CHATSWORTH SUMMER FINE ART SALE May 28th & 29th 2024

100 IMPERFECTIONS NOT STATED Fonsie Mealy’s Est. 1934 868. A late 19th Century bronze Figure, of a Medieval Lady wearing a long dress, a bead necklace and a long plait of hair to her back, on octagonal base, 53cms (17”). (1) €300 - €400 870. Victor Wyatt Burnand, British (1868-1940) “Portrait of elegant young Lady, wearing wide brimmed hat, low cut white lace dress and royal blue underdress with ornate belt, and umbrella in hand,” approx. 97cms x 59cms (38” x 23”), Signed and dated lower left, 1901, gilt frame. (1) €500 - €600 871. Attributed to Hugh Douglas Hamilton, RHA (1740-1808) “Thomas Gerrard 1783-1868,”O.O.C., Studio Portrait of elderly Gentleman seated, wearing high collar, black jacket and waistcoat, approx. 77cms x 64cms (30” x 25”) later frame and plaque. (1) €700 - €1000 872. Douglas Alexander, RHA (1871-1945) “Bogstream near Leenane, Connemara,” and its companion “Among the Connemara Mountains,”watercolours, a pair, each approx. 25cms x 37cms (10” x 14½”) both Signed, inscribed on reverse. (2) Provenance: The Russell Family, Seafield, Co. Waterford. €400 - €500 “Tiger King (Man of Aran)” bronze, approx. 43.8cms, (17¼”) mounted on a stepped marble base. (1) With his strong jaw, dark curly hair and determined expression, Colman “Tiger” King (1900-1976), was an ideal choice to play the lead role in Robert Flaherty’s 1934 film Man of Aran. King played the role to perfection, showing great courage in rowing a currach through rough seas. However, being a real Aran Islander, he had little time for the hype and publicity surrounding the film’s premiere in London. King had served in the Irish army and in addition to farming on the islands, was a blacksmith and fisherman. Although he and Flaherty had a temperamental working relationship, the film director brought King to Jacob Epstein’s studio, where the sculptor created a portrait bust of the islander that captured his proud and independent personality. After the success of Man of Aran, King settled in London, where he lived until his death in 1976. He is buried in the graveyard at Cill Éinne. The bronze casting of his portrait bust was limited to an edition of eight. One of the casts is in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, while in 1963, another was presented to the Hugh Lane Gallery, by the Friends of the National Collections. The present cast was in the collection of Nelson Bell in Belfast. Born in Hester Street, in New York, as a teenager Jacob Epstein attended classes at the Art Students League. While studying sculpture at the Art Students League, he tried his hand at several jobs, before being employed as an assistant in a bronze foundry. He also drew and painted, and in 1902 produced illustrations for The Spirit of the Ghetto, a study of New York’s Lower East Side by journalist Hutchins Hapgood. With the money earned from this commission, Epstein travelled to Paris, enrolling at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian. From the outset, through his study of African and Polynesian art, his sculptures were characterised by their vigorous, rough-hewn, ‘primitive’ quality. In 1905 he moved to London, where he joined the New English Art Club, and two years later was commissioned to create a set of sculptures for the British Medical Association’s new headquarters on the Strand. These proved controversial for their frank portrayal of the human body. In 1908, influenced by the work of Eric Gill, Epstein carved a tomb for Oscar Wilde, an equally controversial commission, which was unveiled in Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris. Two years later, now enjoying the patronage of the New York collector John Quinn, Epstein became a British citizen. The critical reception to his work was often hostile, but eventually, through his public sculptures, as well as portrait busts and other work, he came to be regarded as one of the finest sculptors of the twentieth century. In 1910 he sculpted a portrait bust of Lady Gregory. He also sculpted busts of Joseph Conrad, Paul Robeson, George Bernard Shaw and Albert Einstein. Peter Murray 2024 Provenance: Nelson Bell Collection - The Bell Gallery, Belfast. €3000 - €5000 869. Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)