Samuel Shelley
Portrait miniature of ‘A Child Asleep’, after Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92), 1780s
Watercolour on ivory
2 6/8 x 3 6/8 in (6.6 cm x 9.5cm)
Philip Mould & Co.
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com The present work is a copy of Reynolds’ endearing painting of c.1781 titled ‘A Child Asleep’ [Earl of Aylesford, Packington...
To view all current artworks for sale visit philipmould.com
The present work is a copy of Reynolds’ endearing painting of c.1781 titled ‘A Child Asleep’ [Earl of Aylesford, Packington Hall]. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1781 and purchased the following year by the Earl of Aylesford, which, sadly, dismisses the family tradition that the young boy depicted was the son of a worker on the Earl’s estate.
Reynolds’ influences throughout his career have long been the topic of debate, undoubtedly turning to the Old Masters for inspiration - the present work for example bears a striking resemblance Guido Reni’s ‘Sleeping Cupid’, albeit with reduced religious overtones and the inclusion of a distant country landscape beyond the draped red curtain.
It was quite common for artists, especially miniaturists, to copy the works of established painters on a reduced scale - Ozias Humphry, for example, produced numerous portraits ‘in little’ after Reynolds as a method of expanding his client base.
Samuel Shelley was a highly successful artist who worked in a number of mediums, although is perhaps best known for his instantly recognisable portrait miniatures of society’s leading lights. Shelley was a native of London and followed a relatively conventional route into his chosen career, and, after winning the much coveted premium prize awarded annually by the Society of Arts at the age of fourteen, entered the Royal Academy Schools on 21st March 1774. After studying at the R.A. schools (and exhibiting 1774-1804), he became an important voice in the history of watercolour painting in the Eighteenth Century. A founder member of the first watercolour society in 1805, he believed that watercolours should be given their own forum and exhibition space in order to be properly appreciated. Before the formation of such a society, watercolours could only be shown next to oils at the conventional exhibition spaces of the Society of Artists or Royal Academy. This new separation from brightly coloured, large oil paintings allowed watercolours to be viewed among paintings in the same media and heralded a new admiration of such work. Shelley’s desire to compete with oil paintings also led him to produce small watercolour subject pictures to exhibit alongside the portrait miniatures he painted all his life.
The present work is a copy of Reynolds’ endearing painting of c.1781 titled ‘A Child Asleep’ [Earl of Aylesford, Packington Hall]. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1781 and purchased the following year by the Earl of Aylesford, which, sadly, dismisses the family tradition that the young boy depicted was the son of a worker on the Earl’s estate.
Reynolds’ influences throughout his career have long been the topic of debate, undoubtedly turning to the Old Masters for inspiration - the present work for example bears a striking resemblance Guido Reni’s ‘Sleeping Cupid’, albeit with reduced religious overtones and the inclusion of a distant country landscape beyond the draped red curtain.
It was quite common for artists, especially miniaturists, to copy the works of established painters on a reduced scale - Ozias Humphry, for example, produced numerous portraits ‘in little’ after Reynolds as a method of expanding his client base.
Samuel Shelley was a highly successful artist who worked in a number of mediums, although is perhaps best known for his instantly recognisable portrait miniatures of society’s leading lights. Shelley was a native of London and followed a relatively conventional route into his chosen career, and, after winning the much coveted premium prize awarded annually by the Society of Arts at the age of fourteen, entered the Royal Academy Schools on 21st March 1774. After studying at the R.A. schools (and exhibiting 1774-1804), he became an important voice in the history of watercolour painting in the Eighteenth Century. A founder member of the first watercolour society in 1805, he believed that watercolours should be given their own forum and exhibition space in order to be properly appreciated. Before the formation of such a society, watercolours could only be shown next to oils at the conventional exhibition spaces of the Society of Artists or Royal Academy. This new separation from brightly coloured, large oil paintings allowed watercolours to be viewed among paintings in the same media and heralded a new admiration of such work. Shelley’s desire to compete with oil paintings also led him to produce small watercolour subject pictures to exhibit alongside the portrait miniatures he painted all his life.
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