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Attributed to Juan van der Hamen y León (Madrid 1596-1632)A still life with a basket of quinces on a wooden table and damsons hanging from strings on either side oil on canvas39.6 x 57.8cm (15 9/16 x 22 3/4in).Footnotes:Only a handful of artists in Spain would have been capable of painting this hitherto unknown early still life which may, with its centrepiece flanked by fruit hanging from strings, be compared to the unsigned Still life of a Faience Fruit Bowl with Passion Fruit, Crab Apples and Pears, which was thought by the distinguished van der Hamen scholar, the late William B. Jordan to be the artist's work and date from circa 1621 (oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm., Serra de Alzaga collection, Valencia; see W. B. Jordan, Juan van der Hamen y León and the Court of Madrid, New Haven, 2006, no. 6). The wooden table is unusual in the oeuvre of this artist who more often went on to employ light coloured marble ledges; but a similarly coloured wooden table was employed by Hamen y León in his early Still Life of Sweets and Glassware, in the Museo del Prado which is oil on canvas, signed and dated, 1622 (op. cit. no. 4). It was during this early period that this master established the working pattern of his studio practice and like most early still life painters in Europe, he established a range of picture formats, compositional types and favoured objects that became his stock in trade. Jordan, after 40 years of research on the artist, wrote in his monograph: 'Most of the compositional types for which Van der Hamen is best known are represented by superb examples dated 1621 and 1622.'Adopting some of the essential compositional devices employed by Sánchez Cotán, such as the hanging of fruit and game from strings, van der Hamen fashioned a type of still life uniquely suited to his public at court. In doing this he is believed to have been aware of developments in still life painting outside of Spain as well – such as could be seen in the works of north Italians such as Panfilo Nuvolone and Fede Galizia, or those of Flemish masters like Osias Beert the Elder, Clara Peeters and Frans Snyders. 'Although his fame today has been eclipsed by the long career of Velásquez,' in Jordan's words 'Van der Hamen's star was very bright when his Sevillian rival was just finding his way at the court of the young King Philip IV. When that fire was unexpectedly extinguished at the age of thirty-five, some of his contemporaries, such as the playwright Juan Pérez de Montalvan, lamented the passing of 'the greatest Spaniard of his art who ever lived'.'This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Edward Matthew Ward, RA (British, 1816-1879)The last sleep of Argyll signed and inscribed 'E M Ward RA' (lower right)oil on canvas103.5 x 118.5cm (40 3/4 x 46 5/8in).Footnotes:This work is accompanied by the book listed in the literature below. In this, a letter dated 9 June 1868 from the artist to John Hick, Esq., is reproduced, in which he states that this work was the original study for the large fresco in the Houses of Parliament painted in 1854. As such, the present work can be dated to 1853-1854.ProvenanceJohn Hick, Esq., Mytton Hall, Lancashire. Acquired directly from the artist.ExhibitedLeeds, National Exhibition of Works of Art, 1968, no. 1413, the exhibition catalogue states 'Original study for the fresco in the Houses of Parliament'.LiteratureCatalogue of the principal paintings, drawings, books, bronzes, &c., at Mytton Hall, the residence of John Hick, Esq., London, 1893, illustrated p. 41.In the present work, the Covenanter, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, is depicted sound asleep as his jailer and the castle governor enter his cell on the morning of his execution. For his support of the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion in opposition of King James II & VII, Argyll was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle and sentenced to be executed on 30th June 1685. Such was the strength of Argyll's Christian faith, that it was said that on the day of his execution he showed no fear whatsoever. A letter of the period written by Argyll states:'What shall I say in this great day of the Lord, wherein, in the midst of a cloud, I find a fair sunshine. I can wish no more for you, but that the Lord may comfort you, and shine upon you as he doth upon me, and give you that same sense of His love in staying in the world, as I have in going out of it.'1The edifying nature of this work is enriched by the various objects placed in the room, most notably the classic imagery of memento mori imbued by the bible and clock sitting on Argyll's bedside table. But also, one can draw parallels between the last supper seen in the background and the last letter in the foreground.At least two other versions of this subject were painted by the artist, one being in the collection of the Birmingham Museums Trust (no. 1960P43) and the other in the collection of the Salford Museum & Art Gallery (no. 1877-13). Although unclear which version the entry refers to, Ward exhibited this subject at the Royal Academy in 1854 (no. 403).The Royal Academy entry of 1854 is accompanied by the following text:'So effectually had religious faith and hope, cooperating with natural courage and equanimity, composed his spirits, that on the very day on which he was to die, he dined with appetite, conversed gaiety at table, and after his last meal, lay down, as he was wont, to take a short slumber, in order that his body and mind might be in full vigour when he should mount the scaffold. At this time one of the Lords of the Council, who had probably been bred a Presbyterian, and had been seduced by interest to join the oppressing the church of which he had once been a member, came to the castle, with a message from his brethren, and demanded admittance to the Earl. It was answered that the Earl was asleep. The privy councillor thought that this was a subterfuge, and insisted on entering. The door of the cell was softly opened, and there lay Argyle on the bed, sleeping in his irons the placid sleep of infancy. The conscience of the renegade smote him.'1 J. Willcock, A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times: Being Life and Times of Archibald, 9th Earl of Argyll, 1905.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A French carved giltwood and gesso centre table with a shaped white marble top, above a carved and pierced frieze decorated with roundels, flowers and leaves on carved tapering legs united by an X framed undertier carved with roses and a central urn, 166cm long x 89cm deep x 82cm high
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