Fig. 12 William Henry Hunt, Lord Efroy's Gamekeeper, dated 1828

Lord Efroy's Gamekeeper

Currently untraced

Ink and watercolor

13 3/4 X 9 in., 35 X 23 cm.

Signed and dated 1828

 

Provenance;

William Quilter (S) 1875 (P) Bought In at 165

Estate of William Quilter (S) 1889;

Probably Hughes Stanton (S) 29 Sept 1895 (P) £12 Arthur Tooth & Co.;

Arthur Tooth & Co., Inv. No. 575 (The Gamekeeper, 14 1/2 X 9 1/4 in.) (S) 2 Nov 1897 (P) Laird;

(S) Sotheby's London, 25 May 1966, Lot 87 (P) 28 GBP, $ $78.40 Cyril Fry (London dealer);

(S) Sotheby's, London, 7 June 1973, Lot 68 (P) L260 Cyril Fry.

 

None of the early watercolors of Gameskeepers, Gardeners, Poachers, etc. included in the Country People exhibition were particularly admired or even very well known in the 19th century. Such paintings were very rarely included in the many exhibitions which included Hunt's work. This is the one exception; it was the only early work included in Ruskin's 1879-1880 exhibition at the Fine Art Society and a few other exhibitions, but even it doesn't seem to have been considered a major work by the artist. The types of watercolors by Hunt which were highly praised by 19th century viewers were similar to the few later works in the Courtauld exhibit, e.g., The Young Gleaner, Slumber, and The Pet, along with many of the artist's mildly humorous subjects and his still life watercolors, painted by Hunt from the 1840s through the end of his life.

Done