CLAUDE-JOSEPH VERNET | ‘Lever de Soleil’: A Mediterranean Coastal Scene at Sunrise, with Fishermen and other Figures around a Fire; ‘Coucher de Soleil’: A Mediterranean Coastal Scene at Sunset, with Fisherman unloading their Catch, a Ship’s Hull being caulked in the Distance

Commissioned by George Thornhill (1738-1827) of Diddington, on 17 May 1764;
Thence by family descent to the present owner.

C.J. Vernet, Livre de Verité, C.199 and under ‘Argent que Je Reçois’, no. 118;
F. Ingersoll-Smouse, Joseph Vernet, Peintre de Marine, Paris 1926, vol. I, pp. 97-98, nos 794 and 795 (listing erroneous provenance: General Studd, His Sale, London 25 January 1918, lot 38, for £84 to Harcourt).

The following condition report is provided by Henry Gentle who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Claude Vernet A pair of Mediterranean views Oils on canvas, in period gilt frames in good condition 1. Fishermen at sunset The original canvas is lined. The lining is approximately 60-80 years old. The tacking edge has weakened and there is a slight loss of tension but there are no deformations or damages. Under raking light the vertical canvas warp is visible along with a central stretcher mark. The paint layer is in very good original condition. A previous restorer has selectively cleaned the sky but has left a residue of old discoloured varnish in the foreground. Removal of this layer would improve the tonality and reveal colours that retain their original vibrancy and paint texture that is well preserved. There is evidence of micro fissures of pale shrinkage cracking, particularly to the more thinly painted areas in the foreground such as the fishing nets and rocks. Under UV light a minor scattering of restorations can be detected mostly to reduce dark shrinkage cracks in the sky. 2. Evening scene with fisher folk and a fire. This painting is in a very similar condition to i., with the addition of some slight restoration to the left hand edge and also minor scattering of restoration visible under UV. Like 1., it is in good original preserved condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This beautiful pair of coastal scenes, depicting contrasting times of day, was commissioned from Claude-Joseph Vernet, the leading French marine painter of the 18^th century, in Paris on 17 May 1764 by George Thornhill (1738–1827)of Diddington. Remarkably the paintings have remained in the family ever since and appear here on the market for the first time since they were painted some 250 years ago. George Thornhill accompanied his elder brother Thomas Thornhill (1735–1800) of Fixby on the Grand Tour in around 1761-64 and commissioned the paintings in Paris, presumably on his return home to England.¹ The precise details of the commission are recorded in Vernet’s Livre de Verité (commission and accounts book):

‘199. Pour M. Thornhill cadet, Anglois et de la connoissance de M. Monnet, deux tableaux de 32 pouce de large sur 20 de haut, un doit representer un lever du solleil l’autre un coucher en marine ordonnez le 17^e may 1764 et promis pour une année d’après le prix est de 1500 l. les deux.’²

The description of the commissioner as ‘M. Thornhill, cadet’ (cadet meaning ‘the younger’) clearly identifies the commissioner as George rather than Thomas Thornhill and it appears that he paid for the pictures at the time of the commission (at a cost of 1,500 livres), although they were not due to be delivered until the following year.  Interestingly the preceding entry in the accounts book (no. 198) is for an imperial size canvas commissioned by ‘milord Temistocle fils de M. le duc de Bedfort’ a month prior to the Thornhill commission, on 18 April, and also promised delivery the following year.  A further reference to the Thornhill pictures, confirming receipt of payment, is entered under Vernet’s Livre de Verité, under the heading ‘Argent que Je Reçois’:

‘118. Deux tableaux pour M. Thornhill Anglois 1500.’³

A subsequent entry in the Livre de Verité records the commissioning of two further paintings by a ‘M. Thornhill’:

‘221. Le 24^e janvier 1766 M. Monnet m’a demandé pour M. Thornhill Anglois deux tableaux de trois pieds de large, sur deux de demy de haut en marine; un calme et une tempeste. Le prix a 1200 liv. Chaque, promis pour un an d’appresent.’⁴

Payment for these additional paintings is also recorded under ‘Argent que Je Reçois’ although there appears to have been a delay of some four years between the date of commission and time of payment:

‘147. Le 16^e janvier 1770 j’ay recû de M. Monnet 2400 pr prix de deux tableaux que j’ay fait pr M. Thornhill.’⁵

It is unclear as to whether this subsequent pair of paintings was commissioned by the same George Thornhill (formerly referred to as Thornhill ‘cadet’) or whether they might have been for his elder brother Thomas or indeed another member of the family. The repeated mention of ‘M. Monnet’, who according to the first entry in the Livre de Verité appears to have provided George Thornhill with the introduction to Vernet in 1764, may indicate that this was a second commission by the same patron and member of the Thornhill family, although this has yet to be substantiated.

George Thornhill (1738–1827) of Diddington was son of George Thornhill (1681–1754) also of Diddington and Sarah, daughter of John Barne of London and Kirkby, Lincolnshire. He became High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Hunts in 1791 and in 1780 married Mary Anne, daughter of Sir Caesar Hawkins, 1st Bt of Kelston, Somerset.

¹ A portrait of Thomas Thornhill by Pompeo Batoni was sold New York, Christie’s, 9 June 2010, lot 101, for $240,000.

² L. Lagrange, Joseph Vernet et la Peinture au XVIII Siècle, Paris 1864, p. 343.

³ Lagrange 1864, p. 364.

⁴ Lagrange 1864, p. 346.

⁵ Lagrange 1864, p. 366.