YCBA Collections Search

Created by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), the artist; acquired by John James Chalon RA (1778–1854), London, by 1825 [1] [a]; acquired by John Clow (1800 or 1801–1871), of Ash-house, Liverpool [2]; purchased at auction by "Wallis" [3] at Thos. Winstanley and Sons, Ltd., Liverpool, December 3, 1852 (lot 89, ‘Lime Kiln by Night. Drawing. Engraved’), in "Select Modern Paintings in Oil and Water Colours" [b]; [Christie & Manson, Ltd., London, April 16, 1853 (lot 108, ‘Lime Kilns by Night’ (unsold)] [c]; ...; acquired by Peter Potter (1812–1881), Walsall, Staffordshire, by 1869 [4] [d]; by descent to his son, George Gybbon Potter (1843–1900) [5]; [Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, March 6, 1886 (lot 167, ‘The Limekiln’) (unsold)] [e]; ...; possibly with "C. V. Bagot," by 1905 [6]; [his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, July 1, 1905 (lot 112, ‘The Lime-Kiln') (unsold)] [f]; ...; acquired by Georgiana Selina Potter (née Elwell) (1848–1919) and Reverend Peter Potter (1841–1914), Glamorgan, Wales; purchased by Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, April 30, 1909 [g]; purchased at auction by Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, March 18, 1911 (lot 93, ‘The Lime Kiln’), in "Modern pictures and drawings" [7] [h] [i]; purchased at William Lockett Agnew’s (1858–1918) sale by "J. Walford" at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, June 7, 1918 (lot 70, ‘The Limekiln: Coalbrookdale’), in "Important Pictures by Old Masters and Works of the Early English School" [j]; ...; purchased at auction by Edward Joseph Speelman (1910–1994) [8], London, at Bonham’s, London, October 4, 1962 (lot unknown, ‘The Limekiln, Coalbrookdale’), in "A Collection of Important Old and Modern Pictures" [k]; ...; acquired by Dennis Frederick Ward (1921–1999), Brighton and Hove [9][l]; purchased at auction by Samuel Patch (1905–1998) [10], London, at Sotheby’s, London, November 23, 1966 (lot 86, ‘The Limekiln at Coalbrookdale’), in "Fine Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings" for unknown party [m][n]; purchased by Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, 1967; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), 1967 [o]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, 1981.

Notes:
[1] John James Chalon RA (1778–1854) was a Swiss-born English painter. He was elected Associate to the Royal Academy in 1827, and in 1841 as an Academician. When this oil painting was engraved by Frederick Christian Lewis (1779–1856) in 1825, "Mr. J. Chalon" was listed as the work’s owner. The nature of his acquisition of the work is unknown. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-colebrooke-dale-t04821.
[2] John Clow (1800 or 1801–1871), of Ash-house, Liverpool, was a merchant and art collector active in the 1840s. He is known to have collected works by British artists such as J.M.W. Turner and William Collins. He often sold works from his collection at the auctioneers Thos. Winstanley & Sons, Ltd., Liverpool.
[3] Likely William Henry Wallis (1805–1890) or Robert William Wallis (1794–1878). William Henry Wallis (1805–1890) was an engraver and dealer who worked for Jean Joseph Ernest Theodore Gambart (1814–1902) from at least 1861, eventually taking over the lease of Gambart’s gallery at 120/121 Pall Mall, London in 1867. Wallis’s older brother, Robert William Wallis (1794–1878), was an accomplished engraver who collaborated frequently with Turner. He retired in 1859.
[4] Peter Potter, Esq. (1812–1881), of Walsall, Staffordshire, is named as the lender to the 1869 South Staffordshire Industrial & Fine Arts Exhibition (see citation [d]), thus the work entered the Potter family collection by this year. He was the land agent for George Bridgeman, second Earl of Bradford (1789–1865). Upon Potter’s death in 1881, at least some of his collection sold at auction at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, on July 9, 1881, though this work was not in the catalogue. Potter collected several works by many painters, and owned Turner’s Liber Studiorum prints. https://search.library.yale.edu/catalog/12761239.
[5] Algernon Graves gives the owner as "G. G. Potter," likely Peter Potter’s second son, George Gybbon Potter (1843–1900), who was one of the executors of his father’s will and effects after his death in 1881. In the Christie’s auction catalogue for the 1886 sale, the owner is not named, with the painting being listed as from "A Different Property."
[6] While a "C. V. Bagot," possibly Cecil Villiers Bagot (1865–1940), was listed as the buyer of this painting at this auction, the work returned or remained in the Potter family’s possession by 1909, when Agnew’s purchased it from them; the circumstances of this situation are not known. Graves’ Art Sales (Volume 3, p. 240) lists the purchase as "bought in" at Christie’s. A solicitor named Cecil V. Bagot oversaw the dissolution of George Gybbon Potter’s law firm in 1894, possibly explaining the connection between Bagot and Potter, as both men were based in Walsall at the time.
[7] The Thos. Agnew & Sons stock books indicate that the dealer sent the picture to Christie, Manson, & Woods to auction on March 18, 1911, where it is listed under "Different Properties." However, Agnew is annotated as the buyer of the painting in the catalogue for this sale and the purchase is also featured in Agnew’s stock books. It is possible that the painting did not fetch a satisfactory bid at auction, causing Agnew to "buy-in" its own listed lot.
[8] Edward Joseph Speelman (1910–1994) was an English art dealer and specialist in Dutch Old Master paintings. Speelman served in the British Army during World War II and was instrumental in apprehending Artur Seyss-Inquart (1892–1946), former Chancellor of Austria and the Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands.
[9] Dennis Frederick Ward (1921–1999) was an East Sussex-based art and antique collector who was able to acquire objects due to his familial inheritance. Ward was actively buying and selling property during the 1960s.
[10] Samuel Patch (1905–1998) was the chief salesclerk at Sotheby’s and worked at the auction house from 1926 until his retirement in 1973. Dealers and private collectors would often ask Patch to bid on their behalf, which is why the surname "Patch" appears often in the price lists for Sotheby’s auctions throughout the 1950s to 1970s. Patch was also a distant relative of the British painter Thomas Patch (1725–1782).
Citations:
[a] Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1984), 20-21, 30, no. 22, pl. 17.
[b] Algernon Graves, Art Sales from early in the eighteenth century to early in the twentieth century (mostly old masters and early English pictures) (London: Algernon Graves, 1918), 3:220.
[c] Butlin and Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, 20-21, 30, no. 22, pl. 17.
[d] Exhibition Catalogue, South Staffordshire Industrial & Fine Arts Exhibition, Molineux House, Wolverhampton (Wolverhampton: Steen and Blacket, Steam Printing Works, 1869), 69, no. 460. https://books.google.com/books?id=TvvXlMP4gPkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
[e] Graves, Art Sales, 240.
[f] Christie, Manson, & Woods, "Modern Pictures and Watercolour Drawings" (London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1905), 19.
[g] Thos. Agnew & Sons Picture Stock Book, 1909–1919, National Gallery of Art. NGA27/1/1/11. Stock No. 2919. p. 16. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/research-centre/agnew-s-stock-books/reference-nga27-1-1-11-1909-19.
[h] Ibid. p. 52.
[i] Christie, Manson, & Woods, "Modern Pictures and Drawings" (London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1911), 16. https://digitalprojects.wpi.art/auctions/detail?place=40
city
London
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United%20Kingdom&date=1911&page=3&a=114157-modern-pictures-and-drawings&media=11531852.
[j] Christie, Manson, &