EDWIN LONGSDEN LONG, R.A. | IRELAND

Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, where purchased by James Reckitt, 1887 (£750);

Christie's, London, 18 July 1958, lot 130;

Gifted to the present owners' great grandfather and thence by descent

Austin Chester, 'The Art of Edwin Long, R.A., Windsor Magazine, February 1908, pp.332-350;

Mark Bills, Edwin Longsden Long, London, 1998, no.238, pp.160-161, illustrated

"What harp shall sigh o’er Freedom’s grave? Oh, Erin! thine! –

Dear harp of my country! in darkness I found thee,

The cold chains of silence had hung o’er thee long,

When proudly, my own Island harp, I unbound thee,

And gave all thy chords to light, freedom and song!

The warm lay of love and the light note of gladness

Have weakened thy fondest, thy liveliest thrill;

but so oft has thou echoed the deep sigh of sadness,

That even in thy mirth will steal from thee still."

Thomas Moore (1779-1852), Dear Harp of My Country

This verse was included alongside the painting at its exhibition in 1887. 

The present work belongs to a series of twenty paintings by Edwin Long depicting personifications of the countries of the British Empire. Painted between 1886-7, the series was commissioned by London dealer Thomas Agnew and Sons. Long represented Ireland as a beautiful woman playing a harp, with a corsage of shamrocks pinned to her dress - two universal and enduring symbols of Ireland. In a subtle detail, a shamrock pattern forms the brocade of her dress, and decorates the harp. This symbolism, combined with her fair skin and grace, embodies the perception of idealised Irish identity and beauty in Victorian Britain.