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Lot Essay
This picture was in the collection of John Walter III at Bear Wood, Berkshire. Walter was one of the foremost figures in Victorian journalism, the chief proprietor of The Times. His father, John Walter II had transformed The Times, despite all the obstacles placed in his way by the governments of the world, into the world's most independent, influential and prosperous newspaper. In turn, John Walter III took the newspaper to even greater heights during the Crimean War. During that conflict, with Walter as chief proprietor, William Howard Russell's position as special correspondent helped to change for ever not only the role of war correspondent, but also the nature of modern warfare. Its shattering attacks on the ineptitude of a war machine still run largely by the aristocracy brought condemnation from the government - Lord John Russell complained of its 'vile tyranny' and 'dangerous omnipotence', the Duke of Bedford of its 'wickedness and venom'. However, The Times's reputation and prestige were secured; it was no longer the 'bloody, blackguard and despotic old Times', it had become 'the fourth estate of the realm'.
The picture collection at Bear Wood was noted in particular for what Waagen (op. cit., p. 293) described as its 'choice pictures of the Dutch school of the 17th century', a considerable part of which had been bought by John Walter II at the 1823 sale of Mr. Watson Taylor's pictures. The collection included works by Paulus Potter, Jan Steen, Pieter de Hooch, Jacob van Ruisdael, Adriaen and Isaac van Ostade, Adriaen van de Velde, Nicolaes Maes and Karel Dujardin (see lot 10). Waagen's estimation of this picture can be reckoned by his inclusion of it in his account of the collection, a very unusual honour for a still life. Only two other pictures by Mignon in the country were thought worth mentioning, those in the collections of the Earl of Shrewsbury at Alton Towers, and the Marquess of Bute at Luton Hoo.
Abraham Mignon is generally considered to be the inventor of the 'forest floor' still life. This depictsa complex display of fruit, moss, birds, insects and bark in a varying state of decay, alluding to the transience of life. The present picture is one of the artist's finest examples and can be compared to the Mignon still life sold by Christie's in the Mauerbach sale, Mak-Österreichisches Museum fr angewandte Kunst, 29-30 October 1996, lot 32 (£315,000), although the present picture is larger in scale and fuller in composition, and to that in the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, no. 2019.
The picture collection at Bear Wood was noted in particular for what Waagen (op. cit., p. 293) described as its 'choice pictures of the Dutch school of the 17th century', a considerable part of which had been bought by John Walter II at the 1823 sale of Mr. Watson Taylor's pictures. The collection included works by Paulus Potter, Jan Steen, Pieter de Hooch, Jacob van Ruisdael, Adriaen and Isaac van Ostade, Adriaen van de Velde, Nicolaes Maes and Karel Dujardin (see lot 10). Waagen's estimation of this picture can be reckoned by his inclusion of it in his account of the collection, a very unusual honour for a still life. Only two other pictures by Mignon in the country were thought worth mentioning, those in the collections of the Earl of Shrewsbury at Alton Towers, and the Marquess of Bute at Luton Hoo.
Abraham Mignon is generally considered to be the inventor of the 'forest floor' still life. This depictsa complex display of fruit, moss, birds, insects and bark in a varying state of decay, alluding to the transience of life. The present picture is one of the artist's finest examples and can be compared to the Mignon still life sold by Christie's in the Mauerbach sale, Mak-Österreichisches Museum fr angewandte Kunst, 29-30 October 1996, lot 32 (£315,000), although the present picture is larger in scale and fuller in composition, and to that in the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, no. 2019.