A sketchbook of figure, landscape and other drawings, including studies for 'The Entry of George IV into Holyrood House' (1830), the portraits of Queen Adelaide (1833) and the Duke of Wellington (1835), and 'Nelson sealing the Copenhagen Despatch', and further studies of compositions and details including figure groups, buildings, window and door frames, a table and ornamental urn, basket-hilt, picture frame and other subjects

Details

Sir David Wilkie, R.A. (1785-1841)
A sketchbook of figure, landscape and other drawings, including studies for 'The Entry of George IV into Holyrood House' (1830), the portraits of Queen Adelaide (1833) and the Duke of Wellington (1835), and 'Nelson sealing the Copenhagen Despatch', and further studies of compositions and details including figure groups, buildings, window and door frames, a table and ornamental urn, basket-hilt, picture frame and other subjects
the majority pencil, black chalk and/or brown ink, several with brown wash or white chalk, variously laid down or drawn direct on the white, blue-grey or brown leaves of the album, the inserted drawings variously watermarked 'Queen Adelaide' on Wilmot paper dated 1831; 22 drawings laid down on eleven sheets and studies on seventeen further pages of the sketchbook
7 1/8 x 10½ in. (18.2 x 26.8 cm.) overall

Provenance

Mrs. Kean, Henderson House, Elie Fife, London
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 16 March 1982, lot 34, where purchased by the present owner.

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

The laid-down drawings are generally on white paper, including: a sheet inscribed in French and mentioning Lady Laurie; the back of a list of Royal Academicians; and the back of an invitation- 'My Dear Sir/Pray do me the favour/to dine with me, if you can, on/Tuesday next 15th and 6½ o'clock/Yours very truly S. Rogers/St James's Place/If not, pray come in the Evg'. Tipped into the book is a fragment of a letter from Wilkie to Francis, Count Schönbrun of Frankfurt (Mainz), probably concerning the sale of the version of 'Guess my Name' (see lot 15) sent by Wilkie in 1821: '...I beg also to acknowledge with my best and heartiest thanks the receipt of the money for which I drew upon you through Mr. Rothschild of £103.5.0 being the price of the picture...'

The present drawings appear to span Wilkie's career, from some early landscapes to studies of the 1830s. A remarkable range of technique and subject matter is found on single sheets: on one, Wilkie juxtaposes a version of a half-length portrait in brown ink and wash, white chalk, and a black chalk study of a crowd, reminiscent of The Preaching of John Knox (1832). No comparable sketchbook is known to survive intact.

We are grateful to Professor Hamish Miles for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.

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