Peter Rees
Director, Head of Sales
Lot 65
William de Morgan(British, 1839-1917)Ariadne at Naxos
Amended
28 September 2016, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £20,000 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our 19th Century & Orientalist Paintings specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
William de Morgan (British, 1839-1917)
Ariadne at Naxos
oil on canvas
76 x 40cm (29 15/16 x 15 3/4in).
in an arch-topped slip frame
oil on canvas
76 x 40cm (29 15/16 x 15 3/4in).
in an arch-topped slip frame
Footnotes
Provenance
(probably) Ex-collection of Wilhelmina Stirling (1865-1965)
Private collection, prior to 1970
Sold at auction, circa 1972
Private collection, UK
The present lot is a major discovery. William de Morgan is best known as the most important ceramic artist of the Arts and Crafts Movement and paintings by him, either in oils or watercolour are extremely rare. The De Morgan Foundation holds an oil self-portrait, and there is a watercolour of Moses in the Bullrushes at Wightwick Manor, but fully worked oils by the artist, whose preparations for his stained-glass designs were usually executed in pencil and wash, are very unusual.
The present work can be dated to around 1860-70, during the early phase of de Morgan's career. Although he made his reputation with his stained glass and tile designs, and is best known for his collaborations with William Morris, and his decoration of Leighton House, William de Morgan would have received training in painting when attending the Royal Academy Schools in 1859, where Frederick Walker (1840-1875), Simeon Solomon (1840-1905) and Henry Holiday (1839-1927) were among his contemporaries. In 1863 Holiday introduced de Morgan to William Morris, thus beginning a famous creative collaboration.
Although the present lot appears to be a stand-alone idea, de Morgan's interest in stained glass design is evident in the shape and formulaic style of the composition, even down to the arched top which gives it the appearance of a church window. It shows more influence of the work of Edward Burne-Jones, who also collaborated with William Morris (1834-1896), than to the work of his own wife Evelyn de Morgan (1855-1919). Painted in 1887, Evelyn's own treatment of the famous myth of Ariadne, the jilted and abandoned lover of Greek mythology, could not be more contrasting.
The present lot has a label attached to the reverse, in the hand of Wilhelmina Stirling (1865-1955), who was the sister of Evelyn de Morgan, and founder of the De Morgan Centre. This would suggest that the work was once part of Wilhelmina's collection, although it was not listed as part of her Estate, and must have left her collection prior to the establishment of the De Morgan Foundation in 1970.
We are grateful to Claire Longworth, Curator of the De Morgan Foundation, for her assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Saleroom notices
Please note updated provenance for this lot: Provenance (probably) Ex-collection of Wilhelmina Stirling (1865-1965), founder of the De Morgan Collection Private collection, prior to 1970 Sale, Sotheby's London, 12 December 1972, lot 108, sold for £220 to Newmann Private collection, UK Gifted to the present owner, August 1985
Additional information
Bid now on these items
