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Lot Essay
This picture is one of a set of four views of Carton commissioned from Thomas Roberts by James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, and dates from circa 1776. Two further paintings of the park by William Ashford, dated 1779, supplement the set; these were sold at Sotheby's 14 July 1993, as lots 76 and 77. Roberts was the most brilliant Irish landscape artist of the 18th Century and his views of Carton are among his most important works and some of the most nostalgic and evocative views of Ireland ever painted.
Carton, situated about fifteen miles west of Dublin, was the great country seat of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, who were elevated to the Dukedom of Leinster in 1766. In the 17th Century the chief castle of the FitzGerald family had been at Maynooth, not far from Carton, and the lands at Carton were leased to a junior branch of the Talbots of Malahide, who built the original house there. After the attainder of Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnell, King James II's Lord Deputy of Ireland, the lands at Carton were forfeited to the Crown and sold, in 1703, to Major General Richard Ingoldsby, Master General of Ordnance and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, who added a two storey nine bay pedimented front to the old house with wings joined to the main block by curved sweeps in the palladian manner. However, in 1739, Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare (1675-1744), bought back the reversion of the lease for eighty thousand pounds and decided to make Carton his principal seat, employing Richard Castle to enlarge and improve the house. Most of the old house was almost entirely rebuilt, a storey was added, and the house was lengthened by the addition of projecting bays at either end, which were connected to the flanking wings by curved colonnades. The building works were completed after the death of the 19th Earl by his eldest son, James, Earl of Kildare, later 1st Duke of Leinster (1722-1773), and the latter's wife, Lady Emily Lennox, daughter of Charles, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Lennox, and sister of Lady Holland, Lady Louisa Conolly and Lady Sarah Napier.
The Earl and Countess of Kildare were not only concerned with the completion of their house at Carton but in the 1750s and 1760s embarked upon an ambitious scheme to transform the surrounding landscape into a more worthy setting for it replacing the formality of previous designs with a picturesque naturalism in the fashion of 'Capability' Brown. Their naturalistic improvements concentrated on the southern aspects with lawns falling to the River Ryewater. The river which ran through the demesne provided a natural focus for the project and the climax of the scheme was its widening at climatic visual points, part of the result of which is evident in this view. Other features included a shell house, an ornamental bridge built by Thomas Ivory in 1763 and an ornamental dairy built in 1770. In a letter of the 1760s Lady Kildare described to her husband, who was then in England, the visual impact of this change:
'New River is beautiful. One turn of it is a masterpiece in the art of laying out, and I defy Kent, Brown or Mr. Hamiltion to excel it...'
Planting was also undertaken on a grand scale; belts of protective trees were located round the estate and others placed informally in clumps. In all of this Lady Kildare took a leading role, no doubt partly as a necessary result of her husband's long absences on account of his political career, but also reflecting her own enthusiasm and ability. At Goodwood, where she had been brought up, she had absorbed many of the principles of landscape gardening and had also evidently acquired a passion for it. On a practical level she also consulted the distinguished botanist Sir Peter Collinson, FRS, who had given advice to her father on the planting at Goodwood. The result was the creation of one of the most important landscapes in Georgian Ireland which Roberts was commissioned to celebrate.
This picture was offered at Christie's, together with Roberts' three other views of Carton, on 15 July 1983, as lots 21-24. Its companions remain in a private collections.
Carton, situated about fifteen miles west of Dublin, was the great country seat of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare, who were elevated to the Dukedom of Leinster in 1766. In the 17th Century the chief castle of the FitzGerald family had been at Maynooth, not far from Carton, and the lands at Carton were leased to a junior branch of the Talbots of Malahide, who built the original house there. After the attainder of Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnell, King James II's Lord Deputy of Ireland, the lands at Carton were forfeited to the Crown and sold, in 1703, to Major General Richard Ingoldsby, Master General of Ordnance and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, who added a two storey nine bay pedimented front to the old house with wings joined to the main block by curved sweeps in the palladian manner. However, in 1739, Robert, 19th Earl of Kildare (1675-1744), bought back the reversion of the lease for eighty thousand pounds and decided to make Carton his principal seat, employing Richard Castle to enlarge and improve the house. Most of the old house was almost entirely rebuilt, a storey was added, and the house was lengthened by the addition of projecting bays at either end, which were connected to the flanking wings by curved colonnades. The building works were completed after the death of the 19th Earl by his eldest son, James, Earl of Kildare, later 1st Duke of Leinster (1722-1773), and the latter's wife, Lady Emily Lennox, daughter of Charles, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Lennox, and sister of Lady Holland, Lady Louisa Conolly and Lady Sarah Napier.
The Earl and Countess of Kildare were not only concerned with the completion of their house at Carton but in the 1750s and 1760s embarked upon an ambitious scheme to transform the surrounding landscape into a more worthy setting for it replacing the formality of previous designs with a picturesque naturalism in the fashion of 'Capability' Brown. Their naturalistic improvements concentrated on the southern aspects with lawns falling to the River Ryewater. The river which ran through the demesne provided a natural focus for the project and the climax of the scheme was its widening at climatic visual points, part of the result of which is evident in this view. Other features included a shell house, an ornamental bridge built by Thomas Ivory in 1763 and an ornamental dairy built in 1770. In a letter of the 1760s Lady Kildare described to her husband, who was then in England, the visual impact of this change:
'New River is beautiful. One turn of it is a masterpiece in the art of laying out, and I defy Kent, Brown or Mr. Hamiltion to excel it...'
Planting was also undertaken on a grand scale; belts of protective trees were located round the estate and others placed informally in clumps. In all of this Lady Kildare took a leading role, no doubt partly as a necessary result of her husband's long absences on account of his political career, but also reflecting her own enthusiasm and ability. At Goodwood, where she had been brought up, she had absorbed many of the principles of landscape gardening and had also evidently acquired a passion for it. On a practical level she also consulted the distinguished botanist Sir Peter Collinson, FRS, who had given advice to her father on the planting at Goodwood. The result was the creation of one of the most important landscapes in Georgian Ireland which Roberts was commissioned to celebrate.
This picture was offered at Christie's, together with Roberts' three other views of Carton, on 15 July 1983, as lots 21-24. Its companions remain in a private collections.