Lot 95: Henry Harrison Martin (fl. 1847-1882)

The fair one with the golden locks
signed and dated 'H.H.Martin 1855.' (lower right) and signed and inscribed '"The Fair One with Golden Locks" H J Harrison Martin 38 London St Fitzroy Square London' (on an old label on the reverse)
painted oval, oil on board
18 x 24 in. (45.8 x 61 cm.)

Henry Harrison Martin was a genre painter who exhibited both at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street. He concentrated on historical and literary subjects, often with an exotic theme, and frequently depicted his ideal heads in a tondo shape or oval format, as in the present work. He painted some Spanish scenes, such as At the Bull Fight and The Beauty of Granada (1868), following a visit to Spain in the 1860s.

This striking and rather ethereal subject reveals Martin's affiliation with the Pre-Raphaelite movement. The golden-haired maiden, in her midnight blue gown, has the full features and languid beauty commonly associated with Rossettian 'stunners' such as Annie Miller and Alexa Wilding.

The title derives from an anonymous nineteenth-century folk tale of the same name. It begins: 'There was once a King's daughter so beautiful that they named her the Fair One with Golden locks. These golden locks were the most remarkable in the world, soft and fine, and falling in long waves down to her very feet...though such long hair was sometimes rather inconvenient, it was so exceedingly beautiful, shining in the sun like ripples of molten gold, that everybody agreed she fully deserved her name'.

It tells the story of brave Avenant, who acting upon the instructions of his King, braves three trials to secure the hand of the beautiful princess for his master. However the King is jealous of Avenant, who earns the Princess's love and gratitude in the course of his conquests. He imprisons him, only reaping his own punishment when he washes his face in the Water of Death that his cunning spouse has placed in stead of the Water of Beauty, leaving Avenant and the vengeful fair one to marry.

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