Sir William Nicholson (1872-1949)

Details

Sir William Nicholson (1872-1949)

Nancy, the Girl with the Pewter Mug

oil on canvas
30½ x 25½in. (77.5 x 64.8cm.)

Painted in 1907

Provenance

J.R. Findlay, 1909
Lady Harriet Findlay, D.B.E.
The Artist's Family

Literature

Sir Frederick Wedmore, Some of the Moderns, 1909 (illustrated)
The Studio, June 1911, p.7 (illustrated)
J. Laver, Portraits in Oil and Vinegar, London, 1925, p.111
L. Browse, William Nicholson, London, 1956, no.71

Exhibited

possibly, Glasgow, R.I.F.A., 48th Exhibition, 1908, no.104
possibly, London, Goupil Gallery, Salon, 1908, no.97 as 'Nancy' (Not for Sale)
London, Goupil Gallery, Oil Paintings by William Nicholson, April-May 1911, no.28 as 'Nancy with the Mug'
Nottingham, Museum and Art Gallery, William Nicholson, March-April 1933, no.23 as 'The Girl with the Pewter Jug'
London, Arts Council of Great Britain, William Nicholson, 1980,
no. 6

Lot Essay

A portrait of the artist's daughter, Nancy (1899-1977). She married the poet Robert Graves in January 1918 and went onto illustrate his poems. They separated in May 1929 which prompted Graves to leave England and to write his autobiography 'Goodbye to all That'. Nancy
became a fabric designer and printer.

She sat to her father several times in 1908 and in the present work she is painted at Ellen Terry's house in Tenterden, Kent. She infuriated her father by flipping and clicking the mug provided by Ellen Terry for the portrait.

We are grateful to Patricia Reed for her help in cataloguing this lot which will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonne

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