| | | | | | | | Document | Sale Catalog Br-1865 | |
| Auction House | Hawkes -- from catalog: Mr. Hawkes | | Sale Location | Premises, White Knights, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK | | Seller(s) | from catalog: White Knights
from other sources: [Duke of Marlborough] | | Lugt Number | 9675 | | No. of Painting Lots | 63 | | Notes | As Marquess of Blandford and eldest son and heir of the fourth Duke of Marlborough, George Spencer (later Spencer-Churchill) had pursued a political career, first as an M.P. and later as a Lord of the Treasury. But he was best known as a collector who spent prodigious sums on his residence and gardens at White Knights, near Reading, Berks., and especially his collections of manuscripts and paintings. By 1808 he had already assembled an important group of pictures, to which he added a number more purchased at the Akers sale on Apr.28/29, 1815 (Br-1279). In 1812 he had paid £2260 for a rare edition of the Decamerone and similarly extravagant purchases continued after he inherited his father's titles in 1817. For a while he enjoyed a most splendid existence surrounded by his acquisitions, but by 1819 he had overextended himself and was forced to dispose of the entire contents of his beloved residence. The first to go was the library, which was sold by the auctioneer Evans on June 7/19, 1819. (A second sale of books and botanical drawings was held by the same auctioneer on May 24/25, 1820.) The present sale, lasting three days and consisting of the furniture, paintings, plants and miscellaneous items, was organized by a local auctioneer and held on the premises. The importance of the library and the quality of the picture gallery were generally acknowledged, and consequently the individual items brought good prices. But during this recessionary time many could not be sold for amounts comparable to those he had paid. The highest price was realized by an English picture, Loutherbourg's enormous painting of The Battle of Camperdown, which was sold for £105. (Ld. Blandford had bought the painting for 185 guineas in 1816.) Its companion, The Battle of the Nile brought £94.10. (It had cost £210 at the Akers sale in 1815.) A Dutch picture, Peasants dancing before a Cottage by Adriaen van Ostade, was also sold for £105. (It had cost £90.6 at the Akers sal in 1815.) Other prices were lower but still unusually good for a sale held outside London. Marlborough was forced from public office as a result of his troubles and retired to the family's primary residence, Blenheim Palace. In his later years he is described as living there "in utter retirement at one corner of his magnificent palace, a melancholy instance of the results of extravagance." (B. Fredericksen) | | Catalog Location(s) | RKDH [annotations used in Sales Contents; photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Annot. in ink and pencil by the dealer John Smith with some buyers and most prices for the pictures and furniture. He has also inserted a handwritten list of pictures that had come from the Akers sale of Apr.28/29, 1815, and marked some lots in the catalogue as deriving from that source. | | Photocopies | NGL (of RKDH) | | See Also | Sale Contents | | | Art Sales Catalogues Online | | | |
|
|