THOMAS BARDWELL (BRITISH 1704-1767)
VIEWS OF ADLINGTON HALL AND PARK
Oil on canvas, a set of four
Each 61.5 x 101cm (24 x 39.3⁄4 in.) (4)
Provenance:
Charles Legh, descent to current owner
Literature:
County Life, 28 November 1952, p.1734, fig. 1; 12 December 1952, p. 165, fig.9.
J. Harris, The Artist and the Country House , London, 1979, p.321, no.360.
P. de Figueiredo and Julian Treuherz, Cheshire Country Houses , Chichester, 1988, pp.17-18, fig.9.
G. Tyack and S. Brindle, Country Houses of England, 1994, pp.84-85.
J. Harris, The Artist and the Country House . London, 1995, p.84-5, fig. 57-8.
Exhibition:
Sotheby's London, The Artist and the Country House, no.57 and 58.
The present lot is a striking example of English country house portraiture, commissioned as a painterly record of a generation's contribution to the family seat. The tradition of estate painting arrived in England relatively late in comparison with the continent, where Renaissance rulers and aristocrats sought to document their palaces and homes. While oil paintings on canvas of a standalone property are unrecorded in England before 1600, the tradition was taken up with great enthusiasm and the art form reached its zenith in the eighteenth-century.
Born in Suffolk in 1704, Thomas Bardwell was a painter with a varied oeuvre; he travelled across England and Scotland executing country house views, portraits and conversation pieces. He began his artistic career decorating house interiors and initially owned a paint supply business. Although he lacked formal training, in the 1720s he was employed by the successful country house painter Peter Tillemans (c. 1684-1734) to paint Livermere Hall in Bardwell's native East Anglia. Tillemans' influence on Bardwell is discernible from his earliest topographical pictures. Notably, his painting of Hedenham Hall (1735) adopts Tillemans' distinctive equine staffage, shown most prominently in his view of Chatsworth (1720s) . Though charmingly naïve, this early work is also notable for its sensitive observation of detail and miniature-like quality.
Previously attributed to James Shrigley, The Adlington views demonstrate how Bardwell's proficiency in country house painting evolved in his mature years. First and foremost, the works memorialise the architectural achievements of Charles Legh (1697-1781), including the south wing portico, detached stable block, domed Temple of Diana and garden follies. Although early continental estate pictures certainly display a keen interest in preserving specific details, decorative concerns often came at the expense of accuracy and views were compressed to create broad pictorial maps. By the turn of the 18th century, however, artists and patrons responded to the growing study of topography and sets of elevational views proliferated to provide a comprehensive record.
Bardwell's interest in perspectival accuracy therefore made him a fitting choice for the commission. Published in 1756, his study The Practice of Painting and Perspective Made Easy offers the reader a guide to the principles of perspective using illustrations of buildings, gardens and avenues. His principles are brought to fruition in the present works, through geometric precision, carefully manipulated areas of light and shadow and the incisive rendering of architectural detail.
Bardwell's views also act as a celebration of the English estate, with its bucolic scenery and rural pleasures. Following Charles Legh as he strolls around the grounds, the paintings provide a pictorial tour of the landscape. The parkland is characteristic of the mid eighteenth-century designs popularised by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, with rolling pastures and clusters of trees. Horses graze, deer and rabbits frolic, and Charles Legh is accompanied by a crowd of his cherished dogs. Indeed, the lines between portraiture, landscape, sporting and country house painting blurred in English eighteenth-century conversation pieces and works began to speak to the symbiotic relationship between the home and family. Thomas Bardwell's portraits, for instance, often include the sitter's home in the background and his estate views show figures riding or promenading through the grounds.
John Steegman wrote that 'a house may be called Castle, Abbey, Priory, Park, Hall, Court, Manor, or just a House...But they are all houses, which have been born-in, lived-in and died-in by the family, and which are centred the family's affections and pride'. Bardwell's pictures animate the country house by reflecting the delight and fulfilment of those who inhabit it. In one view, Charles Legh stands proudly before the imposing new facade. Another shows him looking across his sweeping vista and admiring Adlington Hall from a distance. In each picture, however, the figure moves unobtrusively across the landscape; there is an awareness of his transience. While one generation travels through, the home and park remain the constant focus, a testament to one family's enduring legacy.
Condition Report:
White picket fence, centrally located
The paintings has been wax lined. There are multiple chip losses evident and a strong pattern of craquelure present. Examination under UV light reveals touches to many of the chip losses, along with work to a 4 ½ in. (approx.) vertical tear to the canvas, located in the sky on the right, and to a few additional infills in the sky. In the foreground there are some more dispersed spot touches and some glazing to thinness.
Dogs in front of lake
The painting has been adhered onto an oil tempered hardboard. This structural treatment is designed to support the original canvas which has several repairs to it along with a strong pattern of craquelure. Examination in a raking light suggests a good adhesion within the work and a certain level of structural stability. Examination under ultra violet light reveals some scattered retouches to a combination of isolated chip loses, some of these combine to form a more concentrated area of work, and to a few infills in the sky, one above the buildings on the right and two more
Man with blue coat
The picture has been adhered to an oil tempered hardboard. This structural treatment designed to support the original canvas which has several repairs to it across the sky. Examination in a raking light suggests a good adhesion within the work and a certain amount of structural stability. Examination under a UV light shows restoration to what appears to be a number of holes and some linear breaks to the canvas. The two largest of these are above the trees on the right and in the sky in the upper left quadrant.
Horses
The painting has been wax lined. This lining is designed to support a 3" vertical tear in the right of the sky and a strong pattern of craquelure Examination under ultra violet light shows scattered retouches across the sky, to chip losses and age cracking. This pattern of chip losses continues across the foreground which also has several patches of old varnish.
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