No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VA… Read more

THE PROPERTY OF THE LATE JOHN BYNG KENRICK Lots 81-114 John Byng Kenrick (1911-2002) came from one of Birmigham's most illustrious families. Second son of Wilfred Byng Kenrick, Lord Mayor of Birmingham in 1939, the Kenricks can count three Mayors of Birmingham amongst their number. Through marriage the family was connected to three other leading Birmingham families, the Martineaus, Beales and Chamberlains. Since 1946 four of the Martineau family have held the position of Mayor or Lord Mayor of Birmingham, also Charles Gabriel Beale and Joseph and Neville Chamberlain. Neville Chamberlain subsequently became Prime Minister, 1937-40. William Kenrick (1831-1919) was also Member of Parliament from 1885-1899. The four families were leading figures in the non-conformist church and marriages between the families, including no less than four between the Kenricks and the Chamberlains created a strong family structure. In addition to their involvement in the civic life of Birmingham, all the families played a significant role in the city's academic institutions, producing three Pro-Chancellors of the University and two Chairmen of the Education Committee. However the Arts were not neglected and there was a strong tradition of collecting amongst the Kenrick family. William Kenrick commissioned the ardent Ruskinian architect John Henry Chamberlain to rebuild the farmhouse 'The Grove' (see fig. 1), which he acquired in 1876. The panelled ante-room from 'The Grove' is one of the outstanding features of the Victorian Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The room was donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum by the Kenrick Family and Birmingham City Council in 1963, when it was clear that the house would be demolished. William Kenrick was an enthusiastic patron of the arts on both a personal and municipal level. He was Chairman of the School of Art Committee from 1874-1912 and a patron of the Museum and Art Gallery. He also filled his house with works by the leading painters of the day including Burne-Jones, Holman Hunt, J.E. Millais, Albert Moore and John Linnell (see fig. 2) and he also acquired a vast collection of pottery and porcelain including Chinese 'blue and white' and pieces by contemporary artists such as William de Morgan. A number of the pieces in the present collection were acquired by William Kenrick, such as the fine Peter de Wint, lot 100. John Byng Kenrick inherited this passion for the arts from his grandfather, building up a fine collection of watercolours. The watercolours in the collection were sourced mainly from the top London dealers of the day including Agnew's, Spink, John Manning and Anthony Reed between 1964 and 1986 and include fine examples of works from the early topographical tradition of watercolour painting, by artists such as Francis Towne, John Downman, Anthony Devis and Michael Angelo Rooker and also works by key figures from the 'Golden Age' of British watercolours including a previously unrecorded work by J.M.W. Turner, Peter de Wint, John Varley and the Birmingham artist David Cox.

Francis Towne (1739-1816)

Lake Windermere, Lake District

Details

Francis Towne (1739-1816)
Lake Windermere, Lake District
with inscription '83 BP' (on the reverse, in the hand of Paul Oppé)
pen and grey ink and watercolour
10.5 x 15 in. (26.6 x 38.1 cm.)

Provenance

J.H. Merivale and by descent in the family.
with Squire Gallery, London, 1939.
Austin Wakeford.
with Spink, London.
with The Manning Galleries, London, May 1977, where purchased by John Byng Kenrick, £3500.

Exhibited

Exeter, Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, Festival of Britain loan Exhibition Three Exeter Artists, 1951, no. 45.

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

Lot Essay

This watercolour, which has been known for the last fifty years as a view of Lake Lugano, is here identified as a view of Lake Windermere. The clue was provided by Paul Oppé, who, having originally catalogued the work as a view of the Lake of Geneva, subsequently annotated his list, Probably Lakes 1786’. Comparison with the Worsely ‘Lake Windermere’ (ot 472) reveals that the profiles of the mountains to the left of the sketchbook page are identical with those in the centre of the present sheet, with the addition here of more of the range of mountains to the left, the unmistakeable silhouette of the Langdale Pikes.

The watercolour gains much of its delicacy and chromatic richness from being painted on a sheet of the precious Roman paper’ Towne brought back from his Italian journey. He used up the remainder of the stock for some of the most inspired of his Lake District views of 1786, including views of the waterfall at Ambleside (see Tate 1997, cats. 57-59). Because of the thickness and absorbency of this paper, Towne used it occasionally when painting in full watercolour out-of-doors. As this view has no inscription of any sort, it is not possible to say whether that was the case here.

Other Lake District views on paper of similar dimensions include a watercolour of Ullswater (Sotheby's, London, 19 March 1981, lot 105), and A view at Ambleside, dated August 1786 (Christie's, London, 14 November 1972, lot 93). Both of these were exhibited in Towne’s one-man show in London 1805, and so, in all probability, was this one, perhaps no. 69, A View from Low Wood.

More from BRITISH ART ON PAPER

View All