2nd Oct, 2024 12:00
Drawings and Watercolours from the Iolo Williams Collection
51
HENEAGE FINCH, 4TH EARL OF AYLESFORD (BRITISH 1751-1812)
A FARMHOUSE
pencil and grey wash on laid paper
18.5 x 22cm; 71/4 x 8 3/4in
together with three further works, one inscribed on the mount Moulsey, pencil and grey wash, by the same hand, one by the Hon. Daniel Finch (1757-1840) and one attributed to a member of the family of the 4th Earl of Aylesford
various sizes, three unframed, one framed
(4)
Provenance
the first: Leonard Gordon Duke (1890-1971), his collection, inscribed verso with inventory no. D795 / Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford / 1751-1812/ LGD
Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford (1751-1812) was an amateur watercolourist of considerable repute as was his brother the Rev. and Hon. Daniel Finch (1757-1840). His children including the Hon. Daniel Finch were all able amateur artists. Due to the similarity of their names and their style their work can be confused.
Sold for £650
A FARMHOUSE
pencil and grey wash on laid paper
18.5 x 22cm; 71/4 x 8 3/4in
together with three further works, one inscribed on the mount Moulsey, pencil and grey wash, by the same hand, one by the Hon. Daniel Finch (1757-1840) and one attributed to a member of the family of the 4th Earl of Aylesford
various sizes, three unframed, one framed
(4)
Provenance
the first: Leonard Gordon Duke (1890-1971), his collection, inscribed verso with inventory no. D795 / Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford / 1751-1812/ LGD
Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford (1751-1812) was an amateur watercolourist of considerable repute as was his brother the Rev. and Hon. Daniel Finch (1757-1840). His children including the Hon. Daniel Finch were all able amateur artists. Due to the similarity of their names and their style their work can be confused.
Auction: Drawings and Watercolours from the Iolo Williams Collection, 2nd Oct, 2024
A unique auction comprising the collection of 18th and early 19th century British watercolours, once belonging to connoisseur and author Iolo Aneurin Williams (1890-1962). Williams wrote the definitive collectors's guide 'Early English Watercolours' in 1952. Having been kept safely - in storage boxes under a bed - this will be their first appearance on the market for more than 60 years and in some cases much longer.
Iolo Williams was a museums and art critic for The Times from 1936 onwards and an avid collector. Born in Middlesborough, he lived in Hindhead in his youth and latterly in Kew, south-west of London, and formed his collection from the 1930’s to the 1950’s when unidentified drawings could be picked up for a modest price from dealers and auctions. Through diligent research, he identified many works as being by leading exponents of the golden age of British drawings and watercolours: artists such as Thomas Girtin, Richard Wilson, William Payne, John Varley and Paul Sandby. He also discovered and put on record other artists about whom little was then known.
In 1952 he published his monumental and highly influential work Early English Water-Colours, and Some Cognate Drawings by Artists Born Not Later Than 1785' which listed and discussed works by 600 British draughtsmen. Arts writer Huon MallaIieu, in his own essential book for collectors Understanding Watercolours of 1985, describes it as “both a labour of love and scholarship undertaken by one of the most civilised and knowledgeable collectors of his day, it gradually became not only essential reading, but a collector’s item in its own right for cognoscenti” and “a joy to read”.
The auction is a rare opportunity for collectors, both seasoned and new, to enjoy the sort of experience Williams would have had of looking through folders of mixed, unframed drawings and watercolours in which hidden gems could be discovered.
Contact Suzanne Zack for further information about this auction | suzanne.zack@olympiaauctions.com | + 44 (0) 20 7806 5541
Viewing Times:
29th Sep 2024 12:00 - 16:00
30th Sep 2024 10:00 - 20:00
01st Oct 2024 10:00 - 17:00
