SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATIONS

Reports of Christie's auction of 9th July 1864
At which Lot 152 was 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol'

Art Journal, Bristol Museum & Redford

Christie's auction of 9th July 1864included a picture which is identified as 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol'.

In the Art Journal 1864 page 267 the picture is described as:
• The Hotwells, Bristol - storm coming on
• An oil, an early work by Turner
• A work originally painted for the Rev. J Nixon (the 'J' is incorrect; it was 'R')
• From the collection of Dr. Nixon (son of Rev. R. Nixon)
• This Art Journal report also includes 'The Country Waggon, Snowden (sic) - Early Morning' and shows 'Reynolds' as the buyer of both pictures. (The reference to Reynolds is misleading - it was probably the failed bid. However, some later commentaries did include 'Reynolds' as a genuine buyer.)

In the provenance of the watercolour [see below] now in Bristol Museum K816:
• This watercolour was aquired in 1925 by the Bristol Museum as 'Hotwells House'.
• After the aquisition it was renamed 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells [from] St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol'. The provenance assigned to it included 'Reynolds'.
• Clearly research at the time (after 1925) found that the picture in Christie's sale of 9th July 1864 as 'The Hotwells, Bristol - storm coming on' was 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol'.
• The watercolour was misidentified but that does not diminish the research which determined that the picture in the 9th July 1864 auction was 'The Rising Squall'.
• In respect of the later part of the provenace, Mrs H.S.Fussey and Rev. J.Patton have both been fully identified.

In Redford 'Art Sales' [3] [published 1888]
• The sale is listed as an oil
• It is included in '1864' sales but Redford does not provide specific dates
• The title is shown as 'Hotwells, Bristol'
• The seller is listed as 'Hogarth'; (It is known to be Nixon's picture from The Art Journal).
• The buyer column is blank.
• 'The Country Waggon, Snowden (sic) - Early Morning' as 'Waggon, Snowdon - early morning' appears above the 'Hotwells' entry.

Art Journal

Art Journal entries for this sale are shown here, lot numbers have been added after the titles.

DRAWINGS

1. Copley Fielding 'Sussex Downs, Village of Patcham and Mill' (33); Lloyd
2. S Prout 'The Frauenkirche, Nurenberg' (34) and 'The Canal at Bruges' (80); White
3. G Cattermole 'Christ and His Disciples' (36) (Vokins)
4. W Hunt 'Bird's Nest and Apple Blossoms' (97) (Smith)
5. L Haghe 'Interior of a Cathedral in Belgium' (66) and 'The Toilet' (100) (Patteson)
6. JMW Turner 'Sea View off Dover' (101) (Webster)

OIL PAINTINGS

1. W Müller 'View of Bristol from Bedminster Fields' (115) (E White)
2. W Müller 'Waiting for the Ferry - Bacharach, on the Rhine' (116) (Graves)
3. De Jonghe 'The Godmother' (118) (Carpenter)
4. JMW Turner 'Barnes Terrace, on the Thames' (126) (Webster)
5. J Gilbert 'Rembrandt in his Studio' (127) (Colnaghi)
6. W Collins 'Coast Scene with fisherwomen and children' (143) (Weston)
7. Turner 'The Country Waggon, Snowden - early morning' (151) and 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on' (152) (Reynolds)

E-mail with former provenance of K816 in Bristol Museum