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Painting Makes A Big Statement In Summer Auction

PAINTING MAKES A BIG STATEMENT

IN EWBANK SUMMER AUCTION

Seven feet tall portrait was almost too

large to fit through saleroom door

It measures a massive seven feet tall and like the fellow it portrays – a statuesque man in military uniform – it’s an imposing painting. But it gave Surrey auctioneer Chris Ewbank a real headache … when the huge framed canvas arrived at his saleroom, porters could barely get it inside the building.

"It took two men to carry it and two more to direct operations to get it through the door," said Chris Ewbank. "It must be one of the biggest paintings we’ve ever had in the saleroom, but we expect it to be worth the effort. We anticipate it selling for up to £12,000, which will delight its owner, as the painting has been in store for many years."

The painting will be sold in Ewbank Clarke Gammon Wellers’ two-day Summer auction of fine art and antiques at the Burnt Common saleroom, Send, on Wednesday and Thursday, June 24-25.

Artist Sir Francis Grant (1803-1878) needed a big canvas to do justice to the sitter. He was Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Walker Pease (1820-1882) of Hesslewood, late MP for Hull and he is depicted wearing the uniform of his regiment, the First East Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers.

A plaque beneath the portrait reads: "Presented to Joseph Walker Pease of Hesslewood JP DL Lt Col of The First East Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers late MP by his friends in Hull and neighbourhood in recognition of the great services rendered by him to the Conservative cause. Sir Francis Grant RA".

Attached to the back of the picture is a printed invitation to Sir Francis to attend a dinner at the Haberdashers Company on 18th June 1873 to meet Queen Victoria’s son His Royal Highness Prince Arthur, such was the artist’s standing in the capital’s artistic circles.

Francis Grant was a self-taught painter, who first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1834, with a sporting picture. A succession of other sporting pictures followed, before he became established as a successful portrait painter. He became highly fashionable and his subjects included The Queen, Palmerston, and many other dignitaries of the period.

Grant became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1842, and a full member in 1851. In 1866, on the death of Charles Eastlake PRA, Edwin Landseer was offered the Presidency of the Royal Academy, but turned this down. Grant was elected by its members in Landseer’s place and was knighted soon afterwards. Under Grant's leadership, the Academy moved from the National Gallery to Burlington House. It was also under Grant that the Chantrey Bequest fund was set up to administer the bequest of £105,000 – then a vast sum – in the will of member Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey (1781-1841) to build a national collection of British art.

A similar full length portrait of General Sir James Hope Grant, the artist’s brother iss the National Gallery of Scotland and there are approximately 20 paintings by or attributed to Grant in the National Portrait Gallery. There are also four paintings in the Royal Collection.

According to an obituary in the Hull Daily Mail, Colonel Pease was born in Hull in 1820 , the son of Joseph Robinson Pease. He was educated at Rugby, after which he joined his father's bank. He married Barbara Catherine Palmer, of Withcote Hall, Leicestershire, and after displaying an early interest in public affairs, was elected chairman of the Conservative party in Hull retaining the position until 1879. In 1857, he became chairman of the Hull and Withernsea Railway Company and played a leading part in the restoration of Withernsea Church.

In 1858, he was elected to the board of the Hull Dock Company and was subsequently appointed its chairman, a position he held until his death. The following year, he took an active part in the establishment of the East Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers, joining it as a captain. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel, a position he retained until he retired in 1876. During this time he was also chairman of the committee which carried out the restoration of Holy Trinity Church in the city.

Col Pease was also a Justice of the Peace, a deputy-lieutenant of the East Riding, a director of the Yorkshire Insurance Company and for many years chairman of the Hull Charity Trustees.

In 1873, Col Pease won a by-election for the Conservative Party. He failed to be returned in a general election the following year but in recognition of his zealous efforts to retain the seat, the party paid his election expenses and he was also presented with a full-size portrait – believed to be the one to be sold by Ewbank – in oil in a ceremony at the Royal Institution. In a separate presentation, the Conservative working men presented him with a magnificent silver epergne inscribed "Presented to Lt-Col Pease, JP, DL by the Conservative working men of Kingston-upon-Hull as a testimony of their high esteem and respect for his honourable and upright character in their appreciation of the great services rendered by him to the Conservative cause. Hull, April 1874". He died in 1883, aged 63.

Somewhat smaller and easier to handle, but no less exciting is a collection of 15 previously unseen paintings by the iconic Sixties photographer Terence Donovan. The collection is expected to raise in the region of £15,000. See separate release.

National interest had been aroused by a previously ‘lost’ photograph in the sale depicting the Rev Patrick Brontë, father of the Brontë sisters, which been discovered at a provincial antiques fair. It is estimated at £400-600. See separate release.

Elsewhere in paintings is a naïve yet charming 18^{th century English School portrait of a young girl in a red dress, feeding a spaniel, which is estimated at £1,000-1,500 and a humorous oil on board of a man tying his cravat at a window by the Scottish-born Erskine Nicol (1825-1904). Nicol was made an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1855 and an Academician in 1859. The painting is estimated at £2,000-3,000.}

Tyko met Pablo Picasso in Paris in the early 1960s and they drew portraits of each other. In 1962, they exhibited together at the Galerie de la Ponche in St. Tropez and at the Galerie Forlane in Paris in 1964. The collection includes a printing block for Picasso's portrait of Tyko, newspaper clippings showing Tyko with Picasso and various other material including exhibition posters. Estimates range from £50-200, although a Picasso print "Dove of Peace" from 1961 is estimated at £400-600.

In furniture, it seems pairs of objects are the order of the day. Two oak armchairs by Robert "Mouseman" Thompson of Kilburn, the trademark mouse running up opposing legs indicating that the chairs are clearly a pair, are estimated at £800-1,200, while a pair of 19th century mahogany waterfall open bookcases with lion’s head handles is estimated at £1,000-2,000 and a pair of 19th century mahogany circular side tables with hexagonal centre columns is estimated at £600-1,000.

Whilst not exactly a pair, two very similar Louis XV, mid 18th century Rococo, gilt wood and gesso marble topped console tables are decorated with pierced friezes and scrolling foliage on shaped legs, united by shell shaped stretchers on scrolled feet . They once stood in Woolton House, in Newbury, Berkshire, and first came on to the market when Sotheby’s sold the contents of the house in 1993. The tables are estimated at £6,000-10,000.

A good walnut and parquetry inlaid credenza, the central cupboard door inset with an oval porcelain, is estimated at £1,000-1,500.

The sale contains four longcase clocks, pick of which is a 19th century example, the circular silvered dial, with seconds dial and date aperture, signed Martin, King Street, Westminster, which is estimated at £800-1,200, but more valuable is a smart, early 19th century bracket clock by the Prague clockmaker Johan Dellavos, which is estimated at £2,000-3,000. The clock has a

More recent works include an oil on board titled "The Potato Gathers" (sic) by Belfast artist Markey Robinson (1918-1999) which is estimated at £2,000-4,000, while among contemporary works is a dramatic view of mountains and streams executed in ink and watercolour on a scroll by the Chinese artist Xiong Hai (Hung Hoi) (b. 1957) which is estimated at £2,000-3,000.

The sale also includes a large number of moderately priced oils on canvas and sketches by Gaston Tyko (b. 1918) which include large portraits of the Queen and President Lyndon Johnson.

^{www.ewbankauctions.co.uk. For further information, please contact the auctioneers on 01483 223101.}