| | | | | | | | Document | Sale Catalog Br-1815 | |
| Auction House | Robins (John) -- from catalog: Mr. Robins | | Sale Location | Mr. Stanley's Rooms, No.22 Old Bond St., London, England, UK | | Seller(s) | from catalog: A Nobleman
from other sources: [Lord Charles Townshend] | | Lugt Number | 9609 | | No. of Painting Lots | 37 | | Notes | In addition to paintings this sale contained some frames, some empty cases, a drawing and one lot of prints. There are three versions of this unusual catalogue that differ regarding lots 19*-25* (i.e., lots 19a-25a). In the earlier version (Type A), these lots are lacking or are added by hand, while in the later versions they are printed. Initially this was accomplished by adding a page 4*, as found in the CL copy (Type B), but later these lots were squeezed onto p.5, resulting in a resetting of pp.5-7 (Type C). The catalogue describes the owner only as a nobleman, but at least four copies have the name of Lord Charles Townshend (or Townsend) inscribed on the title page, and it must have been well known that he was the owner. Charles Vere Ferrars, Lord Townshend (1785-1853), was an enthusiastic and prolific collector of pictures from an early age. He bought and sold on a wide scale, often acquiring pictures of exceptional quality for which he must have paid very handsome prices, only to resell them shortly afterwards, and not necessarily for a higher amount. (For a discussion of Townshend and his collecting career, see Andrew Moore, Dutch and Flemish Painting in Norfolk, 1988, pp.55-57.) Although some family portraits were kept in Raynham Hall, the family's country seat in Norfolk, the bulk of the pictures that passed through his hands were in his London residence. He seems to have bought them primarily on the London market, though usually not at auction. Even at the time of the present sale, when he was not yet 35 years old, he was dealing in works of the first order. The last lot, for instance, Rembrandt's Lady with her Fan, had apparently been sold to Townshend by the dealer John Smith for 1000 guineas. (It had been put up for sale on June 29, 1814, and bought in at £829.10; a note by Smith in the RKDH catalogue records the price he later received from Townshend.) In the present sale it brought £745.10, quite a good price but considerably less than what he had paid. (It was purchased by Ld. Yarmouth for George IV and is now in the Royal Collection.) Another lot at this sale, an Interior with Boors Drinking by Adriaen van Ostade, was sold to the dealer Geo. Yates for £430.10, very probably a record for this artist at the time. This picture had been sold in 1815 for £351.15 to a dealer who presumably sold it to Townshend for more, but it would appear that Townshend probably made a profit from this transaction. (The painting was last recorded in Germany in 1929.) At least five other lots also exceeded £200, making this one of the most impressive sales of the year in spite of the relatively small number of paintings that were included. None of the annotated catalogues includes a total figure, but by adding up the recorded prices, one arrives at a result of £3468.1, a phenomenal amount for a sale of this size, and representing an average of almost £95 per lot, probably the highest of any sale during this period. The sale is also unusual in that it was handled by John Robins, an auctioneer not normally employed to sell valuable pictures such as these. An entry in the ledgers of John Smith indicates that Smith was also involved in the compilation of the catalogue. (B. Fredericksen) | | Catalog Location(s) | RKDH [photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Annot. with all buyers and prices for the pictures only. The catalogue belonged to the dealer John Smith but the annotations are not his. (Type C)
JPGM [annotations used in Sales Contents; photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Annot. with most buyers and all prices, as well as some added lots. It belonged to Wm. Seguier and the annotations may be his. (Type A)
MMNY Annot. with many buyers and all prices. It belonged to J.H. Anderdon. (Type C)
FLNY Annot. in both pencil and red ink with a few buyers and all prices. Two lots have also been added by hand. Lot 16 and part of lot 1 have been mutilated. (Type A)
NGL Annot. with a few buyers and all prices. (Type A)
CL [photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Annot. with a few buyers and all prices. It belonged to Dawson Turner. (Type B) | | See Also | Sale Contents | | | Art Sales Catalogues Online | | | Digitized Catalog - GRI | | | Digitized Catalog - Frick | | | |
|
|