November 2020
JMW TURNER
River Scene, View on the Dee
also known as:
'View on the Dee'
'Dee, on the: River Scene'
'On The Banks of the Dee',
Christie's
1866-03-14
Watercolour-drawing; 8.75"x5.75"; 1798/99
This drawing is of interest because its early provenance is the same as 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol', The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning and 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath'
The First owner was
Rev.
Robert Nixon of Foots Cray;
It passed by descent to his second son
Rev.
Dr. Francis Russell Nixon, Bishop of Tasmania who exhibited the
drawing as 'View on the Dee' at the 1845
Hobart Town Exhibition No. 125.
Probably (but to be confirmed) it was sold at Christie's on 9th June
1864.
It was probably not sold directly to Drake but possibly to F D
Reynolds of Dublin.
Subsequently aquired by
Sir William
Richard Drake, he exhibited it as 'River Scene, View on the Dee';
June 1871
Burlington Exhibition catalogue, page74, No.234:
Sold by Drake's estate at
Christie's 27th
June 1891 (second day) as 'View on the Dee'; Lot 289. (also at the
same sale were 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath'; Lot
291 and The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning; Lot 88.)
The four works appear to have been split up at this point and there is no further sighting of 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'
These notes are currently being revised
Date of River Scene, View on the Dee
The source of the River Dee is in Snowdonia. Possibly nearby the scene of 'The Country Waggon, Snowdon - early morning' also called 'Snowdon, from Moel Madoc' although Moel Madoc does not appear on the map. From the 1871 Burlington exhibit it can be seen that 'River Scene, View on the Dee' is a drawing 8.75"x5.75". Its small size indicates a page from a sketchbook, it was not an RA exhibit and it was not part of the Turner Bequest. We estimate a date of painting and Nixon's aquisition around 1798/99 given it's proximity to 'The Country Waggon'. Like 'The Country Waggon' we assume the work passed to Rev. Dr. Francis Russell Nixon when Rev. Robert Nixon died.
Sales of Nixon Assets
Rev. Dr.Francis Russell Nixon, Bishop of Tasmania, returned from
Tasmania in 1863 and it appears that he began to sell some assets.We know
that he sold 'The Country Waggon' and 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from
St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' (as 'The Hotwells, Bristol, storm coming on')
at Christie's on 9th July 1864. The Christie's catalogue is missing;
however, the sale is recorded in 'The Art Journal' in September 1864. The
Art Journal is not a complete record of the sale and although 'River
Scene, view on the Dee' is not mentioned in The Art Journal this does not
imply that it was not in that sale. There is, however, a possible sighting
of 'River Scene, View on the Dee' in Christies sale catalogue of 27th
April 1864;
27th April 1864 Sale of a Pair of Drawings by 'Turner'
A pair of drawings 'A view in Wales' and 'A view in the Isle of Wight' in Christies sale catalogue of 27th April 1864
In the catalogue these drawings appear as lot 13. They are headed 'TURNER' without the 'JMW'. The catalogue is marked up but the writing is very poor and the buyer's name appears to be 'Heritase' the price is clear at £2/2/-.
Lot 13 is printed on page 4 in the first section of the catalogue headed 'DRAWINGS' comprising lots 1 to 40. There are no other Turners in that section and nothing to indicate the seller. We know definitely that 'River Scene, View on the Dee' was owned by Nixon then by Drake; the question at issue is whether lot 13 here (A view in Wales) is the same drawing.
In the same sale we discuss a section headed 'Property of a Gentleman' which includes three early JMW Turner works in the posession of Leonard Huskinson (known as Huskisson) the 'gentleman' of the catalogue. Lot 13 was not in this section.
In the Drake sale of 1891 below it will be noted that 'View on the Dee' is merely signed 'Turner' without the customary 'W'. 'A view in Wales' could therefore be the 'View on the Dee' lot 289 of the Drake sale whilst 'a view in the Isle of Wight' may be 'View in a Village, with houses and church' lot 288 in the same sale. Clearly additional evidence is required either to support this or rule it out.
In Christie's sale of 6th March 1899 Lot 71: 'A River Scene; and Old
Cottages
A pair of drawings. There are no other details. The lot is classified
under 'Different Properties, Drawings'
Drake's Aquisitions from Nixon
Drake aquired 'The Rising Squall...' and 'The Country Waggon...' on or
shortly after 9th July 1864. His ownership of 'View on the Dee' is
demonstrated by an entry in the catalogue of the 1871 Burlington
Exhibition which states that 'View on the Dee' was previously owned by
Nixon. It is reasonable to assume that 'View on the Dee' was purchased
with the oils after the sale on 9th July 1864 unless contrary evidence
emerges. (In any event the earliest Drake could have aquired it from
Nixon was 1863 on Nixon's return from Tasmania and the latest just before
1871 when it was displayed at the Burlington. ie: there could have been
another owner in between but we are assuming not.)
'The Rising Squall...' and 'The Country Waggon...' are recorded (in
The Art Journal) as bought by 'Reynolds'. If this was FD Reynolds of
Dublin and the works were taken back to Dublin then Drake may have
purchased them there. This seems tortuous (when they could have passed
directly from Reynolds to Drake in London) but we cannot be sure that
Drake was a regular client of Reynolds. However, we can be sure that Drake
had property and business in Dublin; Drake adopted his daughter
Ella Katherine Hillas
in Ireland at around this time.
Records
River Scene, View on the Dee is recorded in the June 1871 Burlington Exhibition catalogue, page74, No.234:
'River Scene, View on the Dee' is in the Drake sale of 1891:
Lot 288 was 'View in a Village, with houses and church'. There is no indication as to whether this was a pair together with lot 289 or as to the content of the drawing being associated with the Isle of Wight.
The sale of 'The Country Waggon' also appears in this catalogue (lot 88) described as: 'Snowdon, from Moel Madoc'. 'Purchased from Bishop Nixon, of Tasmania, for whom it was painted.'
In Armstrong as 'Dee, on the: River Scene' (published 1902)
Armstrong
page 249 but Nixon is spelled 'Nixen' - clearly the source is the 1871
Burlington note above; No 'current' owner is given.
No entry matches the 'Old Cottages' (1899 lot 71) or 'View in a
Village, with houses and church'(1891 lot 288)'. In respect of 'A View in
the Isle of Wight' (1864 lot 13) Armstrong's reference to Isle of Wight
drawings is on page 285
Unspecified river scenes:
Turner Sales List;
Graves; 1904, March 26, Christie's; lot 121; seller: C. H. T. Hawkins.'A
River Scene'; Drawing. 3"x5½"; buyer: unknown, £18/18/0
The catalogue confirms the size at 3"x5½" and this
cannot be Drake's drawing
Turner Sales List;
1908, March 21, Christie's; lot 32; seller: G. R. Burnett; 'River Scene—Sunset';
Drawing; buyer: Shepherd, £32/11/0
We have no catalogue for this sale. Described as a 'sunset' this is
unlikely to be Drake's drawing.
Turner Sales List;
Graves; 1912, July 8, Christie's; lot 137; seller: John Edward Taylor; 'A
River Scene'; Drawing; buyer: Agnew, £110/5/0
Christies catalogue for 1912, July 8, confirms these details and
describes the drawing as, 'A barge and sailing boat in mid stream'; 8"x10½";
and it is classified in a section headed 'from the folio' (thus probably
unframed). The size conflicts; this cannot be Drake's drawing
Searches for works, previously in Nixon's ownership, in the 1868, 1871 and 1875 Burlington catalogues gave no results.
Pictures by other artists in the 27th April 1864 sale in the section headed 'Property of a Gentleman' might reveal a connection with previous owners:
Now identified as the Leonard Huskinson sale we are seeking the source of the three JMW Turners lots 89, 90 & 91. If they were from the Rev Robert Nixon's collection then they certainly did not descend to Francis Russell and that strongly suggests that Rev. Robert split his collection between his two sons which would put George Russell Nixon in possession of these lots from 1837 until sometime before he emigrated to Australia in 1861.
Lot 97; George Romney; 'The Lady Hamilton' Very beautiful; buyer:
Anderdon £16/16;
Now has its
own page
References found do not give any indication of ownership before 1864:
1.
Graves; "ROMNEY, George",1879, May 31, Christie's; lot 232;
seller: James Hughes Anderdon; '.Lady Hamilton as Joan of Arc'; buyer:
Hogarth, £43/1/0;
We do not have the catalogue but this could be the picture from the
1864 sale because Anderdon was the buyer in 1864 and here in 1879 he is
the seller.
2.
Graves "ROMNEY, George"; 1891, June 20; Christie's; lot
125.'Lady Hamilton as a Nun'; Agnew,451,10,0
The catalogue shows the same details.
Agnew Picture Stock Book page 16 shows the purchase and later sale to
C (or G) Sedelmayer on May 8th 1893
This is unlikely to be the Anderdon purchase and sale because Joan of
Arc was not a nun.
3.
Graves; "ROMNEY, George"; 1896, June 6; Christie's; lot
134; seller: Walter Long; 'Lady Hamilton'; 30"x25"; buyer:
Frickenhaus, 535,10,0
The catalogue adds 'white dress and cap' to the description; possibly
the Anderdon purchase/sale, but unlikely.
4.
Dublin
International 1865 page 492 exhibit No. 51; 'Lady Hamilton'; lent by
Lord de Tabley.
WORKING ON:
Dublin International 1865...in exhibitions
Tabley 1925...in exhibitions...............& to put these into
the 40_12_list
need a 27th april 1864 summary list to go with the report maybe as a
header
Next Printed Page
Sales of Nixon Assets
Rev. Dr.Francis Russell Nixon, Bishop of Tasmania, returned from
Tasmania in 1863 and it appears that he began to sell some assets.We know
that he sold 'The Country Waggon' and 'The Rising Squall - Hot Wells from
St. Vincent's Rock, Bristol' (as 'The Hotwells, Bristol, storm coming on')
at Christie's on 9th July 1864. The Christie's catalogue is missing;
however, the sale is recorded in 'The Art Journal' in September 1864. The
Art Journal is not a complete record of the sale and although 'River
Scene, view on the Dee' is not mentioned in The Art Journal this does not
imply that it was not in that sale.
It can be seen that in addition to the two Turner oils at least one
Turner watercolour was included - 'Sea View off Dover' 'a remarkably fine
work'.
'Shakespeare's Cliff, Dover' ? (in Hobart 1845) (Armstrong page 249
last entry ?)
1891 sale
