Study for the Equestrian Portrait of Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, K.G., V.C., O.M. (1832-1914)

Details

Charles Wellington Furse, A.R.A. (1868-1904)
Study for the Equestrian Portrait of Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, K.G., V.C., O.M. (1832-1914)
indistinctly signed and inscribed '252./St..../Fi...arshal Ear. Roberts/V.C.** on a charger/by G. Furse' (on an old label on the reverse)
oil on canvas
30 x 25 in. (76.5 x 63.5 cm.)

Special notice

This lot must be cleared by 2.00 p.m. on the Monday following the sale. If it is not cleared, it will be removed to the warehouse of:- Cadogan Tate Ltd., Fine Art Services Cadogan House, 2 Relay Road London W12 7JS Telephone: (020) 8735 3700 Facsimile: (020) 8735 3701 Lots will be available for collection following transfer to Cadogan Tate, every week-day from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. An initial transfer and administration charge of £18.50 and a storage charge of £3.20 per lot per day will be payable to Cadogan Tate. These charges are subject to VAT and an insurance surcharge. 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

The present work is a study for the 'heroic picture of Lord Roberts', dateable to 1893-1895, in the Tate Gallery (no. 4611). The Tate picture was painted in Furse's studio at 33, Tite Street, Chelsea and was described as 'a tour de force. Even in its unfinished state it is a great work...'.

Lord Roberts (1832-1914), who was made a Field-Marshal in 1895, is seen mounted on his favourite charger 'Saracen'. 'Bobs', as he was affectionately known by his troops, was one of the leading military figures of the day and distinguished himself in the Relief of Lucknow in 1858, at Kandahar in 1880 and in the South African War 1899-1901.

Dame Katharine Furse, the artist's widow, observed that the composition was partly borrowed from Velazquez's Surrender of Breda, (see K. Furse, Hearts and Pomegranates, 1940, p. 251). Furse was lecturing on Velazquez for the Oxford Extension Society in 1894.

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