Successive Locations of 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'
Chapter VI: The Whereabouts of 'The Rising Squall', tracing alternative ownerships: Definitive locations from 1793 to 9th July 1864

The Whereabouts of 'The Rising Squall', tracing alternative ownerships
To determine successive locations of 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'
To seek a contemporaneous description and find out where it might have been abandoned

Definitive locations from 1793 to 9th July 1864

1. The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1793

In 1793 the picture was in London with Turner, at Somerset House for the duration of the exhibition (May & June) and with Turner again after the exhibition (late June) [exhibition catalogue as evidence]

• Peter Cunningham said that the picture was noticed 'by the wiser few'. However, newspaper references have not yet been found for this picture. 'Anderdon Papers' and press cuttings, 'CRI-1' at the Royal Academy have references to the exhibition and to other exhibits.
• The Art Journal 1856 pp297 &298
  Evidence that JMW Turner's first oil exhibit was in 1793 is published in the Art Journal but it does not name the picture:

  "Turner entered the schools of the Royal Academy in 1789, and in the following year he sent his first picture, a drawing in watercolours, to the || Exhibition - the subject a view on the Thames, taken from the banks of the river, nearly opposite the episcopal at Lambeth; three years afterwards he exhibited his first painting in oil."

• The RA Exhibition catalogue itself is somewhat problematic because we have shown that Turner's two 'St. Vincent's Rock' titles were transposed [See Chapter II]

2. Rev. Robert Nixon at Foots Cray, Kent, London and Kenmure, 1793-1837

No record is found for the transfer of the picture from Turner to Nixon. However, Turner visited Kent in 1793 to work on the Walker commission and that would be an opportunity to deliver the picture to Foots Cray. Possession by Rev. Robert Nixon is established by a later reference, 'The Art Journal, 1864, page 267'.

Loans to exhibitions by Rev. Robert Nixon have not been found. By 1815 Nixon was living in London and by 1828 in Kenmure Castle, Scotland. It is not clear whether his collection was taken to Scotland. Nixon died in 1837. 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' descended to his second son, Francis Russell Nixon.

• Exhibitions in London and Kent whilst serving at Foots Cray, North Cray and Old Charlton, London SE7, 1873 to 1815
• Sketches of the environs of Foots Cray, which may include a sighting of the picture
  • one found: Sketch of Robert's Study at Foots Cray] but with no trace or mention of 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'
• Sketches associated with Chaffcroft House, Charlton, Kent (c1808-1818)
  Chaffcroft House has no modern address; there is an e-mail to Charlton Society (24/1/2021) awaiting response.
• Exhibitions in London, Sketches associated with Nixon's residences in London
  • 33, St. Mary Axe (c1812-1819)
  • Burr-street, East Smithfield
• Kenmure (1828-1837): a very extensive investigation has failed to find any useful documentation for this period.

3. Rev. Dr. Francis Russell Nixon in London, Tasmania and York (1827), 1837-1864

'The Art Journal, 1864, page 267' also shows that the picture was accompanied by another, 'The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning'. Hobart Town exhibition catalogues and historical documents suggest that Dr. Francis Russell Nixon did not know the title of 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' for he called it simply, 'Landscape'. The same refernces show that FR Nixon had only five Turner's and that only two of them were oils. 'The Art Journal, 1864, page 267' shows FR Nixon's two JMW Turner oils sold together, thus it is established that 'Landscape' is 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'

In 1842 Nixon was appointed Bishop of Tasmania. The picture's presence in and around Hobart Town from 1843 to 1862 is well documented by two exhibitions, historical documents and letters. However, 'The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning' (as 'A view of Mount Snowdon in Wales') gets far more attention because FR Nixon thought it was the first oil painted by Turner. (There is also later documentation for 'The Country Waggon' in Armstrong p 232and McCormick.)

Hobart Town documents provide evidence that Bishop Nixon owned only five Turners and that two were oils. He called one of the oils 'Landscape' and we rely on the Art Journal 1864 evidence as proof that 'Landscape' was 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'. As regards 'The Country Waggon', it is in Armstrong p 232 where it is described.
The three JMW Turner watercolours in Bishop Nixon's collection were: 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath', 'River Scene, View on the Dee' and 'Shakespear's Cliff, Dover'.

4. At Christies on 9th July 1864 as recorded in The Art Journal

'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' was in London at Christie's on 9th July 1864.

• We have the catalogue entry and contemporaneous evidence from the Art Journal 1864 p267 where the description is shown as 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on' .
• The incorrect provenance of the Bristol Watercolour
  Although that provenance is incorrect for their watercolour it confirms that the picture sold as 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on' was, in fact, 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'

The Art Journal 1864, catalogue for 9th July 1864 and the Bristol Watercolour provenance provide evidence that

• The picture at the 9th July 1864 auction (called 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on') was 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' (the 1793 exhibit).
• It accompanied 'The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning '
• It was owned by Bishop Nixon

[To be updated] To display Hobart Town List of collection next to the Art Journal or catalogue entry