Robert Bateman

Fine Art Society, London, March 1976;
Robin de Beaumont by whom gifted to his son

Dudley Gallery, London, 1868;
Barbican Art Gallery, London, The Last Romantics – The Romantic Tradition in British Art, Burne-Jones to Stanley Spencer, 1989, no.25 as The Dead Knight;
Neue Pinakothek, Munich and The Prado, Madrid, Victoriansiche Malerei, 1993, no.73 as The Dead Knight;
Tate Gallery, London, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, The Age of Rossetti, Burne-Jones & Watts – Symbolism in Britain 1860-1910, 1997, no.19 as The Dead Knight;
Tate Britain, London and Altes Nationalgalerie, Berlin and Fundacio ‘La Caixa’, Madrid, Pre-Raphaelite Vision – Truth to Nature, 2004-5, no.143

Christopher Newall, Victorian Watercolours, 1987, pp.103-6, illustrated plate 71;
Elizabeth Prettejohn, Rossetti and his Circle, 1997, illustrated p.34 Fig.29
Amanda Kavanagh, ‘Robert Bateman: A True Victorian’ in Apollo, September 1989, pp.174-9

The sheet appears to be sound, it is not laid down but adhered to backing board with two strips of mounting tape. It cockles slightly otherwise the work appears in good overall condition. Held under glass in simple gilt frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This haunting watercolour is probably Bateman’s most famous work and has a distinguished exhibition history. Its melancholic timbre is reminiscent of Burne-Jones’ watercolours of the 1860s such as The Merciful Knight (Birmingham City Art Gallery) and Green Summer (private collection). It was formerly known as The Dead Knight, referring to the figure stretched out in a meadow amid cow-parsley growing beside a spring, but the trio of black birds amongst the trees link the picture to a seventeenth century English folk poem The Three Ravens. It was as The Three Ravens that it was first exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1868, one of his fourteen exhibits there between 1865 and 1874. Bateman probably encountered the poem in Francis James Child’s English and Scottish Ballads, published in 1861;

There were three ravens sat on a tree,
They were as blacke as they might be,
With a downe, derrie, derrie, derrie, downe, downe.
…
Downe in yonder greene field,
There lies a knight slain under his shield.
His hounds they lie downe at his feete,
So well they their master keepe.