Richard Cosway
Triston Chambers, aged 2, winged and holding a dove, c. 1795
Pencil on paper
Rectangular, 7 ¾ in (195 mm) high
The reverse inscribed (by Mary Radcliffe Chambers, sister of the sitter): Triston Chambers, son of Abraham Henry Chambers & the beautiful Mary Chambers (Born Miss Radcliffe). This child died of Hooping cough (sic) at 2 years old in 14 Stratford Place. My virtuous & most exquisitely beautiful mother mourned 7 years for this child. When he was dying Richard Cosway the celebrated artist hastily came from his house 20 Stratford Place & drew this sketch - from which he afterwards did the picture in oil. Poor little Tripy as we called him was in the act of dying when this was done. He was the most amiable child I ever saw - Heaven took him away in time to escape all the sorrow we suffered. He rests in the vault in Paddington Church Yard. - Mary Radcliffe Chambers""
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com This pencil drawing of the youngest Chambers child was done hastily by the celebrated artist Richard Cosway shortly before the death...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
This pencil drawing of the youngest Chambers child was done hastily by the celebrated artist Richard Cosway shortly before the death of Triston whooping cough (also known as pertussis) at the age of two. The Chambers family had their London residence at 12 Stratford Place, eight doors down from the artist who was summoned as the infant lay on his death bed. This pencil and paper portrait formed the base from which a later oil painting was completed.
Abraham Henry Chambers (father of Triston) purchased the family residence of 12 Stratford Place in London. Apart from Triston, the children of Abraham and Mary who survived were Henry, James (who took up holy orders) and Mary Radcliffe Chambers, who was responsible for the moving account of the circumstances surrounding the sketch of little Triston. Scant information can be found concerning Abraham’s wife Mary Chambers other than the fact that the death of her infant son had a profound and devastating effect on her. Her daughter recalls her “beautiful” mother mourning the death for seven years.
It would seem that the family were still in residence in Stratford Place in 1825, when Abraham and Ennis Chambers applied for a patent for ‘a new filtering apparatus’, together with their partner Charles Jerraud. The patent appears to have been applied to clarifying water in muddy rivers, but also in the home through a cistern.
The Chambers family became wealthy landowners in west Wales, where they played an active part in the local politics of the area and were prominent sports administrators. The later generations of the family maintained the family tradition of involvement in sport. John Graham Chambers (1843-83) was a successful sports journalist and was responsible for devising many of the modern rules for rowing, athletics and boxing which were later attributed to his friend the Marquess of Queensbury. Robert Lambert Chambers (1850-1906) was elected in 1861 as the first president of the Welsh Rugby Union as well as being an active cricketer.
The artist Richard Cosway moved to Stratford Place in 1793 and lived there until the end of his life. This portrait of Triston is difficult to date but bears some stylistic resemblance to the portraits of Cosway’s own daughter, Louisa Paolina Angelica Cosway (1790-96) and those of Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817) as a child. Cosway’s own daughter died of a fever after suffering from a sore throat at the age of six – if drawn after her death, his personal grief may well have made him acutely sympathetic to the plight of his near neighbours, the Chambers family. This simple but compelling pencil drawing expresses succinctly the importance of portraitists, particularly miniaturists, at times of great tragedy.
This pencil drawing of the youngest Chambers child was done hastily by the celebrated artist Richard Cosway shortly before the death of Triston whooping cough (also known as pertussis) at the age of two. The Chambers family had their London residence at 12 Stratford Place, eight doors down from the artist who was summoned as the infant lay on his death bed. This pencil and paper portrait formed the base from which a later oil painting was completed.
Abraham Henry Chambers (father of Triston) purchased the family residence of 12 Stratford Place in London. Apart from Triston, the children of Abraham and Mary who survived were Henry, James (who took up holy orders) and Mary Radcliffe Chambers, who was responsible for the moving account of the circumstances surrounding the sketch of little Triston. Scant information can be found concerning Abraham’s wife Mary Chambers other than the fact that the death of her infant son had a profound and devastating effect on her. Her daughter recalls her “beautiful” mother mourning the death for seven years.
It would seem that the family were still in residence in Stratford Place in 1825, when Abraham and Ennis Chambers applied for a patent for ‘a new filtering apparatus’, together with their partner Charles Jerraud. The patent appears to have been applied to clarifying water in muddy rivers, but also in the home through a cistern.
The Chambers family became wealthy landowners in west Wales, where they played an active part in the local politics of the area and were prominent sports administrators. The later generations of the family maintained the family tradition of involvement in sport. John Graham Chambers (1843-83) was a successful sports journalist and was responsible for devising many of the modern rules for rowing, athletics and boxing which were later attributed to his friend the Marquess of Queensbury. Robert Lambert Chambers (1850-1906) was elected in 1861 as the first president of the Welsh Rugby Union as well as being an active cricketer.
The artist Richard Cosway moved to Stratford Place in 1793 and lived there until the end of his life. This portrait of Triston is difficult to date but bears some stylistic resemblance to the portraits of Cosway’s own daughter, Louisa Paolina Angelica Cosway (1790-96) and those of Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817) as a child. Cosway’s own daughter died of a fever after suffering from a sore throat at the age of six – if drawn after her death, his personal grief may well have made him acutely sympathetic to the plight of his near neighbours, the Chambers family. This simple but compelling pencil drawing expresses succinctly the importance of portraitists, particularly miniaturists, at times of great tragedy.