A Brussels historical tapestry from the life of Alexander the Great

Firstly, we wanted to take a look at Lot 20, a late 17th century Brussels historical tapestry from the life of Alexander the Great. The scene depicted shows Alexander the Great in the midst of battle, astride his horse Bucephalus - one of the most famous horses of classical antiquity - trampling his enemies. In the foreground there is a water's edge, soldiers can then be seen on the riverbanks in the middle distance with war elephants on the left, and a hilltop citadel in the distance. The tapestry is then finished with an elaborate architectural border with ribbons, floral swags and winged cherubic figures and a central cartouche to each edge. A small unidentified weaver's mark is found in the lower left side guard border.

The most important and probably influential series of scenes from the life of Alexander was originally designed by Charles Le Brun between 1660 and 1673 for Louis XIV, and initially woven by the King's weavers at the Royal Tapestry of Les Gobelins. The Alexander series was the first major new tapestry commission of Louis XIV's reign, and the tapestries were designed to flatter the king by comparing his virtues and achievements to those of Alexander the Great. The success of the designs led to other versions being produced by weavers such as the Aubusson factories, Judocus de Vos, and the Felletin weavers in the region of Le Marche.

The use of Alexander as a suitable subject matter pre-dates Le Brun's designs however, and by the end of the 17^th century onwards, factories took to producing their own versions, interpolating elements from earlier designs with Le Brun's iconography to produce new scenes from his life. It would seem that this tapestry is one such example of this type. It draws on elements from various sources which depict one of two significant successful battles in his life; either the Battle of Granicus in 334BC, or the Battle of Gaugamela in 331BC. The first is suggested by the river setting, the second by the war elephants and the broader landscape - both details recorded in Plutarch's Life of Alexander.

It is probable that the weaver's design is drawn, in part, from a set executed by the workshop of Karel van Mander the Younger (1579-1623) in the early 17^th century. One such panel is held in the Art Institute of Chicago collection and depicts "The Crossing of the Granicus" (1911.439). It is possible that the fortified buildings on the mountain in the distance and Alexander's horses pose are directly influenced by this panel. In overall style and with distinctive cherub pillar supports flanking swags to the main borders, it is perhaps from the workshop that produced the Flemish 17th century tapestry attributed to the Van Maelsack Atelier Bruxelles and which depicted Alexander the Great astride Bucephalus. Interestingly it also carried a similar atelier symbol to the left hand guard.

A fine pair of mahogany hall benches, after a design by James Wyatt

From the selection of furniture, we have Lot 198, a fine pair of mahogany hall benches, after a design by James Wyatt, possibly by Mack, Williams & Gibton, dating to circa 1820-1840. These were originally in the Collection of the Late Marion Oates Charles (1919-2018). The distinctive design of these hall benches, and their features, are directly derived from hall chairs designed by James Wyatt (1746-1814) for his 'great neoclassical masterpiece', Castle Coole, Co. Fermanagh, Ireland for Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl of Belmore (1740-1802) in the late 18th century. This attractive design embraced fashionable elegant classical forms while adhering to the great centuries-old tradition of wooden-seated hall furniture.

A fine William & Mary walnut and seaweed marquetry chest of drawers

Another highlight is Lot 1, a fine William & Mary walnut and seaweed marquetry chest of drawers. Dating to circa 1690, this rare marquetry chest is typical of the work of that often associated with the celebrated cabinet-maker Gerrit Jensen. Favoured by King William and Queen Mary, his patrons also included many of the aristocracy of the time and he is known to have worked at Burghley House, Chatsworth, Arundel Castle, Boughton House and Petworth to name a few. The present lot comes to auction from a private collection in Fort Augustus, Scotland.

The delicately rendered 'seaweed' or 'arabesque' marquetry (called 'filigree' in the early eighteenth century) is characterized by its two-dimensionality and dense foliate scrolls, and its panels are cut in a single operation. This chest retains a trade label for Moss Harris and Sons, New Oxford Street, London. Moss Harris were one of the foremost London dealers in the first half of the 20th century and held Royal Warrants to H.M. The Queen (Queen Mary) from the 1920's and the Prince of Wales during 1929-1936.

A marble bust of a young woman by Amelia Robertson Paton (Scottish, 1821-1904)

A fascinating piece is Lot 436, a marble bust of a young woman by Scottish sculptor, Amelia Robertson Paton (1821-1904). It was formerly in the collection of Baroness Nancy Oakes von Hoyningen-Huene, daughter of Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet, British gold mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. 

Amelia Paton was born at Dunfermline Park, Fife into an artistic family. Her brothers, Joseph Noel Paton, and Walter Hugh Paton, became famous painters and illustrators, respected by contemporary collectors, elevated by royalty and with a legacy of work that’s embraced and celebrated by collectors. Amelia, denied official recognition within her lifetime, has yet to be celebrated in quite the same way.

Amelia appears to have been largely self-taught, creating small miniature portraits and starting to learn the rudiments of sculpting through modelling in clay. It seems that her first tools were an ivory crochet-needle and a knife but eventually she was able to borrow better tools – from a plasterer.

At the age of 39, she moved from her childhood home to live with her two brothers at 33 George Square in Edinburgh. At this time it seems she started working from her own studio and trained as a sculptor under William Brodie. The crossover of taste from her brothers’ works would have been almost osmotic. In 1860 she exhibited publicly for the first time when two of her busts appeared at the Royal Scottish Academy. It may be that the present lot is one of these two busts titled simply as “A Young Woman” and recorded by ‘Bedouin’ as worthy of note in his review of the 1860 exhibition. It is almost certainly the earliest work in marble she may have exhibited.

In 1862, Amelia became the second wife of the celebrated artist and early photographer David Octavius Hill. She went onto to exhibit over 60 sculptures at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Academy, Glasgow Institute, the Royal Hibernian Academy and at the International Exhibition in Dublin in 1865. Her work tended to be studies of Arthurian and Shakespearean heroes, family friends, and notable figures such as the historian Thomas Carlyle, artist Sir George Harvey and physicist Sir David Brewster. Her skill and talent shone through, and she was commissioned to carry out several public statues, rare for a female artist of this period. Buoyed by the confidence shown in her by her husband and her brother Joseph Noel, in 1868/1869 she sculpted a full length statue of the explorer David Livingstone, who sat for Amelia during the modelling, just prior to leaving the country for his final journey to Africa. Exhibited to great acclaim in London in the New Rooms of the Royal Academy in 1869 the figure now stands in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh and was described by William Sharp in 1902 as the “the first work of sculpture done by a woman which has been erected in any public place in Britain”. Subsequent public commissions included the statue of Robert Burns commissioned by Dumfries town council in 1877, and three of the statues which adorn the Scott Monument in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh.

Despite the patronage of two eminent brothers and her husband, Amelia still faced the constraints of Victorian attitudes at the time towards gender equality and was excluded from membership of the Royal Scottish Academy. In response she took matters into her own hands and in 1877 helped establish the Albert Institute of Fine Arts at Edinburgh’s Shandwick Place, an artistic institution that did not discriminate on grounds of gender. Above the ornate doorway to the building, Amelia’s relief portrait bust of Prince Albert and the figures of ‘Sculpture and Painting’ can still be seen.

The 1891 census described Hill as "sculptor, retired" but she continued to exhibit at the Royal Scottish Academy until 1902, aged 82. She died at her house, Newington Lodge, 38 Mayfield Terrace on 5 July 1904 aged 83. Patricia de Montford notes that the obituary for Amelia in 1904 while acknowledging “she achieved ‘not a little fame as a sculptor’, concentrates mainly on her marriage to Hill and the fame of her brothers. While it is common to come across such laudatory statements, their generalised nature make it difficult to form an accurate assessment of her achievements.”

Only a handful of work by her has appeared at public auction - with half of them being miniature portraits, another of her passions. Her work is little known to the wider general public but in the last twenty years her work has started to be reappraised, lauded and celebrated with several books featuring her life and work. Hopefully the appearance at auction of this very early, elegant and sensual bust by this neglected Victorian female artist, with its leanings to the Pre-Raphaelite movement, may help redress some of the lack of awareness of her life and work.

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Auction Details

Tuesday 26 & Wednesday 27 March, 10.30am GMT
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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VIEWING:

• Viewing in Newbury:
  • Friday 22 March: 10am-4pm
  • Saturday 23 March: 10am-3pm
  • Sunday 24 March: 10am-3pm
  • Monday 25 March: 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 26 March: 8.30am-4pm
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