William Henry Hunt, Portrait of the Artist's Father, John, c. 1815

Portrait of the Artist's Father, John

Private collection

Pencil on paper

3.74 X 34.61 in., 9.5 by 11.7 cm.

Signed, l.l., W. Hunt

 

ProvenanceL

Cyril and Shirley Fry;

(S) Sotheby's London, 7 July 2021, Lot 215 [along with Self-Portrait at Age 25 and Portrait of the Artist's Mother (P) £1,764 $2,452 by the present owner

 

This is the only known portrait of Hunt's father, as stated in an inscription on an old mount.

 

William Henry Hunt's Siblings, Several of Which Have Never Before Been Identified

 

Hunt had two well-documented siblingsL

 

Thomas James Hunt, 1788 - 1848, London

Not baptised until 1801

In 1811, 1843, and 1845 Directories his occupation was listed as being a tin-plate worker, the family trade.

Married on 30 Apr 1825, at St Anne Soho, Westminster, England, Maria Holloway (1808, Stratfieldsaye, Hampshire, England - April 1877, London), the older sister of Sarah Holloway Hunt.

His 1848 estate sale at Fosters included many watercolors by his younger broth, William Henry Hunt

He had two children, Maria Maddison (Feb 21, 1826 - July 1877) and William Henry (16 Sept 1827 - July 1910, London, named after the artist.

Maria and both children are listed in the 1841 and 1861 England census as living with William Henry Hunt, by 1861 a widow,

In the 1841 England census Maria and her children (William Henry age 13) plus Hunt's favorite model, John Swain (age 15), were all living with the artist and his family in London.

Maria Maddison Hunt married Robert Galloway, b. 1823, who, after Maria's death married Hunt's other niece, Sophia Steedman (daughter of Hunt's younger sister, Sophia.

The nephew, William Henry Hunt, married Mary Ann Barnes, b. 22 April 1832.

 

Sophia Hunt, 13 AUG 1796 - 18 AUG 1871, London

Hunt's younger sister, Sophia, was said to be short and "dwarflike" as was the artist.

She mzrried 28 Dec 1823, Charles Steedman, 1797 - 12 July 1858, the son of James Steedman, A Japanner, just like so many men related to the artist. The Steedmans lived on O322ld Belton Street, next to John Hunt.

Charles Steedman was also a painter.

Charles and Sophia lived in later years at 35 Charles Street, Regent's Park, London, which was once owned and insured by John Hunt, the artist's father.

 

Louisa Maria Hunt, 29 Dec. 1784 - 6 Nov. 1866, London.

The artist's older sister, is virtually never mentioned in connection with William Henry Hunt.

She married on 23 Aug 1817 at St. George, Bloomsbury, London, a Thomas Hall, 1796 - Sept 1873, and had sons named Arthur and EdwardHall.

 

Clarissa Hunt, b. 1792.

 

Elizabeth Hunt, baptized 4 May 1794, Saint Giles in the Fields, where most of John and Judith's children were also baptized - July 1878

The youngest sibling is better documented than her two obscure sisters.

She probably never married.

On 15 July 1824, she resided at 6 Marchmont Street Brunswick Square, which on 14 May 1824 was insured by Sun Fire Insurance of London as another property of John Hunt of Belton Street. Long Acre, tinman. On 19 May 1826, the same property was insured under the name of Judith Hunt, who was then a widow.

At the time of the 1841 England Census, she was living with her mother, Judith, and with a Harriott Hunt,age 30 [perhaps another sibling but, if so, Judith would have been about 45 when she was born].

She is mentioned in certain legal documents along with the artist.

 

 

 

Done