Signed l.r.: W HUNT, watercolour with bodycolour on artist’s board 16 x 20.3 cm; 6 1/4 x 8 inches Primroses were a favourite subject of Hunt’s, and one which he frequently exhibited in the 1840s and 1850s. Hunt was born with a deformation of his legs which restricted his movement and he worked mainly from the studio, as painting outside was difficult for him. He specialised in carefully drawn smale-scale still lifes like this one as a result and pioneered new techniques of watercolour, using stipple techniques in subtle colour combinations and achieving a brightness of colour by overlaying washes over white gouache.
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British works on paper from 18th to early 20th century including landscape watercolours and spring-themed works.
CADA Art Antiques Chelsea Fair 2026
19th – 22nd March 2026 · Chelsea Old Town Hall
About This Event
I will be exhibiting a selection of British works on paper from 18th to early 20th century. New landscape watercolours from a private collection (see catalogue) including works by Thomas Girtin and William Turner of Oxford. Also new watercolours by Edward Lear, John White Abbott, William Callow and Hercules Brabazon Brabazon. A group of colourful works depicting animals, birds, trees and plants to usher in the spring by Edwin Alexander, William Henry Hunt, Carl Haag and Charles Tunnicliffe will be accompanied by a group of watercolours under £500 by Harry John Johnson and works on paper from the folio stand.
| Opening Times | |
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| Thursday | 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM |
| Friday | 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Saturday | 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Sunday | 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
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Works on Display
Signed, inscribed and dated l.r.: Carl Haag London 14 Sept 1849, oil on paper 35 x 25.3 cm.; 13 ½ x 10 inches, framed size 50 x 40 cm.; 19 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches Provenance Peter Ward-Jackson (1916-2015) Literature W. Karbach and C. Allison, Carl Haag Victorian Court Painter and Travelling Adventurer between Orient and Occident, 2019, no. 85 Having studied in Munich (where he worked as a miniaturist and book illustrator), Paris and Brussels the artist arrived in England in the spring of 1847. After spending that winter in Rome, he returned to London to study watercolour painting at the Royal Academy Schools. He almost lost a hand in an accidental explosion in December 1848. Haag’s first exhibited work at the Royal Academy in 1849 was entitled The Return from the Vineyards and the present work may have been made as a preparatory study. He became a member of the Old Water Colour Society in 1853. Haag travelled widely all over Europe and the Near East. He was popular with Royal and aristocratic patrons and spent the autumn of 1853 at Balmoral and the winter at Windsor. Peter Ward-Jackson was a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum and a leading authority on furniture, prints and drawings, particularly ornament designs. His publications became standard works in these fields such as his catalogue of the V&A’s Italian Drawings (in two volumes, 1979-80).
View detailsSigned with initials l.l.: E.A., watercolour over traces of pencil heightened with bodycolour and stopping out, with touches of red chalk, in a period burr maple frame Sheet 38.9 x 27.6 cm.; 15 ¼ x 10 ¾ inches, painted area 33 x 18 cm.; 13 x 7 inches Provenance Christie’s, London, 3 February 2000, lot 160; Sotheby’s, Gleneagles, 30 August 2000, lot 1153; Private collection, London until 2023 Alexander is best known for his exquisite watercolours of flora, fauna and the natural world. Alexander studied at the Royal Institution, Edinburgh from 1887-8, and in Paris with the sculptor Emmanuel Frémier. In 1887-8 the artist travelled to Tangier with his father and fellow artists Pollock Nisbet and Joseph Crawhall. He returned to Egypt in 1892 and lived there for four years. After his return he married Dora, moved to just outside Musselburgh, and created a menagerie that he used for his work. Plants remained important subjects for his painting and, in 1909, he illustrated J. H. Crawford’s The Wild Flowers. In 1902 Alexander was elected an associate of the Royal Scottish Academy becoming a full member in 1913. He exhibited widely including at the Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Academy, Fine Art Society, Royal Watercolour Society and the Leicester Galleries. Alexander’s work is held in the Tate Gallery, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Dundee Art Gallery and by Fife Council.
SoldView detailsSigned l.r.: CF Tunnicliffe, watercolour over pencil with touches of white on cream paper 41 x 55 cm.; 16 1/8 x 21 5/8 inches Provenance The Tryon Gallery; Private collection, UK, sold at Christies South Kensington, London, 3 November 2010, lot 58 The artist was a countryman who was brought up Cheshire. After studying at the Macclesfield School of Art he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London, gaining his teaching diploma and a further scholarship to study in the RCA's new Etching and Engraving School. He worked as a commercial artist and taught art at Manchester Grammar School. Tunnicliffe was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and in 1974 a ‘Members Exhibition’ was held there of his work. He and his wife Winifred moved from Cheshire to Angelsey in 1947 and lived at Shorelands in Malltraeth until his death.
View detailsSigned and dated l.r.: W. Callow.1833, watercolour over traces of pencil with scratching out Provenance Private collection U.K. until 2026 This fine example of Callow’s work dates from the time he was sharing a studio in Paris with Thomas Shotter Boys at 19 Rue de Bouloi near the Louvre. He visited England during the summer and presumably travelled through Dover.
View details£ 2,250
Signed with initials l.r.: HBB, watercolour and bodycolour over pencil, inscribed verso: Siracuse and stamped with collector’s mark Provenance Gilbert Davis (L. 757a.); Edward Seago, his estate sale at Christie’s, London 1 March 1977, lot 94; Where bought by B.M. Williams; Christie’s, London, 21 November 2007, lot 145, where acquired by the previous owner until 2025 Gilbert Davis (1899–1983) built up a large collection of watercolours in the middle of the twentieth century. He sold the bulk of his collection in 1959 to the Huntingdon Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Edward Seago RBA, RWS (1910-1974) was one of the most popular British artists of 20th century, who painted in oils and watercolours.
View detailsSigned with monogram l.r., inscribed l.l.: near Calikut., watercolour heightened with touches of bodycolour Provenance Franklin Lushington (1823-1901) and thence by descent Lear was invited to India by his friend and patron Lord Northbrook who was appointed Viceroy in 1871, and his journey there was the last and longest of his life. He was overwhelmed by the colour and vitality of India and enjoyed the bustle of Viceregal life. Calicut, or present-day Kozhikode, is on the Malabar coast in Kerala and was a centre of the Indian spice trade. Edward Lear arrived there in October 1874, just as the monsoon began. He was warned about the dangers of contracting fever but stayed, despite the pouring rain, until the skies were clear enough to draw. He described the roads around the city as “of such redundant beauty one can hardly dream.” Franklin Lushington, Lear’s close friend and first owner of this drawing, was the son of Edmund Henry Lushington. He was appointed judge to the Supreme Court of Justice in the Ionian Islands in 1855 and Lear went with him to live in Corfu. They first met in Malta in 1849, where Franklin’s elder brother Henry was Chief Secretary to the government. On his death, Lear left all his papers to Lushington, who later destroyed most of them.
View detailsPen and grey ink and wash, inscribed verso and dated: Kerswell Oct.3.1812 23.7 x 37 cm.; 9 ¼ x 14 ½ inches Provenance Private collection, U.K. until 2025 Kerswell is a hamlet in the Teignbridge district of Devon north-east of Exeter.
View detailsABP Paul Sandby, R.A. (1731- 1809) The River Wye at New Weir, Herefordshire Signed in brushpoint l.l.: P Sandby RA, watercolour and bodycolour, with old labels attached to backboard (illegible) Provenance The Fine Art Society, London; Private collection, U.K. The Longstone can be seen prominently on the left of the composition above the Wye where fishermen and rowers are enjoying the river. Sandby includes the busy iron manufactory on the opposite bank. Many of the tourists who flocked to the river Wye to enjoy its picturesque scenery and to climb Yat Rock also included a visit to the forge, and images of this stretch of the river often include depictions of the lime kilns, stone quarries, and iron and tin works that dotted its banks. Paul Sandby and his brother Thomas (1717-1798) began their careers making maps and military drawings in Scotland. Founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768, they both taught in military establishments and Paul was recognised as the leading topographical artist of his time. The artist toured South Wales with Sir Joseph Banks and others in 1773 which resulted in his series of aquatints of published in 1775-1776. His detailed watercolours of the picturesque landscape and the popular prints fuelled the nascent tourism attracting visitors to the Wye Valley.
SoldView detailsKT634 inscribed and dated 'Canonteign July 24. 1829 [?]' on the reverse, pencil, pen and brown ink and grey wash 26.9 x 37.9 cm.; 10 ½ x 14 7/8 inches Provenance: Agnew's, London. Anonymous sale, Phillips, London, 16 July 1996, lot 16; with Heather Newman, Painswick, Gloucestershire. Abbott was one of the best amateur watercolourists of the late Eighteenth Century. A surgeon and apothecary, he lived in Exeter until 1825. He exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy from 1793, receiving contemporary acclaim for the style of his work. The artist John Downman said that ‘he prefers his drawings before his paintings, as they are done with more spirit’ (J. Farington, Diary 26 June 1804; vol. VI, p. 2362). In 1825 Abbott inherited Fordland, a Devon estate, from his uncle James White, an Exeter barrister, Nonconformist and close friend of Francis Towne. Abbott became a patron and pupil of Towne’s, and his linear style shows the artist’s influence. After moving to Fordland he devoted himself to drawing.
View details£ 3,200
Signed, inscribed and dated below: Drawn 1785, by I. Johnson. Woodbridge.-/This OAK stands in Winfarthing, Norfolk, on the Estate of the Rt. Hon: Lord ALBERMARLE./Circumference at Base 51 Feet, at three Feet high 32 Feet, at six Feet, 30 Feet Circum. Height 60 Feet., watercolour and bodycolour over pencil with pen and black ink. Image size 34 x 29 cm.; 13 3/8 x 11 3/8 inches, sheet size 40 x 33 cm.; 15 ¾ x 13 inches Provenance Simon Carter, Woodbridge; R. Geoffrey Smith, Berveriche Manor Farm, Middleton; Martyn Gregory Gallery, London; Hugo Burge (1972-2023) Literature Huon Mallalieu, Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists up to 1920, vol. III, 1990, p. 191, ill.; John Blatchley, Isaac Johnson of Woodbridge: Georgian Surveyor and Artist, 2014, pp. 12-16 The artist was a surveyor and antiquarian as well as an artist who lived in Woodbridge, Suffolk for his adult life. Around 1785 he was considering a volume illustrating the most remarkable trees of Norfolk and Suffolk which never came to fruition, but for which the current drawing would have been a likely candidate. White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, 1883 describes the tree which stood on the estate of the Earl of Albermarle: The celebrated 'Winfarthing Oak,' probably the largest in England except the one at Cowthorpe, in Yorkshire, stands near the Lodge farmhouse, and is a grand and picturesque old ruin. It measures 70 feet round at the roots, and 40 feet in the middle of the main stem, and must have been at one time a magnificent spreading tree, with enormous arms. It is traditionally said to have been called the 'Old Oak' in the time of the Conqueror, and is usually considered to be more than 1200 years old. It is now a mere shell, bleached snowy white, and capable of containing a large number of persons in its interior. It still retains vitality on its south side, and three years ago a rook's nest was built in its branches.
View detailsNumbered l.c.: 28, watercolour over traces of pencil 20.5 x 26.5 cm.; 8 x 10 ½ inches The Italian artist, born in Cremona, settled in England in 1803, having travelled in Greece and Egypt with William Wilkins, R.A. His work has often been confused with that of Constable, particularly his coastal views which look quite similar. Examples of his work may be found at the British Museum, the V&A, Brighton Art Gallery and in several other museum collections.
View detailsWatercolour over pencil 14.8 x 22 cm.; 8 x 8 ¾ inches Provenance Iolo Williams (1890-1962) The Italian artist, born in Cremona, settled in England in 1803, having travelled in Greece and Egypt with William Wilkins, R.A. His work has often been confused with that of Constable, particularly his coastal views which look quite similar. Examples of his work may be found at the British Museum, the V&A, Brighton Art Gallery and in several other museum collections.
View detailsSigned with initials in pencil l.r.: HBB, watercolour 24 x 17 cm.; 9 ½ x 6 ¾ inches Provenance Pietro Raffo, until 2022 £2200 This watercolour shows the influence of J.M.W. Turner, whose watercolour studies were copied by Brabazon.
View details£ 2,200
Signed with initials l.l., watercolour over pencil with touches of bodycolour on grey paper 17 x 26 cm.; 6 ¾ x 10 ¼ inches Exhibited Leger Galleries, London, November 1973; Private collection U.K. until 2022 The second son of Hercules Sharpe, the artist was educated at Harrow. After leaving Cambridge where he read Maths he decided to become an artist and studied in Rome for three years. On the death of his elder brother he inherited the Brabazon estates (and name) in Ireland. He spent his summers in England and his winters travelling in Europe and, from the 1860s, further afield. The artist visited India three times, in 1870, 1875 and 1876. In 1891 Sargent persuaded him to have an exhibition at the Goupil Gallery and, as a result, in his old age he was at the forefront of the modern movement.
View detailsStamped with studio stamp l.r. and inscribed: Venice, watercolour 15 x 23.5 cm.; 5 7/8 x 5 ½ inches, framed size 32 x 39 cm.; 12 1/2 x 15 1/4 inches From an album of watercolours by the artist. Johnson was born in Birmingham where he studied under Samuel Restell Lines. He was then a pupil of William James Müller in London from circa 1842/3-1845, accompanying him to Lycia at the time of Sir Charles Fellowes’ expedition in 1843. The artists travelled for around eight months, spending time in Xanthus, Pinara and Tlos before going to to Rhodes and Smyrna and presumably visited Venice at this time. Johnson, like Müller, continued to work on subjects from this trip after his return to England. On Johnson’s return to London, he became a founder member of the Clipstone Street Academy, along with Müller, participating in its life drawing and painting sessions with a variety of models from the streets. Johnson made sketching trips with David Cox to North Wales from 1844. The artist was elected an associate member of the R.I. in 1868 and a full member two years later. His work can be found in many museum collections, including the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum.
View details£ 2,750
KT584 Signed and dated l.r.: SJ Lamorna Birch/.1916, watercolour with pen and red ink and bodycolour over traces of pencil on artist’s board, signed, inscribed and dated verso in pencil: No 5’The Valley of Lamorna’/SJ. Lamorna Birch RWS/RBS/Lamorna./Penzance., in the original frame made by J.H. Steer Ltd. 36.5 x 54 cm.; 14 3/8 x 21 ¼ inches Provenance W.G. Gill Esq, Aberdeenshire, bought from the RWS exhibition Exhibited Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours, 1916, no. 5 The artist settled in Lamorna in 1892 and lived with his wife at Flagstaff Cottage. He exhibited extensively at the Royal Academy. Shades of British Impressionism Lamorna Birch and his Circle was shown at the Warrington Museum and Art Gallery in October 2004. The exhibition explored his links with Henry Scott Tuke and Thomas Cooper Gotch and their emphasis on colour and light, truth and social realism.
View detailsWatercolour over traces of pencil heightened with gum arabic and stopping out 12.7 x 21.2 cm.; 5 x 8 2/8 inches Provenance Martyn Gregory Fine Art This colourful watercolour dates from 1833-4 and is based on a sketch made on the spot by Commander Robert Elliot, R.N. (1790-1849) in the early 1820s. Several professional watercolour artists copied his sketches, amongst them Thomas Shotter Boys, David Cox, William Purser, Samuel Prout and Clarkson Stanfield, and their watercolours were engraved and published in 1834-5 as Views in India, China, and on the Shores of the Red Sea. The present watercolour was not engraved, but other views made for this series by Cotman are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston. The Elephanta Caves, on Elephanta Island off Mumbai are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for their rock-architecture and carvings. This watercolour is taken from inside the most famous cave.
View detailsOil on paper laid down on canvas 15.1 x 21.6 cm.; 6 x 8 ½ inches Frame size 25.5 x 32 cm.; 10 x 12 ½ inches Engraved By the artist as a lithograph on chine collé, printed by Charles Motte, 1828, plate 8 Newton Fielding produced a series of lithographs of mammals which were printed by Charles Motte in 1828. The artist was the youngest son of portrait painter Nathan Theodore Fielding. From 1827 to 1830 he lived in Paris, where he ran the family engraving business, at which William Callow worked. He was closely associated with the Anglo-French circle of artists centred around Bonington and Delacroix. He collaborated with his brothers Thales and Theodore in England before returning to France where he built up an extensive teaching practice, with pupils including members of the family of King Louis- Philippe. He published a number of teaching manuals and lived in France until his death.
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