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SPOILUM (ACTIVE 1774-1805) Portrait of Captain Mumford image 1
SPOILUM (ACTIVE 1774-1805) Portrait of Captain Mumford image 2
THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 紳士藏品
Lot 186

SPOILUM (ACTIVE 1774-1805)
Portrait of Captain Mumford

15 May 2025, 11:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

£10,000 - £15,000

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SPOILUM (ACTIVE 1774-1805)

Portrait of Captain Mumford
Oil on canvas, with an early 20th century label attached on the verso identifying the sitter as 'Capt. Mumford', original Chinese export frame.
59.7cm (23 1/2in) high x 45.7cm (18in) wide.

Footnotes

史貝霖(活躍於1774-1805年) Mumford船長肖像 布面油畫 有框

Provenance: the Morgan family of Sugwas Court, Hereford
Martyn Gregory, London

Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: Martyn Gregory, Paintings of the China Trade; Historical pictures by Chinese and Western artists 1780-1980, catalogue 85, London, 2009/2010, pp.92-93, no.101

來源:蘇格瓦斯苑的摩根家族,赫里福德
倫敦古董商Martyn Gregory

展覽著錄:Martyn Gregory,《Paintings of the China Trade; Historical pictures by Chinese and Western artists 1780-1980, catalogue 85》,倫敦,2009/2010,第92-93頁,編號101

After producing reverse-glass portraits in the 1770s, Spoilum moved on by 1786 to producing works in oils on canvas. He developed a strikingly distinctive style, portraying his subjects with dignity and a trace of humour. The identity of the present figure is inconclusive; a Captain Peter Mumford (1728-98) of Rhode Island is recorded, but there is no further reason to identify him with the present sitter.

Another possible clue lies in the provenance of the painting. In the 1820s the Morgan family (who later came to live in Sugwas Court) inherited the estate of St Helens in Swansea; it was built in 1792 for their relative John Jones (1751-1829), who sailed to Canton as first mate aboard the East India Company ship Carnatic in 1785-6. He then captained the Indiaman Boddam in three further voyages to Canton, made in 1790-1791, 1793-1794, and 1800-1801.

Additional information

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