Edwin Harris

Young Child Picking Spring Blossom. Victorian West Country Original Watercolor.

Queen Victoria’s Daughter, Princess Alice Maud Mary, of the House of Hanover. English ( b.1843 - d.1878 ). Long Life and Happiness – June 11th 1860 Watercolor. Signed and Dated. Image size 12.4 inches x 7.7 inches ( 31.5cm x 24cm ). Frame size 18.5 inches x 15.2 inches ( 47cm x 38.5cm ). Available for sale; this charming and delicate watercolor is by the second eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Alice Maud Mary of the House of Hanover, and is dated 1860. This original watercolor is presented and supplied in a sympathetic contemporary frame (which is shown in these photographs), mounted using conservation materials and non-reflective Tru Vue UltraVue® UV70 glass. This intriguing and gentle piece will be of specific interest to those who have an interest in the Of the British royal family and its history. This antique piece is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display. This intriguing and gentle piece will be of specific interest to those who have an interest in the British royal family and its history. A unique and very special painting, this charming delicate watercolour was painted by Princess Alice Mary Maud, of the House of Hanover, the second daughter of Queen Victoria. This is very significant because the artist is now the great- great grandmother of the current monarch, HM King Charles III. The artist herself was an extraordinary woman, the painting was created at a special time and place, and the subject of the painting is a mystery. The painting depicts a winged angel looking down at a small baby lying in a cradle. The angel holds a scroll, emblazoned with “Long life and happiness” A date, “June 8th, 1860”, is written clearly and prominently above the child, signifying a date of birth. The painting is signed simply “Alice” and the date of its completion is recorded as “June 11th, 1860.” The painting demonstrates that the young Princess, just 17 at the time, was an accomplished and sensitive artist. The work commemorates the birth 3 days earlier of a baby whose arrival must have been personally celebrated by the Princess. The identity of this child is a mystery. The fact that the cradle is decorated with blue ribbons and trimmings does not necessarily suggest that this is a male child as the custom of blue for a boy had not yet been adopted at this time. Princess Alice of the United Kingdom became Princess Louis and Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine by marriage. She was born on 25th April 1843 and was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Like her siblings she spent her early childhood in the company of her parents and siblings, travelling between the British royal residences. Her birth prompted her parents to purchase Osbourne House on the Isle of Wight, and for Alice this was very much her family home. Here, at her father’s insistence, she and her siblings learnt family values and practical skills such as housekeeping, cooking, gardening and carpentry. During the Crimean War Alice, aged just eleven, toured London hospitals with her mother and elder sister. This triggered her interest in health and public welfare which continued all her life. Alice was considered the most emotionally sensitive of her siblings and was genuinely sympathetic to the burdens of others. Her compassion meant that she took on the role of the family caregiver. She nursed her grandmother, Victoria, Duchess of Kent, mother to Queen Victoria, throughout her final illness, and provided emotional support for all the family after her death. As Alice reached adulthood Queen Victoria made plans for her to be married. Queen Victoria wanted her children to marry for love, but the choice of suitors was nevertheless severely restricted by protocol. After Alice rejected the first two potential suitors her mother and elder sister suggested Prince Louis of Hesse, a minor German royal who was heir to the Grand Duchy of Hesse. He and his brother were invited to Windsor Castle in 1860, ostensibly so that they could watch the Ascot Races in the company of the royal family. In reality, the visit was an opportunity for the Queen to inspect her potential son-in-law. Louis and Alice got on together well, and Alice made it clear that she was attracted to him. They became engaged the following year. The visit to Windsor Castle by the German Princes...

Oscar Wilson. English ( b.1867 - d.1930 ). The Lady of the Lake. Watercolor and Ink on Paper. Signed. Image size 17 inches x 10.2 inches ( 43cm x 26cm ). Frame size 23 inches x 16....

Noel Laura Nisbet. English ( b.1887 - d.1956 ). Such Young Love. The Anticipation of a Kiss. Watercolor. Signed. Image size 17.3 inches x 13.8 inches ( 44cm x 35cm ). Frame size 25.4 inches x 20.9 inches ( 64.5cm x 53cm ). Available for sale; this original painting is by Noel Laura Nisbet and dates from around 1930. The watercolor is presented and supplied in its original frame that has an Arts and Crafts aesthetic. This antique painting is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is ready to hang and display. The watercolor is signed lower right. Noel Laura Nisbet was an English oil and watercolor artist, who painted figures, landscape, fantasy and romantic scenes. She created some wonderful original Pre-Raphaelite-influenced works which are now much sought-after. She was the youngest daughter of Hume Nisbet, a Scottish artist, author and traveller, whose support and generosity enabled her talent to flourish. The family moved from Scotland to London in 1887 and Noel was born in Harrow on 30 December that year. Noel attended the Notre Dame Convent school in Clapham, then studied art at South Kensington, under L.C. Nightingale, where she won three gold medals and the Princess of Wales Scholarship (established on 1863 to reward the most distinguished female art student in the UK and what is now the Republic of Ireland). Noel’s elder sister Margaret also became an artist. In 1910 Noel married Harry Bush, who she had met as a fellow art student. They went on to have two daughters. Harry was away for most of the Great War, and Noel stayed with her daughter Hazel in Bath Cottage in Speen. A few years later her father set up his artistic daughters in two matching houses, with purpose-built attic studios, on an estate then being built in south west London. The address of Noel Nisbet and Harry Bush was 19 Queensland Avenue, Merton Part, Wimbledon, SW19 and they lived there for the rest of their lives. Harry Bush was to immortalise their world in his pictures of suburban London. Nisbet illustrated five books of fairy tales and legends, including Russian Fairy...

Gordon King. English ( b.1939 ). Fond Memories. Watercolor. Signed. Image size 13.6 inches x 21 inches ( 34.5cm x 53.5cm ). Frame size 22.4 inches x 29.9 inches ( 57cm x 76cm ). Av...

John Emanuel . English ( b.1930 ). I Can’t Stay Away From You. Watercolor & Ink. Signed lower right. Image size 28.3 inches x 19.9 inches ( 72cm x 50.5cm ). Frame size 35.2 inches x...

Elin Siân Blake. Welsh ( b.1981). Polo Match, Cirencester, Player and Pony. Watercolor on paper. Signed lower right. Image size 15.2 inches x 11.6 inches ( 38.5cm x 29.5cm ). Frame...

An enchanting scene of maidens conversing under the shade of an oak tree with lovely detailing and good strong colour. John Edmund Buckley ( 1824-1876) Maidens under an oak tree Sig...

A really charming study of a blacksmith puffing on a clay pipe at the forge door. Thomas Charles Leeson Rowbotham Junr (1823-1875) Village Blacksmith Patterdale, Aug 1848 Signed, in...

An enchanting 19th century watercolor with figures before a castle in a river landscape. Circle of Samuel Prout (1783-1852) Figures before a castle in a river landscape Watercolour ...

A dramatic 19th Century watercolor painted by a competent hand in the style of David Cox the Elder. A spirited scene with weather-beaten figures on the waterfront looking out to sail...

A charming 19th century view of a figure on the shore of a mountain lake, framed by the foliage of a birch tree. Circle of John Varley (1778-1842) Figure on the shore of a mountain ...

Alfred W Cooper, 19th Century Waiting by the weir Signed with initials Watercolour with touches of gouache 6¾ x 9¾ inches 12 x 16 inches with the frame A delightful Victorian scene...