Henry Weekes

Mary Caroline Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Dowager Duchess of Sutherland (1848-1912), Carbisdale Castle, Scottish Highlands, circa 1906;
Colonel Theodore Salvesen (1863-1942), Carbisdale Castle, Scottish Highlands, 1933;
by family descent to Captain Harold Keith Salvesen (1897-1970), Carbisdale Castle, Scottish Highlands, 1942;
gifted to the Scottish Youth Hostels Association, 1945

London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1857 (no. 1215)

A. Graves, The Royal Academy Exhibitors, vol. VIII, London, 1906, p. 193;
I. Roscoe, E. Hardy and M.G. Sullivan, A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851, New Haven and London, 2009, p. 1343

Overall the condition of the marble is good with dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There are naturally occurring inclusions to the marble, notably a cluster of inclusions at the proper left upper arm, at the neck and at the upper back. There is veining to the marble throughout, in particular across the buttocks from right to left and down through the drapery round to the front of the rocky base. There are a few small chips and abrasions, including to the edges of the marble base. There is particular dirt to the crevices and various scuff marks; the marble would benefit from a light cleaning and waxing. There are a few dirt marks to the face. The wood base is in good condition with minor dirt and wear, including a few small chips and abrasions.
"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 Young Naturalist is one of Henry Weekes' defining masterpieces. Representing an idealised young girl tentatively approaching the waters edge, her hair and drapery billowing behind her, the marble was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1857 alongside the description: 'Alone upon the wild sea-shore she stands' (Graves, op. cit., p. 193).

Ideal works are rare within Weekes' oeuvre, which is overwhelmingly composed of portrait busts. The sculptor had inherited the studio of his master, Sir Francis Chantrey, and with it a reputation for creating brilliant likenesses, for which he was in considerable demand. Despite this, Weekes' few ideal sculptures and full figure groups are amongst the finest created during the Victorian period. His monument to Percy Bysshe Shelley is a remarkable example of late Romantic sculpture, featuring the drowned body of the poet washed up on the sea-shore, cradled in the arms of his wife.

Weekes later became Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy, delivering a series of lectures which have been described as 'the most consistent and intelligent exposition of sculptural thinking in the Victorian era and, as far as the published material goes, exceptional if not unique (Read, op. cit., pp. 16-17). Throughout Weekes career he was preoccupied with balancing idealism with realism. The Young Naturalist is a testament to this approach in portraying an idealised youth in contemporary dress, holding a starfish and standing on naturalistic seaweed-covered rocks.

The superb carving of the seaweed is a nod to the principles of Pre-Raphaelite sculpture, in particular works by Alexander Munro and John Lucas Tupper, who framed figures in rushes and reeds, roots and flowers, betraying a concern for the representation of Nature in sculpture. Compare, for example, with Tupper's  Linnaeus at the University Museum, Oxford (Barnes and Kader, op. cit., fig. 39).

The Young Naturalist was one of Weekes' most popular models, with an edition of small bronze versions later being produced by Elkington. The plaster version is housed in the collections of the Royal Dublin Society, Dublin.

RELATED LITERATURE
B. Read, Victorian Sculpture, New Haven and London, 1982, pp. 16-17; J. Barnes and A. Kader, 'The Sculpture of John Lucas Tupper: 'The Extremist Edge of P.R.Bism'', B. Read and J. Barnes, Pre-Raphaelite Sculpture. Nature and Imagination in British Sculpture 1848-1914, exh. cat. Matthiesen Gallery, London, and Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, 1991-1992, p. 68, fig. 39

Carbisdale Castle: A History

Carbisdale Castle is a magnificent Scots Baronial residence situated in the heart of the Highlands, overlooking the beautiful Kyle of Sutherland. Constructed between 1906 and 1917, it was the last Castle to be built in Scotland. Its history is one of intrigue, scandal, war and peace, at the centre of which lies the formidable figure of its first resident, Mary Caroline, Dowager Duchess of Sutherland (1848-1912), the Duchess Blair. Married three times, her first husband, Captain Arthur Kindersley Blair of the 71^st Highland Light Infantry Regiment, died mysteriously in a hunting accident in 1883. In the months leading up to her husband’s death, Mary Caroline had embarked on a love affair with the 3^rd Duke of Sutherland. Rumour swirled around the untimely death and, according to one writer ‘the Duke was whispered to have been responsible’. When his first wife died in 1889 there was no bar to the Duke wedding his long term mistress. The two caused a major scandal by marrying only four months after the Duchess’ passing. Mary Caroline was branded the  ‘Duchess Blair’ by the Victorian public, the implication being that she was a social climber.

The tale of the Duchess Blair took a further twist with the death of the Duke, since his will left her the majority of the Sutherland inheritance. His natural heirs were incensed, contesting this legacy. During the course of legal proceedings it emerged that the Dowager had destroyed documents, and she was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment. An agreement was eventually reached providing the Dowager with a substantial financial settlement, including the stipulation that the family construct a residence befitting her station. The result, Carbisdale Castle, was built to her exacting standards, and, over a period of time, was gradually furnished with the magnificent collection of statuary and painting being offered in this sale. The Dowager nevertheless remained embittered by her lost inheritance and she constructed the Castle around a tower with clocks on only three sides. The wall without a clock faced Sutherland lands, illustrating the Duchess’ claim that she would not give the family the time of day.

The Castle and its collection were generously donated to its current custodians, the Scottish Youth Hostels Association (SYHA), by Captain Harold Salvesen in 1945, who had inherited it from his father, Colonel Theodore Salvesen. Scots of Norwegian descent, during the Second World War the family gave refuge to King Haakon VII of Norway at Carbisdale. It was here, in 1941, that the Norwegian King signed an agreement with the Soviet Union that Russian troops would vacate Norway after they had liberated the country from Nazi forces. From 1945 to 2010 this historic Castle, complete with a tumultuous history and said to be haunted, operated as a popular youth hostel, under the care of SYHA.

The Collection comprises an extraordinary narrative sweep which charts the development of European sculpture in the 19^th century, from the elegant Neoclassicism of the early part of the century – exemplified by works such as the Venus Italica after Antonio Canova – to the fantastical Romanticism of the Belle Époque years – seen in marbles such as Pasquale Romanelli’s Andromeda and the Sea Monster. Appropriately, two of the most beautiful sculptures are the Venus by Lawrence Macdonald and the Nymph at the Stream by David Watson Stevenson, two leading Scottish sculptors. Wider British sculpture is represented by Henry Weekes’ The Young Naturalist with its girl with billowing hair and its rocky base with intricately carved seaweeds. Carbisdale is the quintessential Victorian collection, a point underlined by the presence of two charming satyr’s by Emil Wolff, one of Queen Victoria’s favourite artists. The wonderful array of pictures, most of which are quality 19^th-century copies of Old Masters or original British landscapes, hints at the Duchess Blair’s desire to recreate the splendour that she had lost with the death of her husband, whose own Bridgewater Collection, was one of the greatest in Europe.