Lot 29
  • 29

Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, R.S.A., R.S.W.

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 GBP
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Description

  • Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, R.S.A., R.S.W.
  • The Cheval Glass
  • signed indistinctly l.l.: F C B Cadell and inscribed as titled on a label attached to the reverse
  • oil on canvas
  • 105.5 by 71 cm., 42 by 28 in.

Provenance

Presented to George Watson's College by John Thorburn in 1958

Condition

The canvas has been strip lined. There is some craquelure apparent in parts throughout. There is a small repair (approx. 2cm. in length) to the lower right of the canvas corresponding with the bottom of the figure's dress. Under UV light there is some minimal infilling to the craquelure in parts, mainly to the upper left background but including some fine hair-line touchings to the reflected face and to the repair. This has been sensitively applied. Within a wooden brown painted frame with gilt outer and inner edges, and ivory slip. Ready to hang.
"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

The Cheval Glass dates from the same time as a series of paintings often titled 'Reflections', painted by Cadell between 1913, when he moved to 130 George Street in Edinburgh, and 1915, when he was sent to serve on the French front. Each work shows an interior, sometimes with a nude model and sometimes an elegant lady wearing the fashionable costume of the day in a stylish drawing room before a mantelpiece or mirror which reflects the image of the figure back to the viewer, a device that enables the artist to show two aspects of the woman’s beauty.

Rather than a portrait in the traditional sense, The Cheval Glass can be described as an arrangement; the figure of the woman and her reflection are elements within the composition as much as they are the subject of it. Much is made of the influence of the Fauves and Cezanne on the work of Cadell’s fellow colourists. However, Cadell’s painting, especially in this period, is much more attuned to that of James Abott McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and John Lavery. The arrangement of many of the Reflections series is reminiscent of Whistler’s famous Symphony in White No.2: The Little White Girl of 1864 (Tate), which shows an elegant girl in a simple white dress placed before a mantelpiece, head in profile, while in the over-mantel we see a three-quarter view of her reflection. In The Cheval Glass, the tones are relatively muted in the Whistlerian manner, with fluid, spontaneous and confident brushstrokes. In a device that is all Cadell’s own we see a fore-taste of the colourist he was soon to become as the painting incorporates brilliant touches of pure pigment, applied with marvellous effect to provide accents of colour - the pink of the rose, a sweep of yellow to the chair and to the figure's waist, touches of green in the mirror - which delicately balance the composition. Demonstrating his mastery of the medium, the painting is both detailed yet economical - Cadell manages to suggest the figure and furnishings with simple touches of paint.

Just as Lavery painted the aristocratic classes, so the paintings of the Reflections series are concerned with elegance and sophistication; we see not just a model here, but a fashionable society lady. The drawing room’s stark, modern colour scheme of violet-painted walls and floor painted glossy black was a reflection of the dramatic and glamorous modernism of Cadell’s art, an interior in which the present occupant looks quite at home. The model for this work was Miss Bethia Don Wauchope (1864-1944); she became his muse for over 15 years and probably also the model for lot 11. She was a lady of independent means who chose to pose for the artist because she wanted to. Her family home was 12 Ainslie Place, a square which was also home to Cadell at various times of his life, including between 1902-1907 when his family lived at number 22, so it may be that she was a friend of the Cadell family. She appears repeatedly in the Reflections series: The Black Hat, 1914 (City Art Centre: City of Edinburgh Museums and Galleries), Portrait of a Lady in a Black Hat (Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh), and Reflections (Sotheby’s, 23 May 2013, lot 51). In Reflections, c.1913 (Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum) Bethia is depicted in a similar composition, although this time seated. She wears the same cloche hat with black ribbon, pink flower and white gloves, and appears also to be wearing the same black dress with v-necked front, a pink flower corsage pinned to the front and the gold hoop earrings that are omnipresent in her portraits. All accounts of ‘Bunty’ describe a congenial and gregarious companion, very much at home in the drawing rooms of Edinburgh high society. He has often been described as a gentleman painter and no doubt he and Bethia were great friends. One can imagine that these sittings were as much about friends collaborating and catching up with the latest gossip, as an artist and his model. 

The refinement and elegance that permeates all of his work were also apparent in the way he presented himself and his home – he was noted for his impeccable and somewhat flamboyant dress sense and his house was exquisitely decorated and furnished. As is the case with this picture, his interiors were generally painted at his home and he re-used the same familiar objects in his works. The gilded chair in the left corner of The Cheval Mirror for example, appears repeatedly in compositions from circa 1912 until the 1930s. Unusually, the cheval glass itself – a full length mirror mounted so it can be tilted from a central pivot – is not something that Cadell appears to have repeated. This corner of his drawing room or studio is generally depicted with a large mirror fixed upon an easel. In this instance however, Cadell uses the narrow vertical form of the mirror to great effect, accentuating the long slender silhouette of the figure.

There is no record of the painting being exhibited in Cadell’s lifetime but as many of his works appear with generic titles such as “Reflections”, in many cases it is difficult to establish which are which. In this period of his career Cadell was exhibiting mainly with the Society of Eight, a small exhibiting society which included his friend Sir John Lavery, which allowed its members more freedom to exhibit their work. If shown here, The Cheval Glass was probably purchased directly by a private collector. The painting reappeared again in 1958 when it was gifted to George Watson’s College and where it has been ever since. The College have now decided to part with the painting, with proceeds dedicated to the George Watson's Family Foundation, which provides funds to widen access and increase diversity at the School.