Frances Vincent de la Poer On My Way to the Dining Room, King's House, Jamaica

An original 1895 watercolour painting, F. de la Poer, On My Way to the Dining Room, King's House, Jamaica.

This vibrant painting is one of a pair of watercolours that we have for sale showing views at King's House, Jamaica (see also stock number JU-637). The view is described on the verso as 'on the way to the dining room Kings house, April 8th with Rameses & Montezuma'. King's House is the official residence of the Governor of Jamaica. When Kingston became the capital of Jamaica in 1872, King's House was constructed at the former home of the Anglican Lord Bishop of the Diocese of Jamaica. The house shown in this painting was destroyed by an earthquake in 1907, before being rebuilt to a similar design the same year. In this scene we see a male servant with a pineapple on the veranda at King's House, with two colourful native macaw birds. The West Indies once had the highest concentration of endemic macaws, parrots, and parakeets in the world; poignantly, it has suffered the highest number of extinctions including all seven macaw species. The fact that the artist names the macaws suggests that they were kept as pets; it is perhaps also telling of the island's colonial status that she gives the names of the birds in the scene rather than that of the servant.

The painting is signed 'F. de la Poer 1895', who is presumed to be Frances Vincent de la Poer (1851–1925), descended from the important landowning de la Poer (Power) family of Waterford, Ireland. Frances was the youngest daughter of John Power, 17th Baron le Power and Coroghmore, Co. Waterford, who lived at Gurteen, Co. Galway. In 1881 she married Thomas William Gaston Monsell, 2nd Baron Emly.

At the time of painting, the Governor of Jamaica was Sir Henry Arthur Blake, the son of Peter Blake of Corbally Castle, Co. Galway. Blake's wife was the botanical illustrator and writer Edith Bernal, Lady Blake (née Osborne), an extremely accomplished woman who spoke nine languages, including Irish, Russian, and Chinese. As befitted the representatives of Empire, the Blakes lived in some style and they were closely involved in organising the Jamaica Exhibition of 1891. Visitors to Jamaica included Lord Rosse, the Villiers-Stuarts, Eva FitzGerald, daughter of the 4th Duke of Leinster, the artist Emily Trant, of Dovea in Tipperary, and Lord Donoughmore.

It appears that Frances de la Poer was a guest at King's House, likely through family connections in Galway and possibly as a friend of Edith Blake, with whom she clearly shared artistic interests. Edith admired the lush plant life of Jamaica, describing the island as a ‘breathtaking emerald’ and producing numerous botanical illustrations of local plants; this watercolour by Frances de la Poer seems equally to celebrate the island's colourful and abundant flora. Edith also painted screens and there is a record of one, decorated with white Beaumontia Grandiflora and mauve creepers, being sent to the de La Poer family at Gurteen.

Paintings by de la Poer rarely come to the market. A trio of watercolours of Jamaica by F. de la Poer sold at Christies in 2009, of Hyde Hall Sugar Estate; The Porch of the King's House; and Runaway Bay, Jamaica. A further Irish view by de la Poer has previously auctioned at Adams in Ireland.