James Hayllar, R.B.A.

Christie's, London, 24 October 1980, lot 47;
Roy Miles, London, where bought in January 1981 by Lady Scott for £3,900

London, Royal Academy, 1860, no.565

STRUCTURE The panel is in sound condition. PAINT SURFACE There is a small patch of craquelure to the forehead of the child and scattered craquelure to the child's clothing. Otherwise in good condition. ULTRAVIOLET UV light reveals scattered spots of retouching to the face and further spots to the background. FRAME Held in a decorative gilded frame with some minor losses to the moulding.
"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."

This charming little painting Guilty or not Guilty was painted in 1860 and probably depicts the artist's son Algernon, who later became an engraver.

James Hayllar began his career as a portrait painter and started to send his work to the Royal Academy in 1851, continuing to exhibit until 1898. He was born in Chichester in 1829, and his family were of Sussex yeoman stock, originally Quakers and proud to be related to Richard Cobden. When a young man Hayllar showed talent for drawing and modelling and took lessons from the local artist called Joy. With the usual reluctance of Victorian parents, Hayllar's father agreed to send him to Cary's Art School in London. Francis Stephen Cary was a respectable historical painter, who took over the Henry Sass's Academy in Bloomsbury in 1842. He is now remembered as a teacher, as his pupils included many young artists later to become famous, including John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  On completing his studies Hayllar made a tour of the continent, where he encountered Frederic Leighton in Rome in 1851. Between 1857 and 1868 he seems to have tried his hand at literary and genre painting, and produced some very charming observations of Victorian life. Amongst them is the present work, which is a beautiful rendered small oil, where the artist has captured a given moment; a young boy sits next to a Chinese ginger jar and is either about to or has already helped himself to the contents. The prominent positioning of the ginger jar in the painting shows the contemporary vogue of the Aesthetic Movement. In the 1860s when Hayllar painted this picture, blue-and-white Chinese porcelain was highly fashionable and collected by many artists; Whistler and Rossetti were avid collectors and competed over choice pieces. 

During this period Hayllar painted some of his most important works, including The Queens Highway in the Sixteenth Century of 1864, Queen Elizabeth's Toothache of 1865 and Miss Lilly's Carriage Stops the Way in 1866, which was highly praised when exhibited at the Royal Academy.  After these successes William Powell Frith and Eyre Crowe proposed him as an associate to the Royal Academy, but he missed election by one vote and never tried again. In 1865 he submitted pictures to the Academy from Carlton Rockery, near Saxmundham in Suffolk, whilst a decade later he moved to Castle Priory, on the banks of the Thames, near Wallingford in Berkshire. He was to live here until after the death of his wife, and his move to Bournemouth in 1899.