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Lot 6
A set of four Durley Porcelain egg cups, by James Skerrett, signed, painted with ripe peaches and berries on a mossy ground, within a cobalt blue and gold border, 7cm, printed marks; a similar set of napkin rings, signed J Skerrett; a miniature cabinet plate, signed J Skerrett, 8cm, signed to verso (8)
Lot 21
Sold by Order of the Family ‘Ohio, being the only tanker, was marked for particular attention, and during the course of her voyage suffered a direct hit from a torpedo, direct bomb hits, any number of near-misses, and was struck by two Luftwaffe aircraft shot down while attacking her. Despite her engines being dead and her hull practically broken in two, she was towed into Grand Harbour by three destroyers and a minesweeper with her cargo virtually intact.’ (The Ohio and Malta - the Legendary Tanker that Refused to Die by Michael Pearson) ‘H.M. Ships were handled throughout with skill and daring, particularly during the final stages when, in the face of concentrated attack from air, submarine and surface forces, it became necessary to tow one of the most important and unwieldy vessels in the convoy, the S.S. Ohio, which had been seriously damaged.’ (Introduction to recommendations for awards to officers and men for Operation Pedestal - Honours and Awards Committee) The important Second War 1942 ‘Operation Pedestal’ D.S.O. group of twelve awarded to Commander H. J. A. S. Jerome, Royal Navy, who, as Commanding Officer of the 17th Minesweeping Flotilla, Malta Force, took operational command during the later stages of Operation Pedestal - the allies final effort to relieve the beleaguered island of Malta - and, under the most trying of circumstances, successfully co-ordinated the safe passage of the vital yet crippled tanker, Ohio, to the safe berth of Valetta’s Grand Harbour. Having arrived in H.M.S. Speedy following the departure of the main convoy escort, Jerome set about organising repeated efforts to stabilise the slowly sinking Ohio even as she remained the object of relentless air attack and under continuous threat from enemy submarines and E-boats. Finally, with a destroyer on either side, another destroyer secured astern to act as rudder and a minesweeper positioned for towing, he succeeded in slowly manoeuvring the fragile tanker through the heavily mined approach towards her ultimately tumultuous reception from the Maltese. A young Midshipman in the battle cruiser H.M.S. Courageous during the Great War, Jerome had served in submarines between the wars and went on to end his distinguished naval career as Commander in Chief of the Irish Navy. Sold with a substantial archive of related original material Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., silver-gilt and enamel, reverse officially dated 1942, with integral top riband bar; British War and Victory Medals (Mid. H. J. A. S. Jerome. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Minesweeping 1945-51 (Cdr/ H. J. A. S. Jerome. D.S.O. R.N.); Spain, Franco Period, Cross of Naval Merit with White Decoration; Italy, Republic, Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Commander’s neck badge, silver gilt and enamel, the Great War pair very fine, otherwise nearly extremely fine (12) £8,000-£12,000 --- D.S.O. London Gazette 10 November 1942: ‘For bravery and dauntless resolution while serving in H.M. Ships when an important Convoy was fought through to Malta in the face of relentless attacks by day and night from enemy submarines, aircraft and surface forces.’ The original recommendation states: ‘For the brilliantly successful feat of saving the tanker Ohio after she had been severely damaged and immobilised I consider the following officers worthy of immediate awards. Acting Commander H. J. A. S. Jerome (Commander Minesweepers Malta) who was in charge of operations during the last day and night on board Speedy.’ Henry Joseph Alexander Savile Jerome was born on 3 June 1900 in Mexico City, the son of the diplomat Lucien Joseph James Robertson Jerome, then British Vice-Consul in Mexico, and his Australian wife Vivien Fane (Savill). He was admitted as an Officer Cadet to the Royal Naval College, Osborne in January 1914 and proceeded to the Royal Naval College Dartmouth before joining the battlecruiser H.M.S. Courageous as a Midshipman in April 1917, remaining in her until the conclusion of the war. Jerome was promoted Lieutenant in September 1921 and went up to Caius College, Cambridge two months later, winning the Oxford and Cambridge Universities Welterweight 1st prize medal in March 1922 (medal with lot) - an artist’s depiction of his victory over P. I. Bell (Queen’s, Oxford) subsequently appeared as a full page feature in the Christmas 1922 edition of The Field magazine (copy with lot). Returning to sea, Jerome joined the Submarine L 56 in September 1922 and served mostly in submarines until August 1927 when he joined the destroyer H.M.S. Sesame. His advancement to Lieutenant-Commander in 1929 was followed by service in a succession of surface ships until 1935 at which time he joined the Royal Marines in Egypt for a year. In 1936, he transferred to an Officer Instructor role with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (South Africa) and was still serving in this capacity when war broke out in 1939. Recalled to home waters, Lieutenant-Commander Jerome served in the Minesweeper Trawler H.M.S. Wardour from January 1941 until his appointment as Commander Minesweepers at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde in March of that year. Then, in June of 1942, with the war in the Mediterranean - and Malta’s prolonged siege in particular - reaching a critical stage, Jerome was sent to Valetta as Commander Minesweepers Malta, his arrival coming as immediate relief to the submariners of the 10th Submarine Flotilla who had been required to leave Malta on account of mines and the temporary supremacy of enemy aircraft: ‘The one small success of the two failed convoy operations [Harpoon and Vigorous] had been the arrival in Malta of Commander Jerome in Speedy. He had led his three up-to-date fleet minesweepers round Cape Bon during the night of 14/15 June, unnoticed by the enemy who were concentrating on ‘Harpoon’ and the supply ships. The sweepers slipped safely into harbour. Their hard work and courage in the face of constant danger meant that the Tenth’s submarines could now return to their home base.’ (The Fighting Tenth - The Tenth Submarine Flotilla and the Siege of Malta by John Wingate D.S.C.) Operation Pedestal With Operations Harpoon and Vigourous having failed to revictualise the stricken island of Malta, the War Cabinet decided to make one last all out effort. Planning for Operation Pedestal began immediately and Churchill’s assertion that the ‘The Navy would never abandon Malta’ would be put to the test. As Leonard MacDonald, a Royal Marine in H.M.S. Manchester on Pedestal later put it: ‘What other convoy during the war had an escort of 54 men o’ war, including 2 battleships, both 16 inch, four carriers, twelve cruisers and 40 destroyers plus the smaller stuff? We were warned that if we got one ship through and lost half the escort it would be classed as a success.’ Having left the Clyde on 3 August, the convoy passed through the straits of Gibraltar on 9/10 August and, together with its various escort formations, was then subjected to relentless attack from U-Boats and Italian submarines, the Luftwaffe and Regio Aeronautica, and from Axis surface vessels. This story of continuous violence needs no retelling here, but suffice it to say that by the afternoon 13 August, as the now depleted force neared the end of its epic journey, of the 14 merchantmen that originally set out, nine were sunk and three damaged, while the senior service had sustained losses of an aircraft carrier, a cruiser and a destroyer, as well as havin...
Lot 728
PAUL BRIL (1554-1626) MOUNTAINOUS LANDSCAPE WITH SATYRS AND GOATS BY A CASCADE Signed P. BRILL D, oil on canvas 65 x 89.5cm. Literature: Unpublished; to be included in Drs. Luuk Pijl's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Paul Bril's paintings in oil. Provenance: In all likelihood Cornelis van der Geest, Antwerp, 1626; Thomas Ware Smart (1810-1881), Australian art dealer and businessman who had an art gallery at Mona in Sydney; thence by descent to the present owner. The present painting is an exciting and important discovery. It precedes a late masterpiece by the master, sold at Sotheby's New York, 29th January 2015, lot 33. Painted in Rome, it must have arrived in Antwerp already during Bril's lifetime where it stood model for Marten Ryckaert's renditions of the scenery. Ryckaert made a career imitating the inventions of Paul Bril and Jan Brueghel. The present painting is, in all likelihood, the very painting that has a prominent place in Willem van Haeght's Cabinet of Cornelis van der Geest, painted in 1626. The most influential landscape painter of his time, Paul Bril was born in Breda in 1553 or 1554. He trained in Antwerp with the unknown Damiaen Ortelmans and, only 14 years sold, supported himself by painting landscapes on harpsichords. He travelled to Rome in 1576, where he joined his elder brother Matthijs, who was involved in fresco painting. After Matthijs's premature death in 1583, Paul succeeded him on several Papal commissions in the Vatican and in various churches and villas in and around Rome. He played, not only artistically but socially, a crucial role in the Eternal City. He was principe of the Accademia di San Luca and a member of the society called Virtuosi al Pantheon. Furthermore, Bril introduced Jan Brueghel to the important patron Cardinal Federico Borromeo; he was the best man at the marriage of the influential German painter Adam Elsheimer; and he housed Bartolomeus Breenbergh for many years. The master died in Rome in 1626, leaving a large oeuvre of wall decorations, etchings, drawings and paintings. His work paved the way for Claude Lorrain who would become the most important landscape painter in seventeenth century Europe. The present painting is related to the slightly more elaborate work by Bril, mentioned above. The Sotheby's New York painting has two deer in the foreground whereas our work shows nymphs and satyrs. The auctioned painting is dated 1619 and, since the present work is somewhat less detailed, it must predate it. Thus a date for our painting in the period 1616-1619 is feasible. While the painting was in Antwerp it was copied by Marten Ryckaert. One version by Ryckaert after Bril was sold at Sotheby's London, 6th July 2006, lot 119. Another rendition was recently sold in Munich at Hampel Fine Art Auctions, 25th March 2021, lot 640, as by Paul Bril, but the execution clearly indicates it should certainly be assigned to Ryckaert, whose handling is less painterly. An exciting aspect of the present painting is that it must be the very work that is prominently included in the famous Cabinet of Cornelis van der Geest painted by Willem van Haeght in 1626. Bril's work is placed on the floor behind the figures at the left section of the composition. The landscape painting rendered in the cabinet painting shows exactly the same composition and the same landscape elements as our painting. Theoretically, we cannot rule out that van der Geest owned a picture by Ryckaert but, given the prominence of van der Geest's collection, we can safely assume that he owned the real thing. We are grateful to Drs. Luuk Pijl for compiling this footnote, based upon a clear photograph of the picture (June 2021)
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