in a newly commissioned fine gold metal leaf English frame, and is one of a pair we are currently selling.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
John Paul was known for architectural views of London and for his fine equine portraits, some of which were painted with John Frederick Herring Snr (1795-1865). Paintings by John Paul are in the collections of The Guildhall Art Gallery in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 75cm x 63cm (29½” x 24¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 64cm x 51cm (25¼” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf English frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil painting depicting a nude female warrior with shield and spear draped in a diaphanous fabric by the eminent German painter Leopold Schmutzler (1864-1940). ‘The Valkyre’ is signed by the artist and presented in a superb quality bespoke gold metal leaf salon frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been cleaned and re-varnished.
One of Europe’s foremost portraitist of the late 29th and early 20th century, Leopold Schmutzler became famous for his elegant Salon paintings of beautiful, scantily-dressed young women. From 1880 he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and thence in Munich where he received commissions from the Bavarian royal family.
Dimensions: (framed) 123cm x 95cm (48½” x 37½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 106cm x 78cm (41¾” x 30¾”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private German collection.
Presentation: Newly commissioned fine quality gold metal leaf salon frame. All of the new frames we commission are made to order for us by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a grateful young mother making ‘A Thank Offering’ before a church altar by the prominent Victorian subject painter Francis William Warwick Topham (1834-1924). The painting is signed and dated by the artist, and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1884. The ‘thank offering’ of the title refers to the mother’s grateful thanks for the safe delivery or recovery from illness of her baby who plays nearby. The painting is presented in a newly commissioned fine quality gold metal leaf swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
After studying under his father, the eminent 19th watercolourist Francis W. Topham (1808-1877, Francis William Warwick Topham joined the Royal Academy Schools and the workshop of Charles Gleyre (1808-1874) in Paris. Topham spent much of his life in Italy and became famous for his genre scenes of life in Rome and Capri.
Between 1860 and 1904 Topham exhibited 75 paintings at the Royal Academy – one of those being the painting sold here. In addition, he showed at the British Institution, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Grosvenor Gallery, the Walker Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, the Royal Hibernian Academy, and the Royal Institute of Painters in Oil amongst many others.
Dimensions: (framed) 70cm x 55cm (27½” x 21½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 51cm x 36cm (20” x 14”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine quality gold metal leaf swept frame.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Some slight craquelure commensurate with age. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a magnificent view of ‘Loch Lomond’ in the Highlands of Scotland by the renowned Victorian landscape painter Clarence Henry Roe (1850-1909). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1891, and sold here in a newly commissioned fine quality gold metal leaf swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Clarence Roe was the son of the celebrated artist Robert Henry Roe (1822-1905) and his two brothers Colin Graeme Roe and Robert Ernest Roe were also successful late 19th century artists. Clarence Henry Roe was a prolific painter of Scottish Highland loch scenes as well as English country landscapes.
Dimensions: (framed) 145cm x 95cm (57” x 37½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 127cm x 76cm (50” x 30”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf Baroque style swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 17th century Dutch Old Master oil painting depicting the Holy Family with the infant Christ being presented with a goldfinch (foreshadowing the crucifixion) by St John from the studio of Sir Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640; For the past 250 years Rubens himself has been identified as having painted the figure of Christ. The painting is sold with ownership provenance dating back to the 1740s, and with its original frame. It currently hangs in a fine quality newly commissioned gold metal leaf swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been cleaned and re-varnished.
In 1914 the painting was sold as part of an important collection of Old Master paintings (see detailed provenance below) with the following catalogue listing:
“Lot 26. Studio of Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640.
The head type of the Virgin Mary as well as the form of the infant Jesus show the characteristics of Rubens so clearly that the painting could have originated only in the studio of the Flemish Master. Tradition has it that the Master himself painted the Jesus child, which cannot easily be dismissed”.
The introduction to the 1914 auction catalogue reads:
“The collection is principally comprised of Old Dutch Masters and was brought together by Professor Causid-Bruck in the 1740’s when he visited the Netherlands with three Hessian princes (among them the future Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel). The paintings in the collection were passed down through the family eventually coming into the possession of the current owner Mr. Bruck in 1850. As the paintings were collected in their country of origin it was possible for Professor Causid to obtain finer quality works than was otherwise possible. These are paintings that are suitable for a museum so will naturally be an important addition to any private collection”.
Dimensions: (framed) 83cm x 71cm (32½” x 28”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 64cm x 53cm (25” x 21”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Circa 1740: Purchased in the Netherlands by the eminent German art collector Professor Causid-Brück.
1860: Inherited by his descendent Herr Bruck of Kassel.
1914: Sold Old Master Paintings collection of Professor Causid-Brück. February 10th 1914, Frankfurt. Thence in private European collection.
Presentation: Fine quality newly commissioned gold metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are made to order for us by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Lined circa 1900. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting sheep grazing in open fields before ‘A Berkshire Homestead’ in springtime by the eminent Victorian landscape painter Alfred de Bréanski Snr. (1852-1928). The painting is signed by the artist and sold in a good quality 20th century Baroque swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been cleaned and re-varnished.
A very successful British landscape painter, Alfred de Bréanski Senior became famous for his dramatic scenes of the Scottish Highlands and romantic views of the Thames and Home Counties, especially Berkshire. Between 1869 and 1915 Alfred de Bréanski exhibited 46 oils at the Royal Academy and a great many more at the Grosvenor Gallery and the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Royal Society of British Artists.
As seen in the large painting being sold here; De Bréanski’s landscapes are characterised by a golden glowing light, and frequently feature water with cattle or sheep on grassy banks and figures in the distance.
Dimensions: (framed) 119cm x 78cm (46¾” x 30¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 102cm x 61cm (40” x 24”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Sold at Phillips London 1990, with Hibbert Bros. of Sheffield, and thence in private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century Baroque style swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Ready to hang. Professionally cleaned and lined circa 1990.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting the meeting of a young shepherdess and a cattle herder before a breath-taking Scottish Highland landscape in ‘Glen Coe, Argyllshire’ by the important British painter Sidney Richard Percy (1822-1886). This magnificent Victorian oil painting is signed by the artist and dated 1878. It hangs in a in a newly commissioned fine quality English Baroque frame decorated in gold metal leaf.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Sidney Richard Percy was the fifth son of the celebrated English landscape painter Edward Williams (1781-1855), one of the most famous families in British art history. In my opinion Sidney Richard Percy was its most gifted painter. Just as his brothers Henry John Boddington (1811-1865) and Arthur Gilbert (1819-1895) had done, Sidney Williams changed his name in order to distinguish himself from the other members of the Williams family.
Between 1842 and 1886 Percy exhibited at all the leading Victorian art venues showing 76 paintings at the Royal Academy, 48 at the British Institution, and 73 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 97cm x 72cm (38” x 28”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Newly commissioned fine quality English Baroque frame in gold metal leaf.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large 19th century river landscape oil on canvas depicting a fly fisherman and a small group of cattle watering upon ‘The Tees near Greta Bridge’ in Yorkshire by the eminent Victorian landscape artist Charles Smith (1843-1917). The painting is signed by the artist, dated 1871 and further inscribed verso with Smith’s address and the original sale price of £350 ($37,000 in today’s money). It is sold here in a good quality vintage Louis XV style swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been cleaned and re-varnished.
Between 1857 and 1908 Charles Smith exhibited more than 50 landscapes at the Royal Academy, 30 paintings at the British Institution and well over 100 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 99cm x 76cm (39” x 30”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 87cm x 64cm (34¼” x 25¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century Louis XV style swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
A large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting ‘The Heron Pool’ on the River Lledr in North Wales by the eminent Victorian artist Robert Gallon (1845-1925). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1874. It hangs in a superb quality newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf swept frame. Alongside the Fairy Glen, the Heron Pool was one of the favourite spots in North Wales for many of the most important late Victorian landscape artists.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
One of the finest late Victorian landscape painters, Robert Gallon’s skill and attention to detail is comparable to that of his contemporary Benjamin Williams Leader. Between 1868 to 1903 Robert Gallon exhibited 32 works at The Royal Academy and 27 at the British Institution in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 120cm x 78cm (47¼” x 30¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 103cm x 61cm (40½” x 24”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Lined circa 1980. Ready to hang.
A fine 19th century portrait oil on canvas depicting a distinguished Scottish Highland clansman in a Tam-o-Shanter and the Shepherd’s Plaid by the celebrated Royal Academy painter Robert Alexander Hillingford (1828-1904). The painting is signed by the artist and sold in its original Victorian carved giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Robert Alexander Hillingford was a highly successful Victorian painter of historical and literary scenes. He is most famous for his highly detailed paintings of the Napoleonic Wars as well as Shakespearian subjects. Between 1864 and 1902 Hillingford exhibited 29 works at the Royal Academy, and numerous others the British Institution, and the Royal Society of British Artists in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 64cm x 54cm (25¼” x 21¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 41cm x 31cm (16¼” x 12¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Original Victorian giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a typically beautiful scene over ‘The Grand Canal, Venice’ towards the Ducal Palace, St. Mark’s Square and the Santa Maria della Salute by the eminent Victorian landscape artist Alfred Pollentine (1836-1890). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1871. This is without question the finest work by Pollentine I have ever seen.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Alfred Pollentine has become famous for his striking landscapes of 19th century Venice. Between 1861 and 1880 Pollentine exhibited many works at both the British Institute and the Royal Society of British Artists in London though his work was in such high demand he never replied upon exhibition sales to make a living.
Dimensions: (framed) 94cm x 64cm (37” x 25”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 81cm x 51cm (32” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine new Louis XV style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang. We do not sell dirty, damaged or unframed works of art.
Conservation: The oil paintings well sell are where necessary cleaned and restored by John Malcolm of Fine Art Restorations (est.1974), a third-generation picture restorer with 40 years’ experience.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a flock of sheep grazing in a meadow in ‘Summertime’ by the Royal Academy artist Joseph Dixon Clark Snr. (1849-1944). This late Victorian oil painting is signed by the artist and hangs in a good quality Louis XIV style swept frame. This is without question the finest work by this artist I have seen.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned, lined, and re-varnished.
A landscape painter specialising in rural English scenes featuring cattle and sheep, Joseph Dixon Clark – known simply as Dixon Clark – exhibited five oils at the Royal Academy in London between 1890 and 1902.
Dimensions: (framed) 119cm x 87cm (46¾” x 34¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 91cm x 61cm (36” x 24”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Good quality Louis XIV style swept frame
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine mid-19th century oil on canvas full length portrait of ‘The Daughters of Robert Napier’ (the famous Victorian engineer) gathered around a piano in an elegant Baronial interior by the eminent Scottish painter Sir Daniel Macnee PRSA (1806-1882). The painting is inscribed extensively on the stretcher verso with details of the artist and sitters.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Sir Daniel Macnee was a leading Scottish portrait painter of the mid-19th century. Macnee was a pupil of the famous Scottish landscape painter John Knox, alongside Horatio McCulloch and William Leitch. In 1829 he was admitted to the Royal Scottish Academy and established a studio in Glasgow where he painted portraits of wealthy merchants, pioneering industrialists, aristocrats and even Queen Victoria. In 1876 he was elected President of the Royal Scottish Academy and knighted by Queen Victoria.
Dimensions: (framed) 144cm x 115cm (56½” x 45¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 128cm x 102cm (50¼” x 40”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine new Louis XV style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang. We do not sell dirty, damaged or unframed works of art.
Conservation: The oil paintings well sell are where necessary cleaned and restored by John Malcolm of Fine Art Restorations (est.1974), a third-generation picture restorer with 40 years’ experience.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a magnificent black Highland longhorn bull by the distinguished Scottish painter Joseph Denovan Adam RSA RSW (1841-1896). ‘Laird of the Highlands’ is signed by the artist and dated 1885.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Between 1859 and 1892 Joseph Denovan exhibited 25 oils at the Royal Academy in London, as well as many more at the British Institution, the Royal Society of British Artists and the Paris Salon.
The son of the Scottish landscape painter Joseph Adam, Joseph Denovan Adam would go on to eclipse the achievements of his father becoming late Victorian Britain’s most celebrated painter of Highland cattle. Where others painters of the Highlands such as Horatio McCulloch were content to dot their landscapes with a few cattle Adam gave them pride of place.
Adam was a stickler for painting from nature, and had a large studio – part wooden hut, part glass conservatory – built on his house to serve as an all-weather observation base. He called it his “cattle atelier”, and here he established a school of animal painting where he kept many live animals for his students to draw.
Dimensions: (framed) 133cm x 89cm (52¼” x 35”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 107cm x 67cm (42” x 26¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine 20th century Louis XV giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine large mid-19th century oil on canvas depicting ‘Rosalind and Celia’ in the Forest of Arden from Act 3, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’ by the famous English Victorian artist Henry Nelson O’Neil ARA (1817-1880). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1856. It was in this year that the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London where O’Neil exhibited a grand total 94 paintings between 1838 and 1879.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished.
Henry O’Neil was a founder member of The Clique, one of the most important artist groups of the 19th century, alongside Richard Dadd, William Powell Frith, John Phillip, Edward Matthew Ward, Augustus Egg, and Alfred Elmore.
In the 1850’s O’Neil was a famously virulent critics of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood though ironically his own luminous technique and fastidious attention to detail compares to anything produced by Millais, Rosetti, and Holman Hunt.
Henry Nelson O’Neil also exhibited 34 painting at the British Institution and 14 with the Royal Society of British Artists.
Dimensions: (framed) 109cm x 88cm (43” x 34¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 92cm x 71cm (36¼” x 28”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Bespoke Baroque style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine floral still life oil painting of ‘Chrysanthemums’ in a blue and white Chinese bowl by the famous British artist Cecil Kennedy (1905-1997). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1929 and is as striking a work by this eminent painter as I have ever seen.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age.
Cecil Kennedy was one of the foremost flower painters of the 20th century, blending the technical accuracy of a botanist with a modern use of colour and atmospheric lighting. Kennedy exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, the Paris Salon, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy.
He achieved not only critical acclaim but was awarded a silver medal in 1956 and a gold medal in 1970 at the Paris Salon. Kennedy’s many private patrons included Queen Mary, the Duke of Windsor and the Astor family.
Dimensions: (framed) 75cm x 65cm (29½” x 25½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 62cm x 51cm (24½” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine new Louis XV style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas capturing a magnificent chestnut hunter outside a country house stable by the famous English animal artist James Clark (1812-1884). The painting is signed by the artist and hangs in its original neoclassical Victorian gilt frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age.
From the well-known Clark family of English painters, James Clark was born in Chelsea in West London and travelled widely across Britain painting commissioned portraits of prized livestock and thoroughbred horses. Of his many children, 4 of his sons – Samuel, Albert, Octavius Thomas, and James Albert – all went on to become successful Victorian painters, predominantly of animals and landscapes. James and his youngest son James Albert would frequently collaborate on works together – as with the painting being sold here – and would consequently sign their pictures ‘James Clark and Son’.
Dimensions: (framed) 79cm x 67cm (31” x 26”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 61cm x 49cm (24” x 19”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Good quality 19th century neoclassical giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Lined circa 2000. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas of ‘A Young Beauty’ draped in white chiffon and a red shawl by the eminent French portrait painter Henri Rondel (1857-1919). This Belle Époque oil painting is signed by the artist is presented in a beautiful Louis XV style swept giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having just been professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished.
Henri Rondel studied under Jean-Léon Gérome and became famous for his sensual portraits of beautiful young fin de siècle Parisienne. Rondel exhibited at the Salon in Paris and at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. In 1897 he was made a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur.
Dimensions: (framed) 92cm x 80cm (36” x 31½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 72cm x 60cm (28” x 23½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine new Louis XV style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s finest period frame makers.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine large 19th century English summer landscape oil on canvas depicting cattle watering on a Devonshire river by the eminent Victorian painter William Williams of Plymouth (1808-1895). ‘On the Teign, Devon’ is signed by the artist, and sold in a superb quality bespoke gold metal leaf frame.
Beginning in 1846, Williams exhibited 34 paintings at the Royal Academy, 40 at the British Institution and 55 at the Royal Society of British Artists at Suffolk Street.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
William Williams chose not to live and work in London as was then the custom amongst prominent painters, instead spending most of his working life in Devonshire. Although he painted some outstanding maritime scenes, Williams is most famous as a landscape artist and primarily for capturing the countryside of the South West of England.
Dimensions: (framed) 97cm x 70cm (38” x 27½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a young girl alone in a dilapidated interior cradling an infant by the eminent Victorian Royal Academician Frank Holl R.A. (1845-1888), one of the most important British artists in history. ‘Little Mother’ is signed by the artist and dated 1880. It is sold in a fine quality newly commissioned bespoke gilt metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Frank Holl was 15 when he became a student at the Royal Academy Schools. Whilst still a pupil he began producing the kind of provocative social realism paintings which were to become his trademark. Between 1864 and his premature death in 1888, Holl exhibited 87 paintings at the Royal Academy in London and was elected a Royal Academician in 1883.
Vincent van Gogh – today arguably the most famous painter in the world – considered Frank Holl to be a Master, and whilst living in London fastidiously cut out and collected Holl’s engravings published in The Graphic. Everyone even remotely interested in art should take some time to read the fascinating letters of Van Gogh (sent to his brother Theo and friend Anthon van Rappard). One name mentioned reverentially again and again is that of Frank Holl.
Dimensions: (framed) 74cm x 64m (29” x 25”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 56cm x 45cm (22” x 18”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting numerous figures and two dogs by a bridge over a stream on a summer afternoon by the eminent Victorian painter Benjamin Shipham (1805-1872). The painting is signed by the artist verso and hangs in a very good quality Louis XV giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Benjamin Shipham was a successful painter of English and Welsh landscapes renowned for his great attention to detail. Between 1852 and 1872 he exhibited 9 paintings at the Royal Academy, 11 at the British Institution, and 15 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 49cm x 42cm (19¼” x 16½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 37cm x 30cm (14½” x 11¾”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Lined circa 1980. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a magnificent Highland stag by the distinguished Scottish painter Joseph Denovan Adam RSA RSW (1841-1896). ‘The Young Pretender’ is signed by the artist and dated 1877. It is sold in a superb quality, newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf frame. This is one of a pair – the other being of a Highland bull – that we are currently offering for sale.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Between 1859 and 1892 Joseph Denovan exhibited 25 oils at the Royal Academy in London, as well as many more at the British Institution, the Royal Society of British Artists and the Paris Salon.
The son of the Scottish landscape painter Joseph Adam, Joseph Denovan Adam would go on to eclipse the achievements of his father becoming one of late Victorian Britain’s most celebrated painters of Highland cattle. Adam was a stickler for painting from nature and had a large glass studio built onto his (large) house to serve as an all-weather observation base. He called it his “cattle atelier”, and here he established a school of animal painting where his students could paint cattle and deer etc. in their natural environment.
Dimensions: (framed) 169cm x 126cm (66½” x 49½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 152cm x 106cm (59¾” x 41¾”)
Medium: Oil on artists’ board.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil painting depicting the Emperor Napoleon entering a Spanish garrison during ‘An Incident in the Peninsular War’ circa 1809 by the celebrated Royal Academy painter Robert Alexander Hillingford (1828-1904). The painting is signed by the artist and sold in a superb quality newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf swept frame. It is testament to the enduring popularity of the painting that it is widely available today to buy as a print. The painting being sold here is, of course, the original oil painting by Hillingford.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Robert Alexander Hillingford was a highly successful Victorian painter of historical and literary scenes. He is most famous for his highly detailed paintings of the Napoleonic Wars as well as Shakespearean subjects. Between 1864 and 1902 Hillingford exhibited 29 works at the Royal Academy, and numerous others the British Institution, and the Royal Society of British Artists in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 94cm x 68cm (37” x 27”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Superb quality gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
A large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting an evening river sunset ‘On the Thames near Shillingford’ in Oxfordshire by the eminent Victorian artist Robert Gallon (1845-1925). The painting is signed by the artist and hangs in a superb quality newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf swept frame. There has been a bridge over the River Thames at Shillingford since the 14th century. It was reconstructed in stone in 1827 and still stands, unchanged, today.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
One of the finest late Victorian landscape painters, Robert Gallon’s skill and attention to detail is comparable to that of his contemporary Benjamin Williams Leader. Between 1868 to 1903 Robert Gallon exhibited 32 works at The Royal Academy and 27 at the British Institution in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 118cm x 77cm (46½” x 30¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 100cm x 58m (39½” x 22¾”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Lined circa 1980. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century landscape oil on canvas depicting a summer day ‘On the River Severn’ in the county of Worcestershire by the eminent Victorian painter David Bates (1841-1920). The painting is signed by the artist and sold in a superb quality newly commissioned, bespoke gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
From 1855 David Bates worked for Royal Worcester as a porcelain painter before becoming a professional landscape artist. By the 1880s he was one of the most popular and successful of the Birmingham School alongside Benjamin Williams Leader and Samuel Henry Baker, and his patrons included the president of the Royal Academy himself, Lord Leighton.
Bates exhibited many works at the Royal Academy, Grosvenor Gallery, Royal Society of British Artists, and the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. Today his work hangs in the collections of Liverpool Museum and Worcester City Art Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 81cm x 56cm (32” x 22”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 66½cm x 41cm (26¼” x 16”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private collection.
Presentation: Superb quality gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a huge fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting various young women ‘In the Harem’ of an Oriental palace by the eminent Austrian Orientalist painters Hans Makart (1840-1884) and Heinrich Schlimarski (1859-1913). The painting is signed by the artists and presented in a superb quality newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Hans Makart (1840-1884) was perhaps the most important Viennese academic history painter of the 19th century. Makart was a seminal influence on the artistic culture of Vienna in the final quarter of the century and a major inspiration to Gustav Klimt and what became known as the Vienna Succession, the European Art Nouveau movement.
From 1850 Makart studied at the Vienna Academy under Johann Fischbach and from 1861 with Karl Theodor von Piloty in Munich. Hans Makart’s painting of Romeo and Juliet was bought by the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I for the Vienna Museum, and by 1870 the artist was so successful that the phrase ‘Makartstil’ (Makart style) had become part of the language illustrating the extent of his influence and popularity. The current work was painted by Makart and his most gifted pupil Heinrich Schlimarski, a celebrated Austrian Orientalist painter of the Belle Epoque, circa 1880.
Dimensions: (framed) 195cm x 120cm (76¾” x 47¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 176cm x 101cm (69¼” x 39¾”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private collection.
Presentation: Superb quality gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil painting depicting the famous German actress Lili Marberg as a dryad draped in diaphanous fabrics by the eminent Bohemian painter Leopold Schmutzler (1864-1940). ‘The Wood Nymph’ is signed by the artist and presented in a fine quality giltwood salon frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
One of Europe’s foremost portraitist of the late 19th and early 20th century, Leopold Schmutzler became famous for his elegant salon paintings of beautiful, scantily-dressed young women. From 1880 he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, and thence in Munich where he received commissions from the Bavarian royal family.
Dimensions: (framed) 118cm x 92cm (46½” x 36¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 102cm x 76cm (40” x 30”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private collection.
Presentation: Superb quality gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
A large fine early 19th century oil on canvas depicting an expansive summer landscape ‘Above the River Thames near Windsor’ by the eminent Victorian painter Edward Henry Niemann (1842-1910). The painting is signed by the artist and sold in a superb quality, newly commissioned, bespoke gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Edward Henry Niemann was the son of the famous Anglo-German romantic artist Edmund John Niemann, and like his father painted extensive landscapes often featuring the River Thames or the iconic rivers and peaks of the Yorkshire Dales. Edward H. Niemann enjoyed significant success as a landscape painter throughout the final quarter of the 19th century and exhibited at the British Institution in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 94cm x 69cm (37” x 27”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
A very large fine 19th century painting depicting a group of noblemen appearing before king Edward VI, the young son of Henry VIII, and his court by the eminent Victorian painter Charles Cattermole RI (1834-1900). ‘Petitioning the Young King’ is signed by the artist and dated 1875. This important and very detailed gouache and watercolour would have been painted for exhibition and is the largest known work by Cattermole.
In addition to Edward VI, the painting depicts the Lord Protector of the Realm; Edward Seymour (symbolically leaning on the throne), together with Henry VIII’s widow Catherine Parr kneeling beside the young king, with the future queen Elizabeth I and archbishop Thomas Cranmer also in attendance.
As with all of the original antique paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age having just subject to complete professional examination and conservation. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Charles Cattermole was one of the most gifted and successful watercolour painters of historical subjects in 19th century Britain. From 1858 he exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists (to which he was elected Member in 1876), the New Watercolour Society (elected Member in 1870), the Royal Institute (elected Member in 1870), the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (elected Member in 1883), the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
Today, paintings by Charles Cattermole are held in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Sydney Art Gallery in Australia.
Dimensions: (framed) 146cm x 96cm (57½” x 37¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 129cm x 76cm (50¾” x 30”)
Medium: Gouache and watercolour.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine quality gold metal leaf frame.
Condition: Excellent. Ready to hang.
This is a very large 19th century oil on canvas depicting ‘The Adoration of the Magi’ following the birth of Christ in Bethlehem by the eminent German painter Carl Ehrenberg (1840-1914). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1887. It hangs in a superb quality, newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Carl Ehrenberg studied at the Royal Danish Art Academy in Copenhagen and in Dresden from 1862 with Julius Hübner (1806-1882). Ehrenberg became well known for his history paintings of Germanic mythology and religious subjects. He also painted famous portraits of Franz Liszt and the author Princess Feodora Holstein.
Dimensions: (framed) 123cm x 95cm (48¼” x 37¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 107cm x 80cm (42” x 31½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private European collection.
Presentation: Superb quality gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting cattle watering on the ‘The River Thames’ near Windsor by the eminent Victorian landscape painter Henry H. Parker (1858-1930). The painting is signed by the artist and sold in a high quality early 20th century swept giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Henry Hillier Parker studied at St. Martins School of Art and later at the Royal Academy schools in London. A contemporary of (and a very similar painter to) Benjamin Williams Leader, Parker specialised in pastoral landscapes of the River Thames and the Home Counties of England. Like Frank Holl, Sir Hubert Herkomer, and Sir Luke Fildes, Parker also worked as an illustrator for the Illustrated London News. Unusually for such a popular and successful artist, Henry Parker never exhibited his work in London but instead in the US and Canada, where his work continues to be tremendously popular to this day.
Dimensions: (framed) 94cm x 68cm (37” x 27”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a magnificent view of ‘Scafell Pike from Wastwater’ in the English Lake District by the renowned Victorian landscape painter Clarence Henry Roe (1850-1909). The painting is signed by the artist, and sold here in a newly commissioned fine quality gold metal leaf swept frame. Scafell Pike is England’s highest mountain.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Clarence Roe was the son of the popular artist Robert Henry Roe (1822-1905) and his two brothers Colin Graeme Roe and Robert Ernest Roe were also successful late 19th century artists. Clarence Henry Roe was a prolific painter of Scottish Highland loch scenes as well as English country landscapes.
Dimensions: (framed) 109cm x 79cm (43” x 31”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 92cm x 61cm (36¼” x 24”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine early 19th century Georgian oil on canvas depicting a young woman at the piano with a copy of the British national anthem ‘God Save the King’ on her lap. The young woman is Emma Gisborne Clementi the wife of the famous Italian composer Muzio Clementi. Clementi himself was painted by the English portraitist Thomas Hardy (1857-1804), and the portrait being sold here might well be by the same artist.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
The great rival of Mozart, Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) was one of the first exponents and popularisers of the piano, a new instrument in the late 18th century. After moving to London, he created his own publishing firm and also began manufacturing fine pianos. One of Clementi’s most famous works is his Symphony No. 3 in G major in which he used the theme of God Save the King. Eleven years later he married a third and final wife, the much younger Emma Gisborne who was 23 his junior.
Dimensions: (framed) 109cm x 91cm (43” x 36”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 92cm x 74cm (36” x 29”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine large 19th century oil on canvas depicting a double portrait of two young Belle Epoque beauties at a masked ball by the eminent Paris Salon painter Jean-François Portaels (1818-1895). ‘Masquerade’ is signed by the artist and hangs in a superb quality newly commissioned gold metal leaf frame. The painting is also sold with its original 19th century French frame. In 1979, the painting was part of the exhibition ‘From Navez to Devos’ featuring important Belgian art from 1787 to 1954.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
In 1841 Jean-François Portaels enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and became a pupil of the great French history painter Paul Delaroche (1797-1856). The following year Portaels won first prize in the Belgian Prix de Rome and would go on to become one of the most successful Belgian artists of the second half of the 19th century.
In addition to being a renowned painter of subject pictures and orientalist subjects, Portaels was in great demand as a portrait artist with wealthy French clients and members of the Belgian aristocracy. In 1851 he received the Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold and later admitted as a member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts. In 1865 had was appointed artistic advisor to King Leopold II and became director of the Academy of Fine Arts of Ghent and the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Today, his paintings are held in numerous important private collections and European museums.
Dimensions: (framed) 86cm x 69cm (33¾” x 27”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 68cm x 51cm (26¾ x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: 1979; shown in Brussels at the ‘From Navez to Devos’ exhibition. Private French collection.
Presentation: Fine neoclassical gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine late 18th century portrait oil painting of an aristocratic Georgian boy in red velvet coat with a very cheeky smile on his face attributed to the celebrated American portrait painter Gilbert Charles Stuart (1755-1828). The painting was sold by William Rodman, fine art dealers of Belfast circa 1850, thence in the private collection of the art dealer Lucy Failey during the 20th century, with Sotheby’s in 1993, auction labels to the stretcher verso.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Gilbert Stuart is widely considered one of America’s foremost portraitists. Stuart’s most famous work is his portrait of George Washington that has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for more than a century. Gilbert Stuart produced portraits of more than 1,000 people, including the first six US Presidents.
In 1775 Stuart left the US for Great Britain and lived and worked in London under the tutelage of Benjamin West (1738-1820), and within two years was exhibiting his own work at the Royal Academy. Between 1787 and 1793 he lived and worked Dublin, Ireland before returning to America.
Today, his work can be found in the collections of important galleries and museums throughout the United States and the United Kingdom; most notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 47cm x 41cm (18½” x 16”)
Dimensions: (painting only) 31cm x 27cm (12¼” x 10¾”)
Medium: Oil on mahogany panel.
Provenance: Circa 1850; with William Rodman, art dealers of Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1950’s; in the private collection Lucy Fairley, former Director of the Lucy Milton Gallery in London. 1993; with Sotheby’s.
Presentation: Original giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine mid-19th century oil on canvas depicting a family bringing in ‘The Harvest’ at sunset on a summer evening by the eminent Victorian landscape painter Henry Dawson (1811-1887). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1866. Between 1838 and 1875 Henry Dawson exhibited 28 paintings at the Royal Academy, 33 at British Institution, and 6 with the Royal Society of British Artists.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Apart from a few lessons with James Baker Pyne, Henry Dawson was an entirely self-taught artist and his breath-taking English landscapes show a pure gift for detail and originality. His canvas’ became brighter and more vivid as his confident mature style developed, and his Turneresque landscapes became much in demand amongst fellow artists and private collectors. Eventually word of his talent spread and his sale prices rose with that of his wider fame.
Today his work is held in the collections of the Walker Gallery in Liverpool and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Literature: ‘The Life of Henry Dawson, Landscape Painter’ (1891) by Alfred Dawson.
Dimensions: (framed) 100cm x 71cm (39¼” x 28”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 84cm x 56cm (33” x 22”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 19th century Louis XV design carved giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine mid-19th century oil on canvas depicting a semi-naked girl beside a woodland stream with a group of shocked onlookers in the background by the eminent French Romantic painter Auguste-Barthélemy Glaize 1807–1893. ‘Femme-au-Bain’ is signed by the artist and dated 1852. It is presented in a superb quality bespoke gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned, lined, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked, and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Glaize was one of the great French Romantic painters of the mid-19th century, most famous for his striking mythological, historical, and orientalist scenes often containing female nudes. His sensuous depictions of scantily clad young women also found their way into his Biblical paintings and although he received commissions for several important buildings – including the church of Saint Sulpice in Paris – his work was considered quite scandalous by many in the Catholic Church.
Glaize exhibited at the Paris Salon between 1836 and 1894, and today his paintings are held in numerous important collections, including that of the Louvre in Paris.
Dimensions: (framed) 83cm x 67cm (32¾” x 26¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 66cm x 49cm (26” x 19¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private French collection.
Presentation: Fine neoclassical gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned, lined, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine large floral still life oil painting depicting a springtime arrangement of ‘Tulips & Daffodils’ in a green glazed vase by the celebrated British painter Cecil Kennedy (1905-1997). The painting is signed by the artist, and hangs in a carved wooden Chippendale style giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Cecil Kennedy was one of the foremost flower painters of the 20th century, blending the technical accuracy of a botanist with a modern use of colour and atmospheric lighting. Kennedy had many famous admirers and patrons including the Duke of Windsor, the Astor family and Queen Mary who said, ‘When I see Cecil Kennedy paintings, I can smell the flowers and hear the hum of the bees’. Queen Mary went on to encourage Cecil Kennedy to paint with the ongoing use of a ladybird – as seen in the painting being sold here – and from that moment forward it became one of his signature trademarks.
Cecil Kennedy exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, the Paris Salon, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Hibernian Academy. He was awarded a silver medal in 1956 and a gold medal in 1970 at the Paris Salon.
Dimensions: (framed) 77cm x 67cm (30¼” x 26¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 63cm x 51cm (24¾” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine quality carved wooden Chippendale style giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting an elegant Parisienne beauty in an opulent salon interior contemplating the contents of a love letter by the celebrated French painter Auguste Toulmouche (1829-1890). ‘Declaration of Love’ is signed by the artist and dated 1879. The painting hangs is a fine quality Louis XV design giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Alongside his equally successful contemporaries Alfred Stevens 1823-1906 and Charles Soulacroix 1825-1879, Auguste Toulmouche became famous for his detailed depictions of richly clad young women in luxurious Paris interiors.
Toulmouche first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1848, winning the first of many medals. Four years later his fame was secured when his painting ‘La Fille’ was purchased by the emperor Napoleon III. Auguste Toulmouche was awarded the Legion d’Honneur in 1870.
Dimensions: (framed) 62cm x 40cm (24¼” x 15¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 78cm x 56cm (30½” x 22”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private US collection.
Presentation: Fine Louis XV design giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting the royal court of King Charles II in the gardens of an English stately home in Kent by the distinguished Royal Academy painter James Digman Wingfield (1800-1872). ‘Summer Hill, time of Charles II (They went every day to court, or the court came to them)’ is signed by the artist and dated 1855, in which year it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. It hangs in a superb newly commissioned handmade gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Summer Hill House is a Grade I listed Jacobean mansion near Tonbridge in the English county of Kent. Following the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, King Charles II gave Summer Hill to Viscountess Muskerry, a lady of extravagant tastes who subsequently – and notoriously – played host to the King and his entire court.
The house and its history of royal debauchery is mentioned numerous times in Count de Grammont’s scandalous ‘Memoirs of the English Court’ and was immortalised in a poem of 1833 entitled ‘The Country Seat’ which names four of the King’s most famous mistresses; Nell Gwynne, Moll Davis, Frances Stewart, and the Countess of Castlemaine…
“Oh, Summer Hill if thou wert mine,
I’d order in a pipe of wine,
And ask a dozen friends to dine!
Once tenants of this fair domain,
Soft Stewart, haughtiest Castlemaine,
Pert Nelly Gwynne, gay Molly Davis,
And many another Rara Avis.
E’en now, midst yonder leafy glade,
Methinks I see thy Royal shade,
In amplitude of wig arrayed.”
Dimensions: (framed) 131cm x 106cm (51½” x 41½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 114cm x 89cm (45” x 35”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private collection.
Presentation: New handmade gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine early 20th century oil painting depicting a young Belle Epoque beauty in the warm glow of a fireside making her finally preparations for an evening engagement by the famous French academic painter Delphin Enjolras (1857-1945). ‘Au Coin du Feu’ is signed by the artist, and hangs in a superb quality, new commissioned gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Delphin Enjolras studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts, and began exhibiting at the Salon in Paris in 1890. He became famous for his portraits of elegant young socialites lit by the warm glow of a single light source, usually a bedside lamp or fireside. Like Alfred Stevens and Auguste Toulmouche before him, Enjolras was a master of boudoir scenes of young ladies but it was his use of gentle chiaroscuro that makes his intimate pictures unique.
Enjolras’ enduring popularity means that copies of his oil paintings – bearing spurious signatures – are not uncommon, and usually the work of Enjolras imitator Max Carlier 1872-1932. Genuine oil paintings and fine pastels by Delphin Enjolras display a vastly superior technique and use of colour.
In 1901, the artist was elected as a member of the Société des Artistes Français in 1901, and today works by Enjolras can be found in the Musée du Puy and Musée d’Avignon.
Dimensions: (framed) 57cm x 49cm (22½” x 19¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 42cm x 34cm (16½” x 13¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private French collection.
Presentation: Fine neoclassical gilt metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine early 19th century landscape oil on canvas depicting various figures going about their work at ‘Berry Pomeroy Mill’ in Devon by the eminent English landscape painter James Leakey (1775-1865). This 200-year old oil painting is one of two Leakey painted of the famous Devonshire mill, the other is now hangs in the collection of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
In 1792, aged 16, James Leakey was accepted as a pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds but the incumbent President of the Royal Academy died before Leakey could begin his studies. Leakey remained in his native Devon and built a fine reputation as a gifted painter of miniatures. When he finally moved to London in 1821, he became friends with many of the leading artists of the day including John Constable, David Wilkie, and Thomas Lawrence. Leakey’s detailed rural landscapes prompted Lawrence to described him as “the English Wouwermans” after the famous Dutch Master.
Between 1821 and 1846 James Leakey exhibited 12 paintings at the Royal Academy, and today his work hangs in numerous galleries and museums including the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 85cm x 66cm (33½” x 26”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 69cm x 51cm (27” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: With the David Messum Gallery circa 1950, thence in private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, lined, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a young family by a stone bridge with harvesters in the fields beyond in a mountainous Welsh landscape by the eminent Victorian painter Benjamin Shipham (1806-1872). ‘Snowdon in Summertime’ is signed by the artist and dated 1855.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Mount Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales, standing at the heart of what is now known as Snowdonia National Park where many important Victorian landscape artists came to live and work.
Benjamin Shipham was a successful painter of English and Welsh landscapes renowned for his great attention to detail. Between 1852 and 1872 he exhibited 9 paintings at the Royal Academy, 11 at the British Institution, and 15 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 99cm x 62cm (39” x 24¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 81cm x 44cm (32” x 17¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
‘Coniston Water, Autumn’ by Frederick Clive Newcome (1847–1894).
A large fine 19th century oil on canvas, signed by the artist and dated 1873.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Frederick Newcome was a superb painter of light particularly when viewed upon both mountainous landscape and water. His palette and finely detailed execution is similar to that of his contemporaries Benjamin Williams Leader (1831-1923) and Alfred Augustus Glendening (1840-1921).
Newcome’s work was highly praised by the eminent Victorian art critic John Ruskin. When it was shown at the Royal Academy in 1875, the artist’s ‘The Head of a Highland Glen’ was praised by Ruskin as “the best study of torrent including distant and near water that I find in the rooms” adding that “the rest of this mountain scene by Mr. Newcome is also carefully studied, and very right and good”. The same can be said about this earlier work by Newcome painted two years previously in 1873.
Frederick Newcome artist exhibited 9 works at the Royal Academy between 1875 and 1887, and no doubt would have shown many more had he not passed away aged just 47.
Dimensions: (framed) 94cm x 66cm (37” x 26”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting cattle watering at the riverside in an extensive mountainous summer landscape ‘Near Betws-y-Coed, North Wales’ by the important Victorian landscape painter Sidney Richard Percy (1822-1886). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1873. hangs in a very good Louis XV style swept giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Sidney Richard Percy was the fifth son of the celebrated English landscape painter Edward Williams (1781-1855), one of the most famous families in British art history. In my opinion Sidney Richard Percy was its most gifted painter. Just as his brothers Henry John Boddington (1811-1865) and Arthur Gilbert (1819-1895) had done, Sidney Williams changed his name in order to distinguish himself from the other members of the Williams family.
Between 1842 and 1886 Percy exhibited at all the leading Victorian art venues showing 76 paintings at the Royal Academy, 48 at the British Institution, and 73 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery. Today, landscapes by S.R. Percy are in great demand and sell at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and through many of the world’s most important fine art dealers.
Dimensions: (framed) 116cm x 91cm (45½” x 36”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 96cm x 61cm (38” x 24”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Good 20th century Louis XV giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a spectacular Scottish Highland landscape with cattle watering at the shoreline of a loch in summertime by the famous Victorian artist Alfred Augustus Glendening Snr. (1840-1910). The painting is signed by the artist.
Glendening is best known for his beautifully detailed landscape views, particularly those featuring large bodies of water. Perhaps his most desirable works are those depicting magnificent rural views of the River Thames and – as in the case of the painting being sold here – the Highlands of Scotland.
Along with Benjamin Williams Leader and Alfred de Breanski Snr, Glendening became one of the most popular British landscape artists of the second half of the 19th century. Today landscapes by Glendening are arguably even more popular, and in great demand on both sides of the Atlantic.
Between 1861 and 1903 Glendening exhibited 47 paintings at the Royal Academy, together with 77 works at the Royal Society of British Artists and numerous others at the British Institution between 1861 and 1892.
Dimensions: (framed) 89cm x 53cm (35” x 21”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 77cm x 41cm (30¼” x 16¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Mid 1900s British Baroque style gilt frame.
This is a large fine 19th century oil painting of the famous Renaissance polymath ‘Galileo before the Roman Inquisition’ by the celebrated listed British Victorian painter, Robert Alexander Hillingford (1828-1904).
Hillingford became internationally famous for his wonderfully detailed paintings of great moments in world history, British military campaigns, and Shakespearian scenes.
The outstanding work being sold here captures Galileo’s appearance before the Roman Inquisition in 1633 when he was accused of heresy for his belief in the theory of heliocentrism. After refusing to recant, despite the threat of torture, Galileo was placed under house arrest where he remained for the rest of his life.
Robert Hillingford exhibited 29 works at the Royal Academy between 1866-1902, as well at the British Institution, and the Royal Society of British Artists. Fine oils by Robert Alexander Hillingford, such as the one being offered here, sell through international fine art dealers and at the most prestigious auction houses worldwide.
Measurements (inc. frame): 105cm x 80cm (41¼” x 31½”)
Measurement (canvas only): 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Provenance: Fine Private Collection of Cheshire Family
Condition: Excellent. Beautifully framed, professionally cleaned, and restored to the highest standard. Ready to hang.
A large fine 17th century oil on canvas of Christ being raised upon the cross at Golgotha by eight executioners, witnessed by Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary and a group of weeping women and children. To the left, a Roman officer on horseback directs the elevation of the cross, as soldiers in the background are crucifying the two thieves.
This important Old Master is typical of the work of the studio of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) who produced several versions of both the raising of the cross, and Christ’s descent following his crucifixion.
The most famous painter in northern Europe during the seventeenth century, Peter Paul Rubens’ dynamic, emotional style full of rich colour and spectacular detail has influenced Western art to the present day. Amongst Rubens’ many major innovations was his use of smaller oil studies as compositional sketches for his much larger pictures; a method widely adopted by artists ever since. It is possible that the painting being sold here is just such a work. Rubens managed a very large studio in Antwerp, training many apprentices and employing independent colleagues to help execute specific projects.
Dimensions: (framed) cm x cm (” x 31½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 125cm x 64cm (49” x 25”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Important Private London Collection
Presentation: Immaculate English baroque scrolled frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Relined and restored circa 1880 by James Wyatt’s of Oxford. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting an extensive summer landscape featuring a single figure in a punt, a hay cart, and numerous cattle ‘On the Thames near Mapledurham’ by the eminent Royal Academy artist Henry John Kinnaird (1862-1929). The painting is signed by the artist and presented in a fine quality giltwood swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age having been newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Henry John Kinnaird was a successful painter of English rural landscapes who became most celebrated for his rich harvest scenes capturing the countryside along the course of the River Thames. Between 1880 and 1891 Kinnaird exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, and the British Institution in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 152cm x 102cm (60” x 40”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 127cm x 76cm (50” x 30”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine quality giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century portrait oil on canvas of a young woman in a bonnet by the eminent Victorian painter William Arthur Breakspeare (1855-1914). The painting is signed by the artist and typical of the artist’s finest work.
Regarded as a founder member of the Newlyn School and the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, William Breakspeare exhibited 34 paintings at the RBSA between 1874 and 1899. Breakspeare became famous for his period genre scenes and unmistakable portraits of beautiful young women.
William Breakspeare exhibited 21 works at the Royal Academy between 1891 and 1914, and many others with the Royal Society of British Artists and the Grosvenor Gallery in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 68cm x 52cm (26¾” x 20½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 57cm x 41cm (22½” x 16”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Louis XV style giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
A large fine 19th century Royal Academy painting depicting a lost child waiting in a Victorian police station by the eminent British artist Alfred Dixon 1842-1919. The painting is signed by the artist, and features Dixon’s own son Charles Edward Dixon in an actual incident when the little boy had become lost and was picked up by the police. This important work was arguably Dixon’s masterpiece and became a star attraction at the 1876 Royal Academy summer exhibition.
The London Morning Post’s review had this to say…
“The smallest figure upon this canvas is by far the most important personage of the scene. There is something exceedingly tragi-comic in the disconsolate woebegone air and manner of this tiny wanderer as, with head slightly drooping on one side, he looks furtively from under his little hat at the gigantic policeman who has ‘run him in’. This is a clever and original work, full of drollery not unrelieved with a touch of homely pathos, so that one hardly knows whether to bestow tears or laughter on the Lilliputian wayfarer who is miles away from home. Why so good a picture should have been placed above rather than upon the line is a mystery past finding out by any one not in the confidence of the Hanging Committee.”
Between 1864 and 1891 Alfred Dixon exhibited 18 paintings at the Royal Academy, and a further 18 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery in London. A much smaller and less important near study for the painting being offered here sold at Christie’s in London in 200 for almost $10,000.
Dimensions: (framed) 118cm x 78cm (46½” x 30¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 101cm x 62cm (39¾” x 24½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine 19th century swept giltwood frame.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a spectacular sunset over Caernarfon Bay in North West Wales by the listed Victorian landscape painter William Henry Vernon (1820-1909). ‘Sunset, Caernarfon Bay’ is signed by the artist and sold in a superb quality newly commissioned gold leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Birmingham artist William Henry Vernon painted many landscapes of the west of England but it was his vistas of North Wales that brought him most success. Between 1858 and 1892 Vernon exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Royal Society of British Artists.
Dimensions: (framed) 89cm x 66cm (35” x 26”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Very good. Newly cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is large fine 19th century landscape oil on canvas capturing ‘Summer in the Dales’ of Yorkshire by William Mellor (1851-1931). This very beautiful work is signed by the artist.
William Mellor is well known for his detailed landscapes that capture the splendour of the dales and peaks of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and North Wales. His calling card was a vibrant palate and meticulous rendering of trees and foliage enlightened by summer or winter sunlight.
Measurements (inc. frame): 103cm x 78cm (40½” x 30½”)
Measurement (canvas only): 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine Private Collection of Yorkshire Estate.
Presentation: British Victorian Rococo pierced and swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Lined circa 1990. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine mid-19th century marine scene oil on canvas of various shipping vessels negotiating ‘High Winds’ in the Channel off the South Coast of England by the famous listed Victorian marine painter, William Callcott Knell (1830-1880). This magnificent work is signed by the artist and dated 1865, and would make a spectacular focal point in the finest of rooms.
William Callcott Knell exhibited at the Royal Academy, British Institution, and with the Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery. Fine paintings by Callcott Knell – such as the important work being sold here – sell for significant sums through prestigious auction houses, and private dealers worldwide.
Dimensions: (framed) 145cm x 94cm (57” x 37”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 128cm x 76cm (50½” x 30”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine Private UK Maritime Collection.
Presentation: Immaculate Louis XX style pierced and swept frame.
Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, and restored. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas of a young Belgian girl at the threshold of an old cottage surrounded by baskets of fruit and vegetables by the eminent Victorian artist, Oliver Rhys (exh.1876-1893). Rhys was particularly famous for his detailed figural paintings of classical maidens and beautiful young peasant girls. The very beautiful work being sold here is signed by the artist and inscribed ‘Anvers, 1883’, indicating that it was painted in Antwerp.
Between 1876 and 1893, Rhys exhibited eight works at the Royal Academy in addition to numerous others at the prestigious Grosvenor Gallery, and the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Royal Society of British Artists.
Measurements (inc. frame): 75cm x 61cm (29½” x 24”)
Measurements (canvas only): 61cm x 46cm (24” x 18”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine Private UK Collection.
Presentation: 1900’s Louis XV swept giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century river landscape depicting anglers playing a large salmon above a weir in the Highlands of Scotland by the famous Victorian artist John Evan Hodgson RA (1831-1895). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1874.
Though English by birth, Hodgson was brought up in Russia where he was inspired by the old masters in the Hermitage collection in St Petersburg. Returning to England in 1853 he enrolled at the Royal Academy schools, and began establishing himself as an accomplished and successful painter of historical subjects. Between 1856 and 1983, Hodgson exhibited 90 works at the Royal Academy, including many iconic scenes from British history and latterly fine Orientalist paintings as well as a handful of rural British scenes. It is one such work that we are offering for sale here.
In 1882 Hodgson was appointed Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy, and co-authored a celebrated history of that institution’s first sixty years. John Evan Hodgson became an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Painters, and was elected a full member of the Royal Academy in 1879.
Dimensions: (framed) 120cm x 86cm (47¼” x 34”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 90cm x 57cm (35½” x 22¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine private UK sporting collection.
Presentation: 19th century gilt Empire frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century landscape oil on canvas depicting a single angler fishing ‘On the Llugwy’ in North Wales, by the celebrated Victorian artist, William Henry Mander (1850-1922). The painting is signed by the artist, and titled and signed again verso.
William Henry Mander was one of the principle artists of late 19th century Birmingham School of landscape artists that included Benjamin Williams Leader, David Bates, and George William Mote. Like many of his contemporaries he became fascinated by the wild beauty of North Wales and lived in there from 1899 to 1906.
Between 1881 and 1914, Mander exhibited 122 works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, 7 paintings at the Royal Cambrian Academy, and 14 at the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Dimensions: (framed) 61cm x 45cm (24” x 17¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 46cm x 31cm (18” x 12¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine private UK collection, purchased from Haynes Fine Art of Broadway.
Presentation: 1900s British Baroque swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Lined circa 1990. Ready to hang.
This is a fine mid-19th century landscape oil on canvas of a herd of cattle being lead through an extensive English landscape with ancient ruins to the background by the celebrated British artist, Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787-1955).
This beautiful 169 year old oil painting is signed by the artist, and dated 1846. It is signed again to the stretcher, verso.
Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding was one of the most celebrated painters of the first half of the 19th century. He exhibited 17 times at the Royal Academy and won a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1824 alongside Richard Parkes Bonington and John Constable. Copley Fielding was a painter of great elegance and skill and has always been highly popular with international collectors.
Dimensions: (framed) 79cm x 59cm (31” x 23”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 56cm x 36cm (22” x 14¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Important Fine Private UK Collection.
Presentation: Original mid-19th century gilt Baroque frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Relined circa 1900. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century painting depicting the imminent assassination of French Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny by agents of Catherine de Medici and Philip II of Spain by the eminent Victorian history painter William Holmes Sullivan RCA (1836-1908). ‘The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre’ is signed by the artist and dated 1877. It hangs in its original gilded Pre Raphaelite frame.
As with all of the original antique paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just undergone a full technical assessment and fitted with anti-reflection, conservation grade UV protection Museum Glass®. Museum Glass® is the finest glazing option available for watercolour paintings. Along with its nearly invisible finish it effectively blocks up to 99% of harmful indoor and outdoor UV light rays, less than 1% light reflection, UV protection, high optical clarity and over 97% light transmission providing the highest brightness and contrast levels available.
On August 24th 1572 Gaspard de Coligny was murdered by Catholic assassins and his severed head sent to Pope Gregory XIII by Catherine de Medici. As seen in the painting, Admiral de Coligny’s friend Pastor Merlin escaped through a secret passage. What became known as the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre claimed the lives of up to 30,000 people.
William Holmes Sullivan was a celebrated history painter who specialised in dramatic battle scenes and figural pictures taken from the works of William Shakespeare. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of Artists and at the Royal Cambrian Academy, of which he was a member.
• We are grateful to Professor Nicola Watson for her expertise and kind assistance with the cataloguing of this work.
Dimensions: (framed) 123cm x 93cm (48¼” x 36¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 101cm x 72cm (39¾” x 28¼”)
Medium: Watercolour.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine quality original mid-19th century gilded Pre Raphaelite frame.
Condition: Excellent. Ready to hang.
This is fine early 19th century oil on canvas of an English warship of a 30 gun frigate of the Blue Squadron in high winds ‘Off Calais’ by the famous British maritime artist, George Webster (fl.1797-1832). This superbly detailed 200 year old oil painting of a Royal Navy frigate surrounded by numerous fishing boats off the French coast is a magnificent example of the work of one of the most gifted British marine painters of the 19th century.
Between 1797 and 1832 George Webster exhibited 14 paintings at the Royal Academy, 11 at the British Institution, and 4 with the Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery. Paintings by George Webster hang in numerous important collections of maritime fine art, including the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.
Webster’s celebrated pictures of Men-O’-War off the coasts of England and France are enduringly popular as both works of art, and invaluable records of British maritime history, and place him amongst the most eminent British Marine artists.
Dimensions: (framed) 62cm x 52cm (24½” x 20½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 53cm x 43cm (21” x 17”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine Private UK Collection.
Presentation: 1900s classical gilt frame.
A fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a spectacular Scottish Highland landscape with sheep grazing on the edges of a loch in summertime by the famous Victorian artist Alfred Augustus Glendening Snr. (1840-1910). The painting is signed by the artist.
Glendening is best known for his beautifully detailed landscape views, particularly those featuring large bodies of water. Perhaps his most desirable works are those depicting magnificent rural views of the River Thames and – as in the case of the painting being sold here – the Highlands of Scotland.
Along with Benjamin Williams Leader and Alfred de Breanski Snr, Glendening became one of the most popular British landscape artists of the second half of the 19th century. Today landscapes by Glendening are arguably even more popular, and in great demand on both sides of the Atlantic.
Between 1861 and 1903 Glendening exhibited 47 paintings at the Royal Academy, together with 77 works at the Royal Society of British Artists and numerous others at the British Institution between 1861 and 1892.
Dimensions: (framed) 89cm x 53cm (35” x 21”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 77cm x 41cm (30¼” x 16¼”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Mid 1900s British Baroque style gilt frame.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting cattle watering on the River Derwent in Cumberland entitled ‘The Road across the River’ by the famous Victorian artist John Clayton Adams (1840-1906). This painting is one of the largest and most important works the artist ever produced and was painted specifically for its appearance at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1899. It is signed by the artist and still hangs in its original Victorian Louis XV water gilded.
For the past 117 years the painting has been in the same important British private collection, the previous owners having purchased it directly from John Clayton Adams in 1899 following its exhibition at the Royal Academy.
John Clayton Adams first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London aged just 19 in 1863. Over the next 30 years he exhibited a total of 93 pictures there, in addition to a further 25 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery, and numerous others at The Grosvenor Gallery and The New Gallery.
Please be aware that this is a very large and heavy work of art that will require a wall of suitable size and strength upon which to display it.
Because of its size and weight, non-UK based clients should obviously consider that the cost of international shipping will not be cheap. That said, as always, we will endeavour to find the most reasonable tracked, signed-for service and provide the buyer with a choice of shipping options at cost price.
Dimensions: (framed) 187cm x 142cm (73½” x 56¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 153cm x 108cm (60¼” x 42½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine Private UK collection.
Presentation: Victorian water gilded Baroque swept frame, made specifically to order in 1899 by the eminent frame makers Grundy & Smith of Manchester.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas of the famous ruins of ‘Bolton Abbey’ in Yorkshire by the celebrated Victorian painter, Henry Bright (1814-1873).
By the time Queen Victoria purchased Bright’s ‘Entrance to an Old Prussian Town’ in 1844, he was well on the way to becoming one of Britain’s most popular landscape painters. Mentored by John Sell Cotman and John Berney Crome, and championed by John Ruskin, Henry Bright went on to become a leading member of the influential Norwich School of British painters.
Henry Bright exhibited 12 works at the Royal Academy, 26 at the British Institution and 11 at the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Society of British Artists.
Dimensions (inc. frame): 106cm x 74cm (41¾” x 29”)
Dimensions (canvas only): 90cm x 60cm (35½” x 23½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Provenance: Fine Private UK Collection.
Presentation: Mid-20th century British baroque gilt frame.
A fine 19th century oil painting of a famous scene from William Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Screw’ by the celebrated listed British Victorian painter, Robert Alexander Hillingford (1828-1904).
Hillingford became famous for his paintings of British military campaigns such as Waterloo, Sebastopol, and the Peninsular War, as well as his wonderfully detailed Shakespearian scenes. This outstanding work features the entrance of Petruchio and Kate in Act 4, Scene 1 of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, and bears an old handwritten transcription from the scene verso.
Hillingford exhibited 29 works at the Royal Academy between 1866-1902, as well at the British Institution and Suffolk Street.
This is a large fine 19th century landscape oil on canvas depicting a spectacular evening sunset ‘On the River Tay’ in the Highlands of Scotland by the celebrated English landscape artist, Alfred de Bréanski Jnr. (1877-1945). The painting is signed by the artist and hangs in a late 19th century Baroque gilt frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Like his famous artist father Alfred de Bréanski Sr, Alfred de Bréanski Jnr (or Alfred Fontville de Bréanski as he is also known) frequently painted the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands, though his style was slightly less formal. De Breanski exhibited Highland landscapes at the Royal Academy in London, and with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 91cm x 65cm (35½” x 25½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine 20th century Louis XIV giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned, lined and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a family of gypsies camped on a ridge overlooking a magnificent river valley with a settlement visible in the distance by the famous early Victorian landscape painter Henry Jutsum (1816-1869). The painting is signed by the artist, and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1842.
Henry Jutsum studied under the eminent 19th century landscape painter James Stark (1794-1859) and his work inevitably reflects the influence of the Norwich School and the Dutch Golden Age Masters, Meindert Hobbema and Jacob Van Ruisdael.
Jutsum first exhibited at the Royal Academy aged just 20 in 1836, and went on to show another 67 paintings at there. He also exhibited 75 works with the British Institution and 19 at the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Royal Society of British Artists.
Paintings by Jutsum are held in the Royal Collection, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Dimensions: (framed) 107cm x 76cm (42” x 30”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 79cm x 49cm (31” x 19”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: With William Rodman fine art dealers of Belfast circa 1880, thence in private UK collection.
Presentation: 19th century British Baroque swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned. Lined circa 1970. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine early 18th century oil on canvas depicting an English Man O’ War firing ‘The Morning Gun’ at anchor alongside two other ships of the line. This 400 year old painting is a rare work by the important early English marine painter, John Cook (act. 1720-1750). The painting dates to around 1720 and is signed J. Cook Fecit; ‘fecit’ being the archaic Latin suffix used by artists up until 18th century, and literally meaning ‘he made it’.
John Cook’s work is often confused with that of the foremost marine painter of the early 18th century, Peter Monamy. Cook is best known for his maritime scenes of English warships in the Mediterranean, frequently off Alexandria.
Dimensions: (framed) 115cm x 84cm (45¼” x 33¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 101cm x 71cm (39¾” x 28”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Important Fine UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century neoclassical giltwood frame.
This is a large fine early 1900s Scottish landscape of the sun immerging through a Highland mist around the slopes of Ben Venue in the Trossachs, by the celebrated British artist, Alfred Fontville de Bréanski (1877-1945). The painting is without question the finest work by this artist we have ever come across. The painting is signed by the artist, and hangs in a superb, ornate 1900s gilt Baroque frame.
Alfred Fontville de Bréanski frequently painted similar subjects and locations to his famous father, Alfred de Bréanski Sr., including the majestic rivers, lochs and highlands of Scotland. In addition to his father, de Bréanski Jnr. studied under James Whistler and Camille Pisarro, and developed into one of Britain’s most successful landscape painters of the period.
De Breanski Jnr. exhibited numerous works at the Royal Academy and with the renowned Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Measurements (inc. frame): 99cm x 73cm (39” x 28¾”)
Measurements (canvas only): 77cm x 51cm (30¼” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine Private West London Collection.
Presentation: Scrolled and swept gilt Baroque frame
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century landscape oil on canvas depicting a summer evening on Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands by the celebrated English landscape artist Alfred de Bréanski Jnr. (1877-1945). ‘Twilight, Loch Ness’ is signed by the artist and is sold in a newly commissioned superb quality gold metal leaf swept frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Clients should also note that fully insured, tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary.
Alfred de Bréanski Jnr. (or Fontville de Bréanski as he is also known) is most famous for his landscapes featuring the lochs and mountains of the Scottish Highlands. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, and with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 95cm x 69m (37½” x 27¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned, restored and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine early 1900s landscape two young girls sitting on the bank of the river Mawddach near the town of ’Dolgellau, in North Wales’ by the celebrated British artist, William Henry Mander (1850-1922). Dolgellau lies near the foot of Cader Idris in the south of the Snowdonia National Park. This superb work is signed and dated by the artist, and hangs in a magnificent original 19th century English Baroque gilt frame.
William Henry Mander was one of the principle artists of late 19th century Birmingham or Midlands School of landscape artists that included Benjamin Williams Leader, David Bates, George Turner, George William Mote and Frederick Henshaw. Like many of his contemporaries he became fascinated by the wild beauty of North Wales and lived in Dollgelau between 1899 and 1906, making the painting being sold here one of the last he painted in the area.
Between 1881 and 1914 he exhibited 122 works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, 7 paintings at the Royal Cambrian Academy, and 14 at the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Dimensions: (framed) 103cm x 78cm (40½” x 30¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine private UK collection.
Presentation: Fine 19th century Baroque gilt frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting two figures walking beside the River Lledr and ’The Lledr Valley’ itself, by the celebrated British artist, William Henry Mander (1850-1922). The magnificent Lledr Valley lies in Snowdonia, North Wales and runs from the Crimea Pass down to Betws-y-Coed, a site of artistic pilgrimage for many influential British landscape artists in the 19th century.
William Henry Mander was one of the principle artists of late 19th century Birmingham or Midlands School of landscape artists that included Benjamin Williams Leader, David Bates, George Turner, George William Mote and Frederick Henshaw. Like many of his contemporaries he became fascinated by the wild beauty of North Wales and lived in there from 1899 to 1906.
Between 1881 and 1914, Mander exhibited 122 works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, 7 paintings at the Royal Cambrian Academy, and 14 at the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Dimensions: (framed) 89cm x 64cm (35” x 25¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: With Omell Galleries, St James’, London circa 1970, thence in fine private UK collection.
Presentation: 1900s British Baroque swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Lined circa 1970. Ready to hang.
This is a fine large 19th century oil on canvas depicting a young brother and sister who have taken ‘A Break in Play’ to watch their mother prepare a mid-morning snack, by the eminent Victorian artist Harry Brooker (1849-1940). This beautifully executed, detailed work is signed by the artist and dated 1884. It is presented in its magnificent original 19th century pierced and swept gilt frame.
A very popular and successful genre scene painter, Brooker was a master of the utterly charming domestic scene, almost always featuring children at play. Between 1876 and 1908 Harry Brooker exhibited at the Royal Academy, and at the Suffolk Street Gallery of the Royal Society of British Artists in London.
Like many British genre painters of the period Brooker was influenced by the Dutch Golden Age artists such as Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684) and Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) but few had his technical skill and eye for detail. For more information on the artist clients may wish to visit harrybrooker.org.uk – a website dedicated to this most gifted of late 19th century English genre scene painters.
Dimensions: (framed) 90cm x 80cm (35½” x 31½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 62cm x 57cm (24½” x 22½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Very fine original 19th century pierced and swept gilt frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large, fine mid-19th century seascape depicting shipping ‘On the Medway’ with a disabled battle ship being towed into port by the eminent Victorian artist William Adolphus Knell (1801-1875). This important English maritime painting is signed by the artist and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1864.
Throughout most of his career William Adolphus Knell signed his paintings William Knell Jnr. Once two of his sons – William Callcott Knell (1830-1880) and Adolphus Knell (fl.1870-90) became professional artists he began signing as W.A. Knell Snr.
A very successful marine painter of the mid-19th century William Augustus Knell exhibited 29 paintings at the Royal Academy (including the painting being sold here), 44 at the British Institution, and 20 with the Royal Society of British Artists and was twice commissioned by Queen Victoria to paint seascapes for the Royal Household. His picture ‘The Arrival of Prince Albert’ was bought by the prince consort himself in 1840, and remains in the Royal Collection. Large marine scenes by William Adolphus Knell are held in many major national collections including the National Museums of Scotland and the Greenwich Maritime Museum.
Dimensions: (framed) 145cm x 94cm (57” x 37”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 127cm x 78cm (50” x 30¾”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1864, latterly in private UK collection.
Presentation: Mid-20th century Louis XVI giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine mid-19th century English landscape oil on canvas of a boy fishing at a lock ‘On the Stour’ by the world famous British artist, Edward Robert Smythe (1810 – 1899). The painting is signed by the artist and sold with superb provenance, with dealer’s labels verso of previous sales circa 1920/30s from McConnal-Mason and Ackermann & Johnson.
Together with his brother Thomas, Edward Robert Smythe was one of the foremost painters of the Suffolk and Norwich Schools, along with contemporaries and friends such as John Sell Cotman and Frederick Ladbrooke. A highly gifted painter, Smythe specialised in landscapes and coastal scenes of East Anglia. This particular work features one of the locks on the River Stour, such as Dedham and Flatford, made famous by John Constable.
Smythe attracted commissions from eminent patrons such as the Earl of Cardigan, and exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the Royal Society of British Artists between 1850 and 1861.
Measurements (inc. frame): cm x cm (” x ”)
Measurements (canvas only): 89cm x 69cm (35” x 27”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private collection of Cornish estate.
Presentation: 1900s pierced and swept Baroque frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century English landscape oil on canvas depicting an extensive view across the county of Surrey on a fine summer’s afternoon by the eminent Victorian painter Arthur Gilbert (1819-1895). The painting is signed and dated 1886, and is a superb example of Gilbert’s finest work.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in superb condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Arthur Gilbert was the fourth son of the important English painter Edward Williams and a member of the famous Williams family of artists. Like his five brothers, Gilbert enjoyed a long and successful career as one of Britain’s foremost landscape painters. He was equally adept at rendering the English landscape as was its farm workers and animals.
Between 1836 and 1894 Arthur Gilbert exhibited 49 oil paintings at the Royal Academy, 51 at the British Institution and a further 111 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery. Gilbert’s pre-eminence was recognised in 1857 when he was personally invited by W.M. Rossetti to send paintings to the first Exhibition of Living British Artists, held in New York.
Dimensions: (framed) 93cm x 67cm (36½” x 26½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century Louis XV giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine mid-19th century oil on canvas of an extensive landscape view of a busy town on the banks of the Moselle river in Germany by the famous Victorian painter George Vicat Cole (1833-1893). This important antique oil painting is signed by the artist and dated 1856.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in superb condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Vicat Cole was the son of the eminent landscape painter George Cole (1810–1883). In 1851, aged 18, he accompanied his father on a sketching trip to the Moselle region of Germany, and in 1853 had his first painting – of the river Moselle – accepted by the Royal Academy. The majority of Vicat Cole’s paintings are English landscapes and only a handful of his early views of the Moselle are known to be in existence. The painting being offered for sale is one of those important rare works of the Moselle.
In total George Vicat Cole exhibited 76 paintings at the Royal Academy, 10 at the British Institution and 48 with the Royal Society of British Artists.
All of the artist’s painting produced between 1854 and 1870 are signed ‘Vicat Cole’. On being elected an ARA by the Royal Academy in 1870 he henceforth signed his works with a monogram composed of the initials VC. George Vicat Cole was made a full Royal Academician in 1880.
Dimensions: (framed) 105cm x 75cm (41¼” x 29½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 92cm x 61cm (36¼” x 24”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Sold in 1976 by Frost & Reed of New Bond Street, London, thence in Private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century Louis XV giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas of a father and daughter returning home with firewood through an extensive woodland landscape by the important Dutch painter Pieter Lodewijk Francisco Kluyver (1816-1900).
His beautifully executed landscapes and characteristic rendering of sunlight (evident in the work being sold here) distinguish Kluyver as one of the leading European landscape painters of the nineteenth century.
Measurements (inc. frame): 100cm x 87cm (39½” x 34¼”)
Measurements (canvas only): 78cm x 65cm (30½” x 25½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned, restored, and ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century watercolour painting depicting a large group of country folk playing a game of ‘Hunt the Slipper’ in woodland near a small town by the eminent Royal Academy artist Frederick Goodall RA (1822-1904). This huge masterpiece watercolour is signed and dated 1848, and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1849. The original – being sold here – proved so popular that Goodall subsequently painted several smaller copies in both watercolour and oils, one of which hangs in the collection of Sheffield Museum. For the avoidance of doubt; the painting being sold here is the original exhibition watercolour, not one of the artist’s later versions.
As with all of the original antique paintings we sell the painting is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and rehung in a quality bespoke Louis XV frame behind anti-reflection, conservation grade UV protection Museum Glass®.
Museum Glass® is the finest glazing option available for watercolour paintings. Along with its nearly invisible finish it effectively blocks up to 99% of harmful indoor and outdoor UV light rays. It possesses less than 1% light reflection, UV protection, high optical clarity for true colour transmission, and over 97% light transmission providing the highest brightness and contrast levels available.
Frederick Goodall first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1838 aged just 16, and by the mid-1840’s he had become one of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful painters in Britain. In all Goodall exhibited 127 works at the Royal Academy, 33 at the British Institution, and many others at all of the principle exhibition venues of the 19th century London art world. Goodall was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1852, and a full Royal Academician in 1863.
‘Hunt the Slipper’ was a popular Georgian and Victorian parlour game made famous in Oliver Goldsmith’s novel ‘The Vicar of Wakefield’.
Dimensions: (framed) 130cm x 99cm (51” x 39”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 110cm x 80cm (43¼” x 31½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private North American collection.
Presentation: New Louis XV style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally rehung and framed. Ready to hang.
This is a fine mid-19th century oil on canvas depicting a mother and daughter on a summer afternoon gathering gorse (or furze as it is also known) for kindling with a donkey resting nearby by the eminent British landscape painter Sidney Richard Percy (1822-1886). ‘Furze Cutters’ is signed by the artist and dated 1851. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London that same year, and hangs in an English Baroque style frame decorated in gold metal leaf.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Sidney Richard Percy was the fifth son of the celebrated English landscape painter Edward Williams (1781-1855), one of the most famous families in British art history. In my opinion Sidney Richard Percy was its most gifted painter. Just as his brothers Henry John Boddington (1811-1865) and Arthur Gilbert (1819-1895) had done, Sidney Williams changed his name in order to distinguish himself from the other members of the Williams family.
Between 1842 and 1886 Percy exhibited at all the leading Victorian art venues showing 76 paintings at the Royal Academy, 48 at the British Institution, and 73 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery.
Dimensions: (framed) 73cm x 55cm (28¾” x 21¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 61cm x 41cm (24” x 16”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Good quality English Baroque style frame in gold metal leaf.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Lined circa 1970. Ready to hang.
This is large fine 19th century seascape oil on canvas of various shipping vessels caught in high seas beneath dramatic storm clouds sky by the celebrated British Victorian marine painter, Thomas Rose Miles (1844-1924). ‘The Storm’ is signed by the artist and dated 1870.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Thomas Rose Miles’ great skill at capturing the ocean, and particular waves, earned him the reputation as one of Britain’s most gifted sea painters of the 19th century. Between 1869 and 1906, Miles exhibited 6 maritime paintings at the Royal Academy, 14 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery, and a further 8 with the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin.
Dimensions: (framed) 95cm x 58cm (37¼” x 22¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 82cm x 46cm (32¼” x 18”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century Louis XV style swept frame. Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
A large fine early 18th century Italian Old Master oil on canvas depicting the famous Biblical story of ‘Rebecca at the Well’ from the Book of Genesis. This magnificent circa 300-year old oil painting is attributed to the Rome studio of the Italian Baroque painter Pietro Bianchi (1694–1740). It is sold here in exceptionally fine condition and framed in a superb newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in the very finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Along with Giovanni Paolo Panini, Jean-Baptiste van Loo, and William Kent, Pietro Bianchi was one of the most important pupils of the famous Baroque painter Bennedetto Luti. Bianchi painted both religious stories and still life pictures of animals, flowers, and fruits. He painted a St. Clara at Gubbio, and a famous picture of the Conception for the Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome, a replica of which is found in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Dimensions: (framed) 115cm x 83cm (45¼” x 32¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 100cm x 73cm (39¼” x 28¾”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: High quality gold metal leaf frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang. We do not sell dirty, damaged or unframed works of art.
Conservation: Where necessary the paintings we sell are cleaned and restored by John Malcolm of Fine Art Restorations (est.1974), a third-generation picture restorer with 40 years’ experience.
How do we package paintings for delivery?
Great care and much time is taken over the safe transportation of the paintings we sell. Safe shipping is predominantly about correct packaging; we only use the highest quality fine art packaging materials. No second-hand bubble-wrap and reused cardboards boxes here. Before leaving us, each painting takes us approximately 2 to 3 hours to properly (i.e. safely and securely) package for transport; whether for a journey or 30 miles or 3000. Every painting is first wrapped in acid free paper and then the entire frame is enveloped in deep, dense foam U cushioning. This is then covered in numerous layers of AirCap bubble wrap, which is the best and safest product of its type on the market. Sheets of high density fine art packaging card are then secured to the front and rear of the painting with waterproof cloth tape before the painting is then fitted in place inside a bespoke fine art shipping box. The entire package is then bound in black shrink wrap (as used by airline companies) and a final layer of waterproof cloth tape is applied to all corners, ends and edges.
How will you get your painting?
We ship domestically and internationally with DHL, FedEx, UPS, and DPD. We will ship to most locations worldwide; please send us an email for a quote. All buyers will need to supply a complete address and telephone contact number for shipping forms. UK clients are also most welcome to collect from us in South Buckinghamshire.
What payment terms do we offer?
We are very aware that not all of our clients are in a position to pay the entire sale price upfront. All of the paintings offered as ebay ‘Buy It Now’ listings are available to buy across three monthly instalments. Any client wishing to utilise this payment method should drop me an email and once the total sale price and payment timetable has been agreed the painting will be removed from sale and reserved for the client. Payment instalments will incur no interest. Paintings will be dispatched to clients only once the total balance has been paid in full.
Who are we?
At Fireside Fine Art we specialise in 19th century British and European oil paintings. We deal only in oil paintings; no prints of any kind. We are dedicated to opening up the process of buying fine paintings to the widest possible client base. We believe everyone should own at least one beautiful piece of original artwork. Every painting we sell is covered by a 14 day money back guarantee.
What about condition?
We are the only fine art dealer selling on UK ebay to professionally clean and where necessary expertly restore all of our paintings before offering them for sale. That said; clients should always bear in mind that the vast majority of paintings we deal in are antiques – works over 100 years old and frequently much older – and will therefore invariably retain some evidence of historical damage and repair. During its lifetime a 150 year old oil painting may well have been exposed to extremes of heat or cold, intrusion of water, bumps, cuts and natural age-related deterioration, all of which require restoration. Whilst our conservator is one of the most eminent in the UK, no restorer can reverse time and every sign of ageing and natural deterioration, therefore anyone wishing to purchase a painting that looks like new should think about buying a new painting rather than an antique one.
Why sell such valuable paintings on ebay?
Selling through auction house such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s can be a frustrating process. As a private vendor you can wait months for the sale and then when it finally does arrive there is no guarantee the painting will sell (but you will still be charged a fee) and if it does you are looking at huge commissions and a five week wait to get what money is left. Like galleries and conventional art dealers, they have massive overheads with premium addresses and numerous expensive (but not necessarily knowledgeable) staff to maintain. We do not.
Why buy now?
It’s ironic that 99.9% of the world’s fine art is owned by the wealthiest 0.01% of the population when so many of the artists who created it lived and died in relative poverty. The fact is that the art world, especially in times of global recession, thrives on inequality. But whilst the possibility of purchasing works by Leighton, Holman Hunt, Constable, and Turner is always going to be the preserve of the super-rich, it has never been a better time to invest in works by their contemporaries.
Many thanks for visiting, and of course please do call or drop me an email any time.
Best regards,
Gavin Claxton
This is a large fine 19th century landscape oil on canvas depicting an English summer harvest in ‘A Cornfield’ by the celebrated Royal Academy artist Henry John Kinnaird (1862-1929).
Henry John Kinnaird was an eminent and successful painter of English rural landscapes whom became most celebrated for his rich harvest scenes depicting the countryside around Surrey and Sussex. Between 1880 and 1891 Kinnaird exhibited 7 paintings at the Royal Academy, a further 7 times with the Royal Society of British Artists, and at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 95cm x 59cm (37¼” x 23¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 82cm x 46cm (32¼” x 18”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s Belgravia in 1983, thence in the collection of a famous multinational plc.
Presentation: Mid-20th century Louis XVI giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally line and restored circa 1980. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century landscape oil painting of a young mother walking from a cottage down to the river’s edge accompanied by a dog and a small flock of geese by the prominent Royal Academy artist James Edwin Meadows (1828-1888). ‘A Summer Afternoon’ is a typically beautiful example of the artist’s work and hangs in a fine Mid-20th century Louis XVI giltwood swept frame.
The most accomplished and successful painter of the famous Meadows family of Victorian artists, James Edwin Meadows exhibited 26 works at the Royal Academy, 17 at the British Institution, and 55 with the Royal Society of British Artists at the Suffolk Street Gallery, as well as at the prestigious Walker Art in Liverpool, Manchester City Art Gallery, and the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin.
Dimensions: (framed) 105cm x 70cm (41¼” x 27½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 93cm x 57cm (36½” x 22½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Mid-20th century Louis XVI giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally line and restored circa 1980. Ready to hang.
This is a fine rare 19th century oil on canvas depicting a man and his dog sitting in hillside woodland above a river before an expansive view of an English coastal town by the eminent Victorian landscape artist Alfred Pollentine (1836-1890). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1889.
Although famous for his iconic scenes of Venice, Alfred Pollentine did paint the occasional English coastal landscape but they are rare. Between 1861 and 1880 Pollentine exhibited many works at both the British Institute and the Royal Society of British Artists in London though his work was in such high demand he never replied upon exhibition sales to make a living.
Dimensions: (framed) 75cm x 55cm (29½” x 21½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 61cm x 41cm (24” x 16”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Sold through William Rivett at the Gainsborough Gallery, London circa 1960. Thence in private UK collection.
Presentation: Very good Louis XV style giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned, lined and restored circa 2010. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century Welsh landscape oil on canvas depicting a single figure outside a cottage looking out across the breath-taking national park of Snowdonia, by the celebrated Victorian artist, William Henry Mander (1850-1922). The painting is signed by the artist.
William Henry Mander was one of the principle artists of late 19th century Birmingham or Midlands School of landscape artists that included Benjamin Williams Leader, David Bates, George Turner, George William Mote and Frederick Henshaw. Like many of his contemporaries he became fascinated by the wild beauty of North Wales and lived in there from 1899 to 1906.
Between 1881 and 1914, Mander exhibited 122 works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, 7 paintings at the Royal Cambrian Academy, and 14 at the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Dimensions: (framed) 85cm x 64cm (33½” x 25¼”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 73cm x 51cm (28¾” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine private UK collection.
Presentation: 1900s British Baroque swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Lined circa 1990. Ready to hang.
This is a fine mid-19th century oil on canvas depicting a scandal unfolding in the life of a well-to-do Victorian couple. This superbly detailed work is by the world famous 19th century Royal Academy artist, William Powell Frith RA (1819-1909). The painting is signed by the artist.
Frith exhibited no less than 136 paintings at the Royal Academy, including some that became the most viewed and talked about in British art history. A hugely popular painter of scenes depicting the everyday lives of the wealthiest and poorest of Victorian Britain, Frith’s wonderfully detailed narrative compositions were, in truth, anything but ‘everyday’. His work was witty and satirical, and full of social conscience, making him the greatest British ‘painter of people’ since Hogarth. In fact together with Turner, Linnell, Leighton and the pre Raphaelites (with whom he shared a mutual dislike) Frith was the most successful and highly paid of all British 19th century artists, and alongside Dickens the great chronicler of Victorian Britain.
Frith’s greatest successes were his large, multi-figural panoramas portraying the full range of the Victorian class system as they met and mingled in public places. In ‘Ramsgate Sands, Life at the Seaside’, ‘Derby Day’, ‘The Railway Station’ he painted three of the most famous oil paintings of the 19th century. No Victorian artist was such a great story teller, so great in fact that his narrative paintings could be enjoyed and understood by the many and not just the few, a talent that did not endear him to the more pretentious Victorian aesthetes.
Dimensions: (framed) 56cm x 46cm (22” x 18”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 46cm x 36cm (18” x 14”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: From the very fine private collection of late The Hon. Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Samuel.
Presentation: Louis XV style pierced and swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned, and restored. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting five Longhorn cattle watering at a stream in the Highlands of Scotland by the eminent Victorian painter Charles Collins RBA (1851-1921). The painting is signed by the artist.
Charles Collins was a superb painter of landscapes and animals, especially cattle. Between 1867 and 1916 he exhibited 43 paintings at the Royal Academy, 64 at the Royal Society of British Artists, and many others at all of the major London and provincial galleries. In 1895, he was elected as a full member of the Royal Society of British Artists. Both the National Gallery and Tate Gallery in London hold paintings by Collins in their collections.
Dimensions: (framed) 99cm x 73cm (39” x 28¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 76cm x 51cm (30” x 20”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century Baroque giltwood swept frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned, restored and lined circa 2000. Ready to hang.
A fine and very large mid-19th century landscape oil on canvas of cattle being herded across a river at sunset by the world famous British painter John Linnell (1792-1882). Entitled ‘The Ford’, this very important Victorian landscape painting is signed by the artist and dated 1858. Such was John Linnell’s success and fame in the first three quarters of the 19th century that a great many copies of his work and outright fakes purporting to be by Linnell were painted.
Crucially the painting being sold here can be traced back to the definitive catalogue of Linnell’s known works initially compiled by the artist’s biographer A.T. Story in 1892. Once you have seen and studied a genuine Linnell the fakes become easy to spot. Naturally you will always find one or two of these on ebay, but even those unfamiliar with his work need only to google images of Linnell’s vivid, dramatic landscapes to recognise the real thing.
If you were to ask most people today who were the two most famous landscape painters of Victorian Britain they would probably say Turner and Constable. Turner is certainly one, but the other is John Linnell. Prior to 1900, Constable’s work always played second fiddle to the highly charged romanticism of Linnell.
John Linnell exhibited at the Royal Academy from the age of 15 and despite initially becoming famous at a portraitist, it was as a brilliant painter of poetical landscapes that prompted both his great acclaim and the resentment of John Constable. Linnell’s confident and forthright nature – especially his readiness to ensure his wealthy patrons paid promptly for the paintings they purchased – never endeared him to the elite grandees of the Royal Academy, but it was malicious and false gossip spread by John Constable that probably help prevent Linnell’s election as a Royal Academician.
So successful and famous was Linnell that by the 1860s his exclusion was considered a public scandal, and a panicked Royal Academy repeatedly invited Linnell to put his name down for an associateship. He refused, and instead published a pamphlet attacking the Academy’s exclusivity; a unique and brilliant man, as well as painter.
Nevertheless, Linnell was greatly esteemed during his lifetime by most of his peers, and as a landscape artist he was considered second only to JMW Turner. Upon his death in 1882, The Times obituary said ‘A glory seems to have faded from the domain of British Art. England mourns John Linnell, the most powerful of landscape painters since Turner died’.
Between 1807 and 1881 John Linnell exhibited 177 paintings at the Royal Academy, and 92 at the British Institution. During his long career John Linnell was a patron and financial supporter of William Blake, Samuel Palmer and the young Pre Raphaelites.
Recommended reading: ‘The Life of John Linnell’ by A.T. Story’ and ‘Blake, Palmer & Linnell’ by David Linnell.
Dimensions: (framed) 119cm x 91cm (46¾” x 35¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 96cm x 68cm (37¾” x 26¾”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Very fine private UK collection.
Presentation: Magnificent Louis XV style swept giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned. Lined circa 1980. Ready to hang.
This is a large fine oil painting by the famous 19th century landscape painter, John Knox (1778-1845). One of Scotland’s most important landscape painters, Knox’s early work was composed in the classical tradition of Claude Lorrain. He later developed a mature style that uniquely captures Scotland’s most famous locations.
‘The Road Home’ depicts one such iconic vista; the majestic beauty and sweeping grandeur Loch Katrine in the heart of the Trossachs, the birthplace of Rob Roy, and the setting for Sir Walter Scott’s poem ‘The Lady of the Lake’.
John Knox was in the news in 2015 when his long-lost masterpiece ‘Glasgow Fair’ was finally tracked down after more than 100 years to a private collection in the United States.
The work being sold here was last offered for sale at Sotheby’s in 2008 with an estimate of $55,000-£75,000. In subject, scale and execution this very fine museum quality work ranks alongside ‘Glasgow Fair’ as one of the artists’ most important paintings.
Dimensions: (framed) 87cm x 67cm (34¼” x 26¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 74cm x 55cm (29” x 21½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Very Fine Private Scottish Collection.
Presentation: 1900s pierced and swept Louis XV frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned. Lined circa 1980. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting young well-to-do children being dressed for a party by a governess and wearisome maid Horsley by the eminent Victorian artist John Callcott Horsley RA (1817-1903). The painting is a smaller version of a larger work by Horsley exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1866, and would have been commissioned for a wealthy private client.
John Callcott Horsley was mentored by his relative Sir Augustus Wall Callcott and William Mulready who sent him to study at Dr Henry Sass’s academy where he met Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Powell Frith. After attending the Royal Academy schools, Horsley had his first painting exhibited at the RA in 1836.
In 1861 Horsley moved to the village of Cranbrook in Kent where he would help establish the famous Cranbrook Colony of important 19th century artists alongside Thomas Webster and Frederick Daniel Hardy. Like them Horsley’s paintings were largely of historical genre subjects set in the era of the Dutch Masters Pieter de Hooch and Johannes Vermeer, by whom Callcott’s work is clearly influenced. In 1864 he was elected a full Royal Academician.
Dimensions: (framed) 59cm x 44cm (23¼” x 17½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 51cm x 36cm (20” x 14”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 20th century Chippendale style gilt frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting figures and a horse and cart in an extensive landscape depicting the two ridges of the iconic Welsh mountain of ‘Moel Siabod’ by the celebrated Victorian artist William Henry Mander (1850-1922). The painting is signed by the artist.
William Henry Mander was one of the principle artists of late 19th century Birmingham School of landscape artists. Like many of his contemporaries he became fascinated by the wild beauty of North Wales and lived there from 1899 to 1906.
Between 1881 and 1914, Mander exhibited 122 works at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, 7 paintings at the Royal Cambrian Academy, and 14 at the Royal Hibernian Academy.
Dimensions: (framed) 114cm x 79cm (45” x 31”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 97cm x 61cm (38” x 24”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: 1900s British Baroque swept giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Professionally cleaned, restored and lined circa 2000. Ready to hang.
This is a very large fine 19th century oil on canvas depicting a young mother and child and their small dog walking through a meadow near a church and cottage with a silver sea in the background by the famous listed British artist, Robert Gallon (1845-1925). This wonderfully executed summer landscape is signed by the artist and, as with all of the paintings we sell, presented framed and in excellent condition.
Between 1868 to 1903 Robert Gallon exhibited 32 works at The Royal Academy and 27 at the British Institution. One of the finest late Victorian landscape painters, Gallon’s precision and attention to detail is comparable to that of his contemporary Benjamin Williams Leader.
Fine paintings by Robert Gallon, such as the important example being sold here, sell through the finest international auction houses and prestigious galleries worldwide.
Dimensions: (framed) 122cm x 80cm (48” x 31½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 102cm x 62cm (40” x 24½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: New Louis XV style swept frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a fine large mid-19th century landscape oil on canvas depicting an extensive river landscape with castle ruins on a nearby hilltop by the eminent Royal Academician, Frederick Richard Lee RA (1798-1879). This superb work is signed by the artist, and dated 1841.
Lee trained at the Royal Academy schools, and first exhibited there in 1822. He went on to have a further 170 paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy, placing him amongst the first rank of 19th century British landscape painters.
Lee’s work was often compared to that of John Constable (who had just the 104 paintings shown by the RA) and he was elected a full Royal Academician in 1838. In addition he exhibited 131 works at the British Institution, and 24 with the Society of British Artists.
Lee often painted works with his friends Thomas Sidney Cooper and Sir Edwin Landseer, both of whom provided the cattle for Lee’s landscape backgrounds. One such collaboration set the current world record for a Lee, selling for $278,000 at Christie’s London in 2003.
Works by Frederick Richard Lee, such as the one being sold here, are in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Tate Gallery in London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Dimensions: (framed) 99cm x 83cm (39” x 32¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 84cm x 67cm (33” x 26½”)
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Provenance: Fine Private West London Collection.
Presentation: Mid-20th century gilt Baroque frame.
Condition: Very good. Ready to hang.
This is a fine 19th century oil painting of a young woman in late mediaeval costume ascending the steps of large stone building carrying a ewer by the eminent Victorian painter Sir Hubert von Herkomer RA (1849-1914). This superb example of Herkomer’s figural work is signed by the artist and dated 1876.
Herkomer was born in Bavaria but settled in England in 1857 where he underwent his artistic training at the South Kensington Schools and would earn a reputation as one of the most versatile and gifted European artists of the day.
In 1883 Herkomer founded one of Europe’s most important art schools near his palatial home in North London. After becoming a full Royal Academician in 1890, the artist was ennobled by King Otto of Bavaria allowing him to add the honorific ‘von’ to his name. Sir Hubert von Herkomer exhibited 210 paintings at the Royal Academy in London between 1869 and 1914. He was knighted by King Edward VII 1908. Four works by Herkomer hangs in the Tate gallery in London.
Dimensions: (framed) 90cm x 70cm (35½” x 27½”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 59cm x 39cm (23¼” x 15½”)
Medium: Oil on panel.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Superb 19th century carved bolection frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.
This is a large 18th century oil painting portrait of a beautiful dark haired young woman in a white silk dress
by the famous English portrait painter Francis Cotes (1726-1770). The painting dates to circa 1760, and is sold in what is likely to be its original 18th century English neoclassical giltwood frame.
As with all of the original antique oil paintings we sell it is offered in excellent condition, having just been professionally cleaned and re-varnished.
Francis Cotes trained under the eminent portrait painter George Knapton. By the mid 1860’s he had become one of the most fashionable and sought-after portrait painters in London and a serious rival to Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. In just two years, between 1769 and his death aged just 44 in 1770, Cotes exhibited 18 works at the nascent Royal Academy. Cotes was a founder member of both the Society of Artists of Great Britain and of the Royal Academy.
Dimensions: (framed) 88cm x 78cm (34¾” x 30¾”)
Dimensions: (canvas only) 68cm x 58cm (26¾” x 22¾”)
Medium: Oil on mahogany panel.
Provenance: Private UK collection.
Presentation: Early 18th century English neoclassical giltwood frame.
Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.