Thomas Rose Miles

Thomas Rose Miles, Daybreak After The Storm

c. 1870

This mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to British artist William Adolphus Knell (1805-1875) depicts a sailing yacht before a Mediterranean coastline. Knell was one of the lead...

This charming mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to English artist William Traies (1789-1872) depicts a picturesque river view with cascade, figures and cattle. Traies was an a...

This idyllic late 19th-century oil painting by English artist Edward William Cooke RA (1811-1880) depicts a west-country cove with two cottages, donkeys, figures, and fishing boats. Cooke was a highly renowned painter of marine scenes and landscapes who exhibited extensively at London’s Royal Academy. From our elevated vantage point, the view extends between two quaint cottages and across the beach before sweeping around the sandy coastline. Crystalline waters lap the shore, where moored craft rest. It’s an accomplished rendering of a challenging composition. It’s enhanced by trees, which essentially ‘frame’ the right side, while a wooded track provides interest on the left. Cooke was a keen admirer of the Dutch old masters, and the spirit of the Golden Age underpins this splendid work. In diaries, he recorded how he travelled by donkey to access elevated spots in the southwest, so it’s conceivable that he did so here. In his catalogue raisonné, it lists a work from the same year titled ‘Bay with Donkeys’. Born in Pentonville, London, Cooke was raised in the company of accomplished artists as both his father, George Cooke (1781-1834), and his uncle, William Bernard Cooke (1778-1855), were engravers. As such, they were associated with a circle of Victorian painters who aided Cooke’s early development. These included the highly regarded marine painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA RBA (1793-1867), who provided frequent advice and inspiration. Indeed, as a teenager, Cooke produced numerous drawings after Stanfield’s works. A precocious talent, by the age of nine, he was already displaying an advanced understanding of engraving, particularly for ships, coupled with a natural, seemingly in-built skill as a draughtsman. Many of his early drawings depict pastoral landscapes after the masters, such as Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), Paulus Potter (1625-1654), and Karel Dujardin (1626-1678). In an extraordinary turn of events, in 1820, his advanced abilities led to his first commission when he provided botanical illustrations for John Loudon's 'Encyclopaedia of Plants’. These were followed by drawings published in the 'Botanical Cabinet...

This late 19th-century oil painting by British painter George William Mote (1832-1909) depicts a shepherd and his flock before an extensive view across the Surrey countryside near Gu...

Wonderful German mid 19th century Mountain lake landscape with figures harvesting the corn. J.Klee was a landscape painter during the middle of the 19th century in Germany. He mostly painted rural scenes often with people going about their daily work. This is one such example! He was very skilled in painting great light in his paintings and along with a well-choisen composition he was able to paint a very desirable painting. This piece is framed in its original German hand...

A very pretty late 19th-century English marine scene of fishing boats beached after being out to sea and bringing in their catch for the day. This was a subject that was very popul...

This evocative 19th-century marine scene by English painter Nicholas Matthew Condy captures the dynamic tension and atmospheric drama that typify his maritime works. Known for his ke...

This evocative 19th-century marine scene by English painter Nicholas Matthew Condy captures the dynamic tension and atmospheric drama that typify his maritime works. Known for his ke...