Lot 53: SIR WILLIAM QUILLER ORCHARDSON R.A.

SIR WILLIAM QUILLER ORCHARDSON R.A. 1832-1910 THE DUKE'S ANTECHAMBER oil on canvas 105.5 by 192cm.; 41½ by 75½in.

Royal Academy, 1869, no. 103;
Paris Universal, 1878, no.194 as L'Antichambre;
Royal Academy, Winter Exhibition of Works by Recently Deceased Members, 1911, no.39;
Plymouth City Art Gallery, Old Masters from London Galleries, 1961, no.24;
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Dundee City Art Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, Fine Art Society, London and Glasgow City Art Gallery, Sir William Quiller Orchardson R.A., 1972, no.17;
Beaverbrook Art Gallery and tour to other Canadian museums, Victorian Painting in the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1989-1990

Athenaeum, 1869, vol. I, p.675;
Art Journal, 1869, p.163;
Times, 1 May 1869, p.12;
James Dafforne, 'British Artists: Their Style and Character, William Quiller Orchardson, A.R.A.', in Art Journal, 1870, p.244;
Hilda Orchardson Gray, The Life of Sir William Quiller Orchardson, 1930, p.12;
Mark Girouard, Sweetness and Light: The Queen Anne Movement 1840-1900, 1977, p.138;

Mr Octavius Edward Coope, M.P., Rochetts, near Brentwood, Essex by 1878, his sale Christie's, 16 February 1910, lot 26;
James Kitson, 1st Lord Airedale (1835-1911), by descent to his son Albert Kitson, 2nd Lord Airedale (1863-1944) and in his collection as late as 1942;
Morris Mandl, New York;
Christie's, 2 December 1960, lot 88;
M. Newman Ltd, London;
Bought by Max Aitken, 1st Lord Beaverbrook (1879-1964) and thence to the present ownership

When the picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy it was highly acclaimed, one critic writing; 'The Duke's Antechamber is very cleverly treated by Mr. Orchardson' (Athenaeum, 1869, p.675) whilst another wrote that; 'Unquestionably the work has done much to advance the reputation of the painter in public opinion' (James Dafforne, 'British Artists: Their Style and Character, William Quiller Orchardson, A.R.A.', in Art Journal, 1870, p.244) and another felt that it was 'The greatest work the artist has yet produced.' (Art Journal, 1869, p.163)

The Duke's Antechamber is a relatively early work by Orchardson painted at a time when he was seeking critical acclaim with a series of depictions of Shakespearian romance painted in his London studio. The influence of John Everett Millais is clear in Orchardson's paintings of the 1860s and it was the narrative force and technical dexterity that earned him Associateship of the Royal Academy in 1869, a year before he exhibited The Duke's Antechamber.