John Frederick Lewis, R.A. Arran

Watercolour with bodycolour, gum arabic and scratching out, in original exhibition frame, the frame numbered No 35, with labels verso, one reading: The capture of a/Spanish Spy/With a Portrait of the Carlist/General-Zumala Carregui/(in red cap & trousers)/By Lewis R.A.53.2 x 72.5 cm; 21 x 29 inchesProvenanceSir Arthur Ernest Blake;Possibly Evelyn Isabel Bond née Blake;By family descent to Major-General Mark Bond, OBE, (1922-2017) of Moigne Combe, Dorchester, Dorset;By family descent until 2019ExhibitedSociety of Painters in Water Colours, 1837, no.316 A Spy of the Christino Army brought before the Carlist General in Chief, Zumalacarregui; Royal Academy Winter Exhibition 1891, no.138 CAPTURE OF A SPANISH SPY. [lent by] Arthur Blake EsqLiteratureLiterary Gazette, 1837, no.1058, April 29, pp. 272-73;Athenaeum, 1837, p. 308;The Spectator Vol. 10, week ending April 29, 1837, p.402;Art Journal 38, 1858, p.42, illus. p.41;William Sandby, The History of the Royal Academy of Arts, from its Foundation in 1758 to the Present Time. With Biographical Notices of All the Members, London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts; Green, 1862, vol. ii, p.340;Illustrated London News, 25 March 1865, p.285;Athenaeum;Obituary, p.278;The Graphic, Obituary, 26 August 1876, p.204;Morning Post 3 January 1889;John Lewis Roget, A History of the ‘Old Water-Colour’ Society now the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, London & New York: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1891, vol. 2, bk. 8, p.138;Claude Phillips, ‘John Frederick Lewis, R.A.’, in the Portfolio, Philip Gilbert Hamerton ed., London: Seeley ; Co., 1892, p.93;The Old Water-Colour Society’s Club 1925-1926 vol. iii, 1926, p.33;Hugh Stokes, ‘John Frederick Lewis R.A. (1805-1876)’, Walkers Quarterly, No. 28, London: Walker’s Galleries, 1929, p.18;Brinsley Ford, ‘J.F.Lewis and Richard Ford in Seville’, 1832-33, The Burlington Magazine, May 1942, pp.128;Nicholas Tromans, ‘J. F. Lewis’s Carlist War subjects’, The Burlington Magazine vol. cxxxix, no.1136, November 1997, pp.760-762, illus. fig 48. (the print)EngravedBy C.G. Lewis, 1840, published May 1, 1840 by Hodgson & Graves, 6 Pall Mall; the final state, etched and engraved by F.C. and C.G. Lewis, published in 1841The rediscovery of this major watercolour by J.F. Lewis, famous in its day, after 128 years, is the cause of some excitement. The artist often dealt in the unexpected, and the unusual nature of this picture is best described in his own words which accompanied it when he exhibited it at the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1837: "no.316 A Spy of the Christino Army brought before the Carlist General in Chief, Zumalacárregui. In the Basque provinces, Navarre, &c. the present seat of civil war in Spain, the peasantry were constantly pressed into the service of the contending powers to convey intelligence from one general to another. It is needless to add, that when taken by the opposite party, they were instantly shot. The present subject represents the arrest of a peasant and his family. A monk is shewing to the Carlist chief, Zumalacárregui, (who is standing at a table to the left of the picture) the dispatches found upon him. The portrait of the general has been done from sketches and descriptions kindly given to the artist by Captain Henningsen, his late aide-de-camp. He is dressed simply in the red cap, and zamarra, or jacket of sheepskin, worn ordinarily by him, in common with all classes of the Basque provinces, and indeed he was remarkable for his total neglect of military costume. To his left is his secretary, and behind him is an aide-de-camp. The priest is supposed to be the celebrated Curé Merino, &;c. &;c.See ‘A Twelvemonth’s Campaign with Zumalucarregui’, by Capt. Henningsen. For price apply to Mr. Lewis, 78 Wimpole Street, Sold order of Mr. Lewis.” The first Carlist war was fought from 1833 to 1840, between the supporters of the Regent, Maria Christina, (hence the term Cristinos) acting for the infant Queen Isabella II of Spain, and those of the late King's Ferdinand VII’s brother, Carlos de Borbón (hence Carlists). The Carlists invoked Salic Law in order to promote an autocratic monarchy espousing ‘God, Country and King’, whereas Isabella had Liberal supporters. After the proclamation of Don Carlos's bid for the throne, the progress of the conflict was eagerly followed in Britain, and, as with the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, divided opinion, and attracted participants on both sides from other countries. The fighting in the first war was mainly carried out in the Basque Country, Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia. It continued over the course of the nineteenth century, with two further wars, and into the twentieth century, as a minor aspect of the origins of the Spanish Civil War. As Lewis described above, Captain Charles Frederick Henningsen, (1815-1877), of Danish and Irish descent, volunteered and served as an aide-de-camp to General Tomás de Zumalacárregui e Imaz, the Basque leader of the Carlist forces. After successfully publishing his controversial book about his experiences in the war, Henningsen met Lewis in London or Paris, where the artist apparently hatched the plan to paint a topical modern history work, featuring Henningsen, the controversial figure of Zumalacárregui, and the sanguinary priest, the Cura Merino. Lewis obtained some rough pen and ink annotated sketches from Henningsen, two of which, wrongly attributed to Lewis himself, are part of a group of sketches bequeathed to the V&A by Marian Lewis in 1908, and another, a pen and ink sketch of Zumalacárregui (also traditionally wrongly attributed to Lewis), is in a private collection. Henningsen probably also gave Lewis the famous red cap worn by Zumalacárregui, which was last seen as lot 518 in Lewis’ studio sale, (Christie’s, 4 May 1877), described as Crimson cloth hat of Zumalacaraguy. The artist had returned from Spain in 1833, before the hostilities had started in earnest. As Lewis had never met the principal protagonists, he relied on Henningsen to provide the information and some annotated sketches of them. At least parts of this picture appear to have been painted in Paris. William Callow, who did not return to Britain from France until 1841 recalled, many years later, that :‘On several occasions I posed for him as a model, once for my ear, and on another occasion wearing a cap of Zumalacarrequi [sic], a Spanish chieftain' (W. Callow: An Autobiography, ed. H.M.Cundall, London [1908], pp.26-27). However, it seems likely that the aged Callow may have been conflating more than one visit to Paris by Lewis. Lewis has been given the popular epithet Spanish Lewis, for successfully exhibiting and selling a large number of watercolours of Spain and its peoples. Lewis's friend and mentor, David Wilkie, had set a precedent for modern history painting of this type, with the Defence of Saragossa, (1828) and, in particular, The Spanish Posada: A Guerrilla Council of War (1828, both Royal Collection), both of which depict scenes from the Napoleonic Wars. Although the picture was conceived as a relatively simple dramatic tableau, Lewis characteristically gave the protagonists subtle expressions appropriate to their roles. General Zumalacárregui in his red cap, cigarette in hand, is shown with his customary stern demeanour, heightened by his grim expression on seeing the evidence. Seated in the centre is the priest and army commander, Cura Jerónimo Merino Cob, who like Zumalacárregui, had fought as a merciless guerrilla leader in the Peninsular wars. He holds up the damning dispatches, his face a picture of sinister, quiet triumph, as he shows the evidence that will condemn the forlorn prisoner, who is consumed with conflicting disbelief at his imminent fate. The expression of confusion of the puzzled little boy and the abject sadness of his mother, the prisoner's wife, add to the tension of the scene. To the left is a portrait of Captain Henningsen in profile, in a dark green uniform, his massive chest appropriate for a cavalry officer of the time. Even the dog seems to be aware of the acute tension in the room. Like many of Lewis's paintings, the present work was favourably reviewed in the contemporary press. However, there is also the ambiguity found in many of his other pictures. Depending on your point of view, it can be seen as an illustration of the ruthless cruelty of the Carlist General Zumalacárregui and the tragedy of the unfortunate spy and his family, or, as in Henningsen’s eyes, it could reflect the stern nature and skill of the General, and the legitimacy of his cause. In 1838, Lewis exhibited another scene from the Carlist Wars, entitled 'The Pillage of a Convent, in Spain, by Guerilla Soldiers' (private collection). The subject of ‘The Spy’ became well known as it was widely circulated by a large etching and mezzotint made by the artist's father, F.C. Lewis, and his brother, C.G. Lewis, with the more emotive title, ‘The Spanish Wife’s Last Appeal’, and issued from 1840 through to final publication in June 1841. The Art Union (June,1840, p.92) records the print: 'Zamalacarrecui and the Christino Spy: Of this print, too, an etching has been issued. It is in process of engraving by J. F. Lewis;[sic] from one of the most famous pictures of his brother. The scene it depicts has been common enough during the civil war in Spain; the Guerilla chief is represented ordering off to execution a Christino spy, whose wife intercedes in vain for his pardon. The doomed man is led away, between guards; while the famous Cure Merino produces the written proof of his guilt. Behind Zamalacarregui [sic] is the English Captain Heinengen,[sic] the chronicler of his exploits. The subject is well composed; skilfully grouped; and conveys an impressive idea of a frightful passage in a most appalling and revolting war. The likeness of the great Carlist leader is said to be a striking one—it is the portrait of a man of great energy, but of merciless character, from whose sentence there is no appeal. The print will be interesting because of its novelty, as well as its merits as a work of art'. The mistakes in the names in the Art Journal article might be because the printers could not read the unfamiliar names in the handwriting of the Art Union correspondent - often the case with newspapers of the time. There was considerable contemporary public indignation in Britain at the savage treatment of spies on both sides in the Carlist War. Lewis also made four studies for at least one other Carlist war picture, never realized, allegedly titled 'The Proclamation of Don Carlos'. One of these, now in the collection of the Morgan Library & Museum, New York (1977.31), shows Zumalacárregui in the same pose, but commanding at a battle or siege. Zumalacárregui’s family home in the Basque country, Spain, is now a museum devoted to him, the Museo Zumalakarregi in Ormaiztegi (Gipuzkoa). The collection includes pieces from the Carlist Wars, personal and military belongings of Tomás Zumalacárregui and his family as well as other material from the period. The general has been credited with the invention of the tortilla or Spanish omelette. Apparently during the Bilbao siege in 1835 he created it to feed his troops. Legend also has it that Zumálacarregui copied the recipe from a peasant woman who gave him dinner on one occasion. To be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the work of J.F. Lewis by the late Briony Llewellyn and Charles Newton. We are most grateful to Charles Newton for assistance with this footnote.

Signed and dated l.r.: W. Callow.1833, watercolour over traces of pencil with scratching outProvenancePrivate collection U.K. until 2026This 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.

Cecil Arthur Hunt, RWS (1873-1965)Mount Etna, SicilySigned in pencil l.l.: C.A. Hunt, watercolour, inscribed on label attached to backboard: From Cecil & Phyllis Hunt/Christmas 1954/Etna9 x 13,5 cm.; 3 ½ x 5 5/8 inchesFrame size 15 x 29 cm.; 6 x 11 3/8 inchesProvenanceAgnew’s;Private collection UKHunt and his wife, Phyllis made many trips to Sicily, an island which inspired the artist. They always stayed at the Casa Cuseni, the villa in Taormina belonging to his friend and art critic, R. H. Kitson, the painter and critic, who he first met at Cambridge. Casa Cuseni is now a museum and is, perhaps, best known for its dining room designed by Sir Frank Brangwyn (1867 – 1956).

Signed with initials l.r.: HBB, watercolour and bodycolour over pencil, inscribed verso: Siracuse and stamped with collector’s markProvenanceGilbert 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.

Pen and brown ink and wash over traces of pencil on laid paper12 x 9.7 cm.; 4 ¾ x 3 3/4 inchesFramed in a dark wood moulding31 x 29 cm.; 12 1/4 x 11 1/2 inchesProvenance: Dickinson

Watercolour over pencil20.5 x 38 cm.; 8 1/8 x 15 inchesProvenanceWalter Coleridge Richmond (1852-1931), the son of the artist, by descent;With Radnorshire Fine ArtRichmond continued to draw and paint landscapes throughout his successful career as a portraitist. These works remained private and stayed mainly in his family. This beautiful sketch has a directness which reflects his enjoyment of the opportunity for contemplation when drawing from nature.

Signed with monogram l.r., inscribed l.l.: near Calikut., watercolour heightened with touches of bodycolourProvenanceFranklin Lushington (1823-1901) and thence by descentLear 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.

Pencil9 x 15 cm.; 3 ½ x 6 inchesProvenanceThe artist's studio sale, Christie's, 8 - 15 May 1874, bt. by Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd. (23366);J.M.M., a Christmas present from C. 1962

Stamped with the artist’s stamp l.l., watercolour over pencil heighted with white on rough buff paper32.3 x 46.5 cm; 12 5/8 x 18 ¼ incheProvenance: Christie’s, London, the Artist’s Studio sale, March 13 -17, 1884 (13 gns);The Fine Art Society, London, April 1966;Hermione Hobhouse (1933-2014);By family descent until 2020Exhibited: Glasgow International Exhibition, 1888Literature: Delia Millar, 'The Victorian Watercolours in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen', 2 vols., London, 1995, no. 3422Osborne House on the Isle of Wight was a summer retreat built for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert between 1845 and 1851, designed by Albert himself in the style of an Italian palazzo. The stone lions shown here at the foot of the steps, copied from the antique, were acquired in January 1851, and were in place by 9 March 1851. The groups of children possibly include Princess Helena and Princess Louise, described by their mother as 'looking extremely pretty in little blue silk polkas, with white silk hats' (Queen Victoria’s Journal, 15 August 1851).There is another smaller version of this watercolour in the Royal Collection dated August 1851 (RCIN 919847). The present drawing would seem to be the preliminary drawing as passages are unfinished. The version in the Royal Collection has an additional figure group at the bottom of the stairs. Leitch also drew two further watercolours of Osborne under construction drawn circa 1847 (RCIN 91982 and 91983). William Leighton Leitch was one of Queen Victoria's favourite watercolour artists, and she commissioned many watercolours from him for her View Albums. Leitch also taught watercolour to the Queen and her children, all of whom copied his work. He stayed at Osborne from 31 July 1851 and for most of August that year. It has been suggested that this drawing may have been made as a drawing lesson for some members of the Royal Family.Hermione Hobhouse was an architectural historian and preservation campaigner. During her distinguished career, during which she acted as secretary of ‘The Victorian Society’ from 1976-1983, she wrote numerous books, including Prince Albert: His Life and Work, 1983.Stamped with the artist’s stamp l.l., watercolour over pencil heighted with white on rough buff paper32.3 x 46.5 cm; 12 5/8 x 18 ¼ incheProvenance: Christie’s, London, the Artist’s Studio sale, March 13 -17, 1884 (13 gns);The Fine Art Society, London, April 1966;Hermione Hobhouse (1933-2014);By family descent until 2020Exhibited: Glasgow International Exhibition, 1888Literature: Delia Millar, 'The Victorian Watercolours in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen', 2 vols., London, 1995, no. 3422

Two, each signed l.l.and l.r., each inscribed l.c.: F. Concolr./life and F. Ocelot.of.Albany./Life, watercolour over pencilEach approx. 25 x 17.5 cm.; 9 ¾ x 6 7/8 inchesThe 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.