James John Hill Paintings

This absolutely lovely British Victorian oil painting is by noted Birmingham born artist James John Hill and has some excellent provenance below. The painting actually stayed in Birmingham for many years, hanging in Heathfield Hall, the former residence of inventor and engineer James Watt, but owned at that time by Thomas Pemberton. It then moved to Berwick House in Shropshire. Entitled The Gleaner and painted in1863, it is a charming half length portrait of a young woman with a sheaf of wheat under her arm. She is stood beneath trees and the wheat field is beyond. She is dressed in a lovely pink garment and wearing a brown felt hat, to shade her face from the sun, her dark hair cascading down her shoulder, The hat is decorated with a poppy. The soft tones and sympathetic rendering of the young woman make this a stunning 19th century oil painting with excellent provenance. The painting is housed in its original gilt frame with a beautiful oak leaf motif. Signed and dated 1863 lower left. Provenance. Thomas Pemberton, Heathfield Hall, Handsworth, Birmingham. (Heathfield Hall was the former residence of the inventor and engineer James Watt. Following his death the house had several occupiers including local luminaries Thomas Pemberton and George Tangye). His sale, Christie's, 30 April 1874, lot 95 (69gns to James Watson) Berwick House, Shropshire. (James Watson (1817-1895) was an English merchant, dairy herdsman and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892) Condition. Oil on canvas, 34 inches by 28 inches unframed, in good condition. Frame. Housed in its original gilt frame with oak leaf motif, 42 inches by 36 inches and in good condition. James John Hill RBA (1811 – 27 January 1882), known also by his alias J. J. Hill, was an English landscape and portrait painter, known for his many rustic paintings and portraits of Lady Burdett-Coutts. James John Hill was born sometime in 1811 in Broad Street, Birmingham to Daniel Hill, plater, and Elizabeth Rowlinson, the daughter of a brass founder. He was educated at Hazelwood School, a school founded by the educational reformer Rowland Hill...