Heywood Hardy

Sale: Sotheby's, London, 29 October 1981;
Private Collection

London, Royal Academy, 1879, no. 1020

The canvas has been lined. There is a horizontal are of slightly discoloured pigment towards the right hand side of the upper edge in the sky area, possibly due to some old restoration. There is some minor frame abrasion to the extreme edges. There is some minor craquelure to the paint surface. There is some surface dirt to the work and a dicoloured varnish. Otherwise in good condition. Ultraviolet light reveals some retouching towards the centre of the upepr edge. There is further cosmetic retouching and infilling to craquelure to the sky, the female figure, the foreground and elsewhere. Held in a simple carved gold painted wooden frame in fair condition.
"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."

The subject of the present work describes the most famous scene from Sir Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering, in which Meg Merrilies suddenly confronts and curses the Earl of Ellangowen and his manservant Guy Mannering, after her Gypsies were forcefully evicted from their dwellings on the Earl's land.  As described in the third chapter, "she was full six feet high, wore a man's great-coat over the rest of her dress, had in her hand a goodly sloethorn cudgel, and in all points of equipment, except her petticoats, seemed rather masculine than feminine. Her dark elf-locks shot out like the snakes of the gorgon between an old-fashioned bonnet called a bongrace, heightening the singular effect of her strong and weather-beaten features, which they partly shadowed, while her eye had a wild roll that indicated something like real or affected insanity." Her character is based on Jean Gordon, an inhabitant of Kirk Yetholm in the Cheviot Hills -Galloway area of South West Scotland in the 18th century.