With 328 lots of excellent quality and art historical significance on offer, March 29th’s Old Master, British, and European Paintings sale was consistently successful, reinforcing the lasting strength of the market for works of considerable age, solid provenance, and good condition. Roseberys were very pleased with the overall performance of the sale, which included a wonderful variety of works ranging from early religious works on oil to late 19th-century artworks by European masters.
Two highlight themes became clear, with the first being Dutch paintings from the 17th century. Lot 66, an oil on canvas by Paul de Vos realised £17,550 including premium and Roseberys were thrilled to present this work at sale, which was surely among de Vos’ most excellent. The work, showing a group of birds including chickens, ducks, and birds of prey, came with excellent provenance from a private UK collector (with thanks given to Dr Fred Meijer for confirming the attribution of the work). Often overshadowed by the success of his brother-in-law Frans Snyders, Paul de Vos’ work is skillfully executed and his paintings of hunting scenes, animals, and still lifes found great popularity with elite international clientele in his day including royalty and nobility. A robust result was also achieved for lot 67, a stunning Italianate oil on canvas landscape by the Dutch master painter Jan Dirksz Both. The wooded landscape with travellers crossing a ford almost doubled its high estimate, realising £12,350 hammer including premium. Both has been celebrated for the key role he played in the development of the Italianate style in the Netherlands, heavily influenced by his studies undertaken in Rome. Lot 67 featured several motifs typical of Both’s work - heavy wooded areas, mountains, and travellers along a path - which added to the appeal of the work at auction.
The second highlight category was 19th-century British and continental canvases. Within this field, robust prices were fetched for works by Hermann Corrodi, Frank Owen Salisbury, Franz Krüger, and Wight Barker.
Lot 251: Hermann David Solomon Corrodi, Italian 1844-1905- The Acropolis, Athens
Multiple phone lines and internet bidders saw lot 251 - a wonderful rare and early view of the Acropolis by Hermann David Solomon Corrodi - hammer down at £13,000 (£16,900 including premium). The oil on canvas had been signed by the Italian artist and came to Roseberys from a significant private collection. The piece was a high quality preparatory study for - or perhaps a version of - an oil by Corrodi which sold at Christie’s in London in 2015 for £32,000. The artist was a favourite of British and Austro-Hungarian royal families and he was celebrated for his mastery of colour which shone through in this work. The prolific orientalist artist had been raised in a family of artists and trained in his father’s Geneva studio before attending the Accademia di San Luca in Rome.
Lot 328: Frank Owen Salisbury, RI ROI RP, British 1874-1962- 12 portrait studies of sitters
12 portrait studies of sitters - including Sir William Blake Richmond RA, Benito Mussolini, and the Duchess of Gloucester - by the British painter and stained-glass designer Frank Owen Salisbury realised a strong result of £9,360 including premium, more than four times its high estimate of £2,000. The price reflects the fascinating sitters and Salisbury’s characteristically high-quality execution which won him favour with some of the 20th century’s most eminent figures including Winston Churchill and six American presidents. Eleven of the portraits were drawn on paper in chalk, and a portrait of King Peter of Serbia was oil on canvas - all signed by Salisbury. Salisbury was hailed as ‘Britain’s Painter Laureate’ in both the UK and America during the early 20th Century.
Lot 170: After Franz Krüger, German 1797-1857- Portrait of Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich
Lot 170, a portrait of Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich after the German painter and lithographer Franz Krüger, hammered at an excellent price and is a historically important and beautifully-executed painting. Realising £8,450 including premium, the portrait was made after an 1852 portrait by Krüger which is now part of the Hermitage Museum collection and which is considered the best image of the Tsar to have ever been created. While it is not known who painted this version, its quality suggests that it may have been commissioned by the Imperial court. It has been contested, but in the opinion of the late Serge Ernst, formerly of the Hermitage, lot 170 should be firmly attributed to Krüger. Krüger was beloved for his romantic paintings of horses which won him the nickname ‘Pferde-Krüger’, and made him in high-demand for military portraits in Germany.
Lot 243: Federico del Campo, Peruvian 1837-1927- The Doge's Palace and the Grand Canal, Venice
Lot 243 was a signed 1899 oil on canvas work by the Peruvian artist Federico del Campo of the Doge’s Palace and Grand Canal in Venice. Del Campo was considered one of the world’s leading and most popular topographical ‘vedute’ painters of the 19th century and his Venetian works were extremely popular, keeping the artist busily creating multiple artworks from the same view. This piece epitomises his style, painted from the promenade overlooking the lagoon and encompassing the Doge’s Palace, the entrance to St Mark’s Square, and the Church of Santa Maria della Salute. The artwork demonstrates del Campo’s technical precision and mastery of colour and texture, and realised £46,800 including premium.
Lot 262: Wright Barker, RBA, British 1864-1941- Maternity; oil on canvas
Roseberys were pleased with the selling of a large-scale oil on canvas work by John Wright Barker (lot 262), rating amongst the Bradford-born artist’s finest works. ‘Maternity’, which measured 137.2 x 198.1 cm. on canvas, realised £7,150 including premium and was signed and dated by the artist on the lower right, and inscribed on an old label verso. Wright Barker was celebrated for his depictions of animals, especially dogs (having painted a portrait of King Edward VII’s favourite dog, Caesar, in 1905) and horses (as in this piece) which he bestowed with a notable tenderness and technical proficiency.
Lot 159: Circle of Allan Ramsay, Scottish 1713-1784- Portrait of a naval officer
Another highlight was lot 159, a half-length portrait of a naval officer by the circle of the Scottish artist Allan Ramsay. Roseberys were thrilled with the selling price (£11,050 including premium) of the high-quality portrait painted by the artist’s circle (although it is argued by some that a stronger attribution to Ramsay himself should be given), which reflected the fine painting technique and overall good condition of the portrait. The portrait bore distinct similarities to Ramsay’s 1741 ‘Portrait of a Naval Officer’ which has similar dimensions and is held at the McLean Museum and Art Gallery in Inverclyde.
Topographical pictures also saw strong bidding including fine works by Sir Richard Francis Burton, Thomas & William Daniell, James Lawson Stewart, Edward Lear, and a suite of Neapolitan views in bodycolour. An appropriately strong price was achieved for a set of incredibly rare and important early topographical drawings of West Africa and India by the great Victorian explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton. Burton had enlisted in the militia of the East India Company in 1842, and five drawings in the lot captured his experiences stationed in Goa during the late 1840s. Fifteen drawings were included in the lot including scenes from the Elobe River, Batanga Bay, Dahomey, and Agborne Palace, all signed with the artist’s initials. This lot realised £8,450 including premium.
Lot 150: Richard Gibson, English 1615-1690- A portrait miniature of a gentleman
A small grouping of 17th- and 18th-century English portrait miniatures (lots 150 - 154) similarly sold well against their estimates, underpinning the strength of this area of the market. Lot 150 by the English artist Richard Gibson well-surpassed its high estimate of £5,000 and realised £7,150 including premium. The incredibly detailed and intricate portrait miniature (on vellum in a gilt-metal oval frame) of a gentleman wearing a gold-edged ochre doublet and natural wig proved popular and came with strong provenance, having been sold at both Sotheby’s and Bonhams within the last 35 years. Gibson was born in Cumberland and had worked as an apprentice in a tapestry works before being employed in the households and courts of nobility and royalty - gaining great favour with King Charles I. The gold detailing in this portrait was set off by the unusual dark-green background which added to its appeal at auction.
Old Masters, British & European Pictures
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