English School, 1834

Oil laid down to panel

"The Cardinal" was an Irish horse (owned by a Mr. Miles) who won The Chester Cup in 1834

Painting: 10" x 14.25"
Frame:16" x 20"

A Tri-aspect of a Topsail Trading Schooner off South Foreland (Cliffs of Dover)

Oil-on-canvas; verso label: Wm. Blair, Ltd, Bethesda, Maryland

Painting: 24” x 36”
Frame: 29 ¼” x 40 ¼”

Murday was an accomplished painter of ship portraits and shipping scenes whose works were often signed and dated in the second half of the 19th century. Regrettably, there is little biographical information available on this artist.

His paintings are in the collections of the Greenwich National Maritime Museum, the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, MA, and the San Francisco National Maritime Museum. Some representative titles are: The Barque Bernard, The Schooner Ellen Gillman, and A Barque Among Icebergs off Cape Horn.

The London to Bath Coach Pulling up to the Spaniards Tavern, Bath, England in 1884

Oil on Canvas, signed, and dated l.r.

Painting: 14: x 26"
Frame: 20.5" x 32.5" (outer frame later)

A newly discovered gem from one of England's best coaching painters.

John Charles Maggs (1819–1896) was a painter best known for his coaching scenes. He was born in Bath, England in 1819, his father being a furniture japanner there. John painted a series of famous coaching inns, and also a series of 80 metropolitan inns, in which he exploited the picturesque and historical aspect of his subject, to which his talent was best suited.

Other subjects he painted include Newmarket Races, Robbing the Mails, The News of Waterloo, The Market Place at Bath. The period he illustrated spans about two centuries; from the days before Hogarth, to the end of the reign of William IV.

His work enjoyed great popularity at a time when there was much interest in such vivid reconstruction of the 'romantic past'.

John Maggs' father, James, is recorded as an artist at Bath 1837–1841 and his uncle as a portrait painter 1846–1848. His daughter also assisted at his studio, known as the Bath Art Studio. Maggs lived in Bath his whole life, and died there on 3 November 1896, aged 77.

THE SPANIARDS TAVERN The Spaniards Inn is a historic pub on Spaniards Road between Hampstead and Highgate in London, England. It lies on the edge of Hampstead Heath near Kenwood House. The pub is believed to have been built in 1585 on the Finchley boundary, with the tavern forming the entrance to the Bishop of London's estate—an original boundary stone from 1755 can still be seen in the front garden. Opposite it there is a toll house built in around 1710. would lead to more and faster traffic.

Dick Turpin is thought to have been a regular at the Inn, as his father had been its landlord.What is certain is that highwaymen frequented this area and likely used the Inn to watch the road; at that time the Inn was around two hours from London by coach[citation needed] and the area had its fair share of wealthy travellers. Records from the Old Bailey show that on 16 October 1751 Samuel Bacon was indicted for robbery on the King's Highway and was caught 200 yards from the Spaniards

In 1780 rioters involved in the Gordon Riots, opposed to the relaxation of laws in England that restricted Catholicism, marched on Hampstead intent on attacking Kenwood House, the home of William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. The landlord of the Spaniards at the time is reported to have given them free drinks, keeping the rioters occupied, until the local militia arrived, thus saving the house.

The pub has been mentioned in Dickens's The Pickwick Papers and Bram Stoker's Dracula, and has been frequented by the artist Joshua Reynolds and the poets Byron and Keats. According to the pub, Keats wrote his Ode to a Nightingale in the gardens, and Stoker borrowed one of their resident ghost stories to furnish the plot of Dracula.

Oil on canvas, 19th century Signed indistinctly lower right "Wm Mc *****" and dated

Painting: 21" x 28.5"
Frame: 27" x 34.25"

Ship portraits, such as this, were commissioned by the new owner often time itinerant artists who traveled around different boat builders looking for work. They documented exactly what the ship looked like with full sails, flags and rigging so if a boat was lost at sea the portrait could be presented to their insurance agent.

Stepping Stones

Oil on canvas, signed

Painting size: 9” x 12”
Frame size: 13.5” x 16.5”

Maidment was a painter in oil of rural scenes and landscapes. He is variously catalogued as Robin or Robert Fenson but usually just signed “R. Fenson” in red, often with a date. This was a pseudonym for Henry Maidment who also was known to have signed “A. Wynn”. Dated examples of his work have been seen spanning from 1898 until 1914. The quality of his paintings and the decorative subject matter have fueled an ever growing demand for Maidment’s work.

Source:
Wood, Jeremy. "Hidden Talents, A Dictionary of Neglected Artists working 1880-1950"

Farm by a Pond

Oil on canvas, signed lower right

Painting: 24" x 30"
Frame: 30" x 42"

Maidment was a painter in oil of rural scenes and landscapes. He also used the pseudonyms of "R. Fenson" and “A. Wynn”. Dated examples of his work have been seen spanning from 1898 until 1914. The high quality of the painting and decorative subject matter have fueled an ever growing demand for Maidment’s work.

Source:
Wood, Jeremy. "Hidden Talents, A Dictionary of Neglected Artists working 1880-1950"

"Warmiing Up" Jockey Galloping a Horse with a Plaited Mane

Oil on Canvas , signed"WV"

Painting: 16" x 24"
Frame: 20.75" x 28.5"

The London to Oxford Coaches at Mile Marker 24

Oil-on-canvas, signed lower right

Painting: 17” x 32”
Frame: 23 ½” x 38 1/4”

Pollard was an engraver and sporting artist noted for his coaching, fox hunting and equine scenes. As the son of Robert Pollard, a painter, engraver and publisher, James was encouraged to become a painter of horses. He was also tutored by his father’s friend, the engraver Thomas Bewick. Growing up in Islington, Pollard lived on a main coaching route which undoubtedly influenced his choice of coaching scenes as his primary subject matter. In 1821 he exhibited a large work at the Royal Academy “North Country Mails at the Peacock, Islington” and by 1825 he was successful enough to leave his father, marry and set up his own studio. He prospered with numerous commissions. With the demise of the mail coaches in the 1840‘s, Pollard expanded his subject matter to include racing, hunting, shooting and angling scenes. Pollard is also known to have collaborated with John Frederick Herring Senior on several racing pictures in which he painted the backgrounds and crowd scenes and Herring painted the horses.

Pollard exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1821-1839, the British Institution in 1824 and 1844, and at the Suffolk Street Galleries. Many of his works were reproduced in prints which were engraved by himself, his father and others.

Pollard’s work is noted for its historical accuracy, attention to detail and in evoking the spirit of the coaching age.

Sources:
Mitchell, Sally. The Dictionary of Equestrian Artists
Wingfield, Mary Anne. A Dictionary of Sporting Artists, 1650-1990
Wood, Christopher. Dictionary of British Art. Vol. IV, Victorian Painters

Beauty and the Beast

Oil on canvas, signed with monogram and titled on the reverse

Exhibited: The Royal Academy, 1899

Miss Suitcliff was a Hampstead painter of genre and portraits who exhibited at the royal academy from 1881-1899 and elsewhere.

Source:

Christopher Wood, The Dictionary of Victorian Painters

Painting Size: 16" x 20" Frame Size: 24" x 28"

Resting Deer in a Forest Landscape

Oil on canvas

Provenance: Thomas McLean Gallery, London (retaining the original label on the back).

Painting: 20.75" x 36"
Frame: 30" x 45"

Redgrave was a genre and landscape painter. For a time he worked with his father who was an engraver before entering the Royal Academy in 1825. He began by painting historical genre in 18th century costume but in the 1840s he was among the first to depict contemporary social subjects in contemporary clothing (“The Seamstress”, “Bad News from the Sea”, “The Governess”). In 1836 he finally gained wider audience with his painting of “Gulliver on the Farmer’s Table”.

Redgrave was involved with the organization of the Government School of Design (1847) as well as the first keeper of paintings at the South Kensington Museum (now known as the Victoria and Albert museum). He was Inspector of the Queen’s Pictures and co-author with his brother Samuel of “A Century of Painters of the English School”, still a valuable book on English art.

Redgrave exhibited some 175 works at the Royal Academy from 1824-1883, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists and others. Several of his paintings are in the Victoria and Albert museum, the National Portrait Gallery (London) and the Shipley Art Gallery (Gateshead).

Retiring from his many offices in 1880 due to ill health, Redgrave’s later work was mostly painted while summering at his country house, primarily landscapes painted in a pre-Raphaelite style.

Sources:
Benezit, E. "Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs"
Johnson, J. and A Greutzner. "The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940"
Wood, Christopher. "Dictionary of British Art. Vol. IV, Victorian Painters"

An Artist at Work

Oil-on-canvas, signed lower left and dated “1863”

Painting Size: 22.25” x 18”
Frame Size: 31.25 ” x 27.25”

This charming portrait of a young woman artist at work is a wonderful depiction of the painter and her tools. Her subject of a vase of flowers with fruit sits on a table to her right. The sturdy adjustable easel has a shelf where she has laid out her tubes of pigments. She is using a mahl stick to create a bridge across the canvas which supports her painting hand to avoid touching the surface. An artist’s apron lays across her lap to protect her skirt. Her full concentration is on the canvas in front of her which is nearing completion.

J. Henry Smith was a painter of genre, landscapes and animals, living in London, Brixton and South Lambeth who exhibited extensively from 1852-1893 at the royal Academy, the British Institution, the society of British Artists and elsewhere. Titles exhibited at the Royal Academy included “Where the Shoe Pinches” (1882) and “A Book is the Best Solitary Companion in the World” (1885).

Sources:
Johnson, J. and A Greutzner. "The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940"
Wood, Christopher. "Dictionary of British Art. Vol. IV, Victorian Painters"

Two Views of the West of England

A pair of oils on canvas, retaining Frost and Reed Gallery labels.

Sight Size: 10.25" x 13"
Canvas Size: 12" x 14 1/2"
Frame Size: 17.5" x 20"

Born at Atherstone, Warwickshire, England on May 17th, 1815, Syer studied with J. Fisher, a miniaturist, and settled in Bristol. Syer was one of the prime favorites of the Victorian era. He painted landscapes and coastal scenes with figures, often in Devon and Wales, of which he was regarded as a specialist and commanded high prices.

He was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colours, and for some years he belonged to the Royal Society of British Artists, but resigned his membership in 1875 after his election to the Institute. He also exhibited 19 works at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 11 at the British Institute and 63 at the Royal Society of British Artists as well as at the Grosvenor Gallery.

Examples of his paintings and drawings are in the Leeds Gallery, the Birmingham Gallery ,the Bristol Gallery, the Leicester Art Gallery and the Sheffield Art Gallery.

Source:
Wood, Christopher, "The Dictionary of Victorian Paintings"

Portrait of a Woman in Lace Cap

Oil on panel.

Provenance: J. Davey & Sons, Manchester, England

Painting size: 8.5” x 7”
Frame size: 11.5” x 10”

Woodland Fall Landscape

Oil on panel, signed in lower left corner, “JN White, R.I.”

Painting size: 6.75” x 10”
Frame size: 10.5” x 13.5”

Known for his rustic genre paintings and landscapes, White attended the Royal Scottish Academy. By 1877, he moved to Devon and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street and the New Watercolor Society.

On this landscape, White painted the initials “R.I.” after his name, indicating that he was a Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolors. Although this work is in oil, White’s scumbled brushwork has the immediacy of watercolor and creates the atmospheric haze of a fall afternoon.

John White was also a Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Oil-Colors. He is listed in The Dictionary of British Watercolor Artists up to 1920 (Mallalieu, 1976) and the Dictionary of British Art, Volume IV Victorian Painters (Wood, 1995).

Caught Napping

Oil on canvas, signed and dated: “1867”

Painting size: 15.5” x 26.5”
Frame size: 22.5” x 33”

A student of Scots artist, Scott Lauder, John Burr studied at the Trustee’s Academy in Edinburgh. He moved to London in 1861 with his brother and fellow painter, Alexander Burr. Upon his arrival Burr began exhibiting at the Royal Academy. He continued to exhibit there until 1882. In addition, he exhibited at Suffolk Street and the Old Watercolour Society. Burr is known for his genre paintings involving small children and domestic scenes.

Source:

Wood, Christopher. Dictionary of British Art: Victorian Painters. (1995).

Harris, Paul and Julian Halsby. The Dictionary of Scottish Painters. (1990).

“On the qui vive” (The Smuggler)

Oil on canvas , titled, signed and dated on the reverse

"QUI VIVE" (A French phrase meaning long live who? (a sentry’s challenge), used to mean a state of alertness or watchfulness.)

Painting: 30" x 25"
Frame: 36.5" x 31.5"

One of the best-known painters working in north-east England during the early nineteenth century Henry Perlee Parker specialized in pictures of marine subjects and smugglers and came to be known as "Smuggler" Parker. He was a leading artist in Newcastle in the 1820s and 1830s, a member of the Northumberland Institution, and a co-founder (with T.M. Richardson) of the ill-fated Northern Academy of Arts. He died penniless in Shepherd's Bush in 1873. There was an exhibition of his work at the Laing Art Gallery, 1969-1970.

See Wiikpedia entry for a more complete biography

Young Boy With Doll and Clay Pipe

Oil on board, signed lower left and dated "1872"

Painting Size: 10.5” x 8.25”
Frame Size: 15.5 ” x 13.25”

Mrs. Cloud was a painter of domestic genre scenes and is recorded as having exhibited at the Royal Academy, Suffolk Street and other galleries in England. A title of one of her paintings was “The Connemara Postman”. Little seems to be known of her painting career, but she wrote several articles for “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” (Harper & Brothers, NY) which are all about her travels as a single woman in the 1870’s and 80‘s in Ireland. Her charming pen drawings illustrate rural life and scenes in Ireland for each article. Titles include: “A Lone Woman in Ireland”(1873), "The Connemara Hills" (1879), “An Irish Fishing Village” (1880) and “Ireland - The Arran Islands” (1881)

Sources:
Graves, Algernon, "Dictionary of Artists in the Principal London Exhibitions from 1760-1893"
Wood, Christopher. "Dictionary of British Art. Vol. IV, Victorian Painters"
"Harper’s New Monthly Magazine"

James John Hill (British, 1811-1882)

Oil on canvas, signed and dated: “(18__)” and retainging its original gilt wood and gesso frame.

Painting size: 12” x 10”
Frame size: 32” x 42”