Sir Augustus Wall Callcott, R.A. (1779-1844)

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Property from the Walker Collection (lots 90-110) The following group of pictures were collected by John Reid Walker (1855-1934), second son of Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, 1st Bt. (1824-1893). Sir Andrew amassed an enormous futune in brewing, founded the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and long supported charities in that great city. At the time of his father's death, Reid-Walker (he was one of six brothers so they tended to use their middle names to help differentiate each other) was running the brewery at Burton-on-Trent, and had just built The Knoll at Barton-under-Needwood. The family houses went to the brothers who were living in them: his elder brother (Sir Peter Walker, 2nd Bt.) inherited Osmaston Manor; and his younger brother (William Hall-Walker, later Lord Wavertree) Gateacre Grange. Probably inheriting about £500,000, Reid-Walker leased a new house (Chestall) and it is likely that these years saw his greatest collecting. An article on Chestall House in The Lichfield Mercury on 12 November 1897 gives fullsome praise to the work he carried out to the house and policies, noting 'Mr Walker is evidently a warm admirer of the old school of painting, for the Indian red walls are covered with fine specimens of Turner, Muller, Morland, Nasmyth, Sir A. Calcott, J.F. Herring, sen., Guardi, E.W. Cooke, and Copley Fielding.' Works by 'Madame le Brun' and Gainsborough are also mentioned. Although Reid-Walker was involved in the family business, he became better known for his sporting activities: he was an extremely good polo player and bred racehorses from 1902, having begun as an owner in 1893. Although never operating on the scale of his younger brother, Lord Wavertree, he was on the whole very successful and owned good horses in Dinna Forget, his son Dinneford, and Square Measure, all of which he retained as stallions. However, his best horse was Invershin, winner of the Ascot Gold Cup in both 1928 and 1929, though rather a failure as a stud. His obituary in The Times remarked that as an 'owner, breeder, and member of the Jockey Club [he] had been a staunch supporter of the Turf for over half a century ... he will be long remembered as a true sportsman, whose influence was consistently exerted in the best interests of racing. No one has been held in higher esteem on the Turf and few have owned racehorses with a greater knowledge of the thoroughbred'. This passion can clearly be seen in the works of art Reid-Walker collected, most notably in the exceptional collection of pictures by John Frederick Herring Senior. A handwritten list, still in the possession of his descendants, suggests that he probably owned as many as forty works by the artist. The Lichfield Mercury article specifically mentions 12 pictures, only two of which (Meopham Fair, and The Colonel) are in the present group. Reid-Walker gave one particularly fine picture - the St. Leger winner Matilda, (see illustration) - to the Jockey Club (to which he was elected in 1920, serving as Steward 1922-24), while a group of thirteen pictures by Herring were sold by his son, Captain C. Gwynne Reid-Walker, at Christie's, 1 May 1959, lots 53-66. The family list of pictures further suggests that six of the Herrings were 'From the Collection of John Scott', two of which - 'Mundig "Derby" 1835' and 'Colonel St. Leger 1828' (both naturally trained by Scott) - are in the present group. Known as 'The Wizard of the North', Scott was a legendary trainer and contemporary of Herring's. On his widow's death in 1891, The Times noted that 'The house adjoining, in which Mrs Scott lived, is full of racing trophies and valuable sporting pictures by Herring and Hall', and it seems likely that a number of Scott pictures were added to Reid-Walker's collection at this time. Further works from Reid-Walker's collection to be sold by Christie's this autumn include two fine pictures by Verboekhoven (19th Century European Art, 16 November), a group of watercolours by Herring Senior and Junior (British Art on Paper, 16 November), and Bella Venezia, a chef d'oeuvre by E.W. Cooke (Victorian & Traditionalist Pictures, 22 November).

Sir Augustus Wall Callcott, R.A. (1779-1844)

View of the Grote Kerk, Rotterdam, with figures and boats in the foreground

Details

Sir Augustus Wall Callcott, R.A. (1779-1844)
View of the Grote Kerk, Rotterdam, with figures and boats in the foreground
oil on canvas
33½ x 45¼ in. (85 x 104.9 cm.)

Provenance

Commissioned by the Earl of Essex.

Literature

D. B. Brown, Augustus Wall Callcott, London, Tate Gallery, 1981, p.82.

Exhibited

London, Royal Academy, 1823, no.158, as 'Dutch market boats, Rotterdam'.
Manchester, Art Treasures Exhibition, 1857, no.606, as 'Rotterdam' (lent by the Earl of Essex).

Engraved

Engraved by George Cooke, and J. & G.P. Nicholls

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

Sir Augustus Wall Callcott painted at least three variants of views of Rotterdam. This painting, commissioned by the Earl of Essex, takes as its focus the church of St. Laurens, otherwise known as the Grote Kerk, while the other variants feature prominent ranks of thickly-clustered boats. At the Art Treasures Exhibition in Manchester, the present picture was exhibited alongside other paintings by contemporary British artists.

Callcott was elected R.A. in 1810. His marriage to the bluestocking authoress Maria Graham, the widow of a naval officer, in 1827 was followed by a period of travel in Europe. This probably enabled him to draw greater inspiration from the Dutch painters whose influence is already visible in this earlier work. His work was recognised with a knighthood from Queen Victoria in 1837, the year of her coronation.

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