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THE  WALPOLE  SOCIETY 


1915-1917 


THE   FIFTH   VOLUME 

OF 

THE    WALPOLE    SOCIETY 


'ORTRAIT   OF   AN    UNKNOWN    MAN,    RY  T.    THRUMTON 
Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford 


TH) 


Fir 


WAI 


OF 


JOG  1  El  . 


i  Q 


D 


OWING  to  the  increased  cost  of  production  and  the  restrictions  on 
the  use  of  paper  due  to  the  war,  the  Committee  have  decided,  in  the 
interests  of  the  Society,  to  issue  one  volume  of  the  ordinary  size  for 
the  two  years,  1915-1916  and  1916-1917,  instead  of  two  smaller 
volumes. 


THE  ^ 

kr>OU»-l 

FIFTH    VOLUME   OF   THE 

f\ 

WALPOLE  SOCIETY 


AND 


EDITED  BY 

.A.    J.     F  I  N  B  E  R  G 


ISSUED  ONLY  TO  SUBSCRIBERS 


508471 

|£> .  fo.   50 


OXFORD 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  WALPOLE  SOCIETY  BY  FREDERICK  HALL 

AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1917 


'  This  country,  which  does  not  always  err  in  vaunting  its  own  productions.' 

HORACE  WALPOLE'S  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in  England. 

N 
IZ 
W5 
v.5 


THE  RIGHT  HON.  THE  EARL  OF  LYTTON 


(HTomtmttee: 


*AITKEN,  CHARLES 
*ARMSTRONG,  SIR  WALTER 
*BAKER,  C.  H.  COLLINS 

BARLOW,  C.  A.  MONTAGUE,  M.P. 
*BELL,  C.  F. 
*BINYON,  LAURENCE 

CAW,  J.  L. 

CLAUSEN,  GEORGE,  R.A. 

COCKERELL,  SYDNEY  C. 
*COLVIN,  SIR  SIDNEY 

CUST,  LIONEL 

DlBDIN,     L\    RlMBAULT 

*DODGSON,  CAMPBELL 
*FINBERG,  A.  J.,  Hon.  Secretary 
GIRTIN,  THOMAS 
*HIND,  A.  M. 

*HOLMES,    C.    J. 

*HOLROYD,  SIR  CHARLES,  Chairman 


*HUGHES,  C.  E.,  Hon.   Treasurer 
IMAGE,  PROFESSOR  SELWYN 
LANE,  JOHN 

LETHABY,  PROFESSOR  W.  R. 
LYTTON,  HON.  NEVILLE 

MACCOLL,    D.    S. 

NORMAN,  PHILIP 

OPPK,  A.  P. 

PRIOR,  PROFESSOR  E.  S. 

RAWLINSON,  W.  G. 

Ross,  ROBERT 

SHORT,  SIR  FRANK,  R.A. 
*SPIELMANN,  MARION  H. 
*STRANGE,  E.  F. 
*TERRELL,  A.  A  BECKETT 
*TURNER,  C.  MALLORD  W. 

VACHER,  SYDNEY 

WILLIAMSON,  DR.  G.  C. 


Members  of  the  Executive  Committee. 


All  communications  and  subscriptions  should  be  sent  to— 

ALEXANDER  J.  FIN  BERG,  Hon.  Secretary, 

47,  Holland  Road,  Kensington,  W. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ENGLISH    SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY    PORTRAIT    DRAWINGS   IN    OXFORD 

COLLECTIONS.     BY  C.  F.  BELL 1-18 

General  Account  of  the  Collections i                  ^ 

Classification  of  Portrait  Drawings 2 

Preliminary  Studies  for  Pictures 2 

Drawings  Ad  Vivum 2 

Engravers'  Drawings        ...                 ....  3 

Pastels       ...                 3 

T.  Thrumton 6 

Sir  Peter  Lely 8 

Edward  Lutterell 9 

Unidentified  Pastellists,  1660-85 T7 

THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES.     BY  CAMPBELL  DODGSON          .         19-45 

Catalogue.     A.— Original  Etchings. 

I.     Portraits 25 

II.     Figure  Subjects  and  Still  Life 34 

III.     Landscapes 36 

B. — Copies  and  Imitations  of  Old  Masters    .        .        -40 

FRESH  LIGHT  ON  SOME  WATER-COLOUR  PAINTERS  OF  THE  OLD 
BRITISH  SCHOOL,  DERIVED  FROM  THE  COLLECTION  AND  PAPERS 
OF  JAMES  MOORE,  F.S.A.  BY  C.  F.  BELL 47~83 

George  Robertson 54 

George  Isham  Parkyns 60 

Jacob  Schnebbelie 66 

Thomas  Girtin 69 

J.  M.  W.  Turner 77 

Edward  Dayes 79 

Thomas  Hearne 81 

Ange  Denis  Macquin 82 

KILPECK  CHURCH.     BY  LIONEL  CUST 85-89 

A  NOTE  ON   THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH   AND   GAINSBOROUGH   DUPONT. 

BY  M.  H.  SPIELMANN 91-108 


LIST   OF    PLATES 

PLATE 

Frontispiece.     Portrait  of  an  Unknown  Man.     By  T.  Thrumton. 

I.    (a)  An  unidentified  Beauty  of  the  Court  of  Charles  II.     By  Sir  Peter 

Lely. 
(b)  Mary  Carleton.     By  T.  Thrumton. 

II.     (a)  Samuel  Butler.     By  Edward  Lutterell. 
(b)  Charles  II,  about  1660. 

ETCHINGS  BY  ANDREW  GEDDES.     III-XV. 

III.  (a)  Lady  Henrietta  Drummond  and  Child.     No.  6.     First  state. 
(b)  Whim,  Peeblesshire.     No.  22.     Second  state. 

IV.  The  Artist's  Mother.     No.  7.     Second  state. 
V.  „  ,,  ,,        Third  state. 

VI.     Alexander  Nasmyth.     No.  10.     Fifth  state. 
VII.     Nathaniel  Plimer.     No.  12.    Third  state. 
VIII.     (a)  John  Sheepshanks.     No.  13.     Third  state. 

(b)  The  Black  Boy.     No.  20.     First  state. 
IX.     (a)  Archibald  Skirving.     First  plate.     No.  14.     First  state, 

(b)  „  ,,  Second  plate.     No.  15.     Fourth  state. 

X.     (a)  Child  with  an  Apple.     No.  18.     Third  state. 

(b)  Sleeping  Child  and  Dog.     No.  19.     First  state. 
XI.     (a)  The  Field  of  Bannockburn  and  the  Bore  Stone.     No.  23.     First 

state. 

(b)  Caen  Wood,  Hampstead.     No.  25.     First  state. 
XII.     (a)  Halliford  :  Group  of  Trees.     No.  30. 
(b)  View  on  a  Hill.     No.  28. 

XIII.  (a)  Claude's  House  in  Rome.     No.  33.     First  state. 
(b)  Halliford:  Long  Row  of  Trees.     No.  31. 

XIV.  Peckham  Rye.     No.  32.    Third  state. 

XV.     (a)  Old  Woman  looking  at  a  Ring,  after  Jordaens.     No.  37.     First 

state. 
(b)  Oval  Portrait  of  Rembrandt.     No.  44. 


Vlll 


LIST  OF   PLATES 


PLATE 

XVI. 
XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 


XXI. 
XXII. 

XXIII. 
XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 
XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 
XXXI. 


Portrait  of  James  Moore,  Esq.,  F.S.A.     By  G.  Robertson. 

(a)  Kidwelly  Church.    Aquatint  by  G.  I.  Parkyns,  after  J.  C.  Barrow. 

(b)  Dumbarton.     By  G.  Robertson. 

(a)  Landscape  Composition  :  Evening.     By  G.  Robertson. 

(b)  ,,  ,,  with  a  stormy  sky.     By  G.  Robertson. 
„                   „  Sportsmen  resting  near  a  large  Oak. 
By  G.  Robertson. 

Aquatints  by  G.  I.  Parkyns,  after  sketches  by  J.  Moore. 

(a)  Colchester  Castle. 

(b)  Middleham  Castle. 

(c)  Kirkstall  Abbey. 

(d)  Romborough  Priory. 

(a)  Dunstaffnage  Castle.     By  E.  Dayes  and  J.  Moore. 

(b)  „  „          ByT.  Girtin. 

(a)  Duff  House.     (Blue  and  Black.)     By  T.  Girtin. 

(b)  „        „          (Water  Colour.)     By  T.  Girtin. 
Ely  Cathedral  from  the  South-East.     By  T.  Girtin. 

(a)  West  Front  of  Peterborough  Cathedral.     By  T.  Girtin. 

(b)  „  „        Lichficld  Cathedral.     By  T.  Girtin. 

(a)  Caesar's  Tower,  Warwick  Castle.   (Blue  and  Black.)    ByT.  Girtin. 

(b)  Ruined  Windows,  Kenilworth  Castle.     (Blue  and  Black.)     By 

T.  Girtin. 

(a)  Bexhill  Church.     By  T.  Girtin. 

(b)  Ruins  of  the  Savoy  Palace.     By  T.  Girtin. 
Transept  of  Tintern  Abbey.     By  J.  M.  W.  Turner. 

(a)  Porte  de  Cornillion,  Meaux.     By  A.  D.  Macquin. 

(b)  Durham  Cathedral,  from  beneath  an  Arch  of  Ralph  Flambard's 

Bridge  :  Moonlight.     By  E.  Dayes. 


(a)  Kilpeck  Church 

(b)  „ 

(a) 


XXXII.     (a) 


(c} 


Portion  of  West  Front. 

From  the  East. 

South  Door. 

Grotesque  stop  in  Corbel  Table. 

Central  portion  of  Arch  over  South  Door. 

Figure  on  jamb  of  Arch. 

Interior,  looking  East. 

Figures  on  jamb  of  Arch. 


ENGLISH   SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY   PORTRAIT 
DRAWINGS   IN  OXFORD  COLLECTIONS 

BY  C.  F.  BELL. 
PART  I 

SOME  apology  may  be  expected  by  the  members  of  such  a  body  as  the 
Walpole  Society  for  the  unscientific  treatment  accorded  to  a  subject,  so  fresh 
and  so  interesting  as  that  of  English  seventeenth-century  portrait  drawings,  in 
confining  the  discussion  to  such  examples  as  chance  to  find  themselves  in  a 
single  collection.  The  project  of  issuing  these  notes  in  a  form  lamentably  unrelated 
to  the  general  history  of  the  subject  was,  however,  suggested  by  the  conspicuous 
success  of  the  exhibition  and  publication  of  the  portrait  oil-paintings  belonging  to 
Oxford  collections  in  stimulating  new  interest  in  British  iconography,  and  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  historians,  art  critics,  and  journalists  to  this  branch  of  study. 
The  ancient  origin,  extent,  variety,  and  permanent  public  character  of  these 
collections  place  them  in  a  position  all  their  own,  and  may  be  held  to  excuse 
an  attempt  to  deal  with  the  whole  subject  upon  the  basis  of  such  illustra- 
tions of  it  as  they  afford,  especially  at  a  moment  when  the  conditions  of  life 
leave  few  students  free  to  work  at  such  trifling  occupations  and  confine  officials 
closely  to  the  collections  under  their  own  care. 

GENERAL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  COLLECTIONS. 

The  portrait  drawings  belonging  to  the  University  of  Oxford  have  accrued 
to  it  from  many  sources  and  are  distributed  amongst  several  institutions.  The 
Ashmolean  Museum  owns  a  drawing  by  William  Faithorne,  given  by  the  artist  to 
the  person  portrayed  and  by  him  to  the  Museum,  and  it  also  possesses  two  pastels 
and  a  group  of  exceptionally  interesting  black-lead  portraits  derived  from  more 
modern  benefactions.  In  the  Bodleian  Library  are  a  pastel  by  Edward  Lutterell 
and  a  chalk  drawing  by  Jonathan  Richardson  which  hang  in  the  Gallery,  and 
a  black-lead  miniature  by  Thomas  Forster  inserted  in  a  manuscript;  but  the 
principal  treasures  in  this  line  are  to  be  found  scattered  through  the  volumes  of 
the  celebrated  Sutherland  Collection,  a  small  library  of  wonderful  extra-illustrated 
books — the  most  important  being  copies  of  Lord  Clarendon's  History  of  the 

v.  B 


2   ENGLISH  SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  PORTRAIT 

Rebellion,  and  Life,  and  Bisb.6p  Burnet's  History  of  his  own  Time,  bound  in  sixty- 
one  folio  volumes  and  interleaved  with  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  splendid 
series  of  portraits  and  views  illustrating  English  history  which  has  ever  been  got 
together.  Although  this  consists  mainly  of  prints,  it  includes  many  drawings  of 
interest  and  value.  The  Hope  Collection  of  Engraved  Portraits  also  possesses 
a  few  drawings,  and  a  single  portrait  by  Thomas  Forster  hangs  in  the  Chapter 
House  at  Christ  Church. 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  PORTRAIT  DRAWINGS. 

Portrait  drawings  may  be  divided  into  three  classes  :  the  first  consisting  of 
painters'  preliminary  sketches  for  pictures ;  the  second,  of  finished  drawings 
made  for  their  own  sake  or  with  the  purpose  of  being  copied  in  engraving ;  the 
third,  of  engravers'  drawings,  that  is,  transcripts  as  mechanically  exact  as  possible, 
made  generally  by  the  engravers  themselves  from  paintings,  to  serve  as  the 
foundation  for  the  work  on  the  copper  plate. 


PRELIMINARY  STUDIES  FOR  PICTURES. 

In  works  included  in  the  first  category  Oxford  is  not  rich.  Two  Van 
Dyck  studies  in  the  Library  of  Christ  Church,  only  one  of  which,  the  charming 
but  sadly  defaced  sketch  of  the  Princess  Mary  (reproduced  in  the  handbook  to 
the  Drawings  in  the  Library  of  Christ  Church,  1914,  pi.  xxxiv),  belongs  to  his 
English  period.  A  beautiful  study  of  a  young  man  by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  and  the 
noble  whole-length  of  Sir  Henry  de  Vic,  Chancellor  of  the  Garter  (one  of  a 
series  of  about  twenty-five  similar  drawings  connected  with  the  Order  which  is 
scattered  in  various  cabinets),  both  in  the  Sutherland  Collection ;  a  slight  pre- 
liminary sketch  for  another  drawing  belonging  to  this  same  set,  and  the  attractive 
pastel  head  of  a  lady  (reproduced  in  plate  i  a)  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum.  An 
unattractive  mask  of  a  man,  attributed  to  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  also  in  the 
Ashmolean ;  and,  finally,  the  interesting  sketch  (at  Christ  Church)  for  the  picture 
of  a  musician,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  (no.  1463),  usually  identified  as 
Henry  Purcell  and  assigned  to  John  Closterman,  almost  complete  the  list. 

DRAWINGS  Ad  Vivum. 

The  drawings  belonging  to  the  second  class  are  at  once  more  numerous  and 
more  important.  The  University  possesses  the  only  known  drawing  by  Samuel 
Cooper,  one  of  the  finest  extant  drawings  by  Faithorne,  and  another  unfinished 
and  unsigned,  which  may  be  plausibly  attributed  to  him.  Amongst  the  minia- 


DRAWINGS   IN  OXFORD  COLLECTIONS  3 

tures  in  black-lead  are  four  David  Loggans  of  high  quality,  one  of  them  being 

apparently  the  original  of  an  engraving  of  great  iconographical  interest;  a 

portrait  by  Robert  White,  treated  with  peculiar  vigour  of  characterization ;  two 

by  Thomas  Forster ;  and  two  by  C.  Forster.     Faber  is  represented  by  two  of 

his   minutely  executed   pen-and-ink   drawings.     Still  completely  in  the  style 

of  the  seventeenth  century  are  the  studies  in  black-lead  on  vellum  of  Jonathan 

Richardson   the  elder;    several  of  particular   interest  are  in  the  Ashmolean 

and  Sutherland  Collections — the  latter  also  contains  a  number  of  works  in 

the  same  method  by  George  Vertue ;  these,  with  a  drawing  by  Thomas  Worlidge 

in  the  Hope  Collection,  and  two  by  an  anonymous  artist  signing  W.  N.  in  the 

Sutherland  Clarendon  show  the  last  lingering  manifestations  of  an  identical 

tradition  prolonged  as  late  as  the  third  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.     As 

all  of  them  are  signed  or  dated  they  form  a  series  of  unassailable  pieces  justi- 

ficaiives  for  the  history  of  this  branch  of  art.    The  anonymous  works  which 

may  be  linked  with  them  are  scarcely  of  less  interest.     Besides  the  unfinished 

head  of  Charles  II,  which  has  been  mentioned  as  worthy  of  being  attributed  to 

Faithorne,  there  is  a  poignant  study  of  Archbishop  Plunket  made  on  the  eve  of 

his  execution,  apparently  by  the  hand  of  Edward  Lutterell,  and  an  unidentified 

portrait  of  a  man  which  can  scarcely  have  been  executed  by  any  one  but  Loggan 

and  is  assuredly  in  his  best  manner. 


ENGRAVERS'  DRAWINGS. 

The  engravers'  drawings  are  more  numerous,  but  stand  on  a  far  lower  plane, 
being  in  fact  only  rarely  worthy  of  independent  notice  on  artistic  or  on  icono- 
graphic  grounds.  Their  value  is  due  to  the  fact  that  although  only  copies  they 
occasionally  afford  evidence  of  the  style  of  hand  of  certain  artists  who  we  know 
or  believe  to  have  executed  original  portraits  from  the  life.  Thus  there  are  here 
to  be  found,  amongst  many  drawings  of  less  interest, one  by  Abraham  Blooteling, 
one  signed  by  George  White,  and  another  by  John  Greenhill,  which  apparently 
served  as  the  medium  through  which  a  picture  by  Lely  was  translated  into 
a  mezzotint  by  Thomson. 

PASTELS. 

The  present  instalment  of  illustrations  and  notes  is  confined  to  early  examples 
of  pastel — that  is,  of  work  in  coloured  chalks  rubbed  and  mixed  together  on 
the  paper  with  the  intention  of  giving  something  of  the  complete  colour  and 
tonality  of  painting.  The  drawings  in  black,  white,  and  red  chalk — not  used  in 
this  manner— to  be  found  in  the  Oxford  collections  are  reserved  for  subsequent 
discussion.  The  developed  pastel  technique  was  probably  introduced  into 

B  2 


4       ENGLISH   SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  PORTRAIT 

England  from  France,  as  the  two  French  words  crayon  and  pastel  still  used 
to  define  this  branch  of  art  suggest,  about  the  period  of  the  Restoration.  It 
makes  its  first  appearance  in  the  hands  of  some  followers  of  Lely,  if  not  in  those 
of  the  master  himself,  and  its  close  similarity  of  effect  with  the  cognate  method 
of  painting  in  body  colour  which  had  been  carried  to  high  perfection  by  the 
miniaturists,  the  Olivers  and  Coopers,  contributed  no  doubt  to  advance  its 
popularity  here.  A  curious  passage  in  John  Evelyn's  Diary,  4  August  1694,' 
shows  how  that  eminent  virtuoso  regarded  the  two  technical  processes  as  in 
some  sense  rivals.  In  describing  the  portraits  of  the  ten  children  of  his  cousin 
George  Evelyn  of  Nutfield,  'all  painted  in  one  piece,  very  well,  by  Mr  Lutterel, 
in  crayon  on  copper,'  he  adds  that  it  seems  '  to  be  as  finely  painted  as  the  best 
miniature '. 

Similar  ideas  as  to  the  relationship  of  the  two  branches  of  art  seem  to  under- 
lie the  detailed  but  confused  directions  for  making  and  working  with  coloured 
chalks,  given  by  the  Author  of  the  Miniatura  MSS.  and  by  Sanderson  in  his 
Graphice,  both  of  whom  obviously  drew  from  a  common  source  of  information. 
We  read  of  portraits  executed  by  Hendrik  Goltzius  '  in  dry  colours  upon  writting 
vellim  after  the  life ',  the  faces  about  the  size  of  a  gold  Jacobus  coin  ;  and  of  some 
equally  minute  copies  from  Raphael  by  Sir  Balthazar  Gerbier,  the  faces  no 
bigger  than  a  shilling,  all  of  them  described  as  in  full  polychromy.2  The 
Author  of  the  MSS.  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  'never  knew  good  Lymner  but 
was  excellent  in  this  kind '  also,  and  instances  Holbein,  Rowland  Lockey,  the 
Olivers,  Hoskins,  and  Samuel  Cooper  as  expert  in  an  art  which  '  may  pass  for 
painting  when  done  in  proper  colours  as  most  commonly  it  is  '.3  Both  writers 
differentiate  between  the  unsatisfactory  and  fugitive  method  practised  on  a  life- 
sized  scale  by  Daniel  Dumoustier  with  powdered  pigments  '  upon  a  coarse  and 
slovenly  paper  rubb'd  in  with  Pencills,  stufft  with  Cotton  or  bumbast ',  which  is 
deprecated  as  '  a  French  trifle ',  and  the  use  of  coloured  crayons,  made  up  into 
sticks  with  wax  and  other  materials,  which  it  was  also  possible  to  blend  and 
manipulate  on  the  paper  with  stumps  or  the  finger.4  Unfortunately  the  only 
instances  of  the  use  of  the  latter  process  specified  by  the  authors  to  which  it  is 
now  possible  to  refer — the  celebrated  Holbein  drawings  at  Windsor  Castle — 
only  show  that  the  theory  of  the  development  of  the  art  was  more  familiar  to 
them  than  the  practice,  none  of  these  being  executed  in  what  is  now  properly 
meant  by  pastel.  In  short,  the  method  used  by  Lely  and  his  contemporaries 
was  no  doubt  to  some  extent  the  same  as  that  of  the  French  crayonnistes, 
with,  perhaps,  grafted  upon  it  a  fuller  chromatic  and  pictorial  aim  derived  from 
the  Italian  school,  and  primarily  from  Baroccio,  who  seems  to  have  approached 

Edit.  Dobson,  1906,  iii.  312.  •  Bodleian  Library  MS.,  Tanner,  326,  p.  70. 

MS.  cit.,  p.  68.  <  Sanderson,  Graphice,  London,  1658,  p.  79. 


DRAWINGS  IN  OXFORD  COLLECTIONS  5 

more  nearly  than  any  other  of  the  Old  Masters  to  discovering  the  new  technical 
manner.  Several  details  in  the  directions  given  by  Sanderson  indicate  that  his 
crayons  must  have  been  rather  hard,  and  contemporary  references  to  the  exten- 
sion of  the  pastellist's  palette  by  Ashfield  and  Lutterell  show  that  up  to  their 
time  it  was  a  limited  one.  Anybody  who  has  handled  a  common  chalk  pencil 
and  a  stick  of  fine  pastel  will  realize  that  the  difference  in  the  consistency  of  the 
material — the  homely  proverb  about  chalk  and  cheese  at  once  occurs  to  the 
mind — is  alone  enough  to  account  for  an  advance  in  the  conception  of  the  effect 
it  was  possible  to  achieve,  and  for  a  more  deliberate  attempt  at  the  qualities  of 
painting,  definitely  marking  off  the  earliest  precursors  of  Rosalba,  Peronneau, 
and  Russell. 

From  the  passages  quoted  and  from  the  fact  that  most  of  the  early  works 
in  pastel  which  have  survived  are  small  in  scale,  it  may  be  justifiable  to  infer  that 
there  was  a  certain  connexion  between  the  two  branches  of  art  and  that  some 
miniaturists  worked  in  crayons.  But  that  the  pastellists  were  invariably  or 
even  generally  miniature  painters  is  an  assumption  which  cannot  be  proved. 
Cooper  is  included,  for  example,  in  the  list  cited  above  amongst  those  who 
worked  in  crayons.  But  the  specimens  of  his  work  described  are  particularly 
distinguished  as  done  with  '  a  white  and  black  chalk  upon  a  coloured  paper ', 
achieving  '  likeness,  neatness,  and  roundness  abastanza  da  fare  emaravigliare 
ogni  acutissimo  tngegno ' 1 ;  and  this  suggests  that  Cooper  did  not  advance  beyond 
the  method  of  drawing  in  three  chalks  (although  red  is  not  mentioned)  which 
originated  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Correggio  and  had  been  carried  to  per- 
fection in  portraiture  by  Ottavio  Leoni  and,  in  a  different  style,  by  Rubens. 
A  well-known  pastel  portrait  of  Cooper  now  in  the  Dyce  Collection  (D  91)  in 
the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  has  been  accepted  as  his  own  work.  Yet 
Horace  Walpole,  who  knew  and  owned  this  very  picture,  admits  that  he  could 
find  '  no  account  of  his  essays  in  this  way  '.2  And  it  is  strange  that  Cooper,  who 
almost  invariably  initialled  his  miniatures,  should  have  left  no  signed  crayon 
portraits.  Lutterell,  whose  authentic  extant  pastels  are  little  larger  than  minia- 
tures, is  said  by  Vertue  to  have  executed,  at  least  in  the  latter  part  of  his  career, 
portraits  on  a  life-sized  scale,  but  nobody  has  yet  noted  a  miniature  bearing  his 
monogram. 

It  is  upon  the  same  mistaken  train  of  reasoning  that  attempts  have  been 
made  to  attribute  miniatures  to  yet  another  artist  who  has  lately  been  held 
to  have  been  the  principal  exponent  of  pastel  at  this  period— the  recently 
re-discovered  and  already  largely  mythological  Edmund  Ashfield— and  this 

1  Bodleian  Library  MS.,  Tanner,  326,  p.  69.  The  way  in  which  this  passage  follows  immediately 
upon  the  allusions  to  the  works  of  .Goltzius,  Strada,  and  Gerbier,  already  quoted,  confirms  the 
impression  that  the  Author's  ideas  about  the  process  were  not  very  clear. 

1  Anecdotes  of  Painting,  edit.  Dallaway  and  Wornum,  ii.  149. 


6   ENGLISH  SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  PORTRAIT 

although   his  only  ascertained  works  outside  a  very  small  group  of  crayon 
portraits  are  oil-pictures.1 

T.  THRUMTON. 

It  must  be  confessed,  in  fact,  that  exceedingly  little  is  known  about  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  early  pastels  were  executed,  and  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  the  information  on  this  subject  to  be  extracted  from  the  very  curious  and 
interesting  sheet  of  studies  (frontispiece  and  plate  i  b)  by  a  hitherto  totally 
unknown  artist,  T.  Thrumton,  who  was  working  in  London  in  1667,  is  very  slight. 
The  author  of  these  two  portraits  was  evidently  an  accomplished  and  practised 
draughtsman  very  closely  allied  with  the  school  of  Lely,  as  a  comparison  of  his 
head  of  Mary  Carleton  with  that  of  an  unidentified  court  beauty  by  Sir  Peter 
(plate  i  a)  clearly  shows.  The  period  of  this  and  other  similar  studies  by  Lely  is 
unknown.  They  may  be  earlier  than  1667,  but  as  far  as  is  known  the  date  on 
the  sheet  by  Thrumton  is  the  earliest  upon  any  English  drawing  in  this  medium. 
The  handling  of  the  chalk  seems  to  point  to  the  conclusion  that  Thrumton  was 
not  a  miniaturist  nor,  at  this  stage  of  his  career,  a  practising  pastellist,  but  more 
probably  one  of  the  many  oil-painters  who  contributed  to  build  up  the  immense 
mass  of  pictures  still  indiscriminately  assigned  to  Lely.  The  excellent  full-sized 
facsimile  of  the  portrait  on  the  recto  almost  obviates  the  necessity  for  any  remarks 
on  the  technical  peculiarities  of  the  work.  The  paper  is  pale  buff,  and  has  been 
darkened  over  a  great  part  of  the  background  and  figure  with  a  rubbing  of  red 
and  black  chalk  mixed  on  the  paper  and  then  possibly  wetted.  Most  of  the 
drawing  is  executed  in  simple  strokes  of  black  and  red  chalk,  the  pastel  treat- 

1  It  may  be  permissible  to  add  in  this  place  to  the  Notes  on  Edmund  Ashfield,  contributed  by 
Mr.  C.  H.  C.  Baker  to  the  Annual  of  the  Walpole  Society,  vol.  iii,  an  indication  of  two  more  authen- 
ticable  works  by  this  artist  and  also  a  contemporary  note  which,  slight  as  it  is,  affords  more  personal 
information  about  him  than  is  to  be  derived  from  any  other  source.  It  occurs  in  the  Diary  of 
Thomas  Hearne,  the  antiquary  (July  30,  1709).  'The  old  Duke  of  Ormond's  Picture  in  the  School 
Gallery  was  done  by  one  Ashfield  from  the  original  drawn  by  Sir  Peter  Lilly.  The  said  Ashfield 
also  drew  the  Picture  of  Dun  Scotus  in  the  same  Gallery,  from  his  own  Invention.  Mr.  Ashfield 
had  a  great  Genius  for  Painting,  especially  for  Craons.  He  liv'd  in  Holborn  Rowe  in  Lincoln's  Inn 
Field.  He  was  a  sober  Person  &  suspected  to  be  a  Roman  Catholick '  (Remarks  and  Collections 
of  Thomas  Hearne,  edit.  Oxford  Historical  Society,  ii.  227-8).  This  portrait  of  the  Duke  of  Ormonde 
is  a  whole-length  life-sized  oil-picture  copied  from  the  original  by  Lely,  in  the  Duke  of  Devonshire's 
Collection.  It  is  known  to  have  been  in  the  Bodleian  Gallery  in  1679,  and  is  now  in  the  Sheldonian 
Theatre  (Catalogue  of  Oxford  Exhibition  of  Historical  Portraits,  1905,  p.  71.  Poole,  Catalogue  of 
Oxford  Portraits,  1912,  i,  p.  133).  The  picture  of  Duns  Scotus,  a  life-sized  three-quarters  length, 
also  in  oil,  appears  to  have  been  acquired  from  the  artist  in  1670  ;  it  is  still  in  the  Bodleian  Gallery 
(Poole,  op.  cit,  p.  3).  Mr.  J.  J.  Foster,  in  his  recently  published  volumes  on  Samuel  Cooper,  fixes 
the  year  1700  as  that  of  Ashfield's  death.  But  no  authority  is  given  for  this  statement,  and  the 
standard  of  original  research  which  the  book  attains  is  scarcely  such  as  to  warrant  any  hope  that  the 
date  is  derived  from  newly  discovered  evidence. 


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DRAWINGS  IN   OXFORD  COLLECTIONS  7 

ment  properly  speaking  being  confined,  as  in  similar  works  by  Lely,  to  the  face. 
The  signature,  T.  Thrumton  fecit  Londini  i66j,  is  in  ink. 

Research  has  failed  to  bring  to  light  a  single  other  mention  of  this  artist's 
name ;  no  other  original  work  by  him  seems  to  be  known  and,  even  more  strange, 
not  one  engraving  after  him  appears  to  exist.1 

The  drawing  on  the  verso  of  the  sheet  (plate  i  b)  is  slighter  in  execution 
and  less  well  preserved.  The  paper  is  left  with  its  natural  buff  surface;  the 
head  is  sketched  in  black  chalk,  the  shadows  (as  under  the  chin)  being  expressed 
by  hatchings  of  the  same ;  but  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the  flesh  tint  is  obtained 
by  a  rubbed-in  mixture  of  red  and  white  chalk,  white  itself  being  employed  for 
the  high-lights. 

To  the  left  of  the  head  in  the  same  black  chalk  as  the  rest  of  the  work  is 
written  'Ye  Jarman  Prinsis';  some  undecypherable  words  scribbled  in  the 
bottom  right-hand  corner  are  in  a  later  hand  and  seem  only  to  refer  to  a  price 
set  upon  the  drawing  or  its  number  in  some  catalogue.  The  '  German  Princess ' 
depicted  was  a  person  of  considerable  notoriety  in  her  day.  She  figures  in 
the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography  under  the  name  of  Mary  Carleton,  other- 
wise Moders,  and  is  said  to  have  had  more  aliases  than  any  other  rogue  in  the 
kingdom.  Her  most  unedifying  career  of  knavery  and  impudence  ended  on 
the  gallows  in  1673.  The  stories  of  her  trickery,  impostures,  and  shameless 
self-advertisement  aroused  considerable  interest  and  amusement  at  the  time,  and 
were  the  theme  of  a  number  of  ephemeral  publications  furnishing  no  less  than 
thirteen  items  in  the  Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  the  British  Museum.  Her 
memory  was  prolonged  by  the  fact  that  some  of  these  were  illustrated  by  a 
squalid  little  engraved  portrait  by  John  Chantry,  this  entitling  her  to  a  niche  in 
Granger's  Biographical  History  and  indeed  warranting  the  re-engraving  of  this 
portrait  in  the  golden  age  of  Grangerism  for  Caulfield's  Portraits  of  Remarkable 
Persons,  1813  (ii.  183).  Probably  her  surest  title  to  some  sort  of  immortality 
will  henceforward  be  based  upon  her  being  mentioned  three  times  by  Pepys : 
firstly,  in  allusion  to  her  trial  for  bigamy  in  May  and  June  1663,  when  the 
diarist  relates  that  he  supported  the  wit  and  spirit  of  her  defence  in  an  altercation 

1  Mrs.  R.  L.  Poole,  to  whose  researches  the  writer  is  greatly  indebted  for  the  historical  materials 
of  the  present  paper,  has  minutely  examined  the  calendars  of  state  papers,  printed  church  registers, 
wills,  and  other  sources,  in  the  hope  of  discovering  some  information  which  might  be  connected 
with  the  artist.  The  name  itself  seems  to  be  of  rare  occurrence.  One  Thomas  Thrumpton, 
mentioned  as  the  elder  son,  is  bequeathed  a  legacy  under  the  will  of  his  father  Ralph  Thrumpton, 
husbandman  of  Statherne  in  Leicestershire,  proved  in  1621.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  second  son 
Roger,  who  was  still  living  in  1664,  inherited  his  father's  real  property.  It  is  possible  that  this 
Thomas  maybe  identical  with  one  Thomas  Thronton,  who  was  buried  in  Christ  Church,  Newgate  S*, 
Oct.  n,  1676.  He  left  no  will  in  London.  Ralph  Thrumpton  also  mentions  his  daughter 
Cassandra,  and  his  grandchildren,  unnamed,  children  of  Thomas.  It  is  possible  that  the  artist  may 
have  been  one  of  them  or,  at  least,  connected  with  this  family. 


8   ENGLISH  SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  PORTRAIT 

with  his  dearest  foe  Lady  Batten ; l  and  secondly,  when  he  went  with  his  wife 
to  the  Duke's  House  on  April  15, 1664,  and  saw  'The  German  Princess  acted  by 
the  woman  herself,  the  play  being  founded  upon  one  of  her  cozening  escapades 
in  which  she  had  represented  herself  to  be  a  German  lady  of  high  rank.  Pepys 
adds  the  comment,  '  but  never  was  anything  so  well  done  in  earnest  worse  per- 
formed in  jest  upon  the  stage'.2 

Supposing  that  the  drawing  on  the  verso  of  the  present  sheet  is  of  the  same 
period  as  that  on  the  recto  and  the  date,  1642  (?),  of  her  birth  given  by  the 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography  is  accurate,  the  age  of  the  'German  Prindess' 
at  the  time  when  she  sat  to  Thrumton  would  be  about  twenty-five,  which  tallies 
well  with  her  appearance,  better  than  forty-two  or  thirty-two  which  would  have 
been  her  age  in  1667  if  deduced  from  the  figures,  perhaps  satirically  intended, 
upon  one  of  the  engraved  portraits  and  in  The  Counterfeit  Lady  Unveiled,  one 
of  the  accounts  of  her  life  published  shortly  after  her  execution.  It  would  seem 
that  the  present  drawing  is  not  connected  with  any  of  the  engraved  portraits. 
The  prototype  of  these  was  the  plate,  signed  by  John  Chantry,  prefixed  to  the 
Histoncall  Narrative  of  the  German  Princess  published  in  1663  and  taken, 
according  to  The  Counterfeit  Lady  Unveiled,  'by  her  own  order  and  appoint- 
ment '  in  that  year.  The  actual  position  of  the  head  and  style  of  hair-dressing 
are  somewhat  similar  in  both,  but  the  gulf  between  the  artistic  and  iconographic 
qualities  of  the  two  portraits  is  profound  indeed.  A  miniature  of  her  husband 
which  she  wore  at  her  execution  is  several  times  mentioned  in  the  narratives ; 
and  it  is  tempting  to  identify  the  head  of  the  young  man  on  the  recto  of  our 
sheet  as  a  study  for  this,  but  there  is  unfortunately  not  a  shadow  of  foundation 
for  such  an  imaginative  excursion. 

The  drawings  on  both  sides  are  the  same  size,  9!  x  7!  inches.  This  sheet 
formed  part  of  the  vast  collections  bequeathed  to  the  University  by  Francis 
Douce  in  1834 ;  nothing  is  known  of  its  earlier  provenance. 

SIR  PETER  LELY. 

Upon  a  similar  scale  to  the  last  and  strikingly  resembling  it  in  technique  is 
the  bust  of  an  unidentified  beauty  of  the  court  of  Charles  II  reproduced  in 
plate  i  a.  It  belongs  to  a  familiar  and  fairly  numerous  class  of  studies  by  Lely, 
of  which  three  exceptionally  fine  specimens  are  to  be  found  in  the  British 
Museum.3 

Little  study  has  been  brought  to  bear  upon  Sir  Peter's  drawings,  and  it  is 

1  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys,  edit.  Wheatley,  1893,  "i>  PP-  X49»  J^2. 

*  Ib.,  1894,  iv-  II1- 

3  Binyon,  Catalogue  of  Drawings  by  British  Artists,  iii,  p.  53,  nos.  3,  5,  6 ;  Reproductions  of 
Drawings  by  Old  Masters  in  the  British  Museum,   Part  IV,  pi.  vi ;  Burlington  Magazine,  1906-7, 
x.  74,  pi.  n). 


DRAWINGS  IN   OXFORD  COLLECTIONS  9 

uncertain  whether  these  particular  sketches,  none  of  which  are  actually  dated 
although  many  are  signed,  all  belong  to  one  period  of  his  career.  But  from  the 
similarity  of  style  which  they  display  this  seems  probable,  while  the  class  of 
subject  and  fashion  of  hair-dressing  appear  to  indicate  the  era  of  the  ascendancy 
of  the  Countess  of  Castlemaine,  whose  portrait  has  been  identified  in  one  of  the 
British  Museum  sheets  (no.  5)  and  the  painting  of  the  celebrated  series  of  the 
'  Windsor  Beauties '  between  1660  and  1670.  The  end  of  this  period  is  rather 
indicated  for  the  present  study  by  the  fact  that  the  attitude  and  accessories — the 
shepherdess's  large  flapped  hat  and  crook— are  found  in  the  three-quarters- 
length  portrait  of  the  Duchess  of  Cleveland  engraved  by  W.  Sherwin,  dated  1670, 
and  doubtless  published  at  the  moment  when  Lady  Castlemaine  had  been  raised 
to  higher  rank.  The  pose  and  attributes  became,  as  often  happened  with  Lely, 
part  of  his  stock-in-trade ;  a  portrait  of  Queen  Catherine  in  the  same  style  is 
believed  to  exist,  and  there  may  be  those  of  other  ladies.  It  does  not  seem 
possible  to  identify  the  present  subject  with  any  one  of  the  beauties  whose 
pictures  now  line  King  William  Ill's  bedchamber  at  Hampton  Court.  The 
nearest  resemblance  it  presents  is  to  the  enchanting  picture  variously  known  as 
the  Princess  Mary  or  Jane  Kelleway  as  Diana,  but  this  may  only  be  due  to  the 
air  of  extreme  youthfulness  presented  by  both. 

The  facsimile,  already  referred  to,  of  one  of  the  British  Museum  drawings, 
gives  a  good  idea  of  the  colour  scheme  of  the  present  sheet.  The  paper  is 
chamois  buff;  red  chalk  is  used  in  many  places  to  outline  the  features ;  and  fine 
lines  of  it  are  mingled  with  black  in  the  hair.  The  pastel  blending  of  red  and 
white  expresses  the  colour  and  modelling  of  the  flesh,  and  rubbings  of  white 
and  hatchings  of  black,  with  the  paper  as  middle  tint,  produce  a  painter-like 
rendering  of  the  hat  and  dress.  Unfortunately  the  bloom  of  surface,  which 
must  once  have  made  this  study  as  attractive  as  those  in  the  British  Museum, 
has  been  largely  destroyed.  It  measures  10  x  7^  inches.  It  came  to  the 
University  by  the  bequest  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Finch,  1830 ;  its  previous  history 
is  unknown. 

EDWARD  LUTTERELL. 

If  anything  were  needed  to  convince  students  of  old  British  art — such  as 
the  members  of  the  Walpole  Society— that  no  real  progress  in  the  history  of 
this  subject  is  possible  until  the  manuscripts  of  George  Vertue  have  been  edited 
and  printed  in  full,  or  at  least  made  available  in  the  form  of  a  full  abstract  and 
completely  indexed,  a  superficial  comparison  of  the  printed  lives  of  Lutterell 
would  carry  conviction.  The  foundation  of  them  is  Walpole's  summary,  made 
with  slightly  less  grasp  and  intuition  than  he  usually  displays,  of  a  somewhat 
confused  note  of  Vertue's ;  some  information  presumably  traditional,  since  it 
cannot  be  substantiated  from  older  sources,  given  in  Pilkington's  Dictionary ; 

v.  c 


io      ENGLISH   SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY   PORTRAIT 

and  a  vein  of  more  trustworthy  metal,  worked  for  the  first  time  by  Chaloner 
Smith  in  his  British  Mezzotinto  Portraits,  Part  II,  p.  828,  derived  from  a  study 
of  the  plates  engraved  by  and  after  this  artist. 

From  modern  accounts,  such  as  those  of  Redgrave,  Mr.  Walter  Strickland, 
and  Mr.  Lionel  Cust  in  the  Dictionaries  of  English  and  Irish  Artists  and 
National  Biography,  and  Mr.  Baker  in  the  appendix  to  his  Lely  and  the  Stuart 
Portrait  Painters,  extracted  or  amplified  from  these  materials,  there  emerge 
more  than  one  specious-looking  figure  dressed  out  in  second-hand  historical 
material  of  undefined  provenance  which  prove,  when  they  come  to  be  scrutinized 
and  compared,  to  be  supported  on  skeletons  with  many  missing  and  some 
redundant  bones. 

As  Lutterell  appears  to  have  been  held  in  his  day  as  one  of  the  first  pastellists 
of  the  time,  and  as  he  may  yet  be  disclosed  as  a  more  considerable  artist  than 
anything  now  known  warrants  us  to  account  him,  it  is  worth  while  to  make 
a  digest  of  the  facts  of  his  biography  when  introducing  a  reproduction  of  one  of 
his  few  authenticated  paintings. 

Even  his  Christian  name  remained  for  a  long  while  uncertain.  Walpole 
does  not  mention  it.  Dallaway,  when  editing  the  Anecdotes  of  Painting,  supplied 
it,  doubtless  upon  the  authority  of  Pilkington,  as  Henry.  This  is  clearly  an  error, 
as  Nagler  followed  by  Chaloner  Smith  pointed  out,  since  all  Lutterell's  signed 
works  show  the  initial  E.  The  expansion  into  Edward,  found  in  the  Dictionary 
of  National  Biography,  was  made  upon  the  unimpeachable  authority  of  Vertue's 
original  manuscript,  where  it  has  been  added  in  the  margin.  There  appears, 
moreover,  to  be  no  foundation  firmer  than  a  tradition  of  unknown  age  and  origin 
for  the  statement  that  he  was  born  in  Dublin.  Vertue  presents  him  first  to  view 
as  a  student  of  the  law  in  New  Inn,  London.1  Pilkington,  himself  an  Irishman, 
born  in  the  Irish  capital  during  Lutterell's  lifetime  and  to  whom  some  direct 
sources  of  information  may  have  been  open,  is  responsible  for  the  story  that  he 
spent  a  great  part  of  his  life  in  Dublin  and  afterwards  came  to  London.2 

The  accounts  of  his  artistic  education  are  equally  conflicting.  Vertue  main- 
tains that  Lutterell  '  had  no  instructor  or  regular  teaching  '.3  But  Richard 
Graham,  in  his  notes  on  Ashfield,  says  that  it  was  he  who  was  Lutterell's  master. 
It  was  from  Ashfield,  he  says,  that  '  the  present  Mr.  Luttrell  had  his  Instruction, 
who  has  improv'd  that  invention,  and  multiply'd  the  Variety  of  Colours  to  effect 
anything,  as  also  found  out  a  method  unknown  before,  to  draw  with  those  Chalks 
or  Crayons  on  Copper-Plates,  either  by  the  Life  or  Historically  '.*  It  is  Vertue 

1  British  Museum  MSS.  Add.  21111  f.  24.   All  the  original  records  of  New  Inn  have  disappeared. 

2  Dictionary  of  Painters,  London,  1770,  p.  359. 

3  British  Museum  MSS.  Add.  21111  f.  24. 

An  Essay  towards  an  English  School  of  Painters,  appended  to  the  Translation  of  De  Piles's 
Art  of  Painting,  London,  1706,  p.  399.  Walpole  mentions  that  some,  Dallaway  says  three,  works 


DRAWINGS  IN   OXFORD   COLLECTIONS  n 

who  provides  the  information  that  'from  a  small  knowledge  of  drawing  by 
practice  for  his  Pleasure '  Lutterell  '  at  length  persued  it  and  left  the  practice  of 
the  Law'.1 

The  date  of  Lutterell's  birth  is  unknown ;  no  authority  for  fixing  it  about  1650, 
as  is  sometimes  done,  seems  to  exist ;  the  first  question  is,  therefore,  to  determine 
that  of  his  earliest  appearance  as  a  practising  artist.  The  facts  are  not  perfectly 
clear,  but  a  list  of  his  known  dated  works  in  chronological  order  will  set  them 
before  the  reader  in  the  most  intelligible  form. 

1673. 

The  date  upon  the  mezzotint  of  Anthony,  first  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  from 
a  picture  by  Greenhill  (Chaloner  Smith,  no.  16).  It  shows  the  bust  alone,  but 
is  doubtless  based  upon  the  three-quarters-length  seated  portrait  painted  during 
the  year  November  1672  to  November  1673,  when  Shaftesbury  was  Lord 
Chancellor,  and  engraved  in  line  by  Blooteling  in  1673 ;  and,  as  it  is  in  reverse, 
may  possibly  itself  have  been  copied  from  the  engraving.  It  is  noticeable  that 
the  date  on  this  plate  is  separated  by  an  interval  of  some  six  years  from  that 
of  the  next  known  to  have  been  scraped  by  Lutterell,  and  by  one  of  no  less  than 
fifty  from  the  latest  year  in  which  he  is  recorded  to  have  been  still  living, 
which  would  imply  that  he  flourished  during  an  exceptionally  long  period. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  here  the  story  printed  at  length  by  Walpole, 
following  Vertue,  and  lucidly  summarized  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography, 
of  Lutterell's  adventures  when  attempting  to  discover  the  secret  of  laying  a  mezzo- 
tint ground  and  his  connexion  with  the  early  practitioners  of  the  process.  Some 
discrepancies  in  it  have  been  pointed  out  by  Chaloner  Smith  in  his  account  of 
Lloyd  (British  Mezzotinto  Portraits,  Part  II,  p.  822).  And,  in  fact,  a  close  study 
of  the  dates  involved  leads  apparently  to  the  conclusion  that  Lutterell's  attention 
cannot  well  have  been  attracted  to  mezzotint  as  early  as  1673.  Blooteling, 
whose  assistant  Blois  figures  in  the  story,  returned  to  Amsterdam,  according  to 
Wurzbach  (Ntederlandisches  Kunstlerlexicon),  whither  according  to  Vertue's 
account  Blois  was  preparing  to  accompany  him,  in  1676.  Paul  Van  Somer  (con- 
fused by  Vertue  with  his  brother  John,  who  never  seems  to  have  visited  this 
country)  did  not  come  to  London  until  1675;  and  Isaac  Beckett,  to  whom 
Lloyd  imparted  the  process  he  had  learned  from  Blois  when  he  declined  to 
explain  it  to  Lutterell,  began  to  practise  about  1681,  not  much  later  than  the 
period  when  Lutterell's  next  known  plate  was  presumably  executed.  It  is 
tempting  to  imagine  that  this  portrait  was  really  copied,  including  the  date,  from 

by  Lutterell  in  this  manner  were  in  Queen  Caroline's  Closet  at  Kensington  Palace.     (Anecdotes  of 
Painting,  ii.  125  note.) 
1  MS.  cit.  aim  f.  24. 

C  2 


12     ENGLISH   SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY   PORTRAIT 

Blooteling's  line-engraving,  for  production  at  the  moment  of  popular  enthusiasm 
for  Shaftesbury  following  his  acquittal  in  1681,  and  belongs  to  the  group 
of  Lutterell's  works  which  centres  round  the  agitated  epoch  of  the  Popish  and 
other  plots  and  the  personages  involved  in  them.  It  is,  of  course,  possible  that 
some  of  these  portraits  may  belong  to  the  era  of  reaction  against  plot-discovery 
instead  of  to  that  of  the  mania  itself;  this  might  make  them  a  little  later  than 
the  dates  given  below ;  they  cannot  well  be  earlier. 

The  plate  of  Shaftesbury,  rough  and  primitive  as  it  is,  is  not  more  so  than 
all  excepting  the  two  latest  of  this  engraver's.  Like  all  excepting  these  and 
the  portrait  of  the  Earl  of  Yarmouth,  it  is  very  small  in  size,  and  greatly  inferior 
in  workmanship  to  those  of  most  of  his  contemporaries  ;  so  much  so,  in  fact,  as 
to  arouse  amazement  at  Vertue's  statement  that  Lutterell  drew  better  than  Isaac 
Beckett. 

1679  (?). 

Mezzotint  of  Richard  Langhorne,  after  an  unnamed  painter,  probably 
Lutterell  himself  (C.  S.  12).  The  subject  was  one  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
victims  of  Titus  Oates's  delations ;  he  was  executed  in  January  of  this  year. 

1680. 

In  or  before  this  year,  if  they  were  taken  from  life  as  they  have  the  air  of 
being,  must  have  been  painted  the  two  crayon  and  gouache  portraits  of  Samuel 
Butler— one  in  the  Bodleian  Library  (plate  n  a,  and  page  16  posf),  the  other  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery  (no.  248).  Both  are  signed. 

Mezzotint,  probably  after  an  original  portrait  by  the  engraver  himself,  of 
William  Howard,  Lord  Stafford  (C.  S.  17),  who  perished  in  the  Popish  plot 
prosecutions  of  this  year. 

1681. 

Mezzotint  of  Oliver  Plunket,  Archbishop  of  Armagh  (C.  S.  14),  who  also 
suffered  death  at  this  time  on  similar  charges  to  the  last.  This  plate  is  based  on 
a  crayon  drawing  said  to  have  been  made  by  Luttrell  while  the  archbishop  was 
in  prison.  The  questions  relating  to  this  tradition  must  be  reserved  for  a  later 
instalment  of  these  notes,  when  what  appears  to  be  the  original  black-lead  sketch, 
in  the  Sutherland  Collection,  comes  to  be  discussed. 

1682. 

Dated  mezzotint,  after  an  original  stated  on  the  plate  to  have  been  Lutterell's 
own  painting  (C.  S.  20),  of  Robert  Paston,  Earl  of  Yarmouth,  who  died  in  March 
1682-3. 

Dated  mezzotint,  after  an  original  by  an  unnamed  artist,  presumably  the 


DRAWINGS  IN  OXFORD  COLLECTIONS  13 

engraver,  of  Hamet  Ben  Hamet,  Ambassador  from  the  Emperor  of  Fez  and 
Morocco  to  Charles  II  (C.  S.  8). 

Dated  mezzotint,  after  an  original  by  Lutterell  '  drawn  from  the  life  at  the 
Duke's  Theatre ',  of  Keay  Nabee  and  Keay  Abi,  Ambassadors  from  the  Sultan 
of  Bantam  to  Charles  II  (C.  S.  12). 


1683. 

Dated  mezzotint,  after  Kneller,  of  William  Lord  Russell,  who  was  executed 
in  connexion  with  the  Rye  House  plot  this  year  (C.S.  15). 

Mezzotint,  after  Lely,  of  Arthur  Capel,  Earl  of  Essex,  implicated  in  the 
same  conspiracy,  who  died  in  July  of  this  year  (C.  S.  7). 

1684. 

Dated  mezzotint,  after  an  anonymous  artist,  possibly  Lutterell  himself,  of 
Lord  Chief  Justice  Jeffreys  (C.  S.  n).  The  monogram  of  the  artist  upon  this 
plate  takes  a  very  unusual  form. 

ABOUT  1688  (?). 

Pastel  portrait,  signed,  of  Archbishop  Sancroft,  in  the  National  Portrait 
Gallery  (no.  301).  (See  page  16  post.}  In  the  absence  of  any  definite  information 
about  the  execution  of  this  we  are  probably  justified  in  supposing  it  to  date 
from  the  period  of  the  archbishop's  opposition  to  James  II  and  the  acquittal  of 
the  seven  bishops.  It  corresponds  in  its  main  lines  with  the  numerous  popular 
portraits  produced  at  that  time. 

1689. 

In  or  before  this  year  Lutterell  must  have  painted  the  picture  of  Gilbert 
Burnet  engraved  in  line  by  Van  der  Giest,  as  the  early  state  of  the  plate  repre- 
sents Burnet  before  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Salisbury  in  this  year. 
Lutterell's  own  mezzotint  (C.  S.  i),  in  which  the  subject  appears  in  a  plain  clergy- 
man's dress,  must  also  date  from  this  period. 

1694. 

John  Evelyn  notes  in  his  diary  that  on  August  4  of  this  year  he  saw  at 
the  house  of  his  cousin  a  group  in  pastel  (see  p.  4  ante)  which,  as  the  subjects 
were  then  young  children,  cannot  have  been  painted  very  long  before.1 

1  Diary  of  John  Evelyn,  edit.  A.  Dobson,  1906,  iii.  312,  and  Pedigree  in  vol.  i. 


i4     ENGLISH   SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY   PORTRAIT 

1694-1700. 

Lutterell's  portrait  of  William  Russell,  Duke  of  Bedford,  engraved  in  mezzo- 
tint by  R.  Williams  (C.  S.,  Part  IV,  p.  1596,  no.  6),  was  presumably  painted  in  this 
period.  The  creation  of  the  dukedom  dates  from  1694.  The  duke  died,  as 
recorded  in  the  title  of  the  print,  in  1700. 

1699. 

Dated  and  signed  portrait,  in  crayons  on  copper,  of  an  unknown  gentleman, 
in  the  National  Gallery  of  Ireland  (no.  2352).  (See  page  17  post.) 

1706  (?). 

Mezzotint,  from  a  drawing  by  the  engraver,  of  Francis  Higgins,  called  the 
'  Irish  Sacheverell ',  who  made  himself  notorious  by  his  political  pulpit-oratory  in 
London  at  this  time.  This  plate  is  larger  than  most  of  Lutterell's  earlier  works, 
and  shows  a  great  advance  in  technique  and  artistic  power. 

Publication  of  the  first  edition  of  the  History  of  England,  edited  by  White 
Kennett,  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  in  three  folio  volumes.  This  contains  a  series 
of  more  or  less  imaginary  heads  of  English  monarchs  from  William  the  Conqueror 
to  Charles  I,  engraved  from  drawings  by  Lutterell.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
portraits  of  the  later  sovereigns  from  Charles  II  to  Queen  Anne,  whose  head 
forms  the  frontispiece  to  the  first  volume,  are  from  originals  by  various  con- 
temporary artists  amongst  whom  Lutterell  does  not  figure. 

1707. 

Dated  mezzotint,  from  a  drawing  by  the  engraver,  of  Dr.  Robert  Cony 
(C.  S.  6).  This  plate  is  on  the  same  scale  as  the  print  of  Francis  Higgins,  and 
is  much  superior  to  it  in  breadth  of  execution  and  characterization,  especially  in 
what  is  described  by  Chaloner  Smith  as  the  second  and  greatly  re-worked  state. 

1710. 

About  this  year,  according  to  the  old  accounts,  Lutterell  died,  but  researches 
specially  made  by  Mrs.  R.  L.  Poole  in  the  unexplored  recesses  of  Vertue's 
manuscripts  have  added  two  more  fixed  dates  which  prolong  the  artist's  career 
considerably. 

1711. 

In  this  year  Lutterell's  name  appears  in  the  list  given  by  Vertue  of  the 
members  of  the  Academy  of  Painting,  each  person  paying  one  guinea.  The 


DRAWINGS   IN   OXFORD  COLLECTIONS  15 

official  position  held  and  the  branch  of  art  practised  by  each  subscriber  is 
specified,  Lutterell  being  one  of  the  twelve  directors  and  a  painter  in  crayons.1 

1723. 

Vertue,  in  a  list  of  the  '  Names  of  living  painters  of  note  in  London  and 
their  pictures  by  whom  painted '  made  at  this  time,  includes  '  M'  Lutterel, 
painter  in  crayons,  by  himself,  several,  one  head  as  big  as  the  life'.2 

The  actual  date  of  his  death  still  remains  unknown,  and  he  appears  to  have 
left  no  will. 

No  mention  has  been  made  of  the  signed  mezzotints  which  cannot  be  dated ; 
being  mainly  portraits  of  public  characters  of  general  interest,  or  of  none  at  all, 
they  do  not  throw  any  light  upon  the  engraver's  connexions  among  his  con- 
temporaries. Nor  of  the  unsigned  plates,  implied  by  Vertue  to  have  been 
exceedingly  numerous,  a  conclusion  that  the  paucity  of  the  signed  ones  pro- 
duced by  Lutterell  during  a  period  of  above  a  quarter  of  a  century  (supposing 
him  to  have  been  more  than  an  amateur)  tends  to  support.  The  task  of  isolating 
these  from  the  cloud  of  contemporary  anonymous  prints  and  ranging  them  in 
presumptive  historical  sequence  may  safely  be  left  to  some  critic  gifted  in  the 
science  of  morphological  analysis. 

In  the  region  of  facts  one  more  remains  to  be  noted,  together  with  an 
inference  which  has  been  drawn  from  it.  The  signed  plate  of  Francis  Higgins 
in  the  first  state  is  inscribed  :  'Sold  by  M.  Luttrell  in  Westminster  Hall.'  From 
this,  Mr.  Cust,  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  has  conjectured  that  the 
engraver  himself  'would  appear  to  have  had  a  print-stall'  in  that  locality.  It 
this  was  so,  the  absence  of  this  address  from  any  of  the  earlier  plates,  and  the 
substitution  of  another  in  the  second  state  of  this  one,  seems  to  show  that  the 
venture  was  a  short-lived  one. 

From  the  data  here  marshalled  three  distinct  personalities  seem  to  take 
shape  :  the  struggling  Irish  pastellist,  who  after  a  somewhat  extended  career  of 
ill-requited  industry  in  Dublin  migrated  to  London  and  earned  a  fortune  from 
more  appreciative  or  more  wealthy  clients;  the  inquisitive,  dilettante  London 
lawyer,  filled  with  the  ardour  of  an  age  of  experiment  and  discovery,  helping  in 
his  legal  capacity  to  get  young  artists  out  of  scrapes,  and  finding  himself  a  true 
vocation  in  the  arts  which  he  had  begun  to  practise  as  an  amateur ;  and  the 
opportunist  business  man,  a  maker  and  purveyor  of  portraits  of  topical  interest, 
without  bias  to  any  party,  in  an  age  ot  swiftly  shifting  politics.  Subsequent 
discoveries  may  reveal  how  far  the  real  Lutterell  shared  all  or  any  of  these 
characteristics ;  fact  and  tradition,  as  at  present  known,  leave  him  an  enigma. 

Materials  for  forming  an  idea  of  the  extent  and  quality  of  Lutterell's  achieve- 

1  British  Museum  MSS.  Add.  23076  f.  2  and  23082  f.  33b.  *  Ib.  23076  f.  iab. 


16      ENGLISH   SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY   PORTRAIT 

ments  as  a  pastellist  are  eyen  scantier  than  those  for  gauging  his  development 
as  an  engraver.  Only  four  signed  specimens  of  his  work  in  crayons  are  known 
to  the  writer ;  the  earliest  presumably  being  the  two  portraits  of  Samuel  Butler, 
the  author  of  Hudibras — one  in  the  Bodleian  Library  (plate  n  a),  the  other  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery.  The  Oxford  picture  must  always  have  been 
strikingly  inferior  to  the  other,  and  it  has  suffered  so  severely  from  damp  and 
restoration  that  its  original  quality  is  much  impaired.  The  technical  processes 
employed  in  its  execution  are  on  this  account  difficult  to  define.  Much  of  it 
appears  to  be  in  true  pastel — coloured  chalks  applied  dry,  and  fused  by  rubbings. 
The  background  seems  to  be  in  distemper  or  body-colour  laid  on  with  a  brush ; 
it  is  sea-green  in  tone ;  over  this  have  been  laid  hatchings  of  black  chalk.  The 
flesh  is  unduly  ruddy  and  hot  in  effect,  owing  to  its  being  shaded  with  strokes  of 
brownish  scarlet  chalk.  The  high-lights  on  the  wig  look  as  if  they  had  been 
touched  in  with  a  brush;  those  on  the  lace  cravat  are  in  dry  white  chalk,  but 
they  may  be  restorations.  Marks  of  the  whole  having  been  soaked,  clearly 
visible  round  the  edge,  do  not  seem  to  be  accidental ;  it  is  remarkable  that  they 
also  occur,  particularly  on  the  right-hand  side,  in  the  picture  in  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  which  has  no  appearance  of  having  suffered  otherwise  from 
damp.  The  Bodleian  portrait  is  on  paper,  and  measures  9!  x  y£  inches.  It 
would  appear,  in  point  of  fact,  to  be  essentially  a  large  miniature  begun  in 
distemper  colours,  finished  in  coloured  chalks,  and  then  possibly  flooded  with 
some  medium  such  as  gum-water  to  fix  the  pastel  touches.  The  signature  occurs 
in  a  part  of  the  background  which  has,  in  the  reproduction,  the  appearance  of 
being  a  repaired  patch,  but  it  is  so  unusual  in  form  that  it  is  probably  genuine ;  it 
reads  3L.  In  the  other  three  examples  the  initials  are  interlaced  g£. 

The  only  drawing  in  the  British  Museum  assigned  to  the  artist  is  similar  in 
execution  but  with  more  distemper  and  less  dry  chalk.  The  flesh  is  distinguished 
by  the  same  ruddy  coloration.  It  is  unsigned  and  undated,  but  is  clearly  a 
portrait  of  an  earlier  generation  than  Lutterell's,  and  is  presumably  a  copy  of  an 
original  by  Van  Dyck  or  one  of  his  contemporaries.1 

The  picture  of  Butler  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery  stands  upon  a  far 
higher  plane  than  either  of  these.  It  is  painted  directly  upon  an  oak  panel 
and  is  in  good  preservation.  There  is  certainly  a  great  deal  of  brushwork  in 
distemper  in  it,  but  the  forms  of  the  strokes  and  touches  show  that  pastel  has 
also  been  largely  employed ;  the  final  process  seems  to  have  been  a  soaking 
with  some  sort  of  fixative  liquid.  The  signature,  recently  discovered  by 
Mr.  C.  J.  Holmes,  is  the  interlaced  monogram  in  white  chalk,  now  almost 
effaced. 

The  third  signed  work— the  portrait  of  Archbishop  Sancroft  in  the  same 
gallery — is  in  a  totally  different  style,  wholly  in  dry  pastel  minutely  finished  in 

1  Binyon,  Catalogue  of  Drawings  by  British  Artists  in  the  British  Museum,  iii.  85. 


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DRAWINGS   IN   OXFORD  COLLECTIONS  17 

a  light  key ;  the  signature  is  an  interlaced  monogram.  The  fourth — the  head  of 
an  unidentified  gentleman,  in  the  National  Gallery  of  Ireland — bears  the  only 
signature  giving  the  artist's  name  in  full,  and  is  his  only  dated  pastel ;  it  is 
inscribed:  E.  Lutterell fe.  1699.  It  is  executed  upon  a  copper  plate  laid  with 
a  mezzotint  ground  in  the  manner  described  by  Graham.  As  the  present  writer 
has  never  seen  it  he  is  unfortunately  unable  to  give  any  details  of  its  technical 
characteristics. 

UNIDENTIFIED  PASTELLISTS,  1660-85. 

The  portrait  of  King  Charles  II,  reproduced  in  plate  n  b,  is  in  the  Suther- 
land Collection  (Burnet,  vol.  i.  165),  but  its  earlier  history  and  the  name  of  the 
artist  are  alike  unknown.  It  represents  the  king  at  a  period  very  little  subse- 
quent to  his  Restoration  in  1660.  Vivid  and  lifelike,  it  has  the  air  of  having  been 
drawn  from  nature,  but  being  a  royal  portrait  this  may  not  be  the  case.  King 
Charles  seems  to  be  wearing  his  own  hair,  which  is  represented  as  much  fairer 
than  is  usual  in  his  portraits  or  than  it  probably  was,  and  in  even  stronger 
contrast  to  the  black  perruque  which  he  wore  in  later  life.  The  costume  is  the 
blue  mantle  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  with  the  collar,  worn  over  a  scarlet 
surcoat  and  a  \vh\tejuste-au-corps,  plain  collar,  and  bands. 

The  drawing  is  executed  on  very  fine  paper  resembling  vellum  and  in  true 
pastel  of  a  primitive  type.  It  measures  10*  x  yf  inches.  The  background  is 
light  grey,  obtained  by  rubbings  of  black  and  white ;  the  hair  is  rendered  by  an 
under-rubbing  of  hazel  brown  chalk  worked  over  with  fine  strokes  of  black;  the 
face  is  modelled  with  red  and  white  fused  together  and  finished  with  delicate 
touches  of  red ;  the  scarlet  surcoat  is  laid  on  heavily  in  chalk,  the  mantle  in 
bright  ultramarine  which,  if  it  was  put  on  dry,  has  been  subsequently  moistened 
to  fix  it.  On  the  whole  this  picture  has  the  appearance  of  being  the  production 
of  a  miniaturist  working  on  a  large  scale  rather  than  of  an  oil-painter  working 
on  a  small  one.  It  is  in  any  case  an  experiment,  and  doubtless  an  early  one,  in 
the  evolutionary  stage  of  the  process.  There  is  no  evidence  to  connect  it  either 
with  Cooper  or  with  Ashfield,  yet  it  obviously  belongs  to  a  class  intermediate 
between  the  types  of  art  represented  by  the  miniatures  of  the  one  and  the 
pastels  of  the  other. 

The  Sutherland  Collection  possesses  another  fairly  early  pastel,  also  a 
portrait  of  Charles  II,  but  it  has  no  original  iconographic  value,  and  is  too 
damaged  to  be  reproduced  as  an  illustration  of  technique.  It  is  a  bust-portrait 
facing  three-quarters  to  the  left  in  an  oval  spandrel,  and  closely  follows  the  type 
of  the  familiar  pictures  of  the  king  by  Lely.  He  wears  a  full  black  perruque 
and  a  steel  breastplate  over  a  buff  coat ;  the  background  is  light  brown.  The 
whole  is  executed  in  dry  pastel  on  paper ;  the  dimensions  are  lof  x  8|  inches. 

v.  D 


i8  DRAWINGS   IN  OXFORD  COLLECTIONS 

It  was  highly  finished  on  the^scale  and  in  the  style  commonly  associated  with 
Lutterell,  although  there  are  no  real  grounds  for  attributing  this  or  many  other 
similar  pictures  to  that  artist.  It  can  only  be  said  that  it  belongs  to  the  period 
when  the  range  of  colours  obtainable  in  crayons  had  been  greatly  extended,  and 
to  a  numerous  class  of  small  portraits  in  this  medium,  such  as  the  little  portrait 
of  Sir  Matthew  Hale  in  the  Bodleian  Gallery.1 

1  Poole,  Catalogue  of  Oxford  Portraits,  \,  no.  148. 


THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

BY  CAMPBELL  DODGSON. 

THE  very  name  of  Andrew  Geddes  is  unfamiliar  to  the  majority  of  the 
English  art-loving  public,  and  his  etchings  are  known  and  appreciated  only  by 
the  few  whom  accident  or  research  has  led  to  study  them.  In  Scotland, 
where  he  is  represented  by  several  pictures  in  the  National  Gallery  at  Edinburgh, 
patriotism  is  sufficiently  awakened  to  assure  his  reputation,  and  it  is  recognized 
on  both  sides  of  the  border,  by  all  who  have  considered  the  subject,  that  the  two 
Scottish  painter-etchers,  Wilkie  and  Geddes,  share  with  the  artists  of  the  Norwich 
school  the  honours  of  that  early  revival  of  original  etching  which  took  place  in 
Great  Britain  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  life  of  Geddes  is  related  in  the  memoir  compiled  by  his  widow  Adela 
Geddes  and  privately  printed  in  1844 ;  in  the  introduction  to  the  edition  of  the 
etchings  of  Wilkie  and  Geddes,  published  by  David  Laing  in  1875 ;  and  in  the 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  vol.  xxi  (article  by  J.  M.  Gray).  A  brief 
summary  will  suffice  on  this  occasion.  He  was  born  at  Edinburgh  on  April  5, 
1783,  as  the  only  son  of  David  Geddes,  deputy-auditor  of  excise,  by  his  second 
wife  Agnes  Boyd,  whose  five  other  children  were  daughters.  His  father  died  in 
1803 ;  his  mother,  whom  he  has  immortalized  by  the  picture  at  Edinburgh  and 
the  dry-point,  made  from  it,  that  ranks  by  general  consent  as  his  masterpiece  in 
etching,  survived  till  1828.  Andrew  received  a  classical  education,  and  became 
in  1803  a  clerk  in  the  excise  office.  His  father  collected  prints;  Andrew  when 
quite  a  boy  imitated  him  in  this  pursuit  and  spent  his  leisure  hours  in  learning 
to  draw  by  copying  etchings  and  drawings  by  old  masters.  His  ambition  to 
become  an  artist  was  discouraged  by  his  father,  but  in  1806  he  resigned  his  position 
at  the  excise  office,  and  went  to  the  Royal  Academy  School  in  London.  He 
soon  began  to  exhibit  pictures,  mainly  portraits,  both  in  London  and  Edinburgh, 
and  resided  in  the  two  capitals  by  turns,  but  chiefly  in  London,  where  he  lived 
till  1828  at  58  Brook  Street.  He  visited  Paris  with  John  Burnet,  the  engraver, 
in  1814.  In  1821  an  important  exhibition  of  his  pictures  was  held  at  Edinburgh. 
About  this  time  he  became  a  candidate  for  election  to  the  Royal  Academy,  but 
his  application  was  unsuccessful  and  was  not  renewed  till  ten  years  later ;  he 
was  elected  an  associate  in  1832.  In  1826  he  published  a  set  of  etchings,  of 
which  more  will  be  said  presently.  In  1827  he  married  Adela,  daughter  of 
Nathaniel  Plimer,  the  miniature-painter  (1751-1822).  He  started  in  1828  for  a 
long  Continental  journey,  visiting  Paris  again  on  the  way  to  Italy.  He  spent  the 

D  2 


20  THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

winter  at  Rome,  painting  many  portraits ;  the  summer  of  1829  at  Subiaco ;  and 
the  second  winter  again  at  Rome,  residing  in  the  house  on  the  Pincian  which 
had  been  Poussin's.  He  afterwards  visited  Naples  and  the  neighbourhood,  and 
in  the  autumn  of  1830  Siena,  Florence,  and  Venice,  then  Munich  and  Paris, 
returning  to  London  on  January  2,  1831.  He  took  a  house  in  Berners  Street 
(no.  15)  in  1832  and  lived  there  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  visiting  Holland,  chiefly 
for  the  sake  of  studying  Rembrandt,  in  the  autumn  of  1839.  In  1843  his  health 
began  to  fail,  and  he  died  of  consumption  on  May  5,  1844. 

The  memoir  of  Geddes  and  the  numerous  extracts  published  by  Laing  from 
the  letters  of  his  friends,  show  him  to  have  been  an  amiable  and  highly  cultivated 
man,  with  genuine  enthusiasm  for  art  and  intimate  knowledge  of  the  old  masters. 
He  was  one  of  those  who  pleaded  zealously  for  the  acquisition  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Lawrence  collection  of  drawings.  He  spent  much  time  in  copying 
pictures  by  the  great  artists,  and  acquired  a  considerable  collection  of  pictures, 
drawings,  and  engravings.  The  catalogue  of  the  sale  of  his  collection  and 
remaining  works,  which  took  place  at  Christie's  in  the  year  after  his  death 
(April  8-14,  1845),  shows  that  he  had  an  extensive  series  of  etchings  by 
Rembrandt,  who  was  the  special  object  of  his  admiration. 

It  may  be  conjectured  that  the  copies  after  Rembrandt  are  among  the 
earliest  of  his  own  etchings,  though  the  first  which  bears  a  date  (1812)  is  the 
portrait  of  Dr.  Chalmers.  Of  the  comparatively  few  that  are  actually  dated,  none 
are  later  than  1826 ;  but  the  etching  of  Claude's  House  at  Rome  is  known  by 
correspondence  to  date  from  1830,  and  there  is  some  reason  to  think  that  the 
landscape  without  a  title  (no.  34)  is  connected  with  his  visit  to  Holland  in  1839. 
In  1826,  the  year  in  which  he  etched  The  Field  of  Bannockburn  and  The  Black 
Boy,  Geddes  published  a  set  of  ten  etchings  printed  on  soft,  thick,  hand-made 
paper,  measuring  17  x  n|  inches,  in  a  cover  of  brown  boards  with  reddish- 
brown  leather  back.  The  title — 


NO.  i.  ETCHINGS 

BY 

A.    GEDDES. 


LONDON : 
PUBLISHED  BY  A.  GEDDES,  58  BROOK  STREET,  GROSVENOR  SQUARE. 


was  printed  on  a  rectangular  label  framed  in  woodcut  ornament,  and  attached 
to  the  front  board  of  the  cover.     The  copy  that  I  have  seen,  the  property  of 


THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  21 

Mr.  E.  R.  Boase,  of  Edinburgh,  has  no  list  of  contents,  but  the  etchings  con- 
tained in  it  differ  slightly  from  those  of  which  Laing  gives  a  list.  It  is  possible 
that  the  contents  varied  in  different  sets,  but  I  suspect  that  Laing  has  quoted 
the  numbers  wrongly  in  two  cases.  Laing  gives  the  following  numbers  (of  the 
present  catalogue)  as  composing  the  set :  i,  6,  7,  n,  16,  18,  24,  36,  37,  45.  The 
copy  mentioned  above  has  32  and  47  instead  of  6  and  36.  It  is  improbable  that 
so  fine  an  etching  as  32  should  ever  have  been  omitted.  Nos.  6  and  36,  more- 
over, are  among  the  lots  mentioned  separately  in  the  Geddes  sale  catalogue  in 
addition  to  the  set  of  ten  published  plates,  which  were  sold  in  one  lot ;  there 
is  no  such  mention  of  32  or  47.  I  conclude,  therefore,  that  such  a  set  as 
Mr.  Boase  now  possesses  is  normal.  Laing  quotes  (p.  27)  the  text  of  a  leaflet, 
a  copy  of  which  is  preserved  with  Geddes'  etchings  in  the  British  Museum, 
that  was  evidently  designed  to  accompany  the  publication. 

Though  lettered  '  No.  I ',  this  portfolio  had  no  successor,  and  no  other 
plates  were  published  during  Geddes'  lifetime.  The  portrait  of  John  Sheep- 
shanks, and  the  view  of  Claude's  house,  were  private  plates  commissioned  by 
that  collector,  and  probably  passed  into  his  possession.  Plates  to  the  number, 
apparently,  of  thirty-six  remained  in  Geddes'  hands  at  his  death,  and  were  sold 
at  Christie's  in  1845,  but  dispersed  among  different  buyers.  David  Laing  relates 
in  the  preface  to  his  volume  on  Wilkie  and  Geddes  that  the  majority  of  Geddes' 
plates  came  into  his  possession  subsequently  to  the  sale,  and  he  resolved,  after 
a  long  interval,  to  publish  them.  The  volume  that  he  issued,  in  an  edition  of 
one  hundred  copies,  in  1875,'  contains  impressions  from  thirty-five  of  the  original 
plates,  supplemented  by  photographic  reproductions  of  eight  others  that  were 
not  available.  He  states  in  the  preface  'that  the  original  coppers,  with  a  few 
special  exceptions,  are  now  destroyed,  in  order  to  prevent  the  chance  of  their 
falling  into  the  hands  of  some  one  who  might,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  artist's 
reputation,  re-issue  them  in  a  worn-out  state  of  impression',  but  he  does  not 
name  the  exceptions.  Many  of  Geddes'  plates  could  hardly  be  more  worn-out 
than  they  are  in  the  edition  printed  by  Laing  himself,  where  several,  and 
especially  the  dry-points,  are  but  ghosts  of  what  they  were  in  the  trial  proofs 
and  early  impressions  of  the  finished  states. 

Though  Laing  was  assisted  in  identifying  the  subjects  by  Mrs.  Geddes,  who 
was  still  living  in  1875,  and  by  W.  H.  Carpenter,  Keeper  of  Prints  and  Drawings 
at  the  British  Museum,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Geddes,  tradition  had 
become  somewhat  weak  in  regard  to  the  titles  of  the  etchings.  It  is  well  to  test 
them  by  what  is  the  earliest  printed  list,  though  a  very  incomplete  one — the 
enumeration  of  the  lots  comprised  in  the  Geddes  sale  of  1845.  St.  Ann's  Hill 

1  Etchings  by  Sir  David  Wilkie,  R.A.,  Limner  to  H.M.  for  Scotland,  and  by  Andrew  Geddes, 
A.R.A.,  with  biographical  sketches  by  David  Laing,  F.S.A.S.,  Edinburgh,  1875,  fol. 


22  THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

and  Greenwich  Park  are  not  Jto  be  found  in  Laing's  catalogue.  I  suggest  that 
these  two,  which  have  consecutive  numbers,  as  if  they  went  together,  are  the 
two  very  similar  views  of  woodland  scenery,  in  dry-point,  which  Laing  calls 
views  in  Richmond  Park  (nos.  26,  27 —  L.  32,  35).  I  have  not,  accordingly, 
given  numbers  in  this  catalogue  to  the  two  subjects  mentioned  in  1845.  The 
Whim  is  obviously  no.  22,  not  mentioned  by  Laing.1  What  Peebles  (lot  444) 
may  be,  I  cannot  say ;  apparently  it  is  a  subject  which  has  eluded  my  search, 
but  as  its  existence  is  vouched  for  by  the  sale  catalogue,  and  it  cannot  be 
identified  with  any  of  the  other  subjects,  I  have  given  it  a  separate  number. 

There  are  not  sufficient  data  available  for  a  chronological  arrangement  of 
the  etchings,  which  I  have  divided  into  (A)  original  works  and  (B)  copies  and 
imitations  of  old  masters.  The  original  works  fall  into  three  groups  :  portraits 
(in  alphabetical  order),  figure  subjects  and  still  life,  and  landscapes. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  here,  for  the  first  time,  to  describe  the  states, 
which  Laing  ignored.  Though  I  have  spared  no  pains  to  make  my  description 
complete,  I  cannot  be  sure  that  I  have  succeeded,  as  only  a  few  collections  have 
been  available  for  comparison.  Chief  among  these  are  the  fine  collections  in 
the  British  Museum  and  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  The  latter  is  derived 
entirely  from  the  gift  of  John  Sheepshanks,  a  friend  and  patron  of  Geddes,  who 
presented  his  collection  in  1862.  It  was  acquired  direct  from  the  artist,  who 
wrote  to  Sheepshanks  (10  Jan.  1826) :  '  I  beg  to  send  you  a  few  of  my  etchings, 
and  I  have  sent  a  few  variations  such  as  I  could  find  in  my  portfolio,  which  are 
interesting  to  a  collector,  as  showing  the  advancement  of  the  plates.  The  others 
I  will  take  the  liberty  of  sending  you  as  I  print  the  plates.'  The  four  states  of 
the  portrait  of  Van  Laer  became  detached  from  the  rest,  and  entered  the  British 
Museum  with  the  purchase  of  the  Sheepshanks  Collection  of  Dutch  Etchings 
in  1836. 

The  rest  of  the  large,  though  incomplete,  collection  at  the  British  Museum 
was  acquired,  with  the  exception  of  two  proofs  added  in  1878  from  the  Burty 
sale  and  three  presented  in  1916  by  Mr.  R.  K.  Blair,  entirely  during  the 
keepership  of  William  Hookham  Carpenter  (1845-66),  who  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Geddes  and  perhaps  a  connection  by  marriage,for  Margaret  Carpenter, 
the  artist,  wife  of  the  keeper,  was  a  Miss  Geddes.  Between  1847  and  1858 
Carpenter  acquired  a  large  number  of  rare  proofs,  especially  at  the  A.  Stewart 
sale  in  1847  and  the  E.  V.  Utterson  sale  in  1852.  It  is  regrettable  that  the 
artist's  drawings  are  not  equally  well  represented. 

A  third  collection  of  some  importance,  to  which  I  have  had  access  through 
the  kindness  of  its  present  owner,  Dr.  D.  J.  Macaulay,  of  Benbecula,  Halifax,  is 

1  This  subject  is  described  in  a  pencil  note  on  an  impression  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
as  '  ist  plate  '.  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  will  bear  the  interpretation  that  it  is  Geddes'  first  attempt 
at  etching,  or  whether  it  only  refers  to  some  pair  of  plates  of  which  this  was  the  first. 


THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  23 

that  formed  by  David  Laing  and  used  by  him  as  the  chief  material  for  his  book. 
It  was  subsequently  owned  by  Sir  W.  Fettes  Douglas,  P.R.S.A.  I  have  also  to 
thank  Mr.  R.  K.  Blair  and  Mr.  W.  A.  Pye  for  the  loan  of  etchings  from  their 
collections,  and  Mr.  J.  L.  Caw  for  information  about  prints  by  Geddes  in  the 
National  Gallery  and  Scottish  National  Portrait  Gallery  at  Edinburgh. 

The  examination  of  different  states  is  instructive  as  to  Geddes'  technical 
methods.  He  seems  to  have  scarcely  ever  rebitten  a  plate,  all  alterations  subse- 
quent to  the  first  biting  being  made  with  the  dry-point.  A  peculiarity  of  his  is 
the  production  of  tone  by  using  what  at  first  sight  appears  to  be  the  roulette,  but 
is  found  on  closer  examination  to  be  a  rocker,  such  as  is  used  in  grounding 
a  mezzotint  plate.  This  is  seen,  for  instance,  in  the  early  states  of  the  portrait 
of  his  mother,  but  there  the  work  of  the  rocker  was  concealed,  and  subsequently 
worked  over  with  the  dry-point.  In  Claude's  House  at  Rome  the  rocker  was  used 
to  produce  a  toned  ground  between  the  etched  outlines  of  the  building.  In  the 
etching  of  Christ  among  the  Doctors,  after  Meldolla,  and  in  the  dry-point  of 
Peckham  Rye,  he  experimented  in  the  use  of  aquatint  to  give  a  toned  effect  to 
certain  parts  of  the  background.  Most  remarkable,  considering  the  period  at 
which  he  lived,  is  his  use  of  pure  dry-point  in  a  number  of  his  portraits  and 
landscapes  and  in  the  excellent  piece  of  still  life,  from  a  cinquecento  bronze  in  his 
own  collection,  which  he  named  The  Black  Boy.  The  two  landscapes  called  by 
Laing  Views  in  Richmond  Park  (nos.  26,  27)  are  among  the  most  original  things 
in  his  work,  but  they  appear  to  be  unfinished,  as  is  the  case  with  two  other 
charming  dry-points,  sketches  of  trees  at  Halliford  (nos.  30  and  31).  More 
complete,  and  excellent  in  their  various  styles,  are  the  View  on  a  Hill  (no.  28) 
and  Peckham  Rye  (no.  32),  which,  with  the  portrait  of  his  mother,  is  the  most 
generally  known  and  admired  of  Geddes'  etchings.  It  is  surprisingly  modern, 
and  anticipates  in  a  remarkable  way  the  manner  of  a  Scottish  master  of  dry-point 
now  living. 

Some  of  his  etched  portraits,  the  Chalmers,  Martin,  and  especially  the  second 
and  more  finished  plate  of  Skirving,  show  a  remarkable  grasp  of  character  and 
selection  of  appropriate  line.  In  dry-point,  too,  some  of  his  figure  subjects,  the 
Child  with  an  Apple,  Lady  Henrietta  Drummond  and  Child,  and  the  portraits  of 
Nathaniel  Plimer  and  Alexander  Nasmyth,  have  a  fine,  painter-like  quality.  His 
etchings  after  the  old  masters  interest  us  less,  but  there  is  much  power  in  the 
Philip  IV,  after  Velasquez,  Nicholas  Rockox,  after  Rubens,  and  Old  Woman 
looking  at  a  Ring,  after  Jordaens.  Even  his  original  etchings,  it  should  be 
mentioned,  were  done  in  the  majority  of  cases  after  pictures  by  himself. 

It  is  evident  from  quotations  given  by  Laing,  and  from  the  care  with  which 
Sheepshanks  and  Utterson  cherished  rare  states,  that  Geddes'  etchings  were 
esteemed  by  his  contemporaries.  Since  the  more  modern  revival  of  etching 
in  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  they  have  been  praised  by 


24  THE   ETCHINGS   OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

P.  G.  Hamerton,1  Sir  Walter  Armstrong,2  Mr.  J.  L.  Caw,3  Mr.  A.  M.  Hind,4 
and  Mr.  Malcolm  Salaman,5  and  they  are  now  being  sought  for  by  collectors, 
especially  in  Scotland,  but  it  must  be  supposed  that  the  fine  early  impressions, 
apart  from  those  already  in  museums,  are  rare.  Few,  so  far  as  I  know,  have 
found  their  way  to  the  Continent.  Mrs.  Geddes  records  in  her  memoir  the  gift 
by  Geddes  of  a  selection  of  his  etchings  to  Baron  Verstolk  van  Soelen  at  the 
Hague,  in  1839,  and  some  were  in  the  collection  of  that  discriminating  and 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  fine  modern  prints,  Philippe  Burty.  The  collections  of 
these  two  amateurs  were  dispersed  in  1847  and  1876-8  respectively. 

The  previous  catalogue  of  the  etchings,  by  David  Laing,  is  not  only  incom- 
plete, but  makes  no  attempt  to  describe  the  states.  This  has  been  partly  done, 
for  the  first  time,  in  Mr.  Martin  Hardie's  Catalogue  of  Modern  Etchings  and 
Aquatints  in  the  National  Art  Library,  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  1906  (pp. 
135-41).  But  that  catalogue  is  intended  mainly  for  use  in  the  museum  itself, 
and  the  value  of  the  description  in  this  particular  instance  is  much  lessened  by 
the  fact  that  the  numeration  of  the  states  is  based  solely  on  the  varieties  which 
happen  to  be  represented  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  The  expression 
'  first '  or  '  third  state '  in  any  particular  case  denotes,  therefore,  no  more  than 
the  first  or  third  of  this  particular  series  of  proofs  of  the  etching  in  question. 
The  descriptions  of  the  differences,  in  accordance  with  the  scheme  of  the  catalogue, 
are  necessarily  brief.  The  new  catalogue  now  published,  though  it  cannot  claim 
to  be  final,  is  at  least  a  considerable  advance  upon  anything  yet  produced. 

The  abbreviations  employed  in  the  catalogue  will  be  readily  understood. 
The  two  chief  London  collections  are  cited  as  B.M.  and  V.  A.  M.,  and  the  public 
collections  at  Edinburgh  as  Ed.  N.  G.  and  Ed.  S.  N.  P.  G.  respectively.  The 
dimensions  of  the  plates  (height  before  width)  are  given  both  in  inches  and 
in  millimetres,  less  important  dimensions  in  inches  (and  fractions)  only.  Signa- 
tures, and  all  inscriptions  etched  upon  the  plate,  as  well  as  manuscript  notes, 
when  quoted,  are  printed  in  italics.  Monograms  have  been  resolved ;  in  the  very 
few  cases  where  the  etcher  has  used  separate  initials  instead  of  a  monogram  the 
fact  is  stated. 

The  illustrations  have  been  selected  partly  for  their  artistic  merit,  partly  for 
their  rarity ;  the  states  are  generally  such  as  have  not  been  published  or  repro- 
duced before,  as  the  value  of  unpublished  states  is  greater  to  collectors  who 
already  have  access  to  Laing's  book. 

1  Etching  and  Etchers,  3rd  ed.,  1880,  p.  221. 

2  'Scottish  Painters',  in  The  Portfolio,  1887,  xviii.  noff. 

3  Scottish  Painting,  1908,  p.  85. 

1  A  short  History  of  Engraving  and  Etching,  2nd  ed.,  1911,  p.  242. 
6  The  Great  Painter- Etchers,  1914. 


THE   ETCHINGS   OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  25 

CATALOGUE 

A.-ORIGINAL  ETCHINGS 
I.    PORTRAITS 

1.  SIR  WILLIAM  ALLAN.     (L.  2.)  1815. 

Whole  length,  walking  to  r.,  in  Circassian  dress,  carrying  bow  and  arrows. 
Landscape  background,  with  stormy  sky.  Signed  at  foot,  in  dry-point : 
A.  Geddes.  There  is  also  an  indistinct  etched  signature,  with  date  1815,  to  1., 
near  Allan's  r.  foot.  The  subject  is  enclosed  by  a  border-line. 

Etching,  touched  with  dry-point.    8£|  x  5! ;  225  x  151.     Subject,  8f  x  55. 

I.  The  signature,  rich  in  burr,  is  followed  by  the  date  i8th  June  1815.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M. 

II.  Burr  taken  off,  date  effaced.   B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.,  Ed.  N.  G.    Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

III.  With  number  2  in  1.  lower  corner.     In  Laing's  book,  1875. 

Geddes  exhibited  a  picture  of  this  subject  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1816  (no.  374). 
Sir  William  Allan,  born  at  Edinburgh  in  1782,  visited  Russia  and  Turkey,  returned  to 
Scotland  1814;  became  A.R.A.  1825,  R.A.  1835,  President  of  the  Royal  Scottish  Academy 
1838;  was  knighted  1841 ;  died  on  February  23,  1850. 

2.  HARRINGTON  POPE  BLACHFORD.     (L.  3.)  (1815?). 

Bust  of  a  young  man,  bare-headed,  full  face,  eyes  to  1.,  in  uniform.   Vignette; 
no  border-line  or  signature. 
Dry-point.    63  x  5!  ;  160  x  133. 

I.  With  scratches  on  the  plate ;  to  r.  of  the  head  is  a  slight  sketch  of  a  tree,  placed  side- 
ways.    B.  M.  (on  India  paper),  V.  A.  M.  (13378,  13379,  both  on  India  paper). 

II.  The  plate  cleaned.     B.  M. 

III.  With  number^?  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Blachford,  proprietor  of  Osborne,  I.W.,  was  a  Member  of  Parliament  from  1809  till  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  May  14,  1816.  He  married,  in  1812,  Lady  Isabella  Fitzroy,  who 
died  in  1866,  and  became  in  1814  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty.  His  portrait 
by  Geddes  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1815  (no.  344).  The  plate  was  sold  at 
Christie's,  April  10,  1845  (lot  449). 

3.  DAVID  BRIDGES,  junior.     (L.  5.)  1816. 

Bust,  almost  full  face  but  a  little  to  1.,  of  a  man  with  rough  hair  wearing 
a  wide  open  collar.     Signed  1.,  upon  a  patch  of  shading :  A.  G.ft.  1816. 
Dry-point.    g|  x  6& ;  241  x  158. 

I.  As  described.     V.  A.  M.  (13449). 

II.  With  number/  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Eldest  son  of  David  Bridges,  senior,  woollen  draper  at  Edinburgh  ;  a  lover  of  art  and 
friend  of  artists,  b.  1776,  d.  1840.  Laing  quotes  a  lively  description  of  the  man  and  his 
surroundings  from  Peter's  Letters  to  his  Kinsfolk,  by  Lockhart. 

V.  E 


26  THE  ETCHINGS   OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

4.  HENRY  BROADWOOD.     (L.  4.) 

Bust  of  a  young  man,  bare-headed,  with  long  hair,  three-quarter  face  to  r., 
wearing  a  ruff.     Vignette ;  no  border-line  or  signature. 
Dry-point.     g|  x  6| ;  245  x  156.     Plate  bevelled. 

I.  As  described.    B.  M.  (early  impression,  cut,  showing  irregularities  in  surface  of  plate, 
and  an  impression  as  published,  after  plate  was  cleaned),  V.  A.  M.  (13377,  'first  impression 
taken' ;  13376,  with  note  in  pencil:  '  Henry  Broadwood,  Esqr.,from  a  picture  by  me.  A.G.'). 

II.  With  number  4  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

The  portrait  of  Broadwood  as  Henri  Quatre  was  included  in  the  exhibition  of  pictures 
by  Geddes  at  Edinburgh  in  1821,  and  is  presumably  the  '  portrait  of  a  gentleman  in  the 
costume  of  Henri  Quatre '  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1822  (no.  231).  The  sitter  was 
connected  with  a  firm  of  brewers,  Messrs.  Broadwood,  Mundell  and  Co.,  of  50  Broad  Street, 
Golden  Square.  The  plate  was  sold  at  Christie's,  April  10,  1845  (lot  448). 

5.  GEORGE  CHALMERS.     (L.  6.)  1812. 

Bust,  bare-headed,  nearly  full  face,  long  hair,  wide  collar  to  coat.    Vignette ; 
signed  faintly,  low  down  to  r.  :  A.  G.ft.  1812. 
Etching  and  dry-point.    8£  x  6f ;  226  x  160. 

I.  Pure  etching.     Eyebrows  rudimentary;  before  any  dry-point  shading  on  r.  side  of 
upper  lip,  and  before  the  lines  slanting  down  to  1.,  at  a  little  distance  from  the  r.  eye,  were 
carried  up  so  as  to  meet  the  eye  itself.     Before  the  shading  inside  the  contour  of  the  face 
on  the  r.  side  between  the  chin  and  the  level  of  the  mouth.     Collection  of  Dr.  Macaulay, 
Halifax. 

II.  With  the  additions  described ;  eyebrows  completed  with  dry-point.    Before  the  dots 
on  upper  part  of  chin,  and  some  of  the  curved  lines  under  both  eyes,  especially  the  left  eye. 
A  little  shading  inserted  on  lower  part  of  r.  side  of  upper  lip.    B.M.  (on  this  impression  the 
artist  has  written  in  pencil  the  signature  A.  G.  Jt.  1812,  in  reverse,  with  a  view  to  etching  it 
in  a  subsequent  state). 

III.  With  the  additions  described;  the  r.  side  of  upper  lip  more  shaded;  before  any 
dry-point  lines  on  the  hair.     Before  the  signature.     B.M.  (cut). 

IV.  The  outline  of  the  hair,  a  little  below  the  topmost  tuft,  has  been  carried  out  further 
to  the  left.    There  are  three  strong  lines,  starting  from  r.  to  1.,  across  the  inner  end  of  the 
tuft  itself.    Fine  horizontal  lines  have  been  inserted  across  the  hair  on  the  crown  of  the  head, 
extending  from  i£  to  i^|in.  from  the  top  edge  of  the  plate.     Signed.     B.  M.  (two  impres- 
sions), V.  A.  M.  (13370,  and  a  touched  proof,  13371,  on  which  the  collar  and  patch  of  shading 
to  1.  are  indicated  by  a  wash  of  Indian  ink). 

V.  A  patch  of  shadow  inserted  behind  the  r.  shoulder,  and  the  collar  of  the  coat  shaded 
with  dry-point ;  there  is  still  a  large  white  patch  across  the  1.  side  at  the  level  of  the  shoulder. 
V. A.M.  (13372). 

VI.  This  patch  covered  up,  but  parts  of  the  collar  to  r.  of  this  and  below  it  are  still 
white.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (269  D). 

VII.  With  number  6  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

The  plate  was  sold,  with  impressions  in  various  states,  on  April  10,  1845  (lot  437). 

The  portrait  of  George  Chalmers  (1742-1825),  author  of  Caledonia,  is  from  a  picture 
painted  by  Geddes  for  the  publisher  Constable.  The  letter  printed  by  Laing  (pp.  17-18) 
from  the  original  in  the  print-room  of  the  British  Museum  refers  to  this  etching;  the 


PLATE   III 


(n)  Lady  Henrietta  Drummond  and  Child.     No.  6.    /-"/Vs/ 


Whim,  Peeblesshire.    No.  22.    Second  state 

ANDREW   GEDDES 


PLATK    IV 


ANDREW    GEDDES 

The  Artist's  Mother.     No.  7.     Second  stale 


PLATE  V 


ANDREW  GEDDES 

The  Artist's  Mother.    No.  7.     Third  state 


THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  27 

passage  to  which  Laing  refers  as  '  not  very  clear '  is  wrongly  transcribed ;  instead  of  '  the 
Portrait  of  another  Doctor ',  we  should  read  '  the  Portrait  of  the  Doctor  [Dr.  Chalmers] '. 
The  statement  that '  only  four  Trial  Proofs  were  taken,  the  Steel  plate  having  corroded  before 
being  printed ',  is  evidently  not  accurate  as  regards  the  number ;  perhaps  the  artist  began 
to  reckon  his  trial  proofs  from  the  moment  when  he  had  shaded  the  collar. 

6.  LADY  HENRIETTA  DRUMMOND  AND  CHILD.    (L.  7.) 

Lady  Henrietta,  half  length,  is  seated,  holding  her  little  son  in  her  arms. 
A  curtain  is  draped  behind  the  boy's  head.  The  subject  is  enclosed  by  a  circular 
line.  No  signature. 

Dry-point.    8J  x  5! ;  225  x  149.     Diameter  of  subject,  5!  in.  (141  mm.). 

I.  The  heads  approximately  finished,  the  bodies  in  outline.     No  shading  on  the  fold  of 
the  curtain  which  hangs  down  1.  No  foliage  above  the  round  flower  r.  B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13390). 

II.  Clothes,  hands,  &c.,  more  finished.    The  upper  part  of  the  fold  shaded,  the  lower 
part  still  very  light.     Foliage  inserted  above  the  flower,  but  no  shading  between  flower 
and  leaves  and  the  upright  post.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13391). 

III.  Whole  of  curtain  more  deeply  shaded.     More  shading  in  sky  r. ;  oblique  lines 
inserted  between  flower  and  upright  post,  and  across  the  lower  portion  of  the  post  itself. 
B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13392).    Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

IV.  With  number  7  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Lady  Henrietta  Hay,  daughter  of   Robert,  gth   Earl  of    Kinnoull,  married   in  1807 
Henry  Drummond,  of  Albury  Park,  Guildford,  M.P.  for  West  Surrey,  and  died  in  1854. 
The  plate  was  sold  (lot  447)  at  Geddes'  sale  on  April  10,  1845. 

7.  AGNES  GEDDES,  THE  ARTIST'S  MOTHER.     (L.  I-A.)  1822. 

An  elderly  lady,  half  length,  three-quarter  face  to  r.,  wearing  a  cloak  with 
dark  collar,  bonnet,  and  veil.  Signed:  A.  G.  ft.  1822  1.,  and  A.  Geddes  ft.  r. 
The  subject  is  enclosed  by  a  border-line. 

Dry-point.    9^  x  6 ;  243  x  153.    Subject,  6|  x  4||.     Plate  bevelled. 

I.  Before  background  and  border-line.    Head  and  bust  only ;  the  clothes  over  1.  shoulder 
in  outline.    Work  of  mezzotint  rocker  conspicuous  on  part  of  dress  and  on  veil  to  r.    There 
is  a  faint  sketch  of  a  face  above  the  bonnet,  and  to  r.  of  this  a  group  of  delicate  slanting 
lines.      A  small  patch  to  1.  of  the  deep  shadow  on  the  cap,  £  in.  above  the  r.  eye  and 
3 in.  from  the  1.  side  of  the  plate,  is  white;  so  are  a  small  patch,  nearly  square,  near  the 
sharp  angle  of  the  veil  where  it  falls  over  the  r.  shoulder,  and  a  patch  %  in.  beneath  the  chin 
and  2|-3  in.  from  1.  side  of  plate.     V.  A.  M.  (13365). 

II.  The  three  white  patches  shaded ;  no  other  change.    B.  M.,  Mr.  R.  K.  Blair  (on  India 
paper,  margins  masked).    The  sketch  of  a  face  is  visible  on  the  B.  M.  impression,  which 
also  shows  numerous  marks  made  in  trying  the  dry-point  near  the  1.  margin  of  the  plate. 
It  seems  that  these  additions  have  been   prevented  from  printing  in  some  of  the  early 
proofs,  and  that  their  presence  or  absence  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  marking  a  difference 
of  state.    The  sketch  and  group  of  lines  do  not  appear  in  III  or  IV,  but  are  distinctly 
visible  again  in  V  (V.  A.  M.)  and  VI. 

III.  Border-line  added,  limiting  subject  to  size  of  $\%  x  4$! .    The  portrait  extended  from 
bust  to  half  length,  the  1.  arm  being  slightly  drawn  and  the  sleeve  covered  with  rocked 

E  2 


28  THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

work.  Between  the  rocked  work  on  the  front  of  the  dress  and  that  on  the  sleeve  there  is 
much  new  shading  in  dry-point.  The  r.  shoulder  is  heavily  shaded,  and  there  is  a  small 
triangular  patch  of  shading  immediately  adjoining  it  to  1.  The  background  r.  is  shaded 
behind  the  1.  shoulder  as  far  up  as  the  level  of  the  nose.  All  above  this  is  blank.  Before 
any  signature.  V.  A.  M.  (13366,  on  India  paper,  and  another,  touched  with  pencil). 

IV.  Background  shaded  all  over  to  a  uniform  grey  by  means  of  short  irregular  lines  in 
many  directions.    Work  on  clothes  carried  much  farther,  but  still  very  incomplete  on  1.  side, 
where  there  are  large  white  spaces.    Within  the  border-line  1.  is  the  signature  A.  G. 
(monogram)//.  182-2..    B.  M. 

V.  The  1.  and  r.  border-lines  prolonged  at  foot  to  6|  in.  and  then  connected  by  a  cross 
line.    The  rectangular  enclosed  space  thus  formed  beneath  the  portrait  measures  r7^  x  4^!  in., 
and  is  empty.     Much  fresh  dry-point  work  upon  the  background  and  the  veil,  especially  on 
the  r.  side,  where  all  trace  of  the  original  work  of  the  rocker  is  hidden.     The  1.  portion 
of  the  cloak,  though  still  light,  is  much  more  shaded.     Hatchings  extend  to  the  border-line 
and  disguise,  but  do  not  wholly  conceal,  the  signature  and  date.     B.  M.  (cut  to  6f  X5f  in.), 
V.  A.  M.  (13368,  on  India  paper). 

VI.  Burr  less  conspicuous  on  background  and  veil.    New  signature,  A.  Geddesfl.  (A.  and 
G.  combined  in  monogram),  inserted  at  r.  end  of  the  white  space.     B.  M.  (on  India  paper), 
V.  A.  M.  (13369,  on  India  paper). 

VII.  All  the  lines  enclosing  subject  and  rectangular  space  reinforced  with  the  graver. 
New  horizontal  hatching  on  background,  on  upper  part  of  bonnet  to  1.  of  the  first  large  fold 
in  the  veil,  and  on  breast.     Much  new  hatching,  chiefly  oblique  from  1.  to  r.,  on  sleeve  and 
other  parts  of  costume  towards  the  right.     Published  by  Geddes,  1826.     Reproduced  in 
M.  Salaman,  The  Great  Painter-Etchers,  1914,  p.  182,  where  it  is  wrongly  described  as  first 
state.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13369  A,  on  India  paper),  Ed.  N.  G.  (on  India  paper). 

VIII.  With  number  /  in  1.  lower  corner.    Publishedby  Laing,  1875. 

A  deceptive  reproduction  of  state  VII,  in  heliogravure  by  Amand-Durand,  was  published 
in  The  Portfolio,  1887,  xviii,  230.  The  plate,  which  is  not  bevelled,  measures  9x6^  in., 
and  the  paper  (14!  x  10$)  bears  as  watermark  the  word  PORTFOLIO  and  the  letters  MBM. 

Agnes  Boyd,  a  native  of  Kirkcudbright,  was  married  about  1779-80  to  David  Geddes, 
deput  auditor  of  excise  at  Edinburgh.  She  had  one  son,  the  artist  Andrew  Geddes,  and 
five  daughters,  and  died  on  January  n,  1828. 

The  dry-point  reproduces  in  reverse  the  picture  by  Geddes,  28x24  in.,  painted  in  1813, 
in  the  National  Gallery  of  Scotland  (no.  159).  Mrs.  Geddes  wears  a  black  bonnet,  a  white 
frill  under  her  chin,  and  a  grey-green  cloak  with  black  collar  over  a  dark  brown  gown. 

8.  FRANCIS  JEFFREY.     (L.  8.) 

Three-quarter  length,  bare-headed,  standing  by  a  table,  the  right  hand 
resting  on  some  papers.  To  1.  inkstand,  books,  and  curtain.  Signed  in  lower 
margin  :  A.  Geddes  ft.  (dry-point).  Subject  enclosed  by  border-line. 

Etching  and  dry-point.    g|  x  6TV ;  242  x  154.     Subject,  6|  x  5§. 

I.  Pure  etching.     There  are  light  patches  on  r.  side  of  coat,  to  1.  of  arm,  and  on  r.  side 
of  waistcoat,  from  the  second  button  upwards.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13399). 

II.  Dry-point  shading  on  the  places  mentioned ;  also  on  the  front  of  coat  to  1.  of  waist- 
coat.   The  book  to  1.  is  almost  entirely  white,  and  there  is  a  white  patch  on  the  second  book, 
just  over  the  inkstand.    There  is  a  light  patch  on  the  trousers,  beneath  the  1.  hand,  and  an 


THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  29 

upright  rectangular  white  patch  in  r.  lower  corner  of  the  space  enclosed  by  border-line. 
B.  M.,  V.A.  M.  (13400). 

III.  All  the  places  just  mentioned  are  shaded,  except  the  book  on  the  left,  which  remains 
white  for  a  space  of  T3B  x  \  in.    Fresh  dry-point  work  on  1.  leg  of  trousers.    An  oblong  patch 
'On  table-cloth  in  1.  lower  corner  is  still  white.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13401). 

IV.  The  oblong  patch  worked  over,  showing  a  pattern.    There  is  still  a  small  con- 
spicuous white  patch  (a  piece  of  paper?)  above  the  top  of  the  second  book.    Much  new  work 
on  curtain.     Both  hands  shaded,  but  very  indistinct.     B.  M. 

V.  The  hands  more  defined.    Four  lines,  slanting  from  r.  to  1.,  reduce  the  whiteness  of 
the  piece  of  paper.    B.  M.,  Ed.  S.  N.  P.  G.  (on  India  paper). 

VI.  R.  upper  corner  of  background  more  closely  shaded.     Fresh  dry-point  work  on 
coat.     Before  some  vertical  lines,  almost  touching  the  top  of  the  plate,  that  extend  about  an 
inch  from  the  1.  upper  corner.      B.  M.  (on  India  paper).     Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax. 

VII.  Fresh  work,  consisting  chiefly  of  strong  lines  slanting  from  r.  to  1.,  near  r.  upper 
corner  of  background ;  also  fresh  work  of  the  same  character  on  the  curtain.    There  are 
still  white  patches  on  a  prominent  fold  towards  the  top  of  the  curtain.  Very  strong  burr.  B.  M. 

VIII.  The  white  patches  on  the  curtain  worked  over.    The  book  on  the  left  shaded  to 
the  top.     New  vertical  shading  just  over  the  inkpot.     Burr  on  background  and  curtain 
reduced.     L.  arm  more  uniformly  shaded.     B.  M. 

IX.  Light  patches  on  fold  of  curtain  restored.     Fine  slanting  lines  inserted  on  back  of 
first  book  1.,  J  in.  above  top  of  inkstand.     Before  the  signature.     B.  M.,  V.A.  M.  (13402,  on 
India  paper). 

X.  Signature  inserted  on  lower  margin,  £  in.  below  border-line.    B.  M.  (on  India  paper), 
V.  A.  M.  (13403). 

XI.  With  number  8  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Francis  Jeffrey,  advocate,  born  at  Edinburgh  in  1773,  became  editor  of  the  Edinburgh 
Review  in  1803,  and  a  Lord  of  Session  in  1834.  He  died  in  1851.  His  portrait  by  Geddes 
was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1820  (no.  340).  Twenty-one  impressions  of  the 
etching  were  sold  with  the  plate,  described  as  unpublished,  at  Geddes'  sale  on  April  10, 
1845  (Iot  434)- 

9.  WILLIAM  MARTIN.     (L.  9.) 

Bust,  bare-headed,  looking  down.    An  inch  to  1.  of  the  head  is  a  tiny  sketch 
of  a  man  walking  to  the  1.  with  arm  extended. 

Etching  and  dry-point.     8|  xo^g  ;  226  x  162. 

I.  As  described.     The  impression  at  the  B.  M.  and  two  at  the  V.  A.  M.  (13380-81)  are 
all  in  the  same  state.    No.  13380  bears  the  autograph  note  in  pencil :  IV'"  Manin  a  cele- 
brated Book  &  Print  Auctioneer  at  Ed  in'1.  A.  G. 

II.  With  number  9  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Martin  was  born  in  1744  and  died  in  1820.  Mrs.  Geddes,  in  her  privately  printed 
Memoir  of  Andrew  Geddes  (1844),  relates  (p.  7)  how  her  husband  when  a  schoolboy  used  to 
buy  cheap  prints  at  auction :  '  The  auctioneer,  who  was  well  known  in  Edinburgh  at  the 
time,  and  whose  name  was  Martin,  was  a  most  facetious  man,  with  a  remarkably  short  and 
merry  countenance,  and  being  highly  amused  with  the  eagerness  of  the  youthful  bidder, 
used  to  prelude  the  sale  of  any  print  which  he  thought  would  suit  the  low  state  of  his  purse, 
by  a  nod,  saying—  "  Now,  my  bonny  man,  now's  your  time  ",  and  when,  on  the  contrary,  he 


30  THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

knew  it  would  bring  a  higher  price,  he  would  shake  his  head  mournfully,  and  say — "  Ye 
need  na  fash,  wee  creetur" :  meaning,  You  need  not  take  the  trouble  to  bid'.  The  plate 
was  sold  on  April  10,  1845  (lot  438). 

10.  ALEXANDER  NASMYTH.     (L.  10.) 

Half  length,  three-quarter  face  to  r.,  bare-headed,  in  light  coat,  with  dark 
background.  Signed  :  A.  Geddesft.  r.  within  outer  border-line  of  subject. 

Dry-point.    9!  x  6 ;  243  x  152.     Subject,  6|  x  \\.     Plate  bevelled. 

I.  Head  and  shoulders  only,  well  advanced,  part  of  the  background  inserted  and  rfart  of 
the  border-line  at  top  and  on  r.  side.     Before  the  open  vertical  lines,  crossed  at  the  top  by 
twelve  slanting  lines  from  1.  to  r.,  which  form  an  outlying  patch,  i£  by  £  in.,  to  1.  of  the 
other  shading  near  1.  side  of  head.     Rocked  work  prominent  in  several  places.    V.  A.  M. 
(273 A,  inscribed  ist  Impress,  taken;  2733,  inscribed  unique  state;  no  difference  is  perceptible 
between  these  two). 

II.  With  this  work.     Before  some  regular  parallel  lines  of  shading  behind  the  head  on 
1.  side  from  crown  of  head  to  \  in.  below  the  level  of  the  ear.     B.  M. 

III.  With  this  shading,  otherwise  unaltered.    The  lines  defining  the  coat  are  no  farther 
advanced.     The  line  indicating  the  r.  shoulder  ends  3!  in.  beneath  the  rudimentary  border- 
line at  top.     V.  A.  M.  (273 D,  touched  proof). 

IV.  This  line  is  carried  on  to  3?  in.  from  the  same  spot,  and  the  line  starting  in  shadow 
under  the  chin  and  bending  slightly  to  1.  is  also  a  little  prolonged.    A  patch  of  shading  in 
oblique  lines,  1.  to  r.,  about  i  to  i^in.  to  r.  of  neck,  has  been  added.     B.  M.  (on  India  paper), 
V.A.  M.  (2730). 

V.  The  work  on  the  shoulders  carried  lower  down,  but  before  the  arms.     Most  of  the 
background  heavily  shaded,  but  a  triangular  patch  in  1.  upper  corner  remains  white,  and 
the  r.  upper  corner  is  less  shaded  than  the  rest.    The  border-line  now  exists  on  three  sides, 
but  is  imperfect.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (273  E). 

VI.  Coat  and  sleeves  put  in,  but  still  roughly  drawn.     Background  to  1.  upper  corner 
roughly  shaded.    Border-line  drawn  all  round,  but  before  the  second  line  at  the  foot.    B.  M. 

VII.  With  outer  border-line  and  signature.     Rough  shading  carried  up  to  r.  upper 
corner,  but  several  patches  remain  light.     B.  M.,  Ed.  S.  N.  P.  G. 

VIII.  R.  upper  corner  further  darkened.     Light  patches  still  remain  on  the  triangle 
near  1.  upper  corner,  but  one  of  these  at  the  top,  beginning  i|  in.  from  1.  corner,  has  been 
further  shaded.     B.  M.  (fine,  from  Burty  Collection),  V.A.  M.  (273  F,  also  fine  and  early). 

IX.  With  number  10  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Alexander  Nasmyth,  portrait  and  landscape  painter,  was  born  at  Edinburgh  in  1758  and 
died  there  on  April  10,  1840.  Five  impressions  of  the  etching,  in  various  states,  were  sold, 
with  the  plate,  at  Geddes'  sale  on  April  10,  1845  (lot  435). 

11.  MOLESWORTH  PHILLIPS.     (L.  ii.)  Before  1826. 

An  elderly  man,  bare-headed,  three-quarter  length,  seated  by  a  table  on 
which  his  1.  hand  rests.  Behind  his  head  is  a  curtain,  and  to  r.  two  large  books 
and  a  print  or  map  partly  rolled  up.  Signed  in  lower  margin  :  A.  Geddesft. 

Etching  and  dry-point.     9  x  5! ;  228  x  151.     Subject,  7!  x  5!. 


PLATE  VI 


r 


y 
I 


ANDREW   GEDDES 

Alexander  Nasmyth.    No.  10.    Fifth  state 


PLATE  VII 


*'., 


ANDREW  GEDDES 

Nathaniel  Plimer.    No.  12.     Third  state 


THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  31 

I.  The  background  empty.    V.  A.  M.  (13393-95 ;  these  three  impressions  differ  greatly 
in  the  printing).    Mr.  R.  K.  Blair. 

II.  Behind  the  head,  to  r.,  is  a  picture  of  the  death  of  Captain  Cook,  in  dry-point. 
Before  the  shading  on  the  table-cloth.    V.  A.  M.  (13396).     Mr.  R.  K.  Blair. 

III.  The  table-cloth  shaded.     Before  the  signature.     B.  M.  (inscribed  by  the  artist: 
i1'  state.  Col.  Phillips),  V.  A.  M.  (13397). 

IV.  Signature  inserted  in  dry-point,  rich  in  burr.     Mr.  W.  A.  Pye. 

V.  Picture  replaced  by  curtain  and  books.    Before  the  dry-point  shading  with  vertical 
lines  extending  i  in.  upwards  above  the  1.  end  of  the  chair-back ;  before  some  re-touching 
T\  in.  below  top  of  plate  and  f-f  in.  from  1.  side ;  before  oblique  shading  commencing  i  in. 
from  top  of  plate  and  £  in.  from  1.  side  of  plate.     B.  M.,  Ed.  N.  G.  and  S.  N.  P.  G. 

VI.  With  these  additions.     The  margin  further  cleaned.    Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 
B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13398,  on  India  paper,  signature  not  printed). 

VII.  With  number  //  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Colonel  Phillips  (1755-1832),  as  a  lieutenant  of  marines,  accompanied  Captain  Cook  on 
his  last  voyage  round  the  world,  and  was  on  shore  when  Cook  was  killed  in  1779. 

12.  NATHANIEL  PLIMER.    (Not  in  L.) 

Bust  of  an  elderly  man,  looking  to  the  front,  in  a  wide-brimmed  hat,  of  which 
the  under-side  is  deeply  shaded.  The  face  also  is  in  shadow,  and  shows  traces 
of  reflected  light.  Signed  towards  the  \.:  A.  Geddes  ft.  Towards  the  r.  is  a  slight 
sketch  of  a  man  hanging  from  the  gallows ;  under  this  the  words  Give  the  Devil 
his  due  are  scratched  very  faintly  in  reverse  and  repeated  more  legibly  in  the 
right  direction. 

Dry-point.    7i  x  5! ;  186  x  136  (edges  of  plate  uneven). 

I.  Head  and  1.  shoulder  only.     Before  the  fine  shading  on  band  round  crown  of  hat, 
which  is  only  marked  off  from  the  crown  itself  by  a  single  line.     Before  any  cross-hatching 
on  r.  shoulder,  shadow  behind  r.  shoulder,  or  shading  upon  outside  of  coat  collar  to  r.  of 
neck.     Under-side  of  hat  not  yet  fully  shaded.    V.  A.  M.  (13418). 

II.  Band  round  hat  partly  shaded.     Under-side  of  hat  more  shaded.     Only  a  small 
patch  of  shading  over  r.  shoulder.    Much  more  work  on  clothes.   Before  horizontal  shading 
on  the  outside  of  coat-collar  r.     With  the  little  sketch  of  man  on  gallows,  but  before  the 
signature.    V.  A.  M.  (13419,  cut  to  about  5*  x  5  in.). 

III.  Signed.   With  the  inscription  under  the  gallows  (this  was  probably  in  state  II,  but 
the  impression  described  is  too  much  cut  to  show  it).    The  shadow  over  the  r.  shoulder 
extends  up  to  the  hat.    The  hat-band  and  under-side  of  hat  more  shaded.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M. 
(two  impressions,  13420-21). 

The  only  evidence  for  the  identification  of  the  sitter  is  the  pencil  inscription  Mr  N. 
Plimer,  apparently  in  the  artist's  handwriting,  under  the  impression  in  the  British  Museum. 
The  inscription,  if  inaccurate,  would  probably  have  been  corrected  or  removed  by  Mr. 
Carpenter,  who  was  well-informed  about  Geddes'  etchings.  No  certain  portrait  of  Nathaniel 
Plimer  (miniature-painter,  1751-1822)  is  known.  See  Andrew  and  Nathaniel  Plimer,  by 
G.  C.  Williamson,  1903.  Geddes  married  Nathaniel's  daughter  Adela  in  1827.  An 


32  THE   ETCHINGS   OF  ANDREW   GEDDES 

oil-painting  by  him  of  Andrew  _Plimer  (1815),  purchased  in  1900  from  Messrs.  P.  &  D. 
Colnaghi,  is  in  the  National  Gallery  of  Scotland.  He  painted  'Mr.  Plimer'  both  in  1812 
and  1813  (Laing,  p.  9). 

13.  JOHN  SHEEPSHANKS.     (L.  14.) 

Half  length,  full  face ;  curly  hair,  dark  coat  and  stock,  high  collar ;  dark 
background,  cross-hatched. 

Etching  and  dry-point.  5-3%  x  4! ;  133  x  113  (the  measurements  are  those  of  the  subject, 
not  the  plate). 

I.  Head  and  bust  only.    V.  A.  M.  (13404,  16309). 

II.  Half  length,  border-line  inserted,  but  background  white.     Before  cross-hatching  on 
lines  projecting  upwards  in  shadow  over  the  1.  shoulder.    V.  A.  M.  (13405). 

III.  The  said  projecting  lines  are  crossed  by  fine  lines  slanting  from  r.  to  1.     Work  on 
coat  more  advanced.    V.  A.  M.  (four  impressions,  13406-8,  16310). 

IV.  Background  added.     Before  the  cross-hatching  to  1.  of  collar  and  over  r.  shoulder. 
Small  white  spaces  round  the  hair.    V.  A.  M.  (16311). 

V.  With  the  cross-hatching.     Background  generally  much  more  cross-hatched ;  white 
spaces  round  hair  worked  over.     V.  A.  M.  (13410). 

VI.  Fresh  work  on  temples  and  between  locks  of  hair  to  1.  of  brow;  also  on  cheek  and 
chin.    A  patch  on  r.  shoulder,  hitherto  white,  is  partially  shaded.    V.  A.  M.  (13409,  16312). 

Art  collector  (1787-1863).  His  large  collection  of  Dutch  drawings  and  etchings  was 
purchased  by  the  British  Museum  in  1836,  and  he  presented  to  the  nation  in  1857  his 
collection  of  pictures,  now  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  He  was  a  friend  and  patron  of 
Geddes,  and  formed  the  fine  collection  of  his  etchings  which  now  belongs,  by  his  gift,  to  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  It  includes  eleven  impressions,  in  six  states,  of  his  portrait, 
which  was  a  private  plate  and  is  not  represented  in  the  British  Museum.  The  sixth  state 
is  reproduced  by  Laing. 

14.  ARCHIBALD  SKIRVING — first  plate.     (Not  in  L.) 

Head  and  shoulders,  full  face,  eyes  to  1.  The  modelling  of  the  r.  cheek 
consists  entirely  of  dots,  not  lines.  Lightly  etched ;  no  background,  but  a  slight 
tint  behind  the  head,  caused  by  corrosion  of  the  plate.  One  button  of  the  coat 
is  visible. 

Etching  and  dry-point.    8|  x  6| ;  225  x  163. 

I.  With  dry-point  marks  and  sketch  on  the  margin.  V.  A.  M.  (13373,  inscribed 
1st  impression  taken;  dry-point  outline  of  clothes  rich  in  burr:  13374,  inscribed  Portrait  of 
Skirvin  a  celebrated  Crayon  Painter  A.  G.  The  plate  was  never  advanced;  the  burr  less 
strong ;  probably  the  second  impression  :  both  show  numerous  trial  strokes  of  dry-point  on 
margin,  including  on  13374  a  little  sketch  to  1.  of  a  workman  carrying  a  bag  of  tools  over  his 
back,  which  in  13373  >s  concealed  by  the  mount). 

II.  The  plate  cleaned,  marks  and  sketch  removed.  B.  M.  (two  impressions,  one  on 
India  paper). 

Scottish  artist  (1749-1819) ;  painted  miniatures  and  drew  portraits  in  crayons.  The 
picture  of  him  by  Geddes  belongs  to  Mr.  A.  A.  Scot-Skirving,  C.M.G.,  of  Edinburgh. 


PLATE   VIII 


(rt)  John  Sheepshanks.     No.  13.     Third  stale 


(b)  The  Black  Boy.     No.  20.    First  state 

ANDREW    GEDDES 


PLATE   IX 


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THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  33 

15.  ARCHIBALD  SKIRVING  —  second  plate.    (L.  13.) 

From  the  same  picture  as  no.  14.  Nearly  half  length,  full  face,  eyes  to  1., 
in  coat  fastened  by  two  buttons  ;  background  shaded  with  cross-hatching.  In 
states  I-IV  there  is  an  indistinct  etched  monogram  (?)  towards  the  r.  in  lower 
margin. 

Etching.    8|  x  6|  ;  223  x  163.     Subject,  6f  x  5^. 

I.  Approximately  finished,  but  before  some  of  the  cross-hatching  on  the  breast  of  the 
coat  towards  the  1.,  and  before  the  horizontal  lines  which  define  the  limit  of  the  subject, 
extending  if  in.  inwards  from  the  r.  lower  corner.     B.  M. 

II.  With  the  additional  cross-hatching  and  lines.     There  are  still  conspicuous  white 
patches  on  the  top  of  the  r.  shoulder,  and  both  the  wide  projecting  ends  of  the  linen  collar 
are  still  entirely  white.     B.  M. 

III.  The  head  remains  as  in  II.    The  white  patches  on  shoulder  worked  over  ;  other 
patches  near  r.  lower  corner  of  subject  shaded  with  fine  dry-point  lines.    The  coat  much 
more  heavily  shaded  near  1.  lower  corner.     More  cross-hatching  in  background.     V.  A.  M. 


IV.  Six  slanting  lines  inserted  on  r.  side  of  the  linen  collar.    More  work  o    hair.    Before 
the  border-line  defining  the  subject  on  the  r.  side.     B.  M. 

V.  Coat  further  shaded  with  dry-point.     More  shading  on  collar,  both  above  and  below 
the  six  slanting  lines.    More  work  on  several  parts  of  the  hair,  and  more  modelling  on  brow 
and  cheeks  and  beneath  the  eyes.    Border-line  inserted  on  r.  side  and  monogram  (?)  effaced. 
B.  M.  (inscribed   in    the  artist's  hand:   Mr.  Skirving  of  Edinburgh),  V.  A.  M.   (13375  A), 
Ed.  S.  N.  P.  G.     Reproduced  by  Laing. 

16.  '  DULL  READING  '  :  WITH   PORTRAITS  OF   DANIEL  AND   ELIZABETH  TERRY. 
(L.  12.)  Before  1826. 

An  interior,  with  seventeenth-century  costumes  and  furniture.  The  wife, 
who  is  reading  aloud,  looks  up  from  her  book  to  find  that  the  husband  is  dozing 
in  his  arm-chair.  Signed  A.  Geddes  ft.  on  the  wall  above  a  cabinet,  towards 
thel. 

Etching  and  dry-point.    5^  x6£  ;  138  x  176. 

I.  Before  some  of  the   shading   on  the  wife's  r.  cheek,  and  before  the  cord  which 
crosses  her  bosom  diagonally  from  r.  to  1.  and  back  again  downwards  to  r.     Before  the 
dry-point  shading  down  the  spaces  that  intervene  between  the  zigzags  on  the  bodice.    The 
patch  of  shadow  just  to  r.  of  the  waist,  extending  to  |in.  above  the  r.  hand,  consists  only  of 
lines  slanting  from  1.  to  r.    V.  A.  M.  (13452). 

II.  With  additional  shading  in  all  the  places  mentioned.    The  oblong  space  of  wall 
over  the  cabinet  1.  is  still  blank.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13453). 

III.  The  oblong  space  is  covered  with  fine  shading  and  the  signature  has  been  inserted. 
B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13453  A),  Ed.  N.  G.  and  S.  N.  P.  G.     Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

IV.  With  number  12  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Daniel  Terry  (17807-1829),  the  celebrated  actor,  married  as  his  second  wife  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Alexander  Nasmyth.  After  his  death  she  married  Charles  Richardson,  the 
lexicographer. 

V.  F 


34  THE   ETCHINGS   OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

The  Catalogue  of  Modern  Etchings  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  (p.  138)  gives  the 
title  The  Sleepy  Listener.  The  picture  which  this  etching  reproduces  in  reverse  was  in 
the  Vernon  Gallery,  and  was  engraved  by  W.  Greatbach  for  the  Art  Journal,  1853,  under 
the  title  Dry  Reading.  It  was  presented  by  Mr.  R.  Vernon  in  1847  to  the  National  Gallery, 
where  it  bears  the  number  355,  and  the  title  Dull  Reading,  in  the  abridged  catalogue  of  1915 ; 
but  it  has  been  on  loan  at  Edinburgh  since  1890. 

17.  A  MAN  IN  ARMOUR,  WITH  HAT  AND  FEATHER.     (L.  15.)  1827. 

Half  length,  three-quarter  face  to  1.,  wearing  a  cuirass  and  wide-brimmed 
hat  with  long  drooping  feather.  Background  heavily  cross-hatched.  Subject 
enclosed  by  an  etched  line,  which  is  double  at  the  bottom. 

Etching.    5!  x  3! ;  150  x  100.    Subject,  4!  x  3!. 

I.  Pure  etching.     Background  shaded  on  1.  side  only.     B.  M. 

II.  Retouched  with  dry-point  on  under-side  of  hat,  1.  edge  of  feather,  portions  of  the 
cuirass,  &c.     Signed  in  dry-point  A  G  ft  1827  just  above  the  shading  on  the  1.  side.     B.  M., 
V. A.M.  (13424). 

III.  Background  shaded  all  over.     Marks  of  roulette  in  upper  margin.    A  portion  of 
the  cuirass  adjoining  the  1.  elbow  is  still  lightly  shaded  with  open  vertical  lines.     B.  M., 
V.  A.  M.  ((3425). 

IV.  Much  additional  shading  on  cuirass  and  background.    The  light  portion  adjoining 
the  1.  elbow  is  now  deeply  shaded.     Eyebrows,  nose,  lips,  chin,  and  cheek  retouched.    An 
additional  line  has  been  ruled  with  the  dry-point  across  the  upper  margin,  |  in.  above  the 
subject,  to  correspond  with  the  second  line  at  the  foot.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13426). 

V.  Upper  line  effaced  and  margin  cleaned.     No.  16  (not  //)  in  1.  lower  corner.     Pub- 
lished by  Laing,  1875. 

This  etching  was  supposed  by  Mrs.  Geddes  to  be  a  portrait  of  Henry  Du  Fresne,  a  friend 
of  the  artist.  The  plate  was  sold  on  April  10,  1845  (lot  439). 

II.    FIGURE  SUBJECTS  AND   STILL   LIFE 

18.  CHILD  WITH  AN  APPLE  :   PORTRAIT  OF  THE  ARTIST'S  NIECE,  AGNES  PAUL. 
(L.  I-B.)  Before  1826. 

The  little  girl,  in  a  white  frock,  sits  on  the  ground,  holding  out  an  apple  in 
her  1.  hand.  Four  more  apples  lie  near  her  r.  arm.  Dark  background  with 
a  rock  and  stems  of  trees.  Signed  A  Geddes  ft  in  1.  lower  corner.  Subject 
enclosed  by  border-line. 

Dry-point.    6i  x  5^ ;  159  x  134.     Subject,  5^  x  4! . 

I.  The  child  completely  drawn,  the  background  to  1.  and  round  the  child's  head  roughly 
drawn  in,  but  all  to  r.  remains  blank,  save  for  a  slight  indication  of  the  lower  of  the  two 
diverging  stems.   There  are  rudiments  of  the  border-line  at  top  and  on  the  1.  side.    V.  A.  M. 
(13382,  untouched,  very  rich  in  burr,  with  the  pencil  note,  Sketch  from  the  Picture  of  a  Child 
painted  by  me.  A.  G.    13383,  touched  with  pencil  and  with  pen  and  ink ;  the  border-line 
drawn  in  ink). 

II.  Tree  inserted,  but  the  dark  branch  to  1.,  starting  behind  the  child's  head,  is  unfinished 
at  the  1.  extremity.    Before  seven  short  vertical  strokes  to  1.  of  the  child's  1.  knee,  and 


PLATE   X 


(a)  Child  with  an  Apple.     No.  18.     Third  stale 


(b)  Sleeping  Child  and  Dog.     No.  19.    First  state 

ANDREW   GEDDES 


THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  35 

before  a  patch  of  dark  shading,  approximately  square,  on  the  side  of  the  rock  over  the  four 
apples.  Before  the  signature.  B.  M.,  V.A.  M.  (three  impressions,  13384-86).  The  ruled 
border  is  incomplete,  being  left  open  at  the  bottom. 

III.  The  branch  completed.     Lines  inserted  on  frock,  and  rock  shaded  over  the  four 
applea.     Border-line  completed  and  signature  inserted.     B.  M. 

IV.  The  foremost  apple  of  the  four  heavily  shaded  with  vertical  lines.    The  apple 
adjoining  it  on  the  1.  is  also  further  shaded,  with   shorter  vertical  lines,  and   its  upper 
outline  is  further  defined.    Fresh  vertical  lines  have  been  inserted  between  some  tall  blades 
of  grass,  to  1.  of  the  apples,  and  the  1.  side  of  the  plate,  and  there  are  several  patches  of 
additional  shading  upon  the  rock  above,  on  a  level  with  the  lower  side  of  the  apples,  and  to 
1.  of  the  end  of  the  child's  frock,  where  the  oblique  lines  touching  the  side  of  the  plate  have 
been  lengthened  upwards  from  f  to  nearly  £in.     B.  M.  (on  India  paper),  V.A.  M.  (13388,  on 
India  paper). 

V.  The  lines  last  mentioned  are  reinforced  and  carried  farther  downwards,  and  additional 
lines,  slanting  from  1.  to  r.,  inserted  between  them  and  the  frock.     Fresh  work  on  the  lock 
of  hair  over  the  brow,  and  more  hair  inserted  towards  the  r.  side  of  the  head.     Nose  and 
cheeks  retouched.     More  shading  on  stem  to  r.,  and  to  1.  of  the  bird.     Five  strong  lines 
inserted,  with  short  irregular  lines  above  them,  more  than  half  way  up  the  plate  near  r. 
border-line.     Shading  on  the  ground,  to  r.  of  signature,  inserted  to  disguise  patches  arising 
from  damage  to  the  plate.     Border-line  rectified  and  margins  cleaned.     B.  M.,  V.A.  M. 
(13387),  Ed.  N.  G.     Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

VI.  With  number  ij  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

The  child,  Agnes,  daughter  of  Geddes'  third  sister  Katherine  by  her  marriage  with 
Robert  Paul,  W.S.,  was  married  to  David  Allester,  W.S.  (d.  1851),  and  died  in  1866. 

19.  A  SLEEPING  CHILD  AND  DOG.     (L.  i-c.) 

The  child's  head  rests  against  a  pillow;  its  r.  hand  holds  the  stalk  of  a  cherry. 
To  r.,  beyond  a  shawl,  lies  a  dog  with  its  head  to  the  front.     Unsigned. 

Dry-point.  4^x7!;  115x180.  The  length  of  the  subject  is  5^  in. ;  at  that  point  the 
plate  is  divided  by  a  vertical  ruled  line,  the  space  to  r.  being  blank  save  for  a  few  scratches. 
Plate  bevelled. 

I.  Pillow,  shawl,  and  dog  in  outline.     Patches  of  shading  over  child's  head,  to  1.  of  its 
1.  hand  and  arm,  and  under  the  arm.    Background  otherwise  almost  blank.    The  boundary- 
line  is  already  slightly  indicated.    V.A.  M.  (13450). 

II.  As  described ;  background  and  additional  shading  inserted.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13451, 
inferior).     Reproduced  by  Laing. 

Supposed  by  Laing  to  be  another  portrait  of  Agnes  Paul.  The  plate  was  sold  on 
April  10,  1845  (lot  436). 

20.  THE  BLACK  BOY.    (L.  40.)  1826. 
A  bronze  statuette  of  Cupid,  standing  on  a  plinth,  and  holding  a  large  shell 

in  both  hands  above  his  head.  A  watch  lies  in  the  shell,  and  the  chain  hangs 
down  on  the  L,  while  a  seal  rests  against  the  plinth.  Signed  below  on  the 
I:  A.  G.ft.  1826. 

Etching  and  dry-point.     7x5^;  178  x  139.    The  plate  is  bevelled. 

F  2 


36  THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

I.  Before  the  signature.    There  is  only  a  small  patch  of  shadow,  nearly  square,  to  1.  of 
the  plinth.    V.  A.  M.  (13460-61).     Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax. 

II.  Signed.    The  shadow  extended  to  the  1.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13462). 

III.  With  number  38  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

The  statuette  belonged  in  1826  to  Geddes  himself.  It  is  described  in  his  sale  catalogue, 
April  1845,  lot  720,  as  '  Cupid  supporting  a  shell— a  very  elegant  bronze,  of  exquisite  cinque- 
cento  work '.  The  plate  was  sold  (lot  450)  as  '  the  black  boy '.  When  Laing  wrote  (1875) 
the  bronze  was  the  property  of  Miss  James,  of  Harwood  Square,  London. 

III.    LANDSCAPES 

21.  PEEBLES. 

An  etching  with  this  title  was  sold,  with  the  copper-plate,  as  lot  440  in  the 
Geddes  sale,  April  10,  1845.  It  is  otherwise  unknown  to  me.  It  is  not  identical 
with  'Whim,  Peebles-shire ',  which  is  mentioned  as  lot  442,  and  I  cannot  identify 
it  with  any  of  the  known  etchings. 

22.  WHIM,  PEEBLES-SHIRE.     (Not  in  L.) 

A  clump  of  trees  on  the  grassy  bank  of  a  river  or  piece  of  water.  There 
are  four  geese  under  the  bank,  close  to  the  water — one  to  the  1.  and  three  to 
the  r.  A  post  stands  in  the  water  near  the  three.  Not  signed. 

Dry-point.    3^!  x  5T3S  ;  98  x  132.     Edges  of  plate  irregular. 

I.  Before  vertical  lines  on  the  water  beneath  the  left-hand  goose  of  the  three,  and  both 
vertical  and  horizontal  lines  on  water  under  the  bank  a  little  to  1.  of  the  solitary  goose. 
Under  the  bank,  still  more  to  the  1.,  there  are  curved  lines  on  the  surface  of  the  water, 
quite  detached  from  the  shore.     B.  M.  (a  poor,  bare  impression),  V.  A.  M.  (13432,  good). 

II.  With  all  the  work  mentioned;  the  curved  lines  are  now  connected  with  the  bank. 
A  border-line  has  been  inserted  close  to  the  1.  edge  from  horizon  down  to  foot  of  plate,  and 
along  the  foot  of  the  plate.     B.  M.  (good),  V.  A.  M.  (13431,  13433,  both  poor). 

The  impression  of  the  first  state  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  is  inscribed  Ist  plate. 
Whim  seat  of  Arch'1  Montgomery,  Peebles-shire.  This  identification,  being  in  the  artist's 
writing,  is  to  be  preferred  to  Oatlands,  the  title  written  (not  by  Geddes)  under  the  second 
state  in  the  British  Museum.  Moreover,  a  plate  was  sold  under  the  title  The  Whim,  at 
Christie's  sale  of  Geddes'  collection  and  remaining  works  on  April  10,  1845  (^ot  442)- 

One  of  the  V.  A.  M.  impressions  of  the  second  state  bears  the  note  Printed  without  heat. 

23.  THE  FIELD  OF  BANNOCKBURN  AND  THE  BORE  STONE.    (L.  29.)  1826. 

In  the  distance,  the  Grampian  Hills;  on  the  1.,  Stirling  Castle;  on  the 
r.,  part  of  the  Firth  of  Forth.  Near  the  foreground,  towards  the  1.,  is  the 
large  flat  stone,  pierced  by  a  hole,  on  which  the  royal  standard  of  Scotland  was 
raised  at  the  battle  on  June  25,  1314.  Signed  in  r.  lower  corner :  A.  G.ft.  1826. 

Etching.    4!  x  6£ ;  121  x  165. 

I.  Before  any  work  in  the  sky,  and  with  open  spaces  on  the  ground  and  hills  left  white. 
B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13443-44).  Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax  (touched  with  pencil,  introducing  a  cloud, 
and  two  seated  figures  with  a  dog  near  r.  lower  corner). 


PLATE   XI 


(a)  The  Field  of  Bannockburn  and  the  Bore  Stone.     No.  23.     First  staff 


•s 


(b)  Caen  Wood,  Hampstead.     No.  25.     Firsts/ate 

ANDREW   GEDDES 


THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  37 

II.  Faint  dry-point  shading  on  sky,  hills,  trees,  and  road,  and  across  the  strong  etched 
lines  of  shading  on  extreme  1.     Before  the  signature.   V.  A.  M.  (13445). 

III.  Signature  inserted  in  dry-point.     B.  M. 

,  IV.  With  number  28  in  1.  lower  corner.     Monogram  and  date  faint.     Published  by 
Laing,  1875. 

The  plate  was  sold  at  Christie's  on  April  10,  1845  t'ot  445>- 

24.  TREES  IN  HYDE  PARK,  WITH  A  cow  FEEDING.    (L.  37.)  Before  1826. 
In  the  foreground  water,  with  trees  beyond  on  slightly  rising  ground  to  r. 

In  the  distance  1.  more  trees,  and  a  small  house  beyond  them.    Signed  in  r.  lower 
corner:  A.  G.ft. 

Etching.    3i  x  4$| ;  83  x  125. 

I.  Very  slight  traces  of  clouds  in  sky  to  1.  of  trees.   Two  horizontal  bands  of  shading  on 
the  ground  in  middle  distance  end  TSB  in.  from  1.  end  of  plate.    Before  two  parallel  lines  which 
run  from  roof  of  small  house  to  £  in.  from  end  of  plate.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13441). 

II.  Clouds  more  defined.     Fine  vertical  strokes  in  sky  above  the  horizon  between  the 
trees.     Slight  additions  to  foliage  and  numerous  dry-point  touches  in  foreground.   Bands  of 
shading  extended  £  in.  to  1.,  parallel  lines  inserted.    B.  M.  (two  impressions),  V.  A.  M.  (13442, 
13442  A),  Ed.  N.G.     Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

III.  With  the  number  37  at  foot,  near  the  centre.     Published  in  1875  by  Laing,  who 
remarks  that  this  etching  is  in  the  style  of  Naiwincx. 

25.  VIEW  IN  CAEN  WOOD,  HAMPSTEAD.    (L.  33.) 

A  clump  of  trees  on  rising  ground  to  1.,  a  single  tree  to  r. ;  a  distant  view 
beyond.     Subject  enclosed  by  a  border-line. 
Etching.    3!  x  6 ;  99  x  152.     Subject,  3!  x  sf. 

I.  No  work  on  sky.     B.  M. 

II.  Lower  part  of  sky  shaded  ;  a  figure  inserted  under  the  solitary  tree;  light  shading 
on  ground  to  1.  of  the  dark  shadow  in  foreground ;  a  few  details  added  among  the  trees  in 
the  clump. 

III.  With  number  #  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

26.  VIEW  IN  RICHMOND  PARK  (?),  A  SMALL  BRIDGE  TO  THE  RIGHT.    (L.  32.) 
Trees,  lightly  sketched,   with  two  dark  pines,  one  detached,  the  second 

embedded  amongst  the  other  trees.     In  the  foreground  a  waterfowl  flying  over 
a  little  stream.     Signed  in  1.  lower  margin  :  A.  Geddes  ft. 
Dry-point.    5§x6|;  138x174. 

I.  Work  nearly  finished,  but  the  large  trees  over  the  bridge  and  near  the  r.  end  of  the 
plate  have  many  white  patches,  and  there  are  no  birds  on  the  top  of  the  former  tree.     Before 
the  signature.    The  line  at  foot  stops  £f  in.  from  r.  end  of  plate.    B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13436). 

II.  Signed  ;  the  line  completed  ;  three  birds  at  top  of  tree,  and  additional  branches  and 
foliage  drawn.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13437). 

III.  With  number^  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

It  may  be  conjectured  that  this  and  the  following  number  are  the  two  plates  catalogued 
at  the  Geddes'  sale  in  1845  as  Greenwich  Park  and  St.  Ann's  Hill. 


38  THE   ETCHINGS   OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

27.  VIEW  IN  RICHMOND  PARK  {?),  A  FOUNTAIN  ON  THE  LEFT.     (L.  35.) 

On  the  1.  a  recumbent  lion  with  a  jet  of  water  falling  from  its  mouth  into 
a  tank.  In  the  middle  a  small  knoll  on  which  a  man  and  a  woman  sit.  In  the 
background  trees.  Not  signed.  Subject  enclosed  by  a  border-line. 

Dry-point.    6^x9^;  176x242.     Subject,  5!  x  8.     Plate  bevelled. 

I.  Before  any  lines  in  the  sky.    Trees  to  1.  of  knoll  very  unfinished.     Before  the  two 
birds  at  the  top  of  the  tree  r.     Border-line  incomplete,  except  at  foot.    V.  A.  M.  (13434). 

II.  The  sky  shaded.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13435). 

III.  With  number^?/  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

See  the  note  on  no.  26.  The  absence  of  any  lion-fountain  that  can  have  existed  in 
Geddes'  time  tells  against  the  identification  of  this  number  with  Greenwich  Park.  I  am 
unable  to  say  whether  the  same  difficulty  arises  in  respect  of  St.  Ann's  Hill. 

28.  LANDSCAPE  :  A  VIEW  ON  A  HILL,  WITH  TREES  AND  FIGURES.     (L.  34.) 

On  the  1.  a  woman  and  child  walking  along  a  lane ;  on  the  r.  a  man, 
with  an  axe,  standing  near  the  stump  of  a  large  tree.  Subject  enclosed  by 
border-line.  Not  signed. 

Dry-point.    5!  x  7  ;  141  x  178.     Subject,  5  x  6|.     Plate  bevelled. 

I.  As  described.    V.  A.  M.  (13448,  very  fine  impression).     Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax. 

II.  With  number^  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

This  is  presumably  the  '  wood  scene,  with  figures ',  of  which  the  plate  was  sold  at 
Christie's  on  April  10,  1845  (lot  446). 

29.  HALLIFORD  ON  THAMES  :  STUMP  OF  A  TREE  IN  CENTRE.     (L.  30.) 

An  aged  oak-tree,  with  only  its  lower  branches  remaining,  is  the  most 
conspicuous  object.  In  the  distance,  across  the  river,  are  elms  and  a  low  hill. 
Not  signed. 

Etching.    3^1  x  6| ;  101  x  158.    The  plate  bevelled. 

I.  Lightly  etched  ;  no  dry-point.     The  clouds  extend  only  to  2TV  in.  from  lower  margin. 
B.  M.,  V.A.M.  (13472  A). 

II.  Rebitten.    V.  A.  M.  (13471). 

III.  The  clouds  extend  to  2-J  in.  from  lower  margin;  the  lower  portion  of  the  newly- 
added  cloud  is  shaded  with  vertical  lines.     Similar  lines  added  above  the  distant  hills  and 
small  trees  on  either  side  of  the  oak.     Numerous  retouches  with  dry-point  in  the  foreground. 
B.M.,  V.A.M.  (13472). 

IV.  With  number  30  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 
The  plate  was  lot  443  in  the  sale  of  April  10,  1845. 

30.  HALLIFORD  ON  THAMES  :  A  GROUP  OF  TREES  WITHIN  WHITE  PALINGS.   (L.  36.) 
Unfinished.     Subject  enclosed  by  a  border-line. 

Dry-point.     5^  x  7 ;  139  x  178.     Subject,  5^  x  6|. 

V.  A.  M.  (13447,  very  fine).     Mr.  R.  K.  Blair,  Edinburgh,  from  the  Burty  collection. 
Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax.    Laing  gives  a  photographic  reproduction. 


PLATE  XII 


(A) 


ANDREW  GEDDES 

(a)  Halliford:  Group  of  Trees.    No.  30.      (i)  View  on  a  Hill.    No.  28 


PLATE   XIII 


.    fl    tr.,i] 

I     ! 

.         ^il 


. 

t- 

i     i  TH  .  .  . 


(«)  Claude's  House  in  Rome.     No.  33. 


- 


(//)  Halliford:  Long  Row  of  Trees.     No.  31 


ANDREW    GEDDES 


PLATE  XIV 


•fi 


(/} 

u 
Q 


LJ  C3 

«  5 

Q  •£ 

Z  .1) 

<  PH 


THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  39 

31.  HALLIFORD  ON  THAMES  :  LONG  ROW  OF  TREES.     (Not  in  L.) 

A  row  of  trees  extends  right  across  the  plate;  a  fence,  white  for  the  most 
part,  extends  in  front  of  them  two-thirds  of  the  distance  from  the  1.  In  the 
foreground  is  a  boat  on  shore.  Not  signed.  Unfinished.  Subject  marked  off 
by  a  single  horizontal  line  3  in.  below  top  of  plate  ;  all  beneath  this  line  is  empty. 

Dry-point,    slfxg;  150x229. 

V.A.  M.  (13446,  fine). 

32.  PECKHAM  RYE.    (L.  31.)  Before  1826. 

Near  the  middle  of  the  plate  is  a  barn,  sheltered  by  a  clump  of  trees  bending 
to  1.  To  1.  of  the  barn  a  man  stands  near  the  wooden  gate  of  a  farmyard.  Over 
the  buildings  is  a  dark  cloud.  In  the  foreground  a  white  road  and  a  little 
bridge.  The  subject  enclosed  by  a  border-line.  Signed,  within  the  line  : 

A.  Geddesft. 

Dry-point  and  aquatint.    6x9;  153x231.     Subject,  4!  x  7^.     Plate  bevelled. 

I.  Before  any  work  in  the  sky ;  the  distant  field  and  trees,  to  r.  of  the  clump,  not  shaded. 

B.  M.,  V.A.  M.  (13438).   Reproduced  in  M.  Salaman,  The  Great  Painter-Etchers,  1914,  p.  181. 

II.  With  slanting  dry-point  lines  and  contour  of  a  cloud  over  the  farm-buildings,  but 
before  the  aquatint.    Border-line  incomplete  ;  no  signature.    B.  M.,  V.A.  M.  (13439,  on  India 
paper).     Mr.  R.  K.  Blair,  Edinburgh.     Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax. 

III.  Rain-cloud  over  farm-buildings  darkened  with  aquatint.    A  black  duck  inserted 
near  the  bridge.     Border-line  completed  and  signature  inserted.     B.  M.  (two  impressions), 
V.  A.  M.  (13440  A,  on  India  paper),  Ed.  N.  G.     Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

IV.  With  number^/  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

33.  CLAUDE'S  HOUSE  IN  ROME.     (L.  28.)  1830. 

The  house  fronts  a  little  piazza  near  the  Church  of  S.  Trinita  dei  Monti, 
and  stands  between  the  two  streets,  Via  Sistina  and  Via  Gregoriana,  which 
open  into  the  piazza.  On  the  r.  are  two  peasants  under  some  small  trees. 
The  subject  is  enclosed  by  a  border-line.  Signed  A.  G.ft.  in  bottom  left-hand 
margin. 

Etching  and  dry-point ;  the  tint  with  which  certain  portions  of  the  buildings  are  shaded 
has  been  produced  by  the  mezzotint  rocker.  5!  x  7T3F ;  146  x  183.  Subject,  5!  x  7. 

I.  Etched  in  outline,  before  any  work  with  the  rocker.    The  height  of  the  plate  is 
6|  in.  (162  mm.).     Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax. 

II.  Before  work  in  foreground,  within  border-line,  and  before  the  signature.     B.  M., 
V.A.M.  (13430). 

III.  With  these  additions.     Plate  cut  at  foot.    V.  A.  M.  (287  B).    Reproduced  by  Laing. 
This   etching  was   commissioned   by  Sheepshanks,    who  thought   of   using    it   as 

frontispiece  to  a  projected  catalogue  of  his  prints,  in  a  letter  to  Geddes  at  Rome,  dated 
February  22,  1830. 


40  THE   ETCHINGS   OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

34.  LANDSCAPE,  IN  THE  STYLE  OF  REMBRANDT.     (L.  38.) 

To  1.  a  canal,  a  windmill  and  some  low  houses  on  the  further  shore.  In  the 
foreground  a  road  leading  to  a  house  on  the  waterside,  between  trees.  To  r.  of 
this  two  windmills,  other  low  buildings  and  trees.  On  the  r.,  water-meadows 
intersected  by  ditches  ;  on  the  left  a  boat  moored.  Not  signed. 

Dry-point.    4x9!;  105x233. 

The  measurements  are  not  those  of  the  plate,  but  are  taken  from  the  cut  impression 
reproduced  in  Laing's  book,  now  in  the  collection  of  Dr.  Macaulay  at  Halifax.  Laing  must 
be  mistaken  in  calling  this  a  view  on  the  Thames;  the  scenery  is  thoroughly  Dutch. 
Geddes  visited  Holland  in  1839.  The  plate  looks  as  if  it  were  done  from  nature  ;  if  so,  it 
must  be  much  later  than  any  other  of  his  etchings,  but  it  may  be  a  pasticcio  from  Rembrandt. 

35.  THREE  WILLOWS  ON  A  MOUND.     (Not  in  L.,  doubtful.) 

Two  willows  grow  side  by  side  on  the  top  of  a  low  mound,  and  a  third 
more  to  the  1.  on  the  slope.  To  r.  a  gate  in  a  fence,  and  beyond  a  view  over 
flat  country  (or  sea  ?)  to  the  horizon.  Unfinished. 

Etching.    3! x  4^1 ;  80  x  123. 

The  only  reason  for  attributing  this  print  to  Geddes  is  the  fact  of  its  insertion  in  the 
volume  of  that  artist's  etchings  which  was  the  property  of  David  Laing  and  now  belongs 
to  Dr.  Macaulay.  One  does  not  see  why  Laing  should  have  included  it  unless  he  knew  it 
to  be  by  Geddes,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  why  he  did  not  describe  it  in  his  catalogue  if  he 
had  that  knowledge.  In  technique  it  is  not  much  like  any  of  Geddes's  etchings ;  the  lines 
are  very  thin  and  close  together,  producing  dark  masses  which  suggest  at  first  sight  the  burr 
of  dry-point. 


B.— COPIES  AND   IMITATIONS    OF  OLD   MASTERS 

36.  CHRIST   DISPUTING  WITH   THE   DOCTORS  IN  THE  TEMPLE,  after   Meldolla. 
(L.  39.)  Before  1826. 

A  group  of  ten  figures,  including  Joseph  and  Mary,  who  are  seen  on  the 
r.,  and  a  child  clinging  to  one  of  the  doctors  who  leans  forward  eagerly 
towards  Christ.  On  the  wall,  near  the  head  of  Christ,  is  a  scroll  inscribed 
ANDREA  M.  F.  Aquatint  on  columns  and  bases  in  1.  upper  corner.  The  subject 
is  enclosed  by  a  border-line. 

Etching,  dry-point,  and  aquatint.  7!  x  n|;  199x302.  Subject,  6£f  x  n|.  Plate 
bevelled. 

I.  Almost  pure  etching.      Before  any  aquatint.      Dry-point   touches   near  r.  lower 
corner.    B.  M. 

II.  With  the  aquatint.    The  stripes  on  the  1.  arm  of  the  doctor  who  leans  forward  are 
white.    V.A.  M.  (13427). 

III.  The  stripes  on  arm,  and  the  collar  and  sash  darkened  with  dry-point ;  little  other 
alteration.     Before  cross-hatching  on  drapery  over  Christ's  right  knee.    V.  A.  M.  (13429). 


PLATE   XV 


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THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  41 

IV.  Much  enriched  with  dry-point.    The  hanging  lamp  darkened ;  canopy  over  Christ's 
head  darkened;  drapery  over  knee  cross-hatched.    Before  some  heavy  retouches  on  drapery 
near  1.  lower  corner  and  others  near  r.  lower  corner.    B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13428). 

V.  With  these  retouches.     Marks  of  roulette  and  dry-point  in  lower  margin.     B.  M.  (a 
rough  trial  proof). 

VI.  Margin  cleaned  ;  carefully  printed.     B.  M.     Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

VII.  With  number  ^9  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

Etched  from  a  picture  by  A.  Meldolla  (Schiavone)  which  belonged  to  Geddes  himself. 
It  is  not  mentioned  in  Lilie  Frohlich-Bum's  recent  monograph  on  this  artist  (Vienna,  1913). 

37.  AN  OLD  WOMAN  LOOKING  AT  A  RING,  after  Jordaens.    (L.  20.)    Before  1826. 

Half  length,  three-quarter  face  to  r.     She  holds  the  ring  in  her  1.  hand ;  the 
r.  hand  rests  on  a  crutch.     Signed  A.  G.ft.  under  the  handle  of  the  crutch. 
Etching.    5!  x  \\\ ;  142  x  122.    The  corners  are  cut  off. 

I.  Before  the  signature.     B.  M.  (on  this  proof  the  artist  has  written  Jordaens  and  his 
signature  A.  G.ft.  in  brownish  ink),  V.  A.  M.  (13414,  on  India  paper). 

II.  Signed;   not  otherwise  altered.     B.  M.  (and  counterproof),  V.  A.  M.  (13415-16-17 
and  counterproof),  Ed.  N.G. 

III.  With  dry-point  shading,  r.  to  1.  on  r.  sleeve,  \  in.  from  1.  side  of  plate,  and  dry-point 
lines  across  r.  lower  corner  of  plate.    V.  A.  M.  (13414  A).     Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

IV.  With  number  20  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 
This  picture  was  copied  in  oil  by  Geddes. 

38.  HEAD  OF  REMBRANDT.    (L.  23.) 

Full  face,  in  a  soft  cap,  with  moustache  and  curly  hair.  Not  signed.  Copy 
in  reverse  of  Rembrandt's  etching  (Hind  57),  called  Rembrandt  aux  trois 
moustaches. 

Etching.    2^  x  2$ ;  63  x  63. 

I.  As  described.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13458). 

II.  With  number  2)  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

39.  OLD  WOMAN  ASLEEP,  after  Rembrandt.    (L.  24.) 

Copy  in  reverse  of  Rembrandt's  etching  (Hind  129) ;  not  signed.  Described 
by  Middleton,  p.  100. 

Etching,  finished  with  dry-point.    3!  x  2§ ;  79  x  61. 

I.  As  described.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13454,  and  a  counterproof). 

II.  With  number  24  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

40.  THE  PANCAKE  WOMAN,  after  Rembrandt.     (L.  27.) 

A  copy,  in  the  same  direction,  of  Rembrandt's  etching  of  1635  (Hind  141), 
omitting  the  signature  and  date.  There  is  a  margin  all  round  the  subject,  but 
no  ruled  line.  Not  signed. 

Etching  and  dry-point.    4$  x  3^ ;  125  x  95. 
V.  G 


42  THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

I.  With  numerous  touches  of  dry-point,  strong  in  burr,  on  the  woman's  hat  and  clothes, 
the  child's  hand  and  clothes,  the  dog's  head,  paws,  and  tail,  the  cat's  ear,  &c.,  and  on  the 
border-line  at  foot  and  on  1.  side.     Mr.  W.  A.  Pye. 

II.  The  burr  removed  ;  no  trace  of  dry-point  work  remains  visible.     B.  M. 

III.  With  number  27  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

41.  BEGGAR  WOMAN  LEANING  ON  A  STICK,  after  Rembrandt.     (L.  25.) 

Copy  in  reverse  of  Rembrandt's  etching  of  1646  (Hind  219),  omitting  the 
signature  and  date.     Signed  A  G  at  the  foot  on  the  r. 
Etching.    3!  x  2 ;  83  x  50. 

I.  As  described.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13457). 

II.  With  number  25  in  1.  lower  corner.    Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

42.  HEAD  OF  AN  OLD  WOMAN,  in  the  style  of  Rembrandt.     (L.  22.) 

Bust,  full  face,  in  a  cap  of  the  seventeenth  century.  A  patch  of  shadow  to 
r.  of  head.  Not  signed. 

Etching  and  dry-point.     3!  x  s| ;  96  x  70. 

I.  As  described.     B.  M.  (and  counterproof),  V.  A.  M.  (a  clear  impression,  13412,  with 
a  counterproof,  and  another,  13411,  in  which  there  is  much  burr  on  the  shadow  to  the  r.). 

II.  With  number  22  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

In  the  style  of  Rembrandt's  early  etchings  and  pictures  of  his  mother,  but  no  exact 
original  has  been  recognized. 

43.  OVAL  PORTRAIT  OF  REMBRANDT.    (L.  21.) 

Head  and  shoulders,  nearly  full  face,  turning  slightly  to  r.,  wearing  a  cap, 
and  a  scarf  round  his  neck  over  a  steel  gorget.  Edges  of  oval  rough,  background 
cross-hatched,  margin  white.  Not  signed. 

Etching.    5f  x  4 ;  145  x  102.    Subject,  3!  x  3!. 

I.  As  described. 

II.  With  number  21  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875.     In  the  manner  of 
Rembrandt's  early  etched  and  painted  portraits  of  himself,  but  the  original  (if  any)  from 
which  Geddes  took  the  subject  has  not  been  ascertained. 

44.  OVAL  PORTRAIT  OF  REMBRANDT — second  plate,  undescribed. 

The  same  subject  as  no.  43  (Laing,  no.  21),  but  much  more  delicately  etched, 
and  finished  with  the  dry-point.  Both  plate  and  subject  larger.  In  the  lower 
margin  are  two  pairs  of  lines  scratched  with  the  dry-point. 

Etching.    6|  x  4! ;  156  x  123.     Subject,  4  x  3*-. 

B.  M.  Mr.  W.  A.  Pye.  The  existence  of  another  plate  has  not  hitherto  been  noticed. 
From  the  superiority  of  its  execution  it  must  be  supposed  that  this  was  a  second  plate,  and 
that  the  plate  acquired  by  Laing  was  a  discarded  one. 


THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  43 

45.  NICHOLAS  ROCKOX,  after  Rubens.     (L.  18.)  1822. 

Bust,  three-quarter  face  to  r.,  in  ruff,  bare-headed.     Dark  background. 
Subject  enclosed  by  a  border-line.     Signed  A  G  ft  1822  in  lower  margin. 

Etching.    9  x  6| ;  228  x  165.    Subject,  6|  x  5^. 

I.  Very  unfinished.    Clothes  in  outline.     Background  lightly  hatched;  the  shadow 
behind  the  head  forms  a  dark  irregular  patch  in  contrast  to  the  rest,  which  is  lighter. 
B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13353-54).     Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax  (with  autograph  in  ink,  Rubens  pinxt. 
A.  G.ft.  Nicolas  Rockocks,  Burgomaster  of  Antwerp,  from  the  original  picture  in  the  possession 
of  A.  Geddes.  This  impression  belonged  to  Laing,  who  quotes  the  inscription  inaccurately). 

II.  Clothes  partly  shaded,  head  unaltered.    There  is  still  a  narrow  white  patch  round 
the  outline  of  the  head  on  1.  side.    V.  A.  M.  (13355). 

III.  Dry-point  work  on  hair  and  on  clothes  ;  also  on  background,  especially  in  r.  lower 
corner  (V.  A.  M.  13356).    Dr.  D.  J.  Macaulay.    The  patch  of  shadow  on  background  is  still 
distinctly  perceptible,  though  somewhat  modified. 

IV.  Much  additional  dry-point  work  on  clothes  and  background,  which  is  now  almost 
evenly  hatched  all  over.     Before  signature.     B.  M.  (inscribed  in  pencil  Nicolas  Rockox, 
Burgomaster  of  Antwerp,  from  the  portrait  by  Rubens  in  the  possession  of  A.  G.  (monogram), 
V.  A.  M.  (13357). 

V.  Hair,  clothes,  and  background  very  much  darkened.     Before  the  cross-hatching  on 
the  ruff,  below  the  end  of  the  beard.     Signature  inserted.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13358,  inscribed 
Portrait  of  Rockox  Burgomaster  from  a  picture  of  Rubens  in  my  Possession  A  G.). 

VI.  With  the  cross-hatching  on  ruff.     B.  M.  (two  impressions),  V.  A.  M.  (13358  A,  on 
India  paper),  Ed.  N.  G.  (on  India  paper).     Published  by  Geddes,  1826. 

VII.  With  number  18  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

N.  Rockox  (1560-1640)  was  burgomaster  of  Antwerp.     No  portrait  of  him  by  Rubens 
is  recorded  by  Rooses. 


46.  THE  INFANTA  ISABELLA,  after  Van  Dyck.     (L.  17.) 

In  the  habit  of  the  Order  of  St.  Clare.    Head  only,  with  outline  of  veil.    Not 
signed. 

Dry-point.    8j  x  5$ ;  225  x  150. 

I.  Before  the  addition  of  some  fine  dry-point  lines  to  the  end  of  the  shadow  on  the  1. 
That  shadow,  5  mm.  to  r.  of  the  outline  of  the  veil,  extends  to  12  mm.  from  the  outline  of  the 
cheek.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13468). 

II.  With  these  lines  ;  shadow  prolonged  to  15  mm.  from  the  cheek.     Before  any  work 
outside  the  outline  of  the  veil.     B.  M.  (two  impressions). 

III.  Fine  dry-point  lines  all  round  the  head  and  veil  and  across  the  brow,  producing 
an  untidy  appearance.    The  shadow  to  1.  darkened.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13467). 

IV.  The  shadow  to  1.  prolonged  downwards,  terminating  in  a  row  of  strokes  of  even 
length.   The  outline  of  veil  to  1.  extended  both  upwards  and  downwards.    The  plate  outside 
the  limits  of  subject  partially  cleaned  again.    The  name  Infanta  Isabella  inserted  at  top  of 
plate  1.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13469-70). 

V.  With  number  77  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

G  2 


44  THE  ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES 

This  portrait  of  the  Infanta  Isabella  Clara  Eugenia  (1566-1633),  daughter  of  Philip  II  of 
Spain  and  Governess  of  the  Netherlands,  was  engraved  from  one  of  the  versions  of  the 
picture  by  Van  Dyck  representing  her  after  her  widowhood  (1621)  in  the  robes  of  the  Order 
of  St.  Clare.  The  picture  belonged  to  Geddes  himself,  who  exhibited  it  in  1819.  The  plate 
was  sold  on  April  10,  1845  (lot  451). 

47.  PHILIP  IV  OF  SPAIN,  after  Van  Dyck.     (L.  19.) 

Half  length,  standing,  three-quarter  face  to  L,  bare-headed,  in  wide,  open 
collar ;  background  cross-hatched.  Subject  enclosed  by  border-line.  In  lower 
margin  to  1.  Vandyke,  to  r.  A.  Geddes  ft. 

Etching.    8£f  x  6 ;  227  x  152.     Subject,  6f|  x  5^. 

I.  The  clothes  in  outline.    B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13359,  Z336o)- 

II.  Clothes  shaded  all  over ;  more  hatching  on  background ;  no  additional  work  on  face 
or  hair.     Vandyke  inserted  in  dry-point.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13361,  13362). 

III.  Hair  darkened;  moustache  and  shadow  under  nose  and  lower  lip  darkened.   Dry- 
point  work  on  lace  fringe  of  collar.    Clothes  darkened.     Background  again  more  shaded, 
but  before  fine  vertical  lines  close  to  upper  margin  near  r.  upper  corner.     B.  M. 

IV.  With  the  lines  last  mentioned.    V.  A.  M.  (13363). 

V.  Background  and  clothes  darker  still.     New  dry-point  work  on  r.  sleeve.     R.  upper 
corner  now  filled  in  completely  with  strong  horizontal  lines  across  the  fine  vertical  ones. 
Before  the  signature.     B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13364,  inscribed  From  a  Picture  of  Vandyke  in  my 
possession.  A.  G.). 

VI.  Additional  work  on  collar,  reducing  the  white  spaces ;  some  cross-hatching  near  r. 
lower  corner  of  collar  over  1.  shoulder.     Signed.     B.  M.  (inscriptions  in  margin  not  inked), 
V.  A.  M.  (13364  A,  on  India  paper),  Ed.  N.  G.  (on  India  paper). 

VII.  With  number  79  in  1.  lower  corner.     Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

48.  PORTRAIT  OF  VAN  DYCK,  after  Van  Dyck.     (L.  16.) 

Half  length,  three-quarter  face  to  1.,  eyes  full,  bare-headed.  R.  arm  resting 
on  a  ledge,  the  hand  turned  back,  showing  a  ring  on  little  finger.  Subject  enclosed 
by  a  border-line.  Not  signed. 

Etching.    6x4!;  153  x  124.     Subject,  4!  x  4^. 

I.  Almost  pure  etching;  very  slight  touches  of  dry-point  on  hair  and  clothes.     Before 
some  vertical  hatching  on  background  to  1.  of  the  wrist.    V.  A.  M.  (13422). 

II.  With  the  vertical  hatching  and  light  dry-point  shading  on  wrist.     Collar  of  coat, 
ring,  and  r.  sleeve  heavily  retouched  with  dry-point.   The  lower  part  of  that  sleeve  is  shaded 
with  light,  open  lines,  slanting  from  1.  to  r.,  which  cross  a  narrow  patch  upon  the  sleeve, 
beginning  i£  in.  from  1.  border-line,  which  was  white  in  the  first  state.    The  patch  of  shadow 
touching  the  sleeve  on  the  1.  side  is  also  darkened  with  dry-point.     Dr.  Macaulay,  Halifax. 
Reproduced  by  Laing. 

The  portrait  has  been  engraved  by  Pontius,  Van  der  Gucht,  and  W.  H.  Worthington 
(1826) — all  half  length.  The  complete  picture,  in  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  is 
reproduced  in  photogravure  in  Mr.  L.  Gust's  Van  Dyck,  p.  20. 


THE   ETCHINGS  OF  ANDREW  GEDDES  45 

49.  PORTRAIT  OF  PIETER  VAN  LAER,  after  Pieter  van  Laer.     (L.  19  B.) 

Head  and  shoulders,  full  face,  the  head  leaning  to  1.  Thick,  dark  hair. 
The  background  shaded.  Subject  enclosed  by  a  border-line.  Signed  1.  in  lower 
margin,  A.  G.ft. 

Etching.    5f|  x  4 ;  145  x  102.    Subject,  5^  x  34. 

I.  With  light  patches  on  the  hair.     B.  M. 

II.  The  hair  worked  over.    New  work  on  the  face.    Before  the  completion  of  the 
border-line.     B.  M. 

III.  Border-line  completed.    Signed.     Before  some  additional  hatching  on  the  1.     B.  M. 

IV.  With  additional  hatching.     New  dry-point  lines,  slanting  from  r.  to  L,  can   be 
observed  near  the  1.  upper  corner  and  1.  shoulder.    B.  M.,  V.  A.  M.  (13423).    Reproduced  in 
Laing's  book. 

Etched  from  the  portrait  of  himself  by  P.  van  Laer  (il  Bamboccio),  in  the  Uffizi. 
A  drawing  of  this  subject  by  Geddes  in  red,  black,  and  white  chalk,  inscribed  P.  de  Laer. 
From  the  Picture  in  the  Florentine  Gallery.  A.  G.  is  in  the  British  Museum,  derived,  with  the 
four  states  of  the  etching,  from  the  Sheepshanks  collection. 

50.  BOY  WITH  SPOON  AND  PITCHER,  probably  after  a  Dutch  artist.    (L.  26.) 

He  walks  to  1.,  holding  a  spoon  to  his  lips.  Near  his  1.  leg  stands  a  pitcher. 
Signed  A.  G.  (not  a  monogram)  to  r. 

Etching,  slightly  touched  with  dry-point.    3!  x  2^ ;  93  x  60. 

I.  As  described.    V.  A.  M.  (13459). 

II.  With  number  26  in  1.  lower  corner.    Published  by  Laing,  1875. 

It  is  unlikely  that  this  is  an  original  composition  by  Geddes,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to 
show  whence  it  is  derived. 


PLATE   XVI 


PORTRAIT   OF   JAMES    MOORE,    ESQ.,    F.S.A.,    BY    G.    ROBERTSON 
Ashmolean  Museum.    (Original  *j\  x  sf  in.) 


FRESH   LIGHT  ON   SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

OF  THE  OLD  BRITISH  SCHOOL,  DERIVED  FROM 

THE    COLLECTION   AND   PAPERS    OF 

JAMES   MOORE,   F.S.A. 

BY  C.  F.  BELL. 

ON  the  rare  occasions  when  a  collection  of  works  of  contemporary  artists 
remains  intact  long  after  the  disappearance  of  the  connoisseur  who  formed  it,  we 
generally  find  that  some  precious  fragments  of  history  or  tradition  have  been 
preserved  with  it ;  laid  by,  as  it  were,  like  flowers  between  the  leaves  of  a 
volume,  still  retaining,  when  examined  in  connexion  with  the  contiguous  pages, 
the  power  of  resuscitating  the  spiritual  fellowship  of  the  author  with  coeval 
readers,  and  revivifying  something  of  the  personality  of  each  and  of  the  sympathy 
which  bound  them  to  each  other. 

Students  of  the  Old  British  School  of  Water-colour  Painting  count  them- 
selves especially  favoured  with  sources  of  knowledge  of  this  sort.  The  collection 
of  Dr.  Thomas  Monro  (1759-1833),  the  most  famous  contemporary  patron  of 
this  branch  of  art,  was,  it  is  true,  dispersed  long  ago,  but  not  before  so  much 
had  been  recorded  about  it  that  it  is  possible  to  reconstitute  it  in  imagination 
and  test  the  traditional  commentary  which  had  crystallized  about  it.  The 
kindred  accumulations  of  Mr.  George  Keate  (1729-97)  and  Mr.  John  Henderson 
(1764-1843)  have  been  preserved  in  something  like  their  original  form,  with  the 
legendary  history  of  their  formation  still  clinging  round  them.  Although  far 
from  being  so  well  known,  the  gallery  and  portfolios  of  yet  another  amateur  of 
the  same  period — Mr.  James  Moore,  F.S.A. — have. held  stored  up  for  above 
a  century  historical  and  artistic  materials  certainly  not  inferior  to  these  in 
interest  and  authenticity. 

James  Moore  was  born,  according  to  family  records,  in  1762,  and  a  brief 
obituary  notice  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  states  that  he  was  the  son  of  '  the 
late  Mr.  Moore  of  mechanical  memory'.1  His  means,  which  were  apparently 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixix,  pt.  i,  p.  446.  I  have  been  unable  to  glean  any  further  particulars 
of  Mr.  Moore's  father  or  of  the  inventions  or  contrivances  which  give  him  a  claim  to  the  above 
epithet. 


48  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

ample,  were  derived  from  business  as  a  wholesale  linen-draper  in  Cheapside, 
carried  on  in  partnership  with  a  Mr.  Lambert.     His  residence  was  in  Stamford 
Street  in  Southwark,  near  the  south  end  of  Blackfriars  Bridge.     The  name  of 
his  wife,  Mary  Howett,  whom  he  married  in  1786,  and  the  date  of  his  death, 
May  n,  1799,  complete  the  scanty  facts  of  his  biography,  excepting  what  can  be 
gathered  from  the  books  and  engravings  he  published,  his  sketches,  and  a  few 
letters,  belonging  to  the  last  years  of  his  life,  which  have  come  down  with  them. 
These  materials,  however,  make  it  possible  to  build  up  a  definite  series  of 
conclusions  respecting  his  own  qualifications  as  a  draughtsman,  and  his  relation 
to  the  professional  painters  whose  works  he  acquired,  and  the  antiquarian  world 
in  which  he  moved.     It  would  appear  that  he  suffered  from  delicate  health ;  the 
portrait  executed  by  George  Robertson  (pi.  xvi)  shows  him  as  a  young  man  of 
twenty-five  or  thereabouts  with  a  fragile,  even  cadaverous,  set  of  features.     The 
frequent  and  prolonged  journeyings  about  Great  Britain  which  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  making  must,  unless  they  were  undertaken  for  purposes  of  business,  which  is 
scarcely  probable,  have  withdrawn  his  attention,  to  an  extent  highly  unusual 
at  that  period,  from  his  affairs  in  the  City ;  and  it  seems  likely  that  his  absence 
in  earlier  years  was  enforced,  as  it  certainly  was  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  by 
the  state  of  his  health.     The  allusions  in  his  letters  to  his  gradually  failing 
strength  indicate  that  it  was  to  pulmonary  disease  that  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-seven,  was  due. 

To  his  contemporaries,  as  represented  by  the  writer  of  the  obituary  already 
quoted,  he  had  made  his  mark  as  the  author  of  two  books  entitling  him  'to 
a  distinguished  rank  among  the  picturesque  topographers  of  this  country'. 
These  were  'A  List  oftheAbbies,  Priories  and  other  Religious  Houses,  Castles,  etc. 
in  England  and  Wales,  collected  from  Dugdale,  etc.,  etc.',  the  first  edition,  a  small 
octavo  brochure — little  more  than  a  pamphlet — published  in  London  in  I786,1 
reissued  in  an  enlarged  and  remodelled  form  in  1798;  and  '  Monastic  Remains 
and  Ancient  Castles  in  England  and  Wales.  Drawn  on  the  Spot  by  James  Moore, 
Esq.,  F.A.S.,  and  executed  in  aquatinta  by  G.  I.  Parkyns,  Esq.  Vol.  I,  London, 
1792' — a  series  of  sixty  small  octavo-sized  plates,  each  with  an  accompanying  leaf 
of  text.  The  project  provided  for  the  issue  of  these  in  ten  parts  at  regular  monthly 
intervals  between  July,  1791,  and  March,  1792;  and  the  publication  lines  make 
it  appear  that  they  were  produced  in  this  order,  but  we  know  from  a  review  in 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine*  that  as  usual  in  such  cases  punctuality  was  not 
rigorously  observed.  The  date  of  the  dedication  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 

1  The  only  interest  which  this  now  possesses  is  confined  to  the  autobiographical  facts  in  the 
preface  and  epistle  dedicating  it  to  George  Robertson.     See  pp.  50,  55  post. 

2  *795  vol-i  Pt.  I,  pp.  410,  411.     This  review,  which  contains  some  unfavourable  reflections  upon 
Moore's  character  as  a  collaborator,  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  a  note  on  Jacob  Schnebbelie 
(p.  66  post). 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  49 

May  i,  1792,  doubtless  records  the  actual  completion  of  the  first  volume. 
A  beginning  of  a  second  was  made  by  the  publication  of  twelve  plates  on  May  i, 
1793.  Although  this  was  carried  no  farther  in  Moore's  lifetime,  it  was  taken  up 
again  by  Parkyns '  some  years  later.  In  addition  to  these  works  Moore,  in 
conjunction  with  Macklin  the  publisher,  embarked  upon  another,  of  which  one 
fasciculus  alone  appeared  (April  20,  1794),  under  the  title  of  'Twenty-five  Views 
in  the  Southern  Part  of  Scotland  from  a  Collection  of  Drawings  made  by  James 
Moore,  Esq.,  F.A.S.,  in  the  year  1^2.  Engraved  by  and  under  the  Direction  of 
Mr.  John  Landseer'.  Moore's  remaining  publications  consisted  of  twelve  drawings 
engraved  for  Walker's  Copper  Plate  Magazine,  and  issued  at  various  times 
between  March  i,  1796,  and  June  2,  1800.  Besides  these,  he  provided  a  sketch 
of  Crowland  Abbey  to  form  the  foundation  of  a  drawing  by  Girtin,  engraved  for 
Hewlett's  Selection  of  Views  in  the  County  of  Lincoln  (August  22,  1797),  and 
another  of  Kidwelly  Church,  upon  which  was  based  a  drawing  by  J.  C.  Barrow 
engraved  by  Parkyns  for  Picturesque  Views  of  Churches  and  Other  Buildings 
(January  2,  1792).  To  both  of  these  plates  are  related  historical  problems  of 
some  interest,  which  will  be  discussed  later  on  in  connexion  with  the  names 
of  the  artists  who  dressed  Moore's  memoranda  for  public  appearance.2 

Earlier  than  any  of  the  foregoing,  being  indeed,  as  far  as  is  known,  the  first 
published  prints  after  Moore,  but  otherwise  of  less  interest,  are  the  nine  subjects 
views  of  Leicester  Abbey  (drawn  in  1784);  Ruins  at  Crowhurst  and  at 
Robertsbridge  (1785);  Burnham  Abbey  (two  aspects),  a  gate  at  Old  Ford, 
Harewood  Castle  (two  aspects),  and  Egglestone  Abbey  (all  drawn  in  1786) — 
engraved  for  the  supplementary  volumes  of  Captain  Francis  Grose's  Antiquities 
of  England  and  Wales  (1787). 

Like  other  amateurs,  or,  as  they  were  called,  honorary  contributors,  Moore 
also  sent  several  pictures  to  the  exhibition.  The  Society  of  Artists  accepted 
two  of  his  stained  drawings,  one  representing  the  gate  of  Bath  Abbey,3  the 
other  a  view  of  Matlock,  in  1790,  and  a  third,  a  Landscape,  in  the  followingyear.4 
Such  water-colour  drawings  and  pencil  sketches  of  his  as  have  survived  (there 
is  a  volume  containing  above  fifty  of  various  dates  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum) 
show  that  he  was  an  ambitious  but  not  very  accomplished  draughtsman  with 
the  amateur's  usual  failing  of  assimilating  in  a  superficial  way  the  mannerisms 
of  the  master  to  whose  influence  he  was  at  the  moment  subjected.8  It  may 

1  See  p.  65  post.  «  See  pp.  62,  63,  64,  80  post. 

3  Possibly  a  misprint  for  Battle,  the  gateway  of  this  abbey  being  the  subject  of  the  only  large 
finished  water-colour  by  Moore  now  extant. 

4  Some  of  the  contributions  of  earlier  dates,  clearly  the  productions  of  juvenile  hands,  indexed, 
under  the  names  Moor  and  Moore,  by  Mr.  Graves  in  his  volume  on  the  Free  Society  and  Society  of 
Artists,  may  have  been  works  of  James  Moore,  but  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  either  for  or 
against  the  supposition. 

"  Allowing  for  the  effect  of  reduction  by  nearly  £  linear,  the  illustration  of  Croxden  Abbey 
V.  H 


50  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

have  been  to  Francis  Grose  that  Moore,  along  with  other  young  dilettanti  of  the 
time,  Parkyns  as  we  shall  see  amongst  them,  owed  the  first  impulse  to  dedicate 
himself  to  sketching  ancient  architecture.  But  it  was  George  Robertson,  whose 
pupil  and  whole-hearted  admirer  he  had  become  some  time  before  1786,  who 
fixed  his  taste  and  taught  him  to  express  himself  with  his  pencil.  In  dedicating 
the  first  edition  of  his  List  to  Robertson,  Moore  acknowledges  in  warm  terms 
the  great  obligation  he  considered  himself  under  to  the  artist  by  whose  kind 
instruction  he  had  been  led  to  take  so  much  pleasure  in  the  study  of  antiquities ; 
and  in  the  text  of  Monastic  Remains J  he  returns  to  the  subject  with  a  tri'oute  of 
gratitude  to  the  memory  of  one  to  whose  instructions  the  origin  of  the  book 
was  owing.  It  will  shortly  appear,  however,  that  Moore's  talent  was  seldom  if 
ever  equal  to  producing  drawings  sufficiently  comprehensible  or  effective  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  engravers  before  they  had  been  freely  touched  up  by  pro- 
fessional hands.  Grose's  engravers  were  in  general  little  skilled  to  render  any 
artistic  quality  which  the  subject  before  them  might  possess,  and  their  crude 
copies  probably  did  bare  justice  to  Moore's  early  sketches.  But  G.  I.  Parkyns, 
in  whose  aquatints  by  far  the  greater  number  of  Moore's  drawings  have  been 
embalmed,  was  an  extremely  clever  artist,  and  there  is  some  reason  to  suppose 
that  a  series  of  accomplished  water-colours  and  pencil  outlines  forming  part  of 
the  Turner  Bequest  in  the  National  Gallery,  which  have  borne  attributions  to 
the  greatest  names,  are  probably  his  rifacimenti  of  Moore's  studies.  The  share 
taken  by  Dayes  and  Girtin  in  building  up  other  drawings  which  were  published 
under  Moore's  name  is  not  always  easy  to  determine,  but  the  elements  of  the 
problem  will  be  set  out  in  the  notes  on  these  two  artists. 

It  is,  in  fact,  to  his  connexion  with  professional  painters,  as  revealed  by 
a  scrutiny  of  his  artistic  and  literary  remains,  much  more  than  to  any  actual 
achievement  of  his  own,  that  such  historical  significance  as  Moore's  figure 
presents  is  due.  Such  scrutiny  adds  to  our  knowledge  under  three  heads. 
Firstly,  the  records  of  the  journeys  upon  which  Girtin  was  Moore's  travelling 
companion  afford  the  only  external  dated  evidence  for  following  the  develop- 
ment of  Girtin's  early  style  between  1792  and  1795.  Secondly,  the  assemblage 
of  works  by  George  Robertson  which  he  formed  and  the  eulogistic  references 
to  them  in  his  writings  have  kept  alive  an  artistic  personality  of  no  little 
originality  and  historic  interest  otherwise  almost  totally  unknown.  Thirdly,  the 
disinterring  of  Moore's  topographical  works  has  brought  to  light  yet  another 
forgotten  figure  in  G.  I.  Parkyns,  and  led  to  the  attribution  to  him  of  a  puzzling 

given  in  the  Annual  of  the  Walpole  Society,  vol.  ii,  pi.  LXXIII  b,  gives  a  fair  but  not  a  favourable  idea 
of  Moore's  qualifications.     It  is  possible  that  the  amateur  sketch  at  the  root  of  the  view  of  Lindis- 
farne  (ib.,  ph  LXIV)  may  also  have  been  Moore's  work,  but  it  is  so  transfigured  by  the  vigorous 
retouching  of  Girtin  or  some  other  master  that  it  is  difficult  to  disentangle  it. 
1  P.  94- 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  51 

group  of  drawings  long  accepted  as  Turner's  and  recently  assigned  on  the  basis 
of  much  erudite  and  specious  reasoning  to  Girtin. 

Moore,  in  his  Monastic  Remains,  followed  the  admirable  example  of  Grose 
and  Hearne  in  appending  the  date  when  each  original  drawing  was  made. 
From  a  collation  of  these  dates  and  of  others  taken  from  sketches,  a  manu- 
script itinerary  of  the  Scottish  tour  of  1792,  and  other  sources,  it  has  been 
possible  to  put  together  a  list,  in  chronological  order,  of  nearly  two  hundred 
places  of  antiquarian  interest  in  Great  Britain  visited  by  Moore  between  1784 
and  1797,  giving  a  conspectus  of  his  sketching  expeditions  during  that  period. 
As  it  is  only  here  and  there  in  connexion  mainly  with  Girtin's  movements, 
which  will  be  discussed  later  on,  that  these  dates  have  any  real  interest,  it  is  not 
proposed  to  give  any  detailed  analysis  of  them  here.  It  will  be  sufficient  on 
general  grounds  to  indicate  briefly  the  extent  and  direction  of  Moore's  trips. 
In  1784  he  was  in  Sussex,  and  also  visited  Leicester  and  Oxfordshire.  In  1785 
he  was  again  in  Sussex,  and  made  his  first  journey  to  Scotland,  returning  by 
way  of  Northumberland,  Cumberland,  and  Westmoreland.  In  the  following 
year  he  seems  to  have  made  excursions  to  Kent,  Buckinghamshire,  Somerset, 
and  Yorkshire.  His  time  between  May  and  September,  1787,  was  spent  in 
Monmouthshire,  Staffordshire,  and  Shropshire;  in  August,  1788,  in  the  south- 
western parts  of  Wales.  In  1789  he  travelled  northwards,  and,  after  a  fortnight 
in  the  East  and  North  Ridings  of  Yorkshire,  returned  homewards  through 
Warwickshire.  July  of  the  next  year  saw  him  again  in  Kent,  and  later  on  he 
visited  Essex,  Suffolk,  and  Norfolk.  Two  impressive  sketches,  executed  on 
February  27,  1791,  of  the  still-smoking  ruins  of  the  Albion  Mills,  which  stood 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Moore's  own  house,  and  some  other  views 
of  buildings  in  London,  show  that  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  picturesque 
aspects  of  familiar  surroundings,  however  far  afield  he  might  search  for  more 
romantic  and  remote  materials  for  the  plates  of  Monastic  Remains,  which  he  was 
steadily  producing  at  this  time.  It  was  no  doubt  in  quest  of  such  that  he  was 
absent  first  of  all  in  Hampshire,  Dorsetshire,  and  Devonshire,  and  afterwards  in 
North  Wales,  throughout  July  and  August  of  this  same  year.  On  May  i,  1792, 
the  first  volume  of  the  book  was  completed,  and  in  August  Moore,  accompanied 
by  John  Charles  Brooke,  the  herald,  and,  as  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  by 
the  youthful  Girtin,  set  out  upon  his  longest  and  most  interesting  journey  to 
Scotland.  His  excursions  during  the  following  year  appear  to  have  been  confined 
to  Sussex  and  Surrey.  There  is  contemporary  evidence  that  he  and  Girtin  were 
again  together  in  1794;  they  are  certainly  known  to  have  visited  Lincoln,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Peterborough,  Lichfield,  and  Warwick  were  also 
included  in  their  tour.  The  survival  of  the  greater  portion  of  a  sketch-book 
filled  by  Moore  at  Hastings,  Rye,  and  Winchelsea  has  preserved  a  daily  record 
of  his  indefatigable  industry  during  the  summer  of  1795,  when  there  is  ground 

H  2 


52  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

for  supposing  that  Girtin  was  once  more  his  companion.  These  are  the  latest 
drawings  of  his  which  we  have,  and  it  is  probable  that  it  was  shortly  after  this 
that  his  health  began  to  fail  seriously.  1796  is  silence.  During  the  following 
summer  he  passed  two  months  at  Ramsgate ;  but,  although  able  to  enjoy  seeing 
the  sights  of  the  neighbourhood,  he  was  too  weak  to  sketch.  Evidence  to  this 
effect  is  derived  from  a  correspondence  in  rhymed  doggerel  dating  from  July, 
1797,  to  January,  1799,  which  has  survived.  No  doubt  we  are  indebted  to  the 
fashionable  mania  for  the  ingenious  pastime  of  verse-making  for  the  preservation 
of  these,  as  of  many  similar  epistles  which  students  of  the  social  life  of  that 
period  have  become  accustomed  to  sift  for  a  few  grains  of  interesting  matter 
lurking  in  an  intolerable  deal  of  chaff.  Readers  interested  in  the  Old  British 
water-colour  painters  will  at  once  recall  the  melancholy  specimens  of  Hudibrastic 
metre  with  which  filial  piety  prompted  the  author  of  that  charming  book, 
Thomas  and  Paul  Sandby,  to  oblige  the  public  at  some  length.  The  jingling 
rhymes  of  Moore  and  his  friends  are  possibly  even  sadder  stuff  than  those  of 
Thomas  Sandby.  Incidentally,  however,  they  give  attractive  glimpses  of  the 
invalid  still  vivaciously  interested  in  the  archaeological  pursuits  of  his  many 
friends,  the  proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  his  own  collection. 
The  correspondence  originated  with  John  Carter,  the  well-known  antiquary, 
who  gives  a  burlesque  account  of  the  blackballing  of  James  Wyatt — the  infa- 
mously destructive  'restorer'  of  Salisbury  and  Durham  Cathedrals — as  a 
candidate  for  Fellowship  of  the  Society.  And  it  was  mainly  between  Moore 
and  Carter  that  the  interchange  of  these  epistles  took  place.  They  contain, 
unfortunately,  very  few  allusions  to  artistic  matters,  but  amusing  references  to 
topics  of  public  interest— the  Battle  of  the  Nile,  the  trial  of  Arthur  O'Connor, 
the  arrest  of  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  a  visit  of  George,  Prince  of  Wales,  to 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  and  so  forth.  The  most  spirited  contributions  to  the 
correspondence  are  those  of  Ange  Denis  Macquin,  an  emigre  who  became 
heraldic  draughtsman  to  the  College  of  Arms,  and  also,  as  a  drawing  once  in 
the  Moore  Collection  shows,  occasionally  tried  his  hand  at  landscape  painting 
in  water-colours. 

Moore's  last  active  occupation  was  the  preparation  for  the  press  of  the 
second  revised  and  enlarged  edition  of  his  List  of  ancient  buildings  in  Great 
Britain,  which  was  published  on  January  18,  1798.  It  is  embellished  with  an 
engraved  title-page  with  ornamental  lettering  by  John  Girtin  surrounding 
an  oval  view  of  Holy  Island  Cathedral,  by  Hewlett  after  a  drawing  by  Hearne, 
founded  on  a  sketch  by  the  author ;  and  the  tailpiece  of  the  volume  is  a  small 
vignette  of  Cawdor  Castle,  also  engraved  by  Hewlett  from  a  version  by  Dayes 
of  one  of  Moore's  sketches.  The  text  is  no  longer  of  much  value,  but  some 
fragmentary  and  incomplete  annotations  added  by  the  author  during  the  last 
months  of  his  life  to  an  interleaved  copy,  now  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  afford 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  53 

some  curious  information  which  has  been  worked  into  the  materials  of  the 
present  paper.  These  annotations  are  references  to  views  by  contemporary 
draughtsmen  of  places  mentioned  in  the  text,  and  seem,  as  far  as  they  go,  to 
amount  to  evidence  of  the  existence  of  drawings  of  certain  localities  by  particular 
artists,  executed  previously  to  the  date  of  the  notes,  and  not  otherwise 
known. 

The  engravings  from  Moore's  sketches  continued  to  appear  in  the  Copper 
Plate  Magazine  at  irregular  intervals  until  more  than  a  year  after  his  decease, 
the  twelfth  and  last  having  been  issued  on  June  2,  1800. 

Before  proceeding  to  piece  together  the  historical  materials  extracted  from 
them,  a  brief  summary  of  the  adventures  of  Moore's  Collection  and  papers  up  to 
the  present  time  may  be  given.  After  his  death  they  passed  to  his  widow,  who 
survived  him  for  thirty-six  years  and  in  turn  bequeathed  them  to  Miss  Anne 
Miller,  daughter  of  her  first  cousin,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Miller.  During  the  long  life 
of  Miss  Anne  Miller  the  collection,  a  family  relic,  the  travelling  memoranda  of 
an  antiquarian  forbear,  acquired  interest  and  importance  of  a  different  character. 
Drawings  selected  from  it  were  shown  at  the  Manchester  Art  Treasures  Exhi- 
bition in  1857,  and  at  the  Exhibition  of  Girtin's  works  held  at  the  Burlington 
Fine  Arts  Club  in  1875 ;  but  none  of  the  critics  who  busied  themselves  with  the 
art  of  Girtin  and  his  contemporaries  seem  to  have  examined  the  collection  in 
detail.  Miss  Miller  died  in  1890,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight,  and  left  the  drawings 
in  the  joint  possession  of  her  nephew,  Mr.  Edward  Mansel  Miller,  sometime 
Fellow  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  and  his  sister,  Miss  Helen  Louisa  Miller. 
At  this  time  the  series  still  existed  practically  complete  as  it  had  been  left  by 
Mr.  Moore.  Old  lists  show  that  a  few  drawings  must  have  been  given  away  or 
lost,  but  there  remained,  when  the  collection  was  first  studied  by  the  present 
writer,  close  upon  ninety  drawings  and  sketches  by  Girtin,  sixty  by  Robertson, 
an  important  early  Turner,  and  interesting  works  by  Hearne  and  Dayes,  besides 
twenty-seven  curious  Scottish  views  executed  by  Dayes  and  Mr.  Moore  in 
collaboration,  and  above  fifty  of  Moore's  own  sketches.  After  the  death  of 
Mr.  Miller  in  1912  Miss  Miller  decided  to  part  with  that  portion  of  the  drawings 
by  Girtin  which  had  not  originally  been  framed  or  exhibited.  These,  with  some 
miscellaneous  things,  such  as  the  Dayes-Moore  Scottish  views  already  mentioned, 
which  had  always  been  kept  in  the  same  portfolios,  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  one,  and  included  about  twenty  drawings,  the  fruit  of  the  northern  expedition 
of  1792,  a  dozen  or  so  of  Welsh  and  English  subjects  executed  about  the  same 
time,  doubtless  from  materials  collected  by  Moore,  and  a  most  important 
series  of  studies  and  completed  water-colours,  views  of  places  in  the  district  of 
Hastings,  Rye,  and  Saltwood.  Miss  Miller  was  fully  alive  to  the  interest  of  the 
whole  as  a  collection,  and  endeavoured  to  the  utmost  to  secure  its  being  kept 
together.  Unluckily  this  did  not  prove  practicable.  Many  of  the  specimens, 


54  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

especially   those  of   the  historically  invaluable    Cinque    Ports    group,   were 
dispersed.1 

Fortunately,  however,  all  the  most  beautiful  individual  works  passed  into 
the  rich  collections  of  two  great-grandsons  of  the  artist,  Mr.  Thomas  Girtin 
and  Mr.  F.  P.  Barnard,  by  whose  generous  courtesy  several  are  already  familiar 
to  members  of  the  Walpole  Society.2  Miss  Miller  still  retained  the  whole  of  the 
framed  drawings  as  well  as  the  sketch-books  of  Robertson  and  Mr.  Moore.  In 
the  hope  that  these  might  be  kept  permanently  together,  if  possible  in  the 
museum  of  the  University  of  which  her  brother  had  long  been  a  membei'  she 
arranged  by  the  terms  of  her  will  that  the  Ashmolean  Museum  might  upon  most 
generous  terms  become  the  possessor  of  any  which  it  chose  to  acquire.  By 
a  sort  of  poetic  justice,  the  liberality  of  the  college  to  which  Mr.  Miller  had 
belonged  enabled  the  Museum  to  secure  everything  of  first-rate  historical  interest, 
both  drawings  and  papers,  and  it  is  from  a  study  of  these  that  the  following 
notes  have  originated. 


GEORGE  ROBERTSON. 

This  artist  has  persistently  survived,  if  only  as  the  shadow  of  a  name,  in 
every  biographical  dictionary  from  Edwards's  Anecdotes  of  Painters  to  the 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  indeed  Redgrave's  Dictionary  of  Artists  of  the 
English  School  bestows  two  articles  upon  him,  one  under  the  name  of  Roberts 
as  well  as  that  under  the  proper  title.  The  outlines  of  his  life  are  therefore 
common  property.  A  fuller  account  published  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
directly  after  the  painter's  death  fills  in  the  details  of  a  not  very  happy  career, 
clouded  by  ill-health  and  lack  of  encouragement  and  cut  short  at  forty  years, 
'when  others  hardly  begin  to  know  what  living  is',  on  September  26,  1788. 
Robertson  had,  it  is  said,  'no  very  brilliant  success  with  the  publick.  The 
knowledge  of  his  real  worth  was  confined  within  the  very  narrow  circle  of  his 
acquaintance.'  Yet  he  had  in  Mr.  William  Beckford,  of  Somerley  Hall,  a 
wealthy  and  munificent  patron  who  not  only  took  him  to  Italy,  and  appears  to 
have  maintained  him  there  for  some  time,  but  afterwards  took  him  to  Jamaica 
and  '  made  him  the  most  generous  offers  of  settlement  in  the  Island ',  which 
Robertson  chose  not  to  accept.3  Finding  himself  in  these  circumstances  under 
the  necessity  of  making  his  own  way  in  London,  he  was  inevitably  drawn  into 
the  undercurrent  of  the  teaching  profession,  upon  which  even  the  first  artistic 

1  About  this  time  some  drawings  from  the  Moore  and  Miller  inheritance  made  an  undignified 
debut  in  the  gallery  of  a  London  picture-dealer,  and  a  puff,  announcing  the  '  discovery '  of  the 
collection,  appeared  in  several  newspapers. 

2  Annual  of  the  Walpole  Society,  vol.  ii,  pis.  LXXI  b,  LXXII  b,  LXXIII  a,  LXXVI  b,  LXXVII  b. 

3  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Iviii,  pt.  2,  p.  934. 


PLATE   XVII 


(rt)    KIDWELLY   CHURCH.      AQUATINT   BY   G.    I.    PARKYNS,    AFTER   A    DRAWING    BY   J.    C.    BARROW    FROM 
A    SKETCH    TAKEN    ON    THE    SPOT    BY    J.    MOORE 
Published  ill  '  Picturesque  Views  of  Churches' ,  &>c.,Jan.  2,  1792 
(Original  8J  x  11}  in.) 


(b)    DUMBARTON.       WATER-COLOUR    BY    G.    ROBERTSON,    1787,    FROM    A    SKETCH    BY    J.    MOORE 
Ashmolean  Museum.     (Original  uj  x  16*.  in.) 


s 


OF  THE  OLD  BRITISH   SCHOOL  55 

reputations  were  often  at  that  time  perforce  content  to  be  borne  up  or  carried 
along.  He  seems  to  have  been  not  unprosperous  although  discontented  as 
a  drawing-master,  and  his  ultimate  election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Society  of 
Artists  shows  that  he  was  respected  in  his  profession  ;  but  his  leisure  hours  are 
admitted  to  have  been  'cheared  now  and  then  by  executing  some  orders  for 
drawings  for  printsellers  and  engravers ' — a  somewhat  grudging  recognition  of 
the  generosity  of  Alderman  Boydell,  who  not  only  acquired  and  probably  com- 
missioned several  large  and  elaborate  works,  but  employed  Fittler,  Lerpiniere, 
Vivare"s,  Mason,  and  others  of  the  ablest  line-engravers  of  the  time,  to  reproduce 
them  on  an  imposing  scale.  These  plates  deserved  to  be,  and  probably  were, 
successful;  some  of  them,  especially  two  oval  views  of  Windsor  Castle  (1782-3), 
are  still  sought  after  and  prized,  that  representing  the  South  Terrace  with  the 
Royal  Family  promenading  having  recently  been  given  a  fresh  lease  of  popu- 
larity in  a  reproduction  accompanying  the  new  edition  of  Madame  D'Arblay's 
Diary,  which  it  illustrates  so  vividly.  According  to  the  obituary  Robertson's 
drawings  in  colour  were  very  few  in  number.  In  addition  to  those  then  in 
Boydell's  gallery,  which  presumably  included  the  pair  described,  an  earlier 
corresponding  pair  representing  London  from  Hampstead  and  from  Denmark 
Hill  (1781),  six  views  in  the  Black  Country  of  Staffordshire  (1788),  and  the  six 
Jamaican  subjects,  others  had  been  sent  abroad — not  improbably  to  Russia  - 
and  some  were  in  the  possession  of  connoisseurs.  Amongst  the  private  col- 
lections Moore's  must  have  taken  a  prominent  place,  since  it  originally  contained 
nearly  twenty  considerable  completed  paintings  besides  a  volume  of  sketches 
more  than  forty  in  number,  mostly  carried  some  way  towards  completion  in 
tint.  Even  now  that  it  has  been  broken  up,  the  best  and  most  numerous  speci- 
mens, divided  between  the  Ashmolean  and  British  Museums,  still  provide 
abundant  materials  for  estimating  the  artist's  powers.  The  causes  of  his  lack  of 
brilliant  success  with  the  public  are  patent  enough.  A  man  of  romantic  and 
poetic  temperament  and  considerable  range  of  expression,  he  was  to  some  extent 
spiritually  in  advance  of  his  time,  although  far  behind  his  less  imaginative  con- 
temporaries in  executive  power.  During  his  residence  in  Rome  his  communion 
with  the  cosmopolitan  following  of  Pannini  and  Joseph  Vernet  and  the  classical 
school  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  extremely  close ; l  yet  on  his  return  to 
England  he  was  clearly  infected  with  Ossianic  romanticism  in  a  fervent  degree. 
An  analogous  attempt  to  reconcile  incompatible  elements  distracted  his  technique ; 
the  process  of  body-colour  painting  commanded  his  allegiance  because  it  had  been 

1  Not  only  do  the  titles  of  Robertson's  exhibited  pictures  bear  witness  to  his  preference  for 
classical  scenery,  but  Moore  in  the  dedication  to  his  List,  already  cited,  felt  it  necessary  to  deprecate 
his  own  boldness  in  suggesting  that  one  whose  subjects  had  been  '  Italian  ruins  of  much  greater 
antiquity  and  grandeur'  than  anything  in  his  own  country,  might  yet  find  English  remains  of  the 
same  kind  not  unworthy  of  his  pencil. 


56  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

rendered  classical  by  Caspar  Poussin  and  his  Continental  followers,  but  the 
method  of  working  in  transparent  tints,  which  English  painters  have  generally 
cultivated  with  particular  success,  also  attracted  him  by  its  possibilities  of  render- 
ing mystery  and  space.  His  style  is  a  hybrid  not  altogether  attractive  in  itself 
but  full  of  suggestion  to  contemporary  artists  because  it  imported  new  elements 
into  English  landscape  painting,  and  interesting  to  modern  students  of  art 
history  because  it  carries  our  knowledge  of  the  sources  of  these  elements,  some 
of  them  ultimately  of  importance,  back  to  their  origins.  In  short,  Robertson's 
work  may  be  said  to  have  helped  to  generate  dynamic  forces  immeasurably 
greater  than  the  actual  quality  of  the  performance  itself  would  seem  to  warrant. 
His  artistic  ineffectiveness  being  thus  accounted  for,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  why 
he  has  dropped  out  of  his  due  place  in  history ;  the  foreign  characteristics  in  his 
art  prevent  it  from  being  fitted  precisely  into  any  of  the  neatly-planned  categories 
into  which  the  Old  British  school  has  been  divided.  It  is  rather  unfortunate 
that  water-colour,  the  avenue  of  approach  to  practical  art  from  the  nursery,  has 
become  the  accepted  breaking-in  ground  of  all  young  colts  in  training  for  the 
pursuit  of  art  history  and  criticism.  Always  supposed  to  be  an  exclusively 
British  possession,  no  hardly-won  knowledge  of  foreign  languages  or  collections 
was  required  for  its  mastery.  In  the  same  way  that  youthful  archaeologists  cut 
their  teeth  on  the  conveniently  circumscribed  subject  of  monumental  brasses, 
budding  art-historians  have  become  used  to  make  their  first  push  for  fame  by 
dogmatizing  on  water-colour  painting,  with  the  result  that  the  subject  has 
become  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  of  parochialism  and  prejudice.  In  the 
anxiety  to  squeeze  facts  into  a  preconceived  historic  framework  and  to  suppress 
the  inconvenient  tendency  of  some  problems  to  fray  themselves  out  on  the 
borders  of  wider  areas,  the  truth  has  often  been  maimed.  The  existence  of  two 
distinct  streams  of  water-colour  tradition  long  before  they  became  amalgamated 
in  the  British  school  has  been  ignored  or  at  best  slightly  alluded  to.  One,  the 
Netherlandish  naturalistic  style,  already  perfectly  developed  in  landscape  art  in 
the  calendars  of  the  late  mediaeval  Horae,  was  represented  concurrently  in 
Holland  by  such  artists  as  Paul  van  Liender  (1731-97),  Jacob  Cats  (1741-99), 
Wybrand  Hendriks  (1744-1831),  Cornelis  van  Hardenberg  (1755-1843),  and 
J.  H.  Prins  (I757-I8O6),1  and  in  England  by  Hearne,  Rooker,  and  Dayes  as 
well  as  by  Paul  Sandby  in  one  phase  of  his  productions  and  Turner  and  Girtin 
in  their  early  youth.  The  other,  the  classical  convention  derived  from  Claude 
and  the  Poussins,  and  distinguished  by  that  deliberate  self-abnegation  in  the 
matter  of  colour  which  is  a  conspicuous  characteristic  of  its  greatest  ex- 
ponent— J.  R.  Cozens — had  a  numerous  following  in  France  and  Switzerland, 

'  These  draughtsmen  can  probably  only  be  studied  adequately  in  their  native  country,  especially 
in  the  Teyler  Museum  at  Haarlem,  but  all  of  them  are  in  some  sort  represented  in  the  British 
Museum. 


PLATE    XVI II 


(a)    LANDSCAPE   COMPOSITION  :    EVENING,    BY   G.    ROBERTSON 
Aslintolean  Muse-im.    (Original  u£  x  i6J  ;';/ ) 


(!>}    LANDSCAPE   COMPOSITION    WITH    A    STORMY    SKY,    BY   G.    ROBERTSON 
Ashnwlean  Museum.    (Original  nf  x  16]  ;'«.) 


OF  THE  OLD  BRITISH   SCHOOL  57 

including  men  like  Hubert  Robert  (1733-1808),  A.  L.  R.  Ducroz  (1748-1810), 
J.  L.  Aberli  (1723-86),  and  Birmann  (fl.  I782-I8I5).1 

Apart  from  any  individual  aesthetic  preference  for  archaism  or  disapproval 
of-  the  later  developments  of  water-colour  in  Victorian  times,  the  outstanding 
historical  feature  is  the  fusion,  primarily  by  the  genius  of  Turner,  of  these  two 
traditions.  It  is  useless  to  dispute  whether  artistic  convictions  or  technical 
considerations  were  the  more  responsible  for  the  chromatic  restraint  of  the 
classical  convention;  futile  to  argue  that  Cozens  might  or  might  not  have 
painted  in  the  style  of  Turner's  England  and  Wales  subjects  if  the  means  had 
been  at  his  disposal,  or  to  assert  that  Turner  would  never  have  abandoned  the 
reticent  tonality  of  Cozens  had  he  not  been  urged  on  by  the  vulgar  taste  of  the 
public  for  whom  he  worked.  The  simple  fact  remains  that  but  for  the  gradual 
removal  of  certain  mechanical  disabilities  on  the  one  hand  and  the  revolution  in 
artistic  ideals  which  was  taking  place  at  the  same  time,  on  the  other — two 
contributory  causes  persistently  confounded  or  pitted  against  each  other  by 
critics — this  fusion  could  never  have  been  accomplished  so  completely  as  it  was. 

The  direct  precursors  of  the  apotheosis  have  all  a  certain  historical 
importance,  and  a  place  among  them  must  be  claimed  for  Robertson  artistically 
as  the  transmitter  of  Continental  influence,  and  technically  as  the  originator — as 
it  would  seem — of  the  use  of  scratched-out  high-lights.  Almost  every  writer  on 
the  subject  has  quoted  the  somewhat  overcharged  statement  of  W.  H.  Pyne 
assigning  to  Girtin  the  honour,  or  as  many  modern  authorities  consider,  the 
discredit,  of  having  first  taught  water-colours  to  compete  in  strength  and  rich- 
ness with  oils.2  Historical  theories  based  on  the  assumption  that  he  did  so  are 
dislocated  by  the  fact  that  precisely  similar  claims  have  been  advanced  by  Swiss 
critics  in  favour  of  Ducroz,  a  painter  of  the  same  age  as  Robertson  and  therefore 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  senior  to  Girtin.3  Ducroz,  who  lived  for  thirty 
years  in  Italy,  seems  to  have  arrived  in  Rome  shortly  after  Robertson  is  pre- 
sumed to  have  returned  to  England,  so  that  it  is  unlikely  that  there  was  per- 
sonal intercourse  between  them.  But  he  was  not  the  only  Swiss  aquarelliste 

1  None  of  the  Swiss  aquarellistes  are  worthily  represented  in  English  public  collections,  although 
albums  of  their  drawings  are  doubtless  stored  up  in  the  libraries  of  old  country  houses,  as  it  is 
largely  from  such  repositories  that  those  now  in  Switzerland — notably  the  fine  series  formed  by 
Dr.  Paul  Ganz,  the  present  director,  for  the  museum  at  Basle — have  been  drawn.  Ducroz,  the 
most  interesting  and  capable  artist  of  the  school,  can  best  be  studied  in  the  museum  at  Lausanne. 

*  Quoted  and  commented  upon  in  Mr.  Finberg's  English  Water-colour  Painters,  1906,  p.  55. 
The  germ  of  Pyne's  argument,  less  flamboyantly  expressed,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine  obituary  of  Girtin. 

8  '  Le  premier  il  porta  les  couleurs  a  1'eau  au  point  de  vigueur  qui  leur  permet  de  rivaliser  avec 
la  peinture  a  1'huile,  et  son  imagination  grandiose  ne  recula  devant  aucune  des  difficulte's  de 
1'architecture  et  des  paysages  les  plus  etendus.'  (Revue  Suisse,  1841,  tome  iv,  p.  173,  quoted  in 
Brun's  Schweizerisches  Kunstlerlexikon.)  Ducroz's  works  in  the  museum  at  Lausanne  prove  the 
justice  of  this  claim. 

V.  I 


58  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

who  found  Italy  a  profitable  as  well  as  an  inspiring  place  oi  sojourn,  where 
they  and  their  productions  filled  a  position  all  their  own  in  the  cosmopolitan 
tourist  life.  Neither  would  it  be  reasonable  to  claim  that  Robertson  was  the 
only  English  artist  who  was  influenced  by  the  Swiss  school,  or  to  exaggerate 
the  importance  of  the  fact  that  Girtin,  who  was  only  thirteen  when  Robertson 
died  and  may  never  have  been  brought  into  personal  contact  with  him,  certainly 
must  have  known  and  studied  the  collection  of  the  elder  painter's  productions  in 
Moore's  possession.  It  is  difficult  to  convey  in  words  the  impression  of  this 
foreign  inspiration  which  Robertson's  work  produces,  but  every  critic  who 
examines  a  number  of  his  works  must  feel  that  it  exists.  The  Landscape 
Composition  with  a  Stormy  Sky  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum  (pi.  xvm  b)  displays 
it  in  concentrated  form.  The  spirit  of  Salvator  Rosa,  one  of  the  greater  gods 
of  the  Panninesque  school,  whose  works  Robertson  copied  and  paraphrased, 
has  been  here  not  unskilfully  recaptured. 

Foreign  elements  in  technique  are  more  readily  detected.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  Swiss  school,  like  the  English,  devoted  itself  mainly  to  working 
in  transparent  tints,  with  or  without  monochromatic  underpainting.  But  some 
Swiss  and  many  Italian  and  French  painters  used  distemper  or  body  colours 
almost  exclusively.1  Amongst  these  was  Charles  Louis  Cle"risseau  (1722-1820), 
the  best  known  aquarelliste  of  his  time,  who  worked  extensively  for  English 
patrons  in  Italy,  and  visited  London  about  the  period  of  Robertson's  return  from 
Rome,2  their  only  contributions  to  the  Royal  Academy  Exhibition  having  been 
made  in  the  same  year — 1772.  The  gouache  process  had  indeed  many  sterling 
merits;  time  had  proved  its  permanence,  and  its  employment  by  the  Old 
Masters — notably  by  Caspar  Poussin  in  the  twelve  justly  celebrated  and  very 
beautiful  landscapes  now  in  the  Colonna  Gallery — had  endowed  it  with  a  certain 
classical  standing,  well  illustrated  by  the  attitude  of  Paul  Sandby,  whose  confi- 
dence in  establishing  a  lasting  reputation  rested  upon  his  achievements  in  this 
medium.3  Robertson,  who  had  acquired,  doubtless  as  a  student  in  Rome, 
a  mastery  of  this  method,  found,  when  he  settled  in  London,  the  stained  drawing 
with  all  its  national  characteristics  of  a  compromise  so  firmly  established  as  an 

1  Consummate  mastery  in  the  use  of  body  colours  in  landscape  painting  had  been  achieved  long 
before  by  the  late  mediaeval  Flemish  illuminators  already  alluded  to.     It  is  possible  that  some 
active  connexion  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  schools  at  a  later  period  may  be  traced 
through  Kasper  van  Wittel  of  Utrecht  (1647-1736),  who  migrated  to  Naples,  italianizing  his  name  as 
Vanvitelli,  and  may  conceivably  have  been  the  founder  of  the  line  of  gouache  painters  which  long 
flourished  there ;  dissipating  itself  finally  towards  the  middle  of  the  last  century  in  fan-painting  and 
the  production  of  the  stock  tourists'  albums,  views  of  Vesuvius,  and  so  forth. 

2  The  obituary  fixes  his  return  from  Italy  at  'about  eighteen  years'  before  his  death.      His 
voyage  to  Jamaica  was  made  before  1775. 

3  W.  Sandby,  Thomas  and  Paul  Sandby,  1892,  p.  1 15.     See  also,  for  the  critical  rather  than  the 
historical  aspect  of  the  question,  Mr.  A.  J.  Finberg's  English  Water-colour  Painters,  pp.  28-30. 


PLATE   XLX 


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OF  THE  OLD  BRITISH   SCHOOL  59 

English  institution  that  even  CleYisseau  himself  found  it  advisable  to  court 
fashion  by  exhibiting  his  skill  in  this  branch  of  art.  Robertson  set  to  work  to 
hybridize  it  with  some  of  the  elements  of  body-colour  technique,  and  endow  it  with 
some  of  the  qualities  of  brilliance  and  depth  in  which  it  was  lacking.  His  most 
ambitious  effort,  the  Journey  to  Emmaus,  in  the  British  Museum,  is  a  typical 
example  of  the  mixed  method  he  evolved.  The  principal  object  in  this  picture, 
a  large  tree  occupying  the  right  centre,  is  entirely  in  opaque  colour,  and  the 
figures,  mainly  drawn  in  pen  and  ink,  have  also  some  body  colour  about  them, 
the  more  distant  landscape  being  painted  in  transparent  tints.  The  two  Italian 
views,  formerly  in  the  Moore  Collection,  sold  at  Christie's  February  25,  1916, 
are  executed  in  much  the  same  process.  The  nearest  approach  to  a  work 
completely  in  the  stained  manner  is  the  drawing  of  Chepstow  Castle,  with  the 
figure  of  a  lady  in  a  scarlet  riding-habit  in  the  foreground,  also  in  the  same  sale, 
well  known  from  the  fine  engraving  by  Fittler.  This  has  the  pen-work,  the 
underpainting  in  grey,  and  all  the  other  features  of  the  orthodox  stained 
drawing ;  but  even  here  there  are  touches  of  body  colour  in  the  figure  at  the 
extreme  left.  It  is  remarkable  that  many  of  Robertson's  drawings  where  opaque 
pigments  have  been  used  very  little,  if  at  all,  show  no  trace  of  monochromatic 
underpainting,  and  thus  anticipate  the  advance  attributed,  on  grounds  which 
have  been  hotly  debated,  to  Girtin.  A  less  contestable  and  far  more  interesting 
technical  innovation  resorted  to  by  Robertson  has  yet  to  be  mentioned.  This  is 
the  use  of  scratched-out  high-lights.  As  he  never  signed  or  dated  his  drawings, 
and  the  exhibition  titles  are  generally  somewhat  vague,  it  is  impossible  to  fix 
their  chronological  sequence.  He  seems  to  have  been  in  the  habit  of  repeating 
his  stock  Italian  subjects  throughout  the  later  years  of  his  life  in  England.  The 
views  of  Tivoli  and  Terni,  already  mentioned,  are  therefore  not  necessarily  early 
works.  Both  show  a  free  use  of  scratched-out  lights ;  so  does  the  Journey  to 
Emmaus,  where  the  brook  in  the  foreground  owes  all  its  movement  and  sparkle 
to  them ;  they  are,  in  fact,  found  in  nearly  all  the  finished  pictures  in  the  Moore 
series.  As  Robertson  died  some  years  before  the  first  adoption  of  the  process 
hitherto  detected  elsewhere,  by  Girtin  in  the  Duff  House,  1794,  and  by  Turner  in 
the  view  of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  1795,  in  the  British  Museum,1  his  priority  in  its 
practice  cannot  be  contested.  It  has  not  been  observed  in  the  drawings  of  any 
of  the  Swiss  painters  already  mentioned.  The  far  more  subtle  and  eventful 
discovery  of  wiped-out  lights  is  equally  absent  from  their  works  and  from 
Robertson's. 

1  C.  F.  Bell,  Exhibited  Works  of  Turner,  1901,  p.  19. 


I  2 


60  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

s 

GEORGE  ISHAM  PARKYNS. 

Mr.  Moore's  reiterated  expressions  of  gratitude  show  that  he  at  least  be- 
lieved his  original  work  to  have  derived  much  benefit  from  the  instruction  and 
encouragement  he  had  received  from  Robertson.  A  dispassionate  comparison 
of  such  of  his  sketches  as  have  survived  with  the  aquatints  by  Parkyns,  which 
preserve  records  of  a  greater  number  that  have  perished,  compels  us  to  a/lmit 
that  Moore's  reputation  as  a  draughtsman  would  have  stood  higher  if  it  were 
supported  on  the  evidence  of  these  extremely  clever  pasticci  alone.  Parkyns's 
name  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  the  dictionaries  or  biographical  anecdotes 
where  the  writer  has  searched  for  it,  and  his  death  apparently  passed  unnoticed 
even  by  the  Gentleman's  Magazine.  Yet  the  presumptive  manufacturer  of  a 
considerable  series  of  drawings,  accepted  by  all  the  most  eminent  critics  for  fifty 
years  as  authentic  works  of  Turner,  and  only  lately  dethroned  from  that  eminence 
to  be  assigned  to  Girtin,  and  the  principal  collaborator  in  the  truncated  fragment 
of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  topographical  works  produced  in  the  golden  age  of 
such  publications  surely  deserves  to  be  remembered.  Fortunately  he  took  the 
public  into  his  confidence  in  some  brief  autobiographical  notes  in  the  prefaces  to 
his  books ;  and  with  the  aid  of  these,  of  the  inscriptions  on  his  prints  and  the 
lists  of  his  exhibited  works,  it  is  possible  to  construct  an  outline  of  his  career. 

George  Isham  Parkyns  was  born  probably  in  February,  1749-50,  at  Notting- 
ham, where  his  baptism  on  the  25th  of  that  month  is  recorded  in  the  registers  of 
St.  Mary's  parish.1  He  belonged  to  the  ancient  family  of  baronets,  ennobled  in 
one  branch,  seated  at  Bunney  Park.  Nottingham  is  the  address  from  which 
he  contributed  to  the  exhibition  of  the  Society  of  Artists  in  1772,  and  whence  he 
continued  to  publish  his  prints  until  September,  1791 ;  and  he  is  always  distin- 
guished with  the  adjunct  '  Esquire '  to  mark  his  amateur  standing.  His  only 
exhibit  in  1772  was  a  view  of  the  hermitage  in  Nottingham  Park,  whether 
a  drawing  or  an  engraving  is  not  clear.2  He  then  disappears  from  the  catalogues 
for  nineteen  years.  A  paragraph  in  the  preface  to  his  Monastic  and  Baronial 
Remains,  with  other  interesting  fragments  of  antiquity  in  England,  Wales,  and 
Scotland,  illustrated  by  upwards  of  one  hundred  plates  (two  volumes,  London, 
1816)  indicates  the  main  features  of  his  life  during  this  period,  and  is  so  interest- 
ing in  the  details  it  gives  of  his  connexion  with  Moore  that  it  must  be  quoted  at 
length.  '  An  early  intimacy  with  the  late  Captain  Grose,  arising  from  a  similarity 

1  John  T.  Godfrey,  Notes  on  the  Parish  Registers  of  St.  Mary's,  Nottingham,   1901,  p.  61. 
Parkyns  is  here  alluded  to  as  an  accomplished  engraver,  the  only  mention  of  his  achievements  as  an 
artist  which  the  writer  has  come  across. 

2  Mr.  Algernon  Graves,  from  whose  invaluable  indexes  this  and  other  references  to  exhibited 
works  have  been  taken,  classifies  Parkyns  once  as  an  engraver,  doubtless  on  the  strength  of  his 
later  and  more  numerous  contributions  of  aquatint  views,  and  in  a  second  entry  as  a  painter. 


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OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  61 

of  ideas,  matured  into  friendship  whilst  the  regiments,1  to  which  the  author  and 
he  respectively  belonged,  were  encamped  on  the  same  ground,  towards  the 
conclusion  of  the  war  in  1782,  afterwards  procured  for  him  an  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  James  Moore,  a  gentleman  whose  talents  as  an  amateur  draughtsman 
claimed  every  consideration,  and  whose  abilities  at  length  riveted  the  attention 
of  the  author  to  these  subjects.'  Parky ns  then  proceeds  to  relate  how,  after 
Grose's  death,  he  had  been  urged  by  Moore  to  continue  in  some  sort  Grose's 
work,  using  as  a  foundation  the  '  extensive  collection  of  sketches '  made  by 
Moore  himself  '  in  various  summer  excursions ' ;  and  how,  as  a  result,  the  first 
volume  of  Monastic  Remains  and  Ancient  Castles  had  been  issued  with  a  success 
'  more  than  commensurate  with  the  most  sanguine  wishes  of  its  friends'.  He 
mentions  that  the  greater  part  of  the  edition  had  been  'disposed  of  in  the  short 
space  of  four  months  even  without  an  advertisement ',  and  that  this  prosperous 
beginning  had  induced  the  two  friends  to  plan  the  regular  publication  of  annual 
volumes.  As  we  have  already  seen,  twelve  plates  of  a  second  volume  were 
actually  issued.  But  circumstances  arose  'to  retard  its  continuation,  amongst 
them  a  fire  at  the  copper-plate  printer's,  which  destroyed  a  considerable  number 
of  impressions  and  many  of  the  plates  '.2 

There  may  yet  come  to  light  materials  for  reconstructing  more  completely 
the  previous  stages  of  this  artist's  history.  At  present  his  earliest  appearance  is 
as  an  exceedingly  accomplished  aquatint  engraver  in  the  four  prints  composing 
the  first  part  of  a  work  called  Picturesque  Views  of  Churches  and  other  Buildings 
from  Drawings  by  J.  C.  Barrow,  F.S.A .,  engraved  in  Aqua  Tinta  by  G.  I.  Parkyns, 
planned  to  '  consist  of  six  numbers  each  to  contain  four  views  engraved  in  the 
manner  of  high-finished  drawings  i4|xio|  inches'.3  This  was  published  on 
December  i,  1790,  exactly  six  months  before  the  first  part  of  Monastic  Remains 
and  Ancient  Castles.  Twelve  more  plates,  making  four  parts  in  all,  were  issued 

1  Parkyns  commanded  a  company  in  the  Nottinghamshire  Militia,  and  amused  his  leisure 
during  '  a  five  years  desultory  tour  in  this  capacity '  by  cultivating  '  an  early  propensity  to  indulge 
in  rural  embellishments  '  and  propounding  ideal  schemes  for  improvements  in  landscape  gardening, 
six  of  which  were  published  in  a  series  of  anonymous  line-engravings — delicately  executed  maps, 
sections,  and  views — in  January,  1793. 

a  This  printer  was,  most  probably,  John  Girtin,  elder  brother  of  Thomas  Girtin,  who  was 
a  copper-plate  printer  as  well  as  an  engraver,  and  whose  workshop  is  known  to  have  been  burnt 
down. 

5  This  is  the  size  of  the  plates,  but  as  each  is  surrounded  by  a  tastefully  ruled  and  tinted  border 
the  subjects  are  rather  smaller.  Although  the  aquatints  were  all  executed  by  Parkyns,  excepting 
presumably  the  figures  which  have  been  added  in  a  masterly  manner,  no  doubt  by  an  accomplished 
professional  etcher  or  line-engraver,  the  drawings  are  not  all  Barrow's  work.  One  of  St.  Albans  is 
by  Malton,  another  by  T.  R.  Underwood  represents  Waltham  Cross.  This  is  the  celebrated  little 
drawing  exhibited  in  the  Royal  Academy  1793,  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  (no.  407-85), 
enthusiastically  praised  by  Mr.  Monkhouse  (Earlier  English  Water-colour  Painters,  1890,  p.  31); 
hitherto  assigned  to  Thomas  Malton,  the  younger,  but  now  restored  to  its  true  author. 


62  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

at  intervals  between  April  30,  1791,  and  February  i,  1793 ;  on  the  wrapper  of 
the  fourth  part  is  printed  a  list  of  the  plates  to  be  issued  in  the  fifth,  but  this 
never  appeared,  and  an  admirable  series  of  prints  promising  to  rival  Farington's 
Views  on  the  Thames  and  Hearne  and  Byrne's  Antiquities  amongst  the  English 
topographical  publications  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  brought  to  a  premature 
close. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  one  of  Barrow's  drawings  for  this  book — the 
Kidwelly  Church  (pi.  xvn  a) — was  founded  on  a  sketch  '  taken  on  the  spof  by 
Moore.  A  comparison  of  this  with  the  pencil  and  water-colour  views  of  the  same 
place,  once  the  property  of  Turner  and  believed  also  to  be  his  work,  and  lately 
attributed  on  grounds  of  style  to  Girtin  and  reproduced  as  his  in  the  Second 
Annual  Volume  of  the  Walpole  Society  (1912-13,  pi.  LXVII),  shows  that  they  are 
identical.  There  is  also  a  close  resemblance  between  others  of  the  pencil 
outlines  and  water-colours  on  card  described  and  illustrated  in  the  same  article, 
and  the  views  of  the  same  spots  in  Moore  and  Parkyns's  Monastic  Remains 
(Walpole,  Vol.  V,  pi.  xx);  the  drawings  of  Walsingham  Abbey — misnamed,  as  in 
the  book,  Chapel  (Vol.  II,  pi.  LXVI),  correspond  with  the  aquatint;  so  do  those  of 
Middleham  Castle— misnamed  Netley  Abbey  (pi.  LXIX),  and  the  Holy  Ghost  Chapel, 
Basingstoke — called  Ruined  Wall  of  a  Church  (Finberg,  Inventory  of  Turner 
Drawings,  CCCLXXVII,  24);  while  some  others,  the  Kirkstall  Abbey  (pi.  LXXI), 
Romborough  Priory — called  Hinton  Charter  House  (pi.  LXXIV  b),  and  possibly  the 
Colchester  Castle  (pi.  LXXVI),  are  surely  connected,  although  less  closely,  with 
the  book.1 

This  points  to  a  very  intimate  relationship  between  the  artist  of  this  group 
of  drawings  and  that  of  the  prints.  Mr.  Finberg,  the  author  of  the  article, 
had  already  detected  the  association  of  some  of  the  subjects  with  Moore,  but 
decided  that  the  drawings  were  certainly  not  his  work,  a  conclusion  with  which 
the  present  writer  is  in  complete  agreement.  The  improbability  of  another 
artist  having  made  sketches  of  some  half  a  dozen  buildings  from  precisely  the 
same  point  that  Moore  had  pitched  upon  is  so  great  that  any  suggestion  that 
they  are  a  totally  distinct  set  of  studies  from  nature  may  be  dismissed.  Besides, 
a  scrutiny  of  yet  two  other  subjects  of  the  series  affords  evidence  that  these, 
although  not  borrowed  from  Moore,  were  equally  not  taken  from  nature.  The 
Glasgow  Cathedral  (Walpole,  Vol.  II,  pi.  LXV)  is  in  fact  a  modified  and  blundering 
copy  of  the  view  (drawn  1778,  published  1783)  in  Hearne  and  Byrne's  Antiquities; 

1  There  is  also  in  the  Hope  Collection  at  Oxford  an  impression  of  the  plate  of  Maxstoke 
Priory,  one  of  those  only  used  for  the  first  edition  of  Monastic  Remains,  which  presumably 
disappeared  in  the  fire  at  John  Girtin's,  tinted  in  water-colours  in  the  same  conspicuous  and  unusual 
scheme  of  crude  green,  yellow,  and  red,  seen  in  the  water-colours  on  card.  As  the  prints  do  not 
seem  to  have  been  issued  in  a  coloured  edition  this  isolated  specimen  may  be  said  to  show  either 
that  there  once  existed  a  water-colour  on  card  of  this  subject,  or  that  the  artist  who  tinted  the  print 
was  familiar  with  if  he  was  not  the  author  of  the  rest  of  the  series  of  water-colours. 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  63 

the  figures  introduced,  even  the  ill-expressed  form  of  the  woman  seated  in  the 
doorway  of  the  house  on  the  right,  being  summarized  from  Hearne  by  the  copyist. 
In  the  Barnard  Castle,  Durham  (Walpole,  Vol.  II,  pi.  LXXV£),  we  have  apparently 
a  mistranslation  of  another  of  Hearne's  subjects ;  the  absurd  tower,  with  its 
flat  wall  against  the  stream  in  the  middle  of  the  bridge,  instead  of  the  angular 
Sperling  actually  there  and  shown  by  Hearne,  and  the  summary  and  incorrect 
treatment  of  the  ruins  are  alone  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  draughtsman  in  this 
instance  again  was  not  working  on  the  spot  and  suggest  that  he  was  not  doing 
so  in  any  other.1 

Again  the  outlines  and  water-colours  may  be  copies  by  an  unknown  hand 
from  the  prints  in  Monastic  Remains  and  other  books.  But,  if  they  are  such, 
why  should  Kidwelly  Church,  Moore's  only  contribution  to  Picturesque  Views, 
alone  have  been  picked  out  from  amongst  the  subjects  in  that  volume,  and  how 
did  it  come  about  that  the  copyist  was  able  to  reproduce  two  views  of  Kirkstall 
Abbey  (Walpole,  Vol.  II,  pi.  LXXI«  and  c)  taken  from  precisely  the  same  point 
from  which  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  Moore  may  have  sketched  the 
ruins  although  his  sketch  (no  longer  existing)  had  never  been  engraved ;  and  to 
evolve  an  outline  of  Dumbarton  (Walpole,  pi.  LXXIV«)  corresponding  so  closely 
with  yet  another  unpublished  sketch  of  Moore's  (also  vanished)  still  preserved 
in  a  water-colour  rendering  by  Robertson  now  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum 
(Walpole,  Vol.  V,  pi.  xvn  b}l  In  the  presence  of  this  accumulated  evidence  there 
is  no  avoiding  the  conclusion  that  all  these  little  water-colours  on  card  in  the 
National  Gallery  and  elsewhere,  and  the  pencil  outlines  corresponding  with 
them,  must  have  been  the  work  of  some  unidentified  intermediary  between 
Moore's  sketch-books  and  Parkyns's  aquatint  plates. 

It  is  known  that  Jacob  Schnebbelie,  Draughtsman  to  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries,  was  employed  in  some  capacity  as  a  middleman  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  earlier  numbers  of  Monastic  Remains.  For  he  is  described 
in  a  notice  of  the  first  part  of  that  publication  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine* 
as  having  been  employed  to  finish  and  etch  the  plates.  But  some  serious 
disagreement  between  him  and  his  employers  seems  to  have  arisen,  and  his 
connexion  with  the  work  was  terminated  finally  after  the  first  five  parts  had 
been  issued.  An  examination  of  Schnebbelie's  authenticated  original  works 
makes  it  safe  to  assert  that  the  water-colours  and  outlines  under  consideration 
are  not  in  the  least  in  his  style. 

1  Hearne's  drawing  was  made  in  1778,  but  the  plate  by  Byrne  was  not  published  until  1799, 
a  late  date,  perhaps,  to  assign  to  any  of  the  group  under  discussion.     It  is  possible  that  the  copyist 
had  access  to  the   original  drawings ;   the  likelihood  that  Moore  was  acquainted  with  them  is 
suggested  later  on  in  the  note  on  his  relations  with  Hearne  (see  p.  81,  post).     Or  this  subject  may 
have  been  one  intended  by  Parkyns  for  his  later  continuation,  Monastic  and  Baronial  Remains  (see 
p.  65  post). 

2  1791.    Vol.  Ixi,  pt.  2,  p.  743. 


64  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

Although  Barrow  is  not  known  to  have  been  in  any  way  connected  with 
Monastic  Remains,  the  mention  of  his  name  in  the  very  precisely-worded 
publication-line  of  the  Kidwelly  Church  (the  only  subject  upon  which  he, 
Moore,  and  Parkyns  are  all  definitely  known  to  have  worked),  a  subject  still 
existing  in  both  a  pencil  outline  and  a  water-colour  on  card  in  the  National 
Gallery  as  well  as  in  the  aquatint  by  Parkyns,  brings  him  into  the  circle  of 
those  to  whom  this  group  of  drawings  must  be  assigned.  There  are  three 
authentic  drawings  by  Barrow  in  the  British  Museum  representing  as  many 
widely  different  manners  of  working  in  water-colours  it  is  true,  but  none 
of  them  showing  any  resemblance  to  the  very  distinctive  style  of  the  pencil 
outlines  or  the  water-colours  on  card. 

After  demonstrating  at  length  the  danger  of  making  ascriptions  such  as  the 
surely  erroneous  one  of  these  drawings  to  Girtin,  on  the  grounds  of  style, 
the  writer  is  well  aware  that  he  is  exposing  himself  to  an  accusation  of  similar 
rashness  when  he  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  internal  evidence  seems  to  him 
to  point  to  the  probability  that  they  are  Parkyns's  work.  The  closeness  with 
which  certain  tricks  of  drawing  are  rendered  by  the  engraver,  while  at  the  same 
time  modifying  the  general  effect,  would  surely  be  very  remarkable  if  he  was 
copying  another  artist's  work,  and  these  mannerisms  recur  in  the  plates  with 
which  Parkyns,  long  after  Moore  and  Barrow  were  both  dead,  continued  the 
series  from  designs  certainly  his  own. 

A  curious  piece  of  corroborative  evidence  which  might  favour  the  attribution 
to  either  Parkyns  or  Barrow,  but  in  any  case  definitely  indicates  the  source  of 
this  group  in  the  school  of  the  latter  artist — who  kept,  as  is  well  known,  one 
of  the  most  successful  drawing  academies  of  the  time — is  to  be  found  in  Mr.  C.  E. 
Hughes's  account  of  John  Varley.1  This  most  perspicacious  critic  notes  that 
instances  of  a  particular  type  of  tree  characteristic  of  Varley  may  be  seen  '  among 
the  early  pencil  sketches  by  Girtin  which  the  expert  eye  of  Mr.  A.  J.  Finberg 
has  sorted  from  those  of  Turner  in  the  Nation's  collection '.  He  goes  on  to 
suggest  that  Girtin  and  Varley  may  have  adopted  this  type  from  something 
which  they  had  studied  together  at  Dr.  Monro's.  Assuming  that  these  sketches 
are  not  after  all  by  Girtin  but  rather  by  Parkyns  or  Barrow,  it  may  well  be  that 
this  particular  tree,  perfect  examples  of  which  occur  in  the  view  of  Lancaster 
(Walpole,  Vol.  II,  pi.  LXVIII,  misnamed  Windsor  Castle)  and  in  Barrow  and 
Parkyns's  plate  of  Quendon,  in  Select  Views,  was  a  stock  copy-book  model  in 
Barrow's  Academy  where  it  might  have  been  picked  up  by  Varley,  who  was 
trained  in  this  school,  but  scarcely  by  Girtin,  who,  so  far  as  is  known,  was  never 
a  pupil  there. 

Although  we  have  now  explored,  as  fully  as  the  materials  admit,  that  portion 

1  Early  English  Water-colour,  p.  51. 


OF  THE  OLD  BRITISH   SCHOOL  65 

of  Parkyns's  career  when  he  was  in  artistic  intimacy  with  Moore,  yet  as  so  little 
about  him  is  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  print,  a  few  paragraphs  may  excusably  be 
devoted  to  a  summary  of  the  remaining  facts  of  his  history.  It  would  appear 
that  his  energy,  far  from  being  absorbed  in  the  two  publications,  Picturesque 
Views  and  Monastic  Remains,  progressing  simultaneously  during  1790-3, 
impelled  him  to  undertake  yet  a  third  series  of  aquatints — already  alluded  to 
above — under  the  title  of  Select  Views;  Two  English,  Two  Foreign,  to  be  continued 
occasionally.  The  first  number  appeared  on  October  i,  the  second  on  Novem- 
ber 20,  1792,  and  the  third  and  last  on  February  i,  1793.  The  English  subjects 
—curious  and  interesting  views  in  what  were  then  the  outskirts  of  London — 
are  from  drawings  by  Barrow,  the  foreign  ones — scenes  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Spa  and  Rouen — from  Parkyns's  own  sketches.  Two  of  his  contributions  as 
an  honorary  exhibitor  with  the  Society  of  Artists  in  1791,  the  only  year  between 
1772  and  1808  when  he  exhibited  in  public,  show  that  he  had  been  in  Belgium ; 
the  others  were  views  of  Ilfracombe  and  Douglas,  and  two  of  the  prints  for 
Picturesque  Views. 

In  the  autobiographical  note  already  quoted  the  artist  mentions,  amongst 
the  disasters  which  occurred  to  cut  short  the  projected  continuation  of  Monastic 
Remains,  that  he  had  been  compelled,  as  the  result  of  an  unfortunate  speculation 
in  land  in  North  America,  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  spend  several  years 
attending  to  his  affairs  in  the  United  States.  It  may  well  have  been  this  journey 
that  abruptly  brought  the  publication  of  both  the  Picturesque  and  the  Select  Views 
to  a  close.  By  the  end  of  the  century  Parkyns  would  seem  to  have  been  back 
in  this  country,  making  sketching  expeditions,  something  on  the  lines  of  those 
undertaken  by  Moore,  with  the  intention  of  reviving  the  production  of  Monastic 
Remains,  the  success  of  which,  he  tells  us,  and  the  long  silence  of  the  originators, 
had  encouraged  the  appearance  of  piratical  imitations.  The  first  sketches 
engraved  in  the  new  series  of  Monastic  and  Baronial  Remains  were  made  in 
1801,  the  others  between  1803  and  1808.  In  1806  preparations  for  publication 
were  begun ;  the  old  plates,  or  such  as  remained  of  them,  were  cleaned  up,  some 
furnished  with  new  publication-lines;  others  were  heavily  re-worked,  like  the 
Mayfield  Palace,  which  was  converted  from  a  daylight  to  a  moonlight  effect.  As 
far  as  the  publication-lines  give  clues  to  the  dates  of  issue,  actual  or  intended, 
the  prints  do  not  appear  to  have  been  produced  in  parts,  but  in  irregular  batches 
in  1806, 1808, 1811,  and  1815,  the  two  volumes  being  published  complete  in  1816. 
The  first  consists  almost  entirely  of  impressions  of  the  old  Moore  and  Parkyns 
aquatints,  tinted  with  a  wash  of  warm  bistre  to  disguise  the  poverty  of  effect  due 
to  the  worn  and  damaged  state  of  the  plates ;  the  second  contains  most  of  the 
engraver's  new  subjects,  about  forty  in  number. 

About  this  time  Parkyns  seems  to  have  achieved  a  certain  position  as  a 
professional  artist,  for  he  appears  as  an  exhibitor  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1808, 

v.  K 


66  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

1812,  and  the  following  year  with  the  title  of  Draughtsman  to  T.R.H.  the  Dukes 
of  York  and  Kent.  The  productions  by  which  he  secured  this  rank  have  been 
entirely  lost  sight  of.  They  may  have  been  battle-pieces  of  a  more  or  less  official 
character,  as  one  of  the  subjects  he  exhibited  was  an  English  Flotilla  burning  an 
enemy's  Frigate  on  the  Coast  of  France,  the  other  two  being  American  landscapes. 
From  the  middle  of  1791  until  his  departure  for  America  Parkyns  appears  to 
have  lived  in  London ;  where  he  resided  after  his  return  is  unknown. ,  His 
name  is  not  in  the  Nottingham  Directory  of  1799,  nor  is  he  mentioned  as  either 
a  painter  or  an  engraver  in  the  very  complete  and  useful  lists  of  artists  working 
in  London  published  annually  in  Elmes's  Annals  of  the  Fine  Arts,  1816-19; 
but  this  omission  may  have  been  due  to  his  status  as  an  amateur.  His  latest 
known  production,  which  gives  a  high  idea  of  his  abilities,  indicates  that  he  was 
living  at  Cambridge.  This  is  a  very  striking  and  well-composed  picture  of  the 
Cathedral  and  City  of  Ely,  seen  from  the  Cam,  painted  for  Dr.  William  Pearce, 
Dean  of  Ely,  who  is  described  in  the  title  of  the  brilliant  aquatint  engraved  from 
it  by  Daniel  Havell  as  'the  late'.  As  the  dean  died  in  November,  1820,  the 
print  which  has  Parkyns's  name,  with  the  title  '  Esquire ',  but  no  other,  in  the 
publication-line,  must  have  been  produced  after  that  date,  when  the  artist,  whose 
earliest  public  appearance  had  been  made  forty-eight  years  before,  was  above 
seventy  years  of  age. 


JACOB    SCHNEBBELIE. 

The  intrusion  of  Jacob  Sohnebbelie  (b.  1760,  d.  1792)  into  these  notes 
would  scarcely  be  warranted,  so  extremely  slight  was  his  association  with 
Moore,  were  it  not  that  his  brief  connexion  with  Monastic  Remains  gave  an 
anonymous  writer  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  what  were  apparently  considered 
justifiable  grounds  for  an  attack  upon  Moore's  good  faith  as  an  author;  and 
that  this  same  connexion  provides  Schnebbelie  with  a  claim  to  be  considered  as 
one  of  those  who  may  have  executed  the  water-colours  on  card  and  pencil 
outlines  in  the  Turner  Collection.  The  details  of  Schnebbelie's  life  are  to  be 
found  in  every  biographical  dictionary.  He  probably  owed  his  introduction  to 
Moore  to  the  same  stroke  of  good  fortune  which  had  brought  him  to  the  notice 
of  some  influential  Fellows  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  notably  to  that  of 
the  President,  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  procured  his  appointment  as  official 
draughtsman  to  that  body.  When  he  died  of  rheumatic  fever  at  the  age  of 
thirty-two,  leaving  a  widow  and  several  children  in  the  direst  poverty,  his  friends 
in  the  society  circulated  an  appeal  and  raised  a  subscription  to  assist  the  widow 
and  her  family,  and  several  of  them  took  over  the  task  of  carrying  on  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Antiquaries'  Museum,  a  collection  of  miscellaneous  plates  relating  to 


OF  THE  OLD  BRITISH   SCHOOL  67 

mediaeval  antiquities,  left  unfinished  at  his  death,  and  completed  the  work  with 
a  memoir  of  the  author.  This  memoir  is  practically  a  reprint  of  an  obituary 
which  had  appeared  just  after  Schnebbelie's  death  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
admirably  calculated  to  stir  the  compassion  of  the  charitable  at  a  timely  moment 
to  come  to  the  aid  of  Schnebbelie's  widow  and  orphans,  but,  it  must  be  admitted, 
claiming  for  him  as  an  artist  a  position  which  cannot  fairly  be  accorded  to 
his  merit. 

For  some  reasons  it  is  now  scarcely  profitable  even  to  guess  at,  but  possibly 
connected  with  some  bitter  feeling  in  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  such  as  that 
known  to  have  arisen  over  the  blackballing  of  James  Wyatt  (an  incident  several 
times  referred  to  in  Moore's  correspondence),  an  anonymous  critic  made  use  of 
the  catastrophe  of  which  the  unhappy  Schnebbelie  was  the  centre  to  cover 
a  spiteful  attack  upon  Moore.  Neither  that  gentleman  nor  his  friends  seem  to 
have  thought  it  worth  while  to  repel  the  accusations ;  and,  so  far  as  it  is  now 
possible  to  judge,  they  were  altogether  ill-founded  and  unjust.  It  is  vaguely 
insinuated  that  Moore  had  been  lacking  in  good  faith  to  his  subscribers  in 
discontinuing  the  publication  of  Monastic  Remains  before  the  plan  was  completed, 
and  in  beginning  another,  the  Twenty-five  Views,  in  a  different  style— line- 
engraving  instead  of  aquatint ;  and  he  is  directly  charged  with  disingenuously 
concealing  his  indebtedness  to  his  collaborators  in  the  former  work  by  sinking 
all  mention  of  their  names  in  his  preface.  '  Indeed,'  wrote  the  assailant,  'one  of 
them' — that  is  Schnebbelie — 'relinquished  the  work  after  four  numbers  had 
been  completed ;  and  sorry  we  are  to  add  that  the  uneasiness  which  he  suffered 
during  this  engagement  contributed  not  a  little  to  his  decease  soon  after.  It 
should  seem  too,  that  the  other'— that  is  to  say  Parkyns — 'continued  an 
associate  as  long  as  the  work  went  on ;  another '  —  Landseer  — '  has  been 
substituted  to  him  in  the  Scottish  views.' 

Parkyns,  as  his  autobiographical  notes  already  quoted  prove,  invariably 
speaks  of  Moore  as  a  collaborator  in  the  most  kindly  and  generous  terms,  never 
showing  the  least  disposition  to  make  use  of  the  grievances  thus  liberally  placed 
at  his  disposal ;  and  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  his  account  of  the 
circumstances  which  led  to  the  collapse  of  Monastic  Remains  is  not  true.  With 
regard  to  Schnebbelie  it  is  permissible  to  doubt  whether  his  aid  had  ever  been 
of  serious  value  in  the  case  of  that  work.  And  as  he  had  been  dead  two  years 
when  the  Twenty-five  Views  appeared,  and  Parkyns  was  absent  in  America  at 
this  period,  neither  of  them  could  possibly  have  been  associated  in  any  way 
with  this  production. 

Superabundant  materials  exist,  not  only  in  the  form  of  original  drawings 
and  etchings,  but  in  letters,  estimates,  and  notes  of  payment  preserved  amongst 
the  archives  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  and  the  Gough  papers  in  the  Bodleian 
Library,  for  determining  Schnebbelie's  condition  of  life  and  his  rank  as  a 

K  2 


68  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

draughtsman  and  engraver.1  When,  therefore,  we  are  assured  in  his  obituary 
that  'early  in  1791'  he  had  'made  himself  master  in  the  art  of  aquatinting ',  and 
elsewhere  are  led,  by  the  dark  hints  of  the  anonymous  assailant,  to  conclude 
that  the  assistance  he  afforded  was  greater  than  Moore  was  willing  to  acknow- 
ledge, we  naturally  turn  to  his  recognized  works  expecting  to  find  there  some- 
thing to  compare  with  the  earlier  plates  in  Monastic  Remains,  and  to  explain 
what  his  share  in  these  actually  amounted  to.  Only  two  plates  in  the  Anti- 
quaries' Museum  (nos.  vi  and  vn)  show  any  trace  of  aquatint,  and  those  only  in 
a  very  rudimentary  form ;  whilst  of  the  two  aquatints  in  N  ichols's  History  of 
Leicestershire  for  which  Schnebbelie  was  responsible — the  views  of  Coston  and 
Buckminster  Churches — the  first  is  childishly  primitive  and  the  second,  a  little 
less  crude  it  is  true,  bears,  in  the  later  states  at  least,  the  signature  of  another 
engraver,  Liparotti.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  help  such  an  unskilled  beginner 
can  have  given  to  a  practised  craftsman  such  as  Parkyns.  As  far,  therefore,  as 
the  aquatinting  is  concerned,  it  seems  impossible  to  detect  a  difference  between 
the  earlier  plates  which  Schnebbelie  assisted  in  producing  and  those  in  which 
he  had  no  hand ;  nor  can  it  be  said  that  his  characteristically  refined  and  timid 
etching  is  anywhere  traceable  in  them.  The  quality  of  all,  in  both  the  first  and 
the  later  series,  is,  considering  the  long  period  covered  by  their  execution,  remark- 
ably even,  and  they  are  stamped  throughout  with  the  individual  mannerisms  of 
Parkyns. 

Schnebbelie's  capacity  as  a  draughtsman  is  well  displayed  in  numerous 
important  water-colours,  mostly  designed  for  Vetusta  Monumenta,  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  He  was  ambitious  and  painstaking,  but 
his  perspective  is  erratic,  his  comprehension  of  the  forms  of  architecture 
exceedingly  limited,  and  his  handling  of  the  conventional  pen-and-ink  outline 
persistently  employed  is  somewhat  niggling  and  expressionless.  It  seems  safe 
to  assert  that  the  fluent  calligraphic  style  of  the  water-colours  on  card  and 
pencil  outlines  must  always  have  been  quite  outside  the  range  of  his  abilities. 
His  style,  although  not  his  actual  handiwork  in  landscape,  is  fairly  illustrated 
by  the  two  little  sketches  in  ink,  pen,  and  wash,  one  of  Kirkstall  Abbey  (in 
Mr.  Barnard's  Collection,  reproduced  in  the  Annual  of  the  Walpole  Society,  II, 
pi.  LXXII  a),  the  other  of  Neath  Abbey  (in  the  Ashmolean  Museum).  Both 
came  from  the  Moore  Collection  and  are  connected  with  plates  in  the  earliest 
numbers  of  Monastic  Remains. 

'  The  writer  is  exceedingly  indebted  to  Mr.  H.  S.  Kingsford,  assistant  secretary  to  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries,  for  the  trouble  he  kindly  took  in  extracting  references  to  Schnebbelie  from  the 
minutes  of  the  Society,  and  searching  for  his  drawings  in  its  folios,  thus  getting  together  a  mass  of 
evidence  which  it  has  only  been  possible  to  present  here  in  a  very  summary  form. 


OF  THE   OLD  BRITISH   SCHOOL  69 


THOMAS  GIRTIN. 

The  personalities  of  the  inheritors  of  unfulfilled  renown  have  a  habit  of 
assuming  the  transfiguring  aureole  of  legend  and  tradition,  and  Girtin  is  no 
exception  to  this  well-known  custom.  His  precocious  genius  and  his  influence  on 
the  course  of  landscape  art  and  upon  the  development  of  modern  water-colour 
painting  have  been  written  about  at  immense  length,  and  an  heroic  being  has  been 
very  speciously  reconstituted  from  scattered  anecdotes  and  vague  hypotheses. 
Some  records  of  his  relations  with  Moore  have  been  worked  into  the  image, 
notably  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Roget  in  his  invaluable  book  on  the  History  of  the  Old 
Water-colour  Society,  where  several  pages  are  devoted  to  an  account  of  Girtin's 
youth,  carefully  pieced  together  and  supported  on  far-sought  references  to  the 
older  authorities.  But  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing  facts  through  the  dis- 
turbing medium  of  literary  tradition  has  proved  so  baffling  that  even  this 
minutely  accurate  and  conscientious  author  has,  in  this  instance,  taken  refuge 
from  indefiniteness  in  mis-statement.  The  study  of  the  actual  artistic  docu- 
ments in  the  Moore  Collection  in  the  light  of  the  little  genuine  contemporary 
biographical  material  existing  makes  it  possible  to  produce  a  new  outline,  a 
mere  sketch,  it  is  true,  but  distinct  and  correct  as  far  as  it  goes,  of  the  period, 
the  most  interesting  historically,  although  not  artistically  the  most  important, 
of  Girtin's  development;  that  is  of  the  four  years  from  1792-6. 

The  extent  to  which  writers  on  this  painter  have  been  preoccupied  by 
critical  estimates  of  his  work  and  influence  to  the  prejudice  of  underlying 
biographical  questions,  may  be  gauged  by  the  fact  that  not  one  of  them  has 
ever  consulted  or  printed  the  original  entry  of  his  baptism  which  fixes  the 
hitherto  undetermined  year  of  his  birth.  It  occurs  in  the  register  of  St.  Saviour's 
Cathedral,  Southwark,  under  the  date  March  17,  1775:  'Thomas  Son  of  John 
Girtin,  Brushmaker,  and  Rose  Hannah.'  Mr.  Roget  and  other  authorities 
affirm  that  John  Girtin  was  a  rope-maker  or  an  'extensive  cordage  manu- 
facturer ',  but  it  is  not  so  that  he  is  described  in  the  register.  The  same  record 
proves  that  the  statement  that  Thomas  Girtin  was  the  elder  son  of  his  father  is 
erroneous,  since  the  baptism  of  his  brother  John — afterwards  the  engraver — is 
entered  on  April  19,  1773.  The  day  of  Girtin's  birth — February  18 — is  given, 
doubtless  correctly,  in  the  additional  obituary  in  the  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine for  February,  1803  (vol.  Ixxiii,  Pt.  I,  p.  187),  which,  with  the  brief  notice 
published  in  the  previous  December  (vol.  Ixxii,  Pt.  II,  p.  1163),  is,  it  seems 
almost  necessary  to  point  out,  the  only  contemporary  account  of  the  artist  that 
we  have,  written  before  the  pathetic  suggestion  of  his  untimely  death,  and  the 
glamour  of  his  association  with  Turner  as  a  titular  founder  of  water-colour 
painting,  had  wrapt  him  about  with  the  atmosphere  of  mythology.  The 


yo  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

accuracy  of  these  notices  where  it  can  be  tested  is  so  conclusively  proved — 
the  only  striking  error,  1773  instead  of  1775  for  the  date  of  Girtin's  birth,  being 
no  doubt  due  to  a  common  misprint — that  it  is  justifiable  to  assume  that  they 
were  compiled  by  somebody  who  had  been  in  close  touch  with  the  painter  and 
his  circle,  and  to  accept  the  information  they  give  as  veritable  and  authentic. 
The  information  about  the  painter's  connexion  with  Moore  which  they  afford  is 
very  explicit.  'Mr.  Moore  was',  it  is  said,  'his  first  patron,  and  with  him  he 
went  a  tour  into  Scotland.  The  prospects  he  saw  in  that  country  gave 'that 
wildness  of  imagery  to  the  scenery  of  his  drawings  by  which  they  are  so 
pre-eminently  distinguished.  He  also  went  with  Mr.  Moore  to  Peterborough, 
Lichfield,  and  Lincoln,  and  indeed  to  many  other  places  remarkable  for  their 
rich  scenery,  either  in  nature  or  architecture.  That  gentlemen  had  a  drawing 
that  Girtin  made  of  Exeter  Cathedral  which  was  principally  coloured  on  the 
spot  where  it  was  drawn ;  for  he  was  so  uncommonly  indefatigable,  that  when 
he  had  made  a  sketch  of  any  place  he  never  wished  to  quit  it  until  he  had  given 
it  all  the  proper  tints.' 

The  origin  of  the  acquaintance  of  Moore  and  Girtin  is  easy  to  guess. 
Girtin  was  a  native  of  Southwark,  and  even  as  a  child  is  said  to  have  shown 
a  passion  for  painting,  Moore  a  well-to-do  and. enthusiastic  amateur  living  in  the 
Borough.  The  whole  world  of  London  was  then  limited  and  its  artistic  circles 
restricted  in  extent,  and  even  supposing  that  the  boy's  removal  into  the  City 
took  place,  as  has  generally  been  assumed,  when  he  was  too  young  for  even 
his  precocious  genius  to  have  given  much  sign  of  its  future  bent,  his  new  home 
was  as  close  to  Moore's  place  of  business  as  his  earlier  one  had  been  to  Moore's 
residence.  There  are,  however,  no  childish  essays  of  Girtin's  in  the  collection 
to  support  a  conjecture  that  he  may  in  the  first  instance  have  attracted  Moore's 
attention  as  a  local  prodigy. 

The  principal  interest  of  the  present  series  of  Girtin  drawings  arises  from 
the  fact  that  most  of  them  can  be  accurately  dated  from  external  evidence  of 
indisputable  authenticity,  and  all  upon  internal  evidence  of  almost  equal  cogency. 
After  studying  them  the  present  writer  dares  to  assert  his  belief  that  it  is  possible 
to  assign  any  drawing  executed  by  the  artist  within  the  time  that  they  cover, 
to  a  definite  year  with  certainty,  and  between  1793  and  1795,  the  moment  of 
Girtin's  intensest  development,  to  a  period  of  six  months  with  great  probability. 
It  is  clear  that  the  earliest  group  is  that  connected  with  Moore's  Scottish 
expedition  of  1792,  and  half  a  dozen  views  of  ruins  in  Wales  and  the  Marches, 
intimately  associated  with  them  in  point  of  style  and  obviously  works 
of  the  same  period.  These  latter  represent  places  visited  and  sketched  by 
Moore  between  1787  and  1791 — Chepstow  and  Goodrich  in  the  former  year, 
Carew  and  Pembroke  in  1788,  Denbigh  and  Conway  in  1791,  in  which  year 
Girtin  was,  it  must  be  remembered,  only  sixteen.  It  is  therefore  probable  that 


PLATE   XXI 


(d)    DUNSTAFFNAGE   CASTLE,    BY   J.    MOORE    AND    E.    DAYES,    1792 
Ashinolfxn  Museum.     (Original  6<j  x  8?,  in.) 


(/>)    nUNSTAFFNAGE   CASTLE,    BY   T.    GIRTIN,    1792-3 
Collection  of  Professor  F.  P.  Barnard.    (Original  6g  x  8J  in.) 


PLATE  XXII 


(a)    DUFF    HOUSE.       DRAWING    IN    GREY    AND    BLUE    BY    T.    GIRT1N,     1792-4 

Ashmolean  Museum.    (Original 6  x  8J- /'«.) 


(/>>    DUFF    HOUSE.       WATER-COLOUR    BY    T.    GIRTIN,    1794 
Ashmolean  Museum.    (Original  5  x  6J  in.} 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  71 

in  them  we  have  merely  works  founded  by  Girtin  upon  Moore's  sketches. 
Having  admitted  this  theory  of  relationship  in  the  case  of  the  Welsh  subjects  it 
may  seem  illogical  to  attempt  to  disprove  it  in  that  of  the  Scottish  views  where 
it  has  been  hitherto  generally  accepted  by  critics.  Yet  there  are  strong  reasons 
for  believing  that  far  from  being  nothing  but  transcripts  they  are  in  fact  Girtin's 
own  renderings  of  nature.  Nobody  acquainted  with  the  artist's  work  could 
maintain  that  any  of  this  group  belong  to  a  period  later  than  1792-3,  for  not 
only  are  they  in  a  striking  degree  more  primitive  in  conception  and  execution 
than  the  Ely  Cathedral,  exhibited  in  1794,  but  much  more  so  than  the  Lichfield 
and  Peterborough,  both  dated  in  that  and  exhibited  the  next  year.  The  only 
doubtful  point,  then,  is  whether  they  were  or  were  not  inspired  by  personal 
knowledge  of  the  places  depicted.  It  is  well  known  that  the  artist's  biographers 
have  invariably  assumed  that  he  did  not  visit  Scotland  until  1796.  A  sketch,  in 
the  British  Museum,  signed  and  dated  'Jedborough,  Scotd.,  T.  Girtin,  I796,'1 
is  evidence  that  he  crossed  the  border  in  that  year ;  but  the  reasons  given  for 
concluding  that  he  then  did  so  for  the  first  time  are  less  convincing.  That 
most  generally  advanced  is  drawn  from  the  conspicuous  absence  before  1797 
of  any  Scottish  subjects  from  the  list  of  works,  a  very  slender  and  unsug- 
gestive  one,  exhibited  by  Girtin  in  the  Academy.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
point  out  that,  so  far  as  any  positive  conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  the 
exhibition  catalogues,  Girtin  need  never  at  any  time  have  penetrated  farther 
north  than  Jedburgh,  whence  his  only  three  Scottish  subjects — two  in  1797, 
the  third  in  1800— were  taken.  On  the  other  side  of  the  question  we  have  the 
definite  statement  of  the  obituary  that  Girtin  visited  Scotland  in  company  with 
Moore,  who,  it  is  practically  certain,  was  only  there  twice — in  1785  (when 
Girtin  was  ten  years  old)  and  in  1792.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there  is  no 
possibility  of  proving  by  an  alibi  that  Moore  was  not  there  in  1796,  for,  as  we 
have  already  seen  (p.  52  ante),  his  movements  during  that  year  are  unrecorded. 
But  his  last  known  sketches  were  made  in  the  previous  summer;  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  decline  of  which  he  died  had  already  set  in,  and 
it  is  highly  improbable  that  his  health  was  equal  to  an  expedition  at  that 
time  lengthy,  arduous,  and  fatiguing.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that 
although  Moore's  connexion  with  Girtin  had  its  friendly  and  educational  aspects, 
his  primary  object  in  making  him  his  travelling  companion  was  to  secure  views 
of  the  spots  they  visited.  Now  although  we  have  in  the  collection  abundant 
and  important  records  of  the  tour  which  they  are  known  to  have  made  in  the 
Midlands  in  1794  and  of  their  presumed  joint  visit  to  the  Cinque  Ports  in  1795, 
there  is  not  a  single  sketch  to  account  for  any  expedition  in  the  following  year. 
There  is  yet  another  point  to  be  made.  Moore  has  written  on  the  fly-leaf  of  the 

1  Binyon,  Catalogue  of  Drawings  by  British  Artists,  II,  p.  231,  no  163. 


72  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

portfolio  in  which  he  kept  the  views  of  places  visited  in  1792  a  very  elaborate 
itinerary  of  the  whole  tour.  It  is  clear  from  this  that  he  travelled  very  rapidly 
and  at  the  same  time  amassed  a  very  large  number  of  drawings,  so  many  in  fact, 
that,  rapid  sketcher  as  we  know  from  other  evidence  that  he  was,  it  is  incredible 
that  he  should  have  recorded  with  his  own  hand  all  the  scenes  which  figured  in 
his  portfolio.1  There  is  indeed  a  tradition  that  a  third  artist,  Dayes,  formed  one 
of  the  party,  but  this  is  quite  unsupported  by  any  external  testimony  ^  such  as 
the  statement  of  the  obituary  in  the  case  of  Girtin,  that  Dayes  was  ever  in 
Scotland,  and  the  internal  evidence  of  certain  works  in  the  collection,  while 
clearly  demonstrating  that  Dayes  re-drew  or  retouched  and  completed  the 
sketches  made  by  Moore,  does  not  prove  that  he  was  on  the  spot  at  the  time.2 
In  short  the  cumulative  arguments  in  favour  of  the  theory  that  the  Scottish 
landscapes  dating  from  Girtin's  youthful  period  are  not  renderings  at  second- 
hand, but  his  own  sketches  made  in  the  face  of  nature  if  not  actually  completed 
on  the  spot,  must  be  admitted  to  be  very  strong. 

That  Girtin  did,  however,  occasionally  prepare  finished  drawings  from 
Moore's  memoranda  is  quite  as  certain.  An  account,  written  inside  the  cover 
of  a  portfolio,  is  made  up  of  items  of  payments,  doubtless  for  work  of  this  kind, 
on  twenty-six  days  in  October,  November,  December,  and  January  (unfortunately 
no  year  is  specified),  and  shows  that  Girtin  received  three  shillings  for  half-a-day's 
and  six  shillings  for  a  whole  day's  labour.  It  was  probably  under  such  condi- 
tions that  he  produced  the  views  in  Wales  and  the  Marches  already  mentioned, 
for  they  possess  every  characteristic  of  the  1792-3  period  and  cannot  conceivably 
have  been  executed  by  a  child  as  young  as  Girtin  was  when  Moore  visited  the 
spots  they  represent.  There  are  also  three  or  four  other  drawings,  precisely 
similar  in  style;  two  water-colours  of  Kirkstall  Abbey  in  the  collections  of 
Mr.  F.  P.  Barnard  and  Mr.  Thomas  Girtin  (reproduced  in  the  Walpole  Society's 
Annual,  II,  1912-13,  pi.  LXXI  and  LXXII),  one  of  Colchester  Castle  and  another 
of  Bolton  Castle,  both  in  Mr.  Barnard's  possession  (ib.,  pi.  LXXVI  and  LXXVII), 
the  last  being  accompanied  by  Girtin's  pencil  outline  of  the  subject.  Other 
pencil  outlines  by  Girtin  belonging  to  the  same  group,  can,  in  the  writer's 

1  This  evidence  would  be  tedious  to  discuss  in  detail,  but  although  conflicting  it  is  not  without 
weight.  Thus  Moore  visited  Jedburgh  as  a  day's  excursion  from  Kelso,  making  a  journey  of 
twenty  miles  and  bringing  back  two  views,  one  of  which  is  only  known  in  the  form  of  a  drawing  by 
Girtin.  He  paid  a  similar  flying  visit  to  St.  Andrews  from  Cupar  in  Fife,  travelling  eighteen  miles 
and  securing  two  sketches  of  the  cathedral,  from  different  points  of  view,  one  of  them  only  now 
extant  as  a  water-colour,  quite  certainly  of  this  period,  by  Girtin,  &c.,  &c.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
itinerary  often  records  sojourns  of  two  or  three  days  in  the  same  spot  with  one  sketch  or  more  to 
the  credit  of  Moore's  activity,  but  with  nothing  to  account  for  Girtin's  presence  there. 

5  In  the  advertisement  to  Twenty-five  Views,  Moore  mentions  that  he  was  accompanied  by  J.  C. 
Brooke,  Somerset  herald,  but  only  expresses  his  gratitude  to  Dayes  for  assistance  in  his  work. 
This  help  was  considerable  (see  p.  79  post),  but  may  well  have  been  rendered  when  Moore  was 
furbishing  up  his  drawings  after  his  return  to  London. 


PLATE   XXIII 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  73 

opinion,  be  isolated  from  amongst  that  particular  portion  of  the  very  mixed 
contents  of  Box  no.  ccclxxvii  of  the  Turner  Bequest  in  the  National  Gallery, 
which  has  been  assigned  by  Mr.  Finberg  to  Girtin,  although  most  of  the 
oth  r  drawings  in  this  same  portion  may  be  attributed  with  considerable  proba- 
bility, on  the  grounds  already  brought  forward  in  this  article,  to  G.  I.  Parkyns. 

Students  of  calligraphy  are  well  aware  that  the  periods  when  a  set  conven- 
tional hand  was  generally  admired  and  adopted  are  those  when  the  writing  of 
individuals  is  most  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to  identify.  The  English  pencil 
draughtsmanship  of  the  period  of  Girtin  partook  of  the  nature  of  accomplished 
calligraphy.  We  are  accustomed  to  dwell  upon  its  particular  beauty  in  the 
hands  of  Turner,  but,  as  a  fact,  very  many  professionals  and  not  a  few  amateurs 
were  capable  of  producing  work  little  less  dexterous  and  brilliant  in  effect.  The 
paragraphs  in  this  paper  already  dedicated  to  Parkyns  have  at  least  indicated 
the  dangers  besetting  the  scientific  connoisseur  or  morphological  analyst  when 
attempting  to  build  up  hypotheses  on  the  strength  of  stylistic  resemblance  in 
works  of  this  type.  The  present  writer  is  only  offering  a  personal  opinion,  the 
insecurity  of  which  he  is  fully  aware,  when  he  states  that  it  appears  to  him 
inconceivable  that  the  five  sketches  reproduced  in  plates  LXXIV,  LXXV,  and 
Lxxvna  of  the  second  volume  of  the  Walpole  Society's  Annual  can  all  be  the 
work  of  the  same  hand.  But  if  the  Bolton  Castle  be  authentically  Girtin's,  as  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  is,  then  he  ventures  to  think  that  the  Rom- 
borough  Priory  (pi.  LXXIV  b)  and  the  Rochester  Castle  (pi.  LXXV  b)  must  also  be 
assigned  to  that  artist.  Three  of  the  water-colours — the  Kirkstall,  the  Colchester, 
and  the  Bolton — as  well  as  the  Romborough  and  Bolton  outlines,  are  closely  con- 
nected with  the  Moore- Parkyns  plates  in  Monastic  Remains,  but  in  what  degree 
it  is,  as  we  have  seen,1  difficult  to  determine.  Moore's  sketch  of  Bolton  was 
made  in  September  and  those  of  Kirkstall  in  October,  1789;  those  of  Rom- 
borough and  Colchester  in  August,  1790.  Parkyns's  aquatints  from  them  were 
issued  respectively  in  June,  July,  and  October,  1791,  and  January,  1792.  So 
that  if  these  particular  drawings  of  Girtin's  are  neither  later  rifacimenti  from  the 
sketches,  copies  of  the  prints,  or,  possibly,  fresh  studies  from  nature  made  when 
he  and  Moore  visited  the  places  together,  in  Yorkshire  in  1792,  and  in  the 
eastern  counties  in  1794 — as  they  may  have  done  although  there  is  no  evidence 
that  they  did  so — these  works  must  be  two  or  three  years  earlier  than  any  others 
from  his  hand  in  the  collection.  But  as  they  do  not  in  any  way  differ  in  style 
from  the  group  dating  from  1792-3,  they  may  be  fairly  assumed  to  be  versions 
made  by  Girtin  about  that  time  from  Moore's  memoranda  of  a  somewhat  earlier 
period. 

The  chronological  sequence  of  drawings  executed  in  1794  is  very  completely 

1  See  p.  62  ante. 
V.  L 


74  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

illustrated.  Firstly,  there  is  the  large  view  of  Ely  Cathedral,  based,  as  we  learn 
from  a  manuscript  note  in  Moore's  copy  of  his  List  of  the  Principal  Castles,  &c., 
upon  a  sketch  of  his  own ;  this  was  Girtin's  first  exhibited  work,  completed  in 
time  to  appear  in  the  Academy  of  that  year.  Next  come  the  pair  of  important 
paintings  of  the  West  fronts  of  Peterborough  and  Lichfield  Cathedrals,  both  dated 
1794  and  exhibited  in  the  Academy  the  following  year.  These  were  some  of  the 
fruits  of  his  autumn  tour  with  Moore,  others  were  the  impressive  water-colour  of 
the  Ancient  Charnel-house,  Stratford-upon-Avon  Church,  and  the  two  studies  of 
Warwick  and  Kenilworth  Castles  carried  to  completion  only  as  far  as  the  grey 
underpainting  is  concerned.  Dated  also  '  '94 ',  but  in  the  most  advanced  tech- 
nique of  this  period,  is  the  little  Duff  House,  and  the  preparation,  dead  coloured 
in  grey,  of  precisely  the  same  subject,  cannot  be  separated  from  it.  Lastly, 
there  are  the  drawings  of  Lincoln,  including  those  engraved  for  Hewlett's 
Selection  of  Views,  it  being  definitely  stated  in  the  text  of  the  book  that  Girtin 
and  Moore  together  visited  the  city  in  that  year. 

The  Ely  (pi.  xxm)  in  spite  of  its  hesitant  draughtsmanship,  due  in  all  proba- 
bility to  the  imperfection  of  the  memoranda  serving  for  its  foundation,  is  an 
astonishing  work  for  a  boy  of  nineteen.  It  shows,  naturally  enough,  the  influence 
of  Dayes,  the  youth's  master ;  in  fact  it  is  impossible  not  to  fancy  that  in  the 
admirable  group  of  figures  in  the  foreground — the  bishop  conversing  with  two 
gentlemen  dressed  in  the  pea-green  which  Dayes  loved  to  introduce — the  master's 
assistance  may  be  detected.  But  in  the  breadth  of  effect,  subordination  of  detail 
and  general  sense  of  mood,  the  great  characteristics  of  the  later  Girtin  are  unmis- 
takably foreshadowed.  If  these  qualities  are  conspicuous  in  the  Ely,  how  much 
more  do  they  shine  forth  from  the  Peterborough,  the  Lichfield  (pi.  xxiv),  and  the 
Stratford-upon-Avon  \  The  first  may  be  described  as  the  perfect  example  of  the 
old  stained  drawing,  the  Lichfield,  perhaps  less  completely  beautiful  in  the  abstract, 
is  far  more  interesting  as  a  daring  advance  in  conception  and  technique  and  may 
be  described  as  the  complete  type  of  the  earliest  modern  water-colour.1  The 
Ancient  Charnel-house,  a  less  ambitious  subject,  has  for  this  reason  achieved 
that  perfect  unity  of  sentiment  and  handling  which  becomes  yearly  rarer  in 
English  landscape  art  as  the  star  of  Turner  ascends  the  firmament. 

1  Moore  not  only  purchased  what  are  doubtless  the  original  pair  of  drawings  of  Peterborough 
and  Lichfield  exhibited  in  the  Royal  Academy,  but  he  acquired,  either  for  himself  or  on  behalf  of  some 
other  amateur,  a  replica  of  the  Peterborough.  This  most  interesting  work,  which  is  a  duplicate  of 
that  now  in  the  Ashmolean  excepting  for  some  slight  changes  in  the  figures,  is  also  signed  and 
dated  1794,  and  on  the  back  has  been  preserved  the  original  receipt,  dated  April  3,  1795,  in 
Moore's  handwriting,  signed  by  Girtin,  for  one  guinea  and  a-half  in  payment  for  it.  This  drawing 
passed  through  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Falser  in  1914.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Finberg  for  calling  my 
attention  to  it.  No  contemporary  repetition  of  the  Lichfield  seems  to  be  known ;  the  pair,  repre- 
senting the  same  subjects,  in  the  Whitworth  Institute  at  Manchester,  although  no  doubt  founded  on 
the  same  sketches,  are  a  little  different  in  composition  and  clearly  somewhat  later  in  date. 


PLATE   XXIV 


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OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  75 

Historically,  the  monochromes  of  Caesars  Tower,  Warwick,  and  Ruined 
Windows,  Kemlworth  (pl.xxv),  one  in  pure  wash,  the  other  with  pen  outline,  are 
of  great  value,  for  they  stand  as  authenticated  types  of  grey  drawings  by  Girtin 
such  as  have  been  attributed  in  considerable  numbers  to  Turner.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  these,  like  most  others  of  their  class,  are  underpainted  prepara- 
tions intended  to  be  finished  in  colour.  Two  curious  passages  in  the  letters  of 
Gilbert  White  of  Selborne  serve  to  show  in  what  high  estimation  such  half- 
completed  works  were  originally  held,  and  account  to  some  extent  for  their 
present  abundance.  He  is  writing  of  some  landscapes  executed  for  him  by 
S.  H.  Grimm,  and  after  an  interesting  description  of  the  process  of  their  creation 
he  adds :  '  The  scapes,  many  of  them  at  least,  looked  so  lovely  in  their  Indian 
ink  shading  that  it  was  with  difficulty  the  artist  could  prevail  on  me  to  permit 
him  to  tinge  them ' ;  and  again  '  his  pieces  were  so  engaging  in  Indian  ink  that 
it  was  with  regret  that  I  submitted  to  have  some  of  them  coloured  V 

Another  work  of  the  same  class,  the  Duff  House  (pi.  xxn)  in  monochrome,  is 
now  fixed  upon  the  same  mount  as  the  coloured  rendering  of  the  same  subject, 
a  little  drawing  of  great  force  of  tone  and  richness  of  polychromy,  its  shadows 
deepened  with  gum  and  the  high-lights  produced  by  scratching  with  a  knife,  a 
process  rarely  made  use  of  by  Girtin.  These  two  drawings,  undoubtedly  founded 
upon  a  sketch  made  in  1792  by  Moore,  or  by  Girtin  himself  at  the  same  time, 
are  amongst  those  that  raise  the  dark  and  complicated  question  of  the  connexion 
between  the  later  subjects  engraved  with  Moore's  name,  for  the  Copper  Plate 
Magazine  and  other  publications,  and  the  extant  water-colours  by  Girtin  and 
others  founded  upon  the  same  sketches.  As  it  is  round  Moore's  association 
with  Dayes  that  the  facts  and  conjectures  related  to  this  point  become  least 
obscure,  the  discussion  of  it  may  best  be  postponed  to  the  note  on  that  artist. 

The  Lincolnshire  drawings — that  is  those  of  them  executed  in  the  last 
months  of  1794  and  in  the  following  year,  and  the  water-colours  belonging  to 
the  Cinque  Ports  tour  of  the  autumn  of  1795,  are  in  a  style  so  different  from  that 
of  the  previous  and  subsequent  periods  as  to  look  almost  like  the  work  of  another 
man.  Their  most  striking  characteristic  is  a  not  perfectly  successful  combination 
of  cold  blues  in  the  skies  with  hot  sandy-hued  tones  in  the  landscape,  due  to  the 
substitution  of  warm  tints,  such  as  sepia  and  burnt-sienna  in  the  underpainting. 
But  this  is  accompanied  by  an  increase  of  force  and  intelligence  of  draughtsman- 
ship so  great  that  it  almost  neutralizes  the  somewhat  unhappy  chromatic  effect. 

1  Life  and  Letters  of  Gilbert  White  of  Selborne,  by  G.  Holt-White,  1901,  i.  326  and  ii.  3.  White 
adds,  'I  feared  these  colours  might  puzzle  the  engravers,'  but  Grimm  'assures  me  to  the  contrary'; 
a  statement  which  seems  to  undermine  the  contention  sometimes  advanced — as  by  Mr.  C.  E.  Hughes 
(Early  English  Water-colour,  p.  9) — '  that  the  subdued  tones  of  much  eighteenth-century  draughts- 
manship may  have  been  due  to  the  unsatisfactory  way  in  which  more  highly  coloured  drawings  were 
rendered  by  the  engravers.' 

L  2 


76  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

This  change  of  method  was  not  adopted  suddenly,  for  of  nearly  twenty  drawings 
the  fruits  of  Girtin's  presumed  sojourn  with  Moore  at  Hastings,  Dover,  and 
other  places  in  that  neighbourhood,  about  a  quarter  have  been  prepared  and  left 
in  the  grey  like  the  sketches  of  Warwick  and  Kemlworth  already  described. 
And  even  the  finest  and  in  certain  respects  most  advanced  drawing  of  this  period 
in  the  collection,  the  superb  Ruins  of  the  Savoy  Palace  (now  the  property  of 
Mr.  F.  P.  Barnard)  (pi.  xxvi  b),1  which  displays  the  beauties  of  the  new  style  in  a 
consummate  degree,  was  accompanied  by  an  admirable  study  in  grey  (now  fn  the 
possession  of  Mr.  T.  Girtin)  of  another  aspect  of  the  same  buildings.  There  is  no 
direct  literary  evidence  for  the  assertion  that  Moore  was  accompanied  by  Girtin 
while  he  was  collecting,  during  August  and  September,  1795,  his  sketches  of 
Cinque  Ports  subjects  now  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  but  there  are  strong 
grounds  for  believing  that  he  was.  For  the  style  of  Girtin's  drawings  of  the 
same  places  fitting  on  to  and  developing  out  of  the  Lincoln  series  shows  that 
they  belong  to  that  period,  and  the  abundance  of  them  in  the  collection  may  be 
said  to  prove  something  more ;  while  the  presence  of  his  handiwork,  assisting 
Moore  in  the  production  of  one  of  his  outlines,  and  enforcing  by  brilliant  illustra- 
tions some  instructions  in  the  use  of  the  lead  pencil,  on  the  back  of  another, 
points  clearly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  friends  were  working  side  by  side.  Other 
sheets  seem  to  provide  an  instance  of  a  sort  of  division  of  labour  between  them 
such  as  has  already  been  presumed  to  have  been  practised  during  the  Scottish 
expedition  of  1792.  Moore  desired  to  have  a  finished  drawing  by  Girtin  of  the 
tomb  of  Gervase  Alard,  in  Winchelsea  Church,  and  in  fact  ultimately  achieved 
this  wish  in  the  water-colour  now  belonging  to  Mr.  Barnard.  During  the  time 
at  their  disposal,  Girtin,  we  may  venture  to  conjecture,  was  employed  elsewhere 
about  the  place,  while  Moore  was  making  a  careful  pencil  study  of  the  monu- 
ment ;  and,  finding  that  his  skill  was  unequal  to  indicating  all  the  details  which 
the  artist  would  require,  in  their  proper  places,  he  proceeded  to  note  those  points 
minutely  on  another  page  of  his  book. 

With  this  series  the  active  association  of  Girtin  and  Moore  comes,  so  far  as 
is  known,  to  an  end.  References  in  the  rhymed  epistles  show  that  Moore 
continued  to  take  a  friendly  interest  in  the  young  artist,  and  in  1798  he  seems 
to  have  bought  the  large  drawing  of  the  Interior  of  Exeter  Cathedral  by  him, 
probably  the  last  added  to  his  collection,  from  the  Royal  Academy  exhibition. 

'  The  bold  pen-work  in  this,  in  the  Ruined  Windows,  Kenilworth,  and  other  drawings  of  the 
year  1795,  shows  in  a  marked  manner  the  influence  of  Canaletto,  and  justifies  the  assumption  that 
it  was  at  this  period  that  Girtin  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Henderson  and  devoted  himself  to 
making  those  copies  from  that  master's  drawings  in  the  Henderson  Collection,  several  of  which  are 
now  in  the  British  Museum.  The  date  hitherto  fixed  for  these,  'about  1793  or  earlier,'  is  clearly  too 
early ;  indeed  Mr.  Binyon,  in  the  pages  of  his  Catalogue  where  these  and  other  copies  made  at  the 
same  time  are  described  (Vol.  II,  pp.  233-4,  n°s-  84-105),  states  that  one  of  them  is  taken  from  an 
original  by  Malton  of  the  year  1795. 


PLATE    XXVI 


(a)    BEXHILL    CHURCH,    BY    T.    GIRTIN,    SECOND    HALF    OF    1795 
Ashinolean  Museum.     (Original  6J  x  8},  in.) 


(l>)    RUINS    OF   THE    SAVOY    PALACE,    BY    T.    GIRTIN,    1795    6 
Collection  of  Professor  F.  P.  Barnard.     (Original  8J  x  u»  in.) 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  77 

This  somewhat  unattractive  picture  was  sold  at  Christie's  on  February  25,  1916. 
It  is  of  historical  interest,  not  only  because  we  learn  from  the  obituary  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  that  it  was  completed  on  the  spot,  but  as  a  dated  example 
of  Girtin's  mature  style  executed  on  cartridge-paper  with  most  of  the  detail 
drawn  with  a  reed  pen  and,  what  is  very  unusual,  the  lights  heightened  with 
body  colour.1 

The  fact  that  Girtin's  celebrated  panorama  of  London  was  taken  from 
a  spot  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Moore's  residence,  and  included  in 
its  foreground  the  ruins  of  the  Albion  Mills,  whose  picturesque  interest  the 
amateur  had  perceived  and  recorded  while  they  were  yet  smoking,  may  well 
have  given  rise  to  a  vague  tradition  that  the  inception  of  the  immense  painting 
was  in  some  degree  due  to  Moore's  suggestion.  The  latent  existence  of  some 
such  dim  idea  seems  to  underlie  Mr.  Roget's  notes  on  the  panorama.  It  is 
there  stated  that  'the  outline  of  this  work  is  or  was  in  the  possession  of  Miss 
Miller  '.2  This  is  an  error ;  no  such  outline  was  ever  in  the  possession  of  Moore  or 
his  descendants.  All  that  they  possessed  was  a  set  of  the  six  aquatints  by  Birnie 
from  Barker's  panorama  taken  from  almost  the  same  spot.  There  is  evidence 
that  Miss  Anne  Miller,  to  whom  the  tradition  recorded  by  Roget  can  be  traced, 
mistakenly  imagined  these  to  represent  Girtin's  work.  This  was  taken  from 
a  building  nearer  to  the  Thames  than  Moore's  house  in  Stamford  Street,  the 
back  of  which,  or  of  its  opposite  neighbours,  figures  in  the  foreground  of  Girtin's 
sketch  for  the  Westminster  and  Lambeth  section  of  the  panorama  in  the  British 
Museum.3 


J.   M.  W.  TURNER. 

The  points  of  contact  between  Moore  and  Turner  were  regrettably  few,  and 
indeed,  so  far  as  is  certainly  known,  are  confined  to  the  purchase  of  the  beautiful 
drawing  of  the  Transept  of  Tintern  Abbey  (pi.  xxvn)  from  the  Royal  Academy 
Exhibition  of  1795.  Owing  to  a  mistake  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Winter  Exhibi- 
tion of  the  Academy  in  1887,  this  drawing  has  been  wrongly  identified  with  one 
lent  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Edward  Taylor  on  that  occasion.  But  according  to 
Mr.  Finberg4  the  drawing  in  the  Taylor  Collection  does  not  represent  the 
transept  of  the  abbey  and  is  not  by  Turner,  and,  as  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that 
from  the  Moore  and  Miller  Collections,  now  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  is 
the  true  original. 

1  Another  drawing  in  which  white  paint  has  been  used  is  the  Star  Cross,  Devonshire,  in  the 
British  Museum  ;  probably  both  were  experiments  made  at  the  same  time. 
'  Roget,  History  of  the  Old  Water-colour  Society,  i.  107. 

3  Binyon,  Catalogue  of  Drawings  by  British  Artists  ii.  228,  no.  31. 

4  Inventory,  i,  p.  37,  no.  xxni  A. 


78  SOME  WATER-COLOUR    PAINTERS 

The  statement  made  by  Mr.  Roget,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Jenkins,  that 
Turner  'travelled  with  Mr.  Moore  to  execute  drawings  for  him  for  his  topo- 
graphical works ' l  may  be  dismissed  as  apocryphal.  The  movements  of 
Turner  during  the  years  of  Moore's  activity  are  recorded;  they  do  not 
coincide  with  those  of  the  amateur  excepting  in  the  summer  of  1794,  when 
Turner  certainly  was  sketching  in  some  of  the  same  towns  in  the  Midlands  as 
Moore  and  Girtin.  But  the  absence  from  the  collection  of  any  work  of  the 
master's,  excepting  the  single  drawing  of  Tintern,  and  the  fact  that  his  name 
nowhere  occurs  in  connexion  with  engravings  after  Moore,  may  be  held  to  justify 
the  conclusion  that  they  never  worked  together. 

The  influence  of  the  Swiss  school  of  aquarellistes  upon  Turner  has  never 
been  traced  in  detail  or  its  force  determined.  That  it  was  a  factor  in  his 
development  is  highly  probable;  but  whether  imbibed  at  first-hand  through 
drawings  imported  into  England,  as  well  as  revived  at  the  fountain-head  when 
Turner  visited  the  Continent  in  1802,  or  received  at  second-hand,  through  the 
example  of  painters  like  Robertson,  it  is  impossible  to  tell.  The  priority  of 
Robertson  in  making  use  of  scratched-out  lights,  hitherto  first  detected  in 
Girtin's  Duff  House  (1794)  and  Turner's  Lincoln  Cathedral  of  the  following  year, 
has  already  been  noticed.  It  is  conceivable  that  Turner  may  have  studied  the 
works  of  Robertson  in  Moore's  Collection,  and  borrowed  the  suggestion  amongst 
others  from  them. 

The  remaining  details  relating  to  Turner  are  gathered  from  the  manuscript 
annotations  to  Moore's  own  copy  of  his  List  of  the  Principal  Castles,  &c.  The 
notes,  as  far  as  they  can  be  checked,  refer  solely  to  views  exhibited,  engraved, 
or  existing  in  Moore's  own  collection  before  the  summer  of  1798  or  thereabouts; 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  took  into  consideration  unpublished 
sketches  of  the  spots  in  his  list  or  information  that  particular  artists  had  visited 
them.  Incomplete  and  imperfect  as  these  notes,  made  during  the  last  months 
of  the  author's  illness,  are,  it  would  be  too  much,  perhaps,  to  assume  that  the 
fact  that  they  record  the  writer's  remembrance  of  views  of  certain  places  made 
by  Turner  amounts  to  positive  evidence  that  such  drawings  actually  existed. 
At  the  same  time,  if  such  works  ever  come  to  light,  the  notes  might  afford 
grounds  for  dating  them.  The  localities  against  which  Turner's  name  is  set, 
although  no  representations  of  them  by  him  of  this  very  early  period  seem  at 
present  to  be  known,  are :  Tewkesbury  Abbey,  Carisbrooke  Castle,  Boston 
Church,  Egglestone  Abbey,  Ripon,  York  and  Beverley  Minsters,  and  Harewood 
Castle.2 

1  Ht'story  of  the  Old  Water-colour  Society,  i.  88. 

!  Turner  is  not  certainly  known  to  have  ever  visited  Tewkesbury,  although  he  planned  to 
include  it  in  a  sketching-tour  of  1792-3  (Finberg,  Inventory,  \,  18,  no.  xm  H).  His  sketches  of 
Carisbrooke  and  Boston,  made  in  1795-7,  served,  at  a  much  later  period,  as  the  foundations  for  two 


PLATE   XXVII 


TRANSEPT   OF   TINTERN    ABBEY,    BY    J.    M.    W.    TURNER,    1795 
Ashmolean  Museum.    (Original  14  x  lojj  in.) 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  79 

EDWARD  DAYES. 

The  intercourse  of  Moore  with  Dayes,  although,  perhaps,  not  so  interesting 
as  that  with  the  artists  already  mentioned,  excites  curiosity  because  it  appears 
to  afford  some  clue  to  the  relations  of  the  professional  draughtsmen,  the  en- 
gravers and  the  amateurs,  in  their  combined  undertakings  in  that  golden  age 
of  dilettantism.  Moore,  besides  acquiring  one  small  but  particularly  exquisite 
drawing  by  Dayes— the  Durham  by  Moonlight,  signed  and  dated  1797  (pi.  xxvm  b) 
—employed  the  artist  to  paint  from  his  memoranda  a  large  water-colour  of  Castle 
Acre  Priory,  and  to  stiffen  the  weak  drawing  and  possibly  also  enliven  the 
feeble  colouring  of  twenty-eight  of  his  sketches  made  on  the  Scottish  tour  of 
J792 — at  least  that  appears  to  be  the  safest  conclusion  to  draw  from  the  uncer- 
tain evidence  afforded  by  these  drawings  themselves.  Upon  the  original  tinted 
border  of  all  excepting  one  is  the  signature  of  Dayes  and  the  date  1792,  and  also 
the  signature  of  Moore  with  the  day  of  the  month  and  year — corresponding 
with  those  in  the  manuscript  itinerary — when  the  sketch  from  nature  was  made 
(pi.  xxi  a).  What  was  the  share  of  each  artist  in  these  productions  ?  The  ample 
materials  for  taking  the  measure  of  Moore's  powers  make  it  safe  to  assert  that  the 
water-colours  as  they  stand  are  not  his  work.  No  painter  who  ever  lived  was 
more  unequal  than  Dayes,  his  inequable  temperament  and  uncertain  health  being 
clearly  reflected  in  his  art,  which  ranges  from  a  pitch  of  excellence  almost  equal 
to  the  highest  in  precision  of  draughtsmanship  and  delicacy  of  tonality,  down  to 
almost  incredible  slovenliness.  Still  even  at  his  worst  he  can  seldom  have  been 
guilty  of  such  unstable  perspective  and  phantasmal  chiaroscuro  as  this.  Either 
these  views  were  mechanically  copied  from  Moore's  studies,  or,  beneath  the 
work  at  present  visible,  there  was  once  a  vague  sketch,  possibly  merely  a 
half-effaced  outline  traced  by  him. 

Several  of  them  were  engraved  by  or  under  the  direction  of  John  Landseer 
for  Twenty-five  Views  in  the  Southern  part  of  Scotland,  and  it  is  possible  that  all 
would  ultimately  have  been  made  use  of  in  the  publication  had  it  been  extended 
farther.  Moore's  name  is  given  in  the  underlines  of  the  prints  as  that  of  the  only 
artist  concerned  in  the  production  of  the  drawings,  although  his  indebtedness  to 
Dayes  for  undefined  assistance  is  acknowledged  in  the  preface ;  but  it  seems 
certain  that  these  compound  productions  were  the  actual  originals  from  which 

celebrated  drawings ;  but  it  is  particularly  strange  that  none  of  this  early  time  seem  to  exist,  as  the 
orders  for  them,  one  to  be  engraved  in  John  Landseer's  Views  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  the  other  in 
Hewlett's  Selection  of  Views  in  the  County  of  Lincoln,  were  received  and  booked  by  Turner  in  his 
usual  methodical  way.  (Finberg,  i,  pp.  41-2,  no.  xxiv,  pp.  69-73,  no-  xxxiv).  His  youthful 
sketches  of  all  the  other  places  named  are  found  in  his  North  of  England  Sketch  Book  of  1797,  wilh 
notes  of  orders  for  three  views  of  Harewood  Castle  (Finberg,  ib.),  but  the  finished  water-colours 
known  are  of  subsequent  dates. 


8o  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

the  engravers  worked.  It  is  curious  to  notice  the  liberties  which  they  in  their 
turn  felt  entitled  to  take  with  the  materials  provided.  Almost  without  exception 
the  views  are  altered  in  their  general  proportions  by  expansion  or  curtailment  on 
one  side  or  the  other,  and  in  one  case  two  plates,  those  of  Dryburgh  Abbey,  have 
been  carved  out  of  a  single  drawing. 

Two  subjects  also  engraved  in  this  series  under  Moore's  name  (Craigmillar 
Castle  in  Mr.  Barnard's  Collection  and  Edinburgh  Castle  in  Mr.  Girtin's)  are 
now  only  known  to  exist  in  the  form  of  water-colours  by  Girtin;  and  from 
Moore's  list  of  his  collection  it  is  justifiable  to  infer  that  he  never  possessed 
them  in  any  other.  Perhaps  the  most  puzzling  questions  surround  the  drawing 
of  Dumbarton  (in  the  Ashmolean  Museum) ;  this  bears  neither  signature  nor 
date.  It  has  always  been  assigned  by  tradition  to  Girtin,  with  whose  work  of 
this  period  certain  portions — particularly  the  sky— bear  a  strong  resemblance. 
But  the  landscape — especially  the  foreground — is  extremely  characteristic  of 
Dayes  and  Moore  in  collaboration. 

The  general  question  as  to  how  far  the  making  of  mere  memoranda  from 
nature  may  be  considered  sufficient  to  entitle  the  amateur  sketcher  to  claim  the 
authorship  of  the  subject  of  an  engraving,  probably  presented  a  different  moral 
aspect  at  that  time  to  that  which  it  presents  now.  Evidence  for  Assuming  that 
an  important  link  in  the  chain  of  production  in  the  case  of  Monastic  Remains 
was  sunk  out  of  sight,  where  the  labour  was  apparently  shared  on  an  equal 
footing  by  two  dilettanti,  with  a  not  very  skilful  professional  artist  in  the  back- 
ground, has  already  been  brought  forward.  Yet  a  critic  writing  in  the  Gentle- 
man's Magazine?  which  was  occasionally,  as  has  been  seen,  far  from  lenient 
in  dealing  with  Moore,  speaks  of  the  work  as  a  selection  from  his  sketches 
'  undertaken  by '  Schnebbelie  and  Parkyns,  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of  course 
that  Moore,  although  not  interested  financially  in  the  publication,  should  be 
considered  as  the  contributor  of  its  most  important  element.  The  advertisement 
to  Twenty-five  Views  gives  him  a  somewhat  similar  position  as  the  collector  of  the 
original  materials.  The  underlines  of  the  plates  in  Picturesque  Views  and  in 
Hewlett's  County  of  Lincoln  are  punctilious  in  assigning  the  precise  share 
to  each  contributor.  Yet  in  the  Copper  Plate  Magazine  we  find  nearly  a  dozen 
subjects  with  Moore's  name  which  seem  certainly  to  have  been  engraved  from 
originals  still  existing  by  professional  draughtsmen,  based  no  doubt  on  sketches  of 
Moore's,  although  these  may  have  been  very  slight.2  It  is  possible  that  Walker, 

1  Vol.  Ixi,  pt.  2,  p.  743. 

"  Of  the  twelve  subjects,  five — Castle  Stewart,  Glames,  Cawdor,  Elgin,  and  Old  Aberdeen 
Cathedral,  are  extant  in  Dayes's  revised  versions ;  three — Lincoln,  Duff"  House,  and  Jedburgh,  in 
original  water-colours,  by  Girtin  ;  one — Glasgow — in  a  varied  rendering,  by  Girtin  ;  another — Rye 
— in  a  grey  drawing,  by  Girtin,  and  a  pencil  outline  by  Moore  ;  and  the  Saltwood  in  Moore's  out- 
line alone ;  the  original  of  the  Exeter  has  disappeared,  but  it  seems  safe  to  assert  that  the  elaborate 


PLATE   XXVI 1 1 


(ft)    PORTE    DE    CORN1LLION,    MEAUX,    BY    A.    D.    MACQUIN,     1796 
Ashniolean  Museum.     (Original  5;  x  4  in.) 


(l>)    DURHAM    CATHEDRAL,   FROM    BENEATH    AN    ARCH   OF   RALPH    FLAMBARD's   BRIDGE:    MOONLIGHT 

BY    E.    DAYES,    1797 

Ashniolean  Museum.     (Original  4}  x  6;,'  in.) 


OF  THE  OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  81 

the  engraver  and  proprietor  of  the  magazine,  found  that,  by  borrowing  drawings 
which  the  amateurs  had  caused  to  be  made  from  their  own  sketches  for  their 
-own  satisfaction,  he  was  able  to  save  the  cost  of  himself  commissioning  the 
subjects  he  required  and  paying  the  travelling  expenses  of  artists,  and  that  the 
prominence  given  to  the  names  of  Moore  and,  no  doubt,  of  other  dilettanti, 
although  it  appears  rather  disingenuous  to  us,  was  then  accepted  as  no  more 
than  a  flattering  recognition  of  the  value  of  their  support  to  the  undertaking  in 
this  and  other  ways.  Considering  the  conscientiousness  in  this  matter  shown 
by  Moore  on  other  occasions,  we  are  at  least  justified  in  hoping  that  he  had  no 
wish  or  intention  of  claiming  other  men's  work  as  his  own ;  while  the  protests 
in  the  prefaces  to  every  one  of  his  books  show  that  he,  like  the  other  genteel 
artistic  and  literary  amateurs  of  his  day,  set  store  by  the  financial  disinterested- 
ness of  his  position  to  a  degree  which  seems  rather  far-fetched  to  the  sensibilities 
of  our  time,  less  scrupulous  in  this  respect  if  more  so  in  the  other. 

THOMAS  HEARNE. 

As  fellow-members  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  Moore  and  Hearne  were 
known  to  each  other,  but  records  of  their  acquaintance  are  very  fragmentary. 
Hearne  made  a  small  finished  water-colour  from  Moore's  sketch  of  the  inside  of 
the  ruins  of  Lindisfarne  or  Holy-Island  Cathedral,  and  an  oval  vignette  engraved 
from  it  by  Howlett  decorates  the  title-page  of  Moore's  List  of  the  Principal 
Castles,  &c.,  1798.  This  work,  now  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  is  an  example 
of  the  unprepossessing,  dusty,  ashen-hued  scheme  of  colouring  affected  by  Hearne 
about  this  period.  That  this  effect  is  not  due  to  fading  but  was  deliberate  is 
proved  by  such  drawings  as  those  of  Wells  and  Glastonbury,  dated  1795,  in 
the  collection  of  Captain  Churchill  at  Northwick  Park ;  these  have  always  been 
carefully  guarded  from  light,  but  in  spite  of  admirable  draughtsmanship  and 
a  very  fine  sense  of  pictorial  effect,  are  marred  by  the  combination  of  the  cork- 
coloured  landscape  with  brightly-tinted  figures  in  the  foreground. 

Although  not  one  of  the  original  subscribers,  Moore  followed  the  fortunes 
of  Hearne  and  Byrne's  great  work  of  Antiquities  with  sympathetic  interest.  In 
the  preface  to  the  first  edition  of  his  List  (1786)  he  mentions  with  regret  that  the 
faint  encouragement  received  had  made  Hearne  doubtful  whether  it  would  be 
possible  to  continue  the  publication  farther  than  the  first  volume,  doubts  which, 
fortunately  for  us,  he  was  able  to  overcome.  It  would  also  appear  that  Moore 
was  privileged  to  see  the  drawings  intended  for  the  work  before  they  were 
exhibited  or  engraved,  and  was  acquainted  with  Hearne's  intentions,  since  in 
the  manuscript  additions  to  his  own  copy  of  the  second  edition  of  his  List, 

group  of  figures  in  the  foreground  cannot  represent  Moore's  unaided  work  even  if  the  architecture 
in  the  background  be  his. 

V.  M 


82  SOME  WATER-COLOUR   PAINTERS 

already  mentioned,  Hearne's  name  is  set  against  some  subjects  which  were 
not  engraved  until  after  Moore's  death  and  others  that  were  never  included  in 
the  Antiquities  at  all. 


ANGE  DENIS  MACQUIN. 

The  last  name  on  our  list  is  one  known  in  other  connexions,  but  not  hitherto 
suspected  of  having  had  anything  to  do  with  the  Old  British  water-colour 
school.  Macquin  has  his  place  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography  as  an 
'  abbe  and  miscellaneous  writer ' ;  but  when  a  water-colour  of  the  Gate  of  Meaux, 
the  place  of  his  birth,  bearing  his  name,  came  to  light  some  years  ago  in  the 
Moore  Collection  it  did  not  occur  to  anybody  to  connect  it  with  the  Heraldic 
Draughtsman  to  the  College  of  Arms,  for  this  was  the  office  held  by  Macquin, 
until  the  discovery  of  the  rhymed  correspondence  revealed  the  intimacy  of  his 
friendship  with  Moore  and  his  circle.  Since  that  time  the  labours  of  Mr.  Algernon 
Graves,  which  have  gone  far  towards  creating  new  sources  for  the  history  of 
British  art  by  their  methodical  exploitation  and  arrangement  of  the  original 
materials  hitherto  existing  in  an  unworkable  and  chaotic  condition,  have  dis- 
interred Macquin's  artistic  personality  as  an  Honorary  Exhibitor  at  the  Royal 
Academy  in  1801, 1806,  and  the  two  following  years.  On  one  occasion  he  exhibited 
a  view  near  Meaux  on  another  one  of  Fonthill  Abbey ;  his  other  two  contributions 
were  more  ambitious  subject  pictures.  The  unpretending  little  water-colour 
from  the  Moore  Collection  (now  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum)  (pi.  xxvm  a)  is  the 
work  of  a  practised  hand.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  others,  representing,  as  his 
biography  gives  reason  to  expect,  scenes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hastings,  are 
in  existence,  decked  with  the  names  of  more  eminent  contemporary  artists. 

Although  not  endowed  with  the  rough  originality  and  brio  of  John  Carter, 
Macquin,  of  all  Mr.  Moore's  poetical  correspondents,  certainly  showed  most 
ability  in  turning  the  neatest  and  most  humorous  verses;  and  the  scene  may 
be  closed  in  the  approved  manner  with  a  rhymed  tag,  quoted  from  them,  which 
felicitously  sums  up  the  humble  primary  aims  of  amateur  and  professional  typo- 
graphers and  draughtsmen  in  the  classical  period  of  Old  British  water-colour 
painting.  The  letters  are  full  of  heraldic  quips,  and  one,  blazoning  at  length  an 
imaginary  honorific  coat  for  'Nelson  of  the  Nile',  recalls  the  fact  that  it 
ultimately  fell  to  Macquin's  lot  to  design  the  funeral  car  of  the  Admiral ; 
references  to  social  meetings  are  also  much  in  evidence ;  and  it  is  after  accepting 
an  invitation  that  the  versifier  proceeds  : 

My  wand'ring  Fancy  now  at  work 
Feasts,  but  not  as  with  knife  and  fork, 
Feasts  on  some  fresh  beautiful  Drawing 
Of  mould'ring  towers,  which  tho'  destroying 


OF  THE   OLD   BRITISH   SCHOOL  83 

The  F*a#-hand l  of  Time  has  left 

With  ivy  mantle  and  many  a  cleft; 

Has  left  to  Pious  Carter's  hand 

Or  Dayes's  pencil  to  withstand. 

Be  blessed  ye,  whose  wond'rous  skill 

Bids  fleeting  time  stop  and  be  still ! 

For  henceforth,  when  thick  cov'ring  dust 

Shall  bury  to  the  smallest  bust 

The  Gothic  pride  of  Castles  Drear, 

Of  abbeys  old  with  cloisters  near, 

The  magic  spell  of  Indian  ink, 

The  simple  cake  of  Brown  or  Pink, 

In  Dayes's  or  in  Carter's  pages, 

Shall  still  retain  the  dear  images, 

And  to  our  wond'ring  offspring  show 

What  could  a  Dayes,  a  Carter  do 

To  preserve  what  or  time  or  Viatt  would  o'erthrow. 

1  See  p.  52  ante. 


M  2 


KILPECK   CHURCH 

BY  LIONEL  CUST. 

THE  little  church  of  Kilpeck  in  Herefordshire,  not  far  from  the  River  Wye 
at  St.  Devereux,  is  well  known  to  many  antiquaries,  and  is  frequently  visited 
on  account  of  its  peculiar  interest.  Small  as  the  church  is,  it  has  a  number  of 
special  features  which  command  attention.  Though  only  some  sixty  feet  or  so 
long  from  west  to  east,  it  is  divided  into  three  sections — a  nave,  a  pre-chancel, 
and  an  apsidal  chancel.  The  style  and  ordinary  decoration  belongs  to  the 
familiar  period  in  architecture  which  we  call  Norman,  but  the  special  interest  lies 
in  the  extra  ornamentation  in  sculpture,  especially  on  the  exterior  of  the  church. 

The  church  at  Kilpeck  has  been  often  described,  and  in  1842  a  series  of 
lithographic  views  was  published  by  Mr.  G.  R.  Lewis.  It  was  completely 
restored  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  but  the  ornamentation  was  carefully 
preserved.  Recent  references  to  the  church  will  be  found  in  a  paper  by  the 
Rev.  Sir  G.  H.  Cornewall,  Bart.,  of  Moccas,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Woolhope 
Club,  1886-9,  PP-  r37-44»  ancl  by  the  Rev.  M.  G.  Watkins  in  the  Hereford  Diocesan 
Messenger  for  September,  1900. 

Kilpeck,  or  Kilpec,  comprised  both  a  castle  and  a  priory.  In  both  cases 
the  historical  information  is  very  scanty.  The  castle  was  built  for  defensive 
purposes  and  occupied  a  strong  position,  but  only  a  few  blocks  of  masonry 
remain.  This  castle  is  described  in  G.  T.  Clark's  Mediaeval  and  Modern  Archi- 
tecture, vol.  ii,  p.  162.  A  manor  of  Chipecc  was  existing  at  the  time  of  the 
Conquest  in  the  possession  of  Cadiand,  an  Englishman,  who  was  dispossessed 
and  the  manor  granted  to  William  Fitz-Norman.  A  church  was  also  in  exist- 
ence, at  all  events  shortly  after  this  date,  dedicated  to  St.  Mary  and  St.  David, 
and  this  was  bestowed  by  Hugh,  son  of  William  Fitz-Norman,  on  the  Church 
of  St.  Peter,  Gloucester.  As  St.  David  was  not  canonized  until  1120  A.D.  the 
church  at  Kilpeck  must  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  dedicated  to  him,  as  the 
patron  saint  of  Wales  and  the  Marches. 

A  priory  also  existed  at  Kilpeck,  but  there  seems  to  be  no  trace  of  any  actual 
connexion  between  the  existing  church  and  the  priory.  It  is  stated  that  the 
priory  was  suppressed  and  destroyed  early  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  castle  and  demesne  of  Kilpeck  was  in  1248  the  property  of  Hugh  de 
Kilpeck,  probably  a  descendant  of  the  original  Norman  family,  whose  daughter 
Jane  was  the  wife  of  Philip  Marmion,  champion  of  England,  who  was  taken 
prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Lewes  in  1264.  Philip  Marmion's  granddaughter 
married  Baldwin  de  Freville,  whose  eventual  heiress  married  Sir  Hugh  Wil- 


86  KILPECK  CHURCH 

loughby.  The  Kilpeck  property  eventually  passed,  with  the  neighbouring  estates 
of  Wormbridge  and  Whitfield,  to  their  present  owner,  Captain  Percy  Archer 
Clive,  M.P. 

This  scanty  historical  information  shows  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century  there  were  at  Kilpeck  a  manor  and  a  castle,  occupied  by  a  Norman  family 
of  knightly  rank,  and  a  church,  perhaps  dating  from  a  pre-Conquest  period.  It 
is  an  interesting  question  as  to  how  far  the  new  Norman  settlers  conyerted, 
or  entirely  rebuilt,  the  Anglo-Saxon  churches  which  they  found  already  in 
existence.  The  gradations  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  to  the  Norman  or  Romanesque 
were  much  less  marked  than  those  from  the  Norman  to  the  Gothic.  It  would 
seem  therefore  as  if  the  original  Anglo-Saxon  style,  such  as  it  was,  with  its 
Northern  ingredients  became  quietly  absorbed  into  the  Romanesque,  as  intro- 
duced by  the  Norman  invaders.  At  Kilpeck  there  are  traces  of  the  nascent 
Gothic  or  ogival  style,  which  was  so  soon  to  supplant  the  Romanesque  altogether. 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  it  makes  it  easier  for  the  student  to  examine  the  curious 
and  copious  ornamentation  of  this  little  church  at  Kilpeck.  The  chief  features  of 
this  decorative  work  are  the  carvings  of  the  principal  door  on  the  south-west,  the 
corbel-table  running  round  the  exterior  of  the  church,  with  its  grotesque  heads 
and  monsters,  the  figures  carved  on  the  chancel  arch  in  the  interior,  and  the 
plaited  carving  of  the  small  window  on  the  west  front. 

Taking  the  south-west  door  first,  this  is  surmounted  by  a  round-headed  arch 
encasing  a  tympanum.  The  arch  itself,  as  well  as  its  base,  forming  the  lintel  of 
the  doorway  is  carved  in  the  familiar  zig-zag  pattern  of  the  Norman  period.  The 
tympanum  is  carved  into  the  form  of  a  vine  with  conventional  foliage  and  fruit, 
and  resembles  other  carvings  in  similar  positions  or  doorways  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood,  Moccas,  Rowleston,  and  elsewhere.  Round  the  inner  arch  is  a 
double  band  of  carved  ornamental  work.  The  inner  of  these  two  bands  contains 
thirteen  carved  bosses,  grotesque  masks,  birds,  and  animals,  within  a  grotesque 
recumbent  human  figure  in  the  centre  of  the  arch.  The  outer  band  of  ornament 
contains  a  series  of  grotesque  fishes,  birds,  and  zodiacal  ornaments  with  a  chain 
of  rings  linked  together  by  an  elaborate  carved  scroll.  These  outer  arches  rest 
on  two  carved  bases,  supported  by  double  jambs  or  pilasters  on  either  side  of  the 
stone  doorway.  The  outer  jamb  is  in  each  case  carved  with  a  design  of  twisted 
snakes  and  tendrils.  Of  the  inner  jamb,  that  on  the  left  on  entering  is  carved 
with  the  figures  of  two  men  clad  in  coats  of  mail  and  helmets  and  carrying 
swords,  placed  one  above  the  other,  the  whole  terminating  in  a  capital  carved 
with  two  grotesque  animals  like  wolves.  The  jamb  on  the  right  is  carved  at  the 
base  with  a  pair  of  birds  facing  each  other,  and  above  them  an  interlaced  scheme 
of  leaves  and  tendrils  up  to  a  capital  on  which  is  carved  a  grotesque  face  amid 
conventional  foliage. 

Under  the  wall-plate,  which  runs  round  the  church  outside,  is  a  series  of 


PLATE  XXIX 


(a)  Portion  of  West  front 


(b)  From  the  East 


KILPECK    CHURCH 


PLATE  XXX 


South  door 


KILPECK   CHURCH 


KILPECK   CHURCH  87 

corbel-heads  of  a  grotesque  nature,  resembling  the  heads  in  the  corbel-table  of 
the  choir  in  Romsey  Abbey.  These  are  mostly  human  heads  or  monsters,  but 
one  of  them  represents  the  Paschal  Lamb  bearing  a  cross.  This  is  very  similar 
to  the  well-known  badge  of  the  Lamb  bearing  a  banner,  adopted  by  the  Order 
of  the  Knights  Templars,  which  Order  was  founded  in  1120,  about  the  date  at 
which  the  church  of  Kilpeck  was  completed. 

On  entering  the  church  ornamentation  is  more  sparingly  employed,  but  on 
the  jambs  of  the  chancel  arch  are  carved  on  each  side  three  figures  of  saints, 
superimposed,  all  in  ecclesiastical  dress.  The  lower  figures  carry  scourges  and 
palm  brandies,  one  holds  a  key,  another  a  cross.  There  is  also  a  font  of 
conglomerate  stone  in  the  Norman  style,  evidently  of  local  manufacture. 

Much  time  and  no  little  ingenuity  have  been  spent  in  trying  to  interpret 
the  symbolism  of  these  various  ornaments  and  decorative  carvings.  Symbolism 
has  been  pre-supposed,  but  the  haphazard  position  of  the  various  ornaments 
has  made  any  such  interpretation  merely  a  matter  of  rather  forced  and  baseless 
guess-work.  The  vine  in  the  tympanum  has  been  interpreted  as  the  Tree  of 
Life,  which  again  has  been  discovered  in  one  of  the  capitals  of  the  doorway, 
issuing  from  the  mouth  of  a  grotesque  mask,  solemnly  described  as  that  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  The  six  figures  carved  on  the  chancel  arch  have  been  described 
as  six  of  the  Apostles.  The  Temptation  of  Adam  and  Eve  has  been  discovered 
on  one  of  the  carved  pilasters  of  the  doorway.  The  two  warriors  in  armour 
seem  to  have  baffled  all  such  solutions. 

Repeated  visits  to  this  interesting  church  led  to  a  belief  that  no  symbolism 
could  be  intended  at  all,  or  at  all  events  that  if  any  had  existed  it  was  quite 
insoluble  at  the  present  day.  It  is  the  more  satisfactory  therefore  to  find  that 
a  reasonable  and  fairly  convincing  solution  has  been  put  forward  by  Prof.  E.  S. 
Prior  and  Mr.  Arthur  Gardner  in  their  monumental  work  on  Mediaeval  Figure 
Sculpture  in  England. 

A  glance  at  any  reproductions  of  the  ornamental  sculpture  on  Kilpeck 
Church  is  sufficient  to  show  that  a  great  part  of  it  is  of  Scandinavian  origin.  The 
corbel-tables  end  at  the  north  and  south  ends  in  three  projecting  stops,  like 
gargoyles,  resembling  large  jaws  with  a  curled  tongue  within.  These  objects 
are  clearly  derived  from  the  dragon's  heads  so  familiar  in  all  Viking  ornamenta- 
tion, especially  on  the  prows  of  their  vessels.  The  mixture  of  beasts,  birds,  and 
monsters  is  again  characteristic  of  Viking  ornament,  and  the  interlacing  tendrils 
of  the  Keltic  art,  so  prevalent  in  Ireland,  through  which  country  the  Scandina- 
vian influence  probably  penetrated  into  Wales  and  the  West  of  England.  The 
two  warriors  suggest  the  Northmen  of  the  Conquest,  and  may  be  compared  to 
the  mail-clad  warriors  of  the  Bayeux  tapestry  and  of  the  seal  of  Milo  de  Gloucester 
in  the  time  of  Henry  I.  The  long  skirts  under  the  armour  suggest  the  time  of 
the  earliest  Crusades  and  of  the  Knights  Templar  of  the  date.  The  Zodiac 


88  KILPRCK   CHURCH 

. 

figures  are  also  derived  from  France,  where  they  are  used  in  more  definite  forms 
in  Romanesque  decoration.  The  figures  of  the  saints  on  the  chancel  arch  and 
that  in  the  centre  of  the  doorway  show  a  Byzantine  influence,  probably  derived 
also  from  Merovingian  or  Othonian  sources  through  Western  Europe.  There 
is  in  fact  at  Kilpeck  Church  a  medley  of  Northern  and  Southern  ornament  of 
approximately  the  same  period,  for  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  account  in  any 
other  way  than  that  put  forward  by  Messrs.  Prior  and  Gardner. 

According  to  these  authorities  the  Kilpeck  carvings  and  others  of  a  similar 
nature  are  the  work  of  masons,  copying  from  certain  objects  placed  before  them 
for  this  purpose.  They  show  from  technical  comparison  that  many  of  these 
carvings  repeat  work  on  metal  or  wood  or  ivory,  which  are  rendered  into  stone 
with  mere  mechanical  skill.  They  are  carved  but  not  plastic.  Such  works  in 
metal,  or  ivory,  or  wood,  being  portable,  would  be  available  in  the  treasury  of 
any  large  religious  house.  Messrs.  Prior  and  Gardner  show  that  the  special 
features  of  the  Kilpeck  ornamentation  occur  in  the  personal  ornaments  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Viking  ages,  and  in  such  pieces  of  metal  work  as  the  splendid 
Gloucester  Candlestick  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  It  should  be  noted 
that  this  famous  candlestick  was  originally  given  to  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  in 
Gloucester  by  the  Abbot  Peter  (1109-12),  the  same  church  to  which  Hugh  Fitz- 
Norman  gave  the  church  of  Kilpeck  a  few  years  later.  Some  of  the  motives  also 
occur  in  Anglo-Saxon  or  Early  English  illuminated  manuscripts. 

So  far,  therefore,  as  surmise  is  permissible  in  any  question  of  archaeology 
it  may  be  conjectured  that  the  Lord  of  Kilpeck  built  the  church  at  Kilpeck  as 
a  thank-offering,  perhaps  for  his  preservation  during  the  second  Crusade,  in 
which  he  may  have  served  as  a  Knight  Templar.  Local  workmen  were  probably 
employed,  for  English  workmen  were  always  good  to  employ,  but  as  they 
possessed  no  artistic  education  or  knowledge,  or  power  of  design,  they  were 
provided  with  objects  from  the  treasure-chests  in  the  castle  or  the  priory,  or 
perhaps  illuminated  service  books,  from  which  drawings  could  be  made  to  guide 
the  stonemasons  in  their  copies.  The  fact  that  there  is  nothing  specially  sacred 
in  the  way  of  symbolism  would  seem  to  point  to  the  sculptures  being  made 
under  the  eye  of  a  lay  authority,  rather  than  of  a  religious  body  like  the  Bene- 
dictines or  Cistercians,  though  Romanesque  sculpture  is  less  didactic  than  the 
classical  or  the  Gothic.  It  is  clear  that  there  is  no  meaning  at  all  to  be  extracted 
from  these  sculptured  ornaments  at  Kilpeck.  They  are  just  ornaments,  picked 
here  and  there  as  suggested,  or  maybe  from  an  architect's  sketch-book,  like  that 
of  Villars  de  Honnecourt. 

England  was  notoriously  slow  in  the  development  of  the  arts  of  design. 
Her  craftsmen  were  always  serviceable,  but  lacking  in  imagination.  The  Briton 
could  only  copy  and  coarsen,  where  the  Frenchman  would  create.  It  took  two 
or  three  centuries  of  blending  the  stolid  Anglo-Saxon  nature  with  Keltic, 


PLATE  XXXI 


(a)  Grotesque  stop  in  corbel  table 


Central  portion  of  arch  over  South  door 


KII.PECK   CHURCH 


PLATE  XXXII 


c 
o 
in 

e 

3 
bo 


1 


D 

K 

U 


id 


n 
W 
bo 

' 


2 

'  ~ 

u 


KILPECK   CHURCH  89 

Scandinavian,  Merovingian  and  Byzantine  influences,  before  a  real  English 
school  of  design  came  into  being,  a  school  which  for  a  short  period  was  to  be 
looked  upon  with  admiration  by  other  nations.  The  Roman  settlement  in 
Britain  left  but  little  permanent  trace,  but  the  Britons  went  on  copying,  for 
instance,  Roman  coins  without  any  understanding,  until  they  became  charged 
with  unintelligible  figures.  So,  later  on,  the  carver  and  mason  copied  without 
understanding,  until  an  expressive  object  like  a  Viking  dragon's  head  degenerated 
into  a  mere  meaningless  ornament,  as  in  the  three  projecting  ornaments  on  the 
west  front  of  Kilpeck  Church,  which  do  not  even  perform  the  usual  function  of 
a  gargoyle.  Thus  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  when  selected  because  of  the  animals 
represented,  ceased  to  have  any  meaning.  The  double  bird  or  animal,  facing 
each  other,  so  familiar  a  symbol  in  the  early  church,  has  no  meaning  in  sculp- 
tures as  at  Kilpeck,  but  is  used  merely  for  decorative  purposes.  One  of  the 
besetting  sins  of  architects  is  to  use  ornament  which  should  mean  something,  but 
does  not,  or  which  is  but  a  debased  form  of  something  better.  The  only  excuse 
can  be  when,  as  in  the  case  of  Kilpeck,  such  ornament  is  used  with  a  real 
decorative  effect  which  is  satisfactory  to  the  eye,  without  any  necessary  appeal 
to  the  intellect  in  order  to  explain  its  meaning. 


v.  N 


A    NOTE    ON    THOMAS    GAINSBOROUGH    AND 
GAINSBOROUGH    DUPONT 

COMPRISING  A  COMPLETE  LIST  OF  THE  WORKS  BY  BOTH  ARTISTS 
FORMERLY  IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  THE  GAINSBOROUGH  DUPONT 
FAMILY,  AND  DISPOSED  OF  IN  THE  YEARS  1797,  1874,  AND  1892. 

BY  M.  H.  SPIELMANN. 

WRITING  in  May  1908,  Dr.  Richard  W.  Waring,  formerly  of  the  Greys, 
Cavendish,  Suffolk,  son-in-law  of  the  late  Mr.  Richard  Gainsborough  Dupont, 
placed  in  my  hands  the  auction  catalogues  of  three  sales  of  numerous  works  by 
Gainsborough  and  Gainsborough  Dupont  which  seem  to  a  great  extent  to  have 
escaped  the  notice  of  biographers  of  Gainsborough  and  his  nephew.1  Many  years 
ago  I  acquired  a  curious  collection  of  contemporary  journalistic  references  to  the 
work  of  the  two  painters,  continued  from  year  to  year,  with  particular  relation  to 
their  exhibits  at  the  Royal  Academy  from  1769  onwards.  Among  these  records 
was  an  important  newspaper  report  printed  a  few  days  after  Gainsborough's 
death  of  the  pictures,  finished  and  unfinished,  that  stood  around  in  the  studio 
of  the  deceased  painter  in  Schomberg  House.  Some  of  these,  judged  by 
their  titles,  seem  to  have  been  completed  by  Dupont,  and  (unless  they  be  copies) 
to  have  been  exhibited  by  him  subsequently  under  his  own  name.  It  was  my 
intention  to  await  an  opportunity  for  dealing  with  the  material  as  a  whole. 
Within  the  last  year,  however,  further  inquiry  into  the  work  of  the  two  artists 
has  been  made  and  the  results  published  with  references  to  contemporary  press 
comment,  so  that  it  seems  desirable  to  postpone  the  matter  no  longer,  but  to  set 
forth  in  full  detail  the  little-known  sale  of  1797  and  the  almost  equally  neglected 
dispersal  of  1874,  for  the  benefit  of  such  persons  as  might  desire  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  information.  The  few  pictures  that  remained  for  sale  in  October 
1892  were  those  which  belonged  to  Mr.  R.  G.  Dupont's  widow — or,  rather, 
which  were  held  in  trust  by  the  widow's  trustees. 

In  the  catalogue  of  the  1797  sale  preserved  by  the  Gainsborough  Dupont 
family,  as  represented  by  Dr.  Richard  Waring,  there  is  bound  up  a  letter  written 
by  the  artist,  a  few  months  before  his  death,  to  Mr.  Richard  Dupont  of  Sudbury. 

1  When  this  paper  was  compiled  Mr.  W.  T.  Whitley's  excellent  Thomas  Gainsborough 
had  not  appeared.  Mr.  Whitley  refers  to  the  sale  of  1797,  which,  he  curiously  says,  was  '  in  fact, 
though  not  in  name,  a  Gainsborough  sale '.  It  should  be  noted  that  58  Lots  were  sent  into  Christie's 

N  2 


92  A   NOTE   ON   THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 

This  letter,  it  will  be  seen,  has  a  special  significance  in  its  main  reference  to 
Royal  patronage  :  it  is  dated  from  '  Grafton  Street,  Novr  6,  1796'. 

' ....  I  was  in  hopes  of  taking  a  look  at  you  this  Autumn,  but  having  been 
employed  at  different  times  more  than  four  Months  past  at  Windsor  in  Painting 
a  set  of  pictures  of  all  the  Princesses  for  the  Queen,  put  it  out  of  my  power  .... 
With  best  love  to  sister  Dupont  &  the  Young  Folks — believe  me,  Dear  Richard, 

Most  affectionately  yours, 

Gainsbro:  Dupont.' 1 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  transcribe  the  title  of  the  catalogue,  a  copy  of 
which  the  auctioneers  delivered  to  the  '  Exor"  of  Gainsborough  Dupont  esqr  decd : ' 

'A  Catalogue  of  a  Valuable  Collection  of  Pictures,  Drawings,  Copperplates,  &c.,  The 
Property,  and  Principally  the  Works  of  that  esteemed  and  excellent  artist  Mr.  GAINS- 

as  the  property  of  Mrs.  Gainsborough,  and  94  as  that  of  G.  Dupont— the  latter,  however,  including 

not  only  copper-plates  (with  impressions)  but  his  models  and  plaster-casts,  eleven  in  number. 

The  gross  amount  fetched  by  these  58  'Mrs.  Gainsborough  Lots'  was  £347  i6s.,  that  by  the 

'Dupont  Lots',  £519  145. 

In  the  Morning  Herald,  No.  5622,  there  appeared  on  the  morning  of  the  sale  the  following 

unsigned  paragraph  (and  list),  so  designed  as  inaccurately  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  auction  was 

essentially  a  Gainsborough  sale  : — 

'The  remaining  Works  of  our  highly  distinguished  countryman,  Mr.  Gainsborough,  are  to  be 
brought  forward  for  sale  This  Day,  April  10,  at  Mr.  Christie's  Rooms.  Amongst  these  are  some 
Pictures  of  special  merit ;  and,  what  is  particularly  deserving  the  regard  of  the  amateur,  a  few 
dead-coloured  Landscapes,  sketched  out  a  short  time  previously  to  his  death,  and  enriched  with 
his  best  ideas.  Several  Portraits  are  also  in  the  Collection  ;  and,  as  these  principally  appertain 
to  names  and  conditions  of  high  note,  it  will  be  rather  extraordinary  if  neither  personal  regard, 
family  affections,  nor  friendship,  should  not  be  so  far  awakened  as  to  restore  them  to  their 
original  alliance.  Some  of  the  Portraits  are  as  follow  : ' 

'  Duke  of  Gloucester,  full  length ;  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  kit-cat ;  Lord  Abingdon,  full 
length  ;  Duke  of  Cumberland,  a  head,  on  three-quarters  canvas ;  Duchess  of  Cumberland,  half 
length ;  Lady  Eardley  and  Child,  full  length ;  Dowager  Lady  Aylesford  and  Child,  full  length  ; 
Lord  Jersey,  a  head ;  Duke  of  Bedford,  a  head ;  Lady  Clive,  a  head ;  Lady  Powis,  a  head ; 
Lady  Berkeley,  a  head ;  Lady  Hanam,  a  head ;  Lord  Stopford,  a  head ;  Sir  Christopher 
Witchcote,  half  length ;  ditto,  a  head ;  Lady  Maynard,  kit-cat ;  Lady  Clarges,  a  head ;  Lady 
Lyttleton,  a  head ;  Lady  Clifford,  a  head ;  Mrs.  Howard,  a  head ;  Mr.  Wade,  of  Brighton, 
a  full  length;  Mrs.  Oswald,  a  head;  Mrs.  Methewin,  a  head;  Marquis  Champain,  a  head; 
Signer  Savoi  [?  Savoir],  a  head;  Mrs.  Ibbetson,  a  head;  Mr.  Abel,  a  head;  Mr.  Quin, 
Comedian,  a  head.' 

'  In  addition  to  the  above  Portraits  are  some  very  fine  Landscapes,  also  for  Sale,  in  the 
same  Rooms,  by  the  pencil  of  Mr.  Gainsborough  Dupont,  as  well  as  the  following  Portraits, 
viz.— Miss  Fowler,  a  head  ;  Miss  Townsend,  a  head ;  with  several  others.' 
This  list  is  of  great  importance  as  it  reveals  the  notable  fact  that  of  the  twenty-nine  portraits 

here  attributed  to  Gainsborough  all  but  nine  were  heads  only ;  perhaps  they  were  but  trial  portraits 

for  big  pictures.     This,  of  course,  enormously  discounts  the  claim  to  the  auction  being  in  reality 

'a   Gainsborough   sale'   and   re-establishes    the    good    faith    of    Christie's    catalogue    in    casting 

Gainsborough  Dupont  for  the  title-role. 

1  Frederick  Seguier,  it  will    be   remembered,  used    to    insist,   on  no  clear  grounds,  that  the 

surname  correctly  spelt  was  '  Dupon  '. 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH   DUPONT  93 

BOROUGH  DUPONT,  dec.  Removed  from  his  late  Dwelling  House  in  Fitzroy  Street,  Amongst 
which  are  included  several  of  the  MOST  CAPITAL  &  FINE  PRODUCTIONS  of  his  late  Uncle 
Mr.  GAINSBOROUGH,  of  Pall  Mall,  dec.,  comprising  an  Assemblage  of  Finished  &  Unfinished 
PORTRAITS  of  MANY  PERSONS  of  DISTINCTION,  Together  with  a  Selection  of  CABINET 
PICTURES,  The  works  of  the  old  esteemed  masters  ALSO,  A  GRAND  SELECTION  of  VIEWS  IN 
INDIA,  by  the  late  ingenious  Artist  Mr.  Hodges — Portraits  by  Kettle,  etc.  the  Property  of 
WARREN  HASTINGS,  ESQ.  Brought  from  his  house  in  Park  Lane,  which  will  be  sold  by 
Auction  By  Messrs  Christie,  Sharp,  &  Harper,  at  the  Great  Room,  Pall  Mall,  on  Monday, 
April  ibth.,  1797,  and  following  Day,  at  twelve  o'clock.' 

Then  follows  the  catalogue,  with  such  prices  added  as  were  noted  by  the 
representative  of  Dupont's  family  who  attended  the  sale.  This  catalogue,  sent 
by  the  auctioneers  to  their  clients,  appears  to  be  a  proof,  with  errors  and 
omissions  put  right  in  Christie's  own  complete  and  annotated  copy.  The  printer 
or  compiler  was  careless,  for  all  the  portraits  at  the  first  day's  sale  appear  to  have 
been  unfinished;  yet  the  special  note  'unfinished'  to  Lots  (i  and  2  in  Christie's 
c°Py)  35,  36,  and  41  would  leave  the  matter  in  some  doubt  were  it  not  that 
a  certain  degree  of  looseness  in  the  drawing  up  of  the  catalogue  even  in  its  final 
form  forbids  us  to  accord  too  much  importance  to  the  circumstance.  For 
example,  seeing  that  only  Lots  34  to  43  inclusive  are  described  as  being  by 
Gainsborough,  it  seems  to  be  left  to  us  to  conclude  that  the  remainder  of  the 
portraits  in  this  section,  in  addition  to  a  couple  of  fancy  pictures,  are  by  Dupont : 
that  is  to  say,  the  remaining  thirty-two.  Yet  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  so  many 
portraits  'on  the  way' — and  those  of  Gainsborough's  known  sitters — should 
have  been  left  by  the  younger  man,  much  of  whose  time  had  been  occupied 
with  the  scraping  of  plates  and,  as  we  know  now,  with  the  painting  of  land- 
scapes. The  ownership  of  these  pictures  may  afford  us  some  slight  assistance : 
this  point  will  be  referred  to  later  on. 

Unfinished  portraits 
Lot1 

2  Marquess  Champain 

3  Lady  unknown  [in  MS. — Hanham] 

4  Small  portrait  of  Marquess  of  Buckingham  and  spaniel  ) 

5  Small  whole  length  of  Mr.  Beaufoy  j  ^' 

6  Miss  Fowler  I 

7  Small  whole  length  Mrs.  Robinson 

8  Lady  Littleton 

9  late  Lord  Jersey 

11  -  Bryan  Esq.  12  shillings 

12  Mrs.  Methuen 

1  Lot  i  not  specified.     For  convenience"  sake,  the  items  are  here  separated :  the  '  lots '  com- 
prising paintings  specifically  declared  to  be  by  Gainsborough  are  given  later  on. 


94  A  NOTE  ON  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 

13  Mrs.  Oswald 

14  Lord  Stopford 

15  Mr.  Ibbetson 

16  Mr.  Able  [sic] 

17  Mr.  Quin 

18  Lady  Clifford 

19  Mrs.  Howard 

20  Signer  Savoi 

20*   Miss  Townsend  5  shillings. 

21  The  late  Mrs.  Sheridan 

22  Lady  Clarges 

24  Duchess  of  Cumberland,  half  length 

25  Duke  of  Cumberland  (a  head) 

27  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  Kitcat 

28  Lady  Marquard,  Kitcat  [sic  Lady  Maynard] 

29  Sir  Christopher  Witchcot 

30  Sir  Christopher  Witchcot 

31  late  Duke  of  Bedford 

32  Lady  Clive 

33  Lord  Powis 

Then  follow  a  number  of  chalk  drawings,  and  Lots  78  to  90  (Lot  86,  being 
by  Bartolozzi,  is  omitted),  all  of  which  were  copper-plates,  mostly  with  printed 
impressions,  and,  according  to  the  family  catalogue,  were  bought  in.  This, 
however,  we  now  know,  must  be  untrue.  The  list  is  an  interesting  one,  as  it 
includes  the  Gainsborough  portraits  : 

Lot  78  2  copper-plates,  full-length  portraits  of  His  Majesty  and  proof  ) 
impressions 

79  i  copper-plate,  do. —  of  Her  Majesty  and  proof  impressions 

80  i  ,,          of  the  three  eldest  Princesses ;  93  prints       .£8  18    6 

81  i  ,,  „      Duke  of  Northumberland  ^220 

82  i  „  „      Rev.  Mr.  Bate  Dudley  ^33° 

83  i  ,,          Mr.  Shenday  \sic  Mrs.  Sheridan]  (delivered 

to  Miss  Gainsborough) 

84  i  ,,          General  St.  Leger,  with  49  prints  £17    6    6 

85  i  ,,          Lord  Rodney,  13  proof  impressions  £120 

87  i  ,,          Baron  Perryn,  14  prints  .£33° 

88  i  „          Judge  Blackstone1  (delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough) 

89  i  „          Duke  of  Clarence 

9°    J  ,,          Boy  &  Dogs  (delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough) 

1  This  name,  in  Christie's  catalogue,  is  erased  and  that  of  Judge  Skinner  substituted. 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH    DUPONT  95 

Second  Days  Sale. 

52  Portraits  of  Lord  Rodney's  [Romney's]  family  £6  6  o 

56  A  small  upright  landscape,  with  cottage,  peasants,  &c.  £7  7  o 

60  A  poor  man  begging  at  a  cottage  door  /6  10  o 

64  A  pair  of  landscapes  and  figures,  very  spirited  pictures  /9  9  o 

67  A  pair  of  small  pleasing  landscapes  and  figures  ^16  5  6 

72  A  small  landscape,  a  mountainous  view,  with  a  waggon 

and  figures,  painted  with  all  the  boldness  and  effect  of 

his  admired  master,  and  truly  a  cabinet  picture  /n  n    o  ' 

73  A  ditto,  with  road  labourers,  its  companion  ^5  15    6 

76  A  Schoolboy,  and  infant  nurse,  painted  with  masterly 

effect,  and  great  richness  of  colouring  £4    4    o 

77  The  Woodman  and  girl  milking  cows,  a  beautiful  picture  ^15  15    o 

78  The  Companion — of  equal  merit  £14  14    o 

87  Halt  of  travelling  peasants  by  a  woodside,  painted  with 

great  richness  and  warmth  of  colouring  ^"10  10    o 

88  The  Companion — of  equal  merit  990 
100    A  Shepherd  boy  listening  to  a  magpie — his  sheep  beside 

him  ,£18  18    o 

The  simplicity  of  this  young  peasant  is  sweetly  depicted,  (bought    in 

This  is  a  highly  creditable  specimen  of  the  late  Mr.  in  the  name 

Dupont's  pencil.  of  Crofts.) 

According  to  the  family  records,  the  total  amount  realized  for  Dupont's 
pictures  was  ^390  19  5,  being  given  as  .£514  19  6,  less  ^66  14  '  bought  in ', 
less  ^38  12  6  commission  at  7*-  per  cent.,  less  Duty  at  iod  in  the  pound  on 
,£448  5  6  sold.  (Also  '  bought  in  ',  likewise  in  the  name  of  '  Crofts ',  was  Gains- 
borough's The  Haymaker,  Lot  103,  catalogued  further  on.)  The  total  sum  here 
given  included  a  number  of  plaster  casts  and  models.  The  Lots  '  bought  in ' 
are  specifically  recorded  thus  : 

First  Day. 

Lot  50    Six  drawings  by  G.  Dupont  (in  the  name  of  Puree)  £2    5  o 
58    A  pair                        „  (         „         „     Nixon)  £i  16  o 
81     Plate  of  the  Duke  of  North- 
umberland (           „            ,,            ,,      )  £2,     2  O 

1  '  Bought  in '  in  the  name  of  '  Nixon '.  In  addition  to  this  and  to  the  others  mentioned  on  this 
page  there  should  apparently  be  added  the  further  Lots  in  the  name  of  '  Croft '  or  '  Crofts ' — i,  4, 
and  5,  14,  22,  and  77  ;  and  in  that  of '  Puree ',  Lots  59  (first  day's  sale)  and  93  (second  day). 


96  A  NOTE  ON  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 

Second  Day. 

Lot  19    Apollo  and  Daphne  (artist 

unnamed)  (in  the  name  of  Nixon)  £ —  14  o 

72    A  Landscape  (          ,,         „          ,,     )  £n  n  o 
100    A  Shepherd  boy  listening  to 

a  magpie  (          ,,  ,,      Croft)  £18  18  o 

103    The  Haymaker1  (          ,,         „      Crofts)  .£29  '  8  o 

£66  14    o 

It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  several  of  these  pictures,  if  we  are  to  accept 
them  as  by  G.  Dupont,  remind  us  of  similar  subjects  by  his  uncle — such  as 
Mr.  'Able'  (Lot  16),  Mr.  Quin  (Lot  17),  Mrs.  Sheridan  (Lot  21),  Lady  Clarges 
(Lot  22),  and  others.  They  may  have  been  copies  made  from  Gainsborough's 
pictures,  likely  enough  for  engraving  purposes,  as  was  a  common  practice.  We 
are  reminded  also  by  A  Poor  Man  begging  at  a  Cottage  Door  (Lot  60)  of  Gains- 
borough's picture  entitled  Door  of  an  English  Mansion,  with  a  Beggar's  Family 
receiving  Relief,  which  was  in  the  sale  of  Sir  Francis  Freeling's  Collection  in 
1837.  These  instances,  still  more  several  of  the  landscape-subjects,  are  hardly 
needed  to  illustrate  the  humility,  almost  servility,  with  which  the  younger  man 
drew  inspiration  from  Gainsborough  with  every  touch,  and  with  every  breath. 


PICTURES  EXPLICITLY  STATED  TO  BE  BY  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH, 
FINISHED  AND  UNFINISHED. 

First  Day. 

Lot  34  [see  later] 

35  The  Duke  of  Gloucester,  in  full  length,  unfinished 

36  Lord  Abingdon,  in  full  length,  unfinished 

37  Dowager  Lady  Aylesford  and  child,  full  length 

38  Lady  Eardley  &  child 

39  Mr.  Wade  of  Brighton 

40  A  Young  Nobleman        whole  length 

1  In  the  latest  serious  biography  of  Gainsborough  it  is  said  that — '  of  the  Gainsboroughs  sold  in 
1797  only  the  unfinished  Haymaker  and  Sleepiiig  Girl  was  catalogued  as  Dupont's '.  In  the  catalogue 
no  printed  mention  of  the  proprietorship  is  so  made,  but  in  the  MS.  annotation  in  Christie's  own 
copy  it  is  given  ;  but  so  far  from  it  being  the  only  one  the  following  are  similarly  described  :  (a)— if 
we  take  the  'Unfinished'  list  as  being  wholly  Gainsborough's  work — Lots  4,  5,  6,  7,  n,  20  A,  si, 
43  A,  and  438  (but  the  last  two  are  almost  certainly  by  Dupont);  and  (l>)  the  unquestioned  works  by 
Gainsborough  belonging  to  Dupont :  Lots  56  (first  day)  and  68,  81,  99,  101,  and  103  (second  day). 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH   DUPONT  97 

41  A  fancy  whole  length  of  a  housemaid,  unfinished 

42  The  Assumption  of  the  Virgin,  a  sketch 

43  Diana  and  Actaeon 

56  A  small  landscape  in  chalks  13  shillings 
[57-63     Fourteen  landscape  drawings,  sold  for  ^15  6  o,  of  which  Lot  58 

(.£1  16  o)  was  bought  in.    These  are  apparently  by  Gainsborough, 
although  not  clearly  stated  to  be  so.] 

Second  Day. 

Lot  18  Picture.     Sketch  for  a  landscape 

53  An  unfinished  picture  with  a  jackass 

54  An  unfinished  landscape  with  a  waggon,  a  rich  warm  scene 

55  A  cottage  with  figures,  etc.  unfinished,  its  companion 

57  A  peasant  girl  with  sticks,  unfinished 

58  Girl  gathering  mushrooms,  unfinished,  but  sketched  with  great  ease 

&  sweetness 

59  Its  companion 

[64    Copy  after  Rubens — see  later] 

65  A  landscape  with  figures,  unfinished,  one  of  his  very  ready  &  elegant 

effusions  of  genius 

66  Its  companion,  a  picturesque  scene  of  great  extent 

68  The  original  sketch  for  the  celebrated  picture  of  the  Gipsies,  very 

fine  effect  ^15    4    6 

69  A  mountainous   landscape,   with  a  bridge,   cascade,   and   figures, 

unfinished,  a  fine  poetic  scene 

70  A  landscape,  with  buildings  &  figures,  its  companion 

81  A  large  &  very  fine  drawing — A  landscape,  with  cows  in  a  lane 

/io  10    o 

82  A  nymph  at  the  Bath,  a  large  oval 

[93    Copy  after  Vandyck— see  infra] 

96  A  landscape,  a  woody  scene,  with  a  cart  and  figure[s]— painted  with 

great  spirit 

97  A  view  in  St.  James's  Park.    Nothing  can  exceed  the  airiness  of  this 

artist's  foliage ;  the  figures  are  probably  known  portraits  of  the 
times 

98  A  landscape,  with  figures,  a  clear,  brilliant  picture.    This  artist  whose 

prolific  imagination  could  '  body  forth '  nature  in  her  most  wild  & 
varied  forms,  always  found  a  ready  conveyance  for  them  to  the 
canvas,  by  a  wonderful  facility  of  pencil,  which  was  ripened  by 
the  happiest  execution.  This  Picture  is  a  charming  proof  of  the 
excellence  of  the  admired  master 
v.  o 


98  A  NOTE  ON  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 

99    A  landscape  with  figures,  and  sheep  coming  down  to  a  brook.     A 
grand  &  romantic  woody  scene  ,£31  10    o 

The  favourite  stile  of  Gainsborough  was  undoubtedly  the  Dignified 
Pastoral.  This  specimen  of  him  is  replete  ivith  picturesque  grandeur. 

101  A  hilly  landscape,  with  a  waggon,  horses,  and  figures  stopping  at 

a  ford,  a  sultry  evening  scene  ,£50    8    o 

The  heat  of  the  atmosphere  is  admirably  expressed,  and  the  varied 
elevations  of  ground,  and  foreshortening  of  the  waggon  and  figures 
are  strong  characters  of  true  genius. 

102  A  landscape  with  cattle  watering  at  sunset,  painted  with  uncommon 

spirit.     The  choice  of  subject,  the  freedom  of  execution,  and  the  warm 
colouring  that  pervades  the  zvhole,form  a  rich  repast  that  the  eye  must 
dwell  upon  zvith  pleasure.     This  picture  is  perhaps  one  of  the  very 
finest  productions  of  this  great  artist. 

103  '  The  Haymaker,  and  sleeping  girl.  A  fresh  morning  scene  —  unfinished, 

but  touched  with  great  freedom  and  beautiful  expression 

.£29  18    o 

The  identification  of  a  number  of  the  pictures  here  enumerated  —  in  several 
cases  obvious  enough  —  would  be  outside  the  object  of  these  notes  ;  but  at  least 
we  may  acknowledge  with  appreciation  the  delightful  efforts  at  criticism  in  '  the 
grand  style  '  of  the  auctioneer  writing  in  emulation  of  the  splendid  achievements 
of  his  great  rival,  'the  specious  orator/  Mr.  Robins. 

Finally  comes  an  important  group  of  copies  of  old  masters  made  by  Gains- 
borough, the  first  series  comprised  in  the  first  sale  of  1797  and  the  second  in 
that  of  1874.  It  is  difficult  to  see  why,  unless  they  were  wholly  original  works, 
'  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  '  (Lot  42)  and  '  Diana  and  Actaeon  '  (Lot  43) 
should  have  been  passed  over. 

COPIES  OF  OLD  MASTERS  BY  GAINSBOROUGH. 

First  Day. 
Lot  34    A  portrait  /3  5  o    after  Vandyck 

Second  Day. 

2    A  small  landscape  &  figures,  an  imitation    (Sshillings)    after  Michaud 

16  A  landscape  with  Cattle        [,£150]      )  after  C.  du  Jardin 
together  with  a  view  on  the  banks  of  a  river  j  after  Cuyp 

[and  King  Charles's  Children  (?  after  Vandyck)] 

17  A  Conversation  )  after  Cuyp 

I  /    ^        * 


)  a 

I  /  y^2    *7    ol 

!  f 


A  portrait  of  a  lady  &  a  copy!  from  Teniers 

See  supra.  A  pencil  note  states  that  this  picture,  after  it  was  bought  in,  went  to  Gainsborough 
Dupont's  nephew  and  remained  with  his  family  until  1872,  when  it  was  sold  at  Christie's. 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH   DUPONT 

(no  price) 


99 


63  A  descent  from  the  Cross,  unfinished, 
after  the  celebrated  one  of 

93  A  Portrait  of  James  Stuart,  Duke  of 
Richmond  &  Lenox,  whole  length 


Rubens 


after  Vandyck 


When  we  come  to  the  later  sales,  held  locally,  of  works  by  Gainsborough 
and  Gainsborough  Dupont  still  in  the  possession  of  the  heir  of  the  former 
artist— Mr.  Richard  Gainsborough  Dupont,  as  I  have  said,  father-in-law  of 
Dr.  Richard  W.  Waring — we  find  that  the  records  (hitherto  unpublished,  as 
I  believe)  bring  us  as  late  as  1874  and  1892.  A  very  few  of  the  items  in  the  first 
sale  were  duly  recorded  in  Redford's  Art  Sales,  while  those  of  1874  the  compiler 
passed  over  in  silence.  Here  is  the  list  complete  of  the  last  two  sales.  The 
detail  in  which  they  are  given  will  probably  shed  light  upon  certain  pictures  and 
sketches  the  authorship  of  which  has  hitherto  been  in  doubt ;  especially  will 
more  than  one  reputed  '  replica  '  by  Gainsborough  now  be  recognized  as  a  frank 
copy  by  Dupont.  They  were  sold  at  Sudbury  on  May  29,  1874  : 


PICTURES  BY  GAINSBOROUGH  DUPONT. 


Lot  112  The  Agony  in  the  Garden 

114  View  of  Sudbury  from  Bulmar 

115  A  Composition 

116  The  Wood  Gatherers 

117  Avenue  leading  to  the  Auberies 
125  The  Market  Cart 

135  Head  of  the  Messiah 

140  A  Cottage  Door  with  Children  at  Play 

142  Portraits  of  two  Gentlemen 

143  The  Carrier's  Cart  [Probably  the  figures 

were  painted  by  Gainsborough] 

151  Head  of  an  Old  Man 

161  Portrait  of  Miss  Gainsborough 

163  Portrait  of  his  Father 

164  Ruins  on  the  Sea  Shore 
167  Evening 

172  Portrait  of  a  Lady 

175  Portrait  of  Humphry  Gainsborough 

176  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman 

177  A  View  of  the  Pyrenees 


39x32 
63X4 

30x24 

18  x  14  (after  Gainsborough) 

j_i  x  j™ 

19  x  15  (after  Gainsborough) 
29  x  242 

18*  x  24  (after  Gainsborough) 

.i  v  _i 
4z  x  52 

24  x  29  (after  Gainsborough) 

163  x  14 

17*  x  14  (after  Gainsborough) 

30x25 

20x24 

24x25 

24  x  19*  (after  Gainsborough) 

29  x  24'  (after  Gainsborough) 

29  x  24  (after  De  Crayer) 

18x24 


There  is  here  sufficient  evidence  (Lots  112,  135,  and  176)  that  Gainsborough 


o  2 


ioo          A  NOTE  ON  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 

imposed  upon  his  pupil  the  task  he  so  frequently  and  so  brilliantly  assumed 
himself — that  of  copying  fine  examples  of  the  old  masters  without  any  restriction 
to  particular  schools  or  characteristic  styles. 


PICTURES  BY  GAINSBOROUGH. 

Lot  107  Mr.  Blyth  of  Norfolk,  called  '  Pilgrim  Blythe '  21  x  16* 

120  A  Forest  scene,  with  figures  gathering  wood  15  x  17 

124  Portrait  of  the  Artist's  brother  John  (vide  Fulcher's  Life)  24  x  19 

126  Mr.  Philip  Dupont — the  artist's  nephew  30  x  24^ 

127  Mrs.  Philip  Dupont,  wife  of  the  above  (vide  Fulcher,  p.  210)  30  x  24- 

130  Study  for  his  own  portrait  2o|  x  16 

131  Portrait  of  Philip  Dupont  26  x  24! 
133  Study  for  a  portrait  of  himself  20  x  15 
141  Rocks  near  Cheddar  (oil  on  paper)  12*  x  16* 
148  A  Fisherman  putting  off  in  a  Punt — an  early  picture  9xn| 
150  Portrait  of  Gainsborough,  sketch  for  his  own  portrait  i6|  x  14* 
173  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman  with  a  dog  30  x  22^ 

On  October  4,  1892,  a  further  sale  of  three  pictures  by  Gainsborough,  the 
property  of  '  Mr.  Richard  Gainsborough  Dupont  dcd  at  Sudbury,  Suffolk ',  was 
held  in  the  Corn  Exchange  of  that  town.  Other  pictures  were  bought  in  : 

Lot  203    Portrait   of  Gainsborough  (a  sketch  painted  by 

himself)  20x16         116  guineas 

i77A  Sketch  in  oil  for  the  Wrestlers 
177°  Portrait  of  Mr.  Burroughs  with  Dog. 

(Although  the  last  two  items  are  entered  in  the  1892  sale  they  seem  to  follow 
naturally  at  the  end  of  the  sale  of  May  1874.) 

DITTO  :  at  the  Sale  of  Richard  Gainsborough  Dupont  Esq;  Sudbury 
Suffolk,  29  May,  1874  (by  Wheeler  &  Westoby]  the  following  ivere 
brought  to  the  hammer  : 

no    Sheep  &  Cattle ;  42  x  34!  after  Berghem 
[bought  in,  and  sold  at  sale,  at  same  place,  in  1892 

—54  guineas] 

118    The  Infant  Saviour        18x24  after  Albano 

i77c  Charles  I  (?)  after  Vandyck 

i77b  Picture  after  Claude 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH   DUPONT  101 

Lastly,  the  remaining  prints  by  G.  Dupont  were  disposed  of : 

PRINTS  BY  GAINSBOROUGH  DUPONT,  SOLD  29  MAY,  1874. 

Lot  85  Views  near  Sudbury ;  13  proofs 

92  The  Countess  of  Salisbury 

93  H.R.H.  Prince  William  Henry  (William  IV) 
95  The  Prince  of  Wales 


APPENDIX 

THE  antecedent  notes,  it  will  have  been  seen,  are  based  upon  the  Catalogue  (the  text  of 
which  was  but  a  proof)  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Dupont  family  and  annotated  presumably 
by  one  of  its  members.  By  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  Christie,  Manson,  and  Woods,  their 
original  corrected  catalogue  of  the  sale  is  given  below,  carefully  transcribed,  rendered 
specially  valuable  by  reason  of  its  annotations.  We  thus  have  not  only  the  full  description 
of  the  Lots  but  also  details  of  ownership,  price,  and  name  of  purchaser  of  each  Lot.  To 
these  I  have  appended  one  or  two  explanatory  notes.  It  should  be  added  that  the  omitted 
Lots  were  all  the  property  of  Warren  Hastings  with  one  unimportant  exception— that  of 
Lot  77,  a  fine  impression  of  Zoffany's  plate  of  the  interior  of  the  Royal  Academy,  bought  in 
by  the  owner  for  six  shillings. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  two-days  sale  forty  lots  are  specifically  assigned  by 
name  to  Gainsborough  (if  Lots  57  to  63  inclusive  are  by  him,  as  indeed  it  would  appear)  and 
thirty  to  Gainsborough  Dupont.  Of  the  40  Gainsboroughs  32  (or  35  with  Lots  2, 16,  and  17, 
second  day)  are  oils ;  and  of  the  30  Duponts,  14  Lots  (comprising  16  pictures)  are  oils. 

It  will  also  be  noted  that  three  Lots  (21,  66,  and  83),  all  portraits  by  Dupont  of '  the  late 
Mrs.  Sheridan ' — the  first  in  oil,  the  second  a  drawing,  and  the  third  a  copper-plate,  and  all 
of  them  the  Dupont  property— were  withdrawn  from  the  sale  and  '  delivered  to  Miss  Gains- 
borough,' but  whether  as  gift  or  purchase  by  private  treaty  is  not  indicated.  Other  Lots, 
or  portions  of  Lots,  similarly  delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough  are  (43*)  'Captain  Money', 
(80)  a  print  of '  The  Three  Eldest  Princesses ',  (84)  print  of  'General  St.  Leger ',  (85)  plate  and 
one  impression  of '  Lord  Rodney ',  (88)  plate  of '  Judge  Skinner '  (incorrectly  catalogued  as 
'  Judge  Blackstone '  and  altered  in  manuscript),  and  (90)  plate  of '  Boy  and  Dogs '. 

We  are  left  uncertain  whether  the  absurdly  low  prices  realized  are  to  be  attributed  to 
the  fact  that  the  portraits  were  for  the  most  part  unfinished  and  many  of  the  landscapes 
were  only  sketches  and  '  dead-coloured ',  or  else  were  in  unspecified  cases  really  the  work 
of  Dupont,  as  frequently  seems  to  be  implied.  In  any  case,  to  seek  to  identify  several  of 
them — as  has  been  done— with  pictures  now  in  famous  collections,  mainly  or  solely  on 
account  of  their  titles,  is  in  the  highest  degree  speculative  and  dangerous.  Perhaps 
the  names  of  the  purchasers — now  here  published  for  the  first  time— may  in  some  cases 
afford  a  clue  whereby  the  point  may  be  determined  ;  but  the  description  '  unfinished '  may 
perhaps  be  an  easier  and  quicker  guide.  The  probability  is  that  they  were  true  sketches 
— as  we  are  told — or  else  the  beginnings  of  pictures  abandoned  as  they  were  not 
'  coming  right ',  as  so  often  occurs  in  the  practice  of  even  the  most  accomplished  painters. 


IO2 


A  NOTE  ON  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 


[Property  of] 
Mrs.  G.       i. 


Mrs.  G. 


G.D. 


G.D. 


Mrs.  G. 


/• 

4- 

5- 
6. 


Mrs.  G. 


G.D. 


G.  D.-' 


A 
CATALOGUE 

FIRST   DAY'S  SALE 

MONDAY,  APRIL  the  loth,  1797. 

Unfinished  Portraits. 


[Price     Purchaser] 
-  10.  6     Crofts l 

-8.0     Walton 


-  14.  6  Crofts 

r  Colonel 

J.    fy       Q      _ 

Hamilton 

£i.  7.  -  Lord  Maiden 

-  12.  -  Griffith 
£i.  2.  -  Whiteford 

£7.  77.  6  Crofts 

,  Colonel 

**  4'  Kilpatrick 

£6.  6.  o  Puree  2 

-  i}.  -  Whiteford 
-/.  -  Barnard 


-/.  -     Crofts 

-  10.  6    Walten 

[see  note  below] 


£4.  6.  -    Hammond 


1.  A  Fancy  head,  unfinished. 

2.  A  portrait  of  the  Marquis  Champian  [sic],  un- 

finished. 

3.  A  ditto  of  Lady  Hanham. 

4.  A  small  Portrait  of  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham, 

and  a  spaniel  dog. 

5.  A  small  whole  length  of  Mr.  Beaufoy.- 

6.  Portrait  of  Miss  Fowler. 

7.  Ditto,  small  whole  length  of  Mrs.  Robinson. 

8.  Ditto  of  Lady  Littleton. 

9.  Ditto  of  the  late  Lord  Jersey. 

10.  Ditto  of  a  lady  unknown. 

11.  Ditto  of —  Bryan,  Esq. 

12.  Ditto  of  Mrs.  Methuen. 

13.  Ditto  of  Mrs.  Oswald. 

14.  Ditto  of  Lord  Stopford. 

15.  Ditto  of  Mrs.  Ibbetson. 

16.  Ditto  of  Mr.  Able. 

17.  Ditto  of  Mr.  Quin.3 

18.  Ditto  of  Lady  Clifford. 

19.  Ditto  of  Mrs.  Howard. 

20.  Ditto  of  Signer  Savoi. 
20".  A  Lady,  Miss  Townsend. 

21.  Ditto  of  the  late  Mrs.  Sheridan. 

Delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough. 

22.  Ditto  of  Lady  Clarges. 

23.  A  fancy  picture,  Kitcat. 

24".  Portrait  of  Lady  Berkeley,  finished.     ~| 
24b.  Portrait  of  Miss  Townshend,  finished..] 

24.  Duchess  of  Cumberland,  half  length,  and  the 

Duke  of  Cumberland. 

25.  Duke  of  Cumberland,  a  head  (latter  part  of  24}. 


1  See  supra  '  Crofts  '  as  signifying  '  bought  in  '. 

2  „       ,,       '  Puree '  as  having  occasionally  '  bought  in  '. 

3  In  this  instance  the  purchaser  actually  paid  £2. 

4  See  supra.     This  lot  was  withdrawn.     Other  portraits  of  Mrs.  Sheridan  were  likewise  with- 
drawn wholly  or  in  part. 

6  These  two  lots  are  erased  in  the  Catalogue  and  were  not  put  up  to  auction. 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH    DUPONT 


103 


[Property 

of] 

[Price 

Purchaser] 

Mrs.  G. 

26. 

-77.- 

Steers 

26. 

Mrs.  G. 

27. 

£2.  10.  - 

Dr.  Duval 

27. 

Mrs.  G. 

28. 

£a.j.- 

Col.  Byde 

28. 

Mrs.  G. 

29. 

-8.- 

Walten 

29. 

Mrs.  G. 

30- 

-6.- 

Ditto 

3°- 

Mrs.  G. 

31- 

£l.  2.  - 

Lord  Maiden 

31- 

Mrs.  G.  | 

32. 

£2.  2.  - 

Hodson 

32- 

1 

33- 

33- 

Mrs.  G. 

34- 

*>./•- 

Bryan 

34- 

Mrs.  G. 

35- 

£6.-- 

Hammond 

35- 

Mrs.  G. 

36. 

£2.  12.  6 

Morozani 

36. 

Mrs.  G. 

37- 

£2.  2.  - 

Calder 

37- 

Mrs.  G. 

j8. 

£6.  16.  - 

Walten 

38. 

Mrs.  G. 

39- 

£j.  10.  - 

Puree 

39- 

Mrs.  G. 

40. 

-  10.  6 

Whiteford 

40. 

Mrs.  G. 

41. 

£4.  14.  6 

Bryan 

4i- 

Mrs.  G. 

42. 

£l.  2.  - 

Walten 

42. 

Mrs.  G. 

43- 

£2.j.- 

Hammond 

43- 

G.D. 

43>- 

['] 

43* 

G.  D. 


[no  price  or  purchaser 
recorded] 


26.  A  fancy  picture,  half  length. 

27.  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  Kitcat. 

28.  Lady  Maynard,  ditto. 

29.  Portrait  of  Sir  Christopher  Witchest. 
Ditto  of  ditto. 

Ditto  of  the  late  Duke  of  Bedford. 
32.  Ditto  of  Lady  Clive. 
Ditto  of  Lord  Powis. 

A  ditto  by  T.  Gainsborough,  after  V.  Dyck. 
Ditto  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  in  full  length, 

unfinished.     Gainsborough. 

36.  Ditto  of  Lord  Abingdon,  ditto.   Gainsborough. 
Dowager  Lady  Aylesford  and  child,  full  length. 

Gainsborough. 

38.  Lady  Eardley  and  child,  ditto.    Gainsborough. 
Portrait  of  Mr.  Wade  of  Brighton.     Gains- 
borough. 
40.  Whole  length  portrait  of  a  young  nobleman. 

Gainsborough. 

A  fancy  whole  length   of  a  housemaid,  un- 
finished.    Gainsborough. 
The  assumption  of  the  Virgin,  a  sketch.    Thos. 

Gainsborough. 

Diana  and  Actaeon.    T.  Gainsborough. 
Portrait  of  Captain  Money,  an  elder  brother 
of  the  Trinity  House. 

Delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough.1 
43b.  A  ditto. 


LOOSE  DRAWINGS,  AND  FRAMED  AND  GLAZED  DITTO. 


G.D. 

44- 

£i.  14.  - 

Kilpatrick 

44- 

G.D. 

45- 

-18.- 

W.  Young 

45- 

G.D. 

46. 

£i.  16.  - 

Ditto 

46. 

G.D. 

47- 

£i.  a.  - 

Legr  [sic] 

47- 

G.D. 

48. 

£l.  12.  - 

Smith 

48. 

G.D. 

49- 

£i.  7.  - 

Dixon 

49- 

G.D. 

/o. 

£2.  j.  - 

Puree 

5°- 

G.D. 

51- 

£*./.- 

Ditto 

5i- 

G.D. 

/2. 

£2.  6.  - 

Casivell 

52- 

G.D. 

53- 

£i.  7.  - 

Leules 

53- 

G.D. 

54- 

£i.  16.  - 

Smith 

54- 

G.D. 

55- 

-  12.  - 

Ditto. 

55- 

G.D. 

56. 

-I).- 

Russell 

56. 

G.D. 

51- 

£2.  12.  6 

Dixon 

57- 

Two  academy  figures  and  21  sketches. 

Twenty-four  sketches  of  figures. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Six  Drawings  and  six  black-lead  Sketches. 

Two  black  chalk  drawings.     G.  Dupont. 

Six  ditto.     G.  Dupont. 

Five  ditto.     G.  Dupont. 

Five  ditto  ditto. 

Four  ditto  ditto. 

Three  Indian  chalk  drawings.     G.  Dupont. 

Portrait  of  a  lady,  whole  length,  in  chalk. 

A  small  landscape  in  chalks.    Gainsborough. 

A  pair  of  ditto. 


Gainsborough  Dupont,  it  will  be  remembered,  painted  a  group  of  the  Elder  Brethren. 


IO4 


A  NOTE  ON  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 


[Property  of] 
G.  D.        j8. 
G.  D.        j9. 
G.D. 
G.D. 
G.D. 
G.D. 
G.D. 


G.D. 
G.D. 

G.D. 
G.D. 
G.D. 

G.D. 
G.D. 
G.D. 

G.D. 
G.D. 

G.D. 
G.D. 


60. 
61. 
62. 
63. 
64. 


6j. 
66. 

67. 
68. 
69. 

jo. 

7Z- 

72. 

71- 
74- 

75- 

77a- 


[Price 
£i.  16.  - 

£2.  3.  - 
£i.  ii.  6 

£2.  2.  - 
£i.  16.  - 

£j.j.- 

£2.  2.  - 


Purchaser] 

Nixon 

Dr.  Murray 

Baker 

Kirkby 

Do. 

Baker 

Lash 


60. 
61. 


[ No  name  or  price.] 

[•] 

£i.  ii.  6    Hammond 
£2.  if.  -    Ditto 
£2.  -       Evans 

£i.  f.  -     Whiteford 
£2. 12.  6    Lord  Dude 
£2.  ij.  6    Cohn 

£i.  ii.  6    Ditto. 
£i.  4.  -    Ditto. 

£i.  j.  -   Hollingsworth 
-  12.  -   Crofts 


58.  Ditto. 

59.  Ditto. 
Ditto. 
Ditto. 

62.  Ditto. 

63.  Ditto. 

64.  A  landscape  with  cattle  in  chalks,  an  original 

drawing  for  a  picture  in  the  possession  of 
the  late  Lady  Duncan. 

65.  J[udge]  Skinner,  drawing.1 

66.  A  whole  length  ditto  of  Mrs.  Sheridan,  ditto. 

Delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough. 

67.  A  ditto  of  Lord  Rodney,  ditto. 

68.  Ditto  of  the  Earl  of  Moira.     Ditto. 

69.  Whole  length  portrait  of  His  Majesty,  a  painted 

print. 

Ditto  for  ditto  of  Lord  Rodney. 
Ditto  in  colours. 

72.  A  pair  of  whole  length  prints  of  the  King  and 

Queen,  framed  and  glazed. 

73.  A  ditto  in  colours  in  one  frame. 

74.  A  print  of  the  three  elder  princesses,  framed 

and  glazed. 

75.  Ditto. 

77s.  Portrait  of  Mr.  Mainwaring,  fine  impression. 


70. 
7*- 


VALUABLE  COPPER  PLATES. 


G.D. 
G.D. 
G.  D. 

G.D. 

G.D. 
G.D. 

G.D. 


7<§a.  a  18.  7.  6  [sic]Mrs. Jones 
78. 


79. 


£42.  -.  -     Todd 


80.      £8.  18.  6    Ditto 


81.  £2.  2.  -    Nixon 

82.  £3. 3.  -    Evans 

83.  [no  price— withdrawn] 

84.  £i7.  6.  6     Todd 


78".  a.  One  the  Gipsies,  and  a  Print. 

78.  Two  copper  plates,  full  length  portraits  of  His 

Majesty,  2  prints,  and  68  proof  impressions 
from  ditto.    G.  Dupont. 

79.  One  ditto  of  Her  Majesty,  16  prints,  and  30 

proof  impressions  of  ditto.     G.  Dupont. 

80.  Ditto  of  the  three  eldest  princesses  with  92 

prints.    G.  Dupont. 
(i  print  delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough.) 

81.  Ditto  of  the   Duke  of  Northumberland.    G. 

Dupont. 

82.  Ditto  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bate  Dudley.    G.  Dupont. 

83.  Ditto  of  Mrs.  Sheridan.     G.  Dupont. 

(Delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough.) 

84.  Ditto  of  Gen.  St.  Leger  with  48  prints.    G. 

Dupont 

(i  print  delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough.) 


Originally  '  Portrait  of  Judge  Blackstone,  a  drawing.' 
Lot  withdrawn. 


Lot  withdrawn. 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH   DUPONT 


105 


[Property  of] 
G.  D.         85. 


[Price     Purchaser] 
£i.  2.  -    Evans 


G.  D.         86.     £68. ;.  -     Todd 


G.D. 

G.D. 

G.D. 


G.D. 
G.D. 
G.D. 


G.D. 
G.D. 


8j.       £j-j-  -    Molteno 

88.  [no  price — withdrawn] 

8g.        [no  price — no  buyer} 
go.        [withdrawn] 

gi.  \     £i.  i.  -    Clark 

92.  J 

93.  -  //.  -    Evans 

94.  -  //.  -    Evans 
9f.  £3.  10.  -    Gardner 


G.D. 

i. 

G.  D. 

2. 

G.D. 

3- 

G.  D. 

4- 

G.D. 

j. 

G.D. 

6. 

G.D. 

7- 

G.D. 

8. 

G.D. 

Q. 

85.  Lord  Rodney,  12  proof  impressions.     G.  Du- 

pont. 

(Plate  and  i  impression  delivered  to  Miss 
Gainsborough.) 

86.  A  three-quarter  portrait  of  Mr.  Pitt,  with  32 

prints,  and  33  proof  impressions  from  ditto. 
F.  Bartolozzi. 

87.  One  ditto  of  Baron  Perryn  with  14  prints  from 

ditto.    G.  Dupont. 

88.  J.  Skinner  [formerly  J  udge  Blackstone,  erased]. 

(Delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough.) 

89.  Ditto  Duke  of  Clarence  with  i  ditto.  G.  Dupont. 

90.  [Boy  and  Dogs.] 

(Delivered  to  Miss  Gainsborough.) 

91.  One  unfinished  plate. 

92.  Six  plates  not  engraved. 

93.  A  print  of  Mr.  Pitt  on  Sattin. 

94.  A  ditto. 

95.  Forty-four  loose  prints. 


MODELS,  PLASTER-CASTS,  ETC. 


10. 
ii. 


f.  -  Smith 

/.  -  Dr.  Paul 

4.  -  Ditto 

•  4.  -  Ditto 

2.  6  Radley 

f.  -  Alexander 

3.  -  Radley 
/.  -  Smith 
/.  -  Ditto 

8.  -  Alexander 

2.  6  Dr.  Paul 


1.  Seven  of  animals. 

2.  Twenty-one  of  hands,  etc. 

3.  Thirteen  arms,  etc. 

4.  Fifteen  legs,  feet,  etc. 

5.  Ten  torsi,  etc.  etc. 

6.  Nine  of  children's  heads. 

7.  Eleven  Young  heads  and  Faun. 

8.  Sixteen  Heads,  River  God  and  Masque. 

9.  Four  large  Busts,  a  Head  and  a  Masque  of 

S.  S.  Newton. 

10.  Five  Vandyck  and  four  others. 

11.  Two,  Venus  bathing  and  a  Faun. 


SECOND  DAY'S  SALE 
TUESDAY,  APRIL  the  nth.,  1797. 

PICTURES 

2.  -  <?.  -  Garvey  2.  Michaud  :  a  small  landscape  and  figures,  with 

the  imitation  of  ditto  by  Gainsborough. 

16.  £i.  j.  -  Smith  16.  C.  du  Jardin  :  a  landscape  with  cattle  (after)  by 

Gainsborough  ;  and  King  Charles's  children.2 

77.  £2.7.-  Hammond  17.  Cuyp.  A  conversation,  after,  by  ditto;  a  portrait 

of  a  lady,  and  a  copy  from  Teniers  by  Ditto. 

1  Not  annotated  as  being  Gainsborough  or  Dupont  property,  though  evidently  belonging  to  it. 

2  Clearly  after  Van  Dyck. 

V.  P 


106  A  NOTE  ON  THOMAS  GAINSBOROUGH 

[Property  of]  [Price     Purchaser] 

Mrs.  G.     18.       £i.  2.  -    Dixon  18.  Sketch  for  a  landscape.    T.  Gainsborough. 

G.  D.         79.  14.  -    Nixon  19.  Apollo  and  Daphne. 

G.  D.        52.       £6.  6.  -     Tholden  52.  Portraits  of  Lord  Romney's  family.     Dupont. 

Mrs.  G.     53.     £j.  ij.  -    Elwin  53.  An  unfinished  landscape  with  a  jackass.  Gains- 

borough. 

Mrs.  G.      $4.     £8.  18.  6    S.  IV.  Y.         54.  A  ditto  with  a  waggon,  a  rich  warm  scene. 

Gainsborough. 

Mrs.  G.      //.    £ij.  77.  -    ditto  55.  A  cottage  with    figures,   etc.   unfinished,   its 

companion.    Gainsborough. 

?  Jj*.   £,!<).  79.  -  bought  in  ]          55*.  A  pair  of  marble  busts. 

G.  D.         j6.       £j.  7.  -    Hingeston        56.  A  small  upright  landscape,  with  cottage  and 

peasants,  etc.     Dupont. 

Mrs.  G.     jj.       £j.  j.  -    Steers  57.  A  peasant  girl   with   sticks,   unfinished.     T. 

Gainsborough. 

Mrs.  G.     j8.        £3.3.  -    Mitchell  58.  Girl    gathering    mushrooms,  unfinished,    but 

sketched  with  great  ease  and  sweetness.  T. 
Gainsborough. 

Mrs.  G.     /9-       £8.  8.  -    Steers  59.  Its  companion.     Gainsborough. 

G.  D.         60.      £6. 10.  -    Lynd  60.  A  poor  man  begging  at  a  cottage  door.     G. 

Dupont. 

Mrs.  G.      6).    £10. 10.  -    Steers  63.  A  descent  from  the  cross,  unfinished,  after  the 

celebrated  one  of  Rubens.  T.Gainsborough. 

G.  D.         64.       £9.  9.  -     Williamson     64.  A  pair  of  landscapes  and  figures,  very  spirited 

Pictures.    G.  Dupont. 

Mrs.  G.      6j.     £i.  if.  -    Dixon  65.  A  landscape  with  figures,  unfinished,  one  of  his 

very  ready  and  elegant  effusions  of  genius. 
T.  Gainsborough. 

Mrs.  G.      66.       £f.  j.  -    Lambert          66.  Its  companion,  a  picturesque  scene  of  great 

extent.    T.  Gainsborough. 

G.  D.         67.      £16.  j.  6    Barrett  67.  A   pair    of   small    pleasing    landscapes    and 

figures.     G.  Dupont. 

G.  D.         68.     £ij.  4.  6     Williamson     68.  The  original  sketch  for  the  celebrated  Picture 

of  the  Gipsies,  very  fine  effect.  Th.  Gains- 
borough. 

Mrs.  G.  69.  £9.  79.  6  Sir  I.  Leicester  69.  A  mountainous  landscape  with  a  bridge,  cas- 
cade and  figures,  unfinished,  a  fine  poetic 
scene.  Th.  Gainsborough. 

Mrs.  G.      jo.       £j.  7.  -    Champrener    70.  A  landscape  with  buildings   and  figures,  its 

companion.    Th.  Gainsborough. 

Mrs.  G.      77.     £4. 14.  6    S.  W.  Y.         71.  A  large  unfinished  landscape. 

G.  D.         72.     £77.  77.  -    Nixon  72.  A  small  landscape,  a  mountainous  view,  with  a 

waggon  and  figures ;  painted  with  all  the 
boldness  and  effect  of  his  admired  master, 
and  truly  a  cabinet  Picture.  G.  Dupont. 

G.  D.          77.      £j.  zj.  6    French  73.  A  ditto,  with  road  labourers,  its  companion. 

G.  Dupont. 

1  Not  carried  into  total. 


AND  GAINSBOROUGH   DUPONT 


107 


[Property  of]  [Price  Purchaser] 

G.  D.  76.  £,4. 4.  -  Chapean 

^ 

G.  D.  77.  £if.  15.  -  Caswell 

G.  D.  7<9.  £14. 14.  -  Ditto 

G.  D.  ST.  £10.  TO.  -  Lambert 

Mrs.  G.  82.  £j.  j.  -  Earle 

G.  D.  87.  £10.  TO.  -  White 


G.  D.         88.       £9.  <).  -    Ditto 
G.  D.         92.      £21.  -        Walten 


Mrs.  G. 
Mrs.  G. 
Mrs.  G. 

93- 
96. 

97- 

£a.j.- 

£16.  16.  - 

£jT.  TO.  - 

Puree 
Williamson 
Ditto 

Mrs.  G.      98.    £jj.  12.  -    Long 


G.  D.         99.     £ji.  10.  -    S.  W.  Y. 


76.  A  School-boy,  and  an  infant  nurse,  painted  with 

masterly  effect,  and  of  great  richness  of 
colouring.  G.  Dupont. 

77.  The  woodman  and  girl,  milking  cows,  a  beau- 

tiful picture.    G.  Dupont. 

78.  The  companion  to  ditto,  of  equal  merit.    G. 

Dupont. 

81.  A  landscape  with  cows  in  a  lane,  a  large  and 

very  fine  drawing.    T.  Gainsborough. 

82.  A  nymph  at  the  Bath,  a  large  oval.     T.  Gains- 

borough. 

87.  Halt  of  travelling  peasants  by  a  woodside,— a 

pleasing  composition,  and  painted  with  great 
richness  and  warmth  of  colouring.  G. 
Dupont. 

88.  Its  companion  of  equal  merit.    G.  Dupont. 

92.  A  landscape,  with  milkmaids  and  cows,  etc.,  by 

G.  Dupont  after  Gainsborough.1 

93.  A  portrait  of  James  Stuart,  Duke  of  Richmond 

and  Lenox,  whole  length,  by  Th.  Gains- 
borough, after  V.  Dyck. 

96.  A  landscape,  a  woody  scene,  with  a  cart  and 

figures, — painted  with  great  spirit.  Th. 
Gainsborough. 

97.  A  view  in  St.  James's   Park.     Nothing  can 

exceed  the  airiness  of  this  artist's  foliage ; 
the  figures  are  probably  known  portraits  of 
the  time.  Th.  Gainsborough. 

98.  A  landscape   with    figures,    a   clear   brilliant 

Picture.  This  artist,  whose  prolific  imagin- 
ation could  '  body  forth  '  nature  in  her  most 
wild  and  varied  forms,  always  found  a  ready 
conveyance  for  them  to  the  canvas,  by  a 
wonderful  facility  of  pencil,  which  was 
ripened  by  the  happiest  execution. 
This  Picture  is  a  charming  proof  of  the  excel- 
lence of  the  admired  master.  Th.  Gains- 
borough. 

99.  A  landscape,  with  figures,  and  sheep  coming 

down  to  a  brook.  A  grand  and  romantic 
woody  scene. 

The  favourite  stile  of  Gainsborough  was  un- 
doubtedly the  Dignified  Pastoral.  This 
specimen  of  him  is  replete  with  picturesque 
grandeur.  Th.  Gainsborough. 


1  This  does  not  appear  in  the  family  list  recorded  supra. 


loS    A   NOTE  ON  THOMAS    GAINSBOROUGH,   ETC. 

[Property  of J  [Price     Purchaser] 

G.  D.       100.     £18. 18.  -    Croft  100.  A  shepherd  boy  listening  to  a  magpie — his 

sheep  by  him. 

The  Simplicity  of  the  young  peasant  is  sweetly 
depicted.  This  is  a  highly  creditable  speci- 
men of  the  late  Mr.  Dupont's  pencil.  G. 
Dupont. 

G.  D.       101.      £jo.  <?.  -    Steers  101.  A  hilly  landscape,  with  a  waggon,  horses  and 

figures,  stopping  at  a  ford,  a  sultry^  evening 
scene.  The  heat  of  the  atmosphere  is 
admirably  expressed,  and  the  varied  eleva- 
tions of  the  ground,  and  foreshortening  of 
the  waggon  and  figures  are  strong  charac- 
ters of  true  genius.  Th.  Gainsborough. 

Mrs.  G.   102.  £101.  77.  -    Long  102.  A  landscape  with  cattle  watering  at  sunset, 

painted  with  uncommon  spirit.  The  choice 
of  subject,  the  freedom  of  execution,  and 
the  warm  colouring  that  pervades  the  whole, 
form  a  rich  repast  that  the  eye  must  dwell 
upon  with  pleasure. 

This  Picture  is  perhaps  one  of  the  very  finest 
productions  of  this  great  artist.  Th.  Gains- 
borough. 

G.  D.        10 j.      £29.  8.  -     Crofts  103.  The  Haymaker,  and  sleeping  girl.    A  fresh 

morning  scene — unfinished,  but  touched 
with  great  freedom  and  beautiful  expression. 

G.  D.       104.        £i.  2.  -    Stevens  104.  Three  Plaster  Busts. 


List  of  Members  of  the  Walpole  Society 

1916-1917. 


The     Rt.    Hon.     Lord    Aberdare, 

G.C.B.,  P.C. 
Royal     Academy     of    Arts,     The 

Library  of. 

C.  Morland  Agnew,  Esq. 
Sir  George  W.  Agnew,  Bart. 
Charles  Aitken,   Esq.,  Keeper,   The 

National  Gallery,  British  Art. 
A.  A.  Allen,  Esq.,  M.P. 
Messrs.  Edw.  G.  Allen  &  Son. 
Herren  Amsler  &  Ruthardt. 
Sir  Walter  Armstrong. 
Thomas  Ashby,  Esq.,  M.A.,  Litt.D. 
Messrs.  Asher  &  Co. 

Sir  Hickman  Beckett  Bacon,  Bart. 

J.  W.  Bacon,  Esq. 

C.  H.  Collins  Baker,  Esq.,  Keeper  and 

Secretary,  The  National  Gallery. 
Mrs.  Sidney  Ball. 
John  Ballinger,  Esq. 
Mrs.  Mary  M.  Banks. 
C.  A.  Montague  Barlow,  Esq.,  M.P. 
Francis    Pierrepont   Barnard,  Esq., 

M.A.  Oxon.,  F.S.A. 
R.   Bateman,    Esq.,    Curator,   Man- 
chester Whilworth  Institute. 
Earl  Bathurst,  C.M.G. 
A.R.Bayley.Esq.,  B.A.,  F.R.Hist.S. 
Harold  Bay  ley,  Esq. 
Earl  Beauchamp,  K.G. 
Arthur  C.  Behrend,  Esq. 
C.  F.  Bell,  Esq.,  F.S. A.,  Keeper,  The 

Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford. 
Mrs.  Clara  Bell. 
Anthony  Belt,  Esq. 
Laurence  Binyon,  Esq.,  Asst.  Keeper 

of  Prints  and  Drawings,  British 

Museum. 

F.  Frost  Blackman,  Esq.,  F.R.S. 
R.  K.  Blair,  Esq. 
Sam  D.  Bles,  Esq. 
Bodleian  Library,  Oxford. 
Bootle.     Public  Library. 
Boston  Athenaeum,  Boston,  Mass., 

U.S.A. 
Boston     Museum     of    Fine    Arts, 

Mass.,  U.S.A. 

Boston  Public  Library,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
V. 


The  Rev.  F.  C.  Bozman. 
Allan  H.  Bright,  Esq. 
The  Rev.  F.  E.  Brightman. 
Brighton.     Public  Library. 
British  Museum,  The  Library  of. 
James  Britten,  Esq. 
Miss  Margaret  Brooke. 
Mrs.  Beatrice  Brooksbank. 
Miss  Henrietta  Brown. 
Oliver  F.  Brown,  Esq. 
Messrs.  Browne  &  Browne. 
M.  J.  Buchanan,  Esq. 
Charles  Richard  Buckley,  Esq. 
The  Rev.  Herbert  Bull. 
Miss  Louise  Bulley. 
Miss  Margaret  H.  Bulley. 
Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club. 

H.  J.  Campbell,  Esq. 
A.  C.  R.  Carter,  Esq. 
James  L.  Caw,  Esq.,  Director, 

National  Gallery  of  Scotland. 
Arthur  B.  Chamberlain,  Esq. 
John  E.  Champney,  Esq. 
G.  A.  F.  M.  Chatwin,  Esq. 
Miss  Alice  D.  Clarke. 
George  Clausen,  Esq.,  R.A. 
A.  B.  Clifton,  Esq. 
Sydney  C.  Cockerel!,  Esq.,  Director, 

Fitzwilliam  Museum,  Cambridge. 
Sir  Sidney  Colvin,  M.A.,  D.Litt. 
Sir  E.  T.  Cook. 
Herbert  F.  Cook,  Esq.,  M.A. 
Royal  Cortissoz,  Esq. 
The  Earl  of  Crawford,  K.T.,  V.D., 

LL.D.,    Trustee    of  the   National 

Portrait  Gallery. 
Wilson  Crewdson,  Esq. 
TheEarlofCrewe,  K.G. 
R.  H.  Curtis,  Esq. 
Earl  Curzon  of  Kedleston,  G.C.S.I., 

G.C.I. E.,  Trustee  of  the  National 

Gallery. 
Lionel  Cust,  Esq.,  C.V.O.,  F.S.A. 

Sir  Thomas  L.  Devitt,  Bart. 
E.  Rimbault  Dibdin,  Esq.,  Curator, 
The  Walker  Art  Gallery,  Liverpool. 


Viscount  Dillon,  Chairman  of  Board 

of  Trustees  of  National  Portrait 

Gallery. 

Arthur  Dixon,  Esq. 
Campbell  Dodgson,  Esq.,  Keeper  of 

Prints     and    Drawings,    British 

Museum. 
R.  Langton  Douglas,  Esq.,  Director, 

National  Gallery  of  Ireland. 
Messrs.  Dowdeswell  &  Dowdeswells. 
Dundee  Free  Library  Committee. 
Alfred  P.  Durlacher,  Esq. 
George  L.  Durlacher,  Esq. 
Lady  Durning-Lawrence. 

H.  L.  Ehrich,  Esq. 
Countess  of  Elgin. 
The  Rev.  William  C.  Emeris. 
H.  C.  Erhardt,  Esq. 
George  Eumorfopoulos,  Esq. 
Exeter.   The  Royal  Albert  Memorial 
Public  Library. 

Arnold  Fairbairns,  Esq. 
Miss  Helen  Farquhar. 
Miss  Feilding. 
Miss  Emily  Fellowes. 
Miss  C.  Jocelyn  Ffoulkes. 
A.  J.  Finberg,  Esq. 
The     Fitzwilliam    Museum,    Cam- 
bridge. 

The  Hon.  J.  W.  Fortescue. 
Charles  Frederick  Fox,  Esq. 
E.  L.  Franklin,  Esq. 

The  Galignani  Library,  Paris. 
The  Rev.  A.  H.  Gallon. 
Mrs.  A.  P.  Gascoyne. 
Percival  Gaskell,  Esq.,  R.E. 
J.  P.  Gilson,  Esq.,  M.A. 
Thomas  Girtin,  Esq. 
Richard  Glazier,  Esq. 
The  Rev.  F.  W.  Goodenough. 
G.  Bruce  Gosling,  Esq. 
Richard  W.  Goulding,  Esq. 
Algernon  Graves,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 
The  Rev.  John  Gray. 
Albert  Gray,  Esq.,  K.C. 
James  Greig,  Esq. 
George  J.  Gribble,  Esq. 
Mrs.  Noel  Guinness. 
O.  Gutekunst,  Esq. 
Martin  Hardie,  Esq.,  A.R.E. 
Dr.  H.  Nazeby  Harrington. 


The  Rt.  Hon.   Frederick  Leverton 

Harris,  M.P. 
T.  Erat  Harrison,  Esq. 
Charles  Henry  Hart,  Esq. 
Harold  Hartley,  Esq. 
Harvard  College,  Cambridge,  Mass., 

U.S.A. 

EdwardHasell,Esq.,M.R.C.S.(Eng.). 
The  Rev.  Stewart  D.  Headlam. 
Voltelin  Percy  Heath,  Esq. 
Joseph  Heaton,  Esq. 
George  Henderson,  Esq. 
Mrs.  G.  Walker  Heneage. 
Henry  Hering,  Esq. 
Miss  Mary  F.  S.  Hervey. 
Ivystan  Hetherington,  Esq. 
Arthur  M.  Hind,  Esq. 
C.  Lewis  Hind,  Esq. 
Leopold  Hirsch,  Esq. 
Victor  T.  Hodgson,  Esq. 
W.  A.  Holder,  Esq. 
J.  R.  Holliday,  Esq. 
C.  J.  Holmes,  Esq.,  M.A.,  Director, 

National  Gallery. 
Sir  Charles  Holroyd,  R.E. 
Hope    Collection    of    Engravings, 

Bodleian  Library,  Oxford. 
W.  Edgar  Home,  Esq.,  M.P. 
Mrs.  Francis  Howard. 
Henry  Howard,  Esq. 
The  Hon.  Hugh  Howard. 
James  Howell,  Esq. 
C.  E.  Hughes,  Esq. 
Talbot  Hughes,  Esq. 
T.     Cann     Hughes,     Esq.,     M.A., 

F.S.A. 

H.  Hughes-Stanton,  Esq.,  A.R.A. 
Chas.  Henry  Hunt,  Esq. 
Mrs.  Charles  Hunter. 
J.  Hutchinson,  Esq. 
The    Venble.    Archdeacon    W.   H. 

Hutton. 
James  H.  Hyde,  Esq. 

The  Earl  of  Ilchester. 
Selwyn  Image,  Esq. 

Fred  W.  Jackson,  Esq. 

T.  Pearce  Jacomb,  Esq. 

The  Hon.  Walter  J.  James,  R.E. 

Col.  Sir  Herbert  Jekyll,  K.C.M.G. 

Lady  Margaret  Jenkins. 

Herbert  S.  Job,  Esq. 

John  G.  Johnson,  Esq. 

Miss  Lorna  A.  Johnson. 


Arthur  Kay,  Esq.,  F.S.A.  Lond.  & 
Scot. 

Miss  Emily  G.  Kemp. 

Edward  G.  Kennedy,  Esq. 

Sir  Frederic  G.  Kenyon,  K.C.B., 
D.Litt.,  Director  and  Principal 
Librarian  of  the  British  Museum. 

Basil  King,  Esq. 

Messrs.  Knoedler  &  Co. 

Dr.  James  H.  W.  Laing. 

John  Lane,  Esq. 

P.  P.  Laurie,  Esq. 

Adrian  Leach,  Esq. 

Messrs.  Leggatt  Bros. 

Thomas  Barrett  Lennard,  Esq. 

George  E.  Leon,  Esq. 

W.  R.  Lethaby,  Esq. 

Howard  C.  Levis,  Esq. 

The  London  Library. 

H.  Longden,  Esq. 

H.  Walter  Lonsdale,  Esq. 

Mrs.  Julian  G.  Lousada. 

A.  K.  Loyd,  Esq. 

Edward  V.  Lucas,  Esq. 

Theodore  Lucas,  Esq. 

Frits  Lugt,  Esq. 

Henry  E.  Luxmoore,  Esq. 

Herbert  Lyndon,  Esq. 

Lt.-CoI.  George  B.  Croft  Lyons. 

The  Earl  of  Lytton. 

The  Hon.  Neville  Lytton. 

D.  J.  Macaulay,  Esq.,  M.D. 

D.  S.  MacColl,  Esq.,  M.A.,  LL.D., 
Keeper,  The  Wallace  Collection. 

Major  Roderick  Mackenzie. 

Allan  McLean,  Esq. 

Miss  E.  Winifred  Madder. 

John  Maddocks,  Esq.,  J.P. 

Manchester.  Department  of  Educa- 
tion. 

Manchester  Public  Libraries. 

Manchester  Society  of  Architects. 

Manchester  Whitworth  Institute. 

John  Margetson,  Esq. 

Murray  Marks,  Esq. 

Edward  Marsh,  Esq. 

Prof.  C.  R.  Marshall. 

Miss  M.  Kathleen  Martin. 

Robert  Martin-Holland,  Esq.,  C.B. 

Mrs.  Ena  Mathias. 

The  Medici  Society,  Ltd. 

Brigr.- General  Horatio  Mends. 

Zachary  Merton,  Esq. 


L.  R.  C.  Messel,  Esq. 
Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  New 

York,  U.S.A. 
Dr.  A.  H.  Millar. 
G.  G.  Milner-Gibson-Cullum,  Esq., 

F.S.A. 
James    D.   Milner,   Esq.,   Director, 

National  Portrait  Gallery. 
Mrs.  F.  Morrell. 
Harrison  Morris,  Esq. 
Lionel  B.  Mozley,  Esq. 

National  Portrait  Gallery. 
Francis  A.  N.  Newdegate,  Esq.,  M.  P. 
New  South  Wales.    Public  Library. 
New  York.    Metropolitan  Museum 

of  Art. 

Paul  Nijhoff,  Esq. 
Wouter  Nijhoff,  Esq. 
Philip  Norman,  Esq.,  Hon.  LL.D., 

F.S.A. 

Robert  F.  Norton,  Esq.,  K.C. 
T.  Percy  Nunn,  Esq.,  M.A.,  D.Sc. 

Sir  John  Robert  O'Connell,  LL.D. 
Mrs.  Roger  Oldham. 
A.  P.  Oppe",  Esq. 

Messrs.  J.  Palser  &  Sons. 

Colonel  John  W.  R.  Parker,  C.B., 

F.S.A. 

Messrs.  E.  Parsons  &  Sons. 
Dr.  A.  V.  Peatling. 
Mrs.  John  Douglas  Peel. 
J.  Thursby  Pelham,  Esq. 
R.  William  Pettigrew,  Esq. 
Henry  J.  Pfungst,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 
Richard  A.  Pfungst,  Esq. 
Sir  Claude  Phillips. 
The  Earl  of  Plymouth,  C.B.,  P.C., 

Trustee  of  the  National  Gallery. 
Mrs.  R.  L.  Poole. 
Prof.  Arthur  Pope. 
W.  M.  Power,  Esq.,  M.R.S.A. 
Prof.  F.  M.  Powicke. 
Prof.  Edward  S.  Prior,  A.  R. A.,  Slade 

Professor,  Cambridge. 

Bernard  Quaritch,  Esq. 

Sir  Herbert  H.  Raphael,  Bart.,  M.P. 

Mrs.  C.  Rashdall. 

W.  G.  Rawlinson,  Esq. 

John  Rennie,  Esq. 

H.  Douglas  Rhodes,  Esq. 

T.  H.  Riches,  Esq. 


Messrs.  James  Rimell  &  Son. 

Frank  Kinder,  Esq. 

H.  D.  Roberts,  Esq.,  Director,  Public 

Library,  Museums  and  Fine  Art 

Galleries,  Brighton. 
Miss  Margaret  W.  Roberts. 
W.  Roberts,  Esq. 
Robert  Ross,  Esq. 
The  Royal  Library,  Windsor  Castle. 
John  Lewis  Rutley,  Esq. 

Sale  and  Ashton-upon-Mersey  Joint 

Free  Library. 
The  Sailers'  Company. 
The  Earl  of  Scarbrough,  K.C.B. 
Charles  H.  Scott,  Esq. 
Edgar  Seligman,  Esq. 
Monsieur  Georges  Seligman. 
J.  Henry  Sellers,  Esq. 
George  H.  Shepherd,  Esq. 
Sir  Frank  Short,  R.A.,  P.R.E. 
R.  Skinner,  Esq. 
Miss  Alice  Smith. 
H.  Watson  Smith,  Esq. 
The  Duchess  of  Somerset. 
Robert  Spence,  Esq.,  R.E. 
The  Earl  Spencer,  P.C.,  G.C.V.O. 
Edward  Speyer,  Esq. 
Marion  H.  Spielmann,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 
Sir  Isidore  Spielmann,  C.M.G.,  F.S.A. 
Walter  L.  Spiers,  Esq. 
Mrs.  A.  H.  Spokes. 
William  Barclay  Squire,  Esq. 
Prof.  E.  Steinmann. 
The  Lady  Alice  Shaw  Stewart. 
Edward  Stott,  Esq.,  A.R.A. 
Edward   F.   Strange,    Esq.,  Keeper 

of  Ironwork,   Victoria  and  Albert 

Museum. 


Walter  G.  Strickland,  Esq. 
Swansea,  County  Borough  of. 
Edmund  G.  Sykes,  Esq. 

Arthur  a  B.  Terrell,  Esq. 

Sir  Herbert  Thompson,  Bart. 

Arthur  Tooth,  Esq. 

W.  G.  Paulson  Townsend,  Esq. 

James  Tregaskis,  Esq. 

E.  W.  Tristram,  Esq. 

C.  Mallord  W.  Turner,  Esq. 

Miss  M.  H.  Turner.  ^ 

Sydney  Vacher,  Esq. 

The  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum. 

G.  E.  Wainwright,  Esq. 
Sir  Charles  Waldstein,  Litt.D. 
The  National  Library  of  Wales. 
The  National  Museum  of  Wales. 
Emery  Walker,  Esq. 
William  Ward,  Esq. 
Washington,  D.C.,  Library  of  Con- 
gress. 

Vernon  Watney,  Esq. 
Mrs.  H.  M.  Spencer  Watson. 
Robert  W.  S.  Weir,  Esq. 
Welbeck  Abbey.    The  Library. 
Francis  Wellesley,  Esq.,  J.P. 
Westminster  Public  Libraries. 
Mrs.  S.  H.  Whitbread. 
Fred.  A.  White,  Esq. 
Thomas  Whittaker,  Esq. 
Dr.  G.  C.  Williamson. 
Messrs.  S.  and  A.  B.  Willson. 
Sir  H.  F.  Wilson,  K.C.M.G. 
Percy  Withers,  Esq. 
T.  Martin  Wood,  Esq. 
John  Wormald,  Esq. 


Members  are  particularly  requested  to  draw  the  attention  of  the 
Hon.  Secretary,  MR.  A.  J.  FINBERG,  47  Holland  Road,  Kensing- 
ton, W.,  London,  to  any  omissions  or  errors  in  the  above  list. 


N 

12 
W3 
v.5 


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The  volume  of 
Valpole  Society 


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