Samuel Palmer, R.W.S

Vesuvius, Italy

Live auction begins on:

February 5, 04:00 PM GMT

Estimate

15,000 - 20,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property of a descendent of Sir Arthur Cope, R.A. (1853-1932)

Samuel Palmer, R.W.S

(Newington 1805 - 1881 Redhill)

Vesuvius, Italy

Watercolor;

inscribed lower right: Vesuvius / Aug 2. 1838, inscribed on the mount verso by A.H. Palmer: Probably from Pompeii: in the evacuations of which S. Palmer & his wife lived for a time. There, during this very eruption, they read 'The Last Days of Pompeii', at night. At each explosion, the makeshift door shook (Palmer wrote), and / distant watch-dogs bayed. / To Sir Arthur Cope. R.A. in grateful memory of old days; and of days still older, when his Father (my God-father), and mine were friends. A.H. Palmer. Vancouver B.C. April 1923

115 by 177 mm; 4 ⅝ by 7 in.

By decsent to Alfred Herbert Palmer (1853-1932), the artist’s son,

given by him, in 1923, to Sir Arthur Cope. R.A (1857-1940),

by descent to the present owner

This free, vibrant and well preserved watercolor was painted in situ - probably at Mergellina in the bay of Naples - on 2 August 1838. Palmer and his young wife, Hannah, were in the middle of their two year stay in Italy, which was a period of great happiness for them and a transformative one for Samuel Palmer as an artist. Having stayed in Rome over the winter of 1837/8, they sought to escape the summer heat by moving south to the coast. Disappointed by Naples, by June they had moved to Pompeii, where they lodged in an ancient cottage with spectacular views of the iconic volcano. The ‘majestic monster’ - as Hannah Palmer described it in a letter home - was showing signs of erupting and they read Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s recently published The Last Days of Pompeii for further inspiration.

This sheet has a very special provenance. After Samuel and Hannah had died, the work passed to their son Alfred Herbert Palmer, a painter himself but also his father’s first biographer. In 1928, Alfred gave the watercolor to Sir Arthur Cope, R.A., the son of Palmer’s great friend Sir Charles West Cope, R.A. and Alfred’s godfather, in memory of the 'old days’ (see full inscription, which is preserved on the reverse of the current mount, and transcribed above). Both Sir Charles West Cope and Sir Arthur Cope were successful and significant artists in their own right. Having descended through Sir Arthur’s family until today, this sale is likely to represent the first time the watercolor has appeared on the market.