Thomas Rose Miles

Thomas Rose Miles, Daybreak After The Storm

c. 1870

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...

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 mid-19th-century oil painting, attributed to English artist George Clarkson Stanfield (1826-1878), depicts a small vessel approaching a shipwreck, close to the coast. Stanfield ...

Samuel Henry Alken (1810–1894) Horse Racing Scene, Possibly the Epsom Derby Oil on board, unsigned Attributed, English school circa 1840 Presented in a later gilt frame with beaded inner edge This dynamic mid-19th century racing scene, attributed to Samuel Henry Alken—also known as Henry Alken Junior—captures the high-stakes moment just before the thundering release of horses and riders at the starting line. A tightly packed field of brightly jacketed jockeys leans forward with urgent anticipation, the taut muscles of their mounts echoing the gathering tension. In the foreground, a race marshal gestures dramatically to signal the start, his stance underscoring the energy about to be unleashed. Though unsigned, the work bears the unmistakable hallmarks of Samuel Henry Alken’s hand: vigorous composition, attention to equine form, and a sharp eye for the choreography of sport. The figures are finely modelled, the palette lively but grounded, and the setting—with its wooded backdrop, animated crowd, and distant grandstands—suggests a major 19th-century race meeting, possibly the Epsom Derby, a subject Alken is known to have returned to in several formats. The composition’s panoramic sweep and low horizon lend a cinematic quality, while the density of detail—each silken cap and coat, each bridle and plume—evokes the pageantry and social theatre of Britain’s sporting calendar at the height of its Regency and early Victorian splendour. A rare and spirited scene from the golden age of English sporting painting...

Antique Victorian, Impressionist 19th century English oil, Fishings boat at Sea. Adolphus Knell was a superb painter of marine subjects during the middle of the 19th century. His w...

Tom Ivester Lloyd 1871-1942 was a fine artist who worked mainly in water colour but was also very accomplished in oils. He served in the first war and produced pictorial records which are now in the army museum. He was a keen hunting man and was Master of the Sherrington Foot Beagles. He was a great hound man and wrote and illustrated a book on hounds. Acquiring an early 20th-century English fox hunting...

Antique Victorian, Impressionist 19th century English oil, Fishings boat at Sea. Adolphus Knell was a superb painter of marine subjects during the middle of the 19th century. His wor...