MARIE SPARTALI STILLMAN | By a Clear Well, within a Little Field

Mrs Money-Kyrle

London, Grosvenor Gallery, 1884, no.368;
London, Barbican Art Gallery, The Last Romantics, 1989, no.29

John Christian, ‘Marie Spartali – Pre-Raphaelite Beauty’, Antique Collector, March 1984, pp.44-7, illustrated fig.8;
David B. Elliott, A Pre-Raphaelite Marriage – The Lives and Works of Marie Spartali Stillman and William James Stillman, 2006, p.148, 212, 217, illustrated p.149, plate 51

This watercolour is in very good condition. The paper is flat in the frame and there are no signs of cockling, foxing or staining. There are pinholes in each corner and another to the treetrunk in the centre of the background and another behind the figure in the left foreground. The picture is ready to be hung. FRAME The picture is contained in an attractive 'Pre-Raphaelite style' moulded plaster and wooden gilt frame and under glass.
"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."

This charmingly lyrical watercolour was one of several pictures by Stillman inspired by the writings of the early Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio, the best-known of which is The Enchanted Garden of 1889 (private collection). For the present picture, Stillman used the translation written by D.G. Rossetti for whom she posed in the 1870s as a model and from whom she learnt much to inspire and guide her art. The poses of the three women are similar to those found in Rossetti's paintings, although the background is closer to the work of Stillman's other mentor, Ford Madox Brown. The motif of women holding up branches of foliage, probably derives directly from pictures by Rossetti, such as The Beloved (Tate), Il Rasmoscello (Harvard Museums) and Sibylla Palmifera (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight). The same gesture is present in Stillman's Madonna Pietra degli Scrovigni (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool) also shown at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1884. 'By a clear well, within a little field
Full of green grass and flowers of every hue,
Sat three girls, relating (as I knew)’
‘Of Three Girls and their Talk’, Boccaccio (translated by D.G. Rossetti in his Earthly Paradise)