| | | | | | | | Document | Sale Catalog Br-389 | |
| Auction House | Phillips (Harry) -- from catalog: Mr. H. Phillips | | Sale Location | No 68 New Bond Street, London, England, UK | | Seller(s) | from catalog: [None]
from other sources: [Col. Crewe] | | Lugt Number | 7057 and 7066 | | No. of Painting Lots | 180 | | Notes | This sale of old pictures was originally set to be held on Apr.14/15, and at least two copies of the catalogue bearing these dates still exist. Another edition of the catalogue was subsequently printed with the new dates, Apr.18/19, and also with some changes in the lots, although the total number of lots remained the same. We have used the later catalogue (referred to as Type B) in this Index. No owner is given in either edition, but the name "Col. Crewe" is written by hand on the title page of the ISGB copy. The seller's name is confirmed by the reappearance of many of the pictures in sales in 1810 under the name "Gen. Crewe," the owner evidently having been promoted in the interim. Documents preserved among the Crewe papers at the Cheshire County Record Office in Chester confirm that he was John Crewe (1772-1835), Lord Crewe's only son and eventual heir who was promoted to major-general in 1808. He had apparently accumulated very significant debts, to a great extent incurred through the ill-advised purchase of large numbers of old paintings. A note found in the CIL copy of the catalogue of his sale on July 14/16, 1810 (no.798) states that he had reputedly paid £16,000 for the collection, much of which had been acquired from a dealer named Collins whose first name is not specified. It can also be deduced that some of the pictures had come from Richard Davies, and since Davies was also a heavy buyer at the Crewe sales, there seems to have existed some connection between the two men that is not yet understood. Our first notice of the Crewe collection exists in the form of an undated Catalogue Raisonné containing pictures, antique marbles, bronzes, jewels, drawings and prints belonging to "a Man of Fashion." (Copies of this catalogue exist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and with the set of Phillips catalogues on deposit at the Wallace Collection.) A newspaper clipping in the former, taken from the Oracle for Apr.10, 1806, refers both to the projected sale by Phillips and the Catalogue Raisonné which "had been made originally for the use of the proprietor and his friends." The unnumbered contents of this catalogue correspond roughly to the sale catalogue, and the latter also contains page references to the former. Because the descriptions in the earlier catalogue are sometimes lengthier and more informative, we have included information from it -- enclosed in brackets -- in our entries. The postponement of the sale was evidently made at the last minute since Harry Phillips, the auctioneer, notes in his copy of the catalogue (WCL I) the names of some of the collectors and dealers who were present on Apr.14 when the sale was "deferred." It cannot be determined who attended the sale four days later, but most of the pictures that changed hands went to two dealers, E. and J. Collins, one or both of whom must have sold the pictures to Crewe in the first place. However, the sale was not very successful. Although the prices were generally above average and a few reached three figures, most lots were bought in, including all those over £100. The annotator of the ISGB catalogue notes: "Many lots in this sale were bought in -- no buyers." We know from the Crewe papers at Chester that the owner still had large debts -- in March, 1807, the figure is given as £5044 -- and he was using the pictures as collateral to obtain loans. Most of the collection reappears at the European Museum in May, 1809 (no.666-A) where it remained until sometime after Feb.26, 1810 (no.724-A). Subsequently it was put up at two sales held by Farebrother in 1810, on June 28/29 and July 14/16 (nos.790 and 798) and one by Christie's on Nov.30/Dec.1 (no.825). It should be added that at least two of the paintings in the present sale did not belong to Crewe, according to a note affixed to the end of the catalogue by Harry Phillips. Unfortunately it has not been possible so far to deduce which lots these were. A sale of Crewe's drawings, prints and statuary, originally scheduled for Apr.16, was likewise postponed and subsequently held on Apr.21 (no.390), at which time the owner was once again referred to as "a Man of Fashion." (B. Fredericksen) | | Catalog Location(s) | WCL I [annotations used in Sales Contents; photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Auctioneer's copy, annot. with all buyers and prices. (Type A)
VAL [photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Annot. in ink and pencil by the dealer Woodin with all prices. (Type A)
ISGB [photocopy in Provenance Index Sales Files] Annot. with most prices. (Type B)
WCL II Auctioneer's copy, not annot. (Type B) | | Photocopies | NGL and CIL (both of VAL) | | See Also | Sale Contents | | | Art Sales Catalogues Online | | | |
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