The Enchantress

Details

ARTHUR HUGHES (LONDON 1832-1915)
The Enchantress
signed 'ARTHUR HUGHES' (lower left) and with inscription 'The Enchantress/The Late Arthur Hughes' (on label on the reverse)
oil on canvas
15 3⁄4 x 9 7⁄8 in. (40 x 25.1 cm.)

Provenance

The artist's studio sale; Christie's, London, 21 November 1921, lot 51 (2½ gns to L. Missell, Jr.).
Lockett Thomson; Christie's, London, 29 November 1937, lot 311 (3 gns to Robert Abbott).
H.W. Auerbach; Christie's, London, 5 June 1942, lot 130 (3 gns to Willis).
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Belgravia, 6 December 1977, lot 49.
Anonymous sale; Christie’s, London, 12 June, 2001, lot 1, where purchased by the present owner.

Literature

L. Roberts, Arthur Hughes; his life and works, Suffolk, 1997, p. 180, no. 118 (illustrated).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Lucy Speelman Junior Specialist, Head of Day Sale

lspeelman@christies.com +44 207 752 3074

Lot Essay

Datable to the early 1870s, this picture is probably a sketch for a larger picture that was then never begun. A work by Hughes of the mid-1860's entitled Mariana at the Window includes the same sort of diaphanous material worn by the model in our picture. When sold in 1937 and 1942 the sitter was thought to be Ellen Terry, although recent scholarship has cast doubt on this suggestion.

We are grateful to Leonard Roberts and Margaret Weare for their help in the preparation of this catalogue entry.

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