Lot 235: THOMAS WADE 1828-1891

signed and dated l.l.: WADE/ 1866

oil on canvas

91.5 by 71 cm. ; 36 by 28 in.

Thomas Wade was largely self-taught and painted a number of works in the Pre-Raphaelite style. His work is rare and The Blackberry Pickers is by far the most important picture by him to be seen at auction for many years. Wade was born in Preston, where he lived until 1879 when he moved to Windermere after selling An Old Mill to the Chantry Bequest earlier in the same year. In the late 1880s he moved to Kendal and continued to paint rustic genre and landscapes which he exhibited at the Royal Academy and the galleries in Manchester and Liverpool.