Mary Ellen Best

Tony Sarg (by descent from the artist, his grandmother)
Mary Sarg Murphy, Sarasota (by descent from the above, her father and sold, Sotheby's New York, January 21, 1983, lot 201, illustrated)

Caroline Davidson, Women's Worlds, The Art and Life of Mary Ellen Best 1809-1891, New York, 1985, p. 29, no. 27, illustrated

Paper laid down on board; spots of foxing in ceiling and floor, mat stain along top and left edge, spot of loss at lower left corner, thin areas of abrasion along bottom edge. Work is affixed to mat board with two paper hinges along top edge.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Best's watercolors belongs to a tradition of amateur painting, which first began in England toward the end of the eighteenth century. Such drawing exercises were part of the general education of women in "polite society," joining music and literature in what John Ruskin called "noble teachings."  An appreciation of Best's fascinating watercolors is enhanced by Caroline Davidson's authoritative work on the artist's life and production (Women's Worlds, The Art and Life of Mary Ellen Best 1809-1981, New York, 1985). Ms. Davidson's work has been an invaluable reference in preparing the following catalogue entires which (as the frequent citations suggest) largely summarize her essential research.

Mary Ellen Best was born at Castle Gate, York on October 1809 to Dr. Charles Best, a prominent Yorkshire physician, and Mary Norcliffe Dalton of Langton Hall.  Dr. Best died when Mary Ellen was eight years old, leaving Mrs. Best (who never remarried) to raise Mary Ellen and her sister Rosamond with the assistance of friends and family members – including her uncles, the Reverend Francis Best and Major-General Norcliffe Norcliffe.  Best's early interest in art was enhanced by years at boarding school, where she was encouraged to draw at Mrs. Haugh's school in Doncaster and later Miss Shepherd's school in Bromley.  In 1828 Best returned to Yorkshire, where many of her watercolors were completed

The present work dates from the 1830s, when Mary Ellen Best would frequently visit her grandmother, Anne Norcliffe, at Langton Hall.  The well-appointed kitchen is filled with the numerous, neatly organized tin pots and pans, copper molds, pewter tableware and utensils of every shape and size and dining ware required of a country home. As Caroline Davidson explains, the short-sleeved cook carries a tray heavy with a pie baked in the oven, the opening visible behind cloths used to cover rising dough and finished pastries hung across kitchen chairs. Soup and vegetables were prepared on the boiling range just visible at the compositions' right, while the smoke jack in the chimney turns a spit with a roast in front of an open range (Davidson, p. 29).