William Hilton

Portrait of Peter de Wint (1784-1849) and Harriet Hilton, later Mrs Peter de Wint (1791-1866)

Lot Closed

July 8, 01:55 PM GMT

Estimate

5,000 - 7,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from the Collection of the late Cyril and Shirley Fry

William Hilton

Lincoln 1786 - 1839

Portrait of Peter de Wint (1784-1849) and Harriet Hilton, later Mrs Peter de Wint (1791-1866)

Watercolour over pencil, on wove paper watermarked J Whatman /1805 ;

signed lower left: Wm Hilton

264 by 231 mm

J. Lord (ed.), Peter de Wint 1784-1849 ‘For the common observer of life and nature’, 2007, p. 186, fig. 36

Sudbury, Gainsborough's House, A Peculiarly English Art, English Drawings & Watercolours, 1994, no. 25;
Lincoln, The Collection, Peter de Wint 1784 – 1849. ‘For the common observer of life and nature’, 2007, no. 36

William Hilton was born in Newark to the south west of Lincoln. In 1800 he moved to London where he enrolled as an apprentice in the studio of the engraver and portrait painter John Raphael Smith. Peter de Wint was a fellow student there and the pair became inseparable friends.

In 1806 Hilton, who had recently enrolled in the Royal Academy schools, invited de Wint to Lincoln and on this trip he introduced him to his sister Harriet. Four years later Peter and Harriet were married and their union was a long and happy one.

The present double portrait dates to shortly before their marriage and most unusually shows the courting couple observing a flying insect.