15th Jul, 2023 11:00 GMT/BST
British, European & Sporting Art
1167
Dame Laura Knight RA (1877-1970)
"Mr Ernest, the tramp and his wife" (c.1913)
Oil on canvas, 84cm by 232cm (triangular fragment) unframed, unstretched
Provenance: David Lay, Penzance, August 6, 2015, Lot 250
The complete and monumental scale painting is believed to have been painted by Dame Laura Knight in 1913 shortly after her move to Cornwall with her husband Harold Knight. Laura and Harold became friends with Charles and Ella Naper who were artists that had moved to the area shortly before and it is known that in some instances the female artists collaborated on jewellery designs together.
The present fragment was found in the studio of the Napers and the definitive reason why it was cut down remains unknown. It was found in the Naper studio embedded into the gable end of the studio, and the remainder of the colossal canvas of which it was part of, is assumed to have been lost with no known remaining records of it, aside from a black and white photograph of the work entitled "Mr Ernest The Tramp and his Wife" that can be found in the files of the Witt Library at the Courtauld Institute. The same photograph was reproduced in the book "Laura Knight Portraits" by Rosie Broadley which accompanied the major exhibition dedicated to the artist held at the National Portrait Gallery in 2013.
In Dame Laura Knight's autobiography the standing male figure depicted in the work - Mr Ernest The Tramp- is referenced and it is known that despite the description associated with him he was a man who spoke six languages, assisted them with their move to Penzance and undertook significant work at their property and gardens having met him originally through their doctor in Plymouth.
Provenance: Charles and Ella Naper
Thence by descent
David Lay, Penzance, August 6, 2015, Lot 250
Private Collection, UK
Sold for £3,200
Estimated at £1,200 - £1,800
The fragment is nailed on two sides to a plywood board. Extensive widely spaced and pronounced cracquelure across entire surface. Various losses and precarious paint to all edges consistent with an unstretched fragment canvas. Surface dirt and discoloured varnish with surface discoloured drip or lines of running liquid or varnish from the left-hand side corner between Ernest’s head and hand. Some further historic nail holes to edges. Various surface abrasions with slight lifting paint e.g. immediately above Ernest’s head. Further surface scuffs, abrasions and imperfections e.g. within sky roughly half-way between left-hand side edge and Ernest’s face. All condition issues consistent with its history and historic lack of support or preservation. AF. For more information please contact the department.
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Auction: British, European & Sporting Art, 15th Jul, 2023
The British, European and Sporting Art Sale at Tennants Auctioneers will see a fine equestrian portrait of ‘Lady Caroline Held by a Groom, Newmarket’ attributed to Thomas Spencer (1700-1763) go under the hammer. It will be joined by notable lots from the Estate of Martin & Felicity Mackintosh of Harrogate, including a rich and plentiful still life of game, fruit and flowers by Hendrik Reekers (1815-1854), and further works by the likes of Ford Madox Brown and William Holman Hunt from the Estate of the late Ian Stephenson of Laithes, Penrith, Cumbria. Other notable lots include Montague Dawson's “HMS Amethyst running the Yangtse Gauntlet, 30th July 1949”.
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