Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe, OBE, RA Sketch for a pair of pintail ducks

Signed 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.

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) A sheep in wolf’s clothing Pen and brown ink and watercolour over traces of pencil 17 x 14.2 cm.; 6 ¾ x 6 ½ inches Frame size 32.5 x 29 cm.; 12 ½ x 11 ½ inches Provenance The Leger Galleries Ltd., August 1961; Private collection U.K. until 2021 Exhibited The Leger Galleries Ltd, August 1961 This amusing, mildly erotic, drawing, which dates from c. 1805-1820, illustrates a subject which Rowlandson drew often throughout his career. The young beauty donning men’s clothes is clearly the dominant figure in the composition which shows an ageing man ogling the progress of her toilette from around the doorway and an old crone assisting her. There is ambiguity in the subject which may show an elopement or, more likely, an actress preparing for the stage. In late eighteenth century comedies an actress who dresses as a man to meet her lover is a frequent plot device. The present drawing may represent either such a scene or an actress in her dressing room putting on her costume in preparation for this. The bottle lends weight to the possibility of this being a theatrical subject which may be compared with the 1810 print ‘Dramatic demireps at their morning rehearsal’ which contains numerous bottles [link]. A further example of Rowlandson tackling a similar subject can be found in ‘dressing for a masquerade’ in the collection of the Barber Institute [link], a subject after which a print was made in 1788, ‘Cyprians; Dressing for a Masquerade’.

Oil on board, inscribed verso: Grindlay, inscribed on old backing paper by one of Edward Grindlay’s children: An early James Gunn/My father admired it in the/Studio so James framed it/and gave it to him 22.4 x 14.2 cm.; 8 7/8 x 5 5/8 inches Frame size 34 x 24 cm.; 13 3/8 x 9 ½ inches Provenance Given by the artist to Edward Grindlay; By descent until 2021 This beautiful view of the Place de la Concorde was done in 1911-1912 when Gunn studied at the Académie Julian in Paris under Jean Paul Laurens. It is previously unrecorded and a significant addition to his rare small pictures of Paris. While in Paris Gunn started to make tonally delicate panels of the city on small boards, using a muted palette reminiscent of Whistler, capturing street scenes with tiny figures drawn with a few strokes of the brush. He also made regular visits to the Louvre to draw from the Old Masters and rented a room at 2 bis rue Perel. His small pictures of Paris are not numerous and are highly sought after. Gunn has painted this work from near the centre of the Place de la Concorde, looking towards the eastern end of the Champs Elysées, with the Grand Palais visible behind the trees of the Jardin des Champs-Elysées. The statue on the plinth is one of the famous Chevaux de Marly by Guillaume Costou, brought from the Chateau de Marly in 1719 and now in the Louvre. James Gunn attended drawing lessons from the age of five. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art, the Edinburgh College of Art before he went to Paris. Gunn returned to Edinburgh in 1912 and also spent time in London. Early in 1914, at the instigation of the London dealer W.B. Paterson, he travelled widely in Europe, sending pictures back home, and revisiting Paris and Étretat. He enlisted with the Artists Rifles in 1915. Gunn gave a speech to the Glasgow Art Club in November 1955 and reminisced about his early career, ‘…In Paris I studied at the Académie Julian under Jean Paul Laurens…I returned from Paris with a collection of sketches made in the streets and by the river. Many of these passed through the house of Anna. There they were seen and some were purchased by a dealer from Bond Street, W.B. Paterson, brother of the distinguished Scottish Academician, James. He gave me a contract, paid me a retaining fee and I undertook to provide him with not less than thirty pictures a year. At his instigation I went to Spain at the beginning of 1914. There I travelled, seeing and painting, till the echoes from Sarajevo warned that the good days were soon to end’. Edward ‘Teddy’ Grindlay and Gunn met in 1917 towards the end of WWI when they were commissioned into the 10th Scottish Rifles, the beginning of a life-long friendship. Gunn’s drawings of his fellow officers were published in a book ‘The 10th Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles): a Record and a Memorial 1914-1918’. Grindlay saw this oil sketch in Gunn’s studio and admired it, so the artist had it framed and gave it to his friend. Edward and his wife Evelyn were both painted by Gunn who also painted a conversation piece of their house at 1 Newton Grove, Bedford Park in London in 1927. They later moved to Westcott near Dorking. They owned many paintings and drawings by Gunn who used his friend as a model for Maurice Baring in his famous conversation piece with Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton, which is now in the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG3654). He received commissions from many of the leading figures of the day and painted the Royal Family in another famous conversation piece at Royal Lodge, Windsor (NPG3778). Gunn had a successful career as a portrait painter and in 1961 was elected a member of the Royal Academy.

Stamped 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.

Two, each signed l.l.and l.r., each inscribed l.c.: F. Concolr./life and F. Ocelot.of.Albany./Life, watercolour over pencil Each approx. 25 x 17.5 cm.; 9 ¾ x 6 7/8 inches The artist was self-taught and specialised in drawings of animals and field sports. From a wealthy Quaker family, Howitt took up art professionally when he encountered financial difficulties and became a drawing master in Ealing. He married Thomas Rowlandson's sister Elizabeth in 1779 and was part of Rowlandson's circle together with George Morland, Henry Wigstead and J.R. Smith.

Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827) Soldiers on parade, France Pen and grey ink and watercolour over traces of pencil, inscribed: Depot de Gardes Françoise 14.4 x 23.4 cm.; 5 33/4 x 9 ¼ inches Provenance Richard Green Ltd Rowlandson frequently painted military subjects and here he draws English soldiers standing to attention while passers-by walk past unperturbed carrying on their daily activities. The dépôt de Gardes françaises was the Parisian barracks for the elite regiment of troops which protected the French Royal family and was disbanded in 1789 when the soldiers joined the Revolutionary troops.

Anna Tonelli (née Nistri) (c. 1763-1846) Portrait of Frances Anderson (née Gosling) (1768-1850), half-length, wearing a white dress and blue headdress, signed on backboard: Anna Tonelli/fe..in Londra/1798, inscribed on backing on reverse: glass taken out and restored 1848 (?). Frances Anderson née Gosling/born 1768 died 1850 at Dorset Gardens/Brighton Pastel, framed as an oval in the original frame 25.5 x 21 cm.; 10 x 8 ¼ inches Provenance By family descent to Pamela Bruce Clarke (1915-1989); By family descent at The Grange, Wendover, Buckinghamshire, until October 2024 Literature N. Jeffares, Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800, online edition, no. J.722.167 Portrait of Robert Anderson (1764-1837) half-length, wearing a black coat and with powdered hair, signed on backboard: Anna Tonelli/fece in Londra/1798, inscribed on label attached to backboard: Robert Anderson M.D. Born 1704 died 1837/at Dorset Gardens, Brighton, Restored 1893. W.B.C./Ancestor of Pamela Bruce Clarke Pastel, framed as an oval, in the original frame 25.5 x 21 cm.; 10 x 8 ¼ inches Frame size 32 x 28 cm.; 12 ½ x 11 inches Robert Anderson was a physician in Brighton who married Frances Gosling in 1788. The couple lived in Dorset Gardens, Brighton. Anna Tonelli, née Nistri, was probably trained in Florence, possibly by Giuseppe Piattoli (1743-1823) with whom she collaborated on a portrait of the family of Granduca Pietro Leopoldo, which was engraved in 1785. At some stage before 1785 she married the virtuoso violinist Luigi Tonelli. It seems highly likely that she came across the work of Hugh Douglas Hamilton in Rome. Tonelli met Lord Clive, ‘Clive of India’, while he was travelling in Italy, and he employed her to make pastels of members of his family. From 1794 she taught drawing to his children in London. She exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1794 and 1797, giving her address as 97 Norton Street. The artist travelled with the Clive family to India between 1798 and 1801, moving around southern India with Lady Clive and her daughters. During her time in the subcontinent, she seems to have worked in watercolour or miniature, rather than pastel, and charged twelve to thirty guineas for a miniature. She painted the Rajah of Tanjore and Tipu Sultan on this trip. She returned to Florence in 1801. Tonelli’s work has been confused often with that of Hugh Douglas Hamilton. She is known to have copied his work for Lord Clive, producing portraits in 1790s to add to a series begun by Hamilton. In 1806 the American agent in Paris, Filippo Mazzei, engaged her to bring up his daughter Elisabetta. He provided a description of the family to Thomas Jefferson (letter, 20th July 1806) with a view to them emigrating to the USA, praising the father, a violinist ‘the peer of any other’, the two children (born c.1789–90), and the mother who ‘sings and plays the piano like an expert; knows very well her own language, French, and English; draws and paints with excellent taste; is accomplished in embroidery and all needlework; and knows geography quite well.’ Jefferson’s response highlighted the expense of living in a major city, which may have deterred the family, as by 2 November 1807 they were in Pisa with Mazzei, while by 1809 they seem to have returned to Florence. The Grange, Wendover was owned from 1789 to 1794 by John Barker Church (1748-1818). Barker Church was an English born businessman and the supplier of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was one of the few American revolutionaries to sit in the English parliament. His brother-in-law was Alexander Hamilton the influential founding father of the United States. Hamilton and Church were not only business partners but also friends having married sisters. Hamilton went on to have a love affair with Church’s wife Angelica Schuyler. She is featured in the popular musical ‘Hamilton’ by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Church is referred to as her ‘wealthy husband’.

KT693 Elizabeth Gould (1804-1841) Maryland or northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) Signed l.r.: Eliza Gould/1829, watercolour, inscribed in pencil l.r.: Maryland Quail and further indistinctly inscribed, on wove paper watermarked 1816 64 x 50.5 cm.; 25 ¼ x 19 ¾ inches Provenance Thomas Barwick Lloyd Baker (1807-1886) of Hardwicke Court, Gloucestershire, promotor of reformatory schools and influential writer on crime and punishment; thence by family descent until 2025 Elizabeth Gould was one of the most important ornithological artists of the nineteenth century. Probably because much of her short life was spent in the shadow of her husband, Elizabeth Gould’s significant artistic and scientific contribution to the art of natural history has been overlooked traditionally. However, her reputation has recently been reassessed in Andrea Hart and Ann Datta’s monograph Birds of the World: The Art of Elizabeth Gould, published in 2023. The present watercolour is signed ‘Eliza Gould’ which was John Gould’s name for her and drawn when she was twenty-five. Her early work shows her talent as a draughtswoman, meticulous attention to detail and ability to capture the characteristics of a species most convincingly. The bobwhite quail, also known as the Virginia quail is a small but distinctive species native to much of North America, including the eastern coast of Mexico and the islands of the Caribbean. It has been in decline for the last half century due to habitat loss. In Maryland, they are found throughout the year in the eastern counties and less west of Chesapeake Bay. The bobwhite is a small bird, ranging from 9 to 11 inches in length and 13 to 15 inches in wingspan, weighing from 6 to 9 ounces each. While there are regional variations in appearance among males across its range, the females are similar in all locations. Females are generally dull brown with a buff-coloured throat, while males have a white throat and a distinctive brow stripe with a black border. Eastern bobwhites may have rufous-coloured breast feathers.

Watercolour, with a pencil sketch of a house in a landscape verso, on laid paper 11.2 x 13 cm Provenance: William Arnold Sandby; John Manning, London; Private collection, UK until 2017 William Arnold Sandby (c. 1828-1904) was the great-grandson of Thomas Sandby, author of the first book about the artists, Thomas and Paul Sandby-Royal Academicians, 1892, and the historian of the Royal Academy (two volumes of its history published in 1862). He had a large collection of the work of his forebears, helped organise their first exhibition at Nottingham Castle Museum in 1884 and bequeathed many of their works to museum collections.

Pen and grey ink and watercolour over pencil 11 x 17.2 cm.; 4 ¼ x 6 ¾ inches Provenance: Sotheby’s, London, 29 October 1964, lot 248; Ann Spokes Symonds, Oxford Ann Symonds worked for the Fine Art Society in 1960s.