Peter Rees
Director, Head of Sales
Lot 58
Richard Doyle(British, 1824-1883)A jubilant procession
21 – 22 September 2022, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£5,000 - £7,000
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Richard Doyle (British, 1824-1883)
A jubilant procession
bears signature and dated 'RDoyle/1884' (lower right)
watercolour and pen and ink
23 x 35.3cm (9 1/16 x 13 7/8in).
bears signature and dated 'RDoyle/1884' (lower right)
watercolour and pen and ink
23 x 35.3cm (9 1/16 x 13 7/8in).
Footnotes
Provenance
With The Nicholson Gallery, London.
The collection of Sir Eric Campbell Geddes GCB GBE PC (1875-1937).
Thence by direct descent to the present owners.
Sir Eric Campbell Geddes GCB GBE PC ((1875-1937), who previously owned both Doyles offered in this sale, was a noted businessman and politician. Having worked for railway companies in the US and India, he rose to the rank of Deputy General Manager of the North Eastern Railway, leaving the post in 1915. It was Geddes' work during the First World War for which he is best noted, as he initially oversaw massive improvements in the output of firearms and munitions whilst in the position of Deputy Director General of Munitions Supply. Having been invited to comment on the railway system at the European Front in 1916, Geddes so impressed Sir Douglas Haig, Commander of the British Expeditionary Force, that he was given the military rank of Major General with the job title of Director General of Military Railways and Inspector-General of Transportation. In 1917 he then found himself in charge of British shipbuilding with the naval rank of Vice-Admiral and title of Controller, before, later in 1917, becoming a Conservative MP for Cambridge with the rank of First Lord of the Admiralty. Geddes' impact on the war effort was huge; he streamlined the production of vital arms and munitions; made sure that they could be transported to where needed most; and, finally, helped rebuild British naval power which was suffering due to the German U-boat.
