- 214
Charles Spencelayh
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Charles Spencelayh
- The Buff Envelope
- indistinctly signed l.r.: C. SPENCELAYH; also signed and inscribed with the artist's address on an on old label attached to the reverse of the frame
- oil on canvas
- 63.5 by 76cm., 25 by 30in.
Provenance
Mr Crossley-Cooke and thence by decent to the present owner
Condition
Original canvas. There are faint stretcher bar marks and some minor frame abrasions in the lower right corner; otherwise the work appears in good overall condition.
Under ultraviolet light there do not appear to be signs of retouching.
Held in a gilt plaster 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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
This painting focuses on Spencelayh’s preferred subject – an elderly gentleman in an interior performing an ordinary day to day task. In this case, a gentleman opening his tax return. It can be dated between 1941-50 by the artist’s address on the label attached to the frame - St Mildred’s, Bozeat. He wears a dressing gown, and sits in a highly polished Windsor chair both of which feature in paintings throughout his career. Another repetition of detail is the wallpaper. Despite moving three times between 1922 and 1950, the very distinctive thistle-patterned motif appears in several other pictures during this period (Polly Not Forgotten, pencil study, 1929; Why War?, 1939; and His Old Wedding Hat, 1943). As with his props, he also returned to the same subjects time and again. A tax return is also the subject of Render Unto Ceasar, his RA exhibit of 1928 which shows a gentleman holding an identical envelope labelled “ON HIS MAJESTY’S SERVICE” before an engraving of John Singleton Copley’s Christ Being Tendered the Tribute Money, making an amusing coment on the payment of taxes.