George Lambert 1710-1765

Probably commissioned by Sigismund Trafford of Dunton Hall, Lincolnshire, and possibly sold at the Dunton Hall sale, Yorke of Cambridge, 22nd-27th August 1774;
Mrs Hartmann, of White Lodge, Richmond Park, by whom sold, Christie's, 27th November 1909, lot 32, bt. W. Lockett Agnew;
By descent to his wife, by whose executors sold, Christie's, 15th June 1923, lot 35, bt. F.H. Robinson;
Later re-acquired by the family

Tate Gallery, Richard Wilson's Contemporaries, 3rd November 1982-2nd January 1983, no.3;
Sotheby's, The Artist and the Country House,  1995, no.43

J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, Vol.VI, 1812, p.116;
John Harris, The Artist and the Country House, 1979, p.260, fig.275;
Marie-Luise Schnackenburg, Der Englische Lanschaftsmaler George Lambert, PhD Thesis, 1995, p.116, cat.no. 66, fig.62;
Michael Hall, 'Only a picture of a house', Country Life, 11th January 1996, pp.28-29, fig.7;
Bridget Holmes, 'The Sale of Dunton Hall - 1774', Wisbech Society and Preservation Trust 58th Annual Report, 1997, pp.8-12;
Elizabeth Einberg, 'The Works of George Lambert', Walpole Society, Vol.LXIII, 2001, P1739, fig.49

The marvellous painting of Dunton Hall is perhaps Lambert’s most attractive house view.  It is at once a striking landscape study, and a beautiful example of Georgian architectural display. The spectator is placed off-centre, as if standing further back on the drive which winds its way across the bridge to the house in the distance.  Lambert’s compositional daring is demonstrated by his bold rotation of the house, away from the direction of view; his sensitive handling of colour evokes the warmth and beauty of a late summer evening.  

Dunton Hall, Lincolnshire was rebuilt in 1720, probably by William Sands of Boston for the owner, Sigismund Trafford (d.1722).  The design was based on the model of Buckingham House which was completed in about 1707 for John Sheffield, 1^st Duke of Buckingham, by his architect William Winde (c.1645-1722).  Buckingham House was later sold to George III and became Buckingham Palace.  Dunton Hall was built nine bays wide, but one bay shallower than the Buckingham House precedent.  It was described by William Stukely in his Itinerarium Curiosum of 1724 as being ‘lately rebuilt magnificently’.

Trafford left Dunton Hall to his nephew and heir, Sigismund Boehm Trafford, (1694-1741), who probably commissioned this painting.  Sigismund the younger was a member of the Gentleman’s Society of Spalding, and achieved recognition for his work, ‘An Essay on Draining, particularly Bedford Level’, published in 1729.  This may account for the prominent Shire Drain and bridge which take up most of the foreground of Lambert’s composition, almost superseding the house in importance. After the death of Sigismund the younger, the house then devolved to Sigismund’s nephew, Sir Clement Boehm Trafford.  His mismanagement of the estate and troubled finances meant he was forced to auction it off, along with most of the contents, as building material in 1774.  It was later re-acquired by the family.