William Mulready RA (British, 1786-1863)Boys playing at cricket inscribed (on an old label on the reverse) oil on canvas laid on panel 35.3 x 48.6cm (13 7/8 x 19 1/8in).FootnotesProvenance William Horsley, 1810 cited in Mulready's Account book, 1809-10 in the National Art Library (V&A), as 'Heston, Horsley 31.10'. Probably the accomplished musician and composer, William Horsley (1774-1858). John Gibbons by 1848. Mrs. Gibbons, by 1864. The Rev. B. Gibbons, by 1890 (according to an old label on the reverse). Colnaghi collection. Sale, Robinson and Foster, 1941. Acquired from the above by the grandfather of the present owner. Thence by descent. Exhibited London, Royal Academy, 1813, no. 73. London, Society of Arts, 1848, no. XXXIV, described as 'Painted in 1810'. London, South Kensington Museum (now the V&A), 1864, no. 31. London, Royal Academy, 1890, Exhibition of the works by the Old Masters, as Landscape with old barn (according to an old label on the reverse). Literature Sir Henry Cole MS, National Art Library, V&A, manuscript catalogue listing Mulready's paintings along with notes on their location, their condition, their appearance in exhibitions; thought to be in Sir Henry Cole's hand, probably assembled in preparation for the Mulready exhibition at the Society of Arts, 1848, which Cole organised. Society of Arts, A Catalogue of the Pictures, Drawings sketches, etc, of William Mulready RA, 1848, exhibition catalogue. Athenaeum, 10 June 1848, p 584. F. G. Stephens, 'List of Mulready's important paintings', 1890. Kathryn Moore Heleniak, William Mulready Yale, 1980, pp. 55-56, cat. no. 63, as Boys Playing Cricket'. The present lot is a recent rediscovery and an exciting early 19th Century depiction of cricket. It belongs to a group of early landscapes, many now sadly lost, which were painted at Heston- now Hounslow, on the site of the St. Paul's playing fields.1. When shown at the Society of Arts exhibition in 1848- an exhibition dedicated to Mulready's work- the present lot is listed as the property of John Gibbons (d. 1851) an iron master, who was one of the new breed of middle-class art patrons coming out of the industrial revolution, who collected contemporary British Art. Gibbons owned a number of works by Mulready, including A Sailing Match which he acquired directly from the artist, and a number of early landscapes. Gibbons lent a number of works to the exhibition. Reviewing the 1848 exhibition of Mulready's work, the Athenaeum noted of the painting that 'the old and picturesque grey trunk of the tree which traverses the foreground [is] marvellously wrought.'2 1 Kathryn Moore Heleniak, William Mulready Yale, 1980, pp. 55-56. 2. Ibid, p. 195. See also: Kathryn Moore Heleniak, 'John Gibbons and William Mulready The Relationship between a Patron and a Painter.', The Burlington Magazine, vol. 124, no. 948, 1982, pp. 136–141. We are grateful to Professor Kathryn Moore Heleniak for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.
William Mulready RA (British, 1786-1863)Boys playing at cricket inscribed (on an old label on the reverse) oil on canvas laid on panel 35.3 x 48.6cm (13 7/8 x 19 1/8in).FootnotesProvenance William Horsley, 1810 cited in Mulready's Account book, 1809-10 in the National Art Library (V&A), as 'Heston, Horsley 31.10'. Probably the accomplished musician and composer, William Horsley (1774-1858). John Gibbons by 1848. Mrs. Gibbons, by 1864. The Rev. B. Gibbons, by 1890 (according to an old label on the reverse). Colnaghi collection. Sale, Robinson and Foster, 1941. Acquired from the above by the grandfather of the present owner. Thence by descent. Exhibited London, Royal Academy, 1813, no. 73. London, Society of Arts, 1848, no. XXXIV, described as 'Painted in 1810'. London, South Kensington Museum (now the V&A), 1864, no. 31. London, Royal Academy, 1890, Exhibition of the works by the Old Masters, as Landscape with old barn (according to an old label on the reverse). Literature Sir Henry Cole MS, National Art Library, V&A, manuscript catalogue listing Mulready's paintings along with notes on their location, their condition, their appearance in exhibitions; thought to be in Sir Henry Cole's hand, probably assembled in preparation for the Mulready exhibition at the Society of Arts, 1848, which Cole organised. Society of Arts, A Catalogue of the Pictures, Drawings sketches, etc, of William Mulready RA, 1848, exhibition catalogue. Athenaeum, 10 June 1848, p 584. F. G. Stephens, 'List of Mulready's important paintings', 1890. Kathryn Moore Heleniak, William Mulready Yale, 1980, pp. 55-56, cat. no. 63, as Boys Playing Cricket'. The present lot is a recent rediscovery and an exciting early 19th Century depiction of cricket. It belongs to a group of early landscapes, many now sadly lost, which were painted at Heston- now Hounslow, on the site of the St. Paul's playing fields.1. When shown at the Society of Arts exhibition in 1848- an exhibition dedicated to Mulready's work- the present lot is listed as the property of John Gibbons (d. 1851) an iron master, who was one of the new breed of middle-class art patrons coming out of the industrial revolution, who collected contemporary British Art. Gibbons owned a number of works by Mulready, including A Sailing Match which he acquired directly from the artist, and a number of early landscapes. Gibbons lent a number of works to the exhibition. Reviewing the 1848 exhibition of Mulready's work, the Athenaeum noted of the painting that 'the old and picturesque grey trunk of the tree which traverses the foreground [is] marvellously wrought.'2 1 Kathryn Moore Heleniak, William Mulready Yale, 1980, pp. 55-56. 2. Ibid, p. 195. See also: Kathryn Moore Heleniak, 'John Gibbons and William Mulready The Relationship between a Patron and a Painter.', The Burlington Magazine, vol. 124, no. 948, 1982, pp. 136–141. We are grateful to Professor Kathryn Moore Heleniak for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
