Charles Burton Barber

Collection of William Yeats Baker, England
Frost & Reed, London (1941)
Vose Galleries, Boston
Private Collection, United States (acquired from the above, 1942)
Thence by descent to the present owner

London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1880, no. 332
Chicago, British Pavilion at the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, no. 71

Alfred T. Story, "Mr. W. Y. Baker's collection at Streatham Hill", The Magazine of Art, London, Volume 16, 1893, p. 230
World's Columbian Exposition Official Catalogue, 1893, Part X, p. 131, no. 71
F. Grace Seymour, The Good Time Primer, Boston, 1898, p. 14 illustrated
The Connoisseur Magazine, London, vol. 47, 1917, p. 42

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting has an old lining which has been applied with wax, which could be removed and improved. The paint layer is more or less clean and in almost all areas it is very healthy. Where the artist changed the composition in a couple of spots in the dogs in the center of the right side and in the ear of the dog in the lower left, some cracking has developed associated with these pentimenti. The artist also made changes in the face and hair of the child and cracking has also developed here. These cracks are quite noticeable at present and although retouching has been added, it has not successfully disguised this natural development in the paint layer. The painting needs to be cleaned and retouched, particularly in order to present the child in a better light.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Charles Burton Barber continues to be well-loved for creating a world where his subjects, frequently children and dogs, are allowed to play, romp and tease unencumbered. Parents and adults are often, if not always, conspicuously absent from his scenes and are only ever suggested through the inclusion of an open sewing kit, prepared meal, empty wine glass or, as in the present lot, a father's red coat. It is as if the animals take on the role of guardian, and the young hunter in The New Whip is well protected by nine attentive, and expressive, hounds.

Combining all of the elements for which he is most celebrated, The New Whip is among Burton Barber's best-known and most loved paintings. It was the subject of countless etchings and reproductions, and is included in magazines and The Good Time Primer, a widely-distributed American children's book of rhymes. Burton Barber was honored by commissions from Queen Victoria and exhibited at the Royal Academy almost every year between 1866 and 1893. The present work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880 and subsequently traveled to America to be shown at Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 where it was included in the British Pavilion. It was leant by its first owner, William Yeats Baker, a collector and successful businessman and the owner of Thames Bank Ironworks whose collection was profiled in 1893 in The Magazine of Art:

"It would be hard to find a larger or better selected general collection of modern pictures, the accumulation of one man, than that of Mr. W. Y. Baker, of Streatham Hill.... The house is crowded with objects of art and beauty. From ground to roof-tree there is scarcely a nook or corner that is without its gem. China, glass, richly carved and inlaid cabinets, and bric-à-brac of every description, attest the taste of the collector. Space, however, forbids any but the slightest reference to aught save the pictures, which are in such profusion as literally to cover the walls from skirting-board to ceiling." (Story, p. 228) The author singles out the inclusion of Burton Barber in this exceptional collection: "Another man whose work Mr. Baker has great admiration, and which he has several specimens is Mr. Burton Barber, the animal painter. This artist's pictures, however, have been so popularized by engravings that they need no description. The collection includes 'The New Whip'." (Story, p. 230).

Burton Barber's eye for an adorable vignette is unerring. His skill and technical mastery is evident here in the young girl's determined expression, theatrical lighting, and the playful, sweet expressions of these wonderful foxhounds.