Richard Ansdell, RA

(British, 1815-1885)

Brittany Pets

Footnotes

Provenance
With Thomas Agnew & Sons, 1864, no. 3279 (sold to A.J. Stewart for £577.10)
Charles Suthers; his sale, 1876.
With Thomas Agnew & Sons, Manchester (acquired from the above on behalf of Thomas Lloyd Esq., 29 April 1876 - according to a label attached to the stretcher).
Private collection, Italy.

The provenance indicates that the present lot was acquired by Agnew's in 1876 at the sale of Charles Suthers. Records held at The National Gallery (archive number NGA27/20/4/6) show that Agnew's had a claim against the bankrupt Suthers of just under £9000 in 1877. Charles Suthers was a wealthy Oldham cotton miller; his son Leghe Suthers was born in 1855 and associated with the Newlyn School.

The present lot is a painting that exudes peace and tranquillity, depicting a unique symbiosis between beast and human which gladdens the heart. It is a charming scene inside a stable or bothy where the mother cow has given birth to her calf. We are given a glimpse through the stable door of a thatched dove cote which is obviously part of the farmyard layout down a rural country lane. The farm girl is tenderly embracing the mother cow which, in turn, is tenderly licking her new born calf. There is total trust between them all; there is an element of wistfulness in the girl's expression which makes us wonder what is going through her mind. It is summer and her straw hat displays red rose buds which symbolise beauty and purity and love at first sight.

The stars of the show are the cattle which are meticulously depicted, hair by hair, sparkling eye by sparkling eye and moist noses that you can almost touch. They display the huge talent for which Ansdell was known when painting animals – accuracy, realism and above all, sympathy for the humble beast. Ansdell's characteristic three-legged milking stool and pail are used to good advantage and were two of his favourite props. He kept many props in his studio.

Although Ansdell was thought to have travelled to Brittany as a young artist following a circus and working as a sign writer before he became famous on the Victorian art forum, this information was never substantiated, and it may be that the title of this painting comes from the cattle breed depicted, most likely the Bretonne Pie Noir cattle – the calf being a Red Pied variant which died out in the twentieth century.

We are grateful to Sarah Dean (formerly Kellam, nee Ansdell) for compiling this catalogue entry. For more information on the artist, see www.richardansdell.co.uk.