- Sussex 01403 700858
- Winchester 01962 861789
- London 020 4548 4738
- Sussex 01403 700858
- Winchester 01962 861789
- London 020 4548 4738
Irish Sea
incised inscription and indistinctly dated 'Irish Sea 9.1 Aug (?)' (lower right)
oil on board
18 x 35.5cm
Provenance
Sale, Bonhams, London, 16th September 1971, lot 157, as a pair with 'Welsh Coast';
The Old Customs House, Lymington, Hampshire (purchased from the above sale);
Private collection, UK (purchased from the above as a pair with 'Welsh Coast')
Literature
D. Brook-Hart, British 19th Century Marine Painting, Suffolk, 1974, p. 143, pl. 42.
| Estimate: | £1,000 - £1,500 |
Footnote
Brett's characteristic incised inscription gives details of the subject, day and month, but for some reason omits the year. There is some evidence pointing to 1873 as the most likely date. That year Brett spent July in the Scilly Isles, and then, after a brief interlude to watch the yacht races at Cowes, he embarked on a leisurely progress from Penzance up the west coast of Cornwall, painting on the way, which ended at Bude early in November. It is very likely that he passed through St Ives, where he had spent a fruitful month the previous year, and he could well have been there on August 21. The prominent presence, in the left foreground, of a typical St Ives pilchard driver does suggest that the work may have been painted there.
We are grateful to Mr Charles Brett for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.