July 2020

EDWIN LANDSEER (1803-1873)
or
EMMA LANDSEER (1809-1895)

Repose
Also known as 'Study of a dog and a cat'

Oil on panel: 2"x 3".

NB: October 2020. This page is still being rewritten. We do not know exactly who bought it from Emma Landseer (Mrs. MacKenzie) or the significance of the spider but this picture is almost certainly painted by her not by Edwin or John.

British Museum: "...she angered her brother by making copies of his paintings and signing them 'EL'..."

The inscription has been compared with the handwriting of Robert Huskinson and there are no similarities; Robert Huskinson did not write the inscription.

This picture is of interest because it appears in Christies 27th April 1864 sale in the section headed 'Property of a Gentleman', the sale of the collection of Leonard Huskinson (known as Huskisson) and is one of the seven pictures and drawings bought in.

At the 27th April 1864 sale this picture was stated to be by 'Sir E Landseer'. The Catalogue entry was:

Lot 92; Sir E Landseer; Repose; The picture was purchased at the sale of his sister's (Mrs. McKenzie's) effects.
buyer: none, £16.16

and it follows that Christie's information for this entry was taken from the inscription on the back of the picture.
It further follows that the inscription was written before 1864 (the auction date). Sir Edwin Landseer was knighted in 1850 so the inscription was written between 1850 and 1864.

There is no record (found yet) of this 'Mrs. McKenzie's Sale'. Emma Landseer married in 1841 in Jersey so the sale must have been after that date; possibly a sale resulting from her departure to Jersey.

The full text of the inscription was published at a later sale at Sheffield Auction Gallery on 22 September 2017 where it sold for £160. It was put up as, 'Study of a Dog and Cat' and the inscription was quoted:

'Bought at Mrs. McKenzie's sale, sister to Sir Edwin Landseer, supposed painted by him'

A further auction is recorded on 25th November 2019

If the person who bought it from Mrs McKenzie's sale wrote the inscription then it must be assumed that he or she was someone quite remote from London because Edwin Landseer (1802-1873), age 62, was alive and working on the Trafalgar Square Lions c.1858-1862. Why, in 1864, or in the few years before would anyone need to write 'supposed painted by him' on this picture?; it would be easy enough to find out definitely. Perhaps Christie's did find out definitely and catalogued it correctly as a Sir Edwin Landseer. The person who bought it from Mrs McKenzie's sale would also know whether she, Emma, sold it as an Edwin Landseer and again there would be no reason to write 'supposed'.

A logical possibility therefore: someone bought the picture from Mrs McKenzie's sale and later sold it to a buyer uninscribed and with a provenance or catalogue entry of just something like: 'E Landseer bought at Mrs. McKenzie's Sale', this subsequent sale being after Sir Edwin was knighted. This second buyer being someone quite remote could quite easily 'suppose' that the catalogue entry or whatever was a reference to Sir Edwin Landseer and thus wrote the inscription.

Henry Huskinson (Leonard's father) was fairly remote, Nottingham. He visited London in 1832 to exhibit at the RA. Possibly died 1844 so could not have written the inscription but may have passed details to Leonard and Robert by word of mouth. Leonard may have written the inscription after Robert died when preparing to sell the assets.

The sister was Emma Landseer (c.1809-c.1895) who married John Donaldson MacKenzie (c.1803-?) on November 4th 1841 in Jersey. At around age 30 she was therefore resident in Jersey around 1841 and possibly did sell some of her assets before moving there. She died in March 1895 and her executor's sale took place at Christes on December 10th 1895. Her last recorded address was 6, Kensington Park Gardens. (Records from the period show 'Mc' and 'Mac' to be interchangeable)

In the inscription the actual provenance is shown as 'supposed painted by him' ...(Edwin). The picture is very small; just 2"x 3". It is painted in oil on a copper panel. A small copper panel is likely to be an engraver's panel. The picture shows a dog and cat against a background of a wall extending across 2/3 of the panel with a lighter area to the right. The impression is that of being outside at night. There is also what appears to be a spider at the top in the centre; a spider may indicate betrayal, deceit, death.

This picture was in the posession of Emma McKenzie when sold before 1864, possibly before 1850, and possibly around 1841. Why would she be selling one of her brother's pictures? This could be an Emma Landseer picture.

NB:

The family, starting with his father, John:

JOHN LANDSEER 1769-1852

View from the Hermit's Hole, Isle of Wight.' 1st exh.RA 1792 No.541

Sons:

Thomas

Charles

EDWIN (1802-1873)

Daughters:

Anna

Maria

Jessica

Emma - became MacKenzie (1809-1895)