From the Blog

News, stories and musings from the eclectic world of S&W.

Head in the Clouds

Head in the Clouds

New this week, a vivid collection of miniature mid-19th-century sketches in watercolour and bodycolour on blue paper after Masters such as Turner, Constable, Gainsborough and Rembrandt
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Polish-British artist Josef Herman OBE RA (1911–2000)

Polish-British artist Josef Herman OBE RA (1911–2000)

A selection from our new collection of lithographs by Polish-British artist Josef Herman OBE RA (1911–2000)
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A Glasgow Boy in North Africa

A Glasgow Boy in North Africa

This gorgeous watercolour is a rare example of the work of Erskine Edward Nicol (1868–1926), who had connections with 'The Glasgow Boys' and whose paintings recall the North African subjects of Scottish painter Arthur Melville (1855–1904)
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Hugh Barklie Blundell McCalmont 1836–1888

Hugh Barklie Blundell McCalmont 1836–1888

A wonderfully civilised picnic 'between Croyde & Baggy Point', North Devon, 1866
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Apollonia Griffiths

Apollonia Griffiths

Lovely watercolours from our Apollonia Griffith collection
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Homeward Bound

Homeward Bound

For anyone heading south west for the summer, here is a lovely watercolour at Sennen, just a stone's throw from Land's End
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Craftswomanship

Craftswomanship

We're in awe of the craftsmanship (or craftswomanship) in our newly listed pair of 18th-century silkwork embroideries
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Picture of the Month: July 2023

Picture of the Month: July 2023

S&W Picture of the Month for July is this arresting, large portrait rendered with beautiful sensitivity by Octavius Oakley RWS (1800–1867)
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A Joyful Decorative Style

A Joyful Decorative Style

John Hall Thorpe's joyful decorative style is instantly recognisable: think Mary Delany, pared back and infused with flattened forms of modernity for the interwar era
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Grace at the Refectory

Grace at the Refectory

The naturalism with which George Cattermole RWS (1800–1868) rendered his historical subjects is quite breathtaking—our newly listed 'Grace at the Refectory' by Cattermole this week has allowed us to get up close and personal with his technique, combining watercolour and bodycolour to give the scene real depth
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Berlin Woolwork

Berlin Woolwork

Our new pair of handpainted Berlin Woolwork designs tell an interesting story about the democratisation of embroidery
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This Week's Armchair Travel

This Week's Armchair Travel

We have been vicariously off on our summer hols this week with our new collection of Edwardian travel sketches by Alice Horton
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No Use Crying over...

No Use Crying over...

A wonderful rustic subject by the Scottish artist Hector Chalmers (1849–1943)
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Art Deco Illustration

Art Deco Illustration

New this week, a collection of playful English illustrations spanning the period 1906 to 1936
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Fabulous Florals

Fabulous Florals

Gorgeous new florals from the circle of James Holland OWS (1799–1870)
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Bengal Ayahs

Bengal Ayahs

Bengal Ayahs, 1856
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Enfield Artist Greta Ward

Enfield Artist Greta Ward

This lovely 1930s oil painting shows a leafy view in 'Church Street' in Enfield, north London
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Hebe & Bacchante

Hebe & Bacchante

This fine pair of drawings after the 18th-century Italian painter and engraver Giovanni Battista Cipriani RA (1727–1785) depict Hebe, the ancient Greek goddess of youth, and a Bacchante, a priestess or female followers of the god Bacchus
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Port Isaac, Cornwall

Port Isaac, Cornwall

This light-filled back street view in Port Isaac, on Cornwall's north coast, shows the celebrated St Ives painter John Anthony Park RBA ROI (1880–1962) working in a post-impressionistic style
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Ivy Attwell's World Travels

Ivy Attwell's World Travels

Feeling uplifted today by our new collection of brilliantly vibrant 1950s gouaches from the world travels of Ivy T. Attwell
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Southsea Terrace, Portsmouth

Southsea Terrace, Portsmouth

It's always interesting to see a really different view of a place—here looking towards the Isle of Wight from Southsea, Portsmouth
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Mister Frasquito

Mister Frasquito

There is mystery and mystique around the relocation of British artist Frank Hind to Granada, Spain in 1905 and his change of name to Francis Wallis-Markland—a curious story that adds to the other-worldly quality of his Symbolist inspired pastel renderings of Granada's gardens
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Ruskin's Birds

Ruskin's Birds

A gorgeous 19th-century kingfisher study, reminiscent of the bird studies in John Ruskin's teaching collection
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Natural History

Natural History

From our recent early 19th-century natural history collection associated with the Glegg family of Withington Hall, Cheshire
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A view from our window at Llandudno'

A view from our window at Llandudno'

A view from our window at Llandudno' by Elizabeth Wedderburn, from our new collection by the Wedderburn sisters, dating from the 1870s
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Mapping the Past

Mapping the Past

This striking collection of hand-drawn early 19th-century topographical observations has had me delving into the history of cartography
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Pembrokeshire Antiquarian

Pembrokeshire Antiquarian

Two rare works depicting Pembrokeshire landmarks by antiquarian Charles Norris (1779–1858), whose work is of importance in recording buildings that have subsequently been lost
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Kenpon Chakushoku

Kenpon Chakushoku

A selection from our delightful new collection of Japanese paintings on silk (or kenpon chakushoku), dating from towards the end of the Meiji period
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George Dance the Younger RA (1741–1825)

George Dance the Younger RA (1741–1825)

This elegant portrait sketch of a boy in profile by George Dance the Younger RA (1741–1825) is possibly the artist's youngest son, Charles Webb (1785–1844), aged thirteen
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Tosa School

Tosa School

Newly listed (and quickly sold), this wonderful Kosa school illustration, featuring the remarkable Japanese pigment 'gofun' or shell white: a form of calcite, calcium carbonate, made of crushed seashells, usually oyster shells
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Clogstoun Connections

Clogstoun Connections

We have a beautiful trio of works by Ina Clogstoun
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Voyage to Asia

Voyage to Asia

Vibrant yet ethereal pictures that tell of the 'golden' age of British sea trade; a time when Britain was China's leading trading partner and had ambitions to push westwards from Shanghai up the Yangtze River
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Olivia Serres (1772–1834)

Olivia Serres (1772–1834)

Researching our John Thomas Serres sketch I got diverted by the story of his wife, Olivia Serres (1772–1834): also an artist but most famous—or infamous—for being 'an imposter'
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A Pair of Keeshonds

A Pair of Keeshonds

A sweet, ennobled German Keeshond dog pair
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Sultan Ibrahim Adham Visited by Angels

Sultan Ibrahim Adham Visited by Angels

More miniature work in breathtaking detail, this time Indo-Persian in style
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A Closer Look at Miniatures

A Closer Look at Miniatures

The devil is in the detail
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Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna

A beautiful—at once austere yet intimate—interior glimpse at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the main summer residence at the time of Franz Joseph I, head of the Austrian Empire
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Henry Earp Senior (1831–1914)

Henry Earp Senior (1831–1914)

Pleasing pair by Henry Earp Senior (1831–1914), head of a famous family of Brighton artists
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Richard Doyle's horses

Richard Doyle's horses

Enjoyed discovering the riotous world of Richard Doyle's horses this week, galloping through his fantastical fantastical visions of fairydom, nostrils flared and hooves aloft
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John White Abbott's Devon

John White Abbott's Devon

John White Abbott (1763–1851) tirelessly transcribed the landscapes of South Devon local to his home at Fordlands near Exeter—even, in this vital sepia work, at the grand old age of 80
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Journey to the Holy Land

Journey to the Holy Land

Rare depictions of 19th-century Palestine by Anna Julia Grant-Duff (1839–1915), who in the 1880s spent a winter at Haifa in a house owned by the British author and traveller Laurence Oliphant (1829–1888)
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Warwick William Lendon SGA (b.1883)

Warwick William Lendon SGA (b.1883)

This little piece of postal service history is an original 1930s Greetings Telegram design by graphic artist Warwick William Lendon SGA
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Theodore Henry Adolphus Fielding (1781–1851)

Theodore Henry Adolphus Fielding (1781–1851)

This lovely Continental landscape by Theodore Henry Adolphus Fielding (1781–1851), which is a small triumph in composition and colouring
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A New (Old) Leaf

A New (Old) Leaf

We encounter and deal in the materiality of paper every day, so it is envigorating to once in a while handle non-paper
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A Gentleman Amateur

A Gentleman Amateur

Our new collection of drawings by Exeter artist John White Abbott (1763–1851) is a tour de force from this gentleman amateur, who never sold a painting but whose oils were praised more highly those of his friend and teacher Francis Towne
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