Mulready, William (1786–1863) "Country Cottages, Ireland," ...

Estimate

€2,000 - €3,000

Mulready, William (1786–1863)

"Country Cottages, Ireland,"  c. 1810, O.O.P., 34.5 h x 42 w cms (13½” x 16½”)

Inscribed on reverse “Country Cottages, Ireland by Wm Mulready RA”

Bears labels on reverse

“From the collection of the late Wm Bingham J. P. of “Lingdale”, Claughton, Cheshire”

“Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd. 43 Old Bond St., Piccadilly”

“Newport (Mon.) Museum & Art Gallery  - Loan – Title Irish Scene (Landscape) Artist – William Mulready RA – Date – March 1922’

“Scene in Ireland – An early study by Wm Mulready RA 1786-1863”

 

While at first glance this depiction of an old waterside building appears a charming rustic scene, the detail and accurate depiction of materials and architecture brings it to a different level. The house is clearly of considerable age, and judging by the gable window, dates back to Tudor times or earlier. In the foreground is a wooden shed, probably covering a fish trap or watermill. The section of building on the right appears to be the surviving part of an older and larger house. An arched doorway in the centre is approached by a short flight of steps, on which a woman sits. In the background are other houses and barns, with another woman walking along a pathway. Although inscriptions and labels on the reverse of this painting identify it as an Irish scene, the exact location has yet to be established.

 

Although best-known for genre scenes, interiors and figure paintings, notably his Romantic The Sonnet, the Ennis-born artist William Mulready delighted in depicting old houses and mills in the English countryside. Like Rembrandt, who sought out old cottages on the river Ij, Mulready took as his subject-matter rustic farm houses, half-timbered mills and wayside inns with bowed roofs and teetering chimneystacks. Influenced by Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century, he was skilled at depicting texture and materials, using the contrast between crumbling brickwork, half-timbered cob walls and fences made of random planks, to add  interest to his work. Often he depicted these buildings from the side, rather than in front, so that the angles of the gable walls formed a strong pictorial composition. The buildings he sought out were not necessarily in the countryside; in the V&A collection there is a view by him, dating from around 1811, of children playing near dilapidated buildings. Entitled Kensington Gravel Pits, this depicts the area of London now known as Notting Hill. Mulready lived at the Kensington Gravel Pits between 1811 and 1827.

Born in Co. Clare in 1786, as a child Mulready was brought to London, where he studied at the Royal Academy Schools. From an early age he worked as an illustrator for publishing houses and in 1807 illustrated Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare. His illustrations for William Roscoe’s The Butterfly’s Ball and The Grasshopper’s Feast, published that same year, were popular with the public, as were his illustrations for The Peacock’s At Home and The Lion’s Masquerade. From 1813 onwards he concentrated on genre scenes, developing his own style of meticulous rendering, one that anticipates the Pre-Raphaelite painters.  He died in Bayswater in 1863.

Dr. Peter Murray, 2022