Irish Arts Review

MARINE ART BY ANDREW NICHOLL AT ADAM'SSource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 29, No. 1 (SPRING (MARCH - MAY 2012)), p. 44Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41505644 .

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RECORD PRICE FOR IRISH SILVER AT BONHAMS

UNDER THE HAMMER

MARINE ART BY ANDREW I RECORD PRICE FOR IRISH | EDWARD MCGUIRE REACHES | DISTINCTIVE KILLARNEY | EQUESTRIAN SCULPTURE BY NICHOLL AT ADAM'S | SILVER AT BONHAMS | TOP ESTIMATE AT WHYTE'S | WARE AT MEALY'S | CONOR FALLON AT DE VERES

MARINE ART BY ANDREW NICHOLL AT ADAM'S The Belfast-born artist Andrew Nicholl (1804-1886) was the subject of an article in one of the very first issues of this publica- tion [Irish Arts Review, Vol.1, No.4) written by Ronald Abrams of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Abrams piece detailed the travails of the young self-taught painter, forever journeying between Ireland and England as he struggled to earn a living in one or other country. The image he offers of Nicholl is very different from that projected by the pictures for which this artist is now known; water- colours in which the foreground is taken up by an assortment of wild flowers with a well-known prospect such as the Giant's Causeway visible behind.

In 1845 Nicholl's friend and patron, Sir James Emerson Tennent, went to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) as Colonial Secretary and arranged for the artist to follow him, so as to take up a teaching position at the Colombo Academy; he seems to have remained there for several years,

A piece of 18th-century Irish silver sold by Bonhams in London in late November held an oblique association with this publication, since the arms it bore were those of the widow of the builder of a house much later owned by Brian de Breffny, co- founder of the Irish Arts Review. The item in question, a George III dish ring, was made by Charles Townsend of Dublin in 1772. In the chinoiserie style, its waisted sides were pierced with a fretwork of lattices linked by mullets, as well as having a continuous band of pierced and engraved decoration depicting a satyr on top of a plinth, a scrollwork urn and two men, one of them in Chinese attire peering out of a pagoda window and the other perched on a watery scroll. The ring was also engraved with a coat of arms within a ribbon-tied wreath, those arms being of Elizabeth Cox, a daughter of the Ist Baron Massy of Duntrileague and widow of the Rev Sir Michael Cox, 3rd Baronet of Castletown, County Kilkenny who died in 1 772.

Sir Michael, whose father had been Lord Chancellor of this country 1 703-1 707 and Chief Justice 171 1-1714, was a Church of Ireland clergyman who likewise rose to considerable heights, eventually becoming Archbishop of Cashel. Since his epis- copal palace could not be passed down to an heir, he chose to provide the next generation with an equally palatial home. Thus, although he claimed his intention was to build a small house and a large church, in fact it proved to be the other way around: the local church is very small. Begun in 1767 to the designs of the Italian- born architect Davis Ducart, the Archbishop's property was called Castletown Cox and remains unquestionably one of the most beautiful houses in Ireland. After changing hands several times, in the late 1970s the property was bought by Brian and Ulli de Breffny who lived there until his death in 1989. As for the dish ring sold by Bonhams, although expected to make £7,000- £9,000, it made a record for such a piece of silver, going for £26,875.

a watercolour by his hand representing the three ships off the Straits being offered for sale at Adam's in early December. On the other hand, he may have painted this view from memory many years later. As the Knight of Glin and Professor Anne Crookshank noted

and confuses the issue by signing some- times well after the date he painted.'

What cannot be questioned is the calibre of Nicholl's work, not just in his botanical paintings, but also his topographical pictures such as that in the Adam's auction, where the sky if not the

1 ANDREW NICHOLL RHA (1804-1886) THREE MASTS OFF THE COAST OF GIBRALTAR Gouache 33x51 cm 2 CHARLES TOWNSEND Irish Dish Ring 1772 silver 20.5cm in diameter

WHAT CANNOT BE QUESTIONED IS THE CALIBRE OF NICHOLL'S WORK, NOT TUST IN HIS BOTANICAL PAINTING, BUT ALSO HIS TOPOGRAPHICAL PICTURES SUCH AS THAT IN THE ADAM'S AUCTION

returning to Europe around 1849/50. At some point either on his outward or homebound sea voyage, he must have passed the Straits of Gibraltar,

in their 1994 book on the Watercolours of Ireland , in relation to Nicholl, 'It is impossible to make a chronology of his work as he rarely dates his drawings

sea shows the influence of Turner. The Gibraltar watercolour came with a pre- sale estimate of €800-€1,200 but in the event it fetched €2,500.

kk IRISH ARTS REVIEW I SPRING 2012

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