Philipp Ferdinand de Hamilton (Brussels 1664-1750)

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE ELIOT HODGKIN, SOLD BY THE GEORGIAN GROUP AND THE VICTORIAN SOCIETY (Lots 77-78, 97, 99, 126 and 150) For the catalogue of the exhibition Eliot Hodgkin 1905-1987, Painter and Collector at Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, 14 March-10 April 1990, Sir Brinsley Ford provided an affectionate and admiring introduction which comprised a brief biography and reflections on his friend's achievements, both as a gifted and individual artist and as a collector of an unusual range of interests fully shared by his wife Mimi. Eliot Hodgkin was particularly interested in architecture and the preservation of distinguished buildings, many of which he had seen destroyed during World War II and its aftermath, and he consequently decided that his own collection should be sold for the benefit of The Georgian Group and The Victorian Society.

Philipp Ferdinand de Hamilton (Brussels 1664-1750)

Studies of fungi, including three examples of pinkish-white Bracket fungi (possibly Rigidoperus ulmarius), and edible mushrooms Russula xerampelina (?), top right, Lactarius chryssorrheus, lower left, Russula sanguinea or lepida, lower right

Details

Philipp Ferdinand de Hamilton (Brussels 1664-1750)
Studies of fungi, including three examples of pinkish-white Bracket fungi (possibly Rigidoperus ulmarius), and edible mushrooms Russula xerampelina (?), top right, Lactarius chryssorrheus, lower left, Russula sanguinea or lepida, lower right
signed and dated 'P.F. de. Hamilton. S[uae]. C[aesareae]. [et Romanorum] M[aiestatis]. C[urtialis]. P[ictor]. 1736.'
oil on paper laid on canvas
9 7/8 x 13¾ in. (254 x 349 mm.)

Provenance

with C. Marshall Spink, London, 1958.

Exhibited

London, Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, Eliot Hodgkin, Painter & Collector, 1990, no. 92.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Philipp Ferdinand de Hamilton was the eldest of three sons of the Scottish still life painter James Hamilton (1640-1720), all of whom became painters in the courts of Central Europe. He was in Vienna by 1705 when he became Court Painter to the Emperor Joseph I. He held the same position for his successor the Emperor Charles VI and later for the Empress Maria Theresa. During this period he often signed his works with the initials of his official title Suae Caesareae et Romanorum Maiestatis Curtialis Pictor (Court Painter to His Majesty the [Holy] Roman Emperor).
David Carritt came across this and the following lot and drew them to Eliot Hodgkin's attention as delightful precursors of the artist's preferred style and subject matter.

More from Old Master and 19th Century Drawings

View All