Lot 116: Sir George Harvey, P.R.S.A. (1806-1876)

The Penny Bank signed and dated 'Geo. Harvey./1864' (lower left) oil on canvas 42 x 593/4 in. (106.7 x 151.8 cm.) PROVENANCE with Aitken Dott, Edinburgh. Anon. sale [Mrs Chelsman], Christie's, London, 23 April 1923, lot 88 unsold, as The Penny Savings Bank. Mr. Ford, by 1975. with Hanover Square Gallery, New York, from whom acquired by the present owner in 1985. LITERATURE Catalogue for the Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1864, no. 361. Art Journal, 1864, p. 119. J.L. Caw, Scottish Painting Past and Present, 1670-1908, 1908, p. 113. EXHIBITION Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, 1864, no. 361. Edinburgh, 1901. Victorian Childhood, 1986, cat. pl. 36. NOTES Harvey was a pupil of Sir William Allan (see lot 75) at the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh. Despite his youth, he was credited with being one of the early founders of the Royal Scottish Academy and was made an associate member in 1826 and a full member in 1829 (aged 23). He also exhibited in London at the Royal Academy, the British Institution and at Suffolk Street. In 1864 he was elected President of the Royal Scottish Academy and was knighted in 1867. The Penny Bank was painted the same year he was elected President. The Art Journal wrote of his election 'the selection made can leave no doubt as to the wisdom of the choice; both as an artist and as a gentleman, Mr. Harvey is well qualified to be placed at the head of so distinguished a body as the Royal Scottish Academy.' (1864; p. 250). The Penny Bank received extensive description and praise in the same publication, 'There is as usual a large number of pictures of the Genre class, and not a few have considerable merit; foremost amongst these is the 'Penny Bank,' by George Harvey, R.S.A., whose genial warmth of disposition speaks out in the sentiment of the picture. It represents a little room at Leith, with little furniture besides the table and chair of the receiver, before whom is a small group of the thrifty poor bringing their slender savings for deposit. There is the hardy fisherman and the picturesque fishwife; the young woman, probably a domestic servant, earnestly impressing upon the receiver the particulars of her account; several "carefu' lads" are also contributing their mites, and probably sowing the seeds of future fortunes. Behind the receiver is a box in which the deposits are placed, and his faithful dog is keeping watch and ward over it. Without straining at effect the scene is telling, and, as an interior, it is masterly in the arrangement of its lights and shadows; at the open door and window are well managed, and give relief to the dark interior.' ( op. cit. ; p. 119). The accompanying text in the Royal Scottish Academy catalogue was 'The Penny Bank suggested by the Vinegar Close Penny Bank formed in Leith eleven years ago since which time there has been received in pence the sum of œ5400, crumbs gathered from the tables of the poor.' Caw sites The Penny Bank along with The Curlers (1834-5) and The Bowlers (1853) as being paintings which in 'dealing with everyday life of the people, or in those incidents of school-life and child-play which he loved to paint, he has left work of true historical value. They embody the feelings of a contemporary with the veracity of an eye-witness'. It was his opinion that Harvey's genre pictures such as The Penny Bank exceeded his historical works 'in these [historical works] that element of homeliness, which marked his thought and style, and made his Covenanting and social pictures so fully and sympathetically expressive of Scottish life and piety, was out of place; and good criticism agrees with the popular idea in considering them of less account.' His depiction of children was considered by Caw to be different from his contemporaries, 'his pictures of childhood represent the appearance of a fresh feeling for children at once deeper and more tender than the old...it was spontaneous, sympathetic, na‹ve, and may be said to have prepared the way for M'Taggart and Cameron.' Please see Duncan Macmillan's essay entitled Scottish Art in the Forbes Collection in Session I of this sale for additional information on this picture.