A portrait of Joseph Gee of Cottingham Hall, in the county of York; and A portrait of his wife, Elizabeth Jane Gee

Details

Thomas Ellerby, 19th Century
A portrait of Joseph Gee of Cottingham Hall, in the county of York; and A portrait of his wife, Elizabeth Jane Gee
the former signed and dated 'T. Ellerby/Pinxit 1849' (lower left)
oil on canvas
50 x 40in. (127 x 101.7cm.)
a pair (2)

Provenance

By descent.

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. All sold picture lots (lots 300-668) not cleared by 2.00pm on Monday 20 November 2000 will be removed and may be cleared after 9.00am on Tuesday 21 November 2000 from the warehouse of Cadogan Tate Fine Art Removals Limited. (See below.) Cadogan Tate Ltd., Fine Art Services Cadogan House, 2 Relay Road, London W12 7SJ. Telephone: 44 (0) 20 8735 3700. Facsimile: 44 (0) 20 8735 3701. Rates (Pictures) An initial transfer and administration charge of £3.20 and a storage charge of £1.60 per lot per day will be payable to Cadogan Tate. These charges are subject to VAT and an insurance surcharge. (Exceptionally large pictures will be subject to a surcharge.)

Lot Essay

Mr. Joseph Gee, of Cottingham Hall, Yorkshire, was elected a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1849 and owned, successively, five racing yachts between 1850 and 1860 when his name disappears from the R.Y.S.'s membership lists. The first yacht he acquired was the renowned Corsair, built in 1825 and a famous racer in her early days, whilst his last boat, bought after the disposal of his fifth yacht Maritana in 1855, was the 77-ton Chesapeake, listed in R.Y.S. records as a steamship but presumably a steam yacht.

In view of the above information coupled with the inclusion of racing craft into his portrait, it seems highly probable that this work was commissioned to mark Gee's election to the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1849.
His wife, Elizabeth Jane Gee was the sister-in-law of the marine artist Robert Ernest Roe.
(see lots 441 to 446)

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