Helen Allingham, R.W.S. (1848-1926)
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Helen Allingham, R.W.S. (1848-1926)

The apple tree seat

Details
Helen Allingham, R.W.S. (1848-1926)
The apple tree seat
signed 'H. Allingham' (lower right) and with inscription 'Exhibited at the [Ro]yal Water[Colour] Society...Winter Exhibition 18[84] East[?]/5./.../The Apple Tree Seat./Mrs Allingham/Sandhills/Witley/nr Godalming.' (on an old label attached to the reverse of the backboard) and further numbered '12' (on the reverse of the frame)
pencil and watercolour with touches of gum arabic and with scratching out
8¼ x 10¾ in. (20.9 x 27.3 cm.)
Provenance
Mrs. Lawrence Thornton (+); Christie's, London, 26 June 1931, lot 2, (9 gns. to Knight).
with The Fine Art Society, London.
Exhibited
London, Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Winter Exhibition 1884, no. 118.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The picturesque location of her Surrey home was a great source of inspiration for the artist Helen Allingham, for no further than outside her garden gate she was able to capture everyday sights and events in watercolour. These scenes provided endless subjects for her work and for which there was a growing demand. The inclusion of her children in paintings lends a very personal touch - variations show them indoors, at play in the garden or even on holiday at the seaside: these watercolours date between 1881 and 1888 when the family lived at Sandhills near Witley.

'The Apple-Tree Seat' depicts the artist's three children Henry, Gerald and Eva Margaret accompanied by their nurse, Elizabeth Haddon, who is quietly sewing; however the setting is not in the grounds of Sandhills. A very similar version, but just showing Eva Margaret sitting on the same wooden seat, appears on page 45 of 'Rhymes for the Young Folk' illustrating the poem 'I saw a little birdie fly' by William Allingham.
We are grateful to Annabel Watts for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.

Richard Henry (Dick) Moore, the previous owner of this watercolour, was captain at Hampshire County Cricket Club from 1936-1938.

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