- 46
Sawrey Gilpin, R.A. 1733-1807
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Sawrey Gilpin, R.A.
- Hawking
- signed l.r.; S Gilpin/ 1780
- oil on canvas
Provenance
Colonel Thomas Thornton (1752-1823), Thornville, Yorkshire;
Comte de Vaux, 26 Rue de L'Industrie, Brussells, and thence by descent to the present owners
Comte de Vaux, 26 Rue de L'Industrie, Brussells, and thence by descent to the present owners
Exhibited
London, Society of Artists, 1780, no. 94;
Brussels, Belgium, L' Exposition L'Art et L'Equitation, 1936, no. 42
ENGRAVED:
by Thomas Morris, 1st October 1780 (a copy of this engraving is included in this lot)
Brussels, Belgium, L' Exposition L'Art et L'Equitation, 1936, no. 42
ENGRAVED:
by Thomas Morris, 1st October 1780 (a copy of this engraving is included in this lot)
Condition
STRUCTURE
The canvas has been lined.
PAINT SURFACE
The painting appears to be in very good condition. There is some very fine and light cracquelure, and overall the painting is clean and ready to hang.
ULTRAVIOLET
Ultraviolet light reveals very light and very minor re-touching scattered across the canvas.
FRAME
Held in a wooden frame.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
This painting was engraved in 1780 by Thomas Morris, and in The Story of British Sporting Prints by Siltzer, the scene is described as follows: 'This represents a true scene that happened a few miles from York. The Falconer, Colonel Thornton, who is shown setting up his hawk from a heron which it has killed, left his horse outside the paling, when the animal immediately leapt over, followed his master, and stood in the attitude here represented'.
Thornton was one of the most colourful members of the sporting fraternity (Fig.1). The son of William Thornton of Thornville, one time M.P. for York, Thomas Thornton was educated at Charterhouse and Glasgow University. His father died in 1769 and therefore, when he came of age, he inherited the family estates in Yorkshire. A keen hunting man, he ran several packs of hounds and from 1772 to 1781 managed the Falconer's Club near Cambridge. He was also an enthusiastic fisherman and shot, and showed his prowess as a horseman by winning a match at York in 1778. He became closely attached to Alicia Meynell who was the first woman to ride a horse in a race (in a match at York against Mr Flint in 1801) and in 1804 she raced his horse at York. Alicia never married Thornton although she was probably his mistress; she eloped in 1806 with a soldier and Thornton married Eliza Causton of Mundon in Essex.
Thornton was a keen traveller and his trip to the Highlands when a young man is chronicled in his Sporting Tour Through the Northern Parts of England... (1804). During a tour of France which he described in a further Sporting Tour he met Napoleon. He lived ostentatiously and spent lavishly, running two houses in London as well as his family seat in Yorkshire. After the latter was sold he bought Allerton Mauleverer from the Prince of Wales in 1789 and a few years later built Falconer's Hall, a hunting lodge at Boythorpe. However his extravagance forced the sales of his Yorkshire properties in 1805 and he moved to Spye Park in Wiltshire which he rented. He spent his last years in France, renting the Chateau de Chambourd and buying a dilapidated chateau near Paris. In 1819 his substantial art collection was sold in London to help pay his debts.
Thornton was an important patron of Gilpin, and Gilpin, together with his son-in-law George Garrard, accompanied Thornton on his tour of the Highlands. In 1788 Thornton acquired the Death of the Fox, one of Gilpin's most famous compositions. According to the Annals of Sporting, 1823, Vol. III, p. 363, Gilpin lived at Thornton's house, Thornville, 'with as much ease as if he had been really the master of the mansion'. The scene in the painting is likely to be in the grounds of Thornville which was only a few miles from York.
Thornton was one of the most colourful members of the sporting fraternity (Fig.1). The son of William Thornton of Thornville, one time M.P. for York, Thomas Thornton was educated at Charterhouse and Glasgow University. His father died in 1769 and therefore, when he came of age, he inherited the family estates in Yorkshire. A keen hunting man, he ran several packs of hounds and from 1772 to 1781 managed the Falconer's Club near Cambridge. He was also an enthusiastic fisherman and shot, and showed his prowess as a horseman by winning a match at York in 1778. He became closely attached to Alicia Meynell who was the first woman to ride a horse in a race (in a match at York against Mr Flint in 1801) and in 1804 she raced his horse at York. Alicia never married Thornton although she was probably his mistress; she eloped in 1806 with a soldier and Thornton married Eliza Causton of Mundon in Essex.
Thornton was a keen traveller and his trip to the Highlands when a young man is chronicled in his Sporting Tour Through the Northern Parts of England... (1804). During a tour of France which he described in a further Sporting Tour he met Napoleon. He lived ostentatiously and spent lavishly, running two houses in London as well as his family seat in Yorkshire. After the latter was sold he bought Allerton Mauleverer from the Prince of Wales in 1789 and a few years later built Falconer's Hall, a hunting lodge at Boythorpe. However his extravagance forced the sales of his Yorkshire properties in 1805 and he moved to Spye Park in Wiltshire which he rented. He spent his last years in France, renting the Chateau de Chambourd and buying a dilapidated chateau near Paris. In 1819 his substantial art collection was sold in London to help pay his debts.
Thornton was an important patron of Gilpin, and Gilpin, together with his son-in-law George Garrard, accompanied Thornton on his tour of the Highlands. In 1788 Thornton acquired the Death of the Fox, one of Gilpin's most famous compositions. According to the Annals of Sporting, 1823, Vol. III, p. 363, Gilpin lived at Thornton's house, Thornville, 'with as much ease as if he had been really the master of the mansion'. The scene in the painting is likely to be in the grounds of Thornville which was only a few miles from York.