American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture including Property from The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations

/

Lot 178
  • 178

Thomas Hill 1829-1908

bidding is closed

Description

  • Thomas Hill
  • Sir Donald Peak and Selkirk Glacier, Canada
  • signed T. Hill and dated 1890, l.r.
  • oil on canvas
  • 87 1/2 by 62 1/4 in.
  • (222.3 by 158.1 cm)

Provenance

Alexander Allan, Glasgow, Scotland (probably commissioned from the artist)
Claude A. Allan, Cardross, Scotland (his son), 1892
Mrs. Adeline Margaret Mitchell Allan (his wife), 1945
Gift to the present owner, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, 1948

Catalogue Note

According to the records of the West Dunbartonshire Council, this painting was likely commissioned by Alexander Allan, the youngest of five sons of the founder of Allan Line shipping business, which traded originally between the Clyde River in Scotland and Montreal, Canada. Alexander took over the shipping company right before his brother James' death in 1880. Alexander's son Claude, born in Glasgow in 1871, eventually joined the family business.

Claude Alexander married in 1901 and from 1906 onward, he resided in the country estate of Kilmahew in the village of Cardross on the banks of the Clyde, some 18 miles north of Glasgow.  He remained at Kilmahew until his death in 1945, following which his widow, Ada Allan, was instrumental in gifting this painting to the present owner.