Footnotes

Literature
A. Robertson, Atkinson Grimshaw, London, 1988, pp.35-46

Painted in 1876, the present and following lots are studies for Grimshaw's major interior Dulce Domum which was started in the same year, although not completed until 1885. In these two lots, Grimshaw is experimenting with combinations for the vase of flowers that stands on the dining table in the right hand side of the composition. The finished work combines the two studies, with the flower from the present lot being combined with the vase in the following lot.

Dulce Domum belongs to a golden period in Grimshaw's career. In 1870 Grimshaw leased Knostrop Old Hall, a 17th century manor house outside of Leeds, where he was to work for much of the rest of his life. During this period he developed his characteristic moonlight scenes, which were to serve as his stock in trade for many years. He also produced a series of elaborately detailed domestic interiors, many using his wife, Frances, as a model. Reminiscent of the French painter James Tissot, this group of works, which culminates in Dulce Domum show off the artist's great skill at portraying light, texture and detail. As Alex Robertson observes, Dulce Domum is a 'tour de force of observation, of light on surfaces where even the doorknobs and mirrors contain gleaming reflections'.

Dulce Domum was not finished until 1885 and, unusually for Grimshaw, the artist wrote a lengthy inscription on the reverse, alluding to some of the personal hardships he experienced during this time, such as the death of three of his children: 'mostly painted under great difficulties, but by God's grace finished 1885.' The painting was shown at both the Royal Academy and in Manchester, where it was sold to one of Grimshaw's patrons, Walter Battle, for £1,000. Commenting on the work at the RA show a writer in The Times notes that 'there is hardly to be found in the exhibition such another piece of sheer painting as the dress of the lady in the foreground.'

We are grateful to Alexander Robertson for confirming the attribution to John Atkinson Grimshaw.