Lot 253: Lance Calkin (British, 1859-1936) Memorial service for General Gordon at Khartum (sic)

Memorial service for General Gordon at Khartum (sic)
signed 'Lance Calkin' (lower right),
oil on canvas
92 x 71.5cm (36 1/4 x 28 1/8in).

Major General Charles George Gordon, also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator and is known for his campaigns in China and northern Africa. The present lot alludes to the Gordon's ill-fated defence of Khartoum against Sudanese rebels, in which he was killed and for which he is remembered.

After a colourful military career including a distinguished period of service during the Crimean War, Gordon was appointed governor of the province of Equatoria in the Sudan. During this time he mapped out the Upper Nile and established a line of stations along the river as far south as present day Uganda. Gordon was soon promoted to Governor-General and began to assert his authority, crushing rebellions and suppressing the slave trade before returning to England in 1880 due to ill-health.

In February 1884 Gordon returned to the Sudan to evacuate Egyptian forces from Khartoum, threatened by Sudanese rebels led by Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi. Khartoum came under siege the next month and on 26th January 1885 the rebels broke into the city, killing Gordon (against al-Mahdi's instructions) and the other defenders. The British relief force arrived two days later.

The British public reacted to his death by acclaiming 'Gordon of Khartoum', who had had a strong Christian faith, a martyred warrior-saint and by blaming the government, particularly Gladstone, for failing to relieve the siege. However, historians have since suggested that Gordon defied orders and refused to evacuate Khartoum even though it remained possible until late in the siege.