Emily Williams

(British fl. 1869-1890)

The drawing room, Townshend House

Footnotes

Provenance
Sale including the contents of 17 Grove End Road, Hampton & Sons, London, 11 June 1913.
Thomas Agnew & Sons.
C.P. Mason; sale, Sotheby's, Belgravia, 5 November 1974, lot 64.
Professor George Teeling Smith.
With The Fine Art Society, London.
The Irish News Collection (acquired from the above.)

Illustrated
Elizabeth Prettejohn & Peter Trippi, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, At Home in Antiquity, London, 2017, no. 97, p. 85.
Elizabeth Prettejohn et al, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Zwolle, 1997, p.54.

Literature
William Cosmo Monkhouse, British Contemporary Artists, 1899, p.225.
F.G. Stephens, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, R.A., 1895, pp. 15-16.
Rudolph de Cordova, 'The panels in Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's Hall', The Strand Magazine, Vol. XXIV, 1902, pp. 615-630, ill. p.625.

Six Panels from 17 Grove End Road, the London Residence of Sir Lawrence and Lady Alma-Tadema

This group of six panels are from the set of forty-five which originally formed part of a decorative scheme in the hall of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's remodelled studio house at 17 (now 44) Grove End Road. The house had previously been the residence and studio of James Tissot who had returned to Paris four years earlier. Alma-Tadema and his family finally moved there in 1886; a move that was instigated by the severe damage which was caused to his previous residence of Townshend House following an explosion on the Regent's Canal in October 1874 when the 'Tilbury', a barge carrying nuts, coffee, petroleum and five tons of gunpowder exploded under Macclesfield Bridge.

The Roman style design of the new house ('Casa Tadema' as it became known), provided the artist and his family with both domestic and studio space, and as Charlotte Gere wrote: 'Architecturally sophisticated, Grove End Road's axial crossings and different levels afforded unexpected views of Tadema's set pieces using his vast collection of antiques and curios'¹.

Part of the decorative scheme included the Hall of Panels. On entering the villa, guests could climb a steep staircase lined with burnished brass to enter Alma-Tadema's studio which was reminiscent of a Byzantine Church, or they could turn left and enter the domestic side of the house. Passing through the conservatory, they would arrive in the hall where the white walls of the fireplace alcove were inset with painted panels. Some of the panels had been brought from Townshend House, but the set would eventually number forty-five and included gifts from the artist's friends, professional colleagues and family. Described by the critic F.G. Stephens as 'substantial visiting cards (and) charming pictures, (each) painted to fill its own particular niche in the wall of the house beautiful'.

The set was complete by 1902, and with some variation in width, each work measured roughly 31 1/2in. high. Among the contributors were Frederic, Lord Leighton, John Singer Sargent, Sir Frank Dicksee, Alfred East, Sir Edward John Poynter, Briton Riviere and Marcus Stone who produced the largest of all. Described as 'Unique in London, unique in the world...' a comprehensive account and commentary on the group by Rudolph de Cordova appeared in The Strand Magazine in 1902 in which thirty-eight of the panels were photographed in situ. The article discusses many of them in detail and the challenges encountered by some of the artists as they strove to produce a piece that was not only representative of their style, but that was also sympathetic to the overall scheme and acted as a personal message to Alma-Tadema. As de Cordova writes 'There are many halls whose wall are graced by valuable paintings some of which may be and undoubtedly are, the gifts of artist friends. No other hall however is entirely adorned by the gift of brother artists whose work has been specially designed and executed for a certain definite place and no other...'²

Following Alma-Tadema's death in 1912, the contents of 17 Grove End Road were sold at auction by Hampton's in London. The panels were offered on 11 June 1913.

¹Elizabeth Prettejohn & Peter Trippi, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, At Home in Antiquity, London, 2017, p.89.
²Rudolph de Cordova, 'The Panels in Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's Hall', The Strand Magazine, Vol. XXIV, 1902, passim.

Emily Epps Williams was Tadema's sister-in-law. She exhibited several times at The Royal Academy and The Grosvenor Gallery. Painted in 1885, this view of the Drawing Room at Townshend House clearly shows the striking black and white floor created by Tadema. The drawing room was also painted the same year by Emily's niece, Anna, but shown as if the viewer is looking in from the Gold Room. The same lantern can be seen hanging from the highly decorated ceiling; a heavy brocade curtain hangs as a room divider and a throne chair can be seen beyond.