Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

18th century pastel portrait of a young boy in a wooded landscape

Circa 1740

About the Item

This little jewel of a pastel of a young boy in his smart red jacket and silver trimmed waistcoat is by an artist working in the circle of Arthur Pond and dates to circa 1740. It came from a family with connections to the famous Pulteney family of Bath in Somerset. There were many portrait artists working in pastel in Bath in the 18th century but the fine quality suggests that this work could possibly be by a pupil of Pond’s, such as the female pastellist Rhoda Delaval. Arthur Pond (1701-1758) was a painter, engraver, print-seller, dealer and collector. he was baptized on 2 August 1701 in the parish church of St Magnus the Martyr, London. He was the oldest surviving son of John Pond (d. 1749), a wealthy surgeon of London Bridge, and his wife, Mary Marshall. His artistic education may have begun under the portrait painter John Vanderbank, whose name appears near Pond's in the first subscription list of the St Martin's Lane Academy, founded in 1720. There Pond must have met William Hogarth and the painter George Knapton, probable source of a crucial introduction to Jonathan Richardson senior, portrait painter, author, and art theorist, whose books were published by John and Paul Knapton. Pond's subsequent career in the world of art, letters, and learning might be considered a realization of Richardson's visions of the learned artist, the gentlemanly connoisseur, and the revival of Italian artistic greatness in England. In 1725 Pond visited Italy in the company of the scholar Daniel Wray and John Dyer, painter and poet, and returned to England in 1727. The prestige of his Roman experience gave Pond access to important British art patrons, and his main successes occurred with pastel portraits influenced by the Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera and the Swiss Jean-Étienne Liotard. He became one of the first pastellists to become fashionable in England. Pond was also an astute collector and dealer in old master paintings and drawings and had prints made of many these works which he then sold. Pastels were a popular medium favoured by fashionable young female artists who sought to emulate professional portrait artists such as Pond or his colleague George Knapton. As well as providing tuition, the lessons provided Pond with an opportunity to demonstrate his skills which would open up new avenues for patronage. Pond's earliest mention of his pupil Rhoda Delaval was in February 1744 when he entered the sum of four guineas in his journal 'for Miss Delaval a month's learning'. Pond was in his early forties and Rhoda in her teens. The tuition continued until 1750, by which time Rhoda was portrait painting independently. In 1751 Rhoda married Sir Edward Astley of Melton Constable Hall in Norfolk and of 11 Downing Street in London. Literature: Martin Postle, 'Arthur Pond, Doddington and the patronage of the Delavals', Art and the Country House, 20 November 2020 Neil Jeffares, 'Dictionary of pastellists before 1800', online edition.
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1740
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14.57 in (37 cm)Width: 13 in (33 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Circle Of:
    Arthur Pond (1695 - 1758, English)
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Bath, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU95212423202
More From This SellerView All
  • 18th century portrait of the German Flautist and composer Johann Joachim Quantz
    By Arthur Devis
    Located in Bath, Somerset
    Portrait of Johann Quantz (1697-1773), flautist and composer, wearing a blue velvet coat, waistcoat and breeches, standing in a garden landscape with ...
    Category

    18th Century English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • 18th century portrait of a young girl in a bonnet and patterned shawl
    By Tilly Kettle
    Located in Bath, Somerset
    Portrait of a fair-haired young girl wearing a green dress, a pink and white lace bonnet and a patterned shawl draped around her shoulders, possibly in a printed Indian design, leaning on a stone pedestal. Oil on canvas in a period 18th century giltwood frame. During the 18th century Indian textiles...
    Category

    1780s English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • An English 18th century portrait of James Stanley, standing in a landscape
    By John Hamilton Mortimer
    Located in Bath, Somerset
    Portrait of James Stanley (1750 - 1810), circa 1775-1778, full-length, wearing a red coat and breeches and a gold embroidered waistcoat, hold...
    Category

    1770s English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas, ABS

  • A portrait of a black and white spaniel dog in a sumptuous interior
    Located in Bath, Somerset
    A black and white spaniel standing on a yellow silk damask covered day-bed in a sumptuous interior. Provenance: With Arthur Ackermann & Son Ltd., London. Anonymous sale; Christie's, South Kensington, 15 May 2007, lot 284 Private collection, London Samuel John Carter...
    Category

    1870s English School Animal Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • 19th century English portrait painting of a white poodle dog sitting upright
    By Henry Bernard Chalon
    Located in Bath, Somerset
    A white poodle, sitting upright on its hind legs. Oil on canvas in a giltwood frame, bearing a plaque 'Henry Bernard Chalon 1770-1849'. Canvas size: 33 x 26cm In frame: 45 x 37cm Provenance: Phillips sale, London, 24 November 1998, lot 140. David Messum, London One of the more important painters of his time, Chalon was the son of Jan Chalon, a Dutch musician and engraver from Amsterdam (1749-95), and 'Jackey' Barnard, the daughter of Sir John Barnard, a financier, London merchant, Lord Mayor and M.P. (1722-61). Chalon studied at the Royal Academy schools and married a sister of the artist James Ward. Their daughter Maria A. Chalon became a miniaturist. Chalon became estranged from his wife and James Ward tried, unsuccessfuly, to damage his career. Chalon had considerable success as a painter and in 1795 was appointed animal painter to the Duchess of York...
    Category

    Late 18th Century English School Animal Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas

  • A pair of portraits of a setter and a pointer dog in a landscape, dated 1877
    By George Wright
    Located in Bath, Somerset
    George Wright (Yorkshire 1860-1942 Sussex). A Gordon setter in a landscape and a pointer in a landscape. A pair, signed and dated 'G.Wright/ 77' (lower right) (price is for both paintings). Oil on board in matching period giltwood frames 25.4 x 30.5cm each George Wright was a British painter best known for his equestrian and sporting scenes. Born in Leeds into a family of five children in 1860, Wright grew up to become one of the three successful artists in their family. His younger brother Gilbert Scott Wright...
    Category

    Late 19th Century English School Animal Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

You May Also Like
  • A Bewigged Gentleman
    By Enoch Seeman
    Located in St. Albans, GB
    Enoch Seeman Oil on Canvas Canvas Size: 30 x 25" (76 x 64cm) Outside Framed Size: 37 x 32" (94 x 82cm) He was born in Danzig, now Gdansk, Poland, around 1694. His father, also En...
    Category

    Late 18th Century English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Huile sur toile signée Giuseppe P. Anzino et datée 1907. Portrait de Miss Margar
    Located in ROYÈRE-DE-VASSIVIÈRE, FR
    Huile sur toile signée Giuseppe P. Anzino et datée 1907. Portrait de Miss Margaret Elizabeth WAYNE Très belle facture, en bon état, signé en haut à gauche. Bel encadrement en bois et...
    Category

    Early 1900s English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Studio Of Sir Peter Lely - Portrait Of Lady Francklin Of Bedfordshire
    By Sir Peter Lely
    Located in Blackwater, GB
    Portrait Of Lady Francklin of Bedfordshire, 17th Century Studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) Fine 17th Century English portrait of Lady Fr...
    Category

    17th Century English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Sir Francis Dicksee Portrait, c. 1900
    Located in Larchmont, NY
    Sir Francis Dicksee (English, 1853-1928) Untitled (Portrait of a Woman), c. 1900 Oil on canvas; period frame Sight: 13 1/4 in. Framed: 21 1/8 x 21 1/8 x 3 3/8 in. Frank Dicksee was...
    Category

    Early 1900s English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Thornton Rippingille, Portrait Of The Inventor Thomas Dunn, Oil Painting
    Located in Cheltenham, GB
    This mid-19th-century oil painting by English artist Thornton Rippingille (1830-1863) depicts the inventor Thomas Dunn. Dunn was a remarkable Lancastrian who pioneered new technolog...
    Category

    1850s English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil, Board

  • Fine 1850's English Oil Painting Portrait of a Clergy Man in Clothing
    Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
    The English Vicar early/ mid Victorian English artist, circa 1850's oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 14.5 x 12 inches provenance: private collection, England condition: overall good a...
    Category

    Mid-19th Century English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

Recently Viewed

View All