BRITISH DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS 2018 GUY PEPPIATT FINE ART BRITISH DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS 2018 1 Guy Peppiatt started his working life at Dulwich Picture Gallery before joining Sotheby’s British Pictures department in 1993. He soon specialised in early British drawings and watercolours and took over the running of Sotheby’s Topographical sales. Topographical views whether they be of Britain or worldwide have remained an abiding passion. Guy left Sotheby’s in early 2004 and has worked as a dealer since then, first based at home, and now in his gallery on Mason’s Yard, St James’s, shared with the Old Master and European Drawings dealer Stephen Ongpin. He advises clients and museums on their collections, buys and sells on their behalf and can provide insurance valuations. Guy Peppiatt Fine Art exhibit at a number of London fairs and are also part of Master Drawings New York every January and London Art Week in July. Guy also vets a number of art fairs and is Chairman of the Vetting Committee for the Works on Paper Fair. 2 BRITISH DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS 2018 Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm Weekends and evenings by appointment Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd Riverwide House, 6 Mason’s Yard Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6BU Tel: +44 (0) 20 7930 3839 Mobile: +44 (0) 7956 968284 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7839 1504 [email protected] www.peppiattfineart.co.uk 3 1 Thomas Robins the Elder (1715-1770) Portrait of a Sportsman with two Spaniels in a Wooded Landscape Gouache on vellum, in an 18th century carved pearwood veneer frame 1748. One is in Cheltenham Art Gallery and another was sold at Christie’s on 5th 22.2 by 26.3 cm., 8 ¾ by 10 ¼ in. June 2007, lot 32 for a hammer price of £26,000 (see John Harris, Gardens of Delight – The Rococo English Landscape of Thomas Robins the Elder , 1978, p.20, pls. 35 and This portrait of an unknown gentleman may be a view taken at Leckhampton near 37). Works by Robins are rare – two views by him of Honington Hall were sold at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. As a portrait, it is unique in Robins’s work and is likely Christie’s on 14th July 1987, lots 135 and 136 for £45,000 and £26,000 respectively. to be of a Gloucestershire landowner. Cathryn Spence has dated it to circa 1740-45. Robins’s importance is as one of the earliest topographical artists working on paper Thomas Robins was born at Charlton Kings near Cheltenham. Little is known of or vellum, recording gardens and country houses from the early 1740s until the his early life but he was in Bath by 1760 where he established his reputation as a late 1760s when few others were doing so. His works are often drawn within a topographical artist producing views of the city and local grand houses. He returned framework of painted intertwining rococo flowers. John Harris describes him as ‘an to his home county drawing at least two panoramic views of the city of Cheltenham in artist who painted English houses and garden when they were most enchanting; 4 whose eye captured the rococo garden at its perfection and when it was most whimsical; whose paintings are almost sensual in the sheer delight they give; such was Thomas Robins the Elder’ ( op. cit. above, p.1). We are grateful to John Harris and Cathryn Spence who is working on a catalogue raisonné on Robins, for confirming the attribution to the artist. 2 Paul Sandby, R.A. (1730-1809) The Artist’s Granddaughter and his Nurse outside the Deputy Ranger’s House, Windsor Great Park Watercolour over traces of pencil 20.9 by 17.2 cm., 8 ¼ by 6 ¾ in. Provenance: Madame R. Levillier; With Spink’s, London (K3 6808), 1980s; Private Collection, Suffolk, until 2017 This shows the artist’s granddaughter Augusta Sandby, and her nurse Sally Loman in Windsor Great Park. Sandby’s brother Thomas occupied the Deputy Ranger’s Lodge in the heart of Windsor Great Park during his tenure as Deputy Ranger from 1746 until 1798. The original building was remodelled in 1811-13 and then pulled down in 1830. It is now the site of Royal Lodge. A more finished view of the Lodge, also including Sandby family members, was sold at Christie’s on 14th July 1987, lot 139 and a smaller sketch dated 1789 was with Guy Peppiatt Fine Art in 2012 (see One Hundred Drawings and Watercolours , winter catalogue 2012-1013, no. 21a). 5 3 Daniel Gardner (1750-1805) Portrait of a Lady Three-quarter length, seated in a wood Mixed media in original frame 63.7 by 53.2 cm., 25 by 20 ¾ in. This may be a portrait of Anne Elizabeth Hall (b.1775), the daughter of General Thomas Hall. An oil of her by Gardner is recorded in the collection of Mr Holms (for an illustration, see G.C. Williamson, Daniel Gardner , 1921, facing p.54). Born in Kendal, Cumbria, Gardner took lessons from the young George Romney before moving to London in about 1767. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1770 and worked briefly for Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1773. He quickly built up a successful practice in portraits so felt no need to exhibit. He invented his own technique which gives his portraits a rough appearance combining gouache and pastel. 6 4 John Russell, R.A. (1745-1806) Portrait of Alexander Mitchell of Stow, Midlothian Half-length, in painted oval in original frame Signed on painted frame lower left: J Russell R.A. pinx.t/1790 Pastel 60 by 44.5 cm., 23 ½ by 17 ½ in. Provenance : By descent from the sitter to Fanny Georgina Jane Mitchell (d.1917); Her second husband, Donald James Mackay, 11th Lord Reay (1839-1921); Given to his godson Captain Hubert Charles Poulet Hamilton of Moyne House, near Durrow, Co. Laios, Ireland (1915- 2007); By descent until 2017 Born in Guildford, the son of a bookseller, Russell was the pre-eminent portrait painter in pastel of the late eighteenth century. He studied under Francis Cotes, R.A. in about 1767 and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1770. He exhibited 329 pictures at the Royal Academy and at the height of his fame he charged 30 guineas for head portraits and £150 for large full-lengths, similar to the President of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds. The present portrait dates from 1790, when he was at the heights of his powers and had just been appointed Painter to the King. 7 5 Louis-Philippe Boitard (fl.1734-1760) Study of a Bilnd Beggar at Shoreditch Inscribed lower left: Blind beggar/Shoreditch 1743 Pen and grey ink and watercolour on laid paper 18.4 by 10.3 cm., 7 ¼ by 4 in. Provenance: L.G. Duke; With Bill Drummond Born in France, Boitard came to London with this father, the artist François Boitard. He worked mainly as a book illustrator and engraver but is best known for his views of London street life. His earliest known work was published in 1733 and he is mentioned by George Vertue in 1742. In the 1740s he worked as an illustrator in the studio of the engraver William Henry Toms. While he was there, John Boydell recorded that ‘Boitard had such a habit of taking snuff that He was perpetually having recourse to His Box and actually lost Hours every day from the indulgence of this practice’ (Joseph Farington, Diary , vol. 4.1415). These two drawings originate from an album of sixty-five drawings by Boitard at one time belonging to the collector L.G. Duke and split up in the 1960s. A number of these drawings are in the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven including two studies of sleeping men (B1975.4.48 and 53). Another sleeping man is the Huntington Library, San Marino, California (see Robert R. Wark, Early British Drawings in the Huntington Collection 1600-1750 , 1969, p.20). Some may have been used for his The Cries of London, for the year 1766, being a Collection of humorous Characters in 86 prints, done under the direction of Mr Boitard, published by Robert Sayer. 8 6 Louis-Philippe Boitard (fl.1734-1760) Study of a Sleeping Man Full-length, seated in a chair Pen and grey ink and watercolour on laid paper 19.3 by 12.2 cm., 7 ½ by 4 ¾ in. Provenance: L.G. Duke; With Bill Drummond See note to no.5 9 7 Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) Returned from the Hunt Pen and grey ink and watercolour over pencil on laid paper, with cut corners 17.3 by 22.5 cm., 6 ¾ by 8 ¾ in. Provenance: with Leger Galleries, London, February 1981, where bought by the present owner 10 8 Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) The Messenger Signed lower right: T. Rowlandson 1789 Provenance: With ‘Scipio’ collector’s mark verso Henry Scipio Reitlinger (1882-1950); Pen and grey ink and watercolour over traces of pencil on laid paper With Leger Galleries, London, June 1969 19.6 by 24.6 cm., 7 ¾ by 9 ½ in. 11 9 Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) A Game of Dice Signed lower centre: Rowlandson Pen and brown and grey ink and watercolour Oval 32.4 by 32 cm., 12 ¾ by 12 ½ in, Provenance: With Henry Sotheran, London, 1928; Ray Livingston Murphy (1923-1953), his Estate sale, Christie’s, 19th November 1985, lot 104; Anonymous sale, Christie’s, 9th April 1991, lot 76a; By descent to the present owner Gambling subjects were close to Rowlandson’s heart and he is known to have frittered away most of his wealth on gambling and especially the dice game Hazard.