SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATIONS

THE PROPOSITION THAT SIR WILLIAM RICHARD DRAKE BOUGHT 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'

1. Outline and Conclusion

Evidence that Sir William Richard Drake took possession of four of the five Turners in Bishop Nixon's collection together with the evidence that the two oils were sold together to the same buyer must weigh heavily in favour of supporting a proposition that Drake bought 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'. The other oil, 'The Country Waggon, Snowden (sic) - Early Morning', was not exhibited by Drake so, from exhibition evidence, we have no indication as to whether he owned both oils. Drake was clearly a Turner enthusiast and it seems unlikely that if both oils were available he would take one without the other.

The Art Journal recorded a purchaser, Reynolds; similarly Bristol Museum also shows Reynolds as purchaser. However, Christie's records show the both pictures were bought in.

Even so a possible Reynolds involvement was investigated: There is no evidence to support a supposition that Reynolds was an art dealer. It is possible that references will be found describing him as a 'dealer' but it is most likely that these are a reference to F. D. Reynolds' activities as a stockbroker. F. D. Reynolds was an art collector but there is no evidence that he was 'dealing'. Another, F.W.Reynolds also appears in the records around this time. Whoever Reynolds was it remains possible that he sold 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' before selling the other four Nixon Turners to Drake. However, a similar argument (that a purchaser of one of the oils would take both) applies to just about any collector of the period.

2. Earlier notes before Reynolds was discounted

These are known facts and supporting evidence.

• 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on' and 'The Country Waggon, Snowden (sic) - Early Morning' were oils and both bought by Reynolds at Christie's sale of 9th July 1864
  [evidence: Art Journal 1864, page 267].
  • 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on' is 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' (exh. RA 1793).
    [evidence: an old, now out of date, provenance held by Bristol Museum and Art Gallery].
    .
• Rev. Dr. Francis Russell Nixon, Bishop of Tasmania owned Five Turners; the two oils mentioned above and three watercolours.
  .
• Drake definitely purchased four of the five Nixon Turners.
  [evidence: they were in Drake's possession when he died:
  • He bought 'The Country Waggon, Snowden - Early Morning' from Reynolds; after Drake's death it was sold as 'Snowdon, from Moel Madoc (Purchased from Bishop Nixon) at Christies, Drake, sale of June 27th 1891, lot 88
  • The three watercolours appeared in Drake's executor sales:
    • 'River Scene, View on the Dee' Christie's 27th June 1891, lot 289
    • 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath' Christie's 27th June 1891, lot 291
    • 'Dover, with Shakespeare's Cliff' Christie's 24th May 1892, lot 318]
  
  
• Drake bought Nixon's Turners before 1871.
  [evidence: A Turner watercolour, 'River Scene, view on the Dee' from Nixon's collection was exhibited by Drake at Burlington Gallery in 1871.]
  • No other exhibitions, by Drake, of these five works have been identified.
  
  
• There were three executor sales of Drake's collection. However, in these sales there is no work identified as either 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' or 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on'.
  • Christie's 27th June 1891 Ancient and Modern Pictures - and - Watercolour Drawings
    Lot 88 was 'Snowdon, from Moel Madoc '; lot 291, 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath'; and lot 289, 'River Scene, View on the Dee'
  • Christie's 24th May 1892 Watercolour Drawings
    lot 318 was 'Dover, with Shakespeare's Cliff'
  • Christie's 7th January 1893 Lots 69 - 81, (no Turner/Nixon lots)
  
  
• Not all of Drake's collection was sold. Two Turner watercolours (not ex Nixon) and a number of other works were bequeathed to his (adopted) daughter Mrs Ella Katherine Hornsby-Drake.
  [evidence: They were sold at her executor's sale at Christie's on 11th March 1932.]
  • It follows that 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' may have been in Drake's possession and bequeathed to Ella Katherine but, if so, not sold at her executor sale.

• The idenity of 'Reynolds' has not been firmly established. One possibility is a stockbroker Francis Dominick Reynolds of Dublin whose executor's sale was Christies 15th July 1893. Drake also had Irish connections:
  • Drake owned property in Ireland. [evidence: In the National Archives of Ireland (online search) there is a reference to Drake's probate in relation to Irish property.]
  • Drake's adopted daughter was Irish. Ella Katherine Hornsby-Drake died in 1930 aged 70. She was therefore born in 1860. She was Drake's neice and was born in Ireland [Kellys, 1923, page 905]. We have not established a date of adoption. However, this information establishes a link between Drake and Ireland in the early 1860's.

3. Observations

Observations are now made in light of the proposition that Drake bought 'The Rising Squall...' oil with 'The Country Waggon...' oil, a proposition that is supported by the facts above but is nonetheless speculative.

• 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' (Which was sold in 1864 as 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on') does not appear in the Drake sales it must have:
  • been sold beforehand (very unlikely - there is no evidence of lifetime sales) or
  • been misidentified in one of the sales, or
  • passed by descent to Mrs. E.K. Hornsby-Drake, or
  • lost in one of Drake's houses and was overlooked
• Searches of sales catalogues and other sources have not revealed sales by Drake - research continues.
• It could be misidentified because Drake himself (being dead) did not compile the catalogue and the catalogue itself has other similar mistakes.
• Pictures owned by Mrs E.K. Hornsby-Drake are being researched.
• Information about Drake's houses is being recorded along with his collection.

4. Notes

Art Journal 1864

Drake sale June 27th 1891

The Country Waggon

Turner watercolours

Drake, Irish Probate

Print by Adela Forbes (nee Armstrong). 'Sir William Richard Drake FSA, in his morning-room at Prince's Gardens, S.W.' c.1880. V&A museum No. E.429-1932. His pictures hanging on the wall are mostly indistinguishable but 'The Rising Squall' or 'The Waggoners' are not amongst them.