Herbert James Draper (1854-1920)
Herbert James Draper (1854-1920)

The Spirit of the Fountain

Details
Herbert James Draper (1854-1920)
The Spirit of the Fountain
indistinctly signed and dated '...J. Draper...91' (lower right)
oil on canvas
23 x 42 in. (58.4 x 106.7 cm.)
Provenance
Bought from the artist by John Hall, Charnes Hall and Broughton Court.
John Hall; Christie's, London, 30 November 1934, lot 168 (12 gns to Boot).
with The Fine Art Society, London, until February 1968, when purchased by the father of the present owner.
Literature
S. Toll, Herbert Draper 1862-1920: A Life Study, Woodbridge, pp. 14, 58-61, 63-4, 66, 78, 107, 124, 152, 166 and 180, no. HJD46, pl. 1.
Exhibited
Devon, Knightshayes Court, National Trust, on loan.

Brought to you by

Clare Keiller
Clare Keiller

Lot Essay

Following an extensive tour of Northern Italy, Germany, Holland and Belgium, Draper returned to London in 1891, rented a studio in Chelsea and began work on The Spirit of the Fountain. The subject matter is taken from Book II, Canto XII of Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene in which the young knight, Sir Guyon and his companion, a pilgrim, rest beneath the Bower of Bliss, awakening the nymph who resides there and who ensnares the travellers with her beauty.

Draper's fascination with the alluring and mystical subject of seductive mermaids and nymphs can also be found in works by his contemporary John William Waterhouse, with whom Draper was certainly in close contact by 1892. Waterhouse’s A Naiad (see lot 38) also illustrates a bewitching, semi-clothed nymph about to ensnare a handsome, young man. The sensual and dreamlike subject matter is further implied not only in Draper’s loosely-applied paint, but also in the frieze of frolicking bacchantes in the fountain. Red roses, the flowers of love, grow at the nymphs feet, and a garland of ivy (a symbol of Bacchus) adorns her auburn hair.

The painting's first owner, John Hall, was one of Draper’s most loyal patrons, owning not only this work but also Lamia (1909, private collection) and Halcyone (1915, private collection). In 1918 he commissioned portraits of himself and his wife by the artist.

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