Late 18th Century Interior Paintings

Henry Wigstead (1760-1800) The Country Vicar’s Fireside, c. 1786 Oil on canvas In a period carved and gilded swept frame 63.5 x 76.1 cm.; (within frame) 81 x 93.8 cm. Provenance: Christie’s, King Street, where consigned on 20 March 1957; 3 May 1957, lot 81, as William Hogarth, ‘Figures before a fireplace’; Private Collection, United States; Sotheby’s, New York, Old Master & 19th Century European Art, 27 January 2012, lot 486; Private Collection, United Kingdom. Exhibition history: The Royal Academy, London, 1786, no. 59 Literature: Algernon Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and Their Work from Its Foundation in 1769 to 1904, 8 vols. (London: H. Graves and Company Ltd., 1905), p. 265 George Paston, Social Caricature in the Eighteenth Century (London: Methuen & Co., 1906), p. 137 The Royal Academy, The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, M.DCC.LXXXVI, The Eighteenth (London: T. Cadell, 1786), p. 4 Exhibited at the Royal Academy of 1786 and likely produced that same year, The Country Vicar’s Fireside is an exceedingly rare work in oil by the British caricaturist Henry Wigstead, belonging to the considerably small body of paintings produced by the artist, of which few remain. The work was conceived during the height of British caricature, culminating between the American Revolution and Waterloo, and typifies Wigstead’s ‘great feeling for ridiculous contrasts and the droll side of human relationships’, being a talented exponent of the art of ridicule that was satire (Old Print Shop, p. 223). The painting was engraved by E. Wilkins in 1788, though alterations in reproduction diverted from the original scheme: for example, whereas the Wilkins print shows a ‘Plan of the Parish of Barn’ over the hearth, Wigstead’s oil identifies it as that of Wakefield – an allusion to the 1766 novel, The Vicar of Wakefield. The work was until recently unknown, and was previously misattributed to the towering William Hogarth. It thus represents an important addition to the sparing oeuvre of an artist who, further to being a magistrate, publisher, and businessman, enjoyed royal patronage and friendships with the leading caricaturists, which placed him at the centre of London’s effervescent satire market. A considered description of The Country Vicar’s Fireside is given by the literary critic George Paston (Emily Morse Symonds) in her 1906 commentary on 18th century caricature, who regards it as a fine example of Wigstead’s gentler mode of social satire. Paston writes, ‘In front of a roaring fire sits...

Italian painter (18th-19th century) - Holy Family with St. John the Baptist. 65 x 55 cm without frame, 86.5 x 76.5 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in a carved and gi...

Follower of Federico Barocci (18th-19th century) - Madonna del Latte. 102 x 80 cm without frame, 132 x 112 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on wood, in a carved and gilded woode...

Dutch painter (18th century) - Interior of a tavern with a player. 35 x 28 cm without frame, 52 x 46 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on wood, in wooden frame. Condition report...

Italian painter (18th-19th century) - Ecce Homo. 36 x 31 cm without frame, 62.5 x 57.5 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in carved and gilded wooden tabernacle frame. Condition report...

French artist, late 18th century oil painting on wooden board, framed framed: 15 x 17 inches board: 9.5 x 11 inches provenance: private collection, France condition: overall very good

Portrait of a Gentleman depicted three-quarter-length, in a white waistcoat and green coat, a book in his left hand, with a dog (Spaniel?), in a library/ study interior circle of Ralph Earl...

This atypical and terrifying painting by Jean-Frédéric Schall depicts the torture of a vestal virgin, condemned to be buried alive for having broken her vows. Dressed in a contemporary manner, our vestal provides a link between the gallant painting...

This atypical and terrifying painting by Jean-Frédéric Schall depicts the torture of a vestal virgin, condemned to be buried alive for having broken her vows. Dressed in a contemporary manner, our vestal provides a link between the gallant painting...

Portrait of Anne, Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn (1743-1808), three-quarter length, seated on a classical terrace in a white gown and headdress with yellow doeskin gloves. Circa 1795. Oil on canvas in a giltwood frame. Dimensions: 141 x 114cm (in frame) Provenance: Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009), Exbury House, Hampshire, UK Sotheby's London, 4 September 1997, lot 35 Sotheby's London, 14 March 1990, lot 68 Old Hall Gallery Ltd, Iden, Rye, Sussex (according to label on reverse) Anne (née Luttrell; first married name Horton] Duchess of Cumberland and Strathearn (1743–1808), was born in Marylebone on 24 January 1743, the daughter of Simon Luttrell, Baron Irnham (1713–1787), and his wife, Judith Maria Lawes (d. 1798). Anne Luttrell's first husband was Christopher Horton (bap. 1741), the son of Christopher Horton and his wife, Frances, of Catton Hall, Derbyshire. They married on 4 August 1765, but Horton died on 5 August 1769. Anne then married Henry Frederick, Prince, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn, brother of George III on 2 October 1771, whom she had met at his Garter investiture ceremony at Windsor earlier that year. The Duke broke the news to George III on 2 November by presenting him with a letter announcing the marriage; the couple then departed for Calais. The marriage horrified George III, not only because of the Duchess's politically controversial family, but also because a marriage between a prince and a commoner was unequal in imperial law, barring any children from inheriting the electorate of Hanover. In Britain: Cumberland refused to disavow the marriage and in consequence was barred from the king's presence. His mother, who was by now terminally ill, also refused to see him and they remained unreconciled at her death. Cumberland's failure to seek the King's permission for his marriage led to the King's forcing the Royal Marriages Act through parliament. It stipulated that no descendant of George II, other than the descendants of princesses who married into foreign families, could marry without the sovereign's consent. Horace Walpole described the Duchess to Sir Horace Mann as 'Coquette beyond measure, artful as Cleopatra, and completely mistress of all her passions and projects' (Walpole, Corr., 23.345). It was probably her determination to be recognized as a princess that drove the couple forward, whereas the Duke was more relaxed about his social status. Excluded from the court of George III, the Cumberlands established a rival centre at Cumberland House in Pall Mall, which Cumberland acquired from the duke of Gloucester in 1772. They staged lavish entertainments, patronized musicians, had a succession of portraits painted, and travelled conspicuously in their state coach. Cumberland was still living on his original financial settlement and, beset by debts, the couple spent the period from summer 1773 to summer 1774 travelling in France and Italy. To the frustration of British diplomats attempting to execute George III's instructions that the Cumberlands should be allowed no precedence, the Duchess's claims to royal status were enhanced when she was received privately by Empress Maria Theresa at Vienna. On their return to Britain the Duke and Duchess renewed their attempt to provide a livelier alternative to the court of George III. In 1775 Cumberland became patron of a boat club, the Cumberland Fleet, giving the Duke and Duchess the opportunity to sail down the Thames in a barge flying the royal standard at the centre of a well-attended social occasion. The society...

18th century French painter - Gallant scene with ladies and suitors. 46 x 67.5 cm without frame, 48 x 69.5 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in wooden frame. The author draws inspirat...

Venetian master of the 18th century - Holy Family with St. Joseph and St. John, with the Child who offers the orange to the Virgin. 44.5 x 35 cm without frame, 53.5 x 43.5 cm with f...